I'm really bored.

...And I'm listening to Q107 via the internet. They're playing Pink Floyd.

So I went to the library today to pick up a book on Australia, a book on the history of airplanes, a book called I Am Rembrandt's Daughter and two U2 CDs - Achtung Baby and The Unforgettable Fire. Mom had nothing to pick up, which is a shocker, because she almost always has a pile of books and DVDs to pick up.

Then it was off to Michaels, where I got the new issue of Knit.1 and mom got some Bernat Handicrafter Cotton that was on sale. That location, which is the new one, has pretty much the same yarns as the one in Ancaster, but the aisles are roomier at the new location. Then we went to Indigo to get calendars. My calendar is an Artwork of John Lennon one, which is awesome. I can't remember which calendar Mom got. Dad didn't get a calendar, but he did get a coffee at Starbucks.

So I put some of the CDs I got for Christmas on my computer. I still have more to add to my iTunes library, but I put Maximum Cowbell, Planet Pop 80s, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Coldplay and Elton John on iTunes. Sweet :)

Also, with help from Mom, I got my left speaker to kick back on!

New Years Resolutions

I put this list together last night...

New Years Resolutions

1. Stick to a study schedule.
2. Try to read the books I put on booklists.
3. Compile a summer booklist.
4. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
5. Learn how to use Windows Movie Maker and eventually make a Bennie and the Jets misheard lyrics video.
6. Try to exercise regularly.
7. Learn intarsia.
8. Learn duplicate stitch so that I can make those Back to School washcloths.
9. Knit a hat.
10. Knit a sweater.
11. Learn cables.
12. Dye yarn.
13. Volunteer in a Music Sunday.
14. Make my bed by 11:00, every night.
15. Get my beginner's driver's license.
16. Practice playing my keyboard more often.
17. Learn to play guitar.
18. Read the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
19. Read up on black history.
20. Learn how to use Photoshop.
21. Design a knitting pattern.
22. Watch 'Labyrinth', 'Tommy' and 'Gangs of New York'.
23. Go for runs around the block when the weather's nice.
24. Knit a pair of socks.
25. Make something out of my Japanese cookbook.
26. Take an art class of some kind???
27. Read The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

So there you have it. I put down 'Read up on black history' because I feel like I should be reading more books on it than I have been. And I was too young to see 'Gangs of New York' when it came out, and it looks so interesting, so I'd like to get that out of the library and watch it.

More loot!!!

Yup. I got more stuff for Christmas. It came from Katie and Dan. I recieved...

It Girl Knits by Phoenix Bess (!!!)
Stitch N' Bitch Nation (!!!)
It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas (now I don't have to watch them on CBC!)
A pretty journal

Katie and Dan came over on the 27th, and then they picked up Justin and Breanne the same day. Justin liked his scarf (yay!), and because I hadn't bought anything for Breanne, I gave her some nice soap that Mom bought at Winners, and because we had these pen-and-pencil sets in the house, I gave her one one of them - they're rather nice, too. She liked the soap, and I think she liked the pen-and-pencil set, too.

Nathan came by today to get his pressies. He seemed to like the lamp I gave him.

Unfortunately, though, my keyboard is acting up again. Actually, it's the USB port, so my dad may have to take my CPU to Summit to have the USBs replaced. Whee.

Christmas loot!!!

I can't help it - I have to brag. I was spoiled rotten this year.

From my stocking:

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand
Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
some Brittany double-pointed needles!
a white chocolate Terry's Chocolate Orange (my favourite)
three pairs of slipper socks
two pieces of a kind of chocolate bark
stitch holders
split-ring stitch markers
some balls of cedar to put in my yarn bins to keep bugs away
a huge mug

Main gifties

The Beatles edition of Monopoly!!!!
The 30th anniversary edition of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run! It has not only the CD, but also a concert DVD and a documentary DVD! And a 40-something page booklet!
a Van Morrison compilation CD (Dad'll wanna steal this one)
Planet Pop 80s (a CD)
The Best of Eric Burdon and the Animals (it has Sky Pilot on it!!!)
The Best of Steppenwolf
Maximum Cowbell (another CD)
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: Sinner
Tweed by Nancy J. Thomas (a knitting book)
Dingo by Charles de Lint (fiction)
Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman
Persepolis I and II (I can't remember the author's name)
Terry Pratchet's Hogfather (a DVD)
a cookbook
a book on ettiquette
some awesome clothes - two cute tops (one black, one pink), two waffle-y looking shirts (one white and blue, one black and purple plaid) and a fleecy zippered shirt

I think that's all from my parents.

