Christmas

Christmas, overall, was good.

Kayla's uncle Steven (or is it Stephen?) is visiting Maryland, so he's spent Christmas Eve and Day with us so far. After we opened gifts yesterday morning, we went to Grandma's house for the usual gift opening there, and--something new--Christmas Brunch. I guess they decided not to deal with the hassel of a full-on sit-down Christmas dinner.

Mom, Dad and I left earlier than everyone else, and I spent the extra time between our getting home and dinner time finishing Dragons of Winter Night and reading the book Grandma wrote about herself. There was much distraction--I kept getting fascinated by Jason's Erector set. I've also decided that I'm not going to read Dragons of Spring Dawning, etc, unless I have nothing else more interesting or new to read.

Dinner was breakfast, since the brunch wasn't all that. Then, we all played Halo--well, Dad, Anna, Tim, Kayla, Stephen and I did anyway--Kimba and Mom don't do video games, and Jason's grounded until tomorrow. Around eleven, I decided to stop and take a shower before heading upstairs to relax a bit before bedtime.

Gifts I Gave (and the people I gave them to):

• Jason: Gryffindor silk tie and lambswool scarf set
• Kayla: Guitar Hero Aerosmith for PS2
• Anna: An authentic replica of Lucius Malfoy's walking stick/wand
• Kimba: A "teaching bag" (as she calls it) with her name on it, and Travel Scrabble
• Dad: A digital photo frame, with 13 pictures of the family and special occasions (such as senior class pics, Mom & Dad's wedding, and graduations)
• Mom: Two pair of jeans in size 10Long, since she fits my size jeans now

Gifts I Received (I can never remember who gave me what, but anything with a * is something that was on my list):

• Electronic Phase 10
• Sudoku the board game
• The Story of My Life by Grandma S. (the book about her that I talked about earlier)
• A book of wide-staff musical manuscript paper*
• What Would MacGyver Do?
• The Year of Living Biblically
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Musical Composition*

I read a book!

Really, if you knew how much fanfic I'd been reading lately, instead of actual books, that might surprise you.

But today after I'd finished the rather long fic I was reading (and balanced my checkbook), I started on Sister Light, Sister Dark. I just finished a little bit ago, and ordered White Jenna (book two in the trilogy) from Amazon, since it was not listed in the FCPL (Frederick County Public Libraries) online card catalogue.

I got the steeply-priced two-day shipping (one-day was even steeper--this way I spent only $18 and change, instead of $25), so I should be able to start reading it Wednesday evening. If I don't finish it by then, I will then be able to take it on the plane with me next Saturday and finish the book before I get to Phoenix.

Just in case I finish the book before the flight--or rather, flights, since there's a layover in Atlanta--is over, I'll bring Dragons of Winter Night, as well as another book or two for the return flight, and one or two of my new Samurai Sudoku puzzle books, which I have not done any puzzles in yet.

Lots of Thinking

Tuesday I did end up going to the Haven, and I watched Gene and Steve play Warhammer for the fantasy campaign that's going on. They didn't finish until about half an hour after closing time, but it was so fascinating that I didn't feel like going home until they were done. I've watched bits of two different other Warhammer games since then, and I think I might want to learn the game. But I won't buy an army for myself unless I really get into it--and then, only a few years or so down the road. Until then, I'll just use the armies they have at the store for club use.

Last Saturday, I went to Allegheny Optical and got my eyes checked. I found out that it'd been four years since my last eye exam. It's funny--I never realize how long it's been between exams until I put on/in my new prescription in the optometrist's office. I put in those new contacts, and everything was much, much sharper. It made me realize that having trouble reading road signs from the short distance I'd been having trouble at was not normal. I've resolved to go to the optometrist at least once a year from now on, or at least listen and schedule further appointments as recommended, instead of waiting for the money to be there and then scheduling the appointment. I also got a new set of frames. They're like the frames I had two prescriptions ago (which I still have), but they're copper-y colored, instead of gold.

Kayla's currently in Alabama, visiting her family, so when she gets back this weekend there will be two episodes of Pushing Daisies and Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction to watch--much fun! I have yet to get caught up on Psych, Numb3rs, Bones or Smallville though. I'm thinking I'll just catch them on Sidereel later. I've also not yet finished watching my MacGyver DVDs--I've been in the middle of season 4 for at least a month and a half. Plus, I want to re-watch at least seasons 6 and 7 of Buffy and seasons 4 and 5 of Angel--I don't remember much about Angel, and I've only seen those seasons of Buffy once, with a few episodes here and there from when Anna and Kayla were going through the serieses.

I've been thinking too, that I might give up on re-reading the core DragonLance novels--I've been in the middle of Dragons of Winter Night for months now, and I've only read that much because I needed something to read while I got my allergy shots every Monday.

BUT! A girl at the Haven this past Tuesday (not the one with the Warhammer) brought a bunch of books she was getting rid of, and I took 7 or 8 that looked promising (I haven't added them to LibraryThing yet, but I will this weekend), including Sister Light, Sister Dark, which, if I remember correctly, Heather recommended to me a few months ago and sounded extremely intriguing. So, if I do decide to quit on DragonLance, then I'll be reading those books.

Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to catch up and read fast enough to actually make the 50-book goal this year.

Yesterday

I went to the Haven after work yesterday so that Steve and/or Gene could get my character caught up for this coming Friday's D&D game. It didn't take long.

When I got home around 6:30, I put my stuff away, started my laundry, and then tried to move my laptop into the kitchen so I could watch Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight while I cooked. No go. The laptop kept shutting off abruptly just as I was plugging it into the wall.

