Post-Christmas Satisfaction

Christmas Day was most excellent. Since we tend to buy what we want during the year–and already have more than enough stuff–Mr. W and I generally don’t exchange more than a token gift or two, because it’s still fun to open a package on Christmas morning. I gave Mr. W a print of the 101st Airborne Division paratroopers jump during Operation Market Garden, signed by Sgt. William Guarnere (Band of Brothers). Mr. W gave me two scale model cars: a Horch 853 A Sports Cabriolet (1937-1939) and an Audi Type A Phaeton (1910). The Phaeton is pretty, but the Horch is gorgeous.

We spent the rest of the morning (after breakfast) sipping mimosas and watching Love Actually. It’s my second favorite Christmas movie after White Christmas. Mr. W suggested watching The Quiet Man, but we decided to save that for New Year’s Day (maybe).

Dinner was a success. Rather than having more turkey, I broiled New York steaks (USDA Prime–yum!). Baked yukon gold potatoes, a tossed green salad, and a bottle of Vitis Ridge’s Fab Four rounded out the menu. And I made a pumpkin pie for dessert. I’m cooking a similar menu for New Year’s Day, substituting Prime Rib Eye steaks in place of the New Yorks.

I hope you all had a wonderful day!

Favorite Christmas Shows

I suspect most people have a list of favorite holiday programs, some of which they may or may not confess to watching. For me, that holiday is Christmas, and I’ll freely admit several of the shows on my list are fairly…cheesy–or maybe sappy is a better description–in point of fact. I don’t care. I’m happy to own my list. Because when it comes right down to it, most of these shows are tied to happy memories, and that’s why they’re my favorite holiday viewing. They either take me back to my childhood or they remind me of good times later in life.

The first part of the list are the theatrical movies I associate with Christmas. Some of them aren’t Christmas movies, per se, but they make me think of Christmas–maybe because they’re set during the Christmas season or they have a Christmas scene that somehow fixed them forever in Christmas for me. It’s funny that doesn’t happen with all such movies. For instance, The Thin Man is one of my all time favorite films and it’s set during Christmas, but I’ve never once thought of it as a Christmas movie.

Anyway, here’s part one of my list. The first movie is my favorite Christmas movie of all time, but the rest of the list is in alphabetical order.

Continue reading “Favorite Christmas Shows”

Collateral Picture

I finally got around to making our calendar for next year. Yesterday. Just a few weeks later than usual. I love making our calendar instead of buying a commercial one. It’s so much more fun to turn the month and see our own pictures. There are several ways to make a calendar, but since all our pictures are already in iPhoto, that’s what I use. The quality of the calendar is fantastic, if a little pricey.

I usually try to get the calendar finished by the end of November, but this year I didn’t make it. I was focused on NaNoWriMo and getting my Golden Heart® entry submitted on time, and then I, er, sort of forgot. Until yesterday, that is, when I needed to add a January appointment to the calendar and realized, oops! No calendar.

I already knew what theme I planned to use for 2012. I always try to use current pictures–at least taken in the last two to three years–and this year the winners, hands down, were pictures taken from our Caribbean cruise on the Silver Cloud last March. The hard part was narrowing it down to 40 or so pictures for the calendar. But I made it–it’s submitted to Apple and should arrive some time next week. Yay!

Continue reading “Collateral Picture”

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Mr. W and I went to see the latest Sherlock Holmes movie yesterday and had a great time. The movie was fun and a worthy sequel to the first. I always worry about going to see sequels if I love the first movie, because so often the sequel isn’t as good as the original. The worst offense, for me, is when the writer or director or producer think he/she needs to make the second movie MORE! — as if equaling the experience of the first movie isn’t good enough. Those sequels usually end up being a mess of over-the-top effects and muddled story.

A Game of Shadows didn’t fall into that trap. It had just the right amount of action that fit well into an intriguing plot. Mr. W and I were thoroughly entertained. Of course, I could watch Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law in just about anything, but it’s so much better when they’re in something enjoyable. I’m hoping for a third movie, but if that doesn’t happen, I’ll happily settle for the two we have.

It was a bonus being able to watch it at our favorite downtown cinema on $5 Tuesday (all movies only $5 all day). It’s only about 10 minutes from the house and they serve great food during the movie. So, we saw the movie and had a fantastic grilled chicken breast sandwich for lunch. All-in-all, a fun outing.

Post-NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is finished for another year. I’m pleased to say that I wrote a little over 60,000 words! And I managed to finally get that first draft completed. Whew!

So, what’s next? If you found yourself in a groove, writing every day, do you miss it? I know I do. It felt odd being between projects. I could dive right in on the major revisions I know I need to do on The Lazarus Gambit, but I really think that would be a mistake. Instead, I’ve made a lot of notes–things I know need to be fixed right off the bat–and I’ve set the book aside. I’ve promised myself I won’t look at it for at least a month, maybe longer. I need to get some distance from it, after having lived in its world so intimately for so long, but especially in November.

I took a week off. Yay me! I needed to reconnect with my amazing husband and with life in general. It was weird, though. For the first couple of days, it was like the steampunk world of the book was superimposed over the real world. We’d go out to run errands and my imagination would change regular streetlights to gaslights and cars to steamers or aether-cars. I fully expected to see airships floating by overhead. Yeah, I can get a bit obsessed. Thankfully, that didn’t last!

I’ve started a new project. It’s an idea that’s been percolating for over a year now, but all I had were the Hero and Heroine, the basic idea for the setting, and the first scene. I spent some time during the last few days fleshing all those out to see if I really had a premise I could expand into a 90,000+ word novel, and I believe I do. I now have the supporting characters, the bones of a plot–including the beginning and the climax–and a good start on the backstory.

I can’t wait to start writing!