The Post Christmas Post

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas!

My Christmas was a little unusual for me, but not bad.

Our Christmas started on Sunday night, having a Christmas dinner (with gingerbread for dessert) and opening presents with my sister and her  family. It's always so much fun to watch my nieces and nephew going through the stockings my mom puts together for them, and opening their presents. :-)
We all got things we love! I got my dad a DVD of The Black Shield of Falworth, which I'd dare say is his favorite movie. My mom got a Nook Glow and lots of Barnes&Noble gift cards.
I got, from my parents, the BBC Classics complete Jane Austen collection DVDs and Little Dorrit DVD! :-D And there was much rejoicing! :-D
Unfortunately, my sister wasn't feeling well. :-(

Christmas Eve I had to work. :-P But, thankfully, it was quite slow and I got out fairly early with plenty of time before having to head out to my grandparents' house. Unfortunately, my sister still wasn't feeling well, and neither was her husband and the youngest. Fortunately, we were able to pick the older two kids up and bring them with us. They had a blast! And they got a small foozeball table from my grandparents, which was a big hit! I got a Barnes&Noble gift card, which was completely spent before I went to bed that night. (I bought four Nook books)
Our dinner was the traditional Christmas Eve at my grandparents' house dinner- Pizza Hut, KFC, chips, and cookies. Thankfully, my dad agreed to make a cut veggie tray to bring. I don't mind having a slice of pizza or a piece of fried chicken...but, please, give me something healthier on the side than potato chips! I didn't have any of the sweets, either. I've had a sore tooth (with a possible cavity) for a week, and I knew that would not be friendly.

Christmas Day we didn't do anything! That was the most unusual part of the holidays for us. Normally we would have a get-together on my dad's side of the family in the evening for snacks and desserts. This year, however, they had it Sunday evening, and since we had already planned our little family Christmas for that night (as it was the only night possible for both sides), we couldn't go. So, we spent the whole day in the house watching Christmas movies (and me reading) and such. My dad had to work that night, anyway, so we wouldn't have been able to go anywhere, really. (He works third shift)
And I ended up having an upset stomach, but it's better now.

Then, today, I had to work again, of course, and my parents went over to visit my dad's mom for a while so she wouldn't go the holidays without seeing them at all.
And, I have to wait a whole week before I can get into the dentist. :-(

Over all, it was a good time. My mom, sister, oldest niece, and grandma also got to go to the Nutcracker on Saturday! My niece won four tickets. :-) They had a very nice time. And I only have one gift to return or exchange...a nice button down shirt my sister got me- it didn't fit quite right. :-P

Now, on to New Year's! I shall finally get to see The Hobbit!!!! :-D

See you all next week! ;-)

Guest Post at Old Fashioned Charm

That's right! I've written my very first guest post.
Miss Laurie asked me to write a post for the Jane Austen Birthday Assembly that is going on at her blog Old Fashioned Charm and a couple others.

You can go here to read my post- Jane Austen and Me! :-)

JABA Jane Austen Tag

As part of the Jane Austen Birthday Assembly event (JABA), Miss Laurie of Old-Fashioned Charm has posted a Jane Austen tag questionnaire, which I have decided to answer. :-)

1. How did you meet Jane Austen?
My first introduction to her, as far as I can recall, was when my sister did a research paper on her. However, I had not interest in Miss Austen at the time, and paid no attention. Foolish me.

2. In which order did you first become acquainted with and read Jane Austen's novels?
I'm guess you mean what order did I first read the books? In which case, it was Emma, Persuasion, Sense&Sensibility, Pride&Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Love and Freindship (and her other juvenilia in one book), and Sanditon/The Watsons/Lady Susan.

3. Rate Jane Austen's major novels from your most favorite to your least favorite and tell why.
Northanger Abbey,  Pride&Prejudice, Sense&Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park. NA is my favorite, though just barely above P&P, because I love the youth and banter of Catherine and Mr. Tilney and I understand Catherine's sometimes wild imagination. MP is my least favorite mostly just because of how slow it is and I don't care for some of the characters.

4. Which Jane Austen hero/heroine couple is your favorite and why?
I'd have to say, along with it being my favorite of the books, Catherine and Mr. Tilney- because I love how they interact together.

5. Which hero/heroine couple is your least favorite and why?
Marianne and Colonel Brandon....I just can't get over the age difference.

6. Have you read any of Jane Austen's Juvenilia works? Which ones?
Yes, I have! All of them! I own them all in one book in my NOOK library. (Yes, I'm one of those people :-P )

7. If you could change the name of one of Jane Austen's characters who would it be and why?
I really don't know that I would change any of them- at least, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

8. Have you ever introduced someone to Jane Austen?
I tried to get one of the girls I work with interested in her, but she just wouldn't take the bait.

9. If a new film about her life was made, which actress would you want to play Jane Austen?
I'm afraid I don't pay enough attention to actors and actresses themselves to really be able to choose one.

10. Pretend you're having a weekend party at your very own country house, which Austen characters (up to five) would you invite and why?
I think I would invite Elinore Dashwood, Fanny Price, Catherine Morland, Mr. Tilney, and Mr. Knightley because they are the ones I think enjoy things along the same line as what I like  to do, so we could have fun together- whether lively or quiet.

11. In your real life have you ever attended a Jane Austen themed event, party or ball? Or have you hosted one yourself?
No, I have not done any of those things, but I would absolutely love to.

12. Suppose you were given the opportunity to ask Jane Austen two questions: one in connection with her real life and one about her stories. What would they be?
Do you like chocolate?
Do any of your characters like chocolate?

:-)

Let Me Show You Around

This  is all explained again in the following videos, but I decided to spin off of Miss Laurie's bookcase tour and make a video tour of my own. Only I did my movies, as my books are fairly scattered at the moment. (I really need to fix that :-P )

I will warn you, this turned out to be quite long, so I split the tour into different segments. Each segment is labeled with what sort of movies (the highlights) are covered in that video.

Part 1- Intro, Narnia, Lord of the Rings

Part 2- Fairy tale movies, Hallmark collection, American Girl and Mandie movies

Part 3- Jane Austen, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Anne of Green Gables/Road to Avonlea

Part 4- Doctor Who, Merlin

Part 5- Literary, Braodway Musicals, Movie/MGM Style Musicals

Part 6- Miscellaneous/Classics/Animated....anything that didn't fit into another category, Conclusion

If you made it through all that, good on ya! I know I talked too much. :-P
Any questions or anything to add, just leave a comment! Or anything you want to comment on, leave a comment as well! :-)

As I said in the conclusion, I do want to do my books, eventually...I don't know when it will be, though.
Also, I hope to do a period costume tour via my paper doll collection. I've got some pretty good ones. ;-)

As for now, NaNoWriMo approaches, and our focus goes to that!