So apparently I lack the ability to remember to blog! ;P
I finished my brother's hat just in time for Christmas. I wound up not using the Brangelina Hat pattern, because the brim turned out to be twice the size it needed to be - I'm not sure if there was an error in the pattern or what, but it was gigantic. My mom helped me to re-do the hat by measuring my head (because my brother and I have similarly-shaped heads), measuring the gauge, and casting on enough stitches to the measurements. It turned out great, and he loves it. I might make him a Jayne hat next, when I get a chance to buy the right colours of yarn. A Jayne hat, for those who don't know, is a hat from the series Firefly, worn by the character Jayne Cobb and knit by his mother. I'd forgotten all about the hat, since I hadn't watched Firefly in a while, but I found the clip where the hat appears on YouTube...
I think I've seen some Jayne hats made in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, so I might make one out of that for my brother - that way it'll be plenty warm. I made his toque out of Thick & Quick, so I know it works good for hats.
I also made an earwarmer for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup (otherwise known as HPKCHC). It turned out to be a bit tall, but I may try shrinking it in the wash. Either way, it covers my ears, and it can double as a cowl, so I'm not too worried - I'm just a little bit disappointed that it turned out that tall.
I was hoping to knit another object for House Cup, but I'm not sure if I have enough time. I might just work on my Ravenclaw scarf - I'm close to finishing it anyway.
In other news, Christmas went well for me. I got a drop spindle and some roving (yay!) from my parents, as well as sewing books, a book and DVD on spinning, sock-knitting DVDs, the sixth season of Doctor Who, and other lovely things. My brother gave me a PS2 and two PS1 games, and he's letting me borrow some PS2 games until I can buy my own. My sister gave me an aromatherapy bag that she made herself, some books, and some LUSH products.
And so, I draw this post to a close. Hopefully I'll post again soon :)
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
One of those days...
I'm having one of those days when somebody is causing havoc, Christmas stress is growing in the back of my mind, and I have "Gatekeeper" by Feist stuck in my head. I suppose it's less of an earworm than "Prince Charming" by Adam and the Ants...
Anyways. I went to church today, and had a nice time. It was the holiday Music Sunday, which was lovely - I always like Music Sundays. I still feel a bit odd about going to services: since I'm no longer part of the youth group, I feel like there's an empty space I need to fill. It also doesn't help that I'm still bitter about past events, but I digress.
I decided on a different pattern for my brother's hat, because I don't have the right needles for the pattern from DROPS. Instead, I decided on Laurie Perry's Brangelina Hat. I haven't started it yet - I know, I'm lazy - but it's made with super-bulky, so it should knit up quickly. It should also be fairly wind-proof, which is handy.
Well, I'm off to catch up on Emmerdale, one of my favourite British serial dramas. Happy blogging :)
Anyways. I went to church today, and had a nice time. It was the holiday Music Sunday, which was lovely - I always like Music Sundays. I still feel a bit odd about going to services: since I'm no longer part of the youth group, I feel like there's an empty space I need to fill. It also doesn't help that I'm still bitter about past events, but I digress.
I decided on a different pattern for my brother's hat, because I don't have the right needles for the pattern from DROPS. Instead, I decided on Laurie Perry's Brangelina Hat. I haven't started it yet - I know, I'm lazy - but it's made with super-bulky, so it should knit up quickly. It should also be fairly wind-proof, which is handy.
Well, I'm off to catch up on Emmerdale, one of my favourite British serial dramas. Happy blogging :)
Monday, December 5, 2011
"What's occurring?"
So, I'm still alive ;D I haven't been posting because NaNoWriMo was eating my soul. For those who may be reading this for the first time, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, and that takes place in November - which is the reason for my absence.
I've not done much knitting, but I did get an extra skein of blue yarn for my Ravenclaw scarf. It's going to be very, very wide - I'm hoping it'll tighten up once it's washed. I probably should have gone down a needle size, but I was worried that the scarf would be too stiff. It doesn't matter too much - it'll be warm, and my ski jacket is loose enough to accommodate a thick scarf. I'll need a thick scarf in case we get dumped on with snow in January.
Also, I'm seriously considering making my brother a hat for Christmas. I have a skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in a gender-neutral colour that's been kicking around in a yarn bin for a while, so I should put it to good use. He could use a spare hat, anyway. I've been looking at patterns, and I found this one by DROPS Design. I keep forgetting that DROPS has lots of nice patterns in super-bulky yarn, so if you have a lot of that weight of yarn, take a look at their patterns.
I still have a ton of Christmas shopping to do, and it's making me slightly batty. I've got ideas for the people I need to shop for, but I feel like I'm running out of shopping days, even though it's only the fifth of December. I like getting my shopping done early, though.
Anyway, that's what's been happening lately. I'll try to make a habit of posting more often. Until next time...
I've not done much knitting, but I did get an extra skein of blue yarn for my Ravenclaw scarf. It's going to be very, very wide - I'm hoping it'll tighten up once it's washed. I probably should have gone down a needle size, but I was worried that the scarf would be too stiff. It doesn't matter too much - it'll be warm, and my ski jacket is loose enough to accommodate a thick scarf. I'll need a thick scarf in case we get dumped on with snow in January.
Also, I'm seriously considering making my brother a hat for Christmas. I have a skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in a gender-neutral colour that's been kicking around in a yarn bin for a while, so I should put it to good use. He could use a spare hat, anyway. I've been looking at patterns, and I found this one by DROPS Design. I keep forgetting that DROPS has lots of nice patterns in super-bulky yarn, so if you have a lot of that weight of yarn, take a look at their patterns.
I still have a ton of Christmas shopping to do, and it's making me slightly batty. I've got ideas for the people I need to shop for, but I feel like I'm running out of shopping days, even though it's only the fifth of December. I like getting my shopping done early, though.
Anyway, that's what's been happening lately. I'll try to make a habit of posting more often. Until next time...
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Big Holiday Post
I might have to save this post and continue it later. We'll see :)
First, I shall start with Christmas Eve.
I got up at 7, so that I could shower and eat breakfast before my dad and I went to buy cannoli for our Christmas Day breakfast. I think I've talked about this before: we buy cannoli and other pastries from our local Italian bakery for Christmas Day breakfast. We also had to go to the grocery store to buy bread and cucumbers for our Boxing Day appetizer get-together - we had my Uncle Brent, Heather, and Heather's daughters over to our house for Boxing Day.
We went to the grocery store first to pick up the bread and cucumbers, and we also picked up a turkey TV dinner as a gag for my sister, who had mentioned that she didn't like pork (we had crown roast of pork for Christmas dinner) and would've preferred turkey ;) Despite the fact that the couple behind us in the check-out were a bit pushy (they complained a little about the line-up, and then pushed past my dad and I as I was trying to head to the exit), I was somewhat cheerful. There was a little kid jabbering away in her mom's shopping cart in the check-out line beside ours', which was really cute :)
After that, we headed to the bakery, but they weren't open yet. Another patron was waiting in his car when we pulled up to find a parking spot, and he laughed when he saw us. We sat in the car for a few minutes, then joined the line-up outside the door. The place got pretty packed when they opened the door; but despite the amount of people, the line progressed pretty quickly. I think it was because a number of people pre-ordered their cannoli. Dad always says he'll pre-order, and never does ;P
The rest of Christmas Eve consisted of cleaning, and wrapping presents. Fortunately, most of the stuff I got for people wasn't too tricky to wrap - it was just my brother's meat tenderizer that was tricky. After watching George Stroumboulopoulos's Christmas special, I went to bed so that my parents could wrap my stuff - and just before they started wrapping, I remembered I had to fill my hot water bottle, so I hurried upstairs to do that :p
And now, Christmas Day!
Christmas morning was very peaceful. After I got up, my dad put the kettle on for coffee and tea, and then we emptied our stockings. Mine was jam-packed with stuff - I can't remember everything that was in it, but I can tell you that it contained a new mug, a bath mitt, a box of Walnut Whips from our local British imports shop, Coronation Street playing cards (I imagine those were from the British imports shop as well), and a 'things to do' paper pad, to list things that are 'not done', 'almost done' and 'so done'. Pretty neat stuff :)
As for my main gifts, they were:
THE FIFTH SEASON OF DOCTOR WHO!!!
The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu
Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin
Tokyo Godfathers on DVD
Home for the Holidays on DVD (now I don't have to wait for it to be on TV!)
The Heavy's The House That Dirt Built
A set of Ralph Lauren sheets in pink, green and orange stripes :)
As you can probably tell, I'm very excited about the fifth season of Doctor Who :D I didn't get to watch it on TV, because Space is the only channel in Canada that carries it, and we aren't subscribed to it.
