I didn't know if I would get them done this year.
I started with Owl, and despaired. And then I picked Roo, because he's so tiny and seemed so easy. I tried to make the first one, and despaired - just 'cuz I'm rusty at my handcrafting skillz, and his little ears posed the only challenge.
I got over it.
Roo x 8. It is truly Christmas.
There are random sequins littering my floor. This is how it should be. All year, but especially now. Where do they come from? Well, boxes and bags of sequins, sometimes. But mostly, they shed from my clothes, shoes. I can't bring myself to sweep them up.
I think I need some confetti. I think I need some glitter. I will be extra-festive soon, once I hit some pretty heavy deadlines.
In the meantime, I keep finding a way to make my bright tree brighter.
(I know, I know, the green wires are so obvious - but not in real life. Please suspend awareness of them, for me?) I bought my favorite candy canes - cherry-flavored rainbow - and put them on the tree. I will be snacking on them come January, no doubt.
Love my tree. It's a lovely ritual to turn all the lights on (and light a candle) before I do anything else. It makes this deadline-tastic time easier to deal with. I'm not complaining - but I have a lot going on. (Don't we all?)
I did finish the teaching semester, though. *PHEW.* I tried to catch a picture of this amusing sign, on my drive home:
Small Dog, 59 cents. I keep thinking of lapdogs. I will take 1 pug, 1 "80's Dog" (Pomeranian), and a Pekingese. What a deal.
On a trip to the library, I saw this:
Buddy. Probably was 59 cents. I wonder how much a large dog costs. 99 cents?
I have been avoiding my library-room chair for various silly reasons (I go through cycles of wanting to sit in certain places, for one), but I finally sat in it yesterday, during the day, and enjoyed the view of this bank of houseplants, some new. (My fern is atrocious-looking but still clings to life.)
I would sit here more but then I can't see the tree.
Do you know what I CAN see? EVERYTHING. Because after a string of unpleasant experiences, I ended up demanding then having a string of extremely positive experiences at the aforementioned eyewear establishment - Lenscrafters.
I am not endorsing one thing over all others (I get my regular glasses from For Eyes, usually), but I have had positive experiences with Lenscrafters in the past, and was surprised that I kept finding myself dissatisfied. Longish (and boring) story short: they will make good. Of course they will. And now, I have what I want:
Brown Anne Klein sunglasses, plastic lenses, gradated tint, in a better prescription. And $20 than the best pair I found online. I am very, very pleased. Now I just have to get used to not having astigmatism anymore.
So anyways. This interlude is almost over, and I will make some food to last me through the next few marathon days, and I will write and read and write and read and possibly exercise and certainly shower and in all that, dream about these:
And maybe grab a box on my way up north to celebrate the holidays with my family. :) And celebrate meeting deadlines, of course.
Stay tuned: I will tell you about my upcoming production in Chicago....
Rad.
My view. When I write with the lights off. :) (I don't.)
I went kind of nuts and put stuff everywhere. By everywhere I mean in three rooms.
This embroidered/sequined/beaded felt tree is probably my favorite Christmas decoration, period. Mydear Val gave it to me.
I hung a few random vintage ornaments on my orange candelabra, such as Santa. And Frosty. And some birds. And a wonderful pink monstrosity. And my felt gingerbread house.
I probably should put the ornaments in the box on the right (in front of the Rudolph record) in a bowl. Nah. Maybe next year. :)
I realize large bulbs equal thick green-sheathed wires. I also realize my tree is pre-lit with small bulbs with white wires.
I do not care.
I love my tree. I love the lights. I love how comforting it is.
Perhaps I will curl up under it and read. (On my bedroll, of course.)
What a semester.
If you think this an obnoxious, dramatic self-photo of me, you're right. But man. I'm grateful for some upcoming relief from my schedule.
RELIEF, I say.
(...Why did Avon think this was a good idea?!?!)
Not that I don't know how to find it in other ways. ;)
(Yes, this is at Sam's Club. I was there with friends. I don't shop there. But if I did, you know what I'd buy.)
Tomorrow I will take these puppies in and figure out if I'm just crazy and not used to the new prescription, or if something else is wrong.
It's kind of bad that a pair of sunglasses not turning out can make me so upset. So upset that I take another obnoxious photo of myself. But, once I get them under control, I will feel extremely good. My sunglasses are a rather big part of my day. They ARE prescription and all. :)
It helps that it is the Christmas season. Even at my busiest, I love the novelty of it all. Especially this book tree.
But since I don't have one, for now, I will settle for books.
Like three Smithsonian Guides to Historic America. (I have one already. Thrifted for $8, total.)
I will also enjoy my own decorations, like my smaller Christmas tree.
And candy canes.
I kind of (totally) need to but a spending/thrifting freeze on myself. I know I've said this before. I'll say it again. It's kind of... out of control. (Not really.)
But it IS the Christmas season and now that things are sort of, uh, chilling out (sorry for the use of cold words) for me, responsibility-wise, maybe I will feel less need to get my thrift on. ...Except I am costuming my upcoming show (more details soon) and it will require much thriftage.
Anyways. :) S'all good. Some recent scores:
Gold-sequin and clear-beaded sweater: $5. The previous owner messed with it a good bit, to fit. I had to take out some seams so it would fit ME. It exposed some damage. I have a pile going for the next snow-day. I will fix anything that I possibly can, to save some $$$ on repairs.
