Me and My Valentine

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Valentines day too!

2012 in Review… and the Goals for 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's a new year, this is a new blog, time to move forward! Bbut it seems there are some things that need to be dealt with from the past.

I had my list of things I wanted to get done before today… and most of them did not get accomplished. But, I’m not beating myself up over that.

My blogging Schedule didn’t improve – though I feel okay blaming the end of the year craziness for that. And I’ve gotten myself in a good place for this year – I think/hope.

Reviewing went decently enough… I logged 143 reviews, including TV episodes and Movies, I had no goals for reviewing books, so I’m not counting those. I got two of the series I wanted to review done, and batting 500 isn’t something to sneer at. Though I didn’t get to Eureka, and that has me a little bummed.

I did complete my reading and writing goals, you can read more about those over here.

Things around the home got thrown off track when we realized we were moving again… but I think I’d call those three items done: I got the digital photo files organized and edited (excluding the ones still waiting to be dumped from my camera), we got the long closet under control and we didn’t need to worry about decorating the master suite, because we’re getting out of there.

– Goals for 2013 –

Make 365 recipies

(I’ll post the details of this one a little later in the month)

Complete One Craft Project each month

            (This will help with my Christmas goals for the year)

Review 4 movies and 1 season of a TV series each month

            (We’ll see how this goes… since last year’s hopes were not met)

Read 60 Books

            (I’m pretty sure I can do 5/month… if I put my mind to it. I have about 80 in my TBR pile, so this will be a great help.)

I also have plans to do a monthly goal… which I’ll tell you at the beginning of each month :D

January’s Goal: Organize my Pinterest Boards

(I’ll be honest, I’m giving myself an easy one to start with, because January is going to be hectic.)

Lucy says Happy New Year too!

Did Santa Show Up at Your Place?

Merry Christmas!

I have two questions for you:

1) What did you get me?

and

2) Why are you looking at blogs when you should be enjoying the HOLIDAY!?!?

Christmas Crafting: Wreaths

So I can’t show you all of the things I’ve been doing for Christmas crafts…. because WHAT IF SOMEONE SEES THEIR GIFT? But I can show you the Ornament Wreaths I made, because I’ve already show the pictures to the second one’s intended recipient so she could take her pick.

So, I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was nifty and decided to go about making my own. Here’s the link to the original post I followed when making mine.

Firstly, the supplies:

Wire Coat Hanger (and a leatherman or something of the like to open the top and close it again when you’re done)

Ornaments (get molded plastic ones so you don’t have to waste time gluing the tops to the balls)

Ribbon or a bow (I started with grand designs and bought ribbon, went back later and got two tree bows instead)

Making these is super simple!

Step one: Bend your wire hanger (WITH THE HOOK STILL CONNECTED – if you untwist the top now, it’ll be difficult to get the thing actually round) into a circle, make sure it’s flat and not boxy, sharp angles will show up in the finished product. Untwist your hangar.

Step two: (at this point you need your ornaments all glued up if they’re likely to pop away from their rings) string your ornaments on to the hanger making sure to staggar them so that you get adequate coverage, and try to make string on your colors in an equal pattern so it’s not big clumps of one color. When you’ve gotten them all on, hold the hangar closed and look the wreath over, moving ornaments that need to fill in gaps, and make sure you don’t want anymore on.

Step three: Twist the wire hanger closed and use ribbon wire to tie your bow about the wreath near your hook. Some people cover the hook with ribbon, my bow was big enough that fluffed the right way, you don’t notice the hook.

And Voilla! You’ve got yourself a pretty nifty holiday decoration.

Mine cost just over $24 each to make, but if you have ornaments already, and ribbon and wire hangers… recycling can make this a really inexpensive solution.

THE TRIP IN PICTURES (and words, but mostly pictures) PART 1: To Portland

Bleary eyed, but ready to leave the dust-bowl of Phoenix behind, we got up super early and made our way to the airport… and sat at this gate next to a loudtalker who wanted everyone to think he knew A TON about apple products when I – someone who admittedly does not know all that much about them – could tell he had no clue.

When we got on the plane, I found myself snuggly placed between Earl (who is 6’1”) and a guy who best guess was near 6’5”… I have never before been so thankful of my shortness and the legroom it afforded me! Overall, the flight itself was nothing special. Though I did spend way too much time peeking at 6’5”s kindle, trying to figure out what the heck he was reading.