After we opened presents, my mom and I tidied up the spare room for my sister to use while my dad went to pick up Nathan (my brother) and Steph (his girlfriend). We had to hurriedly wrap the knit throw blanket my mom made because she decided to give it to my brother, and we had it wrapped just in time for when they arrived - I literally brought it downstairs and put it under our awesome red tinsel tree as they were taking their shoes off and saying hello to the dogs! :p
From my brother and Steph, I got a bag of assorted candies: two boxes of Pocky (I had asked for Pocky because they know a place that carries the fancier flavours), a box of Lemon Heads, some Necco Candy Buttons, a Chupa Chup, a candy stick that I'm not sure what the flavour is, a mini Cow Tail (a caramel fudge candy), a box of Japanese candies that Nathan wasn't quite sure what they are (they're some kind of strawberry candy, from what the packaging says), and a pouch of Pop Rocks. My parents got similar bags of candy, but instead of the Pocky and the unknown box of Japanese candies they got Malteasers and Peanut Butter Bats. I don't think they got the Candy Buttons, though, or the Lemon Heads.
At around 2:00, we headed to my grandparents' house. My sister was already there, and she gave us her presents to us first. I got a bracelet from Disney World (she had gone to a conference for her pedorthics internship, and the hotel she stayed at was right next to Disney World) and two sweaters from Old Navy - one is a brown and blue argyle cardigan, the other is a black cabled cowl-neck pullover. From my grandparents, I got a set of five pairs of earrings from Avon, a red and black wallet-on-a-string also from Avon and a Chapters Indigo gift card. I don't know how much is on the gift card, though, because Grandpa didn't write the amount on it.
Uncle Brent, Heather, Heather's daughters and their aunt arrived shortly after we did, and we gave Brent and Heather their wedding gift and watched Grandpa open the gift that Brent, Heather and my mom got for him (a new TV for in the kitchen, to replace the one he had), and we left afterwards.
When we got home, Katie opened her stuff from us and we ate dinner: crown roast of pork, mashed potatoes, turnip (which I didn't eat, because I don't like turnip), Brussels' sprouts, dressing, and lamb sausages for Katie. The pork was very yummy. We had trifle for dessert after we'd all digested dinner.
Lastly, Boxing Day.
We did more tidying up before Brent, Heather and the girls came to our house. Brent put on the World Junior Hockey game on and we snacked on cheese and crackers, veggies and pickle dip, chicken liver pate, smoked trout pinwheels, smoked salmon devilled eggs, kielbasa, and Christmas cookies. After the hockey game, Nathan plugged in his Nintendo GameCube, and I watched Nathan, Katie and Heather's daughters play Mario Kart Double Dash - which was highly entertaining.
After Brent, Heather and the girls left, Dad put on Kill Bill: Vol. I on MoviePix. I was pretty happy about this, because I hadn't been able to see all of Vol. I when it premiered on the movie channels, because Mom didn't want me watching past the hospital scene for some reason. I guess she thought the fight scene in the Japanese nightclub was too graphic for me :p Anyway, I absolutely loved it. MoviePix was showing Volumes I and II back-to-back, but I only got to see the first fifteen minutes of Vol. II because it was on really late and Mom wanted everyone to go to bed :p
So, that was my Christmas :) Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season!
First, I shall start with Christmas Eve.
I got up at 7, so that I could shower and eat breakfast before my dad and I went to buy cannoli for our Christmas Day breakfast. I think I've talked about this before: we buy cannoli and other pastries from our local Italian bakery for Christmas Day breakfast. We also had to go to the grocery store to buy bread and cucumbers for our Boxing Day appetizer get-together - we had my Uncle Brent, Heather, and Heather's daughters over to our house for Boxing Day.
We went to the grocery store first to pick up the bread and cucumbers, and we also picked up a turkey TV dinner as a gag for my sister, who had mentioned that she didn't like pork (we had crown roast of pork for Christmas dinner) and would've preferred turkey ;) Despite the fact that the couple behind us in the check-out were a bit pushy (they complained a little about the line-up, and then pushed past my dad and I as I was trying to head to the exit), I was somewhat cheerful. There was a little kid jabbering away in her mom's shopping cart in the check-out line beside ours', which was really cute :)
After that, we headed to the bakery, but they weren't open yet. Another patron was waiting in his car when we pulled up to find a parking spot, and he laughed when he saw us. We sat in the car for a few minutes, then joined the line-up outside the door. The place got pretty packed when they opened the door; but despite the amount of people, the line progressed pretty quickly. I think it was because a number of people pre-ordered their cannoli. Dad always says he'll pre-order, and never does ;P
The rest of Christmas Eve consisted of cleaning, and wrapping presents. Fortunately, most of the stuff I got for people wasn't too tricky to wrap - it was just my brother's meat tenderizer that was tricky. After watching George Stroumboulopoulos's Christmas special, I went to bed so that my parents could wrap my stuff - and just before they started wrapping, I remembered I had to fill my hot water bottle, so I hurried upstairs to do that :p
And now, Christmas Day!
Christmas morning was very peaceful. After I got up, my dad put the kettle on for coffee and tea, and then we emptied our stockings. Mine was jam-packed with stuff - I can't remember everything that was in it, but I can tell you that it contained a new mug, a bath mitt, a box of Walnut Whips from our local British imports shop, Coronation Street playing cards (I imagine those were from the British imports shop as well), and a 'things to do' paper pad, to list things that are 'not done', 'almost done' and 'so done'. Pretty neat stuff :)
As for my main gifts, they were:
THE FIFTH SEASON OF DOCTOR WHO!!!
The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu
Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love by Larry Levin
Tokyo Godfathers on DVD
Home for the Holidays on DVD (now I don't have to wait for it to be on TV!)
The Heavy's The House That Dirt Built
A set of Ralph Lauren sheets in pink, green and orange stripes :)
As you can probably tell, I'm very excited about the fifth season of Doctor Who :D I didn't get to watch it on TV, because Space is the only channel in Canada that carries it, and we aren't subscribed to it.
After we opened presents, my mom and I tidied up the spare room for my sister to use while my dad went to pick up Nathan (my brother) and Steph (his girlfriend). We had to hurriedly wrap the knit throw blanket my mom made because she decided to give it to my brother, and we had it wrapped just in time for when they arrived - I literally brought it downstairs and put it under our awesome red tinsel tree as they were taking their shoes off and saying hello to the dogs! :p
From my brother and Steph, I got a bag of assorted candies: two boxes of Pocky (I had asked for Pocky because they know a place that carries the fancier flavours), a box of Lemon Heads, some Necco Candy Buttons, a Chupa Chup, a candy stick that I'm not sure what the flavour is, a mini Cow Tail (a caramel fudge candy), a box of Japanese candies that Nathan wasn't quite sure what they are (they're some kind of strawberry candy, from what the packaging says), and a pouch of Pop Rocks. My parents got similar bags of candy, but instead of the Pocky and the unknown box of Japanese candies they got Malteasers and Peanut Butter Bats. I don't think they got the Candy Buttons, though, or the Lemon Heads.
At around 2:00, we headed to my grandparents' house. My sister was already there, and she gave us her presents to us first. I got a bracelet from Disney World (she had gone to a conference for her pedorthics internship, and the hotel she stayed at was right next to Disney World) and two sweaters from Old Navy - one is a brown and blue argyle cardigan, the other is a black cabled cowl-neck pullover. From my grandparents, I got a set of five pairs of earrings from Avon, a red and black wallet-on-a-string also from Avon and a Chapters Indigo gift card. I don't know how much is on the gift card, though, because Grandpa didn't write the amount on it.
Uncle Brent, Heather, Heather's daughters and their aunt arrived shortly after we did, and we gave Brent and Heather their wedding gift and watched Grandpa open the gift that Brent, Heather and my mom got for him (a new TV for in the kitchen, to replace the one he had), and we left afterwards.
When we got home, Katie opened her stuff from us and we ate dinner: crown roast of pork, mashed potatoes, turnip (which I didn't eat, because I don't like turnip), Brussels' sprouts, dressing, and lamb sausages for Katie. The pork was very yummy. We had trifle for dessert after we'd all digested dinner.
Lastly, Boxing Day.
We did more tidying up before Brent, Heather and the girls came to our house. Brent put on the World Junior Hockey game on and we snacked on cheese and crackers, veggies and pickle dip, chicken liver pate, smoked trout pinwheels, smoked salmon devilled eggs, kielbasa, and Christmas cookies. After the hockey game, Nathan plugged in his Nintendo GameCube, and I watched Nathan, Katie and Heather's daughters play Mario Kart Double Dash - which was highly entertaining.
After Brent, Heather and the girls left, Dad put on Kill Bill: Vol. I on MoviePix. I was pretty happy about this, because I hadn't been able to see all of Vol. I when it premiered on the movie channels, because Mom didn't want me watching past the hospital scene for some reason. I guess she thought the fight scene in the Japanese nightclub was too graphic for me :p Anyway, I absolutely loved it. MoviePix was showing Volumes I and II back-to-back, but I only got to see the first fifteen minutes of Vol. II because it was on really late and Mom wanted everyone to go to bed :p
So, that was my Christmas :) Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season!
Monday, December 13, 2010
We have snow!!!
