I was totally confused for a minute. I have one of those big desk calendars where you have to fill in your own dates and I’d made November have 31 days. Oops. Luckily I managed to get December right.

Because I have nothing better to blog about today I figured I’d make myself a list of the things I need to get done before the end of the year. I love lists. I wouldn’t exactly call these goals, just things that really need to get done. I don’t like goals. Goals you can fail at. Things on a list you just don’t get crossed off.

This week
Finish short story (needs about 3–5000 words but I know exactly where I’m going and with a little luck will finish today).
Work on short story/novella (I’m not really sure if this one will be a short story or a novella or something else yet. Needs work).
Finish revisions and submit (I thought I was finished with revisions but turns out I’d only done chaps 1-3, darn it!)
Finish one knitting project and start another (then go to craft store for more yarn.)

Oh, who am I kidding. I can’t think any farther than that. So, here’s my Wednesday morning list. What’s yours?

I’m one of those writers that really needs to have the character names down before I can start writing. And if I don’t have it write, nothing quite “works” (I’m battling a character right now who has the wrong name but won’t tell me the right one).

Anyway, to try to solve the problem of “what should I name my character” I do what all writers do and visit babyname websites. Specifically, I visit BabyNames.com.

This site is the most horrible place in the universe. The site itself looks like it may be very helpful if you were having a baby, it’s got a bunch of crap that I don’t know what the hell it is. And the name part - where you can search by meaning and stuff is pretty helpful.

No, hell comes in the form of the babynames bulliten boards. And for some reason, I can’t stay away (please note, it’s not like I go there often, just when I’m searching for character names).

Apparently, these people sit and think up names all day. And then, they ask other people about them. And “what goes” with the other kids names. And then they take a perfectly ordinary name and spell it odd ways so that it looks like someone just pounded letters on the keyboard. XTLFUXK pronounced “Sarah.” (Note: if that were the case, there’d be a long discussion about whether or not Sarah should or should not have an H.)

I waste a whole lot of time at this place every time at this place every time I need a character name. And why are there so many people in the world who are perfectly okay with naming a child “FransicBoygen Dingle’Berry DakotaAshlyn Smith”

Oh, and I’m not the only one with this love hate relationsip. Check out: Baby’s Named a Bad Bad Thing. WARNING: Absolutely hilarious BUT a huge time waster.

Along with eating so much turkey that I’m about to start gobbling, and watching more Bond movies than anyone really needs, I did a lot of knitting over this holiday weekend.

Last Wednesday when I was scouring Target for silver polish, I walked past the aisle of pre-packaged, learn how to knit kits.

I decided that I MUST learn how to knit. Immediately.

The pack came with an instruction booklet and an instructional DVD. I watched it. Several times. I watched it while trying to knit. I ended up with knots. Knitting did not come easily to be.

I tried the English method and the Continental method. They looked the same to me. I was afraid I was going to wear out the DVD I was reversing so much. But, eventually I got a basic stitch down!!

All weekend I’ve been working on what can loosely be called a scarf. But now, I’m coming to the end and I realized a problem. I mastered “casting on” and “knitting” but I never got to the part of the DVD where they taught me how to stop.

Oops.

Yes, I must write today.

Hubster is heading off to play video games with his boss which will leave me about 8 hours of uninturrupted writing time.

But the James Bond marathon is still going on. And I still have some soup to make. And I’m learning how to knit and I want to do some of that.

Damn it!! My Christmas shopping is finished and my cards have been mailed out and I don’t have enough butter to bake cookies. I don’t have any other excuses.

It looks like I will actually have to write.

Anybody else have any excuses?

I’m Done!!!

Yes, one day and I’m finished with all of my X-mas shopping. (Well, okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but all that’s left is one trip to a store we visit often - and are going to this afternoon and a few things coming from Amazon. Also 2 sister birthday presents that I usually just combine into Christmas ’cause I forget birthdays.) But, I do know what all of that stuff is, so pretty much, I’m Done!!!

So, I have a nice pile of wrapped (yes, finished with that, too) presents sitting under my NON-Tree (cause the hubster doesn’t want one) and will continue to stare at them for the next month.

I’ll attempt to make something yummy from my leftover turkey for dinner, perhaps Sela’s soup. And then relax and put up the rest of the non-tree X-mas decorations.

