Family dinners

So, I have to go to my grandparents' house for dinner. It shall be interesting. Certain Relatives ducked out, of course (funny how that keeps happening! /sarcasm). I'm not too enthusiastic about this dinner (which is a sort of pre-Thanksgiving dinner to work with people's schedules), but I'll bite my tongue.

I don't think I've ever liked holiday meals with my extended family. Dinners with my immediate family and their SOs are fine, but I've always hated the big family holiday dinners. Here are just a few reasons why...

1. I always got shunted to the 'children's table', even as a teenager. And eating at the 'children's table' with your cousins isn't fun when you don't like two of your cousins isn't much fun. I'm on better terms with them now, but I still am not crazy about taking supper with them.

2. If I bring a book, I'm deemed as 'being rude'. Even though I'm bored to death and my grandfather is more interested in watching hockey than being with his family.

3. This is sort of a companion to #1. For some reason, when we have turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas, my grandfather carves it all wrong. By the time it gets to the 'children's table' - or wherever I'm sitting, actually - the turkey is cold and has lost a lot of it's flavour. I don't think I really loved turkey until we started having holiday dinners at home, actually.

So you can see why I'm not totally pumped for tonight. Granted, we're having roast beef instead of turkey, but I've never liked having dinner with my grandparents regardless. Even now, there's a 'pecking order', and I'm at the bottom of it - and that sucks. A lot.

I've been contemplating ways to slightly freak out my grandfather, from whispering to myself like Brick from The Middle to talking like Lauren Cooper from The Catherine Tate Show. Of course, whenever I do something slightly eccentric (like when I bowed and said 'merry Christmas' in Japanese), my grandfather just kind of smiles at me as if I'm a little kid. Never mind that I'm old enough to vote! (Speaking of which, I have a semi-prepared argument in case somebody pulls the 'you're to young to talk about politics' scheme.)

Meh. I'll find a way.

I really should eat something, and clean up the house a bit.

Tune-ups

I'm on my computer today, because I needed to 'tune it up' to get it in fighting shape for NaNoWriMo - basically, I needed to do updates. It's slower than my dad's computer, but it still works fine. That makes me relieved, because the guy at the computer shop told me I'd only get six more months out of my computer when the power supply had to be fixed.

However, there are little things that I miss when using my computer. For instance, my keyboard is clunky and rather gross-looking (I think my brother had spilled Pepsi on it previously - I still need to find a way to clean it), and my mouse has no 'back' button. And you don't realize just how complacent you really are until you hit the 'magnifier glass' button expecting it to take you one page back.

As for knitting, I've been making another dishcloth. I'm in a real 'use up the yarn' mood, starting with my scraps of cotton. I might make myself a hat afterwards (because the only winter hats I have are my knitted hood and a bright orange Thinsulate toque), and I've been thinking of knitting Christmas gifts for people. The selfish side of me doesn't want to, but the generous side does. If I do make something like hats or scarves for people, I might buy new yarn, because my stash is kind of peculiar - I have either a lot of one colour, or not enough. If all else fails, I know my brother would be grateful if I gave him hand-knit dishcloths ;)

Itchy Fingers

So I have this itch to knit. A lot. I'm getting closer to finishing my Bernat Boa scarf, and when I'm done that I might start socks. I could use some more handknit socks, and I've never knit them before. I also have... I think four sock yarn colours to pick from. I need to stop impulse-buying at yarn sales ;P

I also discovered that I don't have slipper socks. For a while, I was wearing a pair that my mom made for my sister, which she later gave to me. They were a pair of 'boot socks'; knee-high slipper socks made out of Lion Brand's Wool-Ease Thick & Quick. I've since put holes in them with my strangely acidic feet :( I had a pair of pink, ankle-length slippers as well, but they got threadbare and pilled (I had to shave those things with a sweater comb on a weekly basis!). I have acrylic to use up, though, so I think I will make some indestructible slipper socks. And probably a pair of everyday socks, too.

I was scrolling through the program guide on our satellite TV receiver, and found - get this - the first episode of the Christopher Eccleston season of Doctor Who on Space (a Canadian sci-fi/fantasy channel, like Syfy in the US). I was quite excited about this, so I put it on, and holy crap did it bring back memories. I hadn't seen it since... when did it air?

(checks Wikipedia...) 2005. I haven't seen it since then. Holy moley. Six years. I feel old.

I looked ahead in the guide, and lo and behold, Space has the first 2000s season of Doctor Who on at 10 AM, Monday to Friday. So guess who PVR'd it? ;)

It's kind of funny, because the other day I said to my mom, "I'd kinda like to borrow the older box sets - the Tennant and Eccleston seasons - from the library and re-watch them all, to refresh my memory." Now I get to re-watch the Christopher Eccleston season all the way through again. I really wish he'd done another season, but he didn't want to, because of the fans. I can understand that, because he was the first Doctor in years, so folk must have gone crazy for him.

Anyway, that's all for now. I know I'd said about taking pictures of my scarf, but I haven't yet :p I'll take one when it's finished, though... and when I remember to charge my camera battery...

The Adventures of Reading and Stitches

Hullo :)

I thought I'd post again, so that I'm keeping this blog somewhat up-to-date. Not much has happened since the last post, but I felt like writing one anyway, so...

My stitches from my wisdom teeth surgery are dissolving. Yay! I think I took two loose stitches out of my mouth today. I'm semi-sure that I've lost more, because when I rinsed my mouth out a few days ago I saw something blue, kind of like dryer lint, in the sink when I spat (because you totally wanted to know that ;P). But the stitches that came loose today were white, so I'm wondering if they used two different colours of thread for stitching everything closed. All I know is that they're dissolving, and that's good. I'm also in a lot less pain, which is also good. The left side of my mouth is still a bit sore, but it was also the more swollen side, so it makes sense that it'll take longer to heal up. I've still got a bruise on my left cheek, but the swelling has gone down a lot.