From my grandparents, I got:

Elton John: Rocket Man Number Ones (the first time they've ever gotten me a CD!!!!!)
A red-purple top
Two knitting books - The Yarn Girl's Guide to Simple Knits by Julie Carles and Jordana Jacobs, and Not Another Teen Knitting Book by Vickie Howell

Grandma and Grandpa actually behaved themselves. I have a sneaking suspicion they'll make snide comments about us behind our backs (like how our tree-topper this year is a bat stuffy from IKEA!!!), but hey, what can ya do?

We had beef bourgignon (spelling?) for dinner, and banoffee pie for dessert. Mom wasn't too thrilled with the crust on the pie, because it was so thick and hard to cut. Next time, she says, she'll try a different crust. It still turned out yummy.

Happy/Merry everything.

ETA: I completely forgot - I also got the complete Black Books - all three seasons! Fromy my parents! Thanks, mom and dad :)

ETA2: I also forgot the book of Christmas stories, and the milk chocolate Terry's Chocolate Orange (which I've already eaten!).

The Christmas Eve post.

The only present I have to wrap it my sister's, but I can wrap that on Boxing Day, since she isn't coming over until the 27th.

Uncle Brent was supposed to come over tonight, but by the sound of it, his car was giving him trouble. Oh well. He said on the phone (before the car acted up) that Breanne is coming over on the 27th, too. I'll probably have to give her some nice soap, because I never got around to getting her a gift.

So this morning, like every other Christmas Eve morning, Dad and I went to an Italian bakery (our favourite bakery, might I add) to get these pastries called cannoli. They're really yummy. Afterwards, we went to the library, but they weren't open yet so we went to Shopper's Drug Mart because Dad wanted to get pop. Turned out that they didn't have any Pepsi, so Dad only got a lottery ticket. After that we went back to the library, and we were still two minutes early! And there was so much snow shoved against the sidewalk that Dad said to give him my card, because I would have had trouble getting out of the car. So Dad went in and picked up my two books and Mom's book, and we went home.

One of the books is called How to Build a House. It's about a teenage girl named Harper who, after her father and stepmother divorce, decides to volunteer in rebuilding a house that was torn apart by a tornado. It looks like a good read - I've started reading it already.

New Moon, on the other hand, isn't quite so... appealing? In a nutshell, I can't always concentrate on it. It must be Meyer's style of writing - her paragraphs can often go on and on a little, like how L.M. Montgomery wrote.

So... Christmas Eve. I'm kinda floating between excitement and dread. I feel like Christmas is coming a week too early - the month just sped by for me. Maybe it's just stress - after all, my brother is now engaged, and it's another Christmas without our neighbor Bill, who treated me better than my own grandfather. His wife, Norma, is still living on our street, but... she hasn't been quite the same since Bill died. Plus there's the added stress of Angela and her stupid Christmas/birthday party.

Maybe I'll sleep in.

IT'S DONE!!!!! IT'S DONE!!!!!

That's right, Justin's scarf is done! I decided not to seam the ends, though. Instead, I wove the tails in and left the curled edges alone. It looks nice that way. I should have pictures soon.

In other news, Mom's been baking, we still have to put up those garlands from Michaels, and I have to wrap three more presents - Katie's, Mom's, and Justin's. I found out the other day that Dan got me something for Christmas, so Mom decided that I would give him a shirt. Dan really didn't have to get me anything. Isn't it funny how my brother can't be bothered to get anything for his family, his FIRST family, and yet someone who isn't related to me decided to get something for me for Christmas? Words can't begin to describe how thankful I am.

Holiday movies watched thus far

Let's bring up the list again, shall we?

