Making it Up As I Go

It’s 11:27 am.  It’s 55 degrees out, and windy- around 28 mph, but beautifully sunny. The sun is coming through the window where my computer is, and I feel like a cat soaking in the warmth. I’m listening to Ella Fitzgerald sing Christmas songs, and she is glorious.

This morning has been fairly uneventful, two loads of laundry (consisting of the flannel sheets from my bed) got done – yes, one sheet per load. And even then I ended up wringing a king size flannel sheet out into the bathtub so that I could put it back in the machine and have it spin and get the remaining water out. That was a bit cold. But, the sheets are now washed and hanging outside in the sun and the wind and tonight I will have fresh sheets on my bed. That’s one of my favorite things.

The girls have been playing with legos all morning. We were going to do school this morning, but they’ve been playing so well that we’ll do school after lunch so they can keep playing. I love homeschooling for that reason- we can adjust things as we need to. And having a calmer schedule (vs. what we had in CA- which I loved, don’t get me wrong) means that they have tons of time to play, which I just think is so important.

Today for school we will get out the thermometer and start tracking the temperature and general weather for the next couple weeks- it should be fun. (We will obviously also be doing other things for school today as well, but multiplying by nine and spelling tests aren’t as exciting as thermometers.)

I finished the new Kerry Greenwood mystery Unnatural Habits last night, and it was wonderful, as all of her Phryne Fisher books are. I read her Murder on a Midsummer Night earlier in the week, and didn’t remember that I’d read it before until the very end, when things started clicking together in a way I remembered.

I think I’ve committed myself to the goal of not buying any books next year.  I have a ridiculous number of unread books on the Haunted Kindle, and it would be a good exercise in self control to not add any more to that until I’ve cleared a bunch out.  This will be a challenge, so I’ve already pre-ordered a couple that I will die without (the new Flavia de Luce mystery for example). I’m also applying the radio rule from when I was younger. My sister and I would listen to the radio as we were going to sleep, and when it was time to turn it off, we could each pick a song. If that song came on, then we got to listen to it before we turned the radio off. And Pop Goes the World went without saying because we LOVED it and hardly came on the radio. (My sixth grade self would have wept to know that current me could have that song in seconds.)  Anyway. My radio rule for this coming year means that any new book from Catherynne M. Valente gets purchased, as well as the new Kerry Greenwood, and the next book in the Oscar Wilde Murders if it comes out next year.  (I would pre-order them now if I could, but they’re not available for pre-order yet.)  I’m also fairly sure that I’ll get at least one Amazon gift card for a holiday, so if something comes up that I absolutely HAVE to have, it will be a “gift”. Also, if there’s a book for book club that I can’t get any other way, then those purchases don’t count. But I will use the library for those whenever possible.

This also means that I am ironically loading the Haunted Kindle up with books I know I’m going to want to read, which I realize defeats part of the purpose of this whole exercise, but it’s not the new year yet, so shhhhh!  So if you know of a book that I need to get, please tell me. (Brandy, I already have A Casual Vacancy. Suggest any others I need.) I’m making a list because I happen to know of a Amazon gift card I’m getting for Christmas. 🙂

And I just had a fun idea. Guess in the comments how many unread books I have on the Haunted Kindle. Whoever is closest will get a prize. It really is a ridiculous number.

In news other than books, I’m feeling the urge to make something. I have fabric for a quilt for Z, but I only have part of it, and while the quilt top will be insanely simple (the fabric is crazy complex and awesome), that means that I want to try making the quilting more complicated, and that scares me. I have a new doll pattern I may make for the girls, but then they should be for Christmas, and that means they can’t see me making them.

It is now hours later. Cookies have been made, school was done (we didn’t do thermometers because it’s insanely windy outside and I’m afraid the thermometer would get blown away if we left it out there now. We’ll do it on Monday.) I have a sty in my eye which hurts, and my hands are very cold. I started reading The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All by Laird Barron, a collection of sad, creepy, slightly disturbing stories. It’s really good, in a sad, creepy, slightly disturbing way.

I think that’s it.  Don’t forget to let me know if there are books I need, and cast your guess so you can win something. I don’t know what it will be yet, but it will be cool. You have until the end of Sunday Dec. 15 to guess.