Mood: Shiny!

One of these pretty Yamaha YPG-525 Portable Grand's is now mine! :B I found it for a really good deal on kijiji.ca. It was a little over my starter-piano price range ($500), but Mason pitched in half as an early Christmas present~ *Hearts* In a very roundabout return way, he ended up getting part of his Christmas present early too, his much beloved *goes to check name as per Mason's request* Odyssey 2-Ball SRT golf club since it was not-so cleverly hidden in the trunk of my car and we had to clean it out to go get my piano. My actual lessons don't start until January 6th, but in the mean time I have some built-in lessons that came with keyboard as well as this fancy program to play around with~

As a first, I've decided to make an entry into a user group DeviantArt contest. I don't usually pay much attention to contests because I'm exceptionally lazy and never manage to get entries done in time, but the theme was simply "Grievous in winter" and such a piece was coincidentally already on my to-do list. This does unfortunately mean that I'll have to haul ass to actually color a piece of art, which 1) I'm not very good at, and 2) will probably take me weeks because I really don't know how to use my tablet very well at all. *Shame cloud* D: In any event I've got the pencils finished and scanned in, so that's half the battle.

(The picture is obviously in two pieces right now because it's easier for me to draw that way, so you have to use your imagination that there's pretty snow and a dozen more droids in the background and you know... fabulous color.) >_<

Off to Whyte Ave tomorrow with Dad and Chelle for our annual holiday shopping adventure. There shall be donuts... there shall be shopping... and then afterwards there shall be a double-movie extravaganza! (And by that I mean going to see Bolt -- cute! :D -- and then being very ninja and sneaking into Twilight for epic lulz.)

EDIT: Fuck. I forgot Grievous' lightsabers. Fuckity wank bugger shitting arsehead and hole... *Debates whether to draw them in or leave as is* =_=;

Mood: Wearing mittens outside once more.

It always seems to sneak up on me every year. There's not even much of an in-between as far as I can ever see: one day the trees are full and the leaves are green; then I go outside the next morning and all of a sudden realize that the leaves have all turned colors and are conspicuously no longer up on the tree where they should be. It's like "green... green... green... OMG BROWN! RED! YELLOOOOOOOW!" *Summer flails pathetically where it's been shoved off in the corner for another year.* It's a lot harder to wake up in the morning when it's still dark outside. A lot colder too. *Murffle*

A happy update on Toby -- he's all better! :D He's back to his old self: very hyper and eating like a greedy little pig, and now with a newfound love for pineapple juice~ He's pretty ecstatic these past few days at the new toy we gave him, and by toy I mean an empty Kokanee 12-pack beer box, it's like the greatest thing since romaine lettuce to that kid.

I bought my costume for Halloween finally -- after trying on a couple ones before that sadly didn't fit very well, I settled on a fun 20's glam girl type deal:

I think it's cute. Coleen has offered to help me curl my hair since curling irons and myself have never been properly introduced before, and I'd like to avoid the chaos that ensued when I used my hair straightener for the first time. I'm trying to convince Mason to check out some mafia boss costumes, I think we'd be a good pair~

I am experiencing what might be a rekindling of my love for anime. We found a site that offers practically every series you could ever want to watch in free streaming video, full seasons and episodes -- it's made of rainbows and sunshine and awesome, and right there at my fingertips when ever I want. I've begun watching Wolf's Rain again because I never actually managed to finish the series last time and would like to see how it finally ends. XD Last weekend I also watched the first episode of The Clone Wars, the new animates SW series; which wasn't bad because Asajj has the potential to be pretty badass, but she's no Grievous, which the episode distinctly lacked any amount in. He's supposed to be in episode 2 though so the badass-iness hasn't been forgotten, simply delayed. Preview of the badass-ness here.

