End of a Decade

Well, I haven't really posted here in a long time... lots of stuff going on in my life that I didn't really want to share with the internet, and the stuff that I could share was kind of boring ;) So here's my annual year-in-review post.

2009 was certainly a year of ups and downs. Lots of trials, not just for me, but for a lot of my loved ones. Lots of firsts. Lots of joy. Lots of sadness. I grew up an awful lot this year, learned about myself, and am resolving for 2010 to take it a bit easier on myself.

2009

January

Skiing with friends at Blue Mountain
(got a new ski outfit for the occasion!)

February

My awesome 29th birthday
(shopping, pool, pizza, good friends ... who could ask for more?)

March

Trip to Montreal with Dee!

April

Medieval Times!

Weekend at the cottage
(putting Mark to work)

May

Science Centre!

June

Book singing with Neil Gaiman :D

July

Ah, the cottage in the summer...

August

Canada's Wonderland with Corinna!

Zoo!
(The banana plant tried to kill me)

Michael's birthday
(yes, we got him a remote controlled Dalek)

Stitch 'n Pitch 2009!

Annual cottage vacation
(with a visit to the Haliburton Highlands museum)

September

Bedroom Redecoration Project
(still not complete... gotta buy new furniture)

Choosing Halloween costumes
(this was *so much fun*)

October

Nuit Blanche

Pumpkin carving with Heather and Mike D

Halloween cruise!
(*so much fun*)

November

Bowmanville adventure
(went for a job interview, Alex tagged along, had fun exploring!)

Hamlet steals my knitted goth bee

December

Saw the King Tut exhibit at the AGO
(awesome!)

Baked gingerbread cookies with Corinna

Christmas!

Bloggin' at the cottage!

I love vacations. I'm having an awesome fantabulous time here. It soooooo relaxing I don't want to leave! I'm sitting outside, on the deck, in the sun, typing away on Ophelia (my netbook - I have a thing for Hamlet inspired names right now) and watching the annual chipmunk eat peanuts from Corinna's hand.

The chipmunk just ran across my keyboard! He was so light he didn't even push any keys! And all because Corinna ate his peanuts ;)

Ok, back to my vacation. The first weekend was kinda rainy, but during the brief non-rainy parts, I went out and took some pictures:

Playing with the colours... everything is black and white except for the blue of the hummingbird feeder

Then the weather got a bit better... and I got a bit bored with reading, knitting, and FFXII so I played with the timer on my camera:

Trying to look all thoughtful...

Look at that beautiful sky!

Then Corinna came up and we went to the Scuplture Garden and Haliburton Highlands Museum. We were trying to get all edumacated while we were up here, relaxing :)

Not a statue - a real deer! So pretty!

And finally, for this post anyway, this year's chipmunk that Corinna has named "Alvin"

Latest Good Book

Again, I've been neglecting my poor blog. But I come to you with another must-read book:

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore. I'm a little less than halfway through this book, but I was hooked after the first page.

The world in which this book is set has people who are born with a Grace - an ability that makes them better at some things than other people. Some are Graced with cooking, with swimming, with talking backwards, or any number of things. For Katsa, neice of King Randa, she is Graced with killing... and it isn't a Grace she particularly likes.

Most Graced people live as outcasts, useful for their talent but otherwise shunned. Katsa's Grace makes her the King's dog, and she's sent out on any number of horrible assignments by his order. It's not until Katsa meets the mysterious Po that she decides to take her life into her own hands...

And that's as far as I am in the book so far. It's a fabulous read, very engaging, full of likeable characters. I highly recommend it to fantasy lovers :)

Sims 3

Okay, since I'm enjoying Sims 3 so much (ooo... new and shiny!), I thought I'd share a few screencaps. The two main characters are Desdemona Lotus (who has a twin sister named Ophelia) and Dennis Duckworth (who is insane) :D

Now I didn't start taking pictures until after they'd finished dating and Desdemona abandons her sister and moves in with Dennis. Then, he decides to take her to a secluded beach at sunset.

And Dennis proposes to Desdemona! (Oh, the graphics on this game are amazing!)

*Awwww*

I just took this picture because Dennis came home from work after a "failed experiment" :)

Dennis and Desdemona take a cab to their wedding :)

Desdemona talks to Ophelia, who is kinda bitter that her sister is getting married and she's not :)

Dennis and Desdemona exchange rings :)

*applause* as the bride and groom smooch (gods I *love* the graphics!)

Then something weird happened... one of the wedding guests up and died at the wedding! Talk about a buzz kill!

And not long after getting married, Desdemona finds herself expecting (the maternity pjs are much nicer in this game than Sims 2)

Aaaah! The baby is coming! In this game, your Sim can go to the hospital to deliver :)

And since Dennis was eating, Desdemona goes to the hospital on her bike :D

And baby Daniel is born! *applause* ... ... I wanted a girl :(


So there's a brief glimpse at Sims 3 :)

Distracted by Life

I've really, really been neglecting the ol' blog. Apologies to anyone out there who still reads this. Without getting into any details, let's just say my life has been a roller coaster ride the past few months with too many ups and downs.

Let's see... what I have I been working on?

Well, I've been knitting a gorgeous shawl out of the Noro Chirimen that Heather picked up for me at the Yarn Frolic (which I couldn't attend because, alas, I was working). Originally I was going to use it to make a sweater, but I really need a shawl for the summer (work is overly air conditioned) and the colours are so lovely!

And like usual, I don't have a picture of it. Sorry :(

The other thing occupying my time?

I've only had it for a few days, but it's oodles of fun :D

I also finished reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" (I'm stupidly proud of this - it's 1243 pages with really small type!) and I recommend it to anyone who has the time to read it.

Also, everyone should read "The Mystery of Grace" by Charles de Lint. I read it not knowing at all what it was about, and enjoyed it more that way. It's a fabulous read, supremely well written, and difficult to put down. Trust me, go read it :)

That's about it for my update. Once I figure out how to take pictures in Sims 3, I'll show you some of the wacky things you can do in the new game.

And once I get someone to take pictures of me in my recent knitting accomplishments, I'll post them too!

An Evening With Neil Gaiman

Here's the picture edition of going to see "An Evening With Neil Gaiman"
(told you I'd eventually get the photos off my camera!)

I really liked the poster

Blurry Neil Gaiman with the moderator
(no flashes allowed, hence the blurriness... sorry)

Another blurry Neil Gaiman
(well, the same one, actually, but this is a different photo)

Signing my copy of "The Graveyard Book"
(which everyone should read!)

On the subway home, with my signed book
(*squee!*)

I had such a fun time with Dee and Pete (except when they scared the bejeezus out of me at the Tim Horton's, but an apology came in the shape of a cookie, so I can't complain) and meeting Neil Gaiman was awesome! Such a good night :)