Getting Ready...

Restless. What the heck is wrong with me?

I think it's a combination of things --

*some business stuff needs to be finalized (boring paperwork-type stuff)
*the girlies have gone home
*back to 'normal' life -- washing, dirty dishes, bits on the carpet
*a long-worked-on job...that still needs another week's worth of effort
*schlepping everything out for decorating -- I want it out, just don't want to put it out!

Gripe, gripe, gripe.

Also, a blizzard is moving in...a prime ingredient for restless temps and feelings.

I stopped and had eggrolls with Daughter #1 on my way home from Denver this morning. Better. A few hours of cleaning...that business paperwork worked on. Salmon and sweet potato fries for supper; Husband and a friend to share it with. Best of all.

My Buddy - Stephen King

It's true...and yet it isn't.

I'm fascinated by the guy, as well as revulsed (he periodically suffers from "trash mouth" and the desperate need to describe weird sex in detail) and frustrated (he's great at characterization and detail, but sometimes shovels his endings in wayyy too fast).

Some of his books have gone way past creepy-in-a-fascinating-way to directly affecting my life. Case in point: His 1987 novel, Misery, about a writer who becomes the pet of Annie Wilkes, his "greatest fan." (King himself admitted that Annie represented the addictions he'd had for years, including alcohol and drugs.) For anyone who's a writer, just the idea of being kept hostage and forced to write has a nasty attraction (time to write! no interruptions!) at the same time it repulses ('ol Annie's going to chop my foot off if I don't make the characters do what she wants! Why would they...they never do what I want them to do...)

I read the book shortly after I had Daughter #1, not realizing until halfway through that Annie was a nurse at Boulder Community Hospital. Where she went on trial for murdering babies in the neonatal section. Where both our daughters were born.

Talk about chills down the spine. I even did some checking -- was there a nurse put on trial for this? But apparently, King made it up. (whew)

I also had a love/hate affair with King's Needful Things...where you can get anything you want, but you have to pay for it by doing "favors" for the owner.

And, of course, there's The Stand.

All three have been made into tv series...although I think I prefer The Langoliers and The Shining (which King has been working on a sequel to), instead of any of them. (Shawshank Redemption -- yes, King wrote that, too! -- is also great.)

One of King's very best books, though, is also one of his least-known: a nonfiction look at himself and his work, called simply On Writing. It also covers his 1999 accident, which left him in pain ever since.
Roger Ebert observed: "A lot of people were outraged that he [King] was honored at the National Book Awards, as if a popular writer could not be taken seriously. But after finding that his book On Writing had more useful and observant things to say about the craft than any book since Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, I have gotten over my own snobbery."

Stephen King: one amazing, messed-up guy.

Day Before Thanksgiving Musings

The Coinstar people are at it again...cash in $40 worth of coins, and get $10 free! It's simpler than you think; load in your coins, get the 'loaded' gift card or e-cert from the machine, then mail in the claim form at the bottom of your receipt. Voila..I got a $10 Amazon gift card this way last year. (The deal's good through Dec. 6.)

Also, a treasure of '60s Texas photographs of Important People (including one of Kennedy's motorcade, moments before his assassination) found dumped under a Forth Worth, TX bridge. Authorities suspect that it was part of the items taken from a historical society five years ago.

Putting up...cleaning up...and actually finding floors and counters underneath all that stuff. A miracle. Kind of like the Italian Mafia boss who was let out of jail early, for 'medical reasons.' (Paralysis, supposedly.) When arrested, he was dining sans wheelchair, having driven to the restaurant in his sportscar. The cops asked what happened, and he replied, "It's a miracle!"

This IS a miracle; an incredible meteor shower in South Africa.

* * * * *
Don't forget about my Hot Chocolate giveaway! Here are the particulars:

-- actually, THREE new giveaways, thanks to Carolina Pad. This stationery company has come up with some of the most colorful, cheerful (and very high quality) stationery products I've seen in a long time. And thanks to their generous donation, we're going to send three stationery gifts out for three lucky people, in time for Christmas giving!

Here's the plan. (I'll repeat it again in future posts -- don't worry.)
You've got at least three chances to enter:

* Post a comment on any posts between today (Nov. 21) and Dec. 4. Yammer on about whatever you'd like. (You'll have an entry for every comment, but it's limited to one a day.)

*Visit Carolina Pad, come back, and let me know your favorite design there. Make this a separate comment. (In case you're wondering, the giveaways will all be in their classy 'Hot Chocolate' pattern.)

*Join up -- become a follower of my blog, and earn a third entry in the contest!

The contest ends Dec. 4...and we'll announce the winners Dec. 6.

* * * *

Now, if I could only get one of my family to watch some of those Pilgrim Thanksgiving specials with me...that would be a miracle, too.

Have a wonderful, peaceful Thanksgiving.

Great Tips

Got a minute? Here's a compendium of some of the best common sense tips I've ever read. Subscribing to the home spot, Vocalpoint, is worth it, too -- lots of coupons and freebies.

one of the tips:
Stubborn stains on your clothes? Spray them with oven cleaner. (I'm going to try this, especially on stubborn stains on the 'Brick shelf'...er, the chest.)

Worth a shot.

Got any of your own tried-and-true tips to share?

Dyeing Yarn with Kool-Aid

Ever try this? The tutorial here makes it look really easy...

just two packages of kool-aid, a jar of water and a microwave.

Oh, and time.

Recession Stories

Originally, I visited the Ladies' Home Journal site because One Frugal Girl, a fellow blogger, was talking about their pantry homemade mixes. And that was interesting...

but even more so were the four stories of families coping with lost jobs, homes and improvising for insurance and work. You can read about them here.

(P.S. Don't miss out on OFG's original entry -- she's got a great recipe for taco seasoning mix.)

A long day, filled with church, lunch with a friend, a (short) nap, and a church-wide Thanksgiving supper.

See you tomorrow.

Lost and Found

Lose anything lately?

Poor old Galileo had a few fingers, a tooth and a vertebrae lifted when his body was exhumed and reburied in a fancy mausoleum 95 years after his death. The fingers and tooth reappeared recently; no doubt the great astronomer's happy about that.

Also, some weird Peruvian gang is murdering people for their body fat, which they (the gang members) sell to cosmetic companies.

Well, they can have some of my fat anytime!

Did a BUNCH of appraisals today, plus caught up on piano lessons...and had supper with Daughter #1. This weekend, I'll finally announce that giveaway...check back in. It will be worth it.