It snowed last night :)
It was just a dusting at that point, so I was hoping it wouldn't melt in the morning. I woke up this morning and saw a bit more than a dusting when I looked through the living room window, so I was pretty happy about that. Hopefully the weather will be seasonable for Christmas, because last December I didn't get to wear any of the scarves I've made.
In honor of the snow, I give you: 'Walking in the Air', from The Snowman...
I really should find that movie on DVD. Our VHS tape of it won't last forever, and not many TV stations play it over the holidays.
Speaking of TV, this Christmas will be the first Christmas that we've had AMC and TCM. My mom and I watched Meet Me in St. Louis on Saturday, which was nice. And yesterday afternoon we caught the last twenty minutes or so of The Bishop's Wife. I'm hoping to be able to watch A Child's Christmas in Wales, but I don't know if it'll be on TV - sometimes a channel like Knowledge Network or TVO will have it on, but it isn't always on every year. TVO and Knowledge Network are kind of like PBS stations in Canada - they're commercial-free and often have educational programming.
Yesterday afternoon, after we watched The Bishop's Wife, I found one of my favourite Christmas movies, All I Want For Christmas, on YTV. After that was Call Me Claus, which I watched the last half of (I had gone on my computer when it started); and then after that was Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
In knitting news, I'm halfway through my bobble pillow :) I finished the bobble half, and now I'm doing garter stitch for the back half of the pillow - which will be a lot easier on my hands. The bobble side took so long to get through, and my hands hurt from knitting the bobbles in acrylic on metal needles, but the pain was worth it. Now I can zip through the rest of it.
I watched Jonah Hex the other day. It was good - I wasn't totally wowed by it, but it was good. I still have another library DVD, Driving Lessons, to watch. I might watch it tonight if there isn't anything on TV tonight. Or we also have plenty of Christmas movies to watch.
It was just a dusting at that point, so I was hoping it wouldn't melt in the morning. I woke up this morning and saw a bit more than a dusting when I looked through the living room window, so I was pretty happy about that. Hopefully the weather will be seasonable for Christmas, because last December I didn't get to wear any of the scarves I've made.
In honor of the snow, I give you: 'Walking in the Air', from The Snowman...
I really should find that movie on DVD. Our VHS tape of it won't last forever, and not many TV stations play it over the holidays.
Speaking of TV, this Christmas will be the first Christmas that we've had AMC and TCM. My mom and I watched Meet Me in St. Louis on Saturday, which was nice. And yesterday afternoon we caught the last twenty minutes or so of The Bishop's Wife. I'm hoping to be able to watch A Child's Christmas in Wales, but I don't know if it'll be on TV - sometimes a channel like Knowledge Network or TVO will have it on, but it isn't always on every year. TVO and Knowledge Network are kind of like PBS stations in Canada - they're commercial-free and often have educational programming.
Yesterday afternoon, after we watched The Bishop's Wife, I found one of my favourite Christmas movies, All I Want For Christmas, on YTV. After that was Call Me Claus, which I watched the last half of (I had gone on my computer when it started); and then after that was Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
In knitting news, I'm halfway through my bobble pillow :) I finished the bobble half, and now I'm doing garter stitch for the back half of the pillow - which will be a lot easier on my hands. The bobble side took so long to get through, and my hands hurt from knitting the bobbles in acrylic on metal needles, but the pain was worth it. Now I can zip through the rest of it.
I watched Jonah Hex the other day. It was good - I wasn't totally wowed by it, but it was good. I still have another library DVD, Driving Lessons, to watch. I might watch it tonight if there isn't anything on TV tonight. Or we also have plenty of Christmas movies to watch.
Friday, December 3, 2010
December
So, NaNoWriMo is over, which means I now have time to post regularly. Sorry for the long gap between posts, I was really busy :p
NaNoWriMo actually went pretty well. I'm happy with my novel, unlike last year's novel, which sounded silly to me. Next year, I want to try something completely different - either science fiction or an adventure-type novel (think National Treasure). I started a synopsis for each novel idea, and I have a protagonist for each one as well. I need a break from urban fantasy writing... :p
Now that NaNoWriMo is done, I'm itching to read a lot of books. I started Un Lun Dun by China Miéville, but I'm still in the prologue because I couldn't focus on it when I started it. I read a bit more today, but got distracted because the dogs wanted inside. I'll probably read more later.
But there's so many books I want to read. I really want to start Terrier by Tamora Pierce again, but I promised myself I'd try to read all of Un Lun Dun. Plus, I have the books I just bought a month or so ago with my Chapters Indigo gift card from my grandparents, which is just too tempting. But Un Lun Dun is a library book, so I kinda have to read that first.
I'm kind of in a panic about what to buy people for Christmas. I have no idea what to get my sister. I have some ideas for my brother and his girlfriend, though, which is comforting. I like to get my shopping done early so that I can relax. I hope to only go into the mall once, to shop for my mom, because the mall gets a little crazy during Christmas shopping season - and sometimes it gets crazy outside of that season. For instance, one year I was in the mall with my dad (I think we were shopping for either Mother's Day or Mom's birthday), and out of nowhere this woman almost walks into us on a diagonal and gave us a pissed-off look.
I'm happy that it's December, though. It means that I can put on the Galaxie Traditional Holiday channel on my TV and sweep the living room, or listen to my holiday playlist on YouTube while on the internet. Speaking of sweeping, I have to vacuum my room...
Anyways, that's my post-NaNo update of sorts. I'll try to post more often :)
NaNoWriMo actually went pretty well. I'm happy with my novel, unlike last year's novel, which sounded silly to me. Next year, I want to try something completely different - either science fiction or an adventure-type novel (think National Treasure). I started a synopsis for each novel idea, and I have a protagonist for each one as well. I need a break from urban fantasy writing... :p
Now that NaNoWriMo is done, I'm itching to read a lot of books. I started Un Lun Dun by China Miéville, but I'm still in the prologue because I couldn't focus on it when I started it. I read a bit more today, but got distracted because the dogs wanted inside. I'll probably read more later.
But there's so many books I want to read. I really want to start Terrier by Tamora Pierce again, but I promised myself I'd try to read all of Un Lun Dun. Plus, I have the books I just bought a month or so ago with my Chapters Indigo gift card from my grandparents, which is just too tempting. But Un Lun Dun is a library book, so I kinda have to read that first.
I'm kind of in a panic about what to buy people for Christmas. I have no idea what to get my sister. I have some ideas for my brother and his girlfriend, though, which is comforting. I like to get my shopping done early so that I can relax. I hope to only go into the mall once, to shop for my mom, because the mall gets a little crazy during Christmas shopping season - and sometimes it gets crazy outside of that season. For instance, one year I was in the mall with my dad (I think we were shopping for either Mother's Day or Mom's birthday), and out of nowhere this woman almost walks into us on a diagonal and gave us a pissed-off look.
I'm happy that it's December, though. It means that I can put on the Galaxie Traditional Holiday channel on my TV and sweep the living room, or listen to my holiday playlist on YouTube while on the internet. Speaking of sweeping, I have to vacuum my room...
Anyways, that's my post-NaNo update of sorts. I'll try to post more often :)
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Christmas Wrap-up
This holiday season has been interesting. I'll start with Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve
I woke up at 7:00 AM to the ringing of my alarm clock. I set it for 7 so that I could shower before me and Dad went to get the cannoli for Christmas Day breakfast. When we got to the bakery, it was around 9:00, and they didn't open until 9:30, so we had to attempt other errands for the half hour. I say 'attempt' because we weren't successful. We stopped at Winners to look for an ornament for Mom, but they weren't open, so we tried Shoppers Drug Mart because Dad wanted to get Mom a Terry's Chocolate Orange for her stocking, but they were cleaned out of the milk chocolate and white chocolate ones. We didn't get her a dark chocolate one because she isn't keen on dark chocolate unless it's mild dark chocolate.
Now that I think about it, we should've seen if the Dutch imports shop in the little shopping mall was still open for business, because they carry a different brand of the chocolate oranges. That mall's being demolished, though, because a SmartCentre is going in.
We did some last-minute cleaning, and then after we had our Harvey's hamburgers I put on It's a Wonderful Life. Katie and Dan got in at around 9:30 PM, and me and Dad helped them haul stuff out of the trunk of Katie's car (she bought a used Toyota recently) because not only did she have her gifts to us, but she also had Dan's family's gifts to him and Katie.
Christmas Day
I can't remember when I eventually got out of bed. I just remember not wanting to get up. I felt kinda sad that morning. Lately I've been feeling sad about holidays. I guess that's why I listen to so many Christmas songs and watch so many Christmas movies - because I'm trying to distract myself from the future and cheer myself up.
It wound up being a great Christmas morning. We ate out cannoli first - Dan gave me the other mini Yule Log, which was nice of him. Normally I think we would open presents first and then eat, so it felt a little odd. And then Katie was like, "Dan, finish your cannoli so that I can give you your stocking!" It was cute. And we put on Bell TV's Yule Log channel, but we muted it so that we could put the stereo on and listen to the CBC.
