Two More Sleeps!

Only two more sleeps until Christmas, and we're totally prepared! Went out for one last shopping spree at the mall, this time for Nicholas. So nice to just stroll through the shop, absorb all the craziness, and just look at all the goodies, picking out special things for my man that hold some meaning to him. I stopped in for lunch, and had myself a "wee tea" with fancy sandwiches and even a scone with devonshire cream and preserves and a steaming pot of hot tea. Lovely treat.
Even better, when I returned home, my husband had cleaned the entire house from top to bottom! I hate cleaning...in fact, I'm quite bad at ever getting to it. That's not to say my house is a pig sty...we don't leave junk like old food or dirty laundry laying around...it might just get a little dusty. So nice to not have to do it all myself, especially after the two days baking in the kitchen this past weekend.
Today is my parents 39th wedding anniversary, and I think that's amazing. So many people get divorced! There aren't that many marriages out there that will make it that far - some will give up, some will become fed up, some will fail. But, it gives hope to all that relationships really can last that long, even despite the ups and downs, the arguments, the pain that comes with living together and dealing with all that life throws at you...it gives hope to me, when all around me people are throwing relationships in the dumpster like it was last night's leftovers.
Way to go Mom and Dad. Thanks for showing us a good example and giving me something to strive me in the early years of my marriage!

To Trifle with a Truffle

Minus 20 outside, fresh snow...beautiful. It was a clear, crisp day, and it made all the little things I had to do that much more cheerful with the bright sun streaming through the windows, even though it disappeared so early behind the trees on the hill above us.
Finished (!) my baking today with the most finicky little truffles (chocolate)...of course, I've never made truffles before so I had no idea what to expect. All I know is that they are rich and huge...I started the centres ever so small (chocolate and sour cream), but as I added on each required layer (done exactly as the recipe called for), they grew into these monstrous golf balls of chocolate and rum and kahlua. Yummy, but one is enough!
Off tomorrow for the last of my Christmas shopping - this time for my husband. Hmm...I know what I'd like to get him, but the questions is will I find it? It'll be a day of searching around town, I'm afraid, but every opportunity I have had to get those certain hard-to-find gifts, he was always there with me! I'll just try my luck.
Three more sleeps till Christmas!

Joyeux Noel in Wartime

Tonight's message is a call to watch a movie...nothing to do with writing, I know, but everything to do with Christmas and all that we should strive for in our everyday lives.
I watched Joyeux Noel this evening. I'd never heard of it, never seen any reviews. Nothing, and it is the best Christmas movie I have ever seen. It is...real. It's not Hollywood sap, or commercial crap. It's true humanity. I just wished more people cared.
In 1914, during the first Christmas of WWI after everyone had sworn they'd be home for Christmas and the war over, German, French, and Scots (British) troops declared a ceasefire on the lines so that they could mark the special season, the birth of Christ, and return/bury each other's dead.
I'm imagining myself in their place, one day firing on Germans, on the "Kraut's," the next day sharing a bar of chocolate, or attending a service with a priest, or playing a game of cards over a bottle of booze. Imagine seeing the face of the person you're shooting at, learning about their wives, seeing pictures of their families, and knowing that the next day you would be firing at them and ruining their lives forever. Horrible. I just can't fathom it - it breaks my heart. I guess that's why I've always wanted to do my part, why I WOULD (yes, I would!) join the services for my country. Why I would join Doctor's Without Borders as I had always planned to, if only I had been able to attend medical school. It makes me angry that these young soldiers were then reprimanded for "fraternizing" with the enemy, when they were only being human, how a church could condemn a priest who offered a service for all soldiers and not just his own, how a church could kick him off the front and replace him with a man who preaches death and destruction and warps the scriptures to defend the killing of all Germans so that their inherent evil cannot resurface (because, according to the powers that be, Germans are not human). It baffles me that man can be so blind, so mindwashed and unfeeling. I want to show my kids this movie in my Grade 9 class tomorrow, but what breaks my heart the most? They won't care. At all. They'll say, "I hate subtitles," or "this is dumb," because the action scenes have no special effects or there are no familiar actors. They want Elf, or Santa Clause.
Where's the compassion? How do I teach an unfeeling, egotistical generation to care?
Please tell me if you have the solution.

Winter Wonderland

Winter has arrived in the north! The snow is falling. Beautiful, soft, sparkling powder has been falling now since this afternoon, and all the noise, zooming cars rushing by, the echo of trains and engine brakes from far off, are dampened in the blanket of snow. I love this almost more than anything...snow brings such peace, if you don't have to be anywhere or drive in it, that is. What a luxury to walk out of the school this afternoon, and know I don't need to be anywhere than in my cozy home, snuggled up on the couch, reading and writing and drinking a cup of hot tea.

