Miss A’s Christmas Wishlist is long and just keeps getting longer. No, there is no freakin’ way she will be getting everything on her list, not now at Christmas, nor at her birthday, nor maybe ever.
Aside from the fact that we’d have no money left for college (or next month’s electric bill), some stuff she asks for is very spur of the moment, Gimme! Gimme! – and that’s the kind of stuff I know she can simply do without. For the most part, though, I make sure she gets what she really wants – and will go out of my way (like ordering Charlie and Lola dolls from the UK, or digging up vintage Littlest Pet Shops on E-bay) to find and buy something if she sticks with a particular request for awhile.
Here are the two items she asked for from Santa this year:
She saw this at a friend's house and calls it a "Dog Dress Up Set." Thanks Christine for helping me locate this!Front and center you can see the dolphin I managed to find on e-bay...apparently Sea World put out a series of LPS toys in the '90s.
Overall, I think I earn my gold Mama star in the gift department. Our Santa policy is that you can only ask for one or two things from the big man in red, because he has a lot of kids to take care of, and there just isn’t room for too many toys per kid in his sack. This way, she keeps her list with Santa (whether writing a letter to him or sitting on his lap) short and sweet – and I know the things she asks for from him are what she REALLY wants, more than anything, and that’s what I will work extra hard to make sure she finds on Christmas morning.
So I kinda brought the difficult toy hunt upon myself, because it seems Miss A has decided that if a toy can be found in a store, than that doesn’t go on the Santa list. For example, she originally planned to ask Santa for one of those FurReal cats…but then she saw it in a certain store that starts with a W and told me, “I’m not going to ask Santa for that. If it’s here in the store, you can get it for me!”
That kid is sharp.
I have to admit, I like our Santa policy – sure it can make me have to frantically hunt for things not commonly sold in stores – but it also lets my husband and I enjoy the lion’s share of credit for presents.
And yes, I admit to enjoying basking in the glow of juvenile gift gratification.
Then at a 7Nations concert (pretty much the only band I enjoy seeing live) the lead singer and bass player signed my CD.
ETA: I just wanted to add, that if you are looking for some new Christmas music – something a little different but still a bit traditional…you should check out 7Nations holiday CD:
My favorites: "The Rebel Jesus" and their version of 2000 Miles and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Several years ago, I had met the fiddle player and got a pic (I cornered him while he was grabbing a drink at IrishFest).
Here I am with Dan, the Fiddle Man of 7Nations, at IrishFest (clearly, this picture was taken BEFORE I had kids).
And to top it off, just after my birthday, I got to meet my favorite blogger (aside from the Bitches, whom I hope to meet one day as well) PW!
I know I have mentioned my love and admiration for The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond here before. I was first introduced to her a little over a year ago by another homeschooling mom, and ever since then, I’ve been hooked. I visit her site every week, sometimes every day, (ok, ok I admit it, sometimes more than once in a day).
I can’t decide what I love best about her site…sure there is the homeschooling section, but sadly, that doesn’t get updated as much as I’d like – she has some great contributors, like Mrs G and Oh My Stinkin’ Heck, who write wonderful articles and post cool tips and ideas. Like the one about notebook pages and free write stories I posted about awhile back.
Then there is the cooking section – full of recipes, most of which I just drool over, knowing I will never find the time to make any of it. I have actually tried making a few things from her site, like the apple tart and zucchini cake. I hope to try making her rosemary rolls at some point, and if I am successful with that, I’ll try something else.
I think my favorite section of her site is the Photography – she offers awesome free PhotoShop actions and between her and her incredible contributors (like Miz Booshay), all sorts of helpful tutorials and tips. Of course, I am still lusting after a DSLR instead of owning one, but I make do with my point and shoot. It’s a fun and a creative outlet.
Then there are her contests. Her awesome incredible contests. At least once a week (usually) she will run a contest giving away pots and pans, mixers, knives, cameras, printers, gift cards…all sorts of great stuff!!! And it’s never stressful to enter her contests, usually you just have to answer a random question that floats through her brain (like: “What’s your favorite kind of pizza?”) I am crossing my fingers and hoping that my luck is holding out to win one of her camera prize packages. Oh, I am hoping! (Me and the 30,000+ people who comment on her site everyday).
So, when PW announced she was coming to Chicagoland as part of her cookbook tour, you know I had to be there. Miss A and I went to the Barnes and Noble to hang out and wait for her, and Holy Cow (little bit of Chicago for you) does this woman draw a crowd!
The store was packed, literally, from floor to ceiling. I hung out in the back (in the kid's section) with Miss A, so that's why all my shots are from behind. Pretty cool, though, cuz it's more from her perspective.
