It's Been too Long, Indeed. (In Answer to Your Last Blog)

First of all (well actually 'first of all' is that I hope the blog lets me post this time. So I guess it would be second of all...), I am in need of a job. Very badly. I've been saying I'm going to start looking since summer and I still haven't started. But I'm going to. Soon. I really need the money. I'm hoping to find a small book store that's hiring, but I really doubt I'll find anything like that. Other than that, I have no clue where I should apply. I'm very picky. I absolutely refuse to work in fast food. That's a definite no. And I'd rather do something away from the public eye. I work better that way. So maybe in a hotel cleaning rooms or something. I'm not sure. But I'm going to start looking within a week or two.

I'm thinking your scarf is going to turn out beautifully. I love that pattern. Aunt Becky got me a scarf (well three scarfs, but I like this one the best) that's blue and crocheted. I think you'd like it. If I ever get my camera to work I'll have to take a picture of it for you.

I'm really starting to think I should teach myself how to knit or chrochet......or SOMETHING! I don't really know how to do anything like that. I've always been much more of a let's-read-about-it-to-get-the-general-idea-instead-of-just-learning-how-to-do-it-in-the-first-place type of person. But I'm starting to think that I really should start up a hobby. Well, besides just reading for hours. Also, you'll definitely have to send a picture of your garland. I'm curious to see what it will look like.

I've been reading a lot lately, too. Maybe not as fast as I'd like to, but still reading. I seem to have a problem. I buy the books faster than I can ever read them. So I have two shelves full mostly of books I haven't cracked open yet. Which remids me of another problem. I refuse to stop buying books, which has led me to run completely out of shelf space. Now books are just piling up in random places around my room! I've been seriously considering packing up some of my decorations just to make more room.

Recently, since I got some extra money for Christmas, I've bought Emma, Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet, The Hobbit, Mansfeild Park, The Canterbury Tales and Little Women, amongst many others that aren't classic. And I had no idea that Little Women had a sequel. Where have I been? What is it called? I'll have to look for it.

And speaking of books, guess what my neighbor just gave me?! I freaked out! She had all the Harry Potter books up until the fith one in really nice hardback copies just laying around and she gave them to me! I was like 'are you SURE?' and she said 'of course. we don't really read all that much so you can just have them'. It was so nice of her. But she didn't stop there. She also has a book with all the C.S. Lewis books in it that she said I could have when they found it! All I can say is YAY!

Also, I really look forward to reading your fairy tales...well, if you feel like sending them all when you're done. ^_^ And believe it or not, Sweet Porridge is one of the only Grimm's Brother's fairy tales I've read! Other than the obvious ones. So I'm especially excited about the one you based on it.

On a final note, I apologize for the lack of italics. It appears that the blog is still angry with me and doesnt' want me to use proper grammar...and such....so I'm hoping for the best and that it will let me post! Otherwise I'll jusst send you a facebook message like last time. Ta ta!

The return of the blog.

Our blog has sat sad, empty, and silent for some time now.  How sad.  How sad and lonely it must feel.

I've been busy, though, quite busy.  Which explains the lack of new postings from me.  What have I been doing, you ask?  Well...

First of all, I've been working.  Working, as I'm sure you're aware, makes time pass quite quickly.  And best of all, you get money for doing it!  At work, I pretty much answer phones and deal with mail.  I also water plants, take care of emptying people's shred baskets and trash, et cetera, et cetera.  I usually do those things when they're out for their lunch break, and it makes me feel like room service at a hotel.  I always want to leave them a mint, or a chocolate or something, haha.

So that would be the number one thing that is keeping me consistently busy.  The second thing I've been doing is crocheting a scarf based on this pattern:

It looks more or less like that, but mine is more of a dusty blue.  And I'm almost done with it!  So, yay.

