NaNoWriMo Victory!

NaNoWriMo= Done! 

30 days
50,239 words
10 tired fingers
1 drained brain

Time to celebrate with a fistful of chocolate chips!

Thanksgiving: Vegas Remix

We had a Las Vegas Thanksgiving this year.  It's so crazy to me that this is the last time we'll have Thanksgiving while still doing the student-thing (ie while Harry is still doing the student-thing).

We found dirt cheap airfare by coming early and leaving 24 hours after Thanksgiving dinner.  Over the course of the week we got in some R&R and hung out with family and friends.

Oh wait, except for the part where Harry was stuck writing a 30 page research paper that will revolutionize the movie industry.

I felt so bad for him.  He had to spend the better part of his waking hours chained to his laptop, tippity typing away.  He even pulled an all-nighter.  On vacation.

I can't really complain because he's working so hard for our family/future, and I appreciate that more than I can express, and he never complains, but I do wish he could've had more time to just hang out.  I can happily say I don't think there are many more (if any) papers like that in his future.

The things we did manage to do together in his few off hours were:

• Tapas and walking around at the Bellagio with the in-laws (800 pound pumpkins!  Horses made of twigs!  Babbling brooks!  Sculpted glass!  It was like Disneyland).

• Two nights of volleyball
• and can I just toot my own horn for a moment?  I no longer break out in a nervous sweat when everyone says, "Volleyball tonight?  Volleyball?  After dinner?" because I've now played so much with these people that 
• a) I am totally accepting of how lousy I am at it
• 2) I actually am not afraid of the ball anymore
• d) I've gotten to the point where I score points about as often as I lose them

• "Muppet Movie"
• Recommending this to people
• Thanksgiving dinner!  45 family members/friends and amazing food!
• The most adrenaline-fueled game of Taboo I've ever been a part of (things got crazy when two brothers who will not be named Bob and Harry developed a secret language that enabled cheating that everyone caught on to immediately)

Since Harry was stuck with his paper, I cooked our portion of Thanksgiving dinner solo.  I wanted to make my grandmother's recipe for orange rolls.  We have them at every Thanksgiving in my family and they are always my favorite part.

After calling every single grocery store and bakery within a 30 mile radius of the house, I still couldn't find the fresh yeast cakes that the recipe calls for.  So I found another recipe for crescent rolls on the interwebs and combined that with some homemade Garlock orange butter and some orange zest/juice that SIL Sally zested/juiced herself.

Orange Roll Triumph

And if I may say so, the rolls were like crack... on crack (having never actually tried crack I'm unable to say firsthand if they were or not, but that's my assumption and I'm sticking to it).

What made it so difficult to come home was saying goodbye to all the amazing together-time.  I love getting to just sit and talk with family and friends.  I feel really blessed to be part of two families I cannot get enough of.

Now, bring on the Christmas times (I will be decking our 500 sq. ft. halls today with a mini tree, garlands, ribbon, and the two Christmas ornaments that we own!  And you know our balcony bannister is getting some white lights.  Even the blog gets a Yule Log).

Wishing everyone a Harry Christmas (they really are the best kind).

Happy Thanksgiving Eve Eve

From our turkey alter egos.

An email

My cousin Bec wrote me an email today right when I needed something nice to read.  I wrote her back and realized this email is the perfect update of life lately, and saves me the mental energy of putting it into a post.  And yes, those are British pound signs.  We like to communicate with European symbols whenever possible.  So here it is.


£ I loved your email so much I can't even express it.  It was exactly what I needed.  New jobs are stressful.  I feel all topsy turvy until I know what I'm doing which I am sure is still a few weeks away at least.

£ my fingernails are painted a charcoal color now.  The name of the color is "power clutch." they are really running out of good material in the "name picking" department over there at the nail polish company.  What makes a clutch powerful?

£ DOWNTON ABBEY!

£ Yesterday at the gym I was on the stairmaster when an older gentleman wandered by, stood in front of me with his back facing me, and cleaned out his ear with the plug-in-to-the-iPod end of his headphones cord.  When he turned around and looked at me I pretended to be very preoccupied with some part of the floor off to my left.

£ I came home yesterday and Harry was at a lecture, but all the laundry was clean, folded, and put away, and every single dish we own was clean and dry.  I audibly squealed and then did absolutely nothing productive until he got home.

£ Christmas is in the air!  I wish there was a Messiah sing along I could go to with you.

£ I'm not crazy about my blog header either right now.  I'm not even sure why I fiddled with it.  The whole experience was kind of frustrating.  Some days I just want to put up that photo of those squirrels fighting with light sabers and call it done.

£ Bridge mix.  Gllllllllll.

11:11:11 on 11/11/11

Thoughts

So, I checked out Pinterest.

It took me a while because at first, they made me request an invite, and I was like, "Psh, cha right."  I do not request invites to internet websites.  It felt weird.  But then my sister Merzy kept saying, "No.  Seriously.  Try it."  And she sent me an invite.  I was still skeptical.

And then Merzy MADE me a recipe for lunch from a recipe she found on Pinterest.  And it was AMAZING (I think this was it).  And still I pooh-poohed the whole thing.

And then I finally gave in one day because it seems like the best ideas all trace back to Pinterest.

So, now I have another addiction habit.  To yet another internet based network of people/ideas/things.  It is mostly under control, though.

I do have a few thoughts about it.

1) I think Pinterest should be renamed "Things Rich People Do With Their Houses."

2) Or it could be renamed "The Clothing Rich and Trim Girls Wear On City Streets."

Those were actually my only thoughts about Pinterest.  My other current unrelated thoughts include (but are not limited to) the following:

1) I've started painting my nails.  Yes.  Fingers and toes.  I've come a long way, baby.  I actually went to a local CVS and picked out nail polish.  I'm up to 6 colors now.  And I think it's going very well.  Currently I have a peachy nude color on my finger nails and a deep plum on my toes.  I'm so happy I finally arrived to the "pail nolish" party.

2) NaNoWriMo is going smoothly.  Somewhat.

3) I have a new job that has me pretty excited.  The very promise of paychecks makes me want to sing the following:



4) We have started watching "The West Wing."  Meaning, we've been getting the DVDs on Netflix.  When this show was on TV and I was in high school, I used to watch every episode with my Dad.  This was when Tivo was a new fangled thing, and my Dad would pause it periodically to explain the show's finer points.  And while Martin Sheen/the dialogue can be irritating, I love watching this show all over again.  My favorite episode is still "In Excelsis Deo," season 10, episode 1.  And now that it's almost Christmas time (is it yet?), I can watch it with even more enjoyment.

5) For reasons I cannot explain, I now want this haircut.

After I finally got my hair as long as I want it.  This I cannot explain.

6) I cooked with rosemary tonight and my apartment still smells like it.  So many random smells find their way through our vents, it's nice to have a smell that we chose lingering in the air.

7) I have a most excellent husband.  And that makes me one seriously lucky duck.

And on that note, peace out.

It is so on.

This year, Harry and I are both doing NaNoWriMo.  Today is day 1.  My word count so far: 1736.  Harry's word count so far: 3,000.  I'm remembering the tingly feeling of mental pressure and finger exhaustion that accompanied the entire month of November last year.  And the crazy moments of "Ah-HA!" and "Oh shoot." and "What about...?" and "I'm so stuck right now."  And loving it.

And so the insanity begins.