She came along with her husband (whom she refers to as Marlboro Man on her blog) and her 2 boy “punks.” Her 2 daughters stayed at home on the ranch for this leg of her book tour. Miss A liked meeting some other homeschooled kids, and loved hearing how they each had their own horse!
Miss A brought with some markers and paper for the boys to sign.They were pretty busy running all over the place, but stopped for a moment to hang out with her.
I gave Miss A my old camera which hasn’t been working very well and told her to have some fun.
So she did.
She took pictures of other people in line with us.And she took pics of PW herself.
Ree was as sweet and funny and open in person as she is on her website. She was a good sport about Aishtyn basically shoving a camera up her nose (I know how PW hates “bad” pictures of herself, so I won’t post Miss A’s shots here).
Despite the loooong line, she chatted with me and Aishtyn and took the time to personalize my books. One for me, and one as a birthday gift to my mother-in-law. Hopefully she will get inspired and make something extra yummy for us to try when we visit (is that devious of me?).
If you have never been to Ree’s website, go now! You don’t know what you’re missing. She is currently running a Chirstmas contest – prizes every day from now until Christmas!
Let’s just take a look at this for a moment, shall we?
I really don’t need to say anything more.
This gem, along with 9 other Twilighterrific products, is from a post my darling husband sent to me. The man loves to tease me since I read all the Twilight books this past October (and made him watch the first movie with me when I NetFlixed it, and then went out and watched the second movie with a friend). I enjoyed the series, but I am by no means a fan, and certainly not one who would hope to see anything from THIS LIST under the tree Christmas morning.
Aside from the creepy shower curtain, my favorites included:
Dude, if a guy actually made it far enough with a girl who would slip these on in the first place…he just might be weird enough to go ahead and slip them off.
With his fake vampire teeth.
Because you know he’s wearing them.
It’s how he got her into bed to begin with.
And of course, once he got those undies off, he’ll need one of these – because DEAR GOD PLEASE DON’T REPRODUCE!
And my husband’s personal favorite, more for the poster’s comment about attacking it with a lead pipe in the middle of the night than anything else…
All’s I gotta say is that there is no way that thing is going into a bedroom like that…there needs to be waaaaaaay more stuffed animals.
So, NaNoWriMo officially ends tomorrow,and for once I completed something with time to spare.
Despite both my girls getting horribly (and disgustingly) ill over the last few days, while working and homeschooling and holiday shopping and making sure my house isn’t buried under a mountain of dirty laundry and dishes I managed to hit the 50k word goal. My novel isn’t finished…I have a bit more to go, but I think I will manage to fill in the holes I left as I edit in December. Then comes the next big challenge – seeking out a literary agent and shopping my book around.
I have toyed with the idea of submitting to an e-pub…but have decided I will hold off just a bit and see what comes of the traditional method first. All of this is new to me and I look forward (and kind of dread) the whole process. I know I have a long road ahead, but I’m further down the path than I have ever been before – and it’s all due to NaNoWriMo.
So stay tuned as I start to bring back Monday Muse posts, more reviews of DisneyWorld, Homeschool ideas, and general cool stuff including a post of meeting my idol, The Pioneer Woman herself!
Writing 50,ooo words in one month is certainly easier than lifitng an X-wing fighter out of a swamp with just my mind.
So I gotta take that short little green Jedi Master’s advice and get to it it – not try to make my goal, but do it.
It’s crunch time for NaNo writers everywhere, the last 3 days are upon us. After pulling an all-nighter with an upchucking six year old, working on my novel was far from easy, but I managed to kick out a little over 1k this evening while she chilled on the couch and watched lots and lots and LOTS of t.v.
Tomorrow morning I am meeting my NaNo buddy for a writing cram session – she is already in the 60,000 range and already a winner, but wants to actually finish her novel. I know my won’t be finished at 50k, but I’ll start with that goal first.
So amidst the present shopping, tree trimming, obligatory visits to relatives and loads and loads of puke encrusted laundry I will be earning my NaNo’s winner badge.
I’ve learned a few things along my NaNo 2009 journey, some of which I already knew: like trying to write when the kids are around is simply FFF: (Freakin’…or Flippin’…or the other less polite choice) Futile and Frustrating. I can blog with the kids afoot, literally. Lil G’ is pulling on my leg as I type this and Miss A is bombarding me with a series of questions like, “How much money is two quarters and one penny plus another quarter?” and “Why can I only blow up a balloon a little bit?”
So I’ll get that kind of writing done any time of day, the blogging and message board post kind – but the “real” writing – the story development/world building/dialogue and character stuff writing – that needs more focus and attention and I just can’t do it when I have my Mama hat on.
