a discovery...

December 10, 2017 Arlene Giddings

(that has nothing to do with the photo above...
i just always have to start my blog posts with a photo so...)

it has been a long time
since i have found a blog
that has me so enamored...
i spent at least 4 hours last night
reading this woman's blog.
but, i mean, really...how could i not?
she writes about books
and mainly about kid's books (which i love)
and movies
and food blogs
and crafts...
and has links upon links to other cool blogs...
i felt like a total stalker
reading her blog
for hours
and checking out her instagram & facebook
and sending her messages...
(hmmmm...it sounds even worse when i type it all out).

anyway...check out this blog...
it's adorable....
even the name...Julia's Bookbag...sigh.

oh...and when i wasn't stalking,
i mean, reading her blog
i was working on a new christmas card...
i'm kind of happy with how it turned out!
:)

i was going to do SO MUCH today....

December 8, 2017 Arlene Giddings

I was going to go to the gym
AND the sauna
(which requires two clothing changes
so that is worthy of all caps).

i was going to dig out the christmas decorations
from that scary place
under the stairs
where no one wants to go.

i was going to clean off the deck
and tidy up the yard
and bake muffins
and buy groceries.

instead
i wore my pajamas all day
while i read new blogs
and got all nostalgic about
how blogging used to be
when i first started...
(in 2005...lonnnng time ago...)

i listened to the same christmas playlist
for 8 hours straight
while i annoyed the cats
trying to get them to sit still
for a picture or 10.

yeah. this made it much easier to use the computer. thanks, casey.

i ate stale day old doughnuts for
breakfast and lunch
and didn't brush my hair.

i made lists of all the things i
was going to do today
but
then didn't do them....
but the lists are pretty!

i edited some fall photos
instead of taking some new ones...
because that would require
going outside...
and also
getting dressed.

i doodled a little bit
and that was fun...

i can't decide if this needs more color or not...and this is a rotten photo...stupid early sunsets.

and now it's only 4:30
but it's starting to get dark
which means
i will eventually migrate to the couch
and eat popcorn for supper
while watching christmas movies.

the only good thing about it getting dark
this early is that i won't have long to wait
for it to get dark enough for me to
walk to the store in my pajamas
(because really...why change now?)
so i can get some diet coke.

cause you can't have popcorn without diet coke.

where i have been when i have not been here...

December 6, 2017 Arlene Giddings

the truth is
i feel like i have been
kind of all over the place...
work is busy,
christmas is coming.
the days are shorter
and darker
and colder...

i am in snuggle down mode...
all about blankets and books,
movies and hot chocolate-y chai tea...
i tell myself the light is not good enough
to doodle by
and that one more night
away from the gym
is not going to hurt...

i am reading harry potter...
right now i am on book 3...
harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban.
i have read it before but
i can't really remember it...
i am thoroughly enjoying it though.
i am not sure that i am going to make my goal
of 24 books before the end of the year though
which actually completely surprises me.
i was sure that i would do it this year.
finishing this one will be put me at 19.
sigh.

i just need to shut the tv off
and disconnect myself from my little Sims world
and maybe read a real book
made out of paper and ink
and not just on my phone...
but if you are curious about my Sims world,
you might like to know
that jon bon jovi and joan jett
just got married and have a baby...
RON BON JOVI....
heeheehee...
oh.

and joannie and chachi just got engaged.
or wait.
that might have been the fonz & pinky tuscadero.

yeah.
i really need to disconnect from the virtual world for a bit.
:)

i'm not sure what it is about fall...

October 26, 2017 Arlene Giddings

but i am incredibly
less productive
in the fall.

i'm good right up until it starts to get
just a little bit dark..
like...6 pm...
and then i just want
pajama pants, some hot chocolate,
my phone and the couch.

i am all about movies and
tv shows and good books
and finding new apps
and naps...so many naps.

as soon as the sun starts to set,
it seems to take any energy reserves
i had left
with it...

hopefully
this is just a phase
and maybe i'll grow out of it.
:)

and really, i'm writing this
in hopes that people are going to say
THAT'S totally normal,
i'm like that, too!
heh.
i'm all about validation

man-eating snails

October 23, 2017 Arlene Giddings

or...could also be
about how maybe i tend to exaggerate
for comedic purposes...
heh.

but
as promised yesterday
here is part 2
of my friday-adventure-on-a-holiday-monday
because i know you were sitting on the edge
of your seat refreshing the webpage
just waiting for part two, right? heh.

as i was leaving fort amherst
i saw this dirt road
and remembered how i told myself
that under no circumstances
were you going to go on dirt roads today...
but...
really...would you be able to say no to THIS dirt road?
it's on a hill!
who KNOWS what could be on the other side!
maybe a candy store...
or a space ship
or a herd of goats
in pajamas
or
a frigging cool lighthouse
you've never seen before.

(ummmm...it was the lighthouse, if you didn't guess...)

and such a pretty view!

and this....isn't it cute! that roof. ♥♥♥ it's so fairy tale-ish...in a decrepit kind of way...

and where are the non-man-eating snails i promised? you ask
well...next, i came across this place
which is burned into my memory
because
a) i love love love that broken down wharf
b) i did wedding photos here for the sweetest couple AND
c) we lost the bride's engagement ring on the beach here
and it was horrifying and awful and stressful but then a man
came along & asked us what we were doing
(the whole wedding party and myself on hands and knees
digging in sand frantically) and he offered to go home & get
his metal detector...we went to the reception and this sweet man
FOUND the engagement ring and that's reason #345 235 why i love PEI...
(plus there are no bobcats).

it was fun to climb on
but that's how i noticed the snails...
i saw one at first
but then i realized there were hundreds!

and then...the drive home...
which found me on
dirt road #3...
but i'm so glad i
didn't take my own advice.

and that was the end of another adventure...
i know it was a low blow to trick you with man eating snails...
i hope the pretty dirt roads made up for it.
:)