So, in my stocking, I got:
A bag of red licorice allsorts (because I'm not crazy about black licorice much)
Two Sherbet Fountains
Three little bags of British candy - one of Jelly Babies (which I ate this afternoon), one of Bursting Bottles, and one of Fruit Gems (?)
Two trios of nail polish
A pouch of lip balms
A bottle of anti-frizz hair serum
Two pairs of tights
A nail buffer
A marzipan pig
A bag of coconut truffles (I ate a few)
A bag of toffees
Mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner
From Katie and Dan, I got:
A Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll
Bookends
A CD holder that matches the bookends
Leonard Cohen's first CD
From my parents, I got:
16" circular needles
Woolwash
A pink Namaste bag!!!!
Fleecy pajamas
A fleecy houndstooth-print robe
A sleep shirt
The soundtrack from Juno
Bob Dylan's Christmas album
A self-healing rotary cutting mat
A rotary cutter
After we finished unwrapping gifts, Katie and Dan drove down to Nathan's place to pick up him and Steph (I've been calling them Kurt and Courtney ;p). Nathan actually like the hamburger patty press thing I gave him, because he makes burgers a lot, from what he told us. He and Steph gave me a white shortie fleece robe with skulls on it in different colours - kinda pop art-y. I like it.
I freaked out when I was getting ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's, because I couldn't fit into my pantyhose, and then in a fit of rage I whacked my heel on the underside of my bed and it started bleeding, so Katie came down to see if I was okay, and then got some peroxide and a bandage for my heel and helped me with my clothes. I wound up wearing my black eyelet kneesocks instead of pantyhose, because kneesocks are idiot-proof and look flattering.
I went with Katie and Dan in their car to Grandma and Grandpa's place, and Dad took the food first and then picked Mom up from the house. When I got there, Patti's friend Lorraine was there, talking to Grandma (thankfully, she didn't stay for dinner - probably because Patti wasn't there). Me and Grandma talked a little bit, and then Uncle Brent, Justin and Breanne arrived. Not long after that, Mom arrived. And then Grandma asked us to change the tablecloth on the table in the living room because Grandpa had put down a beige-coloured one with grapes on it, and she preferred the solid white tablecloth. It was funny.
Once everybody was sitting in the living room, Grandpa started handing out gifts. I got two books off my list (Terrier by Tamora Pierce and Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr), a clock radio (which I didn't think I needed, because I have my wind-up alarm clock, but I like it and will probably use it) and a hoodie from Aeropostale. Grandpa even asked me to try it on to make sure it fitted okay, and it did. Breanne and Justin got Aeropostale stuff, too. At first, Breanne told Grandpa that her stuff wouldn't fit, but she tried it on and it fit well. She really liked the green and purple shirt she got. Katie, Uncle Brent and Mom all got these Magic Bullet blenders, Dan got a Transformers DVD, and Dad got a bottle of Jack Daniel's and a case of Dr Pepper - which was really funny, because it's Dad's new favourite drink, and he keeps telling people about it. Justin got a book off his list also, and Katie got the Wilton cake decorating course kit she asked for. She's pretty happy about that kit :)
Dinner wasn't as pleasant. I was at the table in the living room with Katie, Dan, Breanne and Uncle Brent. Brent was being a complete ass, bitching at Breanne about irrelevant things. He wanted her to put on her button-down shirt that she had with her, even though it was roasting in the living room (it got so warm that Grandpa asked people to open the front door for a few minutes). And he even had the nerve to tell her, "Go to your mother's." Now, Breanne was being a little bit of a madam, but she would be keeping to herself and eating dinner and Brent would pick fights with her. It pissed me off immensely. If I wasn't trapped between Dan and the Christmas tree, I would've left the table, I was that mad.
Dessert was a little more civil. I ate my trifle like a jackhammer, though, because I was so mad at Brent, and when I went to grab some cookies and squares from the platter, I sat at the kitchen table with Mom, Grandma, Grandpa and Jack instead. After dessert, we hung around while Brent, Breanne and Justin were leaving (Brent forgot his laundry and hair gel from when he used Grandma and Grandpa's shower 'cause his cistern was empty at home, and he was supposed to take the raw veggies and dip with him, but forgot that too, so Katie grabbed it all and put it in her car).
Boxing Day
I ate a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. As usual, after I eat, somebody offers to pick up take-out. In this case, it was Katie offering to pick up breakfast from McDonald's. She asked me if I wanted anything, though, which was nice, so I asked for hotcakes. She asked me if I wanted a hashbrown patty, too, so I said yes. I like McDonald's hotcakes. There was no butter in the bag, but that was fine. I just ate them plain.
Katie picked up Nathan at around 1:00. Steph didn't come because she wasn't feeling well, apparently - I'll believe it when I see it. Hey, I wonder if she was... never mind. Not gonna say it. Bad, bad taste.
Anyway. I put on jeans and my red shirt with 'I'm sorry. My fault. I forgot you were an idiot.' printed on it in white. It's another gem from Giant Tiger. I took Blood and Chocolate with me in case I got bored (Mom thought it was rude, but too bad). I managed to read a page, or almost a page, on the way. It was hard to read in the van because it isn't as smooth a ride as the Honda, so my book kept wobbling. It was really soggy outside, but a pretty kind of soggy. The natural light was good for reading, and I wish I'd taken my camera with me 'cause the scenery was really pretty. I saw horses. And cattle. Or maybe they were bulls. I think they were cows, though. But the sky itself was really pretty - very dark and overcast with a little stripe of light on the horizon. It would've been a great shot to use for a book cover for my NaNoWriMo '09 novel.
Brent was on his best behavior. I think it was because Heather (his girlfriend) and her kids were there, and Breanne and Justin were at their mom's. If Breanne had been there, he may have even been civil to her, just because of Heather being there and him wanting to impress her. Yeah, Brent, you're sooo Father of the Year. Pfft.
We had ham, green beans, scalloped potatoes (which were really good), sweet potatoes (which were mediocre in comparison to Mom's sweet potato souffle that she made for Christmas Day dinner. That, and Patti brought them.), lasagna (which was soupy and weird - another Patti contribution) corn, and salad. I think my favourite was the scalloped potatoes. It looked like there was onion in them, which was neat.
Heather's girls are adorable. I met Tegan when we went out for Chinese food, but I hadn't met Jenasee until yesterday. Tegan really likes Katie and Dan. Poor Dan became a set of playground monkey bars! ;P
Today
Mom whacked together a blueberry French toast casserole for breakfast last night and baked it off today. It's pretty good. Katie and Dan went out to do some shopping at various places. I'm not sure if they're home yet. This post has taken me a long time to write because Dad has called me down several times to dry dishes.
I'm drinking ginger ale.
I ate the packet of jelly babies that I got in my stocking.
That is all.
Christmas Eve
I woke up at 7:00 AM to the ringing of my alarm clock. I set it for 7 so that I could shower before me and Dad went to get the cannoli for Christmas Day breakfast. When we got to the bakery, it was around 9:00, and they didn't open until 9:30, so we had to attempt other errands for the half hour. I say 'attempt' because we weren't successful. We stopped at Winners to look for an ornament for Mom, but they weren't open, so we tried Shoppers Drug Mart because Dad wanted to get Mom a Terry's Chocolate Orange for her stocking, but they were cleaned out of the milk chocolate and white chocolate ones. We didn't get her a dark chocolate one because she isn't keen on dark chocolate unless it's mild dark chocolate.
Now that I think about it, we should've seen if the Dutch imports shop in the little shopping mall was still open for business, because they carry a different brand of the chocolate oranges. That mall's being demolished, though, because a SmartCentre is going in.
We did some last-minute cleaning, and then after we had our Harvey's hamburgers I put on It's a Wonderful Life. Katie and Dan got in at around 9:30 PM, and me and Dad helped them haul stuff out of the trunk of Katie's car (she bought a used Toyota recently) because not only did she have her gifts to us, but she also had Dan's family's gifts to him and Katie.
Christmas Day
I can't remember when I eventually got out of bed. I just remember not wanting to get up. I felt kinda sad that morning. Lately I've been feeling sad about holidays. I guess that's why I listen to so many Christmas songs and watch so many Christmas movies - because I'm trying to distract myself from the future and cheer myself up.
It wound up being a great Christmas morning. We ate out cannoli first - Dan gave me the other mini Yule Log, which was nice of him. Normally I think we would open presents first and then eat, so it felt a little odd. And then Katie was like, "Dan, finish your cannoli so that I can give you your stocking!" It was cute. And we put on Bell TV's Yule Log channel, but we muted it so that we could put the stereo on and listen to the CBC.
So, in my stocking, I got:
A bag of red licorice allsorts (because I'm not crazy about black licorice much)
Two Sherbet Fountains
Three little bags of British candy - one of Jelly Babies (which I ate this afternoon), one of Bursting Bottles, and one of Fruit Gems (?)
Two trios of nail polish
A pouch of lip balms
A bottle of anti-frizz hair serum
Two pairs of tights
A nail buffer
A marzipan pig
A bag of coconut truffles (I ate a few)
A bag of toffees
Mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner
From Katie and Dan, I got:
A Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll
Bookends
A CD holder that matches the bookends
Leonard Cohen's first CD
From my parents, I got:
16" circular needles
Woolwash
A pink Namaste bag!!!!
