Happy Holidays!

Happy Christmas.

 

Happy Hanukkah.

 

Happy Whatever-You-Celebrate.

 

 

May you and yours be safe until we meet again.

The demise of the grand plan.

I had a grand plan. Get up 30 minutes early, leave for work 30 minutes early, and you’ll have 30 minutes to write. Ring in the start of NaNoWriMo like a pro.

Great plan, right?

Swap Share!!

I’m in a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Preparation swap on Ravelry. (For more about NaNoWriMo, click here.) Today is actually the last day to ship your packages out. The way this swap works, is that the person you ship a swap package to, is NOT the person you receive a swap package from. So- if there are five people in the swap (Janet, Nate, Rami, Allyson, and Michael)- Janet would ship to Nate, Nate would ship to Rami, Rami would ship to Allyson, Allyson would ship to Michael, and Michael would ship to Janet. Everyone sends a package, and everyone receives a package.

I believe most of the swap members shipped their packages out last week, because we all wanted our packages to be received BEFORE the first of November, when NaNoWriMo starts. I wanted my package to be heavy on the writing fuel, so this is what I sent out:

(One medium-sized journal, one large journal, and two sets of pens. The thought was to use the medium journal for ideas and snippets, and the large journal for the actual writing… but the recipient can use them for whatever she likes.)

(A bag of bacon flavored cashews, a bag of Sour Patch Kids, two Hammond’s candy bars (both dark chocolate), and a Ghirardell Squares assortment.)

(A skein of Knit Picks Preciosa (fingering weight) yarn, one cosy scarf in the Lupin colorway of Berroco’s Millefiori yarn, one bag of chocolate creme coffee, and one memory foam travel pillow, to remind the recipient to RELAX.)

 

Not pictured: two Knit Picks circular needles in US size 1 and US size 2.

 

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And what I received was a HUGE box full of goodies!

 
The outside had a lot of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy hints on it, and I was already squeeing, even before I opened it!

 

Inside the box was this:

That’s not EVERYTHING, but I’ll explain about what’s missing from the picture in a moment. Let’s start with the messenger bag. It has Don’t Panic 42 in Glow In The Dark paint! Very cool. Hubby wants to steal it.

This is what was inside the messenger bag:

A notebook, a Keep Calm and Write mug for my tea, some great smelling tea called Rubby Sipper, a manatee tea infuser, a pair of fingerless gloves (in the mug), four different colored pens, a hat (that Hubby might also try to steal), and a bag of iced animal crackers. (I seriously have a hard time finding the iced ones. They only have frosted in the stores near me. And iced animal crackers are my favorite.)

(Not in this picture is three awesome duck clips. We’ll also get to the duck clips in a moment.)

Now, the messenger bag (and contents) by itself is fantastic! But did my swapmate stop there? Nooooo!

There is also four envelopes (three are missing from the initial picture) with instructions. Attach the duck clips to each of the three blank envelopes, and when I reach the word count on the duck- I can open that envelope. Then I can open the fourth envelope when I reach 50,000 words (or THE END, whichever comes first)!

Unfortunately- one of the envelopes was sooo eager to meet me, that it spilled open as soon as I tried to lift it out of the box. So I put the 1,670 word count duck on that one, and took a picture of the contents for you:

A writing prompt, some gorgeous yarn, a bag of dried fruit, a BOOK!!!, two sachets of tea, a blue puppy bookmark magnet and another bag of iced animal crackers. I actually think the blue puppy was attached to the notebook in the messenger bag… but he seems to be hopping around, exploring. But just think- there are three more envelopes with presumably something similar inside!

1,670 words is an easy milestone to get to, so I know I can partake of this envelope VERY SOON. The other two ducks have 20,000, and 43,420 on them. When I hit those word counts- I can open those envelopes, and partake of the fun inside of them! And then, when I’m FINALLY finished- I can opened the THE END envelope, and see what’s at the finish line!

