The Friday 56 -- At All Costs

A weekly meme hosted by Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions on your blog or (if you don't have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog. * Post a link along with your post back to this blog. * Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

This week's book is At All Costs, the final book in David Weber's Honor Harrington series. It was part of my Christmas giftcard purchases.

"For that matter, she really ought to have traded in the double planets of her commodore's insignia even in the RMN."

A Mountain of Books

Every Christmas I get giftcards for HalfPrice Books from my relatives, sometimes as many as three or four. This year I got one, last year I got three, the year before I got at least two, etc. I try to use up as much as I can at the after-Christmas sale, but there's always some left over for another day.

I keep the unused cards in my good purse (I use it to go book shopping because it's small and compact), and over time they build up. Every time I reach into the inner pocket, I have to push aside giftcards: HalfPrice giftcard, lipstick, rosary, another HalfPrice giftcard, barrette, old candy, *bad words* yet another HalfPrice giftcard, aha! pen! When I went to the sale this year, I had an apparent $75 in giftcards in my purse. Turns out one was half-used, but I still had at least $65 in there.

Lots of years I kind of strike out on getting wished-for books -- I tend to want books that other people want to hang onto. LOL But this year I hit the bulls-eye -- I came home with seven of the books on my list! Of course, this means I need to find another series of books to fall in love with, but that's never been a problem for me. :o)

Here's this year's Christmas haul.

You might notice that there are more than seven books in this mountain. The three on top are a gift from my brother. The others are my bookstore finds. As you can tell, I've got a crush on David Weber's Honor Harrington series. Between these and the ones I already had, I now possess all but one of the main series rubs hands in glee and can now concentrate on the anthologies and spinoffs.

The only downside to all this largesse?

It cost less than $28, so I still have over $40 rattling around in my purse!!

Look what I got today!

For the last year I've been thinking about learning to knit socks, since it's almost impossible for me to find kneesocks that fit. (I want some to wear to church in the winter, because stockings are just too thin to keep me warm.)

Last week I finally bit the bullet and ordered some sock yarn, along with various needles, from Knitpicks. I've eagerly awaiting my package, and it came today!

I got 4 skeins of a cotton/wool/elastic yarn called Risata in Cocoa, some double-pointed needles, and a couple circular needles in different sizes for various projects. The yarn is very soft, and is so yummy looking. I might not need all of it for my socks, but I can always make another pair. :o)

There's a method of knitting socks called the Magic Loop that I'm going to try -- it allows you to make two socks on one long circular needle. Hope I can figure it out!

The Friday 56 -- Incredible Tales

A weekly meme hosted by Storytime with Tonya and Friends.

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions on your blog or (if you don't have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog. * Post a link along with your post back to this blog. * Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

This week's book is Incredible Tales, a group of short stories by Saki. I'm not really sure what it's about, but it's got a really cool cover. :o)


"How you shot the goat and frightened the tiger to death," said Miss Mebbin, with her disagreeably pleasant laugh.

The Friday 56 -- Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar

A weekly meme hosted by Storytime with Tonya and Friends.

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence along with these instructions on your blog or (if you don't have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
* Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

This is my first chance to participate, since I usually don't have a book near my computer. My first book is Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar, edited by Mercedes Lackey. It's an anthology of short stories set in Lackey's Valdemar. It's not my favorite of the anthologies, but there are some good stories in it.

"Gah!" he exclaimed, his eyes narrowed. "The stench!"

It's my birthday . . .

and I'll have diarrhea if I want to. (Or even if I don't, as the case may be.)

It didn't spoil my birthday dinner out, but it was a close-run thing.

'Nuff said.

Hip hip hooray, Halloween is finally over!

You might have noticed that I haven't posted anything for the past month. It's not because I haven't wanted to, but because I've been too tired from work.

This is my 15th Halloween at my job, and it has never been this crazy. For the last two weeks it's been an absolute madhouse. Everyone has been working all the hours they can, and it wasn't enough. The store is a near-total mess. Certain areas look like there's been an explosion or eruption because we haven't had the staff or the time to tidy them each day -- when you've got non-stop customers until closing, all you can do is put stuff back in the approximate location.

A friend of mine opined that all these people were trying to save money by making their costumes. It doesn't really work out that way, since most people spent more money on supplies than our readymade costumes cost at full price (and they've been on sale all month). Be that as it may, I think I've spent most of the last month putting fabric away. And putting more fabric away. And putting even more fabric away. Of course, that's only when I wasn't cutting fabric until my hands ached, or running the register for hours on end.

Maybe I'll take next October off.