The Weekend was Quite. Too Quiet

I had big plans for the weekend.  I was going to finish decorating and get my Christmas shopping done.  Meanwhile, I was also going to get a couple of movie watched and make great progress in my book.

Yeah, right.

Instead, I spent most of my Saturday wasting time on my computer.  Only in the late afternoon did I start to get anything done.  I did the majority of my Christmas shopping, and I do feel wonderful about that.  I still have a few things to pick up later, but I know what I’m getting, so it isn’t that big a deal.

I also got one of the movies watched, but only one.

No decorating, and just a little bit of reading on Sunday.

Of course, my usual Sunday activities happened of church, ultimate and Once Upon a Time with friends.  Can’t give that up.

It’s set me behind on where I want to be with my decorating, so I need to decide just how much more of that I am going to do.  But it is such a relief to have so much of my Christmas shopping done.

Then will come the fun or wrapping presents.

Wonderful Trip Home for Thanksgiving

I had a wonderful time at home for Thanksgiving.

The first couple of nights, I spent with my brother and his family, which meant that I got to spend all day with my niece and nephew.  They are so cute!! (I figured I’d get that out of the way early.  You knew it was coming).  That was where everyone gathered for Thanksgiving itself, and we had a great day with family and a family friend.  I got to talk, and we played some games as well, including one I’d brought up for us to play.

I also got to visit with a friend of mine from childhood.  We’d connected on Facebook but hadn’t seen each other face to face in years.  I got to meet his wife and just generally catch up.

Other than that, it was just spending time with family, which was wonderful.  We watched Muppet Christmas Carol one night, and we played more games.

I was sad to leave Monday, but I did get to see my friend Donald and his parents on my drive home, which was nice as well.

Word Association for November 24th

Looks like I'm just going to get some word association in this week, but that's okay because I had a lazy quiet weekend.  And tomorrow, I'm heading up to visit my family!!!

And without further ado, word association time.

1. Plenty of :: Space
2. Peanut :: Snoopy and Charlie Brown
3. Gulp :: Swallow
4. Framed! :: for Murder
5. Caged :: Bird
6. Chilly :: Ice Cold
7. Instrument :: Piano
8. Officer :: Police
9. Solution :: Mystery
10. Dolphin :: Swim

Full Circle at Glendale Centre

I’ve now been going to Glendale Centre Theatre for 10 years.  I first ventured down there at the end of 2005 after hearing great things about it for a couple of years.  That first play I saw was Arsenic and Old Lace.  And last weekend, I got to see that play again.

Of course, with a different cast and a different director, the play wasn’t completely the same.  That’s one thing I love about live theater.  But the play was still fabulous.  It has so many witty lines and just absurd situations that you can’t help but love it.  And yes, it is better than the movie, which I watched after the first time I saw the play.  Much, much better.

The first couple of plays I went to see I went without Angelique, but once we discovered how much we both loved that theater, we’ve been going together ever since.  That means she hadn’t seen this play the first time, and I was thrilled to get to introduce her to it.  She enjoyed it as much as I did, which made me feel good.

I only wound up seeing one play in 2006, and it’s one of their plays next spring.  I can’t wait to see it again and enjoy some plays I haven’t seen there before as well.  Obviously, I may have gone full circle, but I’m not planning to stop going any time soon.

Word Association for November 17th

Time for this week's word association.

1. Polish :: Sausage
2. Reshare :: Facebook
3. Quality :: Control
4. Ordeal :: Horrible
5. Raindrop :: Keep Falling on My Head
6. Cute! :: Baby
7. Soil :: Dirt
8. Ice cream :: Delicious!
9. Suffering :: Pain
10. Pressure :: Point

Wipeout Run and Lunch

Last weekend, I did my final obstacle run of 2015 – the Wipeout Run.  This used to be known as the Ridiculous Obstacle Challenge, but they teamed up with the show and rebranded themselves.