Fleecy pajamas
A fleecy houndstooth-print robe
A sleep shirt
The soundtrack from Juno
Bob Dylan's Christmas album
A self-healing rotary cutting mat
A rotary cutter
After we finished unwrapping gifts, Katie and Dan drove down to Nathan's place to pick up him and Steph (I've been calling them Kurt and Courtney ;p). Nathan actually like the hamburger patty press thing I gave him, because he makes burgers a lot, from what he told us. He and Steph gave me a white shortie fleece robe with skulls on it in different colours - kinda pop art-y. I like it.
I freaked out when I was getting ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's, because I couldn't fit into my pantyhose, and then in a fit of rage I whacked my heel on the underside of my bed and it started bleeding, so Katie came down to see if I was okay, and then got some peroxide and a bandage for my heel and helped me with my clothes. I wound up wearing my black eyelet kneesocks instead of pantyhose, because kneesocks are idiot-proof and look flattering.
I went with Katie and Dan in their car to Grandma and Grandpa's place, and Dad took the food first and then picked Mom up from the house. When I got there, Patti's friend Lorraine was there, talking to Grandma (thankfully, she didn't stay for dinner - probably because Patti wasn't there). Me and Grandma talked a little bit, and then Uncle Brent, Justin and Breanne arrived. Not long after that, Mom arrived. And then Grandma asked us to change the tablecloth on the table in the living room because Grandpa had put down a beige-coloured one with grapes on it, and she preferred the solid white tablecloth. It was funny.
Once everybody was sitting in the living room, Grandpa started handing out gifts. I got two books off my list (Terrier by Tamora Pierce and Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr), a clock radio (which I didn't think I needed, because I have my wind-up alarm clock, but I like it and will probably use it) and a hoodie from Aeropostale. Grandpa even asked me to try it on to make sure it fitted okay, and it did. Breanne and Justin got Aeropostale stuff, too. At first, Breanne told Grandpa that her stuff wouldn't fit, but she tried it on and it fit well. She really liked the green and purple shirt she got. Katie, Uncle Brent and Mom all got these Magic Bullet blenders, Dan got a Transformers DVD, and Dad got a bottle of Jack Daniel's and a case of Dr Pepper - which was really funny, because it's Dad's new favourite drink, and he keeps telling people about it. Justin got a book off his list also, and Katie got the Wilton cake decorating course kit she asked for. She's pretty happy about that kit :)
Dinner wasn't as pleasant. I was at the table in the living room with Katie, Dan, Breanne and Uncle Brent. Brent was being a complete ass, bitching at Breanne about irrelevant things. He wanted her to put on her button-down shirt that she had with her, even though it was roasting in the living room (it got so warm that Grandpa asked people to open the front door for a few minutes). And he even had the nerve to tell her, "Go to your mother's." Now, Breanne was being a little bit of a madam, but she would be keeping to herself and eating dinner and Brent would pick fights with her. It pissed me off immensely. If I wasn't trapped between Dan and the Christmas tree, I would've left the table, I was that mad.
Dessert was a little more civil. I ate my trifle like a jackhammer, though, because I was so mad at Brent, and when I went to grab some cookies and squares from the platter, I sat at the kitchen table with Mom, Grandma, Grandpa and Jack instead. After dessert, we hung around while Brent, Breanne and Justin were leaving (Brent forgot his laundry and hair gel from when he used Grandma and Grandpa's shower 'cause his cistern was empty at home, and he was supposed to take the raw veggies and dip with him, but forgot that too, so Katie grabbed it all and put it in her car).
Boxing Day
I ate a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. As usual, after I eat, somebody offers to pick up take-out. In this case, it was Katie offering to pick up breakfast from McDonald's. She asked me if I wanted anything, though, which was nice, so I asked for hotcakes. She asked me if I wanted a hashbrown patty, too, so I said yes. I like McDonald's hotcakes. There was no butter in the bag, but that was fine. I just ate them plain.
Katie picked up Nathan at around 1:00. Steph didn't come because she wasn't feeling well, apparently - I'll believe it when I see it. Hey, I wonder if she was... never mind. Not gonna say it. Bad, bad taste.
Anyway. I put on jeans and my red shirt with 'I'm sorry. My fault. I forgot you were an idiot.' printed on it in white. It's another gem from Giant Tiger. I took Blood and Chocolate with me in case I got bored (Mom thought it was rude, but too bad). I managed to read a page, or almost a page, on the way. It was hard to read in the van because it isn't as smooth a ride as the Honda, so my book kept wobbling. It was really soggy outside, but a pretty kind of soggy. The natural light was good for reading, and I wish I'd taken my camera with me 'cause the scenery was really pretty. I saw horses. And cattle. Or maybe they were bulls. I think they were cows, though. But the sky itself was really pretty - very dark and overcast with a little stripe of light on the horizon. It would've been a great shot to use for a book cover for my NaNoWriMo '09 novel.
Brent was on his best behavior. I think it was because Heather (his girlfriend) and her kids were there, and Breanne and Justin were at their mom's. If Breanne had been there, he may have even been civil to her, just because of Heather being there and him wanting to impress her. Yeah, Brent, you're sooo Father of the Year. Pfft.
We had ham, green beans, scalloped potatoes (which were really good), sweet potatoes (which were mediocre in comparison to Mom's sweet potato souffle that she made for Christmas Day dinner. That, and Patti brought them.), lasagna (which was soupy and weird - another Patti contribution) corn, and salad. I think my favourite was the scalloped potatoes. It looked like there was onion in them, which was neat.
Heather's girls are adorable. I met Tegan when we went out for Chinese food, but I hadn't met Jenasee until yesterday. Tegan really likes Katie and Dan. Poor Dan became a set of playground monkey bars! ;P
Today
Mom whacked together a blueberry French toast casserole for breakfast last night and baked it off today. It's pretty good. Katie and Dan went out to do some shopping at various places. I'm not sure if they're home yet. This post has taken me a long time to write because Dad has called me down several times to dry dishes.
I'm drinking ginger ale.
I ate the packet of jelly babies that I got in my stocking.
That is all.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Grease and scarf knitting
Mom and Dad were being jerks because of the bass level on the stereo, so I came upstairs and turned on my computer and the little TV. Our satellite TV provider is giving everyone a free preview of AMC until the 31st, and they're playing Grease, so I'm watching that :D
It's making me want to knit my own Pink Ladies' jacket...
So I'm trying to finish up my Ravenclaw scarf to make room for more projects for when the next term on HPKCHC starts. I have the scarf in a drawer on top of my library book (the first Vampire Diaries omnibus - I probably won't finish it for when it's due back) and CDs, and I have a huge project bag in my wardrobe. I can probably lighten the amount of project in my bag if I take my kerchief shawl out and weave the ends in, and if I take out the small zippered bag (which my Ravenclaw scarf might fit into) and my Calorimetry (which needs a button).
I also have the mandrake blanket in a grocery bag, the bobble pillow in a cloth bag, the baby sweater in another cloth bag, and the mobius wrap in my fair trade tote...
Yeah, it's a lot. I know for sure that I want to frog the Thick & Quick vest because it's way too heavy on my shoulders. It's kinda fugly anyway ;) I wouldn't want to wish something that bad on anybody.
I also want to finish my Irish Hiking Scarf...
I might make socks for the Ravelympics. I probably already mentioned that yesterday... lol! And I have a bag that socks could easily fit into - my mom used to use it for making socks before she gave it to me. I just have to clean out the yarn scraps that are in it. Actually, if I have a small project on the go for the first month of the new HPKCHC term, I can use it for that, too.
So, I picked out one of the nougat things that Mom bought and wrapped it for Dan for Christmas. I hope he likes it. I just have to wrap Katie's present and Mom's present, but Mom told me not to wrap hers' until Christmas Eve because she doesn't want to accidentally guess what it is. Knowing Dad, though, he'll probably wait until Christmas Eve to wrap everything for Mom anyway! lol. He's a goof like that.
DUDE. I just had an idea for a Pink Ladies jacket. I could use the mens' jacket pattern from the premiere issue of Knit.1 and just use pink chunky yarn or pink worsted doubled. I have pink worsted, but it's more of a dark-ish rose pink, not a bright, bubblegum pink. Or I can just find a pattern that uses worsted. And then I could embroider the 'Pink Ladies' think on the back. I think embroidering would look better than duplicate stitch. Hmm...
I should reserve those fashion design books from the library that I have on my booklist thing. The library's site has this 'bookbag' thing - well, they don't really call it a 'bookbag' anymore, they just call it the 'list', but it's so that you can keep track of items you want to reserve later. Mine is over 90 items long, lol ;P Anyway, I have a couple of fashion design books on my list, so I might reserve them soonish.
