Chrissy Munder's Blog, page 66

Catch Me at Clare's! London that is.

Join me as I put aside my ongoing search for a comfortable, supportive, yet reasonably priced sports bra, and twitter about Tweeting and my undoubted Magpie Syndrome over at the lovely and talented Chez London.

Oooh! Did you See This?

In case you missed it, we are in the middle of one of the strongest solar storms since 2005. According to this report the Northern Lights have lit up the skies above Scotland, northern England and northern parts of Ireland after the biggest solar storm in more than six years bombarded Earth with radiation.

The Canadian Space Agency posted a geomagnetic storm warning on Tuesday after residents were also treated to a spectacular show in the night sky.

Any skywatching soul catch any of this?

(updated! Link with pictures here)

On a far less cool note, re: the book series I was complaining about in a previous post - four more books down, 3 more knock-outs. *Sigh* I kid you not. And yes, I've made a list. :)

Just call me Grumpy.

You might think being laid low with this ridiculous illness would be a wonderful time to catch-up on some reading. Or, at least, I did. The truth is there's a severe lack of focus, patience, and general coherency that doesn't lend itself to a decent suspension of disbelief. And yes, my partners in plague told me so. No, we aren't good patients at the Munder household, especially when more than one of us is sick at the same time.

I gave up on trying to check my email today when I couldn't find the "mail/login" link on Yahoo, (turns out it wasn't just the fever - the link has moved to the right hand side of the screen)and turned back to the latest load of books from the library. I'm seven books into a series that overall I enjoy.

But, color me grumpy, the heroine in this series has now been knocked out in at least five (probably six, but I'll cut them some slack due to my delirium)of the seven books. Now, I know there are professional football players who have had their careers sidelined due to that many concussions and now face a lifetime of various brain issues. Yet here this broad goes, getting bopped on the head in yet another book. I complained about it after the third book and ratcheted up the rant after the fourth. Now I'm staring suspiciously at book number eight, not sure if I'm willing to risk it just yet. Because, seriously - if she gets knocked out again I won't be responsible for my actions.

Perhaps when the books are written, one every other year or so, this doesn't seem too apparent. But to a reader sitting down and consuming them one after another, this really stands out. And it's irritating. So, note to self: don't go for the quick and easy knock-out to move a scene along.

Looking for The Clare and Chrissy Show?

You know you've come to the right place. But it's January, the lovely Clare London's Birthday month, and since we at the Munder household are busy starring in our own version of the movie "Contagion" (be afraid, be very afraid) we're taking a break and offering instead the annual Clare London Birthday Blog Bash!

It's an entire month worth of authors and posts from a variety of genres. Grab your coffee, sit back, and start enjoying. Be sure to keep an eye out for my post there as well.

Surprisingly Superstitious

Goodness! We had a weekend full of two separate household plumbing surprises and the resulting clean-ups. Luckily, both were fixed with a few trips to the local hardware store. Still, I'm fidgety and nervous about running the dishwasher as I wait for number 3 to find/flood us.

Are you superstitious like this? Do troubles really seem to come in three's?

Borrowed Snow and an Excerpt.

With no snow of our own, I borrowed some. Thanks to Cryselle and her Thousand Word Thursday image, I now have snow to spare. As well as an excerpt from The Reason for the Season. You can read it here.

While there you can click on the Thousand Word Thursday Tag to read other excerpts, drabbles, and free fic from a variety of fine authors.

It's the little things...

We're all agog over here at it being the 2nd week of January and almost 50 degrees. Definitely have to go a lot further North to find any snow. The weekend became more than a little hectic and it carried over into the start of this week. Imagine our surprise when we received a post-holiday gift box in yesterday's mail. Great big hugs to you, Karen. You made the night.

My favorite token inside? The ultra-soft, squeezable and squeaky stuffed chippie! (That's a squirrel to most folks). And yes, we laughed over the note that explained it was a "people toy", not a "beast toy". He's determined to steal it from us.

A lovely reminder that it truly is the little things that bring us unexpected joy.

Need help tackling that clutter?

I've spent the last couple of years enjoying posts from the blog/website Zen Habits. They are starting out the New Year with a special (and free) Clutterfat Challenge. Instead of getting rid of bodyfat, you've guessed it, the goal is to get rid of some of the clutter around you. I believe Saturday, January 7th, is the last day to sign up to be part of the free course challenge.

Even if you aren't interested in the challenge itself, they have some commonsense tips on de-cluttering HERE. Along with a link to Leo's Clutter Webinar.

It's only Tuesday?

I'm slowly wading back into the fray this week. :) Rather frustrated as I wanted to take another look at something I found out on the web xxx days/months ago. I swear I knew where to look - but now I can't find the darn thing. So much for telling myself don't favorite it, you have too many of those already. You'll find it again.

I don't really do resolutions for my new year. I do make plans and lists. Lots of lists. LOL. Still, I love reading other people's. Hmm, is that comparable to it being easier to clean someone else's house rather than your own? And grammar folk - should that 's be there after "people"? Just asking.

Anyway, fun things so far this week (and it's only Tuesday):

-- I won a free ebook from JMS Books LLC! That's a lovely way to start my new year. You can win too! Click HERE to learn how.

-- Not so fun! My computer has started giving me "unable to run scripts" messages everytime I turn around. Grrrrr.

-- Best advice I've heard yet: Kindly, Kindly, look to the new year.

-- Something to work on: 3 Easy ways to become more patient.

-- It's Clare London's Birthday Blog Bash! New posts and authors every day the entire month of January.

-- *Sigh* The beast horked up a wad of plastic packing tape. Let's all cross our fingers that was it, and there won't be a vet visit involved.

Organizing Fun! (No, really)

Here we are, day 2 of 2012! Is it time to cue the theme from Jaws? Naaaah. How's it going for everyone? I'm back after a bit of almost time off from the web. Had some fun doing the anal retentive organizing thing. That always warms my dark little soul.

Things I killed in the last week:

--The electric hand-mixer I've had for over 22 years. Sigh. It was tough to watch him start smoking on that last batch of peanut butter kiss cookies.

--The industrial size shredder. Hmmm, that one I fear was the result of the push to finish last year's bit of anal retentive organizing. Yes, I'm talking to you, paycheck stubs from 1998.

New fun stuff:

The DIYPlanner.com Website and my new best friend, this DIYPlanner Dynamic Template. I've been pouring over websites looking for new calendars and so forth to make lists and to do's and all that sort of thing without much luck. Nothing really appealed. Yes, I could do it all in my Yahoo Calendar now that I've conquered layers, but I'm not online everyday (sacrilege, I know). This website and templates? Fun, fun, fun. I've not even had a chance to play with them all.