Nanowrimo update

10,529 down, 39, 471 to go.

I’m afraid I have used up all my words for the day, and I don’t have any to spare for the old blog-o-rama.  Sorry.

Nanowrimo 2.0

So if you are paying attention to the thingies over to the right, you may have noticed that I am participating in National Novel Writing Month.  It’s this month.  You might not know that.  You might be a Sensible and Sane person who does not think trying to write an entire novel in 30 days is a good idea, or even possible.  I am not one of you.

I tried this last year too, hence the 2.0 tag.  I think I lasted about three days.  So I have already improved.

To date I have just over 6,000 words written.  Just over 6,000 words of pure unadulterated garbage.  But at least I have not yet reverted to typing curse words over and over again to get my count up.  I am saving that for later.

Domo (domo) Domo (domo)

 

The children are very fond of Domo, a funny fake monster plush toy they sell at Target.  We suspect his origins may be Japanese, but we really don’t know

They each have two.  One of the C-man’s Domos is MIA at the moment, but we know he is Around Here Somewhere.

 

Anyway, apparently the Domos are very fond of Halloween, and got into quite a bit of mischief after eating too much candy.

 

Dracula Domo flies a helicopter

Devil Domo goes for a spin

 

Must...get...more...candy...

A little help...

I wonder what it’s like to have normal children.

Ciao mini vespa

When we were in Rome I was Very Fond of all the Vespa scooters.  They are very cute, and they look so fun, and they come in so many great colors.  I wanted one.  I still want one, but such a thing is impractical in a place with weather like we have in the winters, and it would make me too sad to see it sitting lonely in the garage.  So I don’t have one.

Before we left Rome, The Children purchased a mini-Vespa for me as a mother’s day present.  They hid it carefully and gave it to me when we returned home.  It was cute, it was green it was awesome.  It is no more.

The cleaners came today.  I love it when the cleaners come.  I know, I know, I am a stay-at-home mom, what do I need cleaners for?  I need cleaners because I hate cleaning, and would rather pay somebody else to do it.  I still clean in between visits, but I leave the heavy lifting to them.

Well, today they broke my Vespa.  I know it was just a stupid little souvenir stand junky toy.  But it isn’t exactly something I can replace.  They left the pieces on the dining room table with a note saying “this broke while we were dusting.  Sorry”.  So I’m mad.  I know the level of my anger is way out of proportion to the severity of the crime, but I am really mad.  I can’t just pop out and get a new one.  They could have at least groveled a little bit.

This is my new favorite commercial

“Well it might not be 100% safe, but you’re doing 200 miles an hour so you’ve already made some choices”

Hilarious

Knitting projects

I have been doing a lot of knitting lately.  It is the baseball post-season after all, and the Cubs aren’t in it.  There is nothing better for knitting than a sporting event where you don’t care much about the outcome.

Anyway, here are a couple of my latest masterpieces:

This is an elf Christmas ornament.  Yes, I know it isn’t even Halloween yet, but you have to start this kind of project early.

Isn’t he just so cute.  I think I may have to knit him a whole army of friends.

And then I knit this string of Christmas lights:

I love them.  Here is a close-up:

I am dying to knit more of those too.  I think they would be an excellent way to use up those tiny left-over bits of self-striping sock yarn I have lying around the house.

Now I am in the middle of some Secret Projects, and the wrap that requires casting on over 800 stitches.  That one is going to take a while.

Wicked

As you might remember, I went to see Wicked on Sunday.  I have wanted to see that show for a very long time.  The Wicked Witch has long been my favorite character in The Wizard of Oz.  Or, she has been since she stopped scaring me to death.

My book club read the book Wicked by Gregory MacGuire a while ago, and when we learned the touring company was coming to town we decided to go.  So on Sunday we all got dressed up and hit the highway.

I do not know how to write proper reviews, I leave that kind of thing to my brother.  So I will just say I loved it.  I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.  So there.  That’s specific.   I loved the costumes, I loved the music, I loved everything.  I have not been to many big shows like this, but I have been to some.  I have seen Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera.  I liked this better.

I bought a t-shirt because wow I really am that geeky, and I have also downloaded the soundtrack from Itunes.

I found this clip on youtube.  This is the last song of the first act.   There was another clip I liked better (it was longer) but it seemed to have been recorded during a performance of the play.  And of course that kind of behaviour is strictly forbidden so I don’t want to encourage it.  This performance is from the Tony Awards, broadcast live on National Television.  That seems more sporting somehow.

Enjoy:

A costume conundrum

I ordered myself a new costume for the Halloween party this year.  It arrived yesterday.  And I am not sure I am happy with it.

I have wanted a good Wicked Witch of the West costume for a long, long time.  A really long time.  Just ask my sister.  I love that dress.  For a while I threatened to have one made for my wedding, but cooler heads prevailed.  However, the Deluxe Officially Licensed Wicked Witch Costume, in my humble opinion, does not look like her dress.  So I refuse to spend $100 on it.  I know, how unreasonable of me.

The Witch in all her beautiful wickedness

Photo from this site.

So, I ordered this one instead, which I thought was pretty close to the Deluxe Officially licensed costume, but was much less expensive.

Not quite the Wicked Witch but not bad

Photo from this site.

The problem is, it is kind of tight, and I don’t feel fabulous and wicked when I put it on.  I feel frumpy and a little bit fat.  That is sooo not what I was going for.  I am trying to decide if I can make it work, or if I should just be dead-but-pretty again this year.  I love my dead-but-pretty costume.  And it makes me look really really skinny.  But I have been dead-but-pretty for something like three years in a row and it’s time for a change.

Of course, other questions remain if I keep the witch costume.  Questions like what to do about my hair and makeup.  I am not painting my face green.  Margaret Hamilton had professional makeup artists to paint her face, and touch it up between takes to keep her looking fabulous.  I will not have that luxury.  And then of course there is my hair.

As you can tell from the picture over there on the right, my hair is very blonde.  Every October I wish it were black instead.  I found some black hair gel at the store.  I could get that and give myself black streaks, but I’m afraid it will stain my hair and won’t wash out.  And then I will just look ridiculous.

What to do?  What to do?  Maybe I should just stick with dead-but-pretty.

Here:

Just because I like it.

How pathetic is this?

Tom and I finally got around to watching last week’s episode of The Office.  It’s the one where Jim and Pam finally get married.

It was funny, and had the usual number of excruciatingly painfully awkward moments.  But at the end of it, I was all verklempt.  Over a sitcom wedding.  Granted, it was a wedding I have been waiting for for a long time, but still this is ridiculous.

I think I need some kind of intervention.

Can somebody please explain this?

Why is it that I moan and groan so much about driving down to the Big City?  The first outpost of the Big City is only 20 minutes away.

I can’t even count the number of times I have decided against going to some store or another because it was at the Fancy Mall, and the Fancy Mall is an hour away.

And yet, I will drop everything and drive to Chicago to shop or just to hang out with my sister.  Chicago is a six-hour drive from here.  On a good day.

I mention this because I had to go all the way to the Big City today.  I needed some things for the Halloween Party.  A party I really need to get cracking on.  Of course, I still need part of the guest list from a certain somebody whose initials are Tom.  (Just consider that a friendly reminder there sweetie).

I will give you more details about the party later.  Once I have my act together.  In the meantime, I am still wondering why I would rather drive 6 hours than 1 hour to shop at more or less the same stores.  Clearly I have some sort of mental block.