Okay. This is too freaky. Christmas is five days away. That means on Tuesday I'm going to the library. Thursday I'm going with my dad to the bakery to pick up Christmas Day breakfast. And Friday is Christmas Day. Weeeeiirrrrdddd.
The year's going by too fast. It's not fair.
It's making me want to knit my own Pink Ladies' jacket...
So I'm trying to finish up my Ravenclaw scarf to make room for more projects for when the next term on HPKCHC starts. I have the scarf in a drawer on top of my library book (the first Vampire Diaries omnibus - I probably won't finish it for when it's due back) and CDs, and I have a huge project bag in my wardrobe. I can probably lighten the amount of project in my bag if I take my kerchief shawl out and weave the ends in, and if I take out the small zippered bag (which my Ravenclaw scarf might fit into) and my Calorimetry (which needs a button).
I also have the mandrake blanket in a grocery bag, the bobble pillow in a cloth bag, the baby sweater in another cloth bag, and the mobius wrap in my fair trade tote...
Yeah, it's a lot. I know for sure that I want to frog the Thick & Quick vest because it's way too heavy on my shoulders. It's kinda fugly anyway ;) I wouldn't want to wish something that bad on anybody.
I also want to finish my Irish Hiking Scarf...
I might make socks for the Ravelympics. I probably already mentioned that yesterday... lol! And I have a bag that socks could easily fit into - my mom used to use it for making socks before she gave it to me. I just have to clean out the yarn scraps that are in it. Actually, if I have a small project on the go for the first month of the new HPKCHC term, I can use it for that, too.
So, I picked out one of the nougat things that Mom bought and wrapped it for Dan for Christmas. I hope he likes it. I just have to wrap Katie's present and Mom's present, but Mom told me not to wrap hers' until Christmas Eve because she doesn't want to accidentally guess what it is. Knowing Dad, though, he'll probably wait until Christmas Eve to wrap everything for Mom anyway! lol. He's a goof like that.
DUDE. I just had an idea for a Pink Ladies jacket. I could use the mens' jacket pattern from the premiere issue of Knit.1 and just use pink chunky yarn or pink worsted doubled. I have pink worsted, but it's more of a dark-ish rose pink, not a bright, bubblegum pink. Or I can just find a pattern that uses worsted. And then I could embroider the 'Pink Ladies' think on the back. I think embroidering would look better than duplicate stitch. Hmm...
I should reserve those fashion design books from the library that I have on my booklist thing. The library's site has this 'bookbag' thing - well, they don't really call it a 'bookbag' anymore, they just call it the 'list', but it's so that you can keep track of items you want to reserve later. Mine is over 90 items long, lol ;P Anyway, I have a couple of fashion design books on my list, so I might reserve them soonish.
Okay. This is too freaky. Christmas is five days away. That means on Tuesday I'm going to the library. Thursday I'm going with my dad to the bakery to pick up Christmas Day breakfast. And Friday is Christmas Day. Weeeeiirrrrdddd.
The year's going by too fast. It's not fair.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
6 days
It's six days until Christmas.
So, I've decided to give Dan one of the nougat things that Mom bought. They seem like good quality stuff. I'll probably wrap it tonight, maybe while watching The Family Stone. From the library, of course. The DVDs are all overdue now. I might be going to the library today, but now I'm wondering if we should just wait until Tuesday, so that we can have an extra couple of days to watch the DVDs.
I finished Haibane Renmei #1 last night. It was brilliant. I wish the library had the second volume. Hmm, I should check the Chapters Indigo site.
I have to finish some projects before the next term of the House Cup, 'cause I'm worried about not having enough room for projects. I've been working on the mandrake blanket for the cat, but that makes my arms so sore, so maybe I'll work on my house scarf from now on. Or my Irish Hiking Scarf. I like working on the blanket, though...
That reminds me, the Ravelympics are going to be part of the House Cup this term as our Quidditch. Last year it was charity knitting, and this year it's the Ravelympics. I might do Sock Hockey, since I've never made socks before. But I'm worried about not finishing a pair of socks in the two weeks of the Olympics, so maybe I'll do Scarf Super-G instead. Or a hat. I can't remember what the hat event is called...
So, I've decided to give Dan one of the nougat things that Mom bought. They seem like good quality stuff. I'll probably wrap it tonight, maybe while watching The Family Stone. From the library, of course. The DVDs are all overdue now. I might be going to the library today, but now I'm wondering if we should just wait until Tuesday, so that we can have an extra couple of days to watch the DVDs.
I finished Haibane Renmei #1 last night. It was brilliant. I wish the library had the second volume. Hmm, I should check the Chapters Indigo site.
I have to finish some projects before the next term of the House Cup, 'cause I'm worried about not having enough room for projects. I've been working on the mandrake blanket for the cat, but that makes my arms so sore, so maybe I'll work on my house scarf from now on. Or my Irish Hiking Scarf. I like working on the blanket, though...
That reminds me, the Ravelympics are going to be part of the House Cup this term as our Quidditch. Last year it was charity knitting, and this year it's the Ravelympics. I might do Sock Hockey, since I've never made socks before. But I'm worried about not finishing a pair of socks in the two weeks of the Olympics, so maybe I'll do Scarf Super-G instead. Or a hat. I can't remember what the hat event is called...
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Boo, rain :(
Normally I don't boo rain, but this rain is melting the snow, so boo! ;P
Christmas dinner is now sorted out, but I'm not happy with what's happening: Mom's cooking two turkeys and she and Katie are bringing side dishes. Why? Because Grandpa guilted everybody into making a decision about Christmas Day so that it got planned. The jerk.
I probably won't get Grandma's Clapotis done in time. I made a mistake in the pattern, and haven't tried fixing it for a couple of days. I may just ignore it until after Christmas and give it to her for Easter.
Youth group wasn't too terrible. There were some new folks there: Maya, Lana and Sooneah - I think that's how her name is spelled; I'm not entirely sure. I've actually seen Maya and Lana at the church before - Lana I saw at the Passover Sedar a few years ago, and Maya I saw at the flower communion service a few years ago, because she and her brother were helping me and Nathan with the flowers.
I also had a weird dream that I was a volunteer dental hygienist.
Christmas dinner is now sorted out, but I'm not happy with what's happening: Mom's cooking two turkeys and she and Katie are bringing side dishes. Why? Because Grandpa guilted everybody into making a decision about Christmas Day so that it got planned. The jerk.
I probably won't get Grandma's Clapotis done in time. I made a mistake in the pattern, and haven't tried fixing it for a couple of days. I may just ignore it until after Christmas and give it to her for Easter.
Youth group wasn't too terrible. There were some new folks there: Maya, Lana and Sooneah - I think that's how her name is spelled; I'm not entirely sure. I've actually seen Maya and Lana at the church before - Lana I saw at the Passover Sedar a few years ago, and Maya I saw at the flower communion service a few years ago, because she and her brother were helping me and Nathan with the flowers.
I also had a weird dream that I was a volunteer dental hygienist.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The Clapotis is driving me insane
I have no clue where I am in the pattern, so I might have to frog it and start over. Ah, knitting.
I did work on the cat's blanket though. But then I dropped the bit of yarn that was left from the skein, so I cut it off and threw it in the garbage, because I have another skein (maybe two - I've lost track). I thinking about making either a poncho, a shrug or a bunch of throw pillows out of my dark green Red Heart - it's so scratchy I don't know if I even want to try making hats or mittens out of it. Then again, it hasn't had the excess dye washed out of it, and sometimes that can tone down the itch factor.
Hmm, SNL should be new tonight. *turns on TV to check*
Yep, it's new. Blake Lively is hosting, and Rihanna's the musical guest. Should be pretty cool.
So... Youth group is now gonna be on Tuesday, starting this coming week. Oh yay. I hate those kinds of changes. Reminds me of when my old dojo got rid of grappling class for a few months. People were pissed. Then they brought it back. Well, whatever, Tuesday still works for me. The only problem is that we may have to move down to the space below the loft, because by moving meetings to Tuesday we have more people showing up (which is the reason for the day switch - so that people that graduated from Coming of Age can make it to meetings), and the loft can only hold so many people. I'm just hoping it won't be a catastrophe like last week.
I still don't know what's going on for Christmas Day dinner. It's become a case of Patti is going to her boyfriend's sister's for Christmas dinner, and the sister of Boyfriend has also invited Grandma and Grandpa, but Grandpa says it wouldn't work for Grandma. There was also talk of Christmas dinner being at Uncle Brent's, but he assumed that he would be having family over for Boxing Day, not Christmas Day, so I don't know WHAT'S going on. If I were Mom and Dad, I'd be planning a dinner for at home - I would at least buy a back-up turkey, anyway.
So, Dad's Christmas present is pre-ordered from Amazon, Katie's is bought (I'm not saying what hers' is, because she knows I have a blog and knows what the URL is - sorry, Katie, you'll have to wait 'til Christmas to find out! ;P), but I still have to shop for Mom, Nathan and Steph. Nathan is probably getting one of those holiday scratch ticket packs, and Steph is probably getting chocolate. I don't know what else to get them because he still hasn't e-mailed me back about what he wants for Christmas. It's been 17-ish days, Nathan! You're lucky I haven't started knitting you some coal! ;)
I already have an idea for a sequel to my NaNoWriMo novel. I haven't even finished my novel yet! ;P It's more like a companion novel than a sequel, though. And I have an idea for a short story, but I don't know how to start it yet.