I finished watching season 2 of Prison Break. I liked the new Mahone character this season, he's got that scruffy, frazzled, pill-popping thing going on for him; and he flip flops from being a giant dick to being really lovable. Poor guy, all he wants is to run off with his ex-wife and kid and now he's stuck in Panama federal prison and will probably be raped by some giant brute named Adolfo. *Hugs*

WHOA, okay and I went from wanting to punch Kellerman in the face in the first season to really loving him the second season. Where was this whole transition that I never noticed at the time from Paul Kellerman being an arrogant, annoying douche -- to Paul Kellerman in a hot black suit looking sexy with a semi-automatic sniper rifle? Yum~ I think the tides turned somewhere during the episode 213 line:

"You want to take the bitch down? You just found your inside-man, but it has to be RIGHT. NOW."
*Leads off rebel forces in heroic display and trumpeting cliff-hanger music*

♥ It's got that distinct "Come with me if you want to live!" vibe to it. Only without the unattractive accent.

Mood: Full of early Easter chocolate~

Crisped rice chocolate bunnies? I had no idea before today that they sold such an Easter product. Like a Crunch bar but in an adorable animal shape. It's fantastic. *Munch munch munch*

While we were out jaunting about town doing errands this morning I bought C.J. some new aquarium plants~ She's very excited about them, I can tell. Her tail has that extra swish and wave that she does when she's excited.

I came home the other day to find a piece of mail for me from my previous employer which turned out to be an accursed T4 slip. It's felt like so long since I worked there that I completely forgot that I would have a 2007 T4 from them, so I didn't even think of it last week when I went and filed my taxes without it, and now I'm irked because I have to go back and redo them and wait even longer for my cheque full of free tax money to arrive in the mail.

I ordered my Sailor Moon DVDs on the wrong damn week. With a 3 - 5 day shipping period they really should be on my doorstep today but today's a holiday so now they're going to be pushed to next week, and not Monday, but Tuesday. Of all the times to have a four-day weekend this was not a prime pick. *Mumble grumble* The post office is not my friend right now. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't still also waiting for the first two English dubbed seasons to download on Bittorrent, but they're taking FOREVER. The progress bar is just sitting there taunting me with it's smug 88.4% completed message.

I'm so hard done by.

Mood: Exhausted

Whew. It's over. I mean, I love Christmas, I really do; it's just getting to be much more stressful than it is exciting more of the time these days, what with all the running around beforehand to get things done and then the running around on the day of to random family's houses and gift exchanges and dinners. >_<; Playing Cranium with my Mom's side of the family last night was too funny though, I should post videos on YouTube but I think my Mother may disown me.

I got OS X Leopard! And Magnificent Seven! And lots of books! And...for some reason lots of Monopoly...? o_O As for post Christmas frivolous purchases, I've already ordered the entire series of West Wing off Amazon, I'm going to tack on Guild Wars expansions Eye of the North and Factions onto my account, and sometime when I get back from Hawaii (OMG 2 DAYS!!!) I'm going to take back the second copy of Leopard I got and exchange it for iTV~! *Squeee!*

I think I need to emphasize again about how excited for Hawaii I am. *FLAIL FLAIL FLAIL* I am most definitely going to sleep the night before this time though...

Countdown until Hawaii: OMG 2 days! XD

Mood: Slightly headachey

I actually finished all my Christmas cards! YAAAAAY! They took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it was worth it. There's something immensely satisfying about holding a giant stack of completed Christmas cards in your hands. It fills me with a warm squishy bundle of joy all wrapped in brightly colored paper and covered in glitter. XD

Baking has also (almost) been finished! Though...admittedly...not as much as I'd hoped. I'm not sure I'm going to have near enough to give out to all my friends like I wanted to; it may turn out to be more of a whole "people coming over to our place to play boardgames and just putting a plate of them on the table for anyone who wants some" thing. *sweatdrop* In any event Mason and I kicked Betty Crocker's ass last night and made two pans of nanaimo bars, it was a splendid baking extravaganza filled with chocolate and sugary sweet creme~

Hahahaha, oh man I want this book for Christmas: oPtion$: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs by Fake Steve Jobs (Daniel Lyons). The back of the book flap reads:

"Sometimes I feel like a great chef who has devoted his entire life to monastic study of the art of cooking. I've gathered the finest ingredients, built the most advanced kitchen and prepared the most exquisite meal. So perfect, so delicious, so extraordinary. More astounding than any meal ever created. Yet each day I stand in my window and watch 97% of the world walk past my restaurant into the McDonald's across the street."