Isn't it nice we all coordinated to wear the same wash of jeans?



After a lovely day spent in the Pearl District where we ate some splendid lunch and I tried to get well and thoroughly lost in the City of Books, we spend Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning in the company of the Katerpus and Hubby McRedbeard. (all of our shenanigans were chaperoned by Cinnamon, who, at seventeen was surely the most mature of us all)

Sunday, when Katie and Jesse finally got tired of us and kicked us to the curb (not really, they just had other plans) we took the time to visit yet another of the Powell’s branches in the city and bought more books we didn’t have room for in our carry-on luggage… And then we told Apple Maps “We’ve got time, do your worst” as I put in my high school best friend, Allison’s address, and Apple maps was oddly kind. Taking us down a beautiful, windy road and leading us straight to her home!

She however, was not there yet, as our trips overlapped and so we found our way to the St. John’s bridge and took a ton of pictures (I’ll only regale you with a few)



And a cool old warehouse near the bridge.... because I love old buildings.



We spent the evening talking, eating Thai food and playing with Aria, her adorable kitteh and Henry, the wonderdog.

In the morning it was time to head south, but we stopped at a little place called Gravy for breakfast where Allison introduced me to a delightful thing called Oatmeal Brulee. And as we ate, we tried not to stare at Jesse Isenberg who sat two tables from us with his baseball cap pulled down and his sweatshirt hood placed strategically high around his neck.

(Part 2 will be up next Thursday!)

Thanks on Thanksgiving

We aren’t doing much today. We’ll be heading to Earl’s Grandmother’s house in a few hours, and probably stop by his mother’s house, but other than that I think we’re going to try to take these next few days and just chill and work through the last of the stuff that needs to get sorted in the apartment.

But, because today’s thanksgiving, I thought I’d tell you some of the things I’m thankful for this year:

My family – The vast majority of my family lives rather far away – my stepbrother and his family are the only ones who don’t live two states away – and sometimes that makes life hectic. A lot of that is my fault. I forget to call when I mean to, and let’s face it. Getting up to see them for any substantial length of time is difficult to schedule with work and is seemingly more costly every month.  And while parts of my family don’t necessarily always agree with certain life choices (read: Tattoos, living with Earl), they love me enough to look past that.  I love them all dearly and am so thankful they’re in my life.

My friends – I’ll be honest. I’m not a big people person. I have a few really close friends (who I at least talk to on an extremely regular basis) and a lot of friends I see once in a blue moon, and that’s okay.  I’m thankful for them all.  I’m thankful for the ones who get me through rough work days on g-chat, the ones who come over almost weekly for game nights, the one that I rarely get the chance to talk to, but when I do, it feels like there’s been no break at all between “now” and the time we last spoke. I’m thankful for the ones we drive 40 minutes– and then are jumped on by boxers – to see, and the ones who had a four hour layover when they came to visit. I’m thankful for the ones who make us scrumptious food and have found me wines I love, and for the ones that join me for tea. I’m thankful for every person who’s touched our lives and whom we can call friends.

Moving – This might sound strange, but as much as I hate moving, I’m thankful that we were able to move as quickly and as easily as we did. I’m thankful for those who helped us move and for the apartment office for being utterly fantastic about getting us out of one place and into the other. I’m thankful to Mr. Clean and Kaboom – because I’m not sure we would have gotten our full deposit back, were it not for them. I’m thankful that we work in a place that has carts we were able to borrow – or else I never would have been able to move half of the stuff I did on Friday, with or without Earl’s mom helping!

Health – With the exception of this year’s bought of eczema a small case of laryngitis, and the occasional sniffles.  I’ve had a pretty good year, health wise. I do have to find a new doctor, but those things happen. I’m thankful for the marginal amount of weight I’ve been able to loose and I’m thankful for all of the health resources I’ve found online and through friends. I can only hope that 2012 will be an even better, even healthier year than this one!

The Cutest Dog in the World – While her perpetual “paw you to wake up if you’re not up by 7am” can be a little irritating, Lucy’s cuteness knocks the pants off any complaints I could ever truly have about her and sends them running into the bathroom red-faced with embarrassment. My little ball of gray fluff provides so many smiles and laughs I can’t help but be thankful for her. She is the best.

