November in Review

My friend, Jen, does a blog post at the beginning of every month talking about things that happened the previous month, and I LOVE them. I have decided to copy her and do them too. I'm not sure if her categories change every month, but mine may, we'll see. Also, I think she adds to it throughout the month, as things happen, and that is definitely what I'm going to do from now on, since this hurts my brain trying to remember everything!

So, here is my review of November, 2012.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• My mom and step-dad came down over the Veteran's Day weekend, so we had brunch at our house with my sister-in-law and niece. My brother was sick, so he didn't come, and we missed him. It was sort of an early Thanksgiving celebration, but not on Thanksgiving and there wasn't any turkey.

• For the real Thanksgiving holiday, we went to my brother-in-law's house and had dinner with him and my husband's parents. It was a nice, relaxing day and this time we DID have turkey. And pie. Oreo and pumpkin, if you're curious. I made the Oreo pie and it was a big hit!

Gifts I gave and received this month:

• I put five copies of Sprinkles and Secrets, signed, along with a box of Legos under the giving tree at church. Tomorrow my youngest son and I will be volunteering to wrap gifts for kids in the area who might not otherwise have a very good Christmas if it weren't for the generosity of the Christmas basket program at our church.

• I sent out a whole bunch of goodie bags to members of my street team for helping to spread the word about FALLING FOR YOU (coming January 1).

• I got an Advanced Review Copy of Linda Urban's next book, THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING, that I'm really excited to read. 

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

• My husband dragged me along with him to see Lincoln. It had a slow start, so I took a little nap. After that, I enjoyed it, though I do see its faults. I'm pretty easy to please, however.

• The four of us saw Wreck-It Ralph and we all loved it. A really fun movie.

• I rented a really fun, quirky movie that I highly recommend, if you like romantic comedies. It's called Take Me Home.

• Movies out now I want to see: Life of Pi, Argo, Anna Karenino and Silver Lining Playlist. Most likely will not see them in the theater, so will have to wait for the DVD. Movies coming in December I want to see: The Hobbit and Les Miserables. 

• I am still enjoying Nashville immensely. As someone on twitter said so well, I'm pretty sure my love of the show comes down to 50% Connie Britton and 50% cute boys in plaid shirts who sing.

• Let the countdown to the third season of Downton Abbey begin, please!! It returns January 6, so that is only 37 days from today! 

New recipes or restaurants we tried:

• I made this parmesan chicken, and we all enjoyed it.

• My oldest son finally tried the chicken pot pie that I make and LOVE, and he said, "It's not bad."

• I think I'm going to attempt something different and special for gifts this year. I'll let you know how it goes next month! Wish me luck!!

Special or unusual purchases I made:

• The floor in my office is covered with Christmas gifts, and I'm not going to tell you any of them. 

• I bought four new pillows at the Black Friday sale at Fred Meyer because they were 50% off. No one likes them because they are way too puffy and need to be broken in. The only thing I can think of doing is to rotate them and sit on them while I'm watching TV.

• I bought two pairs of shoes from shoes.com that I'm waiting for, and I fully intend to return one of them, because I couldn't decide and finally just ordered both. I've never done that before - ordered two with the intention of returning one. Clearly I am getting more comfortable with the ways of on-line shopping. Lord help me.

• I pre-ordered Lifehouse's album, releasing December 11th, titled Almeria. I am so excited for this, I cannot even tell you.

My accomplishments:

• Finished a middle-grade manuscript and sent it on its way. Go, little book, go!!

• Wrote 20,000 words on a new YA novel.

• Revised about 1/3 of a contracted MG book. This is one of the hardest, if not THE hardest, revisions I've ever done. I hope the book is better for it!

• Personally, the only thing I can think of is that I lost five pounds. And I'm sure I'll gain it all back  in December. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Anything else noteworthy:

• One of my son's best friends spent most of November in the hospital. We've been so worried about him. He's truly one of the nicest kids I've ever known. He is back home now and we are hoping he continues to improve.

• My husband's uncle passed away November 8th. He was 76 and lived a good life. We couldn't make it to Arkansas for the service, but my mother-in-law said the church was packed, many of them people he had helped throughout the years through A.A. 

• My mother-in-law turned 75 on November 29th. Yay!!!!

Happy December to you - may it be merry and bright!