Friday Fill-Ins (Before I Leave!)

1. Said the night wind to the little lamb, which way to the North Pole?
2. The first Noel, the angel did say, I'll have a rum and Coke, thanks.
3. Drive as fast as you can, Over the hills and everywhere.
4. It came upon the midnight clear, that I was still awake and had to get up early in the morning.
5. It's Christmas-time, Let your heart be light.
6. And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing way, way off-key.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to packing for my trip and watching reruns of House, tomorrow my plans include flying to Ohio and Sunday, I want to wrap gifts and enjoy time with my family!

Blog Silent

I'm flying up North tomorrow to see my family for Christmas, and I won't return until Dec. 30th. As my parents have dial-up (I KNOW!), I probably won't be checking in much till I get back. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and I'll be back to blog-hopping and posting soon.

Holiday Random-ness

Christmas shopping is, for the most part, done. I would like to get Ricky a thing or two more for his stocking, but the particular last item I want is SOLD OUT at the particular place I went looking for it. (He reads this blog, or at least I think he does, so I have to be kind of vague.)

I have the makings of my holiday peanut butter fudge sitting on the stove, to be made later today or maybe tomorrow, if I have time.

The office Christmas party was last night. I pooped out on the bail bondsman's party that is THE big holiday fete. I was just too tired after working all day and then partaking of the Christmas cheer with my co-workers. I'm invited to yet another party tonight. Not sure if I'm going. Mostly, I just want to curl up in my apartment and read or surf the internet. I don't really feel like schmoozing. Or drinking. Which means something is wrong with me, because I ALWAYS feel like drinking.

The fiance' and I had an unaccustomed amount of togetherness this past week. He was on a short break from job number three (!!!) while they switched him to another store, so we got to spend our evenings together, which we haven't done for quite a while. And I didn't even kill him. We actually went on a dinner date on Wednesday. And it was nice.

Tomorrow, I plan to accompany two of our good friends up north, to "Central Florida," to see another couple that we used to work with and their new baby girl.

In between all the merry-making, fudge-making and baby-meeting, I'm not having much reading time. Since my opportunities to read have been pretty broken-up lately, I've been indulging in magazines. Currently, I'm browsing the November/December Bookmarks. I asked for a subscription for Christmas...I HOPE SANTA BRINGS ME ONE! (Uh, hint hint.) And today, for some unknown reason, I decided I had to have the Rachael Ray magazine that I saw in the checkout, despite the millions and millions of BOOKS staring at me from the spare room, waiting to be read. But come on, how am I to resist 329 meals that rock, or the holiday cookie blowout? I mean, really. I've never read Rachael's magazine, but I love her cookbooks and cooking shows. Although she should annoy me to high heaven, I ADORE the lovely Ms. Ray. I just hope this isn't a must-have subscription. I think one to two magazines a month are my limit.

Friday Fill-Ins!

1. Friends make the world go round.

2. Here's to health; it's about all I have going for me right now.

3. I'm ready for CHRISTMAS.

4. Lucky Number 6 on Ricky is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells.

5. The oldest ornament I have is one my grandmother gave me when I was a baby.

6. Take some chocolate and peanut butter chips, mix it all together and you have my super-easy peanut butter fudge.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a Christmas party, tomorrow my plans include another Christmas party and Sunday, I want to make peanut butter fudge and visit my friends' new baby!

Mailbox Monday...on Tuesday

I seem to be a day behind this week. I've been sick, so I'm a little delayed in posting my Mailbox Monday. Let's see what I've received lately!

On Saturday (I think), I received a Mooched copy of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. (BTW: Am I the only one who continuously gets Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis confused?!) This book is one of the recent spate of "classics" I've been trying to read. From what I hear, I very well may come away from this one a vegetarian.

My lunch hour today included a stop at Barnes & Noble. While there, I was seduced into purchasing my very own copies of John Green's Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines. Katherines was only FOUR DOLLARS! While I cannot believe that B&N has low-balled my literary crush that way, I was totally excited that my slim pocketbook could thus afford not ONE, but TWO, of his literary masterpieces. Unfortunately, Paper Towns was both too expensive and too...hardback...for me. (Not a hardback fan...too unwieldy while reading.) So I am now beginning my very own John Green library.

I also picked up a copy of Jerry Spinelli's Eggs. I saw a review of this somewhere (Book Nut or Bookshelves of Doom, perhaps?), and it sounded good, and I found myself in the teen/juvenile fiction section by way of John Green anyway...so...what's a girl to do but buy another book?!

Friday Fill-Ins on Saturday

1. Snow is not present here in South Florida.

2. I'm looking forward to going home to my parents' for nine days at Christmas.

3. Alana and Chris moving to town is the best news ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is The X-Files. (Does that count? It's not on anymore!)

5. I'm done with office politics.

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is getting together with friends and family.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to my friend Andie's house for a holiday party, tomorrow my plans include trying to finish up my Christmas shopping and Sunday, I want to clean the house and watch football!

A Genuine Loss for Us All

I'm sure y'all have already heard, but Dewey passed away last week. Unfortunately, being fairly new to the book blogosphere, I didn't have the opportunity to know her well. But, through her 24-Hour Read-a-Thon, her Weekly Geeks, and her other book-inspired challenges and posts, I was lucky to get a brief glimpse of a woman who loved to read and share her love of reading with others. So, let's all dedicate our current read to Dewey and try to keep her memory alive through our reading, our reviews, and our full participation in blogging and life. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family. I'm sure she's in a better place, with all the time in the world to read, read, read.