Budgeting – I know I have the DTAMP and frankly, I’ve come very close to breaking that, because in August we finally had a “come to Jesus” moment with our finances and I will forever be grateful for that day – though I was not pleased about it when I was living it. That fateful day got us on a path with a budget that has been more helpful than I could ever express. Budgeting is why we could move into a new (Bigger and better) apartment and buy a sectional in the same month. We’ve never been reliant on credit cards, but we’ve also never really worried about savings accounts. And now, we are doing the latter and it is an incredible feeling – when you’re on the low end of the middle class – to be able to look at your accounts and realize that you’re no longer living paycheck to paycheck, and yes, that second account is real. Couponing fits into this bullet point. Couponing allows us to save about $440 a month that we were spending before. When you’re in that lower middle class bracket… that’s a life saver.

And, last but certainly not Least, Earl – But you’ll have to come back tomorrow for the dish on that ;)

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

Flag Day!

Every June fourteenth, we’re supposed to commemorate the adoption of the good ol’ stars and stripes. But really, who remembers today without their google calendar? Not me!

Here’s the facts:

June 14, 1777: The Second Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes ( The one we all remember from the Betsy Ross unit in Elementary school with the 13 stars in a loverly little circle)

1916: President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation officially establishing June 14 as Flag Day.

1937: Pensylvania became the first (and only) U.S. State to make Flag Day a State holiday.

1949: National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. (It is not a federal holiday)

Stephanie Perkins, author of Anna and the French Kiss had this to say about the most prestigious holiday:

Happy Valentines Day!

I took this picture on Valentine’s Day 2009 and It’s been one of my favorites ever since.

Hope you and yours are having a wonderful day!

My Valentine and I

Christmas Present

No, this isn’t a listing of all of the awesome-tastic things I got this year. As I’ve told you about the Christmases of my Past, I thought I’d now tell you about this Christmas.

Christmas hasn’t really been an event since I moved away. Putting up a tree and decorations isn’t that important to me when it’s just me, or just the two of us. My roommate Allie was the driving force behind decorations last year.

My job doesn’t normally give us Christmas Eve off. But this year, since Christmas was on a Saturday, we got the day off (picture me jumping up and down, at the idea of a day off – regardless of the reason). And Earl and I spent the morning doing quite a bit of nothing. The most we did was to venture out to Target and FYE.

Getting into the Target parking lot was a nightmare… because of the back-up at the adjacent Grocery store. People were jockeying for space to get in and get those two or three forgotten items for their Christmas goose. But once we got past those hooligans, it was smooth sailing. Target was quite busy, don’t get me wrong, but we got a parking space right up front, got in, grabbed the wrapping paper I’d been waffling over (pink with penguins!) and the items we put needed to put together a gift basket for the person I drew for his family’s gift exchange (not happening until New Year’s Day). When we got to the registers they all seemed pretty full… but we somehow managed to get to one where the only person in front of us had one stick of wrapping paper. It was serendipitous.

At about four, we packed up the dog, the cheesecake I’d made and the Christmas presents for Earl’s mom and her boyfriend and headed over to their house. Lucy of course headed immediately outside to bark at the ducks through the fence, and Earl and I were bombarded with a plethora of food stuffs.

And when her boyfriend got home from work (He drives a big-rig for Jack in the Box) they left for his family’s Christmas thing, and Earl and I popped in a movie. Do you think that movie was christmasy? Not in the least. We watched “The Mutant Chronicles.” It was enjoyable, I think Earl wants to buy it, simply to say we own it. It’s cast is fairly star filled. Thomas Jayne (aka the first Punisher), Ron Perlman (aka, Hellboy) and John Malkovich (really needs no explination) were the characters who’s names graced the cover of the DVD, but there were other recognizables, including Devon Aoki, Sean Pertwee and Pras.

After that movie, we switch to the TV and watched… a Christmas special? Nope, we watched some Dukes of Hazzard. We’re really into the Christmas spirit.

When they got home, we opened presents. Earl and I got his mom’s boyfriend a CD set of the Amos and Andy Radio Show – he’s really into that sort of thing. And we got his mom the first series of True Blood (her favorite show), I made her a scarf, and we got her Christmas ornaments with her dogs’ and our dog’s faces on them (picture on Wednesday).