Holiday Movies To Watch This Year

1. Love Actually (not for younger audiences)
2. Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - the original, animated one. I don't like the one with Jim Carey. Watched!
3. It's a Wonderful Life - just 'cause.
4. Elf Watched!
5. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Gotta love them Griswolds :) Watched!
6. The Snowman. Who says I'm too old?
7. Scrooged (Again, not for younger audiences.)
8. A Christmas Story - "You'll shoot your eye out!"
9. A Christmas Carol - if the black-and-white version is on, I'll watch it. Watched! I saw an American black-and-white version.
10. The Muppet Christmas Carol - because, although the black-and-white version is great, I love the Muppets. And Michael Caine was good in it as Scrooge.
11. A Charlie Brown Christmas - again, who says I'm too old? Watched!
12. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
13. Meet Me in St. Louis, which is a sort of multi-holiday movie, really. I might have to really hunt to find it on TV.
14. The Santa Clause, if Mom lets me watch it. We have the VHS tape somewhere. Watched!
15. The Santa Clause 2 Watched!
16. White Christmas - my mom put her name down on for a copy from the library!
17. The Family Stone (not for younger audiences)
18. Little Women
19. Olive, the Other Reindeer
20. The Holiday
21. Mole's Christmas (The Wind in the Willows)
22. Miracle on 34th St (the original, although I don't mind the newer version) Watched!
23. This isn't exactly a movie, but I wanna catch the Mr. Bean Christmas special :)24. Last Holiday
25. Shrek the Halls (another Christmas special) Watched!
26. The Polar Express
27. Not exactly a movie either, but I'd love to catch Robbie the Reindeer: The Lost Tribe
28. And the other Robbie the Reindeer TV special, if it's on.

Not bad so far. I watched Elf on CBC, and they cut it down for time, unfortunately. We started watching Christmas Vacation on CBC, but they cut out the whole shopping scene, so we stuck the DVD in :)

I'm pissed off that I missed Eight Crazy Nights, though...

Blaaaaaaah

I'm bored, so I'm writing another post.

Man, does it piss me off when I'm expected to wash dishes. I'm more than happy to dry them, but because I don't wash them, they act like I'll never be able to look after myself. It's not that I don't know how to wash dishes, I just don't know how much water I need to put in the sink. When I'm living on my own, I'm not going to have enough dishes to feed an army, thus I will be able to wash my own dishes!!! Oh, and one more thing: while I rarely wash dishes, who washes towels when certain people conveniently forget? Me. Who sweeps the floor without being asked? Me. Who dusts when other people don't notice that the picture on the TV would be much brighter without that coat of grey? THAT'S RIGHT, ME! SO I DON'T WASH THE DISHES OR CLEAN THE BATHROOM - IT DOESN'T MEAN I'LL LIVE LIKE A SLOB FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!

End rant.

Maybe I'm being selfish. But you know what? After all the crap, after getting yelled at from Nathan for putting dishes that he didn't clean properly back on the table to be re-washed, after cleaning up dog crap/puke/urine when no one else could be bothered, I deserve to be selfish.

ETA: One more thing... Mom, when someone cooks you breakfast, don't complain about the bad smell!!!

I can't wrap presents at all...

No, really, I can't. I wrapped Nathan's lamp today, and the first attempt got crumpled up and thrown on the floor. The second attempt wasn't as bad - at least it's covered, and that's what matters. After all, I ain't no Martha Stewart! :p I even managed to rip the gift tag label, though. I don't recall ever ripping a gift tag label. Wow.

We didn't get to church today because of the snow - which is a bummer, because it was the Holiday Music Sunday. Dad spent the morning shoveling, and Mom just made waffles. Om nom nom :) I bit my lip/inside of cheek though, which hurt. Bad.

So, I've added a couple of text gadgets to my blog! :) What do you think?

Just the seaming to do now...

That's right. I'm DONE sewing the yellow triangles on Justin's scarf. It was actually not that difficult - pinning the triangles down and fixing the bind-off holes on some of the triangles, that was the hardest. Well, that and aligning the triangles. But the sewing part was not that hard. So now I just have to seam the ends, wrap 'er up in a gift box, and I'm all set. I think I might also include a little notecard with washing instructions written on it. Might be helpful.

And holy crap, it's already the 20th of December! EEP! I have to wrap pressies! Well, I've got Dad's done already. I'm giving him a shirt and The Essentials: The Blues Brothers CD, which we got at Indigo during the bitter-and-sorta-pointless shopping trip.

...And now my left speaker has kicked out. Dammit.

Anyways. Uncle Brent is probably dropping in on Christmas Eve, which is cool. Christmas Day is just us three - me, Mom and Dad. Katie, Dan, Nathan and Steph are coming up on the 27th.

I only have Nathan's lamp, Katie's pressie and Mom's pressie (can't say what they are, because they both know about my blog!) to wrap. Oh, and Justin's scarf, of course. I was going to make Breanne something, but I decided not to. I feel a little guilty, but she's been giving Uncle Brent a hard time, so maybe I'll knit her a scarf for her birthday instead.