Truer words have never been written. DFTBA, Mr. Jobs. (HOO! HA! NERDFIGHTER!)

Claudia Jean is thriving~ (You could even say she's doing swimmingly, ho ho!) C.J. and I have settled into a nice little routine with feeding and whatnot, when I get up in the morning and feed her she gets all excited and swims right up to the wall of the tank to greet me~ "OMG, you're awake! Yippe! YAY Brenna! I'm so glad to see you! Hi! Good morning! Do you see me? Look down here! Hi!" is pretty much the impression I get from her. It's very cute. (People insist that she just wants food, but I know there's real love there.)

My headaches aren't being caused by what I thought they were... I went off the pill weeks ago and I'm still getting them. >_< I need to book another appointment with the doctor but I can't do it until I get back from vacation in January. *Loads up on Advil on her carry on bag*

YAY, I get all of next week off work now! It was supposed to go in for a half day on the 24th and a full day on the 27th before we leave for Hawaii the day after, but there's going to be hardly anyone in the office so I don't have to come in~ LA LA LA~ *Hugs her holiday time*

Countdown until Hawaii: OMG 10 days! XD

Mood: *squee!*

The newest edition to the household, the fabulous Claudia Jean Cregg, my new betta fish~! I brought her (him) home yesterday and I have to say she (he) seems to be getting quite comfortable at home with the wrestlers in her (his) new tank. (It's actually a male betta because the females aren't as bright and colorful as the males, but I'm referring to him as a she. It causes for a wee bit of a sexual identity crisis for Claudia Jean but she's adapting nicely. Besides for there to eventually be a Danny fish to sit on my desk at work, there has to first be a C.J. It's this whole big thing.)

She's so pretty, I love her coloring. And look at her flaunt those fine fins, that's one elegant dame. *hearts* On the bus to work this morning I was listening to my iPod and for every song I imagined fish singing them. Coldplay fish, Linkin Park fish, Sarah McLachlan fish. It was sweet.

In other non-fishie related news, founded by Coleen we've all amassed together and started a book club. A good old traditional read-a-book-then-discuss-it-at-a-meeting type of book club, only slightly less old lady I like to think because we'll obviously be reading much better books and we'll have treats at the meetings~ I'm looking forward to all the new books I'll be exposed to. Our first random pick is The Crying of Lot 49 which Amanda says is kind of strange, but I'm excited anyway. That is...if I can track down a copy to read... *Looks imploringly at Coleen who said she'd pick it up for her from the UofA library*

I saw both Enchanted and The Golden Compass this last week and they were both entertaining -- Enchanted with all of it's froofy over-emphasized character dialogue and flouncing about and singing and general Disney mocking; and Golden Compass in more of a cool Ian McKellen warrior polar bears ripping jaws clean off sort of way. GP seemed really rushed though. I haven't read the books before but I'm going to try and get my hands on them.

Update on my Christmas status!

-- Presents bought: 6ish of 8! Almost done!
-- Baking finished: Um...none yet. Hopefully tomorrow! ¬_¬
-- Christmas cards sent: Erm. Well I have 3 written...of 20... More tomorrow! D:
-- Christmas tree set up: Done!
-- Tree decorations lost: All of them! Where did they GO?! D:
-- Tree decorations bought to replace lost ones: *Grumble* Done.
-- Celine Dion holiday CD downloaded: Done. (Shut up, her Christmas album is my only Christmas album. I love it.)
-- Advant calendar chocolates left: 14

Okay so I have to ask -- when you eat your advant calendar chocolates, do you start from the 1st or do you start from the 25th for your countdown? Everyone's been ribbing me for starting at the 25th and eating my way backwards. But it's a COUNTDOWN, people! A countdown of days until Christmas! You don't start at 1, you start at the end! "16 days...15 days...14 days..." Tell me I'm not the only one who eats the calendar the right way.