So Long, 2010

I'm sure you are super interested in my obsessive record keeping, so here goes! In 2010, I read 46 books (1 less than last year), for a total of 14,945 pages. The worst book was definitely The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. Don't waste your time. My best book discovery of the year was Roald Dahl's books for adults. I didn't know he wrote books for adults, but they are funny and entertaining (and not for kids. Unless you have some sort of diabolical plan to warp their young minds.)

I also had the unofficial goal of reading from as many countries as possible (book setting, not author nationality). I made it to 15, which is less than 7% of all the countries in the world. That's a pretty pathetic showing, so I'll keep working on it next year.

I don't have a specific goal for next year, other than to actually read some books from my "to read" list on Goodreads. Right now it stands at 186; I've already requested a few of these from the library, so I'll get at least 3 read before I wander off as usual. I know the covers are too small to read, but look at the pretty colors!

As for knitting, that showing was kind of pathetic. I didn't knit any sweaters this year, but finished 2 pairs of socks, some gloves, 2 stockings, and a shawl. Perhaps I could learn to knit and read at the same time?

Have a great New Year! I will be sitting on the couch, watching a movie possibly featuring people with British accents, and will most likely fall asleep before midnight. Work hard, play hard.

Once again, it is Christmas

In my overly-rational holiday mindset, I (we) didn't put up the Christmas tree this year. I don't really get nostalgic about anything, so it seemed like a lot of pointless work to haul everything up from the basement, wrestle the lights onto the tree, and pull out all the ornaments, just so the cat would have something to mess with. I know. Glass half empty.

But, I did decorate the mantel, and it seemed just as good as a Christmas tree. [I still need something permanently above the mantel, a mirror or painting. Still searching.] I finished knitting 2 stockings, which I thought represented a commendable engagement with the holiday. The pattern and the navy blue yarn came in a kit from Knitpicks, and I bought the red yarn (Knitpicks Telemark) separately. I also have some green yarn for a 3rd stocking at some point.

We also decorated the outside of the house in order to disguise our scrooge-like tendencies from the neighbors. The mini lighted trees were an after-Christmas score last year. I think I got 12 trees for $6 or $7. We had to buy the wreath on the chimney this year for full price, which caused my cold, cheap heart to skip a few beats.

I did get a great bean tower as a gift this year, and let me tell you, next year's deck garden is going to be epic.

San Francisco

At the end of October we went to California for my sister's wedding. I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but California is very far away from Maryland. We got up at 4am for our flight, and landed in California at 10am (Pacific time). This lead to a lot of confusion. What time is it? Where am I? What just happened? So, then we went to Muir Woods. We had tried to visit during our trip last year, but Muir Woods suffers from the most horrible parking affliction I have ever witnessed. There are lots of tall things there. I'm pretty sure they were trees, but then again, I was pretty much walking dead at that point. Either way, they made me feel short. Well, shorter.

We then continued up the coast to Point Reyes National Seashore, where we stayed with some friends of ours, who live and work in the park. Sure, it was pretty, but let me tell you about the sandwich. The most amazing sandwich ever created. By noon we were on our 3rd meal of the day, and stopped at a random roadside grocery store/deli. We bought a turkey sandwich, and proceeded to devour it while sitting in the car. Jason said, "Wow, this sandwich is really good." I said, "Oh my God, it is!" I'm not sure if it was starvation or California-hippie-organic-fresh-happy ingredients, but that sandwich will forever live in my food memory.

We saw this lighthouse. It was very windy and I almost died. Not really, but that would make the story a lot more interesting.

Then came wedding preparations: nails, hair, yarn purchasing, the usual. I don't have any pictures of that because I was in the wedding, and assumed they were paying the photographer big bucks for something.

We walked on the beach (in Bodega Bay) and saw these really gross sea monsters. They are some sort of plant life, but I found them to be quite terrifying. They look like intestines, or brains, or just something that could attack you.

Also there is apparently some sort of large bridge in San Francisco that people like to walk on. The views were nice, I'll give it that, but in all these pretty pictures the loud, stinky, dangerous 6-lane (or 8-lane?) highway has been carefully edited out.

And then we flew home, scarfed some Chipotle at the the airport, and were happy to be home in our own house, amply stocked with lots of TV channels, comfy couches, a feline, and craft supplies.