Thirdly, I've been working on a garland of Christmas owls that spell out "Joyeux Noël", which means "Merry Christmas" in French.  I'll try to get a photo of them up soon; they're also almost done.  I sort of lost steam for the project when I was on the last three owls, though.  I figure, really, I don't have to get this one done until next Christmas.  No rush.

Fourthly, I've been doing a lot of reading.  I love reading, truly.  It is my absolute favorite thing to spend time doing.  This year, notably, I read the Little House series - I got the whole thing for Christmas, and I loved them.  I loved them even more than I remember loving them as a child.  I loved them so much that I wanted to go out, quit my job, buy a covered wagon, and head into the unknown.  I also read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott; I'm sure you know of it since it's a classic and all.

People have been telling me to read this book for years, but for some reason, I didn't listen to them.  Now I find myself asking why I didn't!  I loved it.  Seriously.  I thought it was a grand book.  The day after I finished it, I started the sequel.  I hear there's a sequel to the sequel, but I don't have that.  I'll probably read it someday, though, just because I enjoyed the first two books so much.

There are other notable reads, but perhaps we will have to discuss them later.  I could chat about books all day, given the chance.  Don't even get me started.

Back to what I've been doing - I'm still working on those Christmas fairy-tales that I told people I would write for them.  I probably should have started these last January.  They're seriously taking me that long to write.  But I'm enjoying them; I've always liked telling stories.  Right now, I'm writing one that I'm either going to entitle "Pauper Princess" or "Porridge Princess."  It's based on one of the Grimm fairy-tales I used to read when I was little called "Sweet Porridge."  You can click here to read the original; it's very short.  Too short.  I wanted to hear more about this girl who was kind and had a magical pot that made sweet porridge.  So I was telling this little girl I watch some bedtime tales, which I usually just make up as I go along, and I was re-telling the Sweet Porridge story.  I liked it, so I decided that my re-telling would be one of the stories I would give away for Christmas.

That's one of the things I like so much about old fairy-tales and fables.  Every single person who tells them is going to tell them differently.  We're going to meet different characters and travel to different lands every time.  I could give three people a copy of the Grimm version of Sweet Porridge and ask them to tell it to me, and it would be like listening to three different stories.

I suppose this is a bit of a tangent, but bear with me:  There are two different reasons why I read.  Reason number one is to learn.  I maintain that reading books about something is still one of the best ways to learn about it.  That is why I read history, philosophy, theology, and so forth.  Reason number two is that I read to escape.  It's the best form of entertainment, because I can so fully immerse myself in it.  I love getting to know a character in a book, or feeling transported into a new setting.  Fairy-tales are fulfillments of the second reason.  Retelling them is one of my favorite things, because in doing so, I'm meeting new characters, and going to new places, even if the overall story might be familiar.

So, aside from drinking copious amounts of tea (I got some excellent teas for Christmas, as well), these are the things that I have been doing.  What have you been up to lately?

RE: BABIES!!!

That's so funny, because it totally sounds like me.  "No thank you."  Haha.  I can actually just totally picture that.

Your friend Belle sounds a lot like a friend of mine who has three little girls.  She had her first in the hospital with drugs, and I know that still bothers her so much.  She had her third up here in Alaska, naturally, and that baby is one of the sweetest babies I've ever seen.

I think the main factor for a lot of women is fear.  I mean, they're told one thing all their lives; they're made to believe that doctors can always help you.  Also, so many people really do seem to believe that ignorance is bliss.  It's sad, but I understand that they're afraid.  Sort of like I was afraid not to go back to college right away.  I mean, I'd been told my whole life that if I didn't go to college, my life would be worthless and entirely devoid of happiness.  It's hard to break away from that.

That said, I think it is very silly not to try to be as informed as possible, not just about childbirth, but about anything that is relevant to your life.

