After Christmas Catch Up

December 27, 2007 | family, life

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. Sigh.

I had a lovely holiday with family. It was hectic, but fun. Still, spending all of Boxing Day in my jammies and reading a book was well earned.

My favorite gift came from DH. He bought me an electric woodstove for my attic. No more dressing in layers or aching knuckles while I type. And it does add a coziness ambiance to the room.

DS’s big gift was Guitar Hero (I think that’s what it’s called) for his PlayStation. Truth be told, DH and I have been playing it more than DS. Last night we were up until 1 a.m. My wrist, forearm and fingers are killing me today.

I must apologize for being a touch absent lately. Between the bookkeeping (year end is nearly upon us) and the holidays, I’ve been buried. With Christmas is over, I plan to be much more active here starting…now.

Christmas Tag

December 7, 2007 | life

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate?

Definitely hot chocolate, and topped with whip cream.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree?

Wrapped. Unless, of course, it’s something like a bike.

3. Colored or white lights on tree/house?

Colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

No.

5. When do you put your decorations up?

The first weekend of December. We put up the tree, listen to Christmas carols and eat yummy hors d’oeuvres. Once the tree is up, we watch Christmas Vacation. No matter how many times I watch that movie, the scene with the squirrel always makes me laugh.

6. What is your holiday dish?

LOL. I hate to cook. HATE it. When we host Christmas dinner, dh does most of the cooking. I do, however, bake, and at Christmas time I make empire cookies from my grandmother’s recipe.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child.

This is a hard one for me. I have a lot of favorite memories. I guess the one that always sticks out is the year that we all stayed over at my grandparents’ on Christmas eve. There was my family and my aunt and uncle and cousins. I remember my brother, my cousins and I all lying on the floor watching A Christmas Carol for the first time. That was a fun year.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

I was about nine or ten, and found out in a round about way. I had discovered the Easter chocolate for my parents had hidden for my brother and me in their closet. (Honestly, it was like they were begging me to find it.) When we went to my aunt’s, I mentioned to my cousin that I knew there was no Easter bunny. Then she said, “I guess you know about Santa too.” I had actually not yet made this connection, but she was six years older than me and I was forever trying to impress her, so I just nodded and mumbled yes.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

No.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

Tons of colored lights, beads, ribbon. Neat old fashioned looking glass balls, ornaments DS made at school and then the sentimental ones we’ve put in each others’ stockings over the years.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it?

Love it. Dh insists it’s ’cause I don’t have to go out in it. And he may be right

12. Can you ice skate?

I can, but I fear falling more than I use to.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

That’s an easy one. My grandfather made me a dollhouse. I think I was nine. It was gorgeous. It had bay windows, a balcony, he even cut individual wood shingles for the roof. My grandmother wallpapered all the rooms and made little rugs for the floors. I will never forget coming downstairs and seeing it next to the tree. I still have it. It’s packed away, but I don’t think I could ever let it go.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?

Being with family, and having a lot of fun.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Trifle.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

I have too many favorites to choose one, but I’ll tell you my silliest tradition. Log. Every year while we’re opening gifts we turn on the TV and switch to a station playing log. For anyone who doesn’t know, log is nothing more than an endless loop of a log burning in a fireplace with carols playing in the background. DH and I find the idea of television station airing six hours of this hugely amusing because..well, because we have demented senses of humor. AND I’ve actually seen stores selling log on VHS and DVD. I might buy it for DH as a gag gift for his stocking.

17. What tops your tree?

An old fashion Santa.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?

Both! I love to find things for other people that I hope they’ll like, but I love opening presents too.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?

The Little Drummer Boy. And anything sung by Bing Crosby.

20. Candy canes.

No thanks. I’m not a fan of hard candy or peppermint.

21. Favorite Christmas movie?

A Christmas Carol. It must be the old version with Alastair Sim, it must be black and white–none of this colorized nonsense–and it must be watched on Christmas Eve.

22. What do you leave for Santa?

Cookies.

Wow, that was a lot of questions. Kath, Heather , you’re up.

Detours

December 5, 2007 | Writing

So there I was, all ready to write the first kiss scene when something unexpected happened. Usually, scenes like this are fun to write, and because they’re fun, they tend to be easier to write than say the less than fun scenes. Also, I had pictured the next few scenes in my head, had a pretty decent idea of what would happen next. It should have been a breeze. As the chapter closes, he leans in, then a new chapter, switch to her POV… and I go blank.

Well, not entirely blank. There’s a few sad attempts to force the scene into submission, but my heroine has dug in her heels and stopped cooperating entirely. Then it hits me, I’ve made classic blunder. I’m trying to force her to do something she really wouldn’t for the sake of moving the story forward, and in doing so, I’m making her appear like a brainless twit. Since this is the last thing I want, I’m grateful for her intervention.

So now I’ve backed up and gone looking for where I went wrong. Part of the problem is the pacing. I’m rushing things. Detours like these are frustrating, but unavoidable. It’s all just a part of the process. I do find myself wondering if the plotters of the world find themselves in this situation more often or less often than those of us who just sit down and write.

Snowed In

December 2, 2007 | Writing, life

Last night we got a good dumping of snow, then this morning the mounds of snow were coated in a layer of freezing rain. Today is one of those days where it’s just nice to be at home, all cozy and warm, with a hot drink. In my case, cranberry tea. We put up our Christmas tree yesterday so I’m feeling somewhat festive.

I must admit, I’m one of those strange people who love winter. And not because I enjoy participating in winter sports like skiing–in fact, ick! It’s such a pretty time of year. And I don’t know why, but I love writing on snowy days. I like writing on rainy days too. Must be something about precipitation that I find particularly inspiring.

Once I finish up here, I’ll return to Andy and Claudia. I’m about to write the first kiss. So much fun to write on a snowy evening.