Monday miscellany - 28Nov16

I had a nice long Thanksgiving weekend. I spent Wednesday cleaning, and then was able to sit back and relax much of Thursday while DsS, DD, and DsD took over my kitchen. Thanksgiving Day was filled with good food, good company, good football, and no drama. The rest of the weekend was similarly restful, which was much needed by all.

What I've been reading... I finished B16's _Last Testament_ last night. Fortunately, my quandary about my next reading material was answered with the Kindle delivery of Brandon Sanderson's Arcanum Unbounded, a collection of novellas from his Cosmere universe(s). I'll start that in a few minutes when I get on the treadmill.

What I've been crafting... I crocheted a little more on Star of Donegal, but my biggest progress was that I finished Ink Circles "Tapestry":

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I finished Tapestry just in time to resume work on the magi panel of MarBek Nativity at the beginning of Advent, and I hope to make good progress on that throughout the Christmas season.

Fumbling toward fitness... I made it by Curves twice, and did 187 minutes on the treadmill for 9.43 miles. I did enough cleaning Wednesday that it should also count as exercise!

One Little Victory Having a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend was quite the victory indeed.

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'...

Without my even noticing, two months have slipped on by since I last blogged.

Not that I haven't been busy...far from it! Several of my 101List items have fallen into the 'complete' bucket.

Such as #35: Finish four smalls. I have actually finished two smalls since last blog:

A quick 'Pi Day' finish (from Tor Rhuann Designs)

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Sweetheart Tree's "Baby Shamrocks Fob", on mint lugana. This is my best attempt to date at cording and tassel - I'm very happy with how it turned out. And it was a fun stitch.

Next was #51: Knit a pair of socks. I have indeed! Ok, so I cheated a bit and used worsted-weight, but I actually Have Knit Socks!


I also finished #63: Read _Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell_. I enjoyed the book, but it was a bit of a dense read so it took me a while. I've been on a reading binge since - I've read #5-#9 of Jim Butcher's _Dresden Files_ series, and am working on #10 right now. I may have to borrow #12 from someone, since I tend to buy most books only in paperback....

Last, #81: Sing solo in front of at least 10 people.. This one has always been more of a 'step outside my comfort zone' goal, but since I've started taking voice lessons my confidence in my singing voice has grown exponentially. So I cantored Stations of the Cross one Friday during Lent, when DH (who usually does it) was on travel. I think I did okay.

I hope at least one more goal will fall this year: #92: See RUSH in concert. We *will* be seeing RUSH, we just haven't decided yet whether to go to Tampa or to West Palm Beach.

So that's the goal wrapup. In other news, DD got a new parakeet, a pretty yellow-thru-indigo named Sunny. (or Sonny, depending on what gender you think it is!)
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Sunny has been rather more affectionate than either of DD's two previous 'keets, and seems to have taken on the role of homework helper and fellow couch-potato. She sits on DD's shoulder a lot when she's out and about. And oddly enough, within a few days of getting her, her other 'keet, David, went from Mr. Antisocial to Mr. Lovebird, and would also hang out with DD.

Unfortunately, David died last week, so we are again a one-keet family. But we had David for about 5 years, which is longer than I remember my sister ever having any single one of hers, so I guess it was just his time.