Christmas

Christmas was lovely.
We were alone in the city, so it was very quiet and laid back.
We didn't have a spot in the apartment for the tree ( a twenty dollar Army and Navy special) so we used the kitchen table.
The weather here was terrible, incredibly snowy - which, on it's own, isn't so bad. It's the fact that transit grinds to a halt and taxi's aren't equipped with snow tires . . . no one knows how to drive in slippery conditions.

A Novel Completed

Kind of, anyways.
It was incredibly rewarding to take part in NaNoWriMo, and I look forward to having a go at it again next year, lessons learned tucked confidently in the crook of my elbow.
The first draft is finished. There is some serious work to be done: twisting the story line around to make sense, characters cut/added/switched around, rubbish to be chopped out, and a title to be found; but in the meantime it's nice to not have to look at the beast.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
I am, however, really looking forward to starting some new stories. I've got lots of ideas, both for novels and short stories, and am very excited for a break in my social-events calendar so that I can make the most of them.
Speaking of which, I'm preferably a solitary animal. To my happy surprise slash utter dismay, I've got a lot going on this month including, recently, some social event to attend every night for over a week. This never happens, and it would appear that I lack the stamina for it. Trying to juggle Christmas shopping, sorting out personal paperwork, and every day life things around all of these festivities is really taking it's toll on my mental state. I need some alone time.
My hair is still purple and still at my shoulder blades, despite longing to get it cut and dyed back. There just isn't the time lately, and it's bloody frustrating.

So I'm writing a novel. . .

And my hair is purple. But more importantly, I'm writing a novel.
November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it is affectionatly called. Basically it's a challenge where many many people slave away for 30 days to pump out a 50,000 word draft. Pretty nutty stuff. This breaks down to 1600 words a day, every day. Having heard about it previously but too late to actually partake, I decided to tackle it this year. My novel is about zombies. Yep, zombies.
After a weekend of sketchy beginnings and today's long hard day at work, I only have 3700+. It’s a little depressing, falling behind on my daily quota so early on in the game, but I’m betting I’ll be able to get a bunch done on the weekends, when I don’t have to be talking to people/fully clothed/focusing on anything other than writing. There will be peaceful times with many words.

What Day is Today?

It's Piquette's Birthday!

She's seven. Holy hell.

Our Weekend In Kelowna - PART I

We went (rather last minute) up to Kelowna for the long weekend. It was lots of fun, very hot, and we left very happy.
The bus ride there was pretty pleasant for being so long. It was raining in Vancouver when we left, so the gradual transition to desert was a little shocking for those of us who had never been so far inland. I don't have any photos of us on the bus, so here's a cute dog!


We spent a lot of the time in the pool, John trying to teach me how to swim. I can't say that I'm any more skilled, but we had a lot of fun making forts out of pool noodles and throwing things at each other.
The first full day there was a big family affair. I met a few of John's cousins for the first time, and saw some people I hadn't seen in a long time. Brian and Theresa made an awesome meal and there were some more pool shenanigans. John and his dad had a showdown, which resulted in a tag-team beat-em-up. It was pretty entertaining to watch. That's Brian underwater.


The second day we were on our own, and decided to got for a long walk around the neighborhood. I was surprised to see so many vineyards and wineries, but the climate is perfect for it. It was incredibly hot and dry, but we got a good workout and saw some really nice views.


We then decided to go up to Knox Mountain Park to see the city. The view was incredible. Also, a fat kid, sans parents, was acting like a goof and fell on his face. So that was kind of entertaining.
Here is a picture of the clumsy fat kid.

I'll have to do another post later. Blogger makes posting pictures probably the most awkward and difficult task related to blogging.