Tomorrow the Hubster is going to play video games with a friend all day, leaving me home 1. with pie and 2. to write.

It’s about time, I haven’t written a word in close to two weeks! Ouch.

And how’s your writing going?

I’m off to go shopping, my friends!

Yes, I know it’s the busiest shopping day of the year, and everybody seems to say, “oh, I’d never do that,” yet, it continues to be the busiest shopping day of the year.

Black Friday.

This is the first Black Friday since college that I don’t have to work in retail. And what am I doing? Going shopping, baby!!

As you know, stores open insanely early on Black Friday, and every year, I requested the earliest shift as possible. Now, not only was it a way to get to go home early, but the early shoppers are the best shoppers - at least in the malls where I worked.

Those are the people that know they’re crazy for being up at 5am to shop. We’d get people when we opened at 5 that were already finished. We were their last stop. Like I said, crazy.

So, I just jumped on the bed to wake the Hubster up and we’re headed into the madness.

But not before I eat pumpkin pie for breakfast.

Oh, and in case I have a chance to whisper in Santa’s ear…What do you want for Christmas?

After a minor scare about the turkey still being frozen, the bird is stuffed, in the pan and cooking.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!!

Don’t eat too much.

Sure, obviously food is number one on Thanksgiving, BUT there are other great things, too.

What, you ask?

Television!

Sure, there are the classics like Charlie Brown, but I don’t particularly like that one.

The past few Thanksgivings SPIKE (TV for men) has hosted the Thanksgiving Bondathon. 5 days of James Bond movies. Pure bliss.

And then there’s the Thanksgiving episodes of your favorite shows. My personal favorite is the Thanksgiving Episode of The West Wing. Specifically the one with the Indians in the Lobby. The one where President Bartlett calls the Butterball hotline. Absolutely hilarious. Back when the West Wing was still good.

And this morning I was super happy when I got out my Thaksgiving decorations (and yes, finally put the Halloween ones away). I have Thanksgiving smurf and a paper turkey (with a paper tail that fans out) and Pilgrim Winnie the Pooh and (I saved the best for last) a Thanksgiving table runner that my friend cross stitched for me for my wedding.

So, what are some of your favorite Thanksgiving things? Besides food, I mean.

Now, those of you that actually know me. or read this blog with any kind of regularity know that it’s not uncommon for me to do something stupid.

What is it this time?

Well, grocery shopping yesterday was making me cranky. They didn’t have any of the small cans of pumpkin and the cream of mushroom soup didn’t have the green bean casserole recipe on it (luckily the onion topper did). So, by the time we got to the turkey case, I was pretty darn cranky.

There, at the end of the case, covered in gold, glistening like a beacon were turkey breasts. How easy would it be to cook a turkey breast instead of the giant bird? But the hubster would have none of that. He wanted a real turkey damn it.

So, I said “Fine. But I’m cooking a whole turkey, I’m going to cook a TURKEY!”

That’s why there’s a 22 pound turkey in my refrigerator. How many people for dinner? Three.

So, if anyone wants to come for leftovers, oh, anytime between now and next Thanksgiving, I’ll probably have some.

I already have the makings for turkey noodle soup but does anyone have any yummy suggestions for Thanksgiving leftovers?

So my email has been doing this weird thing lately where it tells me I have no emails. I know it’s lying because it’ll say something like “0 new emails, 50 unread.” And it shows nothing. If I go back later, it’ll show me the 50 unread, plus the 100 more it’s multiplied to.

Now, if you’re like me, having a cleaned out email box is close to heaven. Or at least I’d imagine it would be, it’s never happened. I SUCK at returning emails, even when they’re important.

So, this “0 emails” thing is at the same time a curse and a blessing. I love thinking that there’s no work I have to do there, but on the other hand, it’s lurking there, just below the surface.

This is a roundabout way of saying that if you’re expecting an email from me, either, 1, I’m lazy, or 2, it’s hiding from me somewhere.

In other news, I have to go get my cars emissions tested (rant about this one - no one actually told me I had to get my emissions tested (or the car) until I got a notice saying that I was supposed to have it done a month ago and now I have to pay the $15 late fee. Bastards.)

Then, I’m going to do my Thanksgiving shopping. Which means sometime today I have to clean out the fridge and make room for the giant turkey the hubster will insist on even though there’s only going to be 3 of us.

Who’s cooking Thanksgiving at your house? Having anything good?