As a run, I found it disappointing.  We wove back and forth in a parking lot.  I’d be shocked if we really ran a mile.  The ROC races were definitely closer to 3 miles long.

However, the obstacles were fun.  Yes, they had the big balls, although they were really more like small/medium balls and in a bounce house.  Still, that was enough for me, especially considering I couldn’t land a jump to any of them.  There were a couple of giant slides and a balance across a beam while dodging big balls spinning around obstacle.  That one was tons of fun.  No mud at this one, but water in a few obstacles.

Afterward, I got together with Joy and Christopher, who lived in the area for a late lunch.  We hung out at the restaurant and talked for a couple of hours, and it was a blast.

Plus I got to listen to half of a book on tape that day, which is always fun.

Sadly, I stopped at Downtown Disney trying to find a calendar.  I spent almost two hours looking around for it, but when I finally found the right person to ask, they were sold out of it.  I would have liked that time for other things.  Oh well.  That was the only bad part of an overall fun day.

New Roommate

I have two roommates again!

My new roommate moved in a week ago.  He’s a friend of my current roommate who is looking for a place for just a couple of months, although there is a possibility that he could stick around longer, we’ll just have to see.

The ironic thing is that I have two roommates with lots of stuff right now.  Usually, my roommates are young enough that they have clothes and a few books.  These guys don’t, so between their stuff and all the junk I have, we are out of room in the condo.  I need to weed out junk, but I sure don’t want to do that.  It sounds suspiciously like work!

Small Halloween Party

Saturday being Halloween, I went to my friends Josh and Beth’s annual Halloween party.  Of course, since they decided to have it at the last minute, the turnout was very small.  As in, it was just the three of us.

Of course, since I hadn’t seen them for several months, it was good to have a chance to sit and catch up.  We talked for quite a bit, ate dinner, and then played a couple of games.  Yes, it would have been fun with more people, but, selfishly, I’m kind of glad it was so small.  It was relaxing and fun.

We played Sequence for a while, and then they introduced me to a new game called Bubble Talk.  The idea is kind of like Apples to Apples, only this time, you have a picture on the table and seven captions for it in your hand.  It was so funny I was laughing so hard I was crying at one point.  Definitely getting a copy for myself!

Word Association for November 4th

Time for some more word association.

1. Habitually :: Late
2. Generational :: Divide
3. Proudly :: Accomplishment
4. Determined :: to Succeed
5. Consoled :: Sad
6. Hosted :: Show
7. Creepy :: Ally
8. Yelled :: Warning
9. Inept :: Killer
10. Success story :: Changed Life

Neverseen Launch Party

Friday night, I went to a book launch party.  Even better?  The book didn’t officially come out until today, so I was able to buy it early.  (You’d think with all the pre-release books I get these days it wouldn’t be a thrill, but it still is.)

The book is Neverseen, the latest in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series for middle grade readers by Shannon Messenger.  Unfortunately, the signing was a ways away, and with traffic, especially on a Friday night, it took me a long time to get there.  So long, in fact, that I missed Shannon answering questions from the audience.  But I got there for the actual signing.

And oh the line!  I was actually there for three hours waiting to get my book signed.  During that time, I finished the novella I was reading and wandered around the store some.  Then I stood in line.

Mind you, I’m not really complaining.  It is wonderful to see so many kids exciting about reading.  I mean, this was a hardcover, and all the kids had copies.  And Shannon was taking the time to talk to fans and not just signing books, which is great for keeping them engaged in reading the books.  Plus Shannon is a truly wonderful person, and I’m thrilled to see her reaching this level of success.  I’ve been reading the series from the beginning, and I’m thrilled to see it doing so well, too.

Still, it made for a long night, although I was able to get home a lot faster because the traffic had died down by the time I left.  It was a great day all the way around.  Plus I’ve passed the half-way point of the book already (which is saying something for a 700 page book) and am fast closing in on the final quarter.  Goal is to finish it by Wednesday, and things are heating up, so I am sure that will happen.