BIG update post :)

Clearly I need to post more :p

I've been a bit busy. I went Christmas shopping at the mall with my dad Friday night, which was a success - I won't say what we bought, just in case my mom accidentally stumbles on my blog. Besides the actual shopping, walking through the mall was fun: we stopped at Second Cup to get a cup of coffee for Dad and a white hot chocolate for me, I saw a guy who looked like The Situation or Pauly D from Jersey Shore as we walked up the big staircase in the mall (the guy was tanned, with a plaid shirt and super-gelled hair), and I found out that we now have a Bath & Body Works in our local mall :)

On Saturday I went to the library to pick up my stuff - Debbie Stoller's book Stitch N' Bitch Superstar Knitting, Phil Collins' newest CD Going Back, a huge book on human anatomy, a National Geographic book on birds, the DVD of The Girl Who Played With Fire and the new Karate Kid movie. Oddly enough, as soon as I picked up my stuff I checked my account online and saw that another item - a book on writing screenplays - is in transit for me. Huh.

My parents went to a Christmas party on Saturday, so I got to catch up on my reading a little - but for most of the evening I watched The Breakfast Club again :p It was on MoviePix, but it was halfway through when I put it on; and then I caught it from the beginning on A Channel. I absolutely adore that movie - it's just so awesome.

I didn't do much on Sunday or Monday - just an errand on Monday. Today I went to Shopper's Drug Mart with my mom to look for stuff for Dad for Christmas, and we were fairly successful :) All I have to do now is buy a present for my sister.

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.

I can't think of a witty title.

I'm really at a loss as to what to call this post. So... yeah :p

My cat was being a little devil yesterday. She kept sneaking up onto the stove to drink meat juices - I had to chase her away five or six times - and she later puked them up on my carpet. The stain looks like a red wine stain, so it proved troublesome to clean up. It doesn't look as bad as it was when I discovered it - it looked like a crime scene when I started cleaning it up. I half-expected David Caruso from CSI: Miami to be standing there, taking his sunglasses off and putting them back on and commenting on the stain. I got some of the colour up, though, which is good. I may have to ask my parents to buy carpet stain remover, though.

I went to the library yesterday, and picked up some CDs (Cyndi Lauper's Memphis Blues, Sting's Symphonicities and The Who's Tommy) and two DVDs (Jonah Hex and Driving Lessons). I'm kind of excited about both movies, but a bit skeptical about Jonah Hex. I hope it's good.

I got more Christmas shopping done last week. I got some cooling racks for baking for Steph, because she likes baking. I still have to shop for both of my siblings and my mom, though.

Well, that's what's happening lately. I should probably go eat now.

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 :)

Michaels Sale of Awesomeness!

Yesterday, I went to the Michaels sale I'd mentioned in my last post. It was 20% off your entire purchase, including sale items; but not including things like books, magazines, Christmas trees over a certain height, etc. And I got yarn!

I wound up getting up before my alarm. Somehow, I tend to do that; probably because I'm anticipating the alarm. I had set it for 7:00 and got up at around 6:15, so I had plenty of time to eat and get dressed. I had to get up early because the sale was only from 9:00 until noon (I think), and Mom wanted to get there early so that she could get the yarn she needed.

After helping Mom pick out some colours, I started looking for yarn for the patterns I'd brought with me - Ysolda Teague's Lace-Up Opera Gloves, and Jenny Dolan's Punk Rock Corset Gloves. I wasn't sure what colour to get for the opera gloves, so I picked two colours for the corset gloves instead - Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in 'Cranberry', and Loops & Threads Impeccable in 'True Gray' (I think that's the colourway!). I thought about making the gloves in black and another colour like red, but then I realized that black yarn can be tricky to work with, so I didn't want to plunge into applied i-cord using black yarn. I liked the idea of red and grey, so I went with that. I think they're gonna look great :D I'll still make the opera gloves, but I might use some worsted that I already had before going to Michaels.

I felt really tired that afternoon, probably because I was up so early; so I rested for a bit on the sofa, watching/listening to Robin Williams' HBO special (which, I should warn you, is R-rated). After that, I think we watched the news, and then the Tina Fey Mark Twain Prize special on PBS (which was really great).