It's the fifth of December. There are 20 days until Christmas Day. IS THAT NOT SCARY?!
Err, sorry...
Still, I'm kinda freaked out. This means that in 19 days I'll be going with Dad to pick up breakfast for Christmas Day. And Mom will probably have CBC Radio One on loud. Oh dear.
I did work on the cat's blanket though. But then I dropped the bit of yarn that was left from the skein, so I cut it off and threw it in the garbage, because I have another skein (maybe two - I've lost track). I thinking about making either a poncho, a shrug or a bunch of throw pillows out of my dark green Red Heart - it's so scratchy I don't know if I even want to try making hats or mittens out of it. Then again, it hasn't had the excess dye washed out of it, and sometimes that can tone down the itch factor.
Hmm, SNL should be new tonight. *turns on TV to check*
Yep, it's new. Blake Lively is hosting, and Rihanna's the musical guest. Should be pretty cool.
So... Youth group is now gonna be on Tuesday, starting this coming week. Oh yay. I hate those kinds of changes. Reminds me of when my old dojo got rid of grappling class for a few months. People were pissed. Then they brought it back. Well, whatever, Tuesday still works for me. The only problem is that we may have to move down to the space below the loft, because by moving meetings to Tuesday we have more people showing up (which is the reason for the day switch - so that people that graduated from Coming of Age can make it to meetings), and the loft can only hold so many people. I'm just hoping it won't be a catastrophe like last week.
I still don't know what's going on for Christmas Day dinner. It's become a case of Patti is going to her boyfriend's sister's for Christmas dinner, and the sister of Boyfriend has also invited Grandma and Grandpa, but Grandpa says it wouldn't work for Grandma. There was also talk of Christmas dinner being at Uncle Brent's, but he assumed that he would be having family over for Boxing Day, not Christmas Day, so I don't know WHAT'S going on. If I were Mom and Dad, I'd be planning a dinner for at home - I would at least buy a back-up turkey, anyway.
So, Dad's Christmas present is pre-ordered from Amazon, Katie's is bought (I'm not saying what hers' is, because she knows I have a blog and knows what the URL is - sorry, Katie, you'll have to wait 'til Christmas to find out! ;P), but I still have to shop for Mom, Nathan and Steph. Nathan is probably getting one of those holiday scratch ticket packs, and Steph is probably getting chocolate. I don't know what else to get them because he still hasn't e-mailed me back about what he wants for Christmas. It's been 17-ish days, Nathan! You're lucky I haven't started knitting you some coal! ;)
I already have an idea for a sequel to my NaNoWriMo novel. I haven't even finished my novel yet! ;P It's more like a companion novel than a sequel, though. And I have an idea for a short story, but I don't know how to start it yet.
It's the fifth of December. There are 20 days until Christmas Day. IS THAT NOT SCARY?!
Err, sorry...
Still, I'm kinda freaked out. This means that in 19 days I'll be going with Dad to pick up breakfast for Christmas Day. And Mom will probably have CBC Radio One on loud. Oh dear.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Procrastinating again
Sorry for the lack of posts. NaNo is eating my soul, little by little. Probably with one of those tiny coffee spoons you use for espresso. Or cappuccinos. I can't remember.
So I'm back on my computer for NaNo, because Dad got mad at me for writing on his computer (I don't see why, but whatever). I'll have to back up my files in a little while, though, because the driver is going to go kaput in a few months, from what the guy at the repair shop said.
Aaaaaand I have nothing much to talk about! lols. Umm, Dad's working late this week, so I'll be able to write a lot without much distraction, which is cool. And I started my Ravenclaw scarf. It's not that big yet, but I've done the first blue stripe and I'm about five rounds into the first bronze stripe. Pretty spiffy, I think.
I also have no clue what to get people for Christmas. The year's going by too fast! It's already the 15th, can you believe it? Christmas is roughly 6 weeks away.
Oh dear.
Well, I have some ideas from Mom as to what I should get her. I might get a CD for Dad - I know for a fact that he doesn't own Jethro Tull's Living in the Past album, and he's always asking for new pajamas. I have no clue what to get Nathan though, and I suppose I have to get something for my future sister-in-law, too. Katie says she'll e-mail me a list, so that's cool.
I have 485 more words (roughly) to write to reach my word goal.
Oh dear.
So I'm back on my computer for NaNo, because Dad got mad at me for writing on his computer (I don't see why, but whatever). I'll have to back up my files in a little while, though, because the driver is going to go kaput in a few months, from what the guy at the repair shop said.
Aaaaaand I have nothing much to talk about! lols. Umm, Dad's working late this week, so I'll be able to write a lot without much distraction, which is cool. And I started my Ravenclaw scarf. It's not that big yet, but I've done the first blue stripe and I'm about five rounds into the first bronze stripe. Pretty spiffy, I think.
I also have no clue what to get people for Christmas. The year's going by too fast! It's already the 15th, can you believe it? Christmas is roughly 6 weeks away.
Oh dear.
Well, I have some ideas from Mom as to what I should get her. I might get a CD for Dad - I know for a fact that he doesn't own Jethro Tull's Living in the Past album, and he's always asking for new pajamas. I have no clue what to get Nathan though, and I suppose I have to get something for my future sister-in-law, too. Katie says she'll e-mail me a list, so that's cool.
I have 485 more words (roughly) to write to reach my word goal.
Oh dear.
Monday, December 29, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, December 26, 2008
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!).
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!).
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, December 22, 2008
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...
Holiday Movies To Watch This Year
1. Love Actually (not for younger audiences)
2.
3. It's a Wonderful Life - just 'cause.
4.
5.
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.
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.
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.
15.
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.
23. This isn't exactly a movie, but I wanna catch the Mr. Bean Christmas special :)24. Last Holiday
25.
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...
Saturday, December 20, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Holiday to-do list.
I got the idea from AJ's blog. Hope you don't mind, AJ :)
Holiday To-do List
1. Help Mom clean up the house for Christmas. This includes sweeping, dusting, washing the couch covers, maybe vacuuming the couch (ah, the joys of having a Jack Russell Terrier!) and washing the dog bed.
2. Play lotsa Christmas music!
3. Help Mom with the holiday baking.
4. Get Justin's scarf finished.
5. Start and finish Breanne's Calorimetry.
6. Buy Mom and Dad's Christmas presents.
7. Wrap presents.
8. Make sure my room is relatively clean. This is a bit difficult, since my room is the basement!
9. Watch as many movies off the Holiday Movies to Watch list I made (see this post).
10. At least finish the pockets for my vest.
11. Attend the Christmas Eve service at the Unitarian church, even if Reverend Barrett isn't there. I miss her :( I hope she DOES come back in January. At first I thought she was forced to resign, but now they're putting the minister down as 'parental leave (January)'. So hopefully she'll come back. If they DID force her to resign, I might cut down on services.
12. Put up a post on Christmas Eve with 'Happy Xmas/War is Over' by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band in the post - via YouTube, of course.
13. Hopefully put up a post on Christmas Day.
14. Put up that video of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' in the Bruce Springsteen group on Ravelry.
15. Hopefully hang out with Holly before the new year.
16. Every year, the youth group volunteers at a place that is a food bank and a place for the poor to get Christmas presents for their families. If I can, I'll volunteer there with the youth group, but last year I didn't because of Dad's work schedule AND the fact that there were no permission forms.
17. Set up the tree, of course! We got a red tinsel tree last year with lights already on it, and it's really pretty, so maybe we'll put that up. We would have to stick with mostly silver-coloured ornaments, though, because gold would be too much for our yellow-painted living room! Actually, we have some pretty cool straw ornaments that would look pretty on the red tree.
18. Put on the Galaxie Traditional Holiday channel on December 1st. This also falls under #2.
19. Sort out my sister Katie's birthday present. Her birthday is in the first week of December, so it's a bit difficult!
20. Find out where Christmas dinner is going to be, so I can prepare myself for any bullshit.
21. If we're going over to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas dinner, I want to put together a punk outfit ahead of time, to shock my grandparents and my least favourite aunt.
22. Play Grandma and Grandpa's piano, if I can. Usually they have a table in the way, though. Or then there was Grandma's 70th birthday party, when Aunt Patti (my least favourite aunt) got all pissy and wouldn't let me play the piano because it was annoying her. Well, it's not my fault it's out of tune, Princess Patti!
23. Stand up to Grandpa if he decides to be a complete asshole to someone I actually care about.
24. Hopefully go carolling, even if I go alone.
25. Send a Christmas card to Holly. And maybe one to Erica if I feel like it. Even though she usually sends me one, and I always forget to, we're still not as close as we were. But sending her a card would be a good gesture, I think.