They had bought us our entertainment center as a Housewarming/Christmas present, so we weren’t expecting anything more, but they got us Scrabble Flash and Konexi, a word game that is kind of like Scrabble, Jenga and a jigsaw puzzle all in one (picture on Wednesday).

After hanging out and talking some more, we went home with our dog and as it was after midnight, we gave Lucy her Christmas present – a Giant (it’s bigger than her head) Squeaky Duck. She had fun with that for a while we broke out the games and played a round of both.

Christmas Morning we headed out to Tolleson where Earl’s Grandmother has lived for the past 60 or something years and we visited with her and his dad for a while before heading back to Earl’s mom’s house.

She had Mimosas…. There was no keeping me away from that. They made breakfast for the gaggle of people who showed up, two grandmothers, a Cousin, the boyfriend’s daughter, her roommate and daughter and his son… and us.

I filled up on French toast and Mimosas and the Granddaughter opened her mountain of presents (She got a digital camera… who gives a 7 year old a $100+ fragile piece of equipment?) And then most everyone filtered out while Earl’s Mom’s Boyfriend’s mother and I talked in sign language (she’s deaf) and soon it was just five of us.

We went home about noon and spent a while playing the dog before I tackled cleaning out the closet. That’s right. My gift to myself for Christmas was cleaning the walk in. (It may not sound like much to you, but the organized space is heaven compared to what it was from when we moved in until Saturday.)

And then I took down the Christmas tree and put away all of our decorations (all 10 of them).

And that is what Christmas looked like this year.

(Wouldnt it be wonderful if this snow was real?)

Christmas Past - Pt. 2

Christmas morning I would wake up (late, thanks to the service that kept me out until 1am) and I would open a few presents and my stockings with my mom and step dad Ron. There was always the 4 presents I wasnt allowed to open right away. These ones would be saved for Grandma's house (usually these were little things to keep me occupied that could easily be packed back into the car for the return home at the end of the night... though one year it was a keyboard that was taller than me - I'm still trying to figure out the logic behind that one).

Along with those 4 presents, there was always a fifth. The one present my dad got me that I wasnt allowed to open until christmas day.

Then we would make the 30min drive to grandma's house, where we'd eat breakfast with the aunts and cousins who'd made the journey down from the northern part of the state. on good years (no snow in the portland/pendleton areas) there would be 11 of us. Bad years, 5.

Breakfast always involved something delisciously fattening and then we would move into the living room to open gifts.

Each year the grand kids were alternated through to decide who would open the presents... and invariably, every year I would end up (on the years I was selected to to distribute) invariably, accidentally opening  one of my grandmother's presents - Arley and Amy do look very similar to an eight year old.

As we kids got older, the tradition changed to gifts between the family needing to be made, in fact, one of my favorite presents from those years was a fleece blanket (the ones where you cut the edges into strips and knot two pieces of fleece together.) from my mom's sister and her kids in Pendleton. It's in on the bed right now.

From then until dinner, was the point at which those 4 present (plus anything else I got) were meant to keep me occupied. Of course, here, on this grandma's farm, there was also time spent looking at soggy cows eating soggy grass.

And then it was time for dinner.

My mom's mom didn't make quite the feast my dad's mom did... but then again, my paternal grandmother had a dozen more people to cook for.

Dinner was always finished off with pie (my mom's favorite part of any dinner) and wipped cream (my favorite part of any pie) and then we kids would go back to occupying ourself and the grown-ups would go back to talking about things... and then it would be time to go home.

And Christmas would end with the long drive down the river home.


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Christmas Past - P1.

When I was growing up, Christmas came with a definite schedule. It kind of had to. Being a child of divorce I know what scheduling means.


Christmas Eve I was always with my dad, Christmas Day I was always with my mom. That’s how it always was.

Christmas Eve morning my dad would pick me up and we would spend the day at my grandmother’s house. She’d be bustling about in the kitchen, from whence the most delicious smells would pour fourth, and we children were usually relegated to the living room, where one responsible adult (or one of the older cousins) would make sure none of us youngins dug into the presents too soon.

It was invariably raining. That’s pretty much all the sky does in December on the southern coast of Oregon. And when we weren’t playing “Button Button, who’s got the button” on the steps or reading the hardbound Little Bear Books, or playing cards, we were staring out the window at the soggy cows, chewing on their soggy grass.