One of my favourite Led Zeppelin songs

I'm not sure if they wrote it, or if Willie Dixon wrote it, but it's definitely in my top 5 favourite Zeppelin songs. It's called 'I Can't Quit You Baby'.

Plus, the video shows two photos of my 'boyfriend', Robert Plant! ;)

Knitting applique. I haz it.

First, let me tell you, dear reader, about last night.

I made the mistake of calling my mother a bitch, because she wouldn't let me watch the Mr Bean Christmas special - I think it's called Merry Christmas, Mr Bean. Dad wanted to look for something else to watch, so I had to surrender the remote. For calling Mom a bitch (but not to her face - it'll take me a long time to have the guts to do that), I was off my computer for the night and sent to my room, where I listened to music and read a couple of books.

Today was better. Mom helped me with sewing the yellow triangles on Justin's scarf. I would've done the duplicate stitching, but neither me nor Mom could make head or tail of it, so she said to knit some triangles out of the yellow yarn and sew them on. I have one end done. I'm not going to do both sides of each end, just one side. I hope Justin won't mind that the triangles are slightly raised. What really pissed me off was when I was sewing away and Dad started playing with the dogs, making them bark. I was literally in tears, he bothered me that much.

Currently listening to: Bullet the Blue Sky by U2 - via YouTube, because I don't have my own copy of The Joshua Tree.

The blood work is DONE!

At first, I thought we wouldn't get down to the lab, because Dad got dizzy in the shower. He thinks it may have been from lack of caffeine, because he always has a coffee in the morning. It's his fuel. But we did get to do our blood work.

Normally I don't get dizzy from blood work, but this time I did. So when the woman who took the blood sample asked me if I was dizzy, and I said yes, she told me to go lay down for a bit. When she came back, I sat up and felt better, so she handed me the bottle for the urine sample and said to go do that. Afterwards we went to the Golden Griddle in that same plaza, where I devoured a waffle and four breakfast sausages.

Then it was back home to let the dogs out, then off to the dentist's. We were early, so we stopped at the Bulk Barn in that plaza because Mom needed to get dried cherries, then we went in for our appointment. And, of course, I was the last of us three to go in. On the upside, though, I didn't have to have fluoride! YES! Also, they cleaned my flipper (my fake tooth), because it was so stained from drinking stuff like tea, hot chocolate and Pepsi. The hygienist who cleaned my teeth gave me more floss, and she said that I have a small mouth and that it was difficult for her to floss the back teeth, and told me that if I feel any pain back there that I should call them. Mom said that my wisdom teeth may not give me trouble. Well, my main concern is getting the post for my fake tooth in my mouth and getting the gum grafting on the bottom teeth done, then if my wisdom teeth start paining me, I'll take care of them after.

Now all I have to do is finish Justin's scarf and wrap presents. And help Mom with the holiday baking if she needs any help.

ETA: Just so you know, my dad is alright. I think he was just tired from not having his usual intake of caffeine, but afterwards he said he was feeling okay.

My study schedule

So here's what I've come up with for January to June...

9:00 Biology
10:00 World History
11:00 Japanese
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Math
2:00 English (which may include writing, as Mom wants me to practice writing essays)
3:00 Music or Art

I may edit this list slightly, but that's a basic guideline. Four subjects just doesn't seem to be enough. I have a lot to brush up on, and I can't take nightschool courses until September.

Also, I think I found out why I hate Don't Know Much About Geography so much...

1. I don't want to read about Columbus rambling on about how the world is a pear. Seriously? A pear?

2. Geography books without pictures are always boring. Said book has some pictures, but they're all black-and-white. If I'm going to learn geography, it's going to be from books that are alive with colour, not bland books like Don't Know Much About Geography.

I'm bored

And because I'm bored, I'm gonna write another blog post.

Today was a half-decent day. I'm almost done reading Molly By Any Other Name, which is great because I started reading it a while ago and took a break from it to read other books. I think I'll take Terrier back to the library, though, because there's no way I'll be able to finish it in time - I think it's due on the 30th, and I'm only a chapter and a bit into it. I only have a few more chapters of Molly left to read, though. I think that, when my homeschooling starts up again in the new year, I'm going to start reading 1984. It looks like a good read.

Speaking of homeschooling, I made a new study schedule instead of the crappy one that Mom made up as a 'temporary schedule'. She had me doing math every day, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays were History/Geography/Science days ('science' meaning reading a book of facts) and Tuesdays and Thursdays were Lit and Writing days.