If I’m not insane by the time I reach the second duck- I MIGHT remember to take pictures of the second envelope. But I doubt it. Most likely I will wolf down whatever edibles are inside and keep moving. I don’t want to open the envelopes early- I LOVE the idea of being surprised!

 

 

NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow!  Those of you who are participating- GET READY!!!!

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30 Day Blogging Challenge – Day 30

Day 30: Your Hopes For Your Blog

At first- I wanted to say that I don’t have hopes for this blog, because I’m already achieving what I set out to do: have a place to hold myself accountable in my knitting and writing. But since I do want to develop my own Yarn business- I need to start thinking about the near future. Whether I want a separate Shop Blog, or incorporate this one. I also want to write more. I’ve already been looking for more writing challenges, so we’ll see what pops up in the future!

So I guess my hope is that my blog (or blogs if that is what I choose to do) will grow as I do. I apparently have some big changes on the horizon, so hopefully I can adapt and grow, and so will my blog(s). And until I have a more definite direction- that’s as specific as I dare to get.

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Last Day! Some days were uncomfortable, but I answered everything!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – Day 29

Day 29: A Confession

This one is a little difficult. What do you say?

I haven’t killed anyone… I’ve been a reasonably good person for pretty much all of my life…

I guess my confession is that I have a friend from childhood with whom I have no desire to get back in touch. Which is not to say that if she was ever in need- I wouldn’t try to help her out. I just have no desire to be in an unhealthy friendship again. And that is what our relationship was for me. I was the excuse, the opportunity, the ersatz boyfriend (and I’m not even male!), and the emotional punching bag.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – Day 28

Day 28: Most Embarrassing Moment

I don’t get embarrassed often anymore, so let’s go back in time. 3rd grade. We had too many kids for the elementary school, so my class was held in a portable. These were designed to be temporary classrooms, but they used them for years. it was about 2:45 pm, and we were waiting for the afternoon announcements to start. School was always dismissed after the afternoon announcements. I had to use the restroom (which was located in the main part of the school). I had to go VERY badly, so I asked my teacher. Maybe she thought I was just trying to leave school early, but she wouldn’t let me go. She told me to wait.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – Days 24 -27

We had a long weekend, and I tried to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I failed at it until yesterday, but that means that I am behind on my blog challenge. So here are Saturday’s, Sunday’s, Monday’s, and today’s blog posts.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – Day 23

Day 23: If You Won The Lottery

I assume this means if I won a VERY large sum of money in the Lottery, because I’ve won $2 and $5 and $20 before. Those are easy to win.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – Day 22

Day 22: Your Worst Habits

1. I like being obstinate. Doing what people tell me I can’t do. (Not to be confused with what I shouldn’t do… like you shouldn’t do drugs.) For instance- when I was in college- my typing instructor told me I would NEVER be able to pass her class with my long fingernails. It took me two tries, but I learned to type ON my fingernails and ended up passing her class. So there. : P~~~

2. I don’t like to read the instructions. On tests… on furniture you assemble… for manuals that come with new electronics… Occasionally the instructions are helpful. But I’d rather figure it out myself. If I can’t, then MAYBE I’ll read the instructions. Maybe. Which is funny, because I have no problem following recipes…

30 Day Blogging Challenge – Day 21

Day 21: What Makes You Sad

Ignorant people who wish to remain ignorant. (It’s okay if you don’t know something, but the desire to STAY that way annoys me.)

People who like to make your day worse, intentionally… just because they can. Misery loves company.

People who do not value the lives of others.

People who mistreat animals. (<– Now I must preface this by saying that I AM a meat eater. I love meat. And yes- I know how it is processed. I’ve been to several processing plants. Hasn’t even put a dent in my love for meat. But I don’t agree with intentionally harming an animal, just because you can. That’s not cool. And that’s not the same as hunting animals, as long as you use what you kill.)