The Christmas tree was one my dad or uncles had pulled off the property somewhere, it was usually a spruce and very pokey. My grandmother strung it with bulbs from a bygone era, which looked sure to light the boughs on fire if lit for more than a few hours. There was never a tree fire, though. The ornaments, possibly new when my father – the eldest child – was a toddler, were strewn about amid strings of cranberry and popcorn, candy canes and Cards, tucked into the fray.

Each year, at about three, we’d sit down at the tables, bow our heads to say grace and then we stuffed our faces with the delightful creations my grandmother proffered.

After dinner everyone gathered in the living room and gifts were exchanged. Names were drawn at thanksgiving to see who would get who what. And so the gifts would be handed out and we would go around the circle, each person opening their gift before moving to the next.

In later years, after my father remarried, we would return home and my step siblings would open the presents I got them and I would open the presents I received from them. I was never allowed to open my stocking there – because I received the same general things as everyone else, so my step mom would usually hand me a small brown paper bag and I would put it with the rest of my things, unable to open it until Christmas morning at my mother’s house.

And then we would wait.

Christmas Eve meant Midnight service. We would leave for church just about 10:30pm and arrive for the service that started at 11. This was probably my favorite church service all year. #1, I got to stay up late, and #2, I got to sing a ton of Christmas songs.

The church Christmas tree was enormous. What do you do when you have 30ft ceilings? You get a 25ft Christmas tree. As everyone squeezed into pews with people who weren’t seen but that one service a year, any signs of grogginess quickly faded with the excitement

The service always culminated with the lighting of candles (handed out to each person as they entered the sanctuary) and singing Silent Night. One of the ushers would flip the breaker to turn off the lights and the hundred+ people who showed up for this service would sing that haunting carol to the flicker of the small white candles. (One year, the choir director’s daughter somehow forgot she was holding a candle and that she’d put on liberal amounts of hairspray… I think we all know what happened…)

And then we’d adjourn to the social hall where someone brought smoked salmon every year… and a cheese loaf… and there was hot chocolate.

And then My dad would drop me off at home and I would crawl into my bed, forgetting the presents and then unopened “stocking” and fall into an exhausted sleep.

(Tomorrow, Christmas Day)

WW: Christmas

Pork & Pea Soup

 

(This is probably the simplest soup we make. The amounts in it are completely subjective. Just do what you feel is right.)

 

Ingredients:

• Pre-cooked Pork (pulled is best)
• Peas
• Carrots
• Egg Noodles
• Vegetable Broth
• Seasonings

Directions:

 

Add all ingredients to stock pot, cook until heated, serve.

 

 

 

I told you it was easy.

 

 

 

Also, here’s a picture of the Santa figurine Earl’s mom gave me. He’s so cute (the picture does him no justice.)

 

 

Christmas Spirit and Beef Barley Soup

I’ve lived in Phoenix for over 5 years now, and I’m still not used to the weather here around Christmas. Christmas should be cold and precipitous (in Oregon that meant rain, not snow). It shouldn’t mean that two weeks before Christmas day I should get a small sunburn whilst doing yard work under a wonderfully warm sun. (Yes, for those of you who were wondering, even though we’re not moving into the house, we’re still helping her finish the yard. We wouldn’t just leave her to it.)

My point with this is, I’ve never really gotten into the “Holiday spirit” here, because… it just doesn’t feel like Christmas. Thusly I’m not a big decorator. I have a very small amount of Christmas decorations and I don’t often put them up.

My step mother is the queen of decorating for Christmas. If she did this for everyone’s birthday (not just the observance of Jesus’) everyone who knew about it would be shoving elbows into each other to get to her door first and put themselves on a list of who’s birthday to celebrate. She’s that good at it. And she bakes… I cannot begin to guess the grocery bill associated with the wonderful heaps of goodies she makes each year around Christmas. Can’t imagine it at all… So I wonder when I started on this downhill slope toward being a Grinch?

I had a point to this… I swear! Earl’s mom gave us her old Christmas tree yesterday. She’s trying to convert me to a seasonal decorator, I’m just sure of it. But it kind of fits perfectly under our new 10-foot ceilings (its 7 ½ feet tall). And now I’m looking at this lovely narrow, pre-lit tree (that I’ve yet to form because… well, I had to go to bed so that I could get up and write this post – er, go to work) and I’m sadly ill prepared for it. I have like 7 ornaments. Sad, I know.