I'm still in the first chapter of Tris's Book. I know, I read slow. But in my defense, the dogs kept bothering me when I was trying to read yesterday. Also, two of the manga books I reserved from the library are in - Fruits Basket vol. 11, and the first volume of Translucent, so I'm quite happy about that. I've also got a DVD (the British series Identity) and two non-fiction books (a grilled cheese cookbook, and a jewellery book) waiting for me to pick up. I have a book out that was due yesterday and two DVDs due today, so I'll have to try to get down to the library either today or tomorrow. I've also got another movie, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, in transit.

In other news, I woke up this morning to find Smiles, our Jack Russell Terrier, sleeping at the foot of my bed. That made me happy :)

Recovery time...

Sorry for the long break between posts. I've been busy recovering from my wisdom teeth surgery.

You might remember me mentioning that I was having my wisdom teeth pulled. Well, on Monday, it happened. Fortunately I was knocked out for the procedure, so i have no memory of it. I remember the events beforehand, but not the actual procedure. I'm glad, because when I'm awake for these kinds of things, I get all panicky.

I'm feeling a lot better than I did Monday afternoon. The swelling in my face has gone down a lot, I can open my mouth enough to chew soft foods, and I can talk somewhat normally. I'm still sore, but not as sore. And I reserved a bunch of manga from the library to keep me occupied while I heal up, and I started a simple garter stitch scarf out of Bernat Boa to keep me from getting too bored. I have called the scarf 'Goldfish scarf' on Ravelry, because I'm knitting it on a larger gauge than what the yarn label calls for, and it looks lacy and fish-scale-like. I also found out that, when I was swatching for this scarf, my 5.5mm circular needle is actually a 7mm (?!). I was surprised and kind of bummed out. But the needle was on sale, so it might've been a mistake in the packaging.

In other news, I had to take Hereafter back without finishing it. I'm disappointed, but I can always get it out of the library another time. I started reading a Tamora Pierce book, though - Tris's Book, the second in the Circle of Magic quartet. I didn't feel much like reading any of my other books, because they were all either very big, or urban fantasy books, or dystopians. And I didn't feel like reading dystopia or urban fantasy. I'm only a page and a bit into the book, because I was quite tired yesterday - when I was watching Lorna Doone, I'd lost the energy to knit. Can you believe that?! But anyway, back to the book. I've been meaning to read a Tamora Pierce book for a while, so it's kind of refreshing to read one of her books after so long - I think the last one I read all the way through was Emperor Mage, and that was at least a year ago, if not two.

I should probably get off the computer and eat soon :p I'll post pictures of the scarf when it's finished, I hope!

How I spent my summer thus far

O hai :)

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with summer. I like that I don't have to do as much school-related stuff, and that I have more time to read. However, I don't like the climate: it's hot, it's humid, I don't have a lot of summery outfits, and I sunburn easily. And let's not forget the bugs...

Still, though, last week was awesome for me, because I got to visit my sister last Saturday - and I got a little bit of reading done, too, because she lives about an hour and a half's drive away (sometimes an hour and forty-five minutes, depending on traffic, but last Saturday the traffic was pretty good).

It was a bit tricky to read on the way there, though, because the van was jolting around a bit. Overall, I think I only got a couple of pages read, but my book isn't due for another couple of weeks so it's all good. We got a bit turned around when we were trying to find my sister's apartment, but we found the way eventually.

We said hello to her cats (I got to finally meet the younger kitty, who is adorable :D), had a look around her place, then went out for lunch to a nice Japanese restaurant. I tried some of the sushi that my sister and my mom picked out, except for the raw stuff. The only ones I didn't like were one of the maki and the tamago (sweet egg on rice with a strip of nori around it). The textures of both bothered me. But my sister ordered a two-piece serving of the cooked shrimp on rice (ebi, I think it's called), which I love, for me. I think my dad ate the other one though :p We got tempura as well, and some gyoza, edamame, and beef and green onion rolls.

For dessert, all of us except Dad ordered ice cream - red bean for me, green tea for Mom, and I think my sister got vanilla. Then we ordered two sweeter tempura - banana, with chocolate sauce drizzled on it, and one called something like 'milk dumpling tempura'. The milk dumpling one was like a cross between custard and a doughnut, like an elephant ear (or beaver tail, as they're sometimes called). Both were delicious.

After that, we walked through the local mall. We went to the Lush store, where my mom bought some stuff for herself, then we browsed a bit in Costa Blanca and H&M. Then we went back to my sister's place and hung out with the cats, then headed home.

So that was my weekend: pretty awesome.

The book I'm reading from the library is Hereafter by Tara Hudson. So far it's pretty good - but it's also big, so I'm worried I won't finish it in time for when it has to go back. Fingers crossed...

Oh, blah.

I'm way tired.

Yesterday morning the dogs woke me up at around 6:00, so I got up and let them out. I really should've gone back to bed, because I was a zombie for most of the day. I tried to sleep in the afternoon, but for some reason my brain wouldn't shut off completely. I decided to put off going to the library until the next day (today), because I didn't feel like going much.

And, as usual, I forgot that I had books due yesterday in addition to CDs. Guess who has fines to pay? :p

Anyway, last night I got really tired. I kept nodding off when Mom and I were watching Gene Simmons' Family Jewels, so after watching five minutes or so of Letterman, I went to bed.

And then this morning, I woke up twice. I heard the dogs and thought, "No way am I getting up this early again!" Fortunately, Mom got up with them, so I fell back to sleep. I woke up again at... I think it was nine-ish. I still feel like a zombie, but not as much as last night.

I think I'm making a cup of coffee today.