Childbirth and child psychology have always been interesting to me.  All through high school, I worked in a daycare, so I got to be around children and watch them grow up.  (Not to mention the fact that I am the oldest of four children, so I ended up being a second mom to some of them.)  I love watching children develop; it's amazing how smart they really are.  Plus, kids still just have all this hope and faith that so many people lose as adults.  It's wonderful because when I'm around them, it sort of 'recharges' those batteries for me, I think, and I find myself looking at the world with more hope and faith.

Gosh, I wish I could come down there and see all of those babies!  I heard about Anna's birth on facebook and have gotten to see some photos, at least.  Facebook is great, as far as that goes; it's nice to at least feel a little bit in touch with family, even if I'm really not, because I live in the most isolated place in the world.  At least it's beautiful here.  Right now, I'm walking around feeling like I'm in a scene from the Nutcracker, or maybe Narnia, or something.  Just gorgeous.  I'll have to figure out a way to show you more of where I live.  Like, maybe by showing you photos or something?  I don't know.

Oh, look!  There's one, now.  It was taken from the cabin I stay in for part of the summer while I work as a counselor at a camp.  Of course, that doesn't really capture the wintery beauty I'm talking about right now...  But this is the photo I just happened to have sitting on my computer, so there you go!

I meant to actually talk more about childbirth in this post, but I daresay I got a bit off topic.  So... perhaps next time.  Also, when I am on my other computer at home, I'll post more of that fairytale/fantasy/novella/whatever-you-want-to-call-it.  It isn't on my laptop, which is silly, because it if were, I would probably have finished it much faster.  Oh, well.  I suppose I'm learning for next year...

BABIES!!!

Lately, it seems like babies are everywhere! I think everyone planned it this way; sneaky! Did you hear that Crystal had her baby? Her names Anna and I got to hold her at the Christmas party up at Uncle Mark and Aunt Rosann's house. She had her right before the party, so she was less than a week old! That's the smallest baby I've ever held!

And along with Crystal's baby, Mandy has Shayla, and my friend Belle has her daughter, Loy....so I'm being overwhelmed with this multitude of babies! It's got me back on my natural birth kick. I stopped reading about it around the end of senior year. I was still really into it, I just wasn't in the right mood to read about it for some odd reason. But yesterday I found the copy of The Birth Partner that I borrowed from Belle and read almost 80 pages in about an hour. The entire subject, from babies to birthing them, is just so interesting! I don't know how people can stand not learning about at least a little of it.

It makes me laugh at how defensive I get when someone starts talking about how 'hospitals are so great' or how 'I'm going to get all drugged up for this baby'! I try not to say anything, but sometimes I can't help throwing out a few facts on why it would be better to do it at home and with minimal interventions.....:)

It's really sad for me to hear how misinformed people are. I'm not going to lie....it kinda makes me want to shank some movie directors and newscasters....SHHH!!! And then it makes me even sadder when I tell someone about natural birth, they listen, and then they don't do anything to follow up on the subject and continue being misinformed! I mean really? If someone just told you that there was a whole other way of giving birth that could be better for your baby and that's been around for centuries, no, millinia, wouldn't you at least want to check it out?! And how selfish can you really be? If people were told of the side effects of some of the 'miracle' drugs they use, I'd bet money that at least a few more people would say they wanted to at least try it without them. The difference between babies that I've known who were born naturally vs. babies I've known who were born with their moms (and themselves through the mom) being drugged absolutely astounds me! And the difference between a breastfed baby vs. a formula fed baby is just as amazing.

I guess what I'm heading towards is that birth is a HUGE deal and I just don't see how an almost mother would be able to live with herself if she didn't look at all her options and decide which was the best suited to her. I think that's one of the reasons I admire Belle so much. She had her first son in a hospital with an epidural. But a few years after she had him, she started to get interested in natural childbirth. She has had two babies since, one was born in my basement (awesome, yes?) and the other she had in her new house. No drugs. No hospital. She was able to admit to herself that she may not have done exactly the right thing with her first son, accepted the fact that she simply didn't know back then, moved on, and was more informed with her next two pregnancies and had them in a safer way. I think that most mom's just don't want to admit or acknowledge that they may have made some mistakes with their children's births, so they go on in the same fashion as before, whereas if she could just admit to herself that it could have gone better for the both of them if she was more knowledgeable, she could easily avoid the same mistakes with her future children.