More on my new schedule later, 'cause it's dinner time.

I screwed up my fasting...

...So now I have to have the blood and urine tests done tomorrow, before our dentist appointment, because I accidentally ate.

Oh, and I found out on Saturday that Nathan isn't giving us Christmas pressies because there's not enough money - which probably means he spent his money on his 'new family'. I'm not trying to be greedy or anything, I just thing that if he got us each something small, like an ornament, that would be nice, and relatively inexpensive, but no - he chose the coward's route.

Just the flu shot today

We wound up NOT going to have the blood work done today, because we were all so hungry, so I got my flu shot, we all had our annual physicals, etc. Although I couldn't believe my mother - when the medical assistant asked if I needed a pap smear done, mom said "No, she's still a good girl." Ugh. How embarassing.

After we went out for breakfast, we stopped by the bank, then went to a grocery store and then went home.

So we're going down to the lab tomorrow for our blood and urine tests. Whee.

Lunch at Grandma's

Well, let's just say that lunch at my grandparents' went eerily well. Still, it didn't stop Grandma from mentioning Aunt Patti, and Becca. Oh well, I guess some of her habits will never fade. Patti, Jesse and Becca will always be the favourites.

The lunch itself tasted good. Grandma made a casserole with chicken and Ritz crackers, and it actually tasted good. The macaroni salad was alright - Mom liked it, but as I'm not keen on raw red peppers, I thought it was just okay. There were also sweet potatoes, which were good, and bread to go with lunch. The only thing that seemed to spoil the meal was that, before I even sat down, Grandpa was asking me if I wanted wine. I told him I was underage, and he said something about it being up to my parents. So, when I was finished in the bathroom and returned to the table, I was offered non-alcoholic drinks. I had Pepsi. For dessert there was ice cream, which Mom didn't have, but I had some, and there were cookies too. I actually don't mind Grandma's cookies, because she makes these yummy ones with marshmallows and peanut butter (I think???), and another kind with chocolate and chow mein noodles. Mom said we can make the chocolate ones this year, because we have chow mein noodles. Sweet :)

Katie and Dan got their Christmas presents from my grandparents, too, because they won't see each other again until after Christmas because Grandma and Grandpa are going away on the.... 27th? I think? Anyways, the 27th is when Katie and Dan are coming up again. Nathan and Steph are supposed to come up on the 27th, too, and Justin might be able to come up that day, too.

Which reminds me, I still have to finish Justin's scarf. No pressure :p

I can't eat anything after 10:00, because I have to go to the doctor's to get my flu shot and to have my yearly physical, and because our family doctor has us go to have blood and urine tests done, I'll have to get stuck in both the arm and the veins. Whee. So that means I have to fast for twelve hours. I still have just under 20 minutes to eat, though. I did have a good supper though. My supper was:

The last of the leftover beef chow mein
A Nutella sandwich
A fortune cookie
The last of the awesome Newman's Own grape juice that we got at Costco
One of the chocolates from my swap package

Now I have 15 minutes left to eat, but I'm not that hungry. Toodles :)

Later today...

Things got better after I ate more Chinese food and went on my computer. Katie came upstairs to change, and then she and Dan went to Angela's Christmas party. I refuse to call Angela my 'grandmother', as she is, from what I've heard, a nasty woman, so she shall be called Angela. Well, and a few other names, but I'll call her Angela in this blog.

Dad made grilled cheese and tomato soup for us for dinner, which was really nice of him. Mom didn't have any, though. Dad had processed Swiss cheese slices in his grilled cheese, and I had cheddar cheese - not processed, though. We have no processed cheddar slices left, just the brick o' cheddar cheese - either Black Diamond or Cracker Barrel, I can't remember. But, oddly enough, the grilled cheese and tomato soup cheered me up.

Well, THAT was pointless.

My sister Katie and her boyfriend Dan are over. I came down to see them, then went back upstairs because Dad was being a jerk. When I came down, Dad asked me if I was going with them. Where? I asked. Indigo and Michaels. So I had to wolf down leftover Chinese take-out and get ready to go out. Mom got pissed off because I was rushing. Katie was telling me the temperature in Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, and asked me, "What are you, American?" to which I replied, "I'm Transylvanian, bitch." I was joking, but she said, "This bitch is driving." So I said I was joking. And when I was putting on my ski jacket, my mom yelled, "Why are you wearing your ski jacket?" or something like that, so I put on my brown hoodie instead. After some yelling and screaming, we all piled into their rental car and went to Indigo.