26. Say 'happy birthday' to Holly on Facebook. It must be a real bummer to have a birthday shortly after Christmas.
27. Hopefully finish my fingerless gloves, but they can wait. Gifts come first.
28. Go with Dad to the Italian bakery we love on Christmas Eve to pick up some cannoli for our Christmas Day breakfast. Cannoli are Italian pastries, and they're GOOD!
Oh my god, 'Stuck in a Moment' by U2 just came on iTunes. I love that song, but it always reminds me of 9/11...
Holiday To-do List
1. Help Mom clean up the house for Christmas. This includes sweeping, dusting, washing the couch covers, maybe vacuuming the couch (ah, the joys of having a Jack Russell Terrier!) and washing the dog bed.
2. Play lotsa Christmas music!
3. Help Mom with the holiday baking.
4. Get Justin's scarf finished.
5. Start and finish Breanne's Calorimetry.
6. Buy Mom and Dad's Christmas presents.
7. Wrap presents.
8. Make sure my room is relatively clean. This is a bit difficult, since my room is the basement!
9. Watch as many movies off the Holiday Movies to Watch list I made (see this post).
10. At least finish the pockets for my vest.
11. Attend the Christmas Eve service at the Unitarian church, even if Reverend Barrett isn't there. I miss her :( I hope she DOES come back in January. At first I thought she was forced to resign, but now they're putting the minister down as 'parental leave (January)'. So hopefully she'll come back. If they DID force her to resign, I might cut down on services.
12. Put up a post on Christmas Eve with 'Happy Xmas/War is Over' by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band in the post - via YouTube, of course.
13. Hopefully put up a post on Christmas Day.
14. Put up that video of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' in the Bruce Springsteen group on Ravelry.
15. Hopefully hang out with Holly before the new year.
16. Every year, the youth group volunteers at a place that is a food bank and a place for the poor to get Christmas presents for their families. If I can, I'll volunteer there with the youth group, but last year I didn't because of Dad's work schedule AND the fact that there were no permission forms.
17. Set up the tree, of course! We got a red tinsel tree last year with lights already on it, and it's really pretty, so maybe we'll put that up. We would have to stick with mostly silver-coloured ornaments, though, because gold would be too much for our yellow-painted living room! Actually, we have some pretty cool straw ornaments that would look pretty on the red tree.
18. Put on the Galaxie Traditional Holiday channel on December 1st. This also falls under #2.
19. Sort out my sister Katie's birthday present. Her birthday is in the first week of December, so it's a bit difficult!
20. Find out where Christmas dinner is going to be, so I can prepare myself for any bullshit.
21. If we're going over to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas dinner, I want to put together a punk outfit ahead of time, to shock my grandparents and my least favourite aunt.
22. Play Grandma and Grandpa's piano, if I can. Usually they have a table in the way, though. Or then there was Grandma's 70th birthday party, when Aunt Patti (my least favourite aunt) got all pissy and wouldn't let me play the piano because it was annoying her. Well, it's not my fault it's out of tune, Princess Patti!
23. Stand up to Grandpa if he decides to be a complete asshole to someone I actually care about.
24. Hopefully go carolling, even if I go alone.
25. Send a Christmas card to Holly. And maybe one to Erica if I feel like it. Even though she usually sends me one, and I always forget to, we're still not as close as we were. But sending her a card would be a good gesture, I think.
26. Say 'happy birthday' to Holly on Facebook. It must be a real bummer to have a birthday shortly after Christmas.
27. Hopefully finish my fingerless gloves, but they can wait. Gifts come first.
28. Go with Dad to the Italian bakery we love on Christmas Eve to pick up some cannoli for our Christmas Day breakfast. Cannoli are Italian pastries, and they're GOOD!
Oh my god, 'Stuck in a Moment' by U2 just came on iTunes. I love that song, but it always reminds me of 9/11...
Thursday, November 20, 2008
10 more days of NaNoWriMo...
And so far, it's going good. I described my story to Holly, and she thinks it's interesting :)
My cat decided to keep me up last night. She was playing with a mouse, bringing it down to my room and back upstairs again, over and over. When Smiles found out that the cat had a mouse, she got all antsy, barking really loud. To my amazement, my mom slept through Smiles's barking (and me yelling at Smiles to shut up and let me sleep :p).
I've pretty much decided that, no matter what, I'm going to enjoy the holidays. I really want to go caroling, but I know that no one else will want to go with me - Nathan probably wouldn't want to be out in the cold that long, and Katie isn't coming up here for Christmas Eve. I guess it'll just be me and Dad going down to get Christmas Day breakfast. I'll tell you folks more about that in another post.
I think Mom wants to look forward to the holidays, too. She says that if we get invited over to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas dinner, we'll go down. I'm not looking forward to seeing those two, but they are family. Practically the only extended family I have, since I don't really know my dad's side of the family well. It'll be cool to see Justin, Breanne and Uncle Brent, though. And Jack if he's up to coming. Hopefully we'll see Mom's cousin Glen and his wife Maxine, too.
What I really hate are the big family parties, for someone's birthday - usually Grandma's or Grandpa's. I usually only know about a quarter of the people there. Most of the guests are either family I barely know, family I don't know at all, or Grandma and Grandpa's friends. The last one was the worst - it was a double party, for Grandma's birthday and my grandparents' anniversary. I had a killer headache, so I was trying to stay away from noise. I have to feel sorry for the kind guests who asked me if I needed an Aspirin, though. They meant well. I didn't exactly snap at them, I just said, "No, thanks, I'm okay." In addition to the headache, my cute starry drop earrings kept falling out, I felt so awkward in the clothes and earrings that I was wearing (I picked them out, by the way), and then someone was trying to take a photo of me. I hate it when people just take photos of me without asking first. Katie thought I was being bratty, but I was really just irritated because of the noise and my earrings falling out. I must've looked so clumsy. And just as Grandma and Grandpa were arriving, we were all told to go upstairs to surprise them. So I was upstairs, and I was just so pissed off that I ignored the order and went down to the basement where my parents were. And I just cried, because of my headache. But Mom told me to just look happy, so that Grandma didn't see I was upset. I tried my best.
To top it all off, someone I only met once before at another family party asked me to go ask Grandma if her Avon order was there. I said, "I'm sorry, I don't even know who you are," and she replied, "Oh, I'm one of your aunts."
Uh, I only have two aunts.
But I will try to stay sane during Christmas. I will watch as many Christmas movies as possible. I will listen to lots of Christmas music.
And, I swear by all the gods, there will be Christmas cookies.
My cat decided to keep me up last night. She was playing with a mouse, bringing it down to my room and back upstairs again, over and over. When Smiles found out that the cat had a mouse, she got all antsy, barking really loud. To my amazement, my mom slept through Smiles's barking (and me yelling at Smiles to shut up and let me sleep :p).
I've pretty much decided that, no matter what, I'm going to enjoy the holidays. I really want to go caroling, but I know that no one else will want to go with me - Nathan probably wouldn't want to be out in the cold that long, and Katie isn't coming up here for Christmas Eve. I guess it'll just be me and Dad going down to get Christmas Day breakfast. I'll tell you folks more about that in another post.
I think Mom wants to look forward to the holidays, too. She says that if we get invited over to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas dinner, we'll go down. I'm not looking forward to seeing those two, but they are family. Practically the only extended family I have, since I don't really know my dad's side of the family well. It'll be cool to see Justin, Breanne and Uncle Brent, though. And Jack if he's up to coming. Hopefully we'll see Mom's cousin Glen and his wife Maxine, too.
What I really hate are the big family parties, for someone's birthday - usually Grandma's or Grandpa's. I usually only know about a quarter of the people there. Most of the guests are either family I barely know, family I don't know at all, or Grandma and Grandpa's friends. The last one was the worst - it was a double party, for Grandma's birthday and my grandparents' anniversary. I had a killer headache, so I was trying to stay away from noise. I have to feel sorry for the kind guests who asked me if I needed an Aspirin, though. They meant well. I didn't exactly snap at them, I just said, "No, thanks, I'm okay." In addition to the headache, my cute starry drop earrings kept falling out, I felt so awkward in the clothes and earrings that I was wearing (I picked them out, by the way), and then someone was trying to take a photo of me. I hate it when people just take photos of me without asking first. Katie thought I was being bratty, but I was really just irritated because of the noise and my earrings falling out. I must've looked so clumsy. And just as Grandma and Grandpa were arriving, we were all told to go upstairs to surprise them. So I was upstairs, and I was just so pissed off that I ignored the order and went down to the basement where my parents were. And I just cried, because of my headache. But Mom told me to just look happy, so that Grandma didn't see I was upset. I tried my best.
To top it all off, someone I only met once before at another family party asked me to go ask Grandma if her Avon order was there. I said, "I'm sorry, I don't even know who you are," and she replied, "Oh, I'm one of your aunts."
Uh, I only have two aunts.
But I will try to stay sane during Christmas. I will watch as many Christmas movies as possible. I will listen to lots of Christmas music.
And, I swear by all the gods, there will be Christmas cookies.
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