Earl wanted to put the tree in the corner of the giant windows…. And I looked at him for a minute, trying to hide my shame and finally mustered up the courage to mention that I’d be fairly embarrassed to have this gorgeous tree… with one ornament per foot of tree…. So it’s been nestled into the corner of the dining room where only the people we invite over will have the opportunity to see it.

Also, I’m using an old gold table cloth for a tree skirt – yep… I’m THAT prepared for a Christmas tree…

***

Alright… on to the Beef Barley!

I’m going to admit that this soup was a little daunting to me at first. I mean… barley? Where the heck was I supposed to find that? I’ve never actually noticed the bags of pearl barley neatly stacked next to the dried beans in all my years of buying Lentils (Oh, how I love Lentils)… and yet, there they were, right where I’ve been ignoring them all these years! This recipe is soup-er easy (and yes, I know how cheesy that was.

(Sorry I don’t have a picture for you. I’ll take one the next time we make a fresh batch and attach it… just in case.)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Minced garlic
• ½ cup Onion (chopped)
• 3 (12oz) cans sodium free chicken stock
• 1-2lbs Stew beef (depending on how meaty you want your soup)
• 1 cup Pearl barley (washed, dried and all debris removed)
• 1 cup Peas
• 1 cup carrots (chopped, slivered, shredded or whole – if you do baby carrots)
• Seasonings to your liking.

Directions:

In stock pot add Minced Garlic and Onion. Cook until Onion becomes clear, but make sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add chicken stock and 1 can of water, stir. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, add beef and barley. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Add vegetables and spices. Cook until barley has expanded and beef is cooked through.

All I Want For Christmas...

It’s that time of year again…


Yep, Christmas is right around the corner and I’m once again looking at the cost of shipping because none of my family lives anywhere near me (with the exception of eldest my step-brother and his family). So all of my presents have to be bought, wrapped, covered in bubble wrap, packed away in an appropriate box for shipping and then sent… all in time to get there for the big day!

This is also the reason I tell most people who want to get me something… just get me a gift card. Don’t worry about something that’s going to cost you another $10 in shipping. Because I care like that. Now, this never stops me from buying an actual gift and then spending the money for shipping… because I love finding gifts for people. I love getting the perfect gift – even if I think it’s the perfect gift, but the other person doesn’t... because I care like that.

So… since I’ve told anyone who asked that I’d prefer a gift card to an actual present, here are some things I want, but know I won’t be getting (because you’re kind of the first to hear about them).

A new fleece jacket from Columbia

I have a Columbia Fleece jacket… in fact, I’m wearing it as I type this… but it’s getting a bit ratty… I’ve had it for at least seven years. The elbows are wearing thin, it’s no longer all that soft, a hole has formed in the left pocket… it is in a state of disrepair.

The Lyda Teapot

It’s just so cute! And it’s fairly inexpensive… so I might go buy it for myself and save anyone else the trouble.

Shoes

I’m super tough on shoes…I find one pair that I love and I wear them until they are dead. That being said, I live in my work shoes, so I’m in serious need of a new pair (My purple alligator pumps don’t go with most of my outfits) and these adorable black pumps from forever21 are just too cute with their little bows! I might actually wear a skirt occasionally to show them off – yeah, probably not. And then there’s the running shoes. I think this is one of the reasons I have an aversion to working out… my running shoes are pretty mangled. I really need to invest in a new pair of those. And if they look adorable, that’s even better.

A pair of comfy leather chairs

They’re from Ikea, so for leather, they’re actually pretty decently priced… and they’re oh so comfy! And, they’ll go fantastically in our new apartment!

The complete series of Robin Hood.

It’s on sale at Amazon right now… and British TV is always so expensive in the states and I’d probably trade my eyeteeth for it at this price, but Earl and I promised that we wouldn’t buy any TV series before we bought the complete series of Farscape… So I’m sitting on my hands (not literally of course) and praying that the price doesn’t skyrocket again before I can get my hands on it.



This beautiful purple flower ring

I’m not even going to tell you the price, because it’s more than I’d ever spend on myself… let alone let someone else spend on me. All I’m going to say is that it’s from Tiffany Co.