Okay! I really need to stop! This has turned into quite the little rant....sorry about that....^_^ I just get so into it I can't stop writing! Be prepared! There may well be more of these on the way.....hee hee! OH!!! And by the way, did I ever send you a copy of my senior paper? It seems like I did, but I wasn't sure.

Can you believe that I wasn't actually going to write about any of that? Well....except the first part, but still. What I was actually going to tell you was that Aunt Linda let my mom and I borrow some old videos of when we were just little! One of them is just me when I was about three months old. Just doing cute baby Lacey things. The other one was of my first birthday party. It had me, you and Alissa. It must be said: We were the cutest babies ever! It even had us running around nakey after we had a bath! When your mom tried to get you dressed you were trying to escape and saying 'no thank you no thank you no thank you' over and over as I was attempting to go outside with my trike and my bare butt! I made it for about two seconds and then my mom grabbed me! Way to spoil the fun. ^_^ I miss being little and romping around with all my cousins. That was the bestest!

Speaking of Dragons...

...which we often do around here, for Christmas this year, I am writing several of my friends their own little fairy tales (I use the term 'fairy tale' very loosely, mind you).  This one, written for one of my very dear friends, involves a dragon.  But, *ahem* I haven't really finished it yet.  At all.  At first, it was going to be short, but then the story kept growing and I started writing it in first person, which always seems to make things longer (when I write them, anyway).

Anyway, here is the first little chunk of the story.  If you like it, I'll post more, but no pressure.

***

            I knelt in the dirt, running my hands through the loam of the field; the ground was still rough and wrinkled from the harvest.  The soil felt good as it slipped through my grip, falling into my lap.  I closed my eyes, smelling the damp earth.  Moisture from the ground soaked slowly and deliciously into the woven fabric of my skirt.  There was nowhere I felt more at home than in these fields.

            “Amber,” Ma called, ripping through the stillness of the moment.  My eyes snapped open, and I jumped up, shaking the lush dirt from my dress and apron.  I ran back to our homestead where Ma waited by the back door.  She held a carved, wooden ladle in her right hand and her left hand rested on her hip.

            “Mind you stomp the dirt off those boots before you come inside,” she said, crossing the kitchen to stir some soup, bubbling aromatically in the enormous soup pot hanging over the fire.

            I hung my dirty apron on a peg by the door, replacing it with a frilly, crisp white apron that Ma deemed ‘suitable for young ladies.’  Ma glanced over her shoulder.

            “You look a fright,” she said disapprovingly.  I smiled, hoping I looked apologetic and becoming.  “You had better go and clean up.  Pa and Rossin are preparing to leave with the men for the hunt tomorrow, and I need you to pick up some things in the village.”

              I went upstairs, glancing at myself in a mirror.  There was a smudge of dirt on my chin and my waist-length hair was tangled.  I had a narrow face with a pointed chin and a small mouth.  Pa had always told me that I’m the most beautiful girl in the village, but I knew that the only interesting things about me were my eyes.  They were dark, luminous green; everyone said they were the color of pine needles.  My brother, Rossin, had eyes of exactly the same color, and was much more handsome than I was lovely.

After I scrubbed my hands, wiped the dirt from my chin, and carefully plaited my newly detangled hair, Ma sent me into the village to gather supplies, but not until spending a copious amount of time despairing over the dirt that I could never quite get out from under my fingernails.

            I passed a crumbling building.  Crops of all kinds were piled in front of it, a beautiful collage.  In our village, people have always placed crops from their harvest in front of the ruins of the ancient building.  It is the only remnant of the people who inhabited the village before we came.  Inside the building there was a book, telling how the people starved during a great famine, and left the safety of the meadow to enter the woods, never returning.  I supposed it was our way of honoring them.  I suspected it was also a visual representation of all of our prayers – please, Lord, never let us starve like that.