(I was screaming and yelling and crying because I was under the impression that they were on their way out the door. When I told them I needed to eat, my mom said they were practically on their way out. Huh.)

Since it's close to Christmas, I didn't get any CDs at Indigo, although I was very tempted to get 80s Gold, or Bruce Springsteen: Greatest Hits, or Rush: Gold or perhaps Cat Stevens: Gold. Instead, Mom got British 80s Gold and we got The Essential Blues Brothers for Dad.

I got so pissed off when we were in Michaels, because I only got to look at the yarn for a minute or so. I wanted to see if there was discount yarn, or maybe look at some needles. But no, we looked at garlands and ornaments, but I only got to look at a few displays of yarn. I didn't get to go into the aisles and look.

Well, I have to go to Chapters soon to get the new issue of Knit.1, so maybe I'll get to the Michaels in Ancaster.

How many orthodontists does it take to change a lightbulb?

I came up with htis little joke before leaving for my orthodontist appointment. It goes...

Q: How many orthodontists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: I don't know, they're always overbooked.

Hehe :)

Actually, today wasn't too bad, for an afternoon appointment, although it could've gone by quicker if they didn't book so many people in the afternoons. I still have to wear that stupid partial retainer on my bottom teeth, the one that only covers the bottom-front teeth.

And why oh why do I always see cute guys in the orthodontist's office? There was one guy who was quite cute, seated in the other row of dentist chairs. Then he got moved to the chair beside his, and I was moved to his old chair, so that was pretty awesome. He wears retainers, too. Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name. Dammit!

Another upside to the appointment was, well, two things. The first is that I did a good deed - someone came in while I was waiting to be called in for my appointment, and a piece of paper came out of her coat. It looked like a bus transfer slip or something. I walked over, picked it up and asked, "Did someone drop this?" One of the young women who came in said it was hers, and thanked me when I handed it to her. The second thing was that one of the hygienists changed the radio station to that Christmas music station in Boston Buffalo... I think. Sweet! :)

In other news, I found out today that we - that is, me, mom, dad and Katie (I'm not sure about Dan) - are going over to my grandparents for lunch on Sunday. Now, as much as I dislike going to the Unitarian church now that Reverend Barrett is gone, I hope we can get to this week's service, because I think it's the inter-generational service, meaning that the Sunday School kids might be singing, or involved in the service in some way.

So... what should I wear to my grandparents' house on Sunday? My 'Dangerously Overeducated' shirt? I would break out my 'Things They Don't Teach You in School' shirt, but it has holes in it. Oh well.

Or maybe I could wash my 'Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic' shirt and wear that!

My swap package came!!!

It came! It came!




Sorry about the size of the picture. The yarn is Claudia Hand Painted Fingering Silk 55. And I also got chocolates!!! Thanks, Ari! :)

I also did some Christmas shopping today - I can't say what Dad and I got, because it's for Mom, and she's in the room at the moment. Eeep. All I can say is that she'll be happy :)

Dad paid my library fines, which makes me happy. Turns out that the fine for SNL was only about $2. I picked up a knitting book called Boutique Knits (which has a pattern for an earflap hat that uses super chunky!) and a book on Led Zeppelin called When Giants Walked the Earth, which is so thick that I had to take Little Women out of the top drawer of my night table to make room for it. I also had to shove stuff around in that drawer, because the book is wide, too!

ETA: Mom had to take the photo because my computer doesn't like my keychain camera, so Mom took the picture and e-mailed it to me, and it went in my Flickr.

Cleaning up the house

Well, that's one thing I'll be able to cross off my holiday to-do list - helping Mom clean up the house for Christmas. Mom did a lot - washed the windows, wiped the bookcase, swept behind the bookcase, etc. I helped to dust off the books and such, and I cleaned out the cat's litter pan and put fresh litter in it, changed the bathroom garbage, put the living room curtains in the wash, and I still had time to shower, 'cause I wanna smell half-decent tomorrow - Dad and I are supposed to go Christmas shopping for Mom tomorrow morning, and I have to drop off my DVDs at the library and pick up a couple of items there.

I also watched The Santa Clause today, which is one of my favourite holiday movies. I actually hadn't seen it in a while, so I was able to pick up on some of the more mature jokes that I had missed when I was younger, like: "You're flying!" "I'm used to it, I lived through the sixties!"

