Elise Opening Some Xmas Gifts

Elise Opening her Winter Gifts from Cheney on Vimeo.

I took a lot of video over Christmas so that Elise's grandparents would be able to see her opening the presents that they got for her - this is the first. Who knew it would take an hour to upload a five minute video to Vimeo? Weird..

B&Js & Bongs?

Tonight, Brian and I went to the Mohegan Sun casino. To some, this is a tourist attraction and resort that people come from all over the country and the world to see, but for us, being that it was erected in our proverbial backyards, it is just a place to go get Ben & Jerry's waffle cones at midnight. Because you can totally do that there. 

This thing you see in the photo above, I'm not really sure what that is. There is a big ass waterfall that runs over the entrance to Todd English's Tuscany restaurant, and then it flows under the walkway that you use to get from one half of the casino to the other, and this thing is in the middle of a bridge that goes over the waterfall/river thing. It's made of blown glass, and usually it's blue and white, but it was lighted up for Christmas and looked all pink and purple last night. The casino was packed, and tons of people were milling around taking pictures of this thing, so I thought I would, too.

For the record, I am not the only one who thinks this beautiful blown glass piece of art looks like a bong. 

So This Is Christmas, Teaser

I'm updating from a bar. This might give you an idea of what my Christmas was like, but not really. I feel like I need to reflect on this one a little more than most days, so it will need to wait. ,

Merry Christmas, everyone.

2011 Tree

The Busiest Time of the Year

Ok, ok. It's catching up with me. All of this rushing around and list making and wrapping and trying so hard to be fucking festive but being all bah-humbugish instead.

Christmas really is better the younger you are, huh? Less worry, less stress, more wonder and joy. Not to mention... It's the most loneliest time of the year.

I'm Gonna Have Myself A Time

Despite yesterday's post, I actually really love Christmas and I'm looking forward to it. I've never been one of those people who say "Oh man, I can't wait for the holidays to be over," because I do the best I can to not let anything about the holidays stress me out. 

With that said, there is a different sort of stress this year in that I have been MAKING rather than buying a lot of Christmas gifts. Five people are getting crocheted scarves, and for my grandparents I am making a blog that features Elise's and my day to day activities. I am so bad at calling them frequently and sending them pictures, I don't know why I didn't think of a grandparent-centric blog sooner, but there it is. I don't want them reading this one, so we will just direct their attention elsewhere. Unfortunately, I haven't started that little project yet and I still have a scarf to finish, not to mention gift wrapping for things I got Elise, AND I have to make her birthday cake tonight for the little party that a friend of ours is hosting at her house tomorrow.

Long story short, I haven't done any writing this month. Like, none. And THAT is what is stressing me out. I love Christmas, I love the holiday season, but dare I say I can't wait for some time to do what I want to do without a million other little projects to finish and errands to run that keep me away from writing. 

It's sort of the feeling I get leading up to taking vacations - a giddy excitement of possiblility. Too bad I know that the week after vacations always suck, but I guess I will cross that bridge.

Now, what to focus on, is the question I've been asking myself. Here are the possibilities:

1. I could always write more smut - my stories continue to sell, slowly but surely, and there's nothing but laziness keeping me from adding titles and hopefully getting more steady revenue from them. This might be the first thing I tackle.
2. I've been contemplating going back to my NaNo novel that I didn't finish this year and seeing what I can salvage from it. 
3. I've also been thinking of diving back in to my Eternals story and totally re-working the first draft. The thing is FINISHED, you know? It's an entire finished book. It just sort of sucks and the whole middle part of it is boring as hell, in my opinion, but with a whole lot of elbow grease and maybe some tough love, I can make it into something that I will be proud to show people, which unfortunately, at this moment, I am not.
4. The zombies, they call to me. This is the story I gave Dan months ago and never finished, although I have pecked away at another chapter in the interim since the last time I gave him pages. This is sort of what I want to do the most, even though I probably SHOULD do the other things first.
5. Start something new? Always such a lovely idea...

I'm sure this list and post it totally boring to all non-writerly types, but hey. It's what I do. 

I could, of course, entertain you with stories about my adventure out to some downtown bars last night and what kept me out until three in the morning, but that just might disturb you instead of bore you, and I'll either lose friends or gain the "wrong" ones. 

Needless to say, I go through phases of wanting to go out with friends and wanting to hole myself up in my room and pretend to disappear, and lately I've chosen the former. It could be that we've had such a mild winter so far, I haven't felt that darkness of the SAD coming over me, depressing me into myself and away from all fun that might be had. But, the thing is, I like laughing, and my friends are funnier than most (in my opinion) and once in a while it's nice to spend $20 bucks on vodka drinks, get a little shitty, and have myself a time.

What I Want to Tell All of My Customers The Week Before Christmas, A Rant.

Dear people of the world: Christmas presents do not, in fact, get delivered to homes by magical elves. They come by way of UPS, FedEx, and other POSTAL carriers. These men and women, who spend grueling hours in the weeks before Christmas delivering your shit on time, do not have reindeer, jet packs, or teleporters to get your shit to you faster. Therefore, dear people of the world, IF YOU WANT SOMETHING SHIPPED FROM CONNECTICUT TO CALIFORNIA TO BE DELIVERED ON FRIDAY, DON'T WAIT UNTIL TUESDAY TO ORDER IT, BECAUSE YES, IT WILL COST A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT MORE TO EXPEDITE - WE'RE TALKING THE COST OF JET FUEL NOW, MOFOS!!