Found them

 

in the bottom of the last box. She needs a new bulb. That’s okay. I can have Christmas now.

It’s beginning to look a lot like

Miss-Mas!

Spawn had a hard time with some words. Not many, but some, when he was a little thing. ‘L’. ‘L’s became ‘M’s. Mikeum. His name was Mikeum. He was 13 months old his 2nd Christmas and we took him out to see the lights. Mom would put him on her lap as we drove really slow through a neighborhood and when we passed a house with lights, he lit up…. ooooooooooooooh Miss-Mas! It’s something he and I have done ever since. I remember the holidays when we were really broke and we would go out every night to a new neighborhood in the area and listen to Christmas Music on the radio and look at lights. We were rather peeved when we moved further south and discovered hardly NO ONE decorated. For real.

But right now, my dining room looks like a disaster. I can’t find my garland – 5 long golden strands of music notes – or worst – my Christmas Tree Angel Topper. She’s not very pretty, but she’s been on top of every tree since I was born. 3 weeks old. Needless to say, I’m rather fond of her.

So, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – decorating…

That’s one Christmas train. We have two. I don’t remember us having two. Both are G scale. I guess we’ll put the other one up in Spawn’s cave or under the dining room table.

Speaking of…

Hopefully, somewhere in all of that. No, the tree topper on the chair is NOT the angel I’m looking for.

No, StormTrooper. These are not the Angels you’re looking for. 

Sorry.

There is a dining room table under all of that.

Somehow, I’ve scored one of my mother’s center pieces. It’s gorgeous. I have no idea how to put it together. Really.

I DID find this…

Santa Moose!

One year, I was rather depressed so Santa Moose stayed up in the sunroom of our home down in Brunswick for the entire year. He kinda faded. Oh well. 😦  He’s still pretty chirpy.

I have batteries to replace and I’ve not plugged up what lights I’ve found. Somehow, the fake Canadian Geese came home with me and I’ll get them set up in the yard. RuDuck and his sisters, Prissy and Prunella.

I still owe y’all beefcake.

Hoping in a day or two to have some REAL pictures of a decorated house for you!

 

Thanksgiving

was awesome – well the company and the dessert was awesome. We won’t discuss the food. Hint – don’t go to a Chinese buffet for an American Holiday and expect the normal trimmings. The stuffing was vile. We’ll leave it at that.

We are home, counting down 3 weeks for Christmas break. My muses are banging on the walls, screaming for time, screaming to get laid – all three of my stories are gearing up for S E X and all of them in different ways. I’m going to be exhausted. And WhatKatyDid has requested toe sucking.

And she wants it from Gary. Please.

I am woefully behind on many things. Beefcake. Questionnaires. Reading. I need to finish my 50 book yearly challenge and I am SOOOOO close. I thought it would be a breeze this year, but I didn’t figure on former Suitor walking back into my life and sending it topsy turvy.  Either way…

There will be Beefcake I think tonight. Spawn and I are decorating our tree. I’ve not had my Christmas ornaments out since 2009 and we have a new (artificial) tree. Barbossa thinks it’s edible – it’s not. I’m worried about FatBoy. He’s on a diet so he’s eating non-edible things. Tape. Plastic. The little white bristles on the tree.

not fun.

So beefcake tonight and right now…

 

• 40:Name one of your favorite books from your teenage years – Our HS library stocked Barbara Michaels, Victoria Holt, and Mary Stewart. I went through 7 library cards in my 4 years there.
• 41:Do you own a library card? How often do you use it? – Yes I do and not really. For a while I was checking out a lot of CDs and Audio Books but I’ve not done that in a few yaers.
• 42:Which was the best book you had to read in school? – There was a short story in our English Lit class that I LOVED and I can’t remember the name of it or the author. It took place in the future. Medical Science invented a tonic that prolonged life. As a result, everyone and everywhere was over-crowded. This one family had like 40-something people living in a 1 bedroom apartment – the Grandpa taking the 1 bedroom. Where you slept was how high up you were on the will as to WHO got the bedroom if the old codger died. There was a fight at the end over the bottle – someone was caught dumping it down the drain and watering it down – and the wrong person was blamed. They all ended up in jail – one person per jail cell and the jailer told them if they told ANYONE or acted up, they would toss them on the crowded street. Meanwhile, Grandpa is looking at a new advertisement for the Forever Alive potion that will actually make you younger as well…

Today

my Precious is 29.

I’m so old, but we loves him. My Precious.

So, we’re gearing up

for the Thanksgiving feast and festivities. I had planned to clean and decorate Monday through Wednesday (today) however, my Monday and Tuesday were taken up with work, I’m usually exhausted now when I get home, thanks go construction and my commute taking on an average of 90 minutes, so no, house cleaning ISN”T in the cards one bit and today, we’ve been cleaning and packing. Christmas decorating will take place next week, I suppose. At least my cave looks pretty good.

