Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and...

...finally a new post!

I meant to write a Christmas post, and then again a New Year's post, but the best laid plans and all that. We had a nice relaxing Christmas here, which was a pleasant change from our usual shuttling between families at the holidays, but I missed my family immensely. Thank goodness for technology though! I chatted with my mom, sisters, and new little niece over Skype, which was lovely. My niece, who is five months old, got quite upset after awhile when she discovered she couldn't reach me. So adorable.

The cutest niece ever in her bear jammies.

I'm excited for the new year and a new decade, but I'm not one for New Year's resolutions. They always feel too forced. I'm much more likely to keep a birthday resolution or meet a writing goal that has some time and planning to support it. However, despite my lack of official resolutions, I am working toward a goal: I want to finish my final revisions and manuscript tweaks--the technical definition--and get my novel query into the hands of agents soon. I haven't set an exact goal date yet, as I'm reviewing my list of revisions to do, but I'm shooting for the next month or two. (Eek!)

Here's to a bright and shiny 2010, and best wishes to all the other writers and dreamers out there!

Christmas Countdown...

It's that time of year again. Only 15 days until Christmas! *SQUEEEE* (Ahem, I get a bit overexcited this time of year.) I cannot believe this will be our sixth Christmas living in California. I still can't get used to the differences in climate. On my daily run I pass the typical Northern California mix of palm, pine, and deciduous trees, but it always catches my breath when I see roses, lemons, and oranges in full winter bloom!

This year we traveled to our hometown for Thanksgiving, where we received a chilly greeting and gorgeous fluffy wet flakes. I participated in a 5k fun run on Thanksgiving morning with my bestie, and it was the first time in years I've had to wear gloves while running. We're staying here for Christmas, so we'll have to forgo a white one. It doesn't snow here. Occasionally it snows in the foothills, but never here, though apparently it did once. Before I was born. And yet, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. (Always hopeful!) It's bound to happen again and this year is our best chance so far since the temperature dipped below freezing at night this week--a very rare occurrence! However, my Oregon-girl-self is ashamed to admit how cold I've been this week, especially since the cold snap at home has left my mom with ice inside her windows--the highs only reached the single digits and the lows went down to about -13F!

Anyway, Christmas preparations are in full swing. We did the decorating last weekend, and now we're finishing our homemade gifts and preparing to wrap and ship! Our place looks like a cross between Santa's workshop and a publishing office what with Christmas crafts covering the table and encroaching my desk along with my scattered books and manuscript pages covering the remainder of the desk and coffee table! Festive and depressing all at once.

My Holiday Formula Broken Down

Racing the rain to replace windows and a sliding glass door
+

two cars breaking down in two days
+
another car break in
=
Pre-Holiday Madness and no blogging

~~~

Five bottles of wine
+
Five best friends
+
Husband's wonderful cooking
=
A perfect holiday party

~~~

Twelve books
+
Husband
+
Boxcutters, Exacto knifes, glue and a paintbrush
=
My most difficult Christmas craft to date
(Secret book boxes)

~~~

Nine hours of driving (one way)
+
One foot of snow
+
Bald California Tires
+
One Crazy Dog
+
Three Families
=
A Wild White Christmas with Chains

~~~

On Balance

I received two rejection letters in the last two days, but I also returned home to my lovely signed and personalized copy of Caroline's Disraeli Avenue, an Amazon giftcard, and my beautiful present from husband, which I had to leave behind while we traveled to Oregon for Christmas last week:


I was also somewhat heartened to learn that the finalists and runner's up in the contest where I submitted one piece, included not only well-published writers, but also tenured writing professors.

I had a lovely time with family and friends, and we enjoyed a white Christmas, but I'm glad to be back in my own space with a return to 60-degree weather in California. (I think Drew would love to be a snow dog though.)

Scribblings

Muchas gracias to JJ for the Superior Scribbler Award.

The Rules
1. Every superior scribbler must name five other super scribblers.
2. Link back to the author and the name of the blog that gave you the award.
3. Display the award and link to this post, which explains the award.
4. Add your name to the Mr Linky List, some way down this page, as a record of who the superest scribblers are.

I pass it on to the following deserving super scribblers:

Marmite and Tea for completing the insanely difficult NaNoWriMo!

Paige at The Last Word who also completed crazy NaNoWriMo.

(Can you tell I'm in awe of writing 50,000 words in one month? And perhaps, just a teensy weensy bit jealous?)

Hullaballoo for her thoughtful and entertaining scribblings.

Caroline for being an inspiring writer and sharing her talents with others.

Jen of Spiral Skies for her funny posts, finishing her novel, and keeping up with constant writing (and other creative!) classes.

Enjoy your well deserved award, ladies.
--

I haven't updated here in awhile because I've been busy working on the second draft of my novel. I'm working my way through it--currently on Chapter 10 (out of 15)--despite the fact that the numbers over there haven't increased. ----> I've found it's too difficult to keep an accurate word count because I keep inserting editing comments into my documents, which throws off the numbers. Hey ho. I've also sent off various pieces of writing for contests and things during the past two months, so I'm feeling quite productive. (And terrified. Ahem.)

I'm also keeping busy finishing my crafty Christmas gifts, which proved more difficult than expected. (I'll post pictures and explain later.) We're planning our trip home for Christmas, as well as a trip to Maui in February for my sister's wedding. Phew. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.

One Month

...until Christmas! I'm holding off on decorations until December 1st at the very least, but I'm proud to say that I'm nearly done with my Christmas shopping. I find it so much easier--on my stressload and my wallet--to spread out the shopping and finish early.

This weekend felt like an early Christmas present what with the release of Twilight the movie and the return of Jack Bauer with the 24 'movie'. I also met a friend from my summer online writing class in San Francisco Friday night, which was lovely. We went to hear our instructor read and talk about her book, The Witches Trinity. I was greeted with a fireworks display when I arrived at the Ferry Building, and although I'm still not sure why, it was quite festive.

The Twilight movie was not quite as good as I hoped, but still entertaining, and given their budget constraints it was impressive they were able to capture so much. 24: Redemption also didn't quite live up to the 24 standard, but it was satisfying and I'm eager to begin watching season 7 in January.

As for the shopping I haven't done...I'm off to do some last minute Thanksgiving grocery shopping and desperately hoping I don't get mobbed. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday everyone!

Ho ho ho and Oh oh oh!

It's Christmas over at Caroline's. Copies of her novella, Disraeli Avenue, are now available for pre-order. The proceeds benefit the charity One in Four. The limited edition signed and numbered copies will make a lovely addition to your shelves, so hurry up and get your copy! I've already ordered mine.

In other news, I've cut my hair. Again. I'm not quite sure what all the fuss was about, because these are real bangs (fringe for all the UK readers):
Oh yes, and did I mention I cut off all of my hair? Oh dear, oh dear. (Okay, actually it's fun and requires hardly any effort, but I realize some people just don't like short hair on girls, and I feel slightly self-conscious.)

I've been out with a migraine most of this week, so I'm struggling to keep pace with everything, but hopefully things will be back to normal soon. I'm almost to the halfway mark with my editing, which is exciting. It only hit me how far along I've gotten on Monday when I noticed I was on manuscript page 128! I'll give another writing update soon after I catch up with everything.

Oh, and did I mention tennis? First the Olympics, and now the US Open. Sport is taking over our Tivo!

Christmas in California

Sunshine, flowers, and cool crisp air combine to create a (northern) California Christmas.

Vertical Drew

It seems my vertical picture-posting problem is related more to my use of iPhoto than to my own handicap. I don't have internet access on the PC right now (due to laziness and a broken wireless card), but I always used Picasa on the PC, so I tested whether using an image from Picasa saved onto a disk and then uploaded would work, and aha(!), it did:
Above Left: Drew is tired out from all the package-opening and playing on Christmas. Above Right: Drew feigning modesty on our sunshiny walk. Right: Drew's Christmas attire. (I'm not sure he likes the chinstrap from the Santa hat!)

You poor people are going to be inundated with pictures now! Mwah ha ha.

New Year

Yesterday was glorious. I parked it on the couch and started watching season one of Charmed, which husband gave me for Christmas (along with season two of Charmed AND Dr. Who!). I originally planned on taking down the Christmas decorations, but I've been planning, cooking, baking, and cleaning for over a month, so I let husband talk me into a day of doing nothing. With the new year, it's nice to have nothing other than my book to stress about, at least for a few weeks until family birthdays begin.

We started Christmas with mimosas and Drew tearing into his stocking looking for treaties. On Wednesday I hosted our annual Christmas party for friends from college. I tried my hand at mince pies for the first time, and they came out perfectly paired with yummy mulled wine. However, I tried a new recipe for English Christmas Punch on New Year's Eve and it didn't turn out quite so well. I should have known considering it had a whole bottle of rum in it! Thankfully, the lemon lavender cake I attempted turned out yummy and it went well with my other cocktail: blackcurrant and champagne.

Here are a few of my favorite things:
My mom helped fuel my book habit, while husband gave me this beautiful painting (unfortunately my vertical picture-posting skills have not improved with the new year).

I also promised to post a picture of my crafty Christmas presents, which I can finally do now that they've all been opened. I also ended up making three more lacy scarves (including one for me, but I forgot to take a picture).I'm excited for 2008. The last two years have been a struggle, but I think this will be a good one. First and foremost, I expect to finish the first draft of my novel this spring and begin the editing.

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. Happy 2008!

To send or not to send

Christmas cards.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, and I like letting friends and family know that I'm thinking about them at the holidays. Yet, I feel guilted into sending cards to the 'obligation list' of people too. You know the ones: the people you don't talk to any other time of year, but have some tenuous connection with. I decided to opt out this year and avoid all that, but husband changed his mind last minute and decided we should send them, which as usual meant that I should write and send them. Men! Ugh. Luckily I knocked it out in one blow while watching House. Not bad. (I admit, I did make him lick the envelopes. I despise licking envelopes. Ick.) I also finished chapter 6 yesterday. Hurrah! (Finally! Sheesh that chapter ended up long...)

Things have been a little crazy around here, so I'll probably be lying low until after the holidays, though I reserve the right to check in if I have an itching desire to share some random thoughts with you.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that!

Early bird gets the...

Worm? Indeed. I was dreading my 7:15am appointment this morning. I'm not what you would call a morning person. 8:00 - I'm good, 7:00 - not so much, but getting up at 6:30 kills me. My stomach hurts, I'm wobbly and clumsy (okay nothing new there), and I move slowly. I tried to schedule another time, but it was the only available appointment for a month, so I bit the bullet. Unfortunately, when I arrived--on time I might add--the doors were locked, the lights were off, and no one was there. Pfft. I called the phone number and the answering message said their hours are 9-7. WTF? Either my appointment was scheduled 2 hours before opening, or just after closing. I'm sure the woman said 'am' when I scheduled, so I was peeved, but there wasn't anything I could do. I went to breakfast, wrote my words for the day, ran my errands, and was home by 11am. I see why people like getting things done in the morning! I just wish I didn't have to plan days in advance in order to make it work. I taped my morning Charmed, so I'm going to go snuggle on the couch for lunch and watch it. I mailed off five Christmas packages yesterday, so I'm all set to relax the next two weeks (right). Now I just have to remember my 7:15pm appointment after dinner.

The view

While sitting at a stoplight today, I looked over and saw a man trimming (or possibly plucking?) his nose hairs. I seem to be running into all the odd ones lately.

Just thought I'd spread the Christmas cheer for all to hear...

Close misses

I'm keeping busy busy, and I feel like someone has stolen half of December! I cannot keep up with everything. Two days last week I missed my writing goals. I started to catch up this weekend, and I passed the 30k mark, but I have more makeup words to write today. So far so good.

Friday night we had date night. I know there are a few McEwan haters out there, but I love his writing and Atonement is my favorite. I've been waiting months to see it, and it was finally released in the US this weekend. Unfortunately I didn't find out until Friday afternoon that it was a limited release, so it wasn't playing anywhere in the south bay. We did have a lovely dinner downtown, where we were seated next to a couple on their first date. We could hardly talk because we were so absorbed in the oddities of this couple. They were probably in their mid-40s, both had children of their own, but they acted so immaturely it was as if they were teenagers on their first date. The man said he wanted to sit next to her after dinner, so he invited himself over to her house. Uh huh. "Sit next to her," my arse. She ordered sorbet for dessert and when she didn't want anymore, she dumped it in the to-go box with her dinner. Okay. And then I was horrified to hear him say, "I am so aroused right now. Nobody should ever be this aroused." *shudders* No. No they should not (or he should not). Mind you, the seating in this place was tight, and I'm sure we weren't the only ones to hear that declaration. I wanted to wash my ears out with soap. Eurgh.

Saturday night was Hubby's work Christmas party, which was interesting. Hubby remembered the time of the party wrong, so when we arrived fashionably late at 5:30 for a 5:00 start time, we were actually stupidly early for a 6:00 start time. Hello Starbucks. We were by far the youngest people there by 10-20 years. I knew he was young for his job, but I didn't realize how young until we were there. Then I had a strange experience when I was meeting his co-workers and their wives. I was worried about the dreaded question: "What do you do?/Where do you work?" I prepared myself to be brave and pronounce my writerly ambitions. (Sort of. At least, I was planning to tell the truth: "I'm a writer.") However, people didn't ask that question. Instead they asked me: "Do you have children?" While chatting with one friendly wife, I discovered that her oldest child is my age. Ha! The 50s/60s dance music after dinner was a tip too. Hubby was honored to be one of only a dozen who received gag gifts. They called his name right after the new CFO and right before a VP. Guess young hubby has made a good impression! He was so embarrassed, I loved every second of it.

Finally, we dropped Drew off at a friend's yesterday so we could spend the day in San Francisco at the Dickens Christmas Fair, but we had to run an errand downtown first. I bought Adam some jeans a few months ago at H&M, but they didn't fit and we haven't driven up since then. (Incidentally, H&M did open a mile from our house, but sadly they only sell women's clothes.) We left our friend's place an hour late, and with all the Christmas shoppers downtown--including a man who asked us to give him change so he could buy drugs--we didn't leave Union Square until 4:30, so we ran out of time for the fair. Hopefully next weekend. Although Atonement does open here next weekend, so we'll see if we have time left.

I can't wait for Christmas Day to arrive with morning mimosas and relaxation (and, um, you know, presents!). (Sorry for the novel-length post. It's been awhile.)

Roller punks

The only thing more enjoyable than holiday shopping and parking is dealing with unruly kids on roller shoes while doing said shopping. Am I the only grouchy adult that despises those shoes? I can't understand why parents let kids use them in public, especially inside stores or on crowded sidewalks. I'm sure I would have loved them when I was 13, but my mom would have whooped my arse if I rolled around in the store on them. And why, oh why, are so many people out Christmas shopping. The official Christmas shopping season doesn't begin for another week, people. Oh.