            My first stop was the apothecary shop, where I picked up a parcel wrapped in brown paper.  Pa had already paid for the bundle, but had not had the time to wait for them to assemble the various salves and tinctures himself.  I could easily have spend hours gazing at the various bottles and jars displayed in the small shop – they were filled with fascinating ingredients and served so many strange uses.  I enjoyed the floral, earthy aroma of the shop as well.

At the tanner’s shop, I picked up freshly made leather.  Ma would carefully fashion the length of leather into large satchels, in the hope that they would soon be filled with enough meat to feed our family through the coming winter.

On my way home, I passed the Goat’s Tail, a shabby saloon housing the most colorful characters that my village has to offer.  Sitting in front of the saloon was One-Eye Steve, smoking a corn-cob pipe, one of his eyes covered by a dirty, worn patch of leather, his remaining eye fixed on something that none of the rest of us could see.

            “Ah, Little-Lady-Green-Eyes,” he called as I passed in front of him.  “Chilly weather we’re having, don’t yeh think?  But it’s going t’get colder – mark my words!  Ol’ Steve’s been aroun’ a long time, Lil’ Lady.”  His deep voice boomed in an authoritative way I had never heard before.  I nodded in his direction, but kept walking.  One-Eye Steve had always seemed harmless enough to me, but Pa had always warned me to keep my distance from him.

            “Queer sort of fella’,” Pa would say, tapping his left shoulder to ward off evil spirits.  “Always talkin’ big and tellin’ stories.  Keep your distance, Amber.”  I wasn’t superstitious, but I didn’t much fancy the idea of having an extended conversation with One-Eye Steve.  I found his timeless, glassy eye unnerving, and he spoke with a lilting accent that nobody else in our village possessed.  Nobody could remember where he came from or what he did for a living, either.  He was as permanent and dilapidated as the ruined building where we left our crop offerings.

            By the time I caught sight of our homestead again, I’d had plenty of time to ponder One-Eye Steve’s warning.  My fingers were numb; I hadn’t thought of dressing for more warmth when I had left the house.  The cold was coming much earlier than usual this year.  Ma tutted and fussed as soon as I walked through the door, quickly giving me a cup full of scalding soup to wrap my hands around.

            Ma sent me to bed early that night, and I was still too chilled and too full of One-Eye Steve’s warning to argue.

***

So, as you can see, it has kind of western feel to it, which was my intention for this particular friend.  I'm trying to kind of customize each one to suit the person who will be receiving it.  This is all sort of the set-up for the rest of the story.  Originally, I intended this story to be around 3500-6000 words, but I think it's probably going to end up somewhere in the 7500-13000 words category.

If all of the fairy tales go this way, then there is NO possible way that I'm getting this done before Christmas.  Gah.  (Gah?  Yeah, I'm reeeeally eloquent.)

I'm open for critque/questions/whatever you have to say on it.  Also, if you noticed any glaring grammatical mistakes or misspellings, plllleeease let me know.  Chances are these things are not going to be particularly well-edited.

Back to work!

Happy December,

Kiwi

"100 truths"

You tagged me in it on facebook; I'll respond here:


1. Real me: Um, I am the real me.  What exactly are you asking for?  My name?  As Romeo said, "What's in a name?  A rose by any other word would smell as sweet."
2. Nickname(s):  I have so many.  Kiwi is one of them.
 3. Zodiac Sign: Gemini
 4. Male or female: I'm a female.
5.Elementary School: I went to different ones; I moved part-way through.
6. High School: Been there, done that.
7. College: I went to the University of Alaska Southeast for a while.  But I didn't especially like it there.  Hopefully 'down south' next year, haha.
8. Hair color: Widely debated
9. Tall or short: Really short.
 11. Sweats or Jeans: Jeans
 12. Phone or Camera: Phone.  Although, my phone has been missing for a week now.  Le sigh.
 13. Health freak: Yeah, a little.  I mean, I try to be as healthy as I can be?  I'm not perfect.
 14. Orange or Apple: Probably apple.
 15. Do you have a crush on someone?: No ma'am.
16. Eat or Drink: I enjoy both.
 17. Piercings:  Three, all on my ears.
18. Pepsi or Coke: Honestly?  I don't know the difference.  I almost never drink soft drinks.  Water, tea, and sometimes coffee.


 HAVE YOU EVER?


19. Been in an airplane:  Yeah, plenty of times.  Airplanes and boats are literally the only way to get in and out of this part of the Last Frontier, partner.
20. Been in a relationship: Romantically speaking, no.  I am waiting for 'the one.'
21. Been in a car accident:  I've had close calls, but no.  The roads are icy up here.
22. Been in prison?:  No.


 FIRSTS?


23. First piercing:  My ears.  Then later I added one.
24. First best friend: That's difficult to say.  I guess Amanda and Monica, since we pretty much hung out starting when we were all born.
25. First award: I think it was probably for writing.26. First crush:  This boy in kindergarted; I think his name was Adam.  Isn't it funny that I really don't even remember anymore?  I've never really been all that boy crazy.


 LAST?


 29. Last person you talked to in person: My mom, right now.
30. Last person you texted: I am honestly not sure.  My phone's missing, like I said.  31. Last person you watched a movie with: My friends, Jana and Lindy.
 32. Last food you ate: lasagne
 33. Last movie you watched: The premiere of Deathly Hallows: Part 1.  With the aforementioned Jana and Lindy.  I really haven't had time to watch a film since then.
 34. Last song you listened to: A Disney version of Twelve Days of Christmas.  'Tis the season
36. Last person you hugged: My mom.
37.Favorite Food: Olives.  Seriously, I love them.  Also, cucumbers.  And my daddy's special tiramisu.  He only makes it once a year on my birthday; it literally takes him all day.
38. Drink: Water, tea, and sometimes coffee.
39. Bottoms: Around the house, my pajama pants.  Out of the house, usually either jeans or cords.
40. Flower: Daffodils.
41. Animal:  Girraffes, pandas, dragons...
42. Colors: Purple, usually, but it depends on my mood.
43. Movies: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, and some others.  It varies depending on my mood, though.
44. Subjects: French, Becoming a Bard, Literature courses, Anthropology.  I really like learning, I just don't always agree with the public school format.
 HAVE YOU EVER:


(Put in the brackets if yes)


45. [Nope, waiting for God's best.] fell in love with someone.
46. [Of course] celebrated Halloween.
47. [ ]had your heart broken...
48. [ ] went over the minutes/texts on your cell phone.
49. [ ] had someone question my sexual orientation.
51. [ ] got pregnant.
52. [ ] had an abortion.
53. [Haven't we all?] did something I regret.
54. [Probably, but I try not to make promises I can't keep.] broke a promise.
55. [Sure.] hid a secret.
56. [Two words: high school] pretended to be happy.
57. [I think every single person I've met has in at least some way, impacted my life.] met someone who changed your life.
58. [Two words, again: high school.] pretended to be sick.
59. [Just to Canada.] left the country.
60. [Probably?  But I can't think of what right now.] tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it.
61. [Yeah, for sure.] cried over the silliest thing.
62. [Yeah.  I didn't think that was uncommon?  Many times.] ran a mile.
63. [Loads of times!] went to the beach with your best friend.  
64. [Yeah, usually over dumb things.] got into an argument with your friends.
65. [ ] hated someone.
66. [I would think everyone has, unless some people start dating before their second birthday?] stayed single for 2 years




