Sunday, December 14, 2008

I am terrible at titles.

So hmm. This was quite a weekend. The Christmas party Friday night was not as planned, but ended up being lovely anyways. Lots of people came but some of them were over an hour early, which changed the vibe a bit. The people who came, all brought food, and a lot of the random people I was worried about Matt inviting didn't show, so I ended up with more food than I started with. This is complicated only because it seems to be predominantly cookies or dips. All good stuff, but still, not exactly the easiest stuff to use up. We missed some people but some of the more dramatic people didn't show up too so in general it was a happy crowd.

We made cider, and it was a huge success. Basically we bought a bunch of Knudsen's Cider and Spice apple juice and poured it in one of those big coffee-maker carafe things with a spigot on the front. The we poured in some apple brandy. It was perfect. Also, self-serve. I just had to refill periodically. Still have some of both left...

Being up until 2:30 Friday night led to a day of complete unproductivity yesterday - slept in WAY later than I usually do and pretty much just watched Dr. Who on the couch until about 5, and then went to my sister's to babysit (I am such a nice sister, and my nephew is pretty entertaining/adorable to boot).

Today, I went to the library and got my first batch of new books that I put on hold - we begin with the first Flashman novel, The Moonstone (Collins), Jane Eyre, and Bel Canto (Patchett). The next hold list includes (so far) The Master and Margarita, and Devil in the White City. The local library has a great website where you can not only reserve and renew books online, the hold has a date function so basically I can say "put this book on hold for me, but not for two weeks", so nothing new comes in until I put a dent in the current pile. This is definitely a good start on the new book bandwagon (although I still need some decent fluff for bathtub reading). Thanks everyone for all your great suggestions!

I also broke down and ordered some stuff from the J Crew sale, which I am trying to avoid doing. So here's hoping! It was too good of a deal and some of my favorite shirts were down to $7 a pop so I am crossing my fingers because I also ordered a sweater, and they are so nice but the sizing varies annoyingly. So I've got my fingers crossed.

And it is supposed to snow tonight. I do like snow, I just hope the drive to work tomorrow a.m. isn't too nasty.

4 comments:

Alana in Canada said...

I like thast put on hold for me in tewo weeks feature--that sounds quite useful.

You know what? I think I need to follow your lead and get a bunch of books and hole up as best I can. I'm feeling pretty battered and bruised these days.

lsaspacey said...

I loved Devil in the White City. It was assigned reading in my American History class but I now suggest it to everyone I know. It's a good read, such a mixture of themes. The pitch meeting for that book must have been strange!

zooza said...

Ooh. I'm waiting for the first Flashman novel to come in to the library for me, too. I was hoping for some swashing and buckling escapist fun for the Christmas break, but someone else has got it out on loan, so it may arrive too late.

Anne At Large said...

Alana, I highly recommend holing up with a pile of books for a while, it's very recuperative. The library hold dealie also is very convenient for not overloading myself and then having overdue books, I love it!

Lisa, I have been meaning to read it forever and keep forgetting, so I am really excited now!

Susie - escapist is definitely right, I'm sure it will be in soon as it is a fast read. But I don't know if I'd recommend reading several of them in a row. The first one was enough for me for a while.