NaNoWriMo {did you know that I'm a good procrastinator?}

Well, yesterday NaNoWriMo started. I signed up (Oct 28th) and started writing...of course when I went to submit my work, the web page shut down!
Luckily it was up again before bedtime, so I was able to submit my stuff and go to sleep.

Now, a billion hours later, I'm supposed to be writing my story (so far I only have 1,092 words and my goal is 25000), but instead I'm writing a blog post about what a good procrastinator I am... [exhibit A]
  Well, I guess if I'm blogging anyway, I might as well share a snip-it of my NaNoWriMo story:

Dear Lucy, Monday

  Today was totally dreary! It hasn’t stopped raining since, like, a billion days ago and the people here seem not to get the idea that umbrellas are allowed to be more than one color e.g. BLACK!
   Mum has finally opened up the shop. She says that at least something will be colorful in our world…yeah; she’s right if you count pink and green as colorful! (I know you do, but I don’t…and yes, so far we only have pink flowers—no dresses or anything!) Dad thinks it’s a totally crazy idea for a shop, but Mum just rolls her eyes and says, “I NEED colour!” I gotta say, I agree with her, how much black can you get? Then again, I also agree with dad: who would own a flower and fashion shop…it’s kinda’ stupid. (Not to mention the fact that we’ve only had ONE customer so far!) Anyhow, I guess what I’m trying to say is: I’d rather be with you!
    So, how are things back home? have you gotten 200 [different] customers yet? I wish you could send a famous Apple Crisp in the mail…with ORANGE frosting. I really miss helping out in the bakery.
Love,
Your miserable niece AKA Fiona




Dear Lucy, Wednesday
   FINALLY it stopped raining! Not that you care, you’re probably too busy with your 201st customer…that’s right, I still haven’t heard from you!
     PLEASE write back!
            Fiona



Dear Lucy, FRIDAY!
  You do know that stamps cost money, right?
Fiona

Well, you'll probably here more from me later today, but for now I'd better sign off and start writing...

Halloween and not much time!

How come I always seem to start off my posts with "sorry I havn't blogged in a while!"???
 It kind of bugs me how little time I seem to have these days for the things that I want to do, rather than the things I have to do.
      That said; I really have to go work on my Halloween costume!
  For Halloween I've decided that I would like to be Anne Boleyn. Unfortuantly, Anne Boleyn costumes cost a fortune...much more than I'd be willing ot spend for Halloween! SO, I have to make my costume and, as I said earlier, I don't have much time for anything anymore, so, I haven't really started until today. That means that I should probably stop typing and go start sewing (I will post pictures of the final product, but our camera still needs new batteries.)
 Before I go: What are you going to be for Halloween? (I still love hearing from you, so don't be afraid to comment!)

Slow days--Quick walks {also: NaNoWriMo}

I often find that after a week of very productive work days, I have very slow days, where nothing seems to appeal to me. I've had many of those days and was having one today. Our solution? A short hike, we bring sketching and writing supplies with us, and we just take about a 20 minute walk (give or take) and spend the rest of the time drawing or writing. I find this a very inspirational time where I am able to write poetry, draw things, come up with blog ideas, or just clear my mind.
  Today, I tried to write a poem about the evil cold of October (hinting at Halloween) and about writing at the top of a rock. It could use a bit of work, so if you have any suggestions as to how I could change it, I would love to hear them!
                                                                        An October Gale

A cold October gust,

ruffles through the pages of my notebook,

                   searching--

'am I in there? will you write about me?'

it whips and whirls by,

weaving through my  tangled tresses,

breathing it's frozen breath on my neck.

The sun bursts into overcast skies,

and--

 for a happy moment, it warms me

                             then--

A drifting cloud swallows,

and my heat source! GONE

The cloud's grey underside cackles,

'now, for frozen fingers!'

I stand up,

warrior pose,

squinting into the distance

resisting the frozen chills

these moments,

not caught on film

A bird chirps

An airplane rumbles,

I give up, and

huddled against the cold

my white fingers grip the pencil,

I begin

"A cold October gust,

ruffles through the pages of my notebook,

searching--"

It could use a bit more work (as I already said) but for now, I will stop erasing and rewriting...let me know what you think!

Two other things:

1. I made amazing Snickerdoodles and will post about them as soon as I am able to upload my (surprisingly good) photos. (our camera needs a new battery...)
2. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is in November, basically it's where a bunch of writers decide that they want to participate, and  they try to write something every day. At the end of the month (on Nov. 30 at midnight) they try to have a novel written. I am going to do NaNoWriMo this year, (you should too) so, I'm sure you'll hear quite a bit more about it in the near future... but for now:  If you would like to sign up; click here, and to learn more about NaNoWriMo; click here

All right, I think that's all I need to say so, I'm off...


