Today…

Outside my window: the weather is pretty mild for the moment. Yesterday was one of those awful gray and dreary days complete with some bitter cold sleet that was not at all welcomed in my opinion. We haven’t had any snow yet though and for that I am grateful. We’ve got highs predicted in the 50’s for the next couple days which isn’t so bad.

This weekend we: mostly spent getting some errands done. I gave Dan a much needed haircut Sunday afternoon and we bought a birthday present for my SIL who’s birthday is actually today! Happy Birthday Katie! I also got two beautiful new sweaters at New York & Company (mine are in black and bronze). I have been having really great luck there for clothes lately. It involves spending a bit more money than I like but I end up getting better quality clothes that look really good as opposed to cheap clothing that looks okay. So maybe I need to continue on this path of better quality / smaller quantity of clothing. And the advantage to having lost so much weight since last winter is that now I need some new clothes.

We also: watched Toy Story 3 with MM on Saturday which we finally got on Netflix. Like everyone else in the universe we really liked it a lot. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely add it to your list of things to do soon. Dan and I also watched the new Robin Hood with Russell Crowe – love him! I like that every Robin Hood movie seems to have a slightly different angle and this one was really good – a bit darker which I’m fond of, although Men in Tights might still be my favorite Robin Hood to date (majorly tied with the BBC series which was amazing).

I am reading: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott on my Kindle still and The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry which is the next book club pick for the meeting on December 1st. At first I was only sort of luke warm with The Lace Reader but it is quickly growing on me and getting harder and harder to put down. I think what really helped was the emerging possible love plot. I am all about love stories – add to that all of the Salem MA history and descriptions and I’m hooked.

I have written: about 25,000 words so far for National Novel Writing Month. Things seem to be progressing pretty well and I’m hoping to write a lot this week as I don’t anticipate having a lot of writing time the week of Thanksgiving. I’d been stuck on a certain plot point for awhile but once I figured it out it quickly opened up plenty of new material which is very, very good. I also have a working title for the book: tentatively titled Fly Away (or possibly Black Bird?)

You should check out these great links:

• I really want to make these cute bean bags (at crow roosters crow) for BB for Christmas. And by that I mean, I’m planning to make Dan do it.
• Doesn’t this toasted marshmallow milkshake at Joy the Baker look yummy?
• Have stockings to stuff? Simple Kids have some simple stocking stuffer ideas for you.
• If you’ve got brown paper bags, yellow tissue paper and some of those netted bags that lemons and limes sometimes come in, Frugal Family Fun Blog has a terrifically corny craft idea for you!

One last picture to share before I go: Surprise! It’s BB of course. Here’s a shot of her climbing on daddy’s chair at the kitchen table. A favorite activity of hers that still makes me nervous every time.