Speaking of the sixties, I watched Monterey Pop today. It was pretty cool - I especially loved Janis Joplin singing 'Ball and Chain' with Big Brother and the Holding Company. What an awesome performance.

What an absurd morning.

I woke up at around 7-ish because one of the dogs was whining. I waited before going upstairs, because I thought I heard the TV on upstairs, so I figured, If Dad's up, he'll hear them and let them out, if he isn't, I'll go let them out.

So anyways, I went upstairs to let them out, and I stupidly forgot to put the baby gate up first, so they went upstairs to bug Mom. So I called to them in what I thought was a mid-range voice, "Come on, guys, out for a pee!", or something like that, and Mom said in a pissed-off hiss to be quiet, or don't yell, or something. Grr.

So then I let them outside - or did Mom let them out? Oh, I can't remember, but the dogs went out anyway. Mom told me, "I was going to let them out." Here I am, trying to be nice and let the dogs out, and not only do I get told off for yelling when I was trying to keep my voice down (it's kinda hard for dogs to hear whispers, don't you think?), but I get told that I didn't need to let them out. Huh.

It was 7:20-ish when I looked at the microwave's clock. I went back to bed, hoping to get some more sleep since I pretty much woke up for nothing. I don't think I got to sleep until 8:00-ish or just before 8. When I woke up again at around 10-ish, I listened to the radio for a bit, and I didn't actually go upstairs again until about 11:45-ish. Wow, I'm using '-ish' a lot. haha. The reasons I waited to get out of bed were: 1) I was warm, and 2) I needed to shower, but I couldn't because Mom was washing dishes, so there was really no point in me getting out of bed only to wait to be able to shower. I decided to wait to shower until noon-ish because of a massive dump in the toilet that probably smelled foul. It was still a little whiffy when I got in the shower.

The good news: I remembered to give my face a wash! AND put moisterizer on!

For John

On this day in 1980, John Winston Lennon was shot. He was not just a musician. He was a man of peace.

RIP John Lennon, 1940 - 1980

Mind Games:



Instant Karma:




Give Peace a Chance (contains some violence):




Imagine:




Stand by Me:




Mother:




Happy Xmas/War is Over:

I got a necklace :)

We went to the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre's Christmas bazaar this morning. I got a pretty blue necklace - a long necklace. I don't own many long necklaces, so that's why I got one. It'll look awesome with my white sleeveless top and a pair of jeans :)

We went to Zarky's afterwards, where Mom got pissed off because Dad wandered off to look for kitchen utensils and pots and stuff, which they didn't have. I got pissed off because Mom didn't want to get any danishes because they didn't 'look very nice'. So what? She didn't have to get one if she didn't want to, but that shouldn't stop me from getting one. Dammit. We did get sausage rolls for lunch, though.

Then it was off to Sobey's, and then back home, where Mom put the sausage rolls in the oven to heat up. They were tasty - I think there's still one left, but I think three's enough for me, om nom nom :) Mom actually let us get Nutella. We haven't had Nutella or a similar chocolate-hazelnut spread in the house for months! So I also had a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich.

Then Dad and I went out again, because he had errands to run and I had to take that Beatles book back to the library. I had about $1.50 in fines, and now I have another $1.50 and counting, because the book didn't get checked in til later, and I'm still borrowing season two of SNL. Mom says she'll pay the fines for SNL, though.

I hate having to pay 25 cents a day for everything now. Damn teen card :(

Fridaaaaaaaaaayyyy :)

Now then. The MSN conversations.

I think it was last week that I spoke to Max on MSN, and he wants to read my NaNoWriMo novel when it's done. Now, I'll have to do some editing, but afterwards I might let him read it. I haven't decided yet.

Holly also asked to read it. I can't remember when she asked - a week ago? Two weeks ago?

I spoke to Erica for a bit, too. And she had the nerve to say that a 50k word novel was 'hardly a novel'. But when I told her the novels were only rough drafts, she said 'nvm', or something like that. So.... yeah.

I think I'm going to skip youth group for the month of December. I really don't feel like going from 'holiday cheer' mode to 'defend the mouth against a cushion attack' mode. I want to enjoy December, and I'm gonna enjoy it whether people like it or not.

So I did some Christmas shopping today, speaking of the holidays. Mom and I got some stuff for Dad, so that means I just have to finish Justin's scarf and get something for Mom - and maybe something for Breanne. I've decided not to make her that Calorimetry. I guess I'm feeling like a selfish knitter. But you know what? I rarely spend money on myself, and when I do, I often feel bad about spending the money. Maybe I should be a little self-indulgent, since Erica is being a narcissist, my brother rarely calls, and my grandparents continue to degrade my parents and I.