I called my dad to ask why it might do that. He said that the powerpack and/or battery in the laptop might be dead, so it could survive in the dock (which has its own power pack), but not plugged straight into the wall.

So, I cooked my casserole without entertainment.

At first, I was annoyed because when I looked in the pantry, the box of elbow macaroni I'd been planning to use was already open and looked like it was halfway gone. But once everything was cooked and put together, I saw that was a good thing--the ingredients were much better proportioned that way.

I wanted to add some of the beef sausage I bought last month to the casserole, but I think Jenn and Amit (or rather, just Amit, since Jenn's a vegetarian) ate them. Which isn't really a problem, since they share their food with me too, but I didn't even get to eat one of them before they were gone. :(

Anyway, I finished making the casserole, and filled up a plate then put the rest into containers. There were only two filled this time, so I'll have just enough to make it through lunch and dinner today and tomorrow. I'll buy lunch on Friday.

Then, I sat down at my desk and started Dragonlance while I ate the casserole. But the audio skipped a lot, so I decided to just finish eating and watch it upstairs instead.

The casserole turned out better than the last one. First, the proportions were better, so the soup coated everything a lot easier, making the whole dish more moist. Then, the soup was cream of mushroom, instead of cream of onion, and that worked better too, since there were already mushrooms in the dish and the soup enhanced that flavor. Also, I added some cheddar cheese, and put more minced garlic (still don't have any powdered) into it than last time, so it was more flavorful.

Sometime during the evening, I switched the laundry in the machines.

So I watched the movie after I'd finished dinner. It was okay, but could have been better. I posted a review of it on NetFlix, but it won't show up for another day or two.

When the movie was over, it was time to fold the jeans and put the rest of the wash into the dryer, so I did that, and then went downstairs to my computer to watch Superman Doomsday on Instant Play at NetFlix.com. That was great. I also reviewed that movie on the site, and that review won't show up until tomorrow or Friday either.

After the movie, it was around midnight, so I went upstairs to go to sleep.

Yesterday

I went to the Haven after work yesterday so that Steve and/or Gene could get my character caught up for this coming Friday's D&D game. It didn't take long.

When I got home around 6:30, I put my stuff away, started my laundry, and then tried to move my laptop into the kitchen so I could watch Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight while I cooked. No go. The laptop kept shutting off abruptly just as I was plugging it into the wall.

I called my dad to ask why it might do that. He said that the powerpack and/or battery in the laptop might be dead, so it could survive in the dock (which has its own power pack), but not plugged straight into the wall.

So, I cooked my casserole without entertainment.

At first, I was annoyed because when I looked in the pantry, the box of elbow macaroni I'd been planning to use was already open and looked like it was halfway gone. But once everything was cooked and put together, I saw that was a good thing--the ingredients were much better proportioned that way.

I wanted to add some of the beef sausage I bought last month to the casserole, but I think Jenn and Amit (or rather, just Amit, since Jenn's a vegetarian) ate them. Which isn't really a problem, since they share their food with me too, but I didn't even get to eat one of them before they were gone. :(

Anyway, I finished making the casserole, and filled up a plate then put the rest into containers. There were only two filled this time, so I'll have just enough to make it through lunch and dinner today and tomorrow. I'll buy lunch on Friday.

Then, I sat down at my desk and started Dragonlance while I ate the casserole. But the audio skipped a lot, so I decided to just finish eating and watch it upstairs instead.

The casserole turned out better than the last one. First, the proportions were better, so the soup coated everything a lot easier, making the whole dish more moist. Then, the soup was cream of mushroom, instead of cream of onion, and that worked better too, since there were already mushrooms in the dish and the soup enhanced that flavor. Also, I added some cheddar cheese, and put more minced garlic (still don't have any powdered) into it than last time, so it was more flavorful.

Sometime during the evening, I switched the laundry in the machines.

So I watched the movie after I'd finished dinner. It was okay, but could have been better. I posted a review of it on NetFlix, but it won't show up for another day or two.

When the movie was over, it was time to fold the jeans and put the rest of the wash into the dryer, so I did that, and then went downstairs to my computer to watch Superman Doomsday on Instant Play at NetFlix.com. That was great. I also reviewed that movie on the site, and that review won't show up until tomorrow or Friday either.

After the movie, it was around midnight, so I went upstairs to go to sleep.

It's Official!

As of about ten minutes ago, I am now officially moved in!


Seriously. All the bins are un-packed, my books are on the shelves and catalogued, and everything has its place--even my bow, which I need Dad to re-string for me.

According to LibraryThing.com, I have 514 books total. I know I'm missing at least four though, so it's more like 518. I'm missing the Chronicles trilogy of DragonLance, and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. And, yes, I'm certain I had them before.

I promised Patrick J. that I'd take pictures once I got my books all shelved and such, so here they are. The picture to the left is the white book case in the first-floor TV room.

The picture to the right is the book case on the right-hand side of the third-floor nook, and the final one is the case on the left-hand side.


On the top shelf of each book case are only either Harry Potter books or books written by Orson Scott Card. The Orson Scott Card books are there because he's my favorite author, and the Harry Potter books are there because they're pretty much the only series with books that are all the same size that would fit on the top shelf of the right-hand book case.

For those interested, the "cloud" of words on the right-hand side of my main blog page will take you to my "library" of books at LibraryThing.com. It's a great online book database, and it's got all these nifty quirks and perks.

It's free for up to 200 books if you catalogue your own. After that, a yearly membership is $10, and a lifetime membership is $25. I decided that a lifetime membership was definitely worth it to be able to keep track of all of my books without hassle, so I forked over the $25 last week.