I am continuing my 80's shirt kick but bringing it into the cold weather by finding long-sleeved ones. Also am bringing it into... the 90's. Gotta love Versace knock-offs. I paired this shirt ($3.25) with my lime green sweater-blazer ($6).
Pastel formal, $4. ...Yeah. Like I NEED another formal. This one I could pull off, though, on a regular day. It requires a scarf tucked into the décolletage, Jane Austen-style.
I was just messing around, here. The 40's-from-the-80's polka-dot dress is cool but I do need to drop a few inches here and there to make it truly comfortable. (Working on that.) I paired it ($6) with my pink 60's pumps ($40), pink 80's belt ($2), fur-trimmed cardigan ($12) and crazy pink Lucite bib necklace (made it myself, probably was $30 for the beads). If I had grey or bubble-gum-pink tights I would wear them with it.
Sigh of bliss. I'm really kind of over sweaters - I have a bunch that I love, but I don't need any more, and they're hard to find where they don't just add bulk - but this one. This one. Is The One. (And I thought to myself, this is slightly Michael Jackson-esque. And then I wore it out to dinner and my friend Jen said, that looks Michael Jackson-esque. YES.) Sweater: $3.
So anyways. Therapies. Looking forward to getting back to my novel.
Found this at an antique store (didn't buy it), but it reminded me of a lil' cosmic affirmation that I should press on: my main character is named Deltrice. And she makes cosmetics. Finding this out was a RELIEF. I tell you. :)
Here's a little fashion for you.
This is why you want to become a royal. So you can be a paper doll in your skivvies. ;)
So it's the day after Thanksgiving (or as Carra calls it, xgiving), but things have just begun. And whether I like it or not, Christmas has decidedly superseded Thanksgiving instead of remaining discrete. Psh. Oh well. I'm still in cornucopia mode. Since I haven't had the chance to cook, yet. Today and tomorrow. Pumped. I miss cooking.
And, somewhat randomly, here is a poem that I am writing out in my notebook today, to memorize (I forget where I first came across it - someone either posted it elsewhere or maybe from poets.org):
Love means to learn to look at yourself
The way one looks at distant things
For you are only one thing among many.
And whoever sees that way heals his heart,
Without knowing it, from various ills.
A bird and a tree say to him: Friend.
Then he wants to use himself and things
So that they stand in the glow of ripeness.
It doesn't matter whether he knows what he serves:
Who serves best doesn't always understand.
by Czeslaw Milosz
My buddy Jen and I stopped at a crazy garage sale that was pretty much all McDonald's toys and kid's clothes.
I had twenty-five cents, and I found this hand-sewn ornament. Mine. (On a backdrop of the rainbow dress I found at the SalArmy the other day.)
The Annual Pooh Ornament-A-Thon was a success.
The key to my success? Picking Rabbit. ("Picking Rabbit" - future play title, ha ha)
My first clue was when I got all SEVEN (I have the addition of Ayla and Margot this year to my lovely existing gaggle of little people) of them cut out...
...all while watching White Christmas. :) (Please note half-formed Piglet body. I should've thrown that one on the garbage pile. It tricked me. It was defective, but I only realized this after toiling over it more - I then realized that I had done it wrong the year before, but felt bad throwing it away. Geez.)
Then I just spent the next day going to town on them all. It helped that I had port wine cheeseball and garlic crackers. And coffee. And Sufjan (Age of Adz - it didn't occur to me to listen to his Christmas albums, der).
They were just very simple. 2 pages of instructions, 7 pieces.
The posse grows.
The posse is Named. (I was semi-ghetto about the name embroidery, but they are spelled correctly and distinguishable, so who cares.)
The posse becomes a phalanx.
Yay Rabbit!
...And I did complete some Piglets that I didn't get to last year. Which probably has more to do with my recognizing the ease of Rabbit, as Piglet is adorable but CONSUMING.
...I have Tigger, Owl, and Kanga/Roo to choose from for next year, and those are all involved, too. That's k. I'm going to start in on them as soon as the weather gets cold (again).
I am Christmased out.
Which is pathetic, as I think I spent all of a week being festive.
But it was a really good, if quick, holiday, all the same. It helps to have the little people around. A LOT.
And Biff always helps.
So do drawings of the Death Star by James.
(Everyone should be so lucky as to have a Death Star drawn on their present.)
I went out today to get a 2011 planner (Moleskine - am obsessed), in hopes that I'll use this one's more than last. I did use mine last year. For 8 of 12 months. I'm not sure what happened. Well - 3 units of speech and 1 iPhone happened.
I also bought 5 more books with gift cards. Christmas is over, but the shopping isn't. But - let the reading begin. I did get some CHOICE GOODS - they will pop up in later posts, as I will be WEARING them. ;) And cooking with them. (Though I am not necessarily referring to the same gifts, especially as I did not receive any aprons, and a good thing that I didn't, as I probably would've been offended. ;)
I must, MUST get back to writing. Both out of requirement and deep need.
I hope your holiday was choice, radical, and awesome - and I also hope the same for your New Year (but really, just the party part, because we know the actual day is lame).
This is about all I can do in terms of thinking about Halloweeny things.
I will be entering into this door soon, literarily speaking. The rest are pics I've yanked from elsewhere on the interwebs... I find them creeptastic. (That's a good thing.)
asd