This…

is now THIS…

Due to the fact that one of the neighborhood streets deadends LITERALLY across from my driveway so anyone can look into my cave, especially when it’s dark and my lights are on (and we have no less than FIVE school buses that come through between 6 and 7 AM) my view actually looks like this most of the time.

Not the most pleasing of views, but now in the mornings when I’m up early, I can sit naked in peace in my chair.

I know. TMI.

Told you I had a lot of albums.

The baskets and boxes on top and in the corner are my unpacked CDs.

Need to locate my Christmas CDs. I have a TON of Christmas cassettes and I know where they are, but right now, I have nada to play them on. 😦

I should have this room massively decorated this time next week. And yes, I’ll spam you with pictures (even tho I’m sure most of you could care less) I’m looking forward to putting up my tree for the first time since 2009.

Spawn and I leave in the EARLY wee hours of the morning to head to the family compound in the next state over. After dinner, we’ll drive to my parents and stay through Sunday. We’ll come home Sunday afternoon and then I have 3 weeks and 2 days before the Winter Holidays. In that time span, I have 3 concerts, a performance and a retirement luncheon. Also decorating the house.

I have so much to be thankful for and I am. My family loves me – and no that isn’t a given anymore in these times. But they do. My son is here and is looking forward to FINALLY starting college and he’s hoping to purchase a car next month. He’ll be 29 on Friday. I’ve been feeling rather nostalgic about that and as a result, I wrote and uploaded a new Shepherd installment that reflects that. There is a small scene it that ACTUALLY played out in my life on the night I went into labor with him. I have the bestest of friends, a home – not really my own, but my own. A roof, good food, good friends. The bills are paid on time every month and if I’m tight waddy enough, there is a little left over. Not much, but something. The car runs, has heat and air, the weather is nice, so right now, the ac is off and the doors are open. I have books and music and knitting and someday, I’ll learn to crochet…. oh and cross stitch and scrapbooking. Things to keep me occupied. Someday, I’ll find a home church, but God resides here regardless and the beach is close by. Life is good. I am truly blessed.

Speaking of blessed… if you’ve not seen this man’s peaches….

IT’S FRIIIIIIIIIIII-

Da….. wait.

No it isn’t. It just FEELS it because 5 days vacay 5 days vacay 5 days vacay!!!!! Party on!

Wraith in the Mist 06/06

A/N – As always, I want to thank my beta, Alex, for putting up with my comma errors, tense errors, weird way of putting things and then of course, actually reading my drivel. I want to thank Jade for the glorious graphic art she created for this and I also want to thank everyone who has commented and read. Thank you so much.

PS. Dear Graham. You made Dwalin a sexy alpha-Dwarf. Go you!

The Wraith in the Mist

Epilogue

Somewhere along the line

972 years later.

“My Lord! King Durin! We found something!”

Odds and Ends

I am home today. I put in a 12 hour day yesterday and am simply exhausted. Sinuses have plugged up and breathing is difficult. I’m drinking hot tea and am contemplating doing some writing.

Oh yes, Genevieve is getting ready to make Sir Guy very very angry and I think I’m going to side with him.

I’m also zipping up some things to send to some friends… burning some cds…. I SHOULD be cleaning, but I’m kinda swollen from the knees down and walking isn’t very easy.

So in short, I’m bored. It might be a good day to have a Berlin Station Marathon. Maybe.

Also, the cat seems to have OD’d on catnip toys.

• 37:How many books are actually in your bookshelf/shelves right now? I would say several hundred. I lost quite a few bookcases in storage and I need to replace them – thing is, I don’t know where I’m going to put them. I take that back, I DO know where I’m going to put them. My home will be wall to wall bookcases. Yup.
• 38:What language do you (most often) read in? The only language I speak – English.
• 39:Name one of your favorite childhood books – Green Eggs and Ham.

So I’m all weepy

I have a 2nd grader who comes in a few mornings a week to read for me. I love the quiet time and he’s getting one on one attention he needs.

he comes in late this morning and apologizes as there won’t be enough time, but then he opens his backpack and tells me he has a gift for me.

I’m thinking cookies?

no. He says he knows I love comics, because I have quite a few (waves to Mimi) and pulls out one of his Amazing Spiderman Comics. It’s the kids issue on bullying and I told him he didn’t have to give me a beloved comic and he said – no, I want you to have it because when you read it you’ll think of me.

Please look at these Richard pictures while I pull myself together.

I would know those legs anywhere.

Wraith in the Mist 05/06

Hanky Warning and one more after this.

The Wraith in the Mist

Chapter Five

There’s an old and feeble man not far behind

Ages back, Gabilgathol was the glittering jewel in the Dwarven crown of Durin. A legend. Great weapons were forged in the fires of the Dwarves. Now, it was a poor substitute, compared to the Dwarven cities to the East. After seeing the threads of mithril still embedded in Moria’s walls, as well as the obvious wealth of Erebor, Gabilgathol was in comparison, a cave. A cave filled with iron. It was not as busy or as populated as Erebor. Tauriel could see why Thorin Oakenshield considered himself a poor relation when she silently compared the two.