And I am thoroughly enjoying Thud! by Terry Pratchett. I think I might get Ethan a copy of Where’s My Cow? for his birthday. Or maybe Easter. That’s closer.

Aha!

See, I’ve been meandering around with HD, getting further and further from the original version of the ‘final’ draft (which is not all bad, in truth) but this chapter I’ve been writing has just gone on too long.

I think I know what’s wrong with it now.

If Gabriel had forbidden the Hounds their human shapes, but allowed Malachi to shift to go with Emle to see Sennet (I know, I’m probably losing you. Sorry. Thinking out loud here…) then I don’t think he’d let the others all shift at once. I think he would punish Malachi (for reasons only I know right now (well, Malachi knows too, and Gabriel, of course, and the rest of the Hunt, but still) by forcing him to stay in human shape.

And the others might just hate him for it. (Malachi, that is.) And thus we create a certain sort of tension-filled drama that might just lead where I think the story should go. (Not that I know anything, mind you. I only write them. I have no control otherwise.)

Anyway. A thought.

I meant to post these last two days, and never got around to it. So that’s my excuse!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I did–I got a lot of stuff on my (albeit short) list and some things that weren’t on it. Among the goodies: a cordless drill to replace the one I have that died, some Steep tea, a new pair of black corduroys, Terry Pratchett’s new-old book, a new pair of fleece slippers from L.L. Bean, and a bunch of other cool stuff. This year was surprising in that Em liked every single piece of clothing I bought for her! (This is a really big thing, btw.)

Today, however, marked the day that the Black Shoe Saga ended. I had a Sears gift card, and not having been to a Sears store in years, didn’t quite know what to buy. I really don’t need any clothes, and I got my cordless drill for Christmas, so I didn’t need one of those either. So on my lunch break today, I went to Sears to try and figure out what I wanted to spend my gift card on.

Sears has Land’s End products now. I knew that, but didn’t think this Sears carried them, because Mom had called them and whoever she talked to said this Sears didn’t carry them. Well, I’ve always been a fan of certain Land’s End shoes, but since I’m cheap, I haven’t bought them.

My gift card was for $35. I scored a pair of black ankle boots that zip up the sides, and only had to pay an additional $7. Yay!!

This is a monumental thing. See, today I wore my new black corduroys, a black v-neck shirt, and my black corduroy blazer that I got from Goodwill (via J. Jill.) I wore my new slippers with the outfit, because my only pair of black shoes (other than the Earth shoes I have that pinch my feet) are gym shoes and not very nice looking anymore.

So as soon as I pulled into the parking lot from Sears, I changed my shoes. And I’m still wearing my new boots. They’re very comfortable. Which makes me very happy!

This is Ethan’s bear. He’s darker in real life, but still cute. A 100% wool Land’s End sweater.
Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well, I’m in the process of finishing up Ethan’s bear. Dad’s cookies didn’t turn out, but I got everything else done on my list for today. Except for putting away my clothes, but there’s still time tonight, perhaps, to do that.

I even gave Mabel a special present–since it was so nice outside, we took a ride to Mom and Dad’s this afternoon and went hiking in the woods. Or, rather, the creek, since that’s where she wanted to go. I think she had a good time.

I hope everyone who reads this has a wonderful Christmas, or whatever you celebrate!

Evidently I have sewing machine brownies here.

Em still has my sewing machine, so I decided that after I got home from the movie tonight (more on that later) I would fiddle with Lydia and try to fix the tension.

It’s fixed. Don’t ask me why, and I know better than to thank my brownies. (I would leave a little dish of milk out on my sewing table for them, but I think the cats would get it first. So if my brownies read this, there are icinged sugar cookies on the kitchen counter–feel free!)

So since Lydia is working fine now, I can make Ethan’s bear and Em can continue to use my sewing machine until she’s done. So much for one day! (I’m not really complaining, since Lydia is fixed, mind you.) And all I have to do to the quilt is trim the binding. That’s it. Yay!

Anyway, we went to see Narnia tonight. For a two and a half hour movie, it sure was rushed. It wasn’t bad, and perhaps I need to see it again, but it just felt rushed. The beavers were worth it all, though. And the guy who plays Mr. Tumnas was perfectly brilliant. I really liked him.

Here’s my list for tomorrow:

1. Bake Dad’s cookies
2. Make Ethan’s bear
3. Finish trimming quilt binding
4. Laundry!
5. Wrap presents
6. Put away clothes (hopefully)

Not so bad, really.

I am so glad today is Friday. This week seemed to go on forever!

I have a lot to do tomorrow–finish the quilt binding (Em has my sewing machine and I need it!), make Ethan’s bear, and bake Dad’s cookies. Not to mention wrap the rest of my presents and anything else I might have forgotten. Urgh.

I had hoped to have a relatively relaxing Christmas Eve, but it doesn’t look like it will be that way. Oh well.

Maybe (hopefully) I’ll get the rest of the majority of presents wrapped tonight, before we go to see Narnia. I did get a bunch wrapped last night, so I can’t say I’ve been slacking too much.

Well, after an impromptu visit to Goodwill tonight (we’re not going Friday night, because we don’t have to go down the road to drop Ethan off and we’re going to see Narnia anyway), I found Em a perfect Christmas gift.

It’s very vintage (she’s already seen it and tried it on, so I don’t have any qualms about posting it here) and I thought she would like it as soon as I saw it. And she did, so that’s cool.

I also found myself a black J. Jill corduroy blazer with cool buttons, and a brown, almost velvet blazer as well. Which Mom is going to wrap for me for Christmas. (Also for Christmas: a pair of brown J. Crew corduroys, and a sweater that is a knitter’s dream. It’s shetland wool, and cabled within an inch of its life. If I ever manage to do half those cables, that will be an accomplishment.)

My office is a mess, but I doubt I’ll get it cleaned before Christmas. I still have stuff to finish for Dad, Ethan, and Jessica.

Which, actually, I have every intention of finishing. (I’m almost done with one of the things for Dad.) This year, it looks like I might not have any IOU Christmas presents! Yay!

I am very, very sad to say that I got an email in my inbox this morning announcing the demise of Eggplant Literary Productions, whose Jintsu imprint published the first two Karen Montgomery/Beth-Hill stories. To say I’m a bit shocked is an understatement!

Now I have orphans. And I’m not sure what I want to do with these–since the third story is written and I had intended to submit Heart’s Desire there when I was finished. Darn it all! I really liked Raechel and Jintsu. **mourn** (Not that I don’t like my other publishers, mind you. I do. But still. This breaks my heart!)

As fate would have it, the candy worked just fine today. Perhaps it was the humidity–Dad said it was lower today. But I know one thing–it boiled higher than it did yesterday.

(I told one of Mom’s friends at church to pray for me, because I was going to try it again today. Since she said she loves Kentucky Cream Candy, she’ll get some too.)

The green is Kentucky Mint Cream Candy, or my version of After-Dinner Mints. My fingers and fingernails are green, too, thanks to the food coloring.

I ended up with 249 pieces of mint candy and 184 pieces of cream candy. Not too shabby!

It’s creaming at the moment. And so far, both kinds are creaming just fine. If it’s finished by tomorrow morning, I’ll take some for my work holiday party.

And here is where we ended up putting the tree. It’s securely tied to both pillars, and so far we’ve had no accidents or broken ornaments.

(Knock on wood.)