CURRENTLY


67. Eating:  Why would I be eating right now?
68. Drinking: I could drink some tea or water, if I was thirsty, but I'm not.
69. Listening:  My family's chatter.
70. Sitting/Laying: I'm sitting.  At my computer.
71. Plans for today: Well, today is kind of over...
72. Waiting:  I'm waiting for my best friend to freaking come home for winter break already.  Stupid 'higher education.'
 YOUR FUTURE:


73. Want kids?:  As many as possible (if I find the right man and it's what God has in mind for me)!
74. Want to get married?:  Well, yes, if that's what I'm supposed to do with my life, I would really like to be married someday.
75. Career:  Homemaker?
  
 YOUR LOVE LIFE:


76 Lips or eyes:  Eyes
77. Shorter or taller: Taller.  It shouldn't be hard.
78. Romantic or spontaneous:  Definitely romantic.  I mean, spontaneous is okay, if used sparingly and when appropriate.
 81. Hook-up or relationship:   Relationships.  I don't really think "hook-ups" are what God had in mind for us. 
82. Looks or personality: Personality is really, really important to me, but then, honestly, so is attraction, which, technically, isn't always based on looks.  I mean to say, that if I wasn't attracted to someone, even if they had a great personality, I probably wouldn't marry them.  Of course, the opposite is true.  I wouldn't marry someone solely because I was attracted to them, either.


HAVE YOU EVER:


83. Lost glasses/contacts: Surprisingly, I don't think I have.
86. Killed somebody: Of course not!
87. Broken someone's heart: I definitely wouldn't think so.
88. Been in love:  No.
89. Cried when someone died: Yeah, more than once, unfortunately.


  DO YOU BELIEVE IN:


90. Yourself:  Yeah, for the most part I do.
91. Miracles: Absolutely.
92. Love at first sight: Not really.  I mean, I love everyone, automatically, because that's what we are called to do - "Love thy neighbor as thyself."  But in a romantic way, or as a future spouse, I would definitely have to get to know them.
93. Heaven: Definitely.
94. Santa Clause:  Why would you even ask that?!
95. Sex on the first date: Never.
96. Kiss on the first date:  Not for me, personally.  I'd rather save that for a relationship with a little more commitment.
 TRUTHFULLY:


97. Is there one person you want to be with right now: Not romantically, but I *do* really wish that a lot of my friends were home from college.
98. Do you know who your real friends are: Yeah, I do.
99. Do you believe in God:  Yes, I absolutely do.
100. Post as 100 truths?  After all that work?  You bet I will, mister!

Fiddle-dee-dee

I've been pretty out of touch for the last little while, mainly because our family was really involved in putting on a production of R&H's Cinderella.  It was really quite a lot of fun.  Mom was the stage manager.  Dad was in it (he danced and was a cobbler's apprentice) and helped with the set pieces.  I worked stage left, keeping track of the props, helping the kids, checking costumes, making sure nobody missed their cues, et cetera.  My feet got really sore.  Ashleigh was Queen Constantina:

Constantina Charlotte Ermintrude Gwindyvere Maisie Marguerite Anne

We all had a lot of fun; it's kind of sad that it's over, especially for Ashleigh.  But there shall always be other plays, I suppose...

Me and Clara.  She was a baby mouse -- so cute!

To tie up some loose ends, for Halloween, I ended up whipping together an angel costume.  It seemed appropriate since I was teaching Sunday School that day.  Oh, and by the way, remember that blue and bronze hat?  Voila:

I finished it about a month ago.  Crocheting is now going very well for me.  Just, please, ignore the fact that this is a terrible photograph of me.  I've also made another hat, and I'm working on making Ashleigh a hat.  Hers is a pretty, light blue, with a dark blue flower on it.  Maybe I'll be able to get a photo of that when it's finished.  After that, I'm making a scarf.  It's getting cold around here, so these things are necessary!

I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter seven; did you see it?

And with that... I'm going to watch the Music Man with Zac.