Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Finished with My 2019 Autumn To-Do List

December is here, together with all things wintery and Christmasy, at least in my head, so time to report in on my Autumn To-Do List and see how I did.

~ Finish the second draft of my western Snow White retelling Fail.  I am about half done with this round of revisions, but this book started out longer than the previous two, and it's bulking up a LOT.  So I just keep working on it and trust that God will see me through.

~ Read 3 titles from my Classics Club list  Check!  I finished War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and read two others, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and a combo volume containing "Nutcracker and Mouse King" by ETA Hoffmann PLUS "The Tale of the Nutcracker" by Alexandre Dumas, which sounds like three titles, but I'm only counting as two.


~ Read 6 books off my TBR shelves  Check!  I got eight books off my TBR shelves this fall:  Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Grace Alone by Ruth E. Meyer, Mycroft and Sherlock by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula by Loren D. Estleman, the Graveyard Book graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell, Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer, South by Java Head by Alistair MacLean, and "Nutcracker and Mouse King" by ETA Hoffmann PLUS "The Tale of the Nutcracker" by Alexandre Dumas (in one volume).

~ Read 3 books from the library  Check!  In fact, I read SIX.  Wahoo!  It was an excellent autumn as far as reading goes.  From the library, I read: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse, Killing Floor by Lee Child, and She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar.


~ Watch 5 movies off my TBW shelves  Check!  I watched seven: License to Kill (1989), One Foot in Hell (1960), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1986), The Quick and the Dead (1987), Men in Black: International (2019), The Lego Batman Movie (2017), and Antony and Cleopatra (1972).

~ Go see Rear Window (1954) on the big screen  Check!  I also got to see To Catch a Thief (1955) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943) on the big screen.  So thrilling!

~ Go see Gemini Man  Fail.

~ Go see Midway  Check!  I've been twice so far.  Here are my initial thoughts, and here's a more review-like collection of my thoughts.  TL;DR = I LOVE IT.

~ Go see Charlie's Angels  Fail.

~ Go see The Good Liar  Fail.

~ Go see 
21 Bridges  Fail.

~ Go see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood  Fail so far... but I'm still hoping to see it.

~ Go see Frozen II  Fail so far... but I'm also hoping to catch this one yet.


~ Make a new skirt  Check!  I finished the fall skirt that I bought fabric for last year but never made.  It has cowboys on part of it.  I love it.

~ Help my daughters sew dresses for their dolls  Check!  This is going to be an ongoing project, but we did make jackets for both their big dolls, a skirt and shirt for one, and leggings for the other.

~ Crochet a blanket for my 7-yr-old's bed  Semi-fail.  I've started it, but shoulder and neck pain keeps halting my progress.


~ Try a new bread recipe.  Fail.  I did bake bread, just not from a new recipe.

~ Repaint my living room  Fail.

~ Host an Oktoberfest shindig at our house  Check!  And it was lots of fun.

That's all!  And that's enough ;-)  New to-do list coming soon!

19 comments:

  1. You always read so many books! Way to go! Oh, what did you think of Men in