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've been thinking . . .

That I might do NaNoWriMo this year. More on that later.

Saturday was the most fun I've had at RennFest in years. I didn't wear my garb, because it would've been much too hot, despite the rain--I was sweating from the humidity while trying to keep the rain off of my glasses with one or the other of my umbrellas. I hung out with Pippi, Ruth and Evil Dan, among others from the Haven, and went to a lot of shops I'd never noticed before. I bought a set of two tiny knives, a hand-crafted leather belt, and a pocket watch. I left the faire quite a bit poorer, but happy. Fun times.

And with a headache. By the time we got back to the Haven, my head was killing me. I pitched in for pizza--they were ordering--and then my dad called to say he was out and about, so did I want a ride home? I said sure, and about five minutes after the pizza got there, my dad got there too. So I was able to have a slice of pizza before I left.

Sunday, I played Guitar Hero with Kayla and Jason, and yesterday not much happened except my usual trip to the allergist for my shots.

Today's been pretty boring so far. I'm debating whether or not I want to go to the Haven. I think I probably will.

Anyway, about NaNoWriMo . . .

I've never done it before--never had the inclination to try, or the idea for a story. I don't really have an idea for a new story either, but I do have a fanfic that I've been trying to finish for at least two years now. So I'm thinking that, instead of the traditional 50,000 words, for NaNoWriMo (which I'm pretty sure I couldn't bang out in a month right now anyway), I'll probably impose a chapter count on that fanfic I've been writing, and make that my goal for the month of November.

I've been thinking I could bang out at least two chapters (maybe three) of PPKM in a month if I really cracked down and didn't let myself get distracted by all of the readable stuff out there. Goodness knows I haven't written a single sentence since I posted chapter six!

I have the sudden urge . . .

. . . to play Guitar Hero. A few minutes ago, I noticed that "Paint it Black" was stuck in my head, and I was thinking about that stupid fret board scrolling up on the screen at the same time.

But I'm not going to get to play Guitar Hero until Sunday, at the earliest--I'll be at the Haven from when I get off work today until around 10-ish, and then I'll be at RennFest with the Haven crowd all day tomorrow.

Oh, well. Guess I'll just have to try and get a different song stuck in my head.