Chocolate Lip gloss [yum, yum]

Hi again,
  After a hectic week, I've managed to snag some time to write a post! [so happy!]

So, the other day (after a bunch of holidays that took place on Thursdays) me and my friend finally got to have another Home Ec. class! It was tons of fun, we made two lip glosses, a vanilla one, and a chocolate one. (my friend got the vanilla, and I the chocolate.)
   I don't know where I got these recipes, but thanks to whoever made them.

Vanilla Lip Gloss

1 tablespoon grates beeswax
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract


Slowly heat beeswax, coconut oil, and vitamin E oil until melted. Stir in the vanilla extract then cool


Chocolate Lip Gloss

1 1/2 tsp grated cocoa butter
1/2 tsp coconut oil
1/8 tsp vitamin E oil
1/4 tsp grated chocolate or 3 small chocolate chips


In a double boiler or microwave heat the cocoa butter, coconut oil, and vitamin E oil until melted. Stir in the chocolate chips and keep stirring until melted and well blended Pour into small container and allow to cool before using

   This time, we were set up in my kitchen...a little roomier, but not much! We started with the vanilla lip gloss (which I dont have any pictures of). So, we did the recipe and heated it up, and then we poured it into a little jar and it hardened......really quickly, oops! To get to the point: it was a bit too hars so,I recomend you do 'half a tablespoon' beeswax and 'half a tablespoon' cocoa butter. (or something like that)

Then we worked on the chocolate lip gloss.

[a few of the ingredients...DELICIOUS!]

This time it looked pretty promising in terms of being the right consistency for lip gloss (instead of rock hard). That is, until it didn't harden at all! So, I added a little bit of beeswax and everybody waas happy again!


If you're going to make these, I'd recomend seeing the consistency once they're mostly cooled and if you need to, you can always try to re-heat the gloss and add more beeswax or oil. As for my lip gloss, it sure is yummy!!!



Sukkot

Well, the 'jewish holiday season' is coming to a close soon. After Sukkot (the Thanksgivingesque holiday that celebrates the harvest) comes Simhat Torah (the celebration of being given the Torah, the old testament) and then, we're basically done until Hannukah.

 Tonight is the start of Sukkot, and in honor of the holiday we built a Sukkah. A sukkah is an outdoor (non-permanent) dwelling place, the roof is made out of a material (usually corn stalks or little tree branches) that is supposed to only cover up half of the roof (basically like a grid). This is so that you have a shelter, but you can still see the stars. I will have pictures of the construction of our Sukkah up soon, but in the meantime...

 I think tomorrows another cooking day!

Granola!

Yahooo!
 I've finally got something EXCITING to post about!

[giving you time to recover from schock]

I started Home Ec. on thursday with my best friend and her totally amazing mother, our first project was...
GRANOLA! (it was really yummmy!)

[the yummalicious granola itself]

Although these pictures were taken in my kiitchen, the actual class was in her kitchen...

Their kitchen is set up with two counters on each side, one attached to the sink, the other by the stove.

So, my friend and I were working back to back with the same tools and the same exact set up on each counter...besides the sink and stove. It was really quite amazing how well we worked like that (not to mention how fun it was).
It was deninatly the best class that I've had so far this year...I wonder waht we'll be doing next week......

[oh my, what a stunning display of granola!]

note the flour standing off to the side, somewhat awkwardly!

[oops, I  'accidentally' spilled the granola...oh well, it makes a perfect picture!]

[who knew granola was so artistic?]

Well, It was certainly a fun class, and I'm not sure that I can wait until Thursday to do it again...

 look who's making dinner tonight!

Well, anyway...

   Stay tuned to find out what we make next week!

Inspirational Blog of the Week

First: I would like you to know that, 'Inspirational Blog of the Week' is not actually something that I will be doing (unless you think I should...in which case, please let me know)...BUT:

 I was looking at the Blogs of Note and I found a blog, Mila's Daydreams, that just about took my breath away! Mila's mommy (who is on maternity leave) takes pictures of Mila during her nap time. These are not ordinary pictures though, Mila's mom creates fairy tale scenes, around Mila while she's sleeping, out of spare cloth, and shows us these wonderful pictures on her blog, Mila's Daydreams.
  All I can say about this blog is that it is the sweetest, most inspirational thing ever!
            (If you've clicked on the link, need I say more?)