But I also learned that if you make the time, the story will come, and the more you write, the more story there is! I don’t feel like as I get more words on paper I am running out of things to write about. Instead, as I write the scenes in my head more scenes branch off and connect and fuel more stuff to write about!
One not so important yet still significant thing I have decided while writing this novel is that I will try to avoid making all my heroines redheads (I have an overwhelming affinity for this breed, as you may have noticed). In my NaNo novel, for example, the main character has black hair. However, I will grant one concession to my…vanity, I guess you could call it – or maybe self-indulgement is a better word (even though I’m not sure that’s a real word at all): in each story I create, all my heroines shall be bootylicious…that’s right – they will be blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with more than their fair share of junk in the trunk.
It will be my trademark; readers everywhere will say, “Oh, her – I love her books, all the female leads have big butts!” My book tours will be full of me autographing crazed fans’ backsides (ok, maybe not).
Well, hopefully they will love my books for many other reasons, but you get the idea.
And the men in my books – they will L-O-V-E their ladies with the lushly rounded bottoms. I think a preference for a bountiful booty is an endearing quality in a man, don’t you? Instantly ups the hero on the likability scale.
So tell me, is there any one thing about you personally that you can’t help but include in your characters?
One of Miss A's craft projects from last Thanksgiving.
One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is that it gives me an excuse to make all the fun little crafty things I used to love creating when I was a kid. From cotton ball Santa Beards to handprint turkeys, I really enjoy making holiday craft projects with Miss A (and Lil’ G is starting to want to get in on the action too, now).
If you enjoy all the messy fun of glitter and glue, construction paper and crayons, popsicle sticks and googly eyes – and you don’t mind your holiday decorations consisting of freakishly odd shaped turkeys and pumpkins, then you’ll appreciate the following resource: a really neat little craft website, Crafty Crow posted a wonderful collection of Thanksgiving craft ideas all in one spot; go see what kind of Turkey Crafts you think you would enjoy, and have some gobbley-good fun (yes, I just typed that).
Readin’ thru the comments over at Artsyville, I happened across mention of a contest, so of course the chance at something free lured me over to a great artsy/mom website that has potential to be a Monday Muse once I pick that back up in December.
We Blog Artists is giving away one of their Once Upon A Time Original Watercolors. To enter, simply post a comment on their blog. You can enter again by posting info about the contest on your blog (kinda like what I am doing right now 😉 ) The contest closes at8pm on Saturday Nov 21st.
One of my beloved Monday Muses, Miss Aimee of Artsyville, recently posted some materials she created for a workshop on lettering she taught at KU.
One of the hand-outs she created was a stream of consciousness instructional “lecture” on how to just let go and create. I am totally stealing her words and applying them to my writing, it has given me the little inspirational boost I needed today, I hope it does the same for you!
Send your inner professor to the hall for there is no judge here – no grade – no critique – only you and your pen and your paper and your process and whatever you might discover along the way.
Pretty awesome huh? It looks even better in her unique doodle-y design:
Her advice might have originally been intended for hand crafting your own lettering designs, but it can so easily be applied to any art…so take her words to heart, send your inner professor out the door and create something!
You know that feeling you get when you first fall in love, and you have to tell everyone about so-and-so, you just can’t stop talking about so-and-so, you can’t wait to see so-and-so again?
Well, I fell in love Saturday night.
Don’t worry, the husband was with me…and no, things didn’t get kinky…(though the 2 of us have been propositioned by others to join in such activities…more than once ).
I fell in love with a little place called Cooper’s Hawk. It’s a winery and restaurant that I want to move next door to so I can get a little tipsy and toddle on home every night. Well, the food is so divine it wouldn’t be long before I did more than toddle, I suppose I’d roll like an overstuffed butterball turkey.
I first learned of the place when I tried their rhubarb wine at a wine festival over the summer. I finally got a chance to check them out for my birthday (yes, I have said goodbye to another year – or hello to a new one if you’re feeling optimistic). Oh let me tell you, it is a wine lush’s heaven.
They have a tasting room and you can sample away while you wait for a table. Then once you are seated you can sample a few more to see if the one they recommend with the meal you have chosen is one you actually like. And – if I wasn’t already smitten – and it’s not because I was more than halfway to tipsytown already, but they serve yummy wonderful warm pretzel bread before the meal. I could make a dinner out of the wine and bread, quite honestly.
We had the Viognier with dinner, and it was perfect.
I knew I already loved their rhubarb wine, and tasted (then bought) their cranberry wine. I plan to sample their cherry and plum wines the next chance I get.
I’m thinking of doing quite a bit of holiday shopping there, so if you’re on my gift list, try to act surprised when you get a couple of bottles of their wine.
Melonie Johnson 
You must be logged in to post a comment.