The dreaded S word.........

I'm one of those weird people that likes snow. Honestly, I kid you not. When I woke up this morning to find a very thin blanket of snow, I felt giddy. For me, there is nothing better than curling up on the couch with a cup of tea and a book with the snow falling outside. I don't mind bundling up to go somewhere and I have a very extensive collection of hats and mittens. It makes me feel like a kid to walk outside with the snow falling and I guess I find as I get older there are less and less things that make me feel 6 again.

So while everyone else is bitching and complaining about the snow I'll be enjoying our wonderful Canadian winter.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a snow angel to make.

Healthly eating and chocolate: God help me!

I think between now and the New year, I need to stay away from stores. And TV. We're trying to eat healthy and I am convince it is nearly impossible to do it at this time of year. Especially if you are like me and your weakness is chocolate and sweets.

Toblerone, Lindt, Turtles....... I swear to God I could live off these three and be quite happy. Of course I'd weigh about 600 pounds and be as unhealthy as Hell. But my taste buds would be in Nirvana.

I'm going to try something new this year, since I know %100 abstinence from chocolate will be impossible. Moderation. See you can treat yourself every once in a while to a small about of something not good for you. It's when it becomes a daily occurrence that you run into problems.

So this holiday season I'll have a little bit of chocolate here and a little bit of chocolate there. Except Christmas Eve. Sorry but all bets are off then.

The joy of gift cards

Normally around this time of year all I think about is Christmas gifts. I plan and re plan my budget and what I am going to get everyone. I also have to come up with my own list of what I want to give to my husband and parents. This stresses me out and quite often on Christmas Eve I find myself wrapping furiously and trying to remember when I put the gifts I had wrapped in October.

This year I thought I'd try something different: not letting Christmas stress me out. My plan involves gift cards and gift bags. You see, everyone on my list this year is getting a gift card. And I'm popping it in a gift bag. Merry Christmas to me. I'm also asking for gift cards so I can get stuff I really want and even some stuff that I need.

Imagine a Christmas where you don't end up with three pairs of reindeer slippers and enough body wash to clean a small country. It is possible.

Christmas Craft Fairs and Devil Ladies

Every year around this time there is a plethora of Christmas Craft Fairs. Every year we go to about four of them, trolling mostly for candles and fudge. Oh, we also make fun (politely away from the person, of course) of some of the cheesy crafts that are being sold. I know, it's mean, but it's oh so fun!

So far this year we've been to two: one was super crappy and the other one wasn't too bad.

The first one said it was a craft fair but it was mostly pre-made mass production crap that looked like it could be purchased through an infomercial. The only saving grace of the afternoon was the cheesecake.

The second one was much more crafty and this year I ran into an old friend from high school who has her own jewelery company, Knotty Handscapes. And I have to say, she has the nicest jewelery we've seen so far this Christmas season. I even bough a piece and she is going to help Jason as he embarks on his jewelery making career. We even managed to chat with her for a few seconds before being pushed on to the next booth by a throng of Devil Ladies and strollers. Really, you know it's going to be jam packed, was there a need to bring the twins in their double stroller?

Next week end is the one we've been looking forward to: The PEI Crafts Council at the Confed Center. Our friend Candy, who owns and runs Sweet and Sour Gargoyles is going to be there along with other top quality artisans. And this year we might even be able to afford a piece or two.

The cutest laptop ever!

While Jason and I were looking for a laptop for Mom, I came across quite possibly the cutest little laptop I've ever seen. About the size of a book, the screen is only 8 inches and it weighs a bit over 2 pounds. And at 300 bucks it was actually something we could afford.

So, I bought it! I'm going to pick it up this evening and I can't wait. My laptop bit the bullet about two months ago and I have been looking for an affordable solution.

My Asus eee is blue and I think I'll call her Betty.

Brain farts and other important moments

So, I know what I want to write for NaNoWriMo. A weird, wacky YA supernatural story. I started writing it, but was having a hard time because I had no idea what was going to happen in said weird, wacky YA supernatural story. I new I needed a big bad and a group of kids to stop it. Beyond that, nada, making it kinda hard to write.

Hit with a massive headache last night I headed to bed. Five hours later I was still awake and trying to figure out what to write about. Finally, around 4 am I started to drift off to sleep only to be awaken by my big bad, who was going to defeat it and why. It all kinda came out at once and I had my story. I scribbled it all down and went back to bed.

Now to write the damn thing.

NaNoWriMo and B12

So, I though all summer I was being a total lazy ass. I had no ambition and was only doing writing that was required, ie. deadlined paid writing. I was sleeping all the time and felt like crap. Figured maybe I was in some kind of a depression.
Then I did the smartest thing I have done in a long time: I went to see a naturopath. First thing she did was order blood work and guess what? I'm not lazy, just a bit anemic. Okay, a lot anemic.
See, there's this thing called B12 and it's wonderful.. it helps with energy, mood, though process, metabolism, anxiety and a shitload of other great things. In order for it to help, you need to have a range of between 400 and 800. Well, mine was at 100. And I went from being crazy to being deficient. My iron was also low and the two combined meant I was anemic.
I'm on supplements and slowly getting my energy up. Which means I'm back to writing. And in a big way.
November is National Novel Writing Month, something we writers like to call NaNowWriMo. Basically every November we hunker down and write a 50,000 word novel. I did this in 2006 and am attempting to do it again this year.
Crazy, I know. But so much fun.