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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The Hodge-Podge Post

So, I don't think this post will have much cohesion, so bear with me as I haphazardly jump from topic to topic. First up? A few Christmas pictures.

Scooter with some of his Christmas loot: The audience demanded pic of the new Coach purse:
Yes, Christmas was fun. We opened gifts, spent most of the morning on the phone with relatives, then spent the afternoon at a friend's house where we played games, drank a few beers, and had a splendiferous crab dinner (I love crab -- it's dinner and a project in one, very entertaining and tasty). Today, the hubby returned to work and I set to some chores:
  • returned a few gifts
  • laundry
  • grocery store
  • bank
  • return movies
  • wrote "thank you" notes for Christmas gifts
  • picked up the house
  • watered plants
  • officially registered for both the A1A half marathon and the 5K I have this Saturday
  • balanced checkbook

I also got to sit down for a bit this afternoon and read one of my new books. I finished "Atonement" last week (very, very good -- now I want see the movie) and I finished "No Country for Old Men"by Cormac McCarthy on Christmas (I think it is no exaggeration to label McCarthy one of the best living American writers, and this book, like his others, was awesome -- but it is violent, so it may not be suitable for all audiences -- I now also want to see this movie adaptation). So, what books did I get for Christmas that were in my pile to choose from?

I got "The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold; I read her book "Lucky" (her personal account of being raped when she was in college), but I've never read her fiction before and this is her new novel. I got "Rhett Butler's People" by Donald McCaig; I am a huge "Gone with the Wind" fan and this take on Rhett Butler's story got good reviews, so I'm intrigued. I also got "The Quiet Girl" by Peter Hoag (author of "Smila's Sense of Snow), and I got the book that is now my current read: "The Sharper the Knife, The Less You Cry" by Kathleen Flinn. It's about her time learning to cook at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and I read about 50 pages this afternoon and I can tell already that's it's great. I love reading about food, restaurants and cooking, and so far it's a good addition to that genre. I would recommend it if you liked "Julie and Julia" or "Eat, Pray, Love."

Still left on my "to do" list for the day? Run my scheduled 5 miles, but I'll do that in about 2 hours, when it's a bit cooler out.

Happy day after Christmas everyone! I hope the return lines were short and the exchanges smooth!

10 comments:

RunnerGirl said...

I got a boatload of books as well, can't wait to start reading them! You'll have to let me know what you think of Almost Moon. I loved her other two books but couldn't get into this one.

ws said...

The Lovely Bones is a great book. I haven't read No Country For Old Men, though I think The Road was too sophisticated for me - or maybe it was just the timing.

Hope you enjoyed your 5 miler...

J~Mom said...

Love your purse!! It's beautiful! I can almost smell the leather. :>P

David said...

Man, Scooter has some sweet toys! I'm jealous.

Happy boxing day, and I hope your run went well. You're far more comitted than I have been.

MNFirefly said...

Love the purse!!

P.O.M. said...

Let me know how Almost Moon is. I liked "lucky' even though it was depressing.

That purse is so cute.

Agate Lake Girl said...

Dear 21,
Thanks for the purse pic. I told Jon that Jerry got you a Coach purse (trying to make him feel a little guilty) and he said "Jerry obviously loves Jess more than I love you...or he was feeling way guilty over the new humidor." Men! Either way, it doesn't look like he's running out to the Coach store anytime soon.
Signed: Jealous in Florida :)

Paul said...

Scooter totally scored. That kangaroo will be toast! Happy holidays!

Laurel said...

Nice bag!

Lovely Bones was awesome. I haven't read Lucky, but have been meaning to pick it up.

Scooter cleaned up this year! Lucky dog.

Mendy said...

Lovely purse!

I was wanting to get Rhett Butler's People too, so tell me how it is when you are finished, if you don't mind.