this little life of mine

Well, here we are at the end on another year. While 2013 wasn't totally dreadful for me and my family, it wasn't 100% fabulous, either, and several of my friends had a rather crappy time of it the past 365 days. So I'm kinda relieved to close the door on 2013 and open up the window for what will hopefully be a much, much better year!

Here are some highlights of 2013:

1.  Weetacon  - always and forever a good time!

2.  Hanging out with friends: visiting my BFF Jewel in Ohio and hanging out with Pammie Sue and DeeDee in SLO  - also a really good time!

3 . My cousin's wedding - fantastic and beautiful!

4.  Getting away from it all - a couple staycations at a couple gorgeous local towns (Avila Beach and Morro Bay)!

Some things that were not so good:

1.  My grandpa's passing.

2.  Developing debilitating pain and stiffness which prevents me from doing a lot of the things I enjoy.

Okay, so, I guess there were a lot more good things than bad things for me, which is quite positive actually! Still, I'm looking forward to starting a new year which will hopefully be filled with TONS of great times and ZERO bad times! (I'm nothing if not unrealistic! Heh!)

Cheers!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 This week I'm finally starting a new book: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. It's been so long since I downloaded this to Nicky the nook, I didn't even remember what it was about, but so far it's quite a good story.  Here are my teasers from page 312:

I wished that I had never seen his face, yet it was seared into my memory. He had warned me not to look at him. Why had I not listened? 

So, I finally got around to making my Christmas cards for this year. It's a simple design (not necessarily the one above, but I used the same stamp; this card was a tester, although I might send it out because turned out nice), and should be fairly easy to make. I really like the cute curly-cue design of the tree on this stamp by Hero Arts, and the inside greeting (not shown) is by Inkadinkado and is equally cute.  I'm also cleaning out my craft bin by using scrap and leftover papers instead of buying new, so that's pretty satisfying, too. 

What I'm Writing:  Currently not working on anything. I've been WAY too busy!

What I'm Reading:  Still reading Allegiant and thankfully it's gotten a lot better. It's interesting the way the story has gone from the first couple of books. There's less action and more thinking and plotting.

What Inspires Me:  I'm still enjoying Christmas music - both traditional carols and modern interpretations thereof, as well as novelty tunes (except "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer", I've alwasy HATED that song!!) and fresh new music.  

What Else I've Been Up To:  My BFF Darlene drove dwon from Oregon over the weekend, and I was able to spend some time with her and our mutual friend Pammie. We enjoyed some great food, wine, shopping, and martinis!

Periodically I remember to do my monthly resolutions (which I picked up from Kim on her blog The Kim Challenge), but not often. This month, however, I remembered (late, but still ...)! So, without further ado, here are the things I'm going to attmept to accomplish this month:

1.  Make and mail my Christmas cards before December 25th.

2. Call for a doctor appointment regarding the constant pain and stiffness I've had since August.

3.  Post at least 25 days for Holidailies. (Yes, I know I am woefully behind on this goal already, but I hope to catch up this weekend!)

4. Cook up some delicious and healthy soups, stews, and casseroles.

 5. Get to the gym 3 days a week.

Yikes! It seems like a lot now, and this month is already flying by! Wish me luck! Cheers!

December first, and I'm already decorated for Christmas! That might not seem like a very big deal, but I very nearly blew it off, and honestly, if I didn't do it this weekend, it wasn't going to get done. I skipped decorating last year entirely because I kept procrastinating, hemming and hawing for weeks. Finally I accepted the fact I just wasn't in the mood for Christmas, and while it felt pretty good to not do anything,  I thought I'd better do it this year, or risk becoming a permanent Grinch. Now that I'm done, I'm quite pleased. I bought a new artificial tree at Big Lots - pre-lit and pre-tinseled and only 20 bucks! - and it's adorable (pics coming soon!), and have my Santa collection (above), Wizard of Oz ornament collection, Christmas spoons, nativity, and other Christmas goodies on display. I'm exhausted, but it feels good to have it done and to look so pretty and festive!

So, if you've stopped by from Holidailies, hello and welcome! I've been participating in this collaborative holiday writing meme for several years now, starting with my now-defunct online journal self-portrait, and continuing the tradition here on my blog. If you like, you can learn more about who I am on my About Me page, look around my archives, or check out my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest links on the sidebar. 

Cheers!

What I'm Writing: Gah, not a damn thing! I just can't seem to get my act together with this novel. I know at this point I should just abandon it for another project (because God knows I have dozens to choose from!), but I'm just stubborn enough to battle it out a little longer before waving that white flag.

What I'm Reading: I started reading Allegiant this week. It's pretty good, but it's been a hard transition from Kaj Johnson's gorgeous voice in the stories in At the Mouth of the River of Bees to Veronica Roth's. (Not that her voice isn't gorgeous, it's just vastly different.)

What Inspires Me: I am still not terribly inspired by much of anything, but I am starting to look forward to Christmas, which might bring a certain magic with it, so who knows?

What Else I've Been Up To: Because I've decided to attend my High School reunion next July, I've abandoned my original idea of taking a photo tour of Ireland or Scandinavia. Instead, I'll spend a few days in Seattle and Victoria B.C., then drive across the state, stopping by my alma mater (CWU) and hopefully visiting a friend or two, before heading to Colfax.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week I'm reading Allegiant by Veronica Roth. This is the third book in the Divergent series, and while I enjoyed the previous two books quite a lot and really looked forward to this one, I find I'm having difficulty getting in to it. Hopefully once the action starts, I'll get sucked into it and really enjoy it!

Here are my teasers for this week from page 93 (Chapter 16 Tobias):

"I thought you might like an explanation for why I'm not dead," he says.

"I thought about it," I say. "They never let us see your body. It wouldn't be that hard to fake a death if you never show the body."

Darn it, I keep forgetting to do this little meme hosted by Jaime and Erin until it's too late! Thankfully, this week it's still Wednesday! On with the show ...

What I'm Writing: I am still working on my NaNo novel, although I keep forgetting to post my word counts.  Last week I only got in 1167 words, which I think brings my total to 1690. Not too promising, but I still have a couple weekends left to catch up!

What I'm Reading: I'm still slogging through At the Mouth of the River of Bees. Who knew short stories could be so dang long?? Still loving it, though, as they're beautifully written stories!

What Inspires Me: I'm not terribly inspired by anything right now, which could be my NaNo problem. Currently, I'm too busy dealing with this damn, constant, everywhere-in-my-body pain and stiffness that started up around August (and simply will NOT go away despite all the Advil) to be inspired.

What Else I've Been Up To: The pain has not stopped me from working out, however (although it has changed the type and intensity of my workouts, which is disappointing), and while my trainer is on vacay this week, I've started the Couch-to-5K running plan. And, yes, it's very painful, but I'm determined to do a 5K next year (I'm hoping they'll have the same 5K at Concrete River Days next year that they did this past July!), and work up to a triathalon in a couple years.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week I'm reading a book of short stores called At the Mouth of the River of Bees: stories by Kij Johnson. It's been awhile since I'd read short stories, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoy them. These are quirky, interesting, strange, fantastical stories - right up my alley! - so I like them even more! Here's my teaser from page 12.The story is the very first one in the book "26 Monkeys; Also the Abyss". Enjoy!

What Aimee likes about this life:

It doesn't mean anything. She doesn't live anywhere. Her world is 38 feet and 127 shows long and currently 26 monkeys deep. This is manageable.