Some Updates:

We had a lovely Christmas. We spent much of our free time at home, and the other half, I spent shuttling kids back and forth between rehearsal and basketball practice. You’d think these things would take a break during the holidays but no… not really. Because of it, my two weeks of bliss wasn’t quite bliss and went by super fast, but that’s okay. I still enjoyed the time off. We hit Disneyland right before Christmas and although everything broke down numerous times (horribly windy, electrical problems) and the fireworks show was canceled as was THE SNOW on Main Street, we still managed to have a really good time.

You may recall me talking about the “mystery gift” that The Hub purchased from a traveling salesperson. Well, it was a punch card for some beauty services. One of which was BOTOX. Now, I am not highly sensitive and there were some other treatments on there to choose from, but nothing I would choose for myself and not from the salon that I normally go to. So, it was returned! We are still waiting for a refund (traveling salesperson and all). So he is going to take me to breakfast and a movie and call it a day. I could have been a bit prickly about it. Especially after those horrible photos that someone took at that party I went to, but I analyzed my face in the mirror for a good 20 minutes and chalked it all up to cluelessness.

New Year’s Day, we hit Santa Barbara. It was so gorgeous out! We had a nice lunch, did some window shopping and made the drive home. Simple, easy day, but fun,

I could go on and on because two weeks is two weeks but I’ve been reading everyone’s posts from my phone. Glad that most of you had a wonderful holiday. So sorry for those of you who were sick! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog to say “Hi” or “Happy New Year.” I wish you all the best of 2012. Cheers!

P.S. It is supposed to be 82 degrees in So Cal today. This past week has felt like summer!! Makes me want to kick off my shoes and read outside. In fact, I think I will. Well, later. Once I get home from work.

The Boy and Girl in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland!

This year, more than any other, I have really treasured the time I’ve spent with family and friends and that includes you. Although I haven’t met everyone in person, I feel as if I know each of you and I treasure that. Truly.  I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and another joyous year of reading. Cheers!

What a wonderful, long weekend. I’ve been so relaxed, that I hardly know what day it is. The weather has been gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Sunny and warm, hovering right around 70 degrees but the leaves are all shades of gold and it just feels like fall. Finally.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We watched movies, ate, took the dog for walks and collapsed on the couch in an exhausted heap. Who knew sloth could be so exhausting? Oh, and in the evening, when everything was said and done, I finished 1Q84. Yes, a bit later than I had wanted but the timing ended up being quite good. I was sleepy from all that turkey and when I read that last paragraph, I felt as if I was in Murakami’s surreal world. I went off to dreamy land after that with a smile upon my face.

Shopping.

No way was I going to head out into that craziness after such a lovely dinner at home. Nope. However, I did hit the stores by 10am on Friday and it wasn’t too bad. I hit the mall and a couple of other stores and everyone acted like perfect little shoppers. I did not hit Target though, which I always hit. I don’t know. With all of the reports of violence, I decided to skip the discount stores.

I never did get to the new King book. I totally forgot about the reading that I have to do for the Freshman Common Reading group that I belong to. Last year we had to read the books over Christmas, but this year we were asked to read them over Thanksgiving. Well, I don’t care for any of the books. I started them, and then put them aside and picked up The Bungalow instead. I picked it up late last night, and I already finished it! Couldn’t put it down.

Today, I have my first meeting for this new Classics book club I joined. We are watching lectures on Edgar Allan Poe and then next week we discuss them. I also have my normal book club’s holiday party this week. Man, December 1st is this Thursday. Unbelievable.

Okay, well I babbled on long enough. I have been off of the computer so I’ve not been reading any blog posts this weekend, but I plan to catch-up tomorrow. Also, in case you didn’t notice, I finally added an A-Z index of authors. I’ve been wanting to do it for a while, and thought I would do it come January, but then thought, why wait? Hope it helps.

Hope you are all having a lovely Sunday.

That said…

The turkey has been consumed. The pie has been eaten. I will NOT be hitting the stores tonight. Tomorrow? That’s another story

Happy Thanksgiving!

My brain is saying no. The mild weather in Southern California agrees with me. No, I am not quite there yet but Christmas is a mere seven weeks away. Did you know that? The Hub and I got into a heated discussion about it. He prefers to let it creep up on him, but he’s not the one who does the buying, or the cooking or really any of it. Okay, he handles the Christmas lights (and has fallen off the roof twice). I do all the rest and I don’t complain because I LOVE Christmas.

I love Thanksgiving, too. I’ve been compiling my gluten-free recipes as this will be my first gluten-free Thanksgiving meal. This year though, I don’t want to wait until Black Friday to get the shopping started. I have two reasons for this. The first, is that it’s just easier to buy a little at a time and I tend to make better decisions when not pressed for time. The second, is that the family business is still teetering on collapse so I have to shop in small spurts in order to afford things. There, I said it.

This year, there may be more bookish gifts than in previous years. I’ve already bought this for The Boy:

The Boy is a visionary so there was no way for me to pass this one by without the opportunity to wrap it up in red and white and stick it under the tree. The tree that I know will be attacked in some way by the Otter Pup.

I haven’t yet, but I would love to buy The Girl these books. She also wants a Kindle. That is a discussion for another time. They are affordable enough, but I really don’t want her to download books willy-nilly. Not unless I become-famous-from-some-reality-TV-show-get -married-for-only-72-days-and-then-file-for-divorce. Smirk. I could probably afford the willy-nilly downloading of books then.

Of course, with every trip to the bookstore I feel as if I must pick-up a little something for myself. Except, this bookstore is in London.

There is something very special about Persephone books. I find that I seem to crave them (yearn for them?) only at Christmas.

Are you thinking about the holidays yet? I can’t wait to read King’s new one over Thanksgiving break. I have it all planned.