Monthly Archives: November 2006

Finally, a minute to talk about this past weekend!  Work has been insane since I returned. I came back to a pile of stuff undone and mistakes to fix.  See, this is why I so rarely take a week off!  And I’m doing it again in December!  Argh!

So, anyway, the moutains were gorgeous.  It didn’t snow, which I was kinda hoping for.  Actually it was in the 60s and one day it hit 70.  November in the Blue Ridge Mountains should NOT be in the 70s.  Just so you know.  Ellie caught her first fish. Actually she caught 3, they were rainbow trout, and she was SO proud of herself.  Of course, her papa did most of the work and we cheated and took her to a trout farm, but so what!  She was SO happy!  And so very cute.

I tried to get some good pictures of her for our Christmas card, but she couldn’t be still.  Or she was making a face.  Everything I got is in shadow.  I hope I can fix it.  See:

We got lots of Christmas shopping done; we are almost through!  As I figured, I didn’t get to read much. But I did get to do a lot of knitting on the drive back.  I finished a scarf for my 3-year-old niece, who was dying for me to make her one.  And I started another for a Christmas present.  See:

This one is my niece’s.  She loved it.

And this is for a friend.  I love the colors so much! 

I’m afraid the knitting is going to cut into my reading time.  I really hoped to get 60 books in this year, so hopefully I can get at least 3 more books in.  The Crimson Petal is SO huge though!  I am almost halfway through it though.  Yet, I picked up Oracle Night by Paul Auster Monday at the library and glanced at it last night.  I just had to see what Andi is so in love with.  I’m hooked.  Wow, does this guy have a way with words!  I now have 3 books going, here’s hoping I can finish them all!

The second new meme floating around this week.  I believe this one was created by litlove, but I stole it from Bookgirl.

What part of the past would you bring back if you possibly could?

Oh, so many things. I would be hard pressed to pick one specific time. I could go back 20 years to see my father again. I could go back 5 to see my grandfather again. I could go back 2 years to see my grandmother again. I can’t pick. It’s like asking me which limb I could live without, so you could chop it off. I’d go to all three.

What character trait would you alter if you could?

Patience. Which I firmly believe is why I was given my daughter. She tries me daily.

Which skill would you like to have the time and energy to really work on?

The ability to write better.

Are you money poor, love poor, time poor or freedom poor?

Time poor. There are not enough hours in the day. If only I didn’t have to work….

What element of your partner’s character would you alter if you could?

Oh dear, this is hard. Hmm…I think we would work on his patience as well. He’s wonderful with Ellie, but not always so patient with me.

What three things are you going to do next year that you’ve been meaning to do for ages but never got around to?

I would like to read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, finally. I would like to finish my book, whether I publish it or not (I’m leaning not). And I would like to have another baby.

If your fairy godmother gave you three wishes, what would you wish for?

I guess I will be noble and wish for something not so selfish, like world peace, end of poverty and the end of starvation. But, if it were really for just me I’d wish for more time, another healthy, happy baby, and happiness.

What one thing would you change about your living conditions?

We desperately need a bigger house. These 1200 sq feet are closing in on us fast.

How could the quality of your free time be improved?

If my house were cleaner I could read, write, or play with Ellie without feeling guilty about the laundry, the dust and the laundry. Did I mention the laundry?

What change have you made to your life recently that you’re most proud of?

I actually started my book, am almost 20,000 words into it and I am actually enjoying the experience. And I started drinking water more. It actually does make me feel healthier.

A NaNovel Update:

As of this postin I have 19,328 words.  I have 6 chapters.  I have 8 characters.  I have had 2 major plot changes and actually had a pretty extensive rewrite just this morning which put me a little behind.  But I knew I couldn’t continue until I fixed the problem.  I have written over 10,000 words in the last 4 days, so I’m feeling pretty good!  I still have a lot of catching up to do.  And there is no way I will have finished this book at the 50,000 word mark.  It’s looking like 150,000 to me to get it all in there.  Or I’ll have 3 sequels one! 

I’ve seen several posts around the lit blog network dissing NaNo, but I tell you, the sense of accomplishment I feel when I reach my goal for the day is intoxicating.  I don’t care if the novel is crap, even though I feel it’s only 50% crap.  I don’t care if I’ll never get it published.  I’m having fun and I’m having fun doing something I have always wanted to do.  And anything that brings together so many people and helps them feel creative, accomplished and have fun while doing it, even for only one month; well, I think that’s pretty damn cool.  There are currently 515,404,888 words written this month according to the NaNo website; they could be doing worse things with their time.

I think we all know by now how much I love a good meme.  This is a meme from Kate at Kate’s Book Blog that has been floating around the last couple of days.

1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?

I “read” my first book when I was 3. I had a favorite book as a child, it was a Curious George book, and I requested it every night before I went to bed. And my grandmother read it to me, every night, until I had it memorized. I would pick it up myself and pretend to read it. But then one magical day, I picked it up and suddenly it clicked. I knew the words when I looked at them then, I didn’t have to pretend any more.

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what’s the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?

Lord yes. My grandmother was not one to tell a child no when she wanted a book. She joined the Children’s BOTM club just so she could get me books. I had tons of them. She finally gave them to my little cousins when I outgrew the picture and chap books and gradulated to Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume and others.  My grandmother also had a large set of the Pollyana books.  I don’t know if all of them are there, but there were several.  I found a picture of the exact same copy I have.   I also remember getting the Anne of Green Gables books out of the church library over and over and over again.  I don’t know why I never bought my own set. 

3. What’s the first book that you bought with your own money?

I honestly can’t remember. I wish it was something cool, like the Chronicles of Narnia or Jane Eyre or something, but more likely than not it was a Christopher Pike or Sweet Valley High.

4. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often?
Oh yes. I reread Christopher Pike many times over. And the Narnia books. I read those until they fell apart, and the Little House books as well.

5. What’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?

Hmmm…this one took some thought. I think it was in the 4th grade. I remember we took some standardized test and my teacher being so shocked that I was reading at a 12th grade level. I know I was reading stuff like Little Women, the Arabian Nights, Alice in Wonderland, and some dumbed down version of King Arthur. I know it wasn’t the actual Le Morte d’Arthur or even the Once and Future King, but it was some version of it. I’ve had a long love affair with King Arthur. My grandmother had this wondeful set of children’s classics that included all these books. To my adolescent fingers they were huge when in reality they were about 250 pages. But I felt so grown up reading this beautiful hardcover books. It was magical.

6. Are there children’s books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn immediately comes to mind. As well as The Neverending Story and The Last Unicorn.

Bonus Question: Are there books you remember reading as a child that you either can’t find now or can’t remember the title?

I can’t think of any off the top of my head. I think my grandmother kept all the really special ones for me and I finally brought them all home after she died.