That's pretty much it. I'm starting to love my novel for NaNoWriMo, but I feel like it isn't moving quick enough. But I'm excited to write tomorrow, because I have a really good scene in my head that I want to write :D

Christmas shopping woes

Sorry about the huge gap between posts. NaNoWriMo is eating my soul. I'm at something like 31,903 words, which is pretty great. My story hasn't plunged into adventure quite yet, but I'm working on it. I think I'll throw a curve ball in tomorrow to make things interesting.

So I'm having a minor dilemma with Christmas shopping. I know it's early yet, but I like to get my shopping done ahead of time so that I don't have to go to the mall more than I need to. I'll probably have to go to the mall to shop for my mom, but that'll be it, I think. I already have my dad's present (I won't say what it is, just in case he comes across my blog by accident), so that's one person down.

I've been trying to read Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, but I'm still at the prologue :p My dogs seem to interrupt my reading, which is a bummer. I also want to try to get Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince finished, because I want to be able to see the second part of Deathly Hallows when it comes out. Finishing Half-Blood Prince and reading all of Deathly Hallows might be a bit of a stretch, but it's a challenge I'm willing to take. I think I'll make it a goal for the new year.

I'm getting up early tomorrow to go to the Michaels 20% off entire purchase sale tomorrow. I have to get up early because it's only a four-hour sale. I don't know if I'll get anything (I really don't need yarn :p), but I might look at the clearance yarns to see if there's anything I like. Or I could pick up some Vanna's Choice to make a hat or a pair of Ysolda Teague's Lace-Up Opera Gloves.

I also want to make a Doctor Who scarf (you know, the one Tom Baker wore), but I have to do my research on what yarn to use. I think that'll be another goal for 2011: knit a Doctor Who scarf.

So that's what's going on right now. I will try to post sometime soon, but it may be a long break between posts while I'm doing NaNo. Later!

Halloween, NaNoWriMo, and other happenings.

Wow, I haven't posted in ages :p I never did write a Halloween music post. Sorry! I'll try to remember to post Halloween songs next year.

First, I'll write about Halloween.

My Halloween was a little different from last year, because I went to a coffee shop in the afternoon for the local NaNoWriMo kick-off party. I hadn't seen some of the local NaNo'ers in two years, so it was cool to see them again; and a lot of the folks at the party were unfamiliar to me. I brought my handknit eyepatch with me, but it was a pain to wear because I made the patch part a little bit big. I had a lot of fun at the party, and came home with an awesome party bag (with chocolate in it!).

We had a timer set up to change channels to America's Funniest Home Videos that night, so I didn't get to put on Rocky Horror at 7:00 on Treasure HD. I put it on halfway through, at the 'Touch-a Touch Me' scene, but then my dad changed the channel and pretty much hogged the TV for the rest of the night, so I couldn't put my Rocky Horror DVD in :( I did listen to the soundtrack later that night, though, and I did the Time Warp :D

We didn't get a lot of trick-or-treaters - about 42, I think, was our final count. One of the kids that came to our door was adorable - she got her fairy wing caught on our screen door, and said, "My wing is caught AGAIN! It keeps getting caught on things!" It was really cute :)

The only problem with having very few trick-or-treaters is that we have a LOT of Tootsie Rolls leftover. I'm pretty sure I'm going to OD on Tootsie Rolls pretty soon.

And now, for NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo (short for National Novel Writing Month) started on a Monday this year, and a lot of people on the boards felt a lot of pressure because of it. I was all right, though, because I'm not enrolled in school right now. I have been neglecting my GED work, though :p I started out with a pretty good word count, and now I'm at 11,904 words. Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of myself :)

I really like how my novel is going so far. Last year I wasn't too happy with my novel - it felt a bit like a silly soap opera. I really liked how my novel from two years ago turned out, though. I totally didn't know what I was doing with my idea, and it kinda morphed into an urban fantasy. My novel for this year is a werewolf urban fantasy, which I find is easier to write than vampire urban fantasy because there's less lore to memorize.

And now, Other Happenings.

Aside from NaNoWriMo, not a lot has happened. My sister came up to visit, and my brother and his girlfriend came up as well, and we ordered Chinese take-out for dinner. We had fun chatting about cats and other stuff, and we had fun teasing Steph (my brother's girlfriend) about going back for seconds, because she's really tiny :p

That's all, folks. I'll try to post regularly, but I might not post a lot because NaNoWriMo takes up a lot of time.