And of course there are a bajillion novels on my list of must reads and a dozen or more movies that I could also throw on here… but I don’t want to bore you with all of that… because let’s face it, with the books alone, we’d be here until next Christmas if I detailed them all.

And then of course, I’d love to land an agent for Christmas… but I’m not going to get my hopes up. I’m not sure that Santa is in that racket.

I Need To Clean Out My Purse – A List 2.0

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!

So, anyway, right now I'm at home working on day two of our Venture Brother's marathon. Earl's mom is doing dinner on sunday to accomodate for several schedules... and I'm off until tuesday, so Earl and I are hunkered down to watch seasons 1 through 4.1 of the hillarible cartoon.

This meme requires I tell you something today though (even if you probably wont read it until monday), so here you go:

25. What’s in your handbag?

Back in July, I posted the first version of this list and now you get to see what, if anything has changed.

A Novel - Heart Chaser (young adult SF) by Thomas Locke

A Water Bottle – 1.5 liter Arrowhead ( this puppy only costs me a buck at Fresh and easy… why would I buy a smaller bottle for twice the price?)

My fifth novel – which I should be editing right now... I’ll continue to watch Venture brothers instead

A Notebook - Green, Mead, spiral bound, 120 pages, college ruled

Steno book - also green

Wallet - (Including $1.83 in change, 1 stamp, 30 cards for my tattoo artist, bank card, drivers license, Barnes & Nobel card, Petco and pet smart cards, Insurance cards, Doctor’s business card, 2-year pass to sea world & Annual pass to all of the National parks.)

My cell phone – Soooo happy I get to throw that away next month

Sunglasses – I really need to find a new pair of these, but I hate the mall and I can never find ones I actually like anyway… so I’m sticking with this old pair that’s scratched to hell and doesn’t actually fit well.

3 pens - Red, Blue & Black.

Lotion - Bath and Body Works Optimism Hand cream in Bright Blossoms (3fl oz)

ChapStick - Strawberry

My keys – If I leave the building without these I’ll be in a world of hurt.

Bobby pin – in case my bangs decide to make threats toward my life.

USB Drive – my lifeline when I’m away from my laptop.

Post it with my dog groomer’s information on it – Lucy really needs a cut.

Alright kiddos, that was fun, now go enjoy your turkey and stuffing!

A Months Worth of Posts

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, let me draw your attention away from what’s going on with a little sleight of hand!

November is one of those special months with 30 days – this makes a 30-day meme ideal for the month of November. And thusly I am doing one both here and on my writing blog starting Monday, November 1st. Don’t worry, they’re two different memes, so if you want to read them both, you won’t be bored to death with repetition. That would be redundant.

I found this at Tina Gray {Dot} Me

If you’d like, you’re more than welcome to join in too. I think I’ve convinced Katie of Twelve Days Old and Jenna of Little Grey Kitten to join in and if not you should totally definitely not cyber bully them into participating also.

Below me are the list of prompts by day. If you’re joining in, have fun. If you’re just observing, happy reading.

Day 1 – Post a photo of yourself and tell us how your day was
Day 2 – Post a photo of something you ate today
Day 3 – What is your idea of the perfect first date?
Day 4 – Post your favorite photograph of your best friend
Day 5 – Post a photo of yourself from two years ago
Day 6 – Post a photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet
Day 7 – What is your dream wedding?
Day 8 – Post the lyrics or a link to a song that match your mood today
Day 9 – Post a photo of the item you last purchased
Day 10 – Post a photo of our favorite place to eat
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – Post a photograph of the town you live in
Day 13 – Who is your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – Tell us about a TV show you’re currently addicted to
Day 15 – What is something you don’t leave the house without?
Day 16 – Who is your celebrity crush?
Day 17 – Post a photo of you and your family
Day 18 – What is something you crave a lot?
Day 19 – Post another picture of yourself
Day 20 – What is the meaning behind your blog name?
Day 21 – Post a photo of something that makes you happy
Day 22 – Post a letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 23 – Post 15 facts about you
Day 24 – Post a photo of something that means a lot to you
Day 25 – What’s in your handbag?
Day 26 – Post a photo of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 27 – Post a picture of you last year and now and tell us how if you’ve changed since then
Day 28 – Tell us about your favorite movie
Day 29 – What is something you could never get tired of doing?
Day 30 – Post a photo of yourself today and tell us three good things that have happened in the past 30 days