Life is bloody beautiful.

On the upside, Doctor Who and Don't Forget the Lyrics! are on tonight. And I still have time to volunteer for the Holiday Music Sunday if I want to, although I might not. I really want to sing 'Walking in the Air' from The Snowman, but at the same time I'm pissed off that our minister isn't coming back.

Oh, and I watched another holiday movie - a version of A Christmas Carol. It was a black-and-white version, although it wasn't the version I'm familiar with. This one was an American version, and the one I had seen before was a British version. It was still good, though. Elf is going to be on soon - Sunday, I think - on CBC, although CBC has a nasty habit of butchering movies to fit commercials in. They did that with Love Actually last year. Well, now we own Love Actually, so we'll probably watch the DVD.

Hey, it's Thursday...

...and that was quite possibly one of my most boring titles yet :p

But my day wasn't too boring. I had a weird dream about winning We Will Rock You tickets - which is strange, because I never win concert tickets, never mind musical tickets. I totally freaked out earlier because my computer went all funky when I opened Scrabble. It works fine, though, it was just readjusting the monitor for the game. But Mom yelled at me for freaking out: "Right away you're panicking!!!" Or something like that. I don't remember her exact words, and quite frankly, I don't really care.

Yesterday, on the other hand...

The good news

1. I picked up my stuff from the library.
2. We got Swiss Chalet Festive Meals for dinner - including the Lindt chocolates!!! And I didn't get stiffed on my chocolates this time!!!

The not-so-good

1. I forgot to take We're Going to See the Beatles! back. And it's overdue, too.
2. Someone stepped on my feet at Swiss Chalet, but that was my own fault. I had my feet sticking out.

I forgot to tell you, dear reader, about my MSN conversations with Holly and Max! But I have to go now - Coronation Street is coming on. See ya.

"I'm just a sweet transvestite..."

Okay, not really, but I'm listening to the Rocky Horror soundtrack.

So I was watching season two of SNL yesterday afternoon, and on one of the episodes - it was the episode just before the Christmas of '76 - Frank Zappa was the musical guest. I had only really heard one whole Zappa tune before watching that episode, I had only heard snippets of songs from the radio ad for the Zappa Plays Zappa concert a while back.

The first thing that seemed to grab me was how skinny Frank Zappa was. It started out with Frank singing, and then he yelled, "Take it away, Don Pardo!", and Don Pardo announced the sentances on the blackboard that Frank pointed to with a wooden pointing stick. I can't really remember what the sentances were, but one of them had something to do with 'selling the rights to your soul'. Later on in the performance, the camera panned over to one of the monitors, where some kind of paste was oozing out of something above the monitor, which freaked me out a little, but the music was brilliant.

Something tells me that Frank Zappa was an under-appreciated genius. Dad once said that he was a musician who basically gave the musical finger to people who didn't like him, or something like that.

Frank appeared in one of the skits, too - the 'Killer Christmas Trees' skit. They had two Christmas trees and Frank as the suspects lined up for the witness to see to point out the killer. One of the cops (I think he was portrayed by Dan Aykroyd) said, "Simon says, shake your branches!" The 'trees' shook their branches and Frank put a hand by his chest and wiggled his fingers. The cop said, "Simon says, shake your ornaments!" The 'trees' shook thier ornaments and Frank played with the buttons on the coat he wore in the skit. Then the cop said, "Kill the person next to you!", and the tree beside Frank 'killed' him - but it didn't really kill him, folks!

I might have to start listening to Frank Zappa. The library by our house has a couple of Zappa albums, actually...

And my left eye is freakin' sore. Thanks, O Changing Weather!

One-day project!!!

I made a headband today. Seamed it myself, too, using one of the yarn tails. I asked Mom for help, but I actually didn't use her suggestions, I just winged it, I guess. So far, it's durable.

It seems that I'm not able to rip any DVDs. I tried the anime DVDs I have, which are DVD+Rs - it wouldn't rip 'em, just play 'em. Same with the black belt DVD I got with my belt. Oh well, it was worth a try. It seems that the discs are only compatible with Windows Media Player, too, which I don't understand. I'll have to tinker with it.

And now, for something completely different (I hope Mr Cleese doesn't mind me using that quote!)...