John and Pique Do Not Approve of Infrequent Blog Updates.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

If you haven't watched it, then what the hell are you waiting for?
Unfortunately it is no longer available for free, so all you hardcore Whedon/Fillion/Harris fans are just going to have to pay for it or. . . *ahem* piratethatsuckertogetyourfix. I have done the latter, but rest assured I will be purchasing the DVD with all it's glorious extras. This is too awesome not to support.
What is it, you ask?
It's a musical. About a super-villain (Dr. Horrible (NPH)) and his arch nemesis (Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion)) and his love interest (Penny (who is played by the girl from the Guild)). And it's awesome.
So awesome that I have had songs from it stuck in my head since it's arrival on the scene. So awesome that it's affecting my dreams. So awesome that I watched the third act countless times so that I could type up the lyrics (at the time of me doing this, they were nowhere to be found. If you want a copy, let me know. . .). So awesome that I, too, want to hold a PhD in Horribleness. What the hell am I talking about, you ask? Better watch it!

Saturday Afternoon Walk - Part II

Just some pretty flowers.

This is our favourite park. The stairs down to the train bridge is just down and to the right. Plus it's got a great name. Though we would have named it something else. Like "Train Conductor Park" . . . or something.




John and I like to come down to this bridge and watch the trains. It's really nice at sunset. They go right underneath the bridge. It's right next to an inlet. There's always boats out there, and apparently a pile of sulphur that they filmed an episode of SG-1 on top of. I would think that would have been unpleasant for the actors.

A sticker that we liked. It's meat!

Down by the tracks. There's all sorts of good stuff to look at from the old bridge.

We ran into the sea star again on our way back home. He had moved slightly, and was now completely dead. I suggested that a dog sniffed him. John thought maybe he was kicked. I guess we'll never know. And neither will he.

This is a pretty mural by our house. See the grey squirrel on the balcony rail?

And finally we end up on Our Street. It was about 6 by this time. We went out for sushi at this awesome new restaurant by our place. The service is incredible, the food is great, and the prices are good. Perfect balance.

Our Saturday Afternoon Walk - Part I

John and I went out for a long walk today. I took lots of pictures.


We ran into this guy on the sidewalk. We suppose he was dropped by a bird. He was very dry and dying/already dead when we found him. We considered dumping slushy on him to help him out, but thought that sugar and extreme cold was probably not good for sea stars.


Just so you don't think that we really had slushies.


One park that we went to had lots of initials carved into the trees.


And very pretty moss.


And neat things in stumps.

The sidewalks becomes trail at one point. It smells really nice along here.



We are really close to an ocean inlet, and there's some pretty intense industrial areas. Lots of seagulls.



I guess they were testing out the road-line painters or something here. The shadow is John's head, in case you weren't making the leap.

Dreams, apparently.



I took some excellent photos of John while we were walking. I think they look slightly CD-insert-ish. We also found the best seesaw ever. It was huge and sproingy and very confortable. You could stand in the middle. This might be the best photo of John ever taken.

My Newest Obsession,

Spinning.

I decided to go visit Birkeland Bros a few days ago to look for a nice yarn for John's upcoming Tomten sweater. While I was browsing I noticed some drop spindles behind the counter. I've always wanted to learn, but never had anyone to teach me. I bought a small bag of Shades of Narnia (from Chilliwack) at the PNE a few years ago, and had no idea what to do with it.


So I bought a student drop spindle and 2 lbs of roving in two lovely greens. Pearl showed me how to use the spindle and I headed for home.

It took me a while to be able to spin the spindle and a) not drop it and b) know when backspin was going to destroy what I had just made. My first yarn was lumpy and ugly and wonderful.
I made about 6 yards. I seriously have no idea how much of it there is, but definately not enough to do *anything* with. I'm just going to keep it for sentimental reasons.


My *second* handspun is more like real yarn. I'm still not sure on the yardage of it, but it's about 100g of fibre. I should be able to actually make something out of it. It's a two-plu aran weight, made from the bag of Narnia roving. It's incredibly pretty. I've just got it drying at the moment, but I'll post photos of it when it's all clean and dry and wound. I can't wait to knit with it.


I also got a great steal at Value Village the other day. A large men's wool sweater, handknit. I'm in the process of ripping it all out. The yarn is a fingering weight, I think, and a beautiful blue-green colour. I'm looking forward to doing something with it, though I'm not sure what yet.