I have officially "shut off," that is, Christmas vacation is still two weeks away and already I am changing into what I call my "vegetative" gear. Christmas music, Christmas movies, it's all coming out! Better yet, we're off this weekend to cut down our tree in the boonies. A truly non-commercial Christmas: find your BC Forestry "good for one tree" pass in the paper and off you go into the woods with a saw. Love it!

I'm still taking a breather from the book...waiting for a good chunk of time to tackle it and get back on track, although those chunks are few and far between right now. I'm doing lots of reading on the next step, as in, what to do once I actually do finish the book. I've included a few interesting links: one that details the warning signs of a scam publishing agency (http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2007/02/happy-valentines-day-from-writer-beware.html), as well as Writer Beware's "Two Thumbs Down" publishers list (http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubwarn.htm). 

As for writing, I must wait until the concert season slows down. How did I all of a sudden end up performing in four concerts? Only one involves me singing, but the piano accompaniment concerts scare me more. If I goof up, the singers following me do as well. Arg. Can't wait till December 16th when it's all over, and I can just focus on getting through to the holidays.

I think I'll go and stare at the snow a little before bed. My fascination with snow never ends...even up north, where it just keeps coming, where it gets ugly and cold and frustrating because spring always seems to be "just around the bend" but never comes till May...even here, I love the snow. It is all the magic of childhood rolled into one - imagination, a sense of wonder, innocence and purity. I hope I can always remember that. Especially when I slip and fall in it and want to walk around with a blow dryer to melt it all. Ah! Snow.

Christmas Begins!

The stockings are hung...on the wall, because I have no fireplace, which is entirely and completely tragic at this time of year. Watching it on the tv is nice, but just not the same. For one, no lovely wood smell. Second, my crappy tv goes from loud to mute with very little in between...so instead of providing atmosphere it sounds like I'm being shot at every time the tv fire sparks and hits a pocket of air or sap.
We decorated the house today, although we're still not finished. That's mostly due to the wiring in this crazy place...gotta wonder why people make the choices they do when building houses. **ahem: money!
We have light sockets in bizarre, unconventional places, and some that don't work at all, so this will be a challenge in cord confusion (I mean, organization). But it all looks lovely! Soon, next weekend, we'll go and loot the hydro lines for a lovely Charlie Brown Christmas tree, which I'm entirely allowed to do because I downloaded a permit from the BC Forestry website. Yes, yes, I could go to a tree farm and do a u-cut, maybe go for a sleigh ride...Or I could drive out to the boonies and hack my way through feet of snow and snarled branches for the gimpiest tree ever, but appreciate it all the more!
It will truly be Christmas when the tree is up. In the meantime, I'm falling in love again with Bach's Christmas Oratorios and all my favourite Christmas oldies and Baroque/Classical masterpieces.
The Bailey Monster seems to like it too...I just hope she doesn't like it all enough to eat it. Last year she devoured some of our special tree decorations from Egypt (yes, from Egypt), just as she devoured our stuffed camel figurines the year before. What's with her and going for all the irreplaceble stuff? Oh, that, and puzzle pieces. Both puzzles I've purchased these last two years had to be thrown out, because she snuffles up anything she finds on the floor. Note to self: purchase felt puzzle pad.
The book is going great! I'm getting lots of writing done. In fact, I just might make it to 50,000 before the deadline! Not that I'll win any big awards, but I'll sure feel great.
Now, I think to cap off this fine snowy evening, I'll put on my first seasonal movie and snuggle with my pooch. Maybe start a puzzle...while she's not looking.

NaNoWriMo Countdown - 3 days!

It's cold outside, there's a fresh coating of snow, and tonight we unpacked our Christmas boxes while putting on our first Christmas CD of the season - King's College Choir's "Noel" (classic!). A lovely Friday evening...
On the more panicked side, there's only 3 days until the end of NaNoWriMo! My blog challenge will continue, but my mad race to 50,000 will be over, although perhaps I'll just pretend it's on all year so I keep spewing out words!
I don't know if I'll make 50,000...I had this brilliant idea that, if I were to type up 5,000 per day from yesterday to Monday, I could do it. But, I only did about 3,000 today, maybe 1,000 yesterday. So...slim chance. BUT, I have 33,000 words! I'm so excited! And, most of it's pretty organized. I just can't wait till I type the last word and say, there's no more to add!
Then comes the really hard work - redrafts and editing. Hmm...tackle that battle when I reach it. My novel is slow to write now because I'm trying to avoid massive rewriting, by have the narrative work NOW.
The burn on my wrist is ok today, still slathering it with Polysporin and wrapping it up to keep it clean, but it's not causing me any issues other than the fact that it the bandage seems to have a homing device for my dog's tongue (what is it with her and licking things ? You should see her with hand cream!).
Here's keeping the fingers crossed for massive word count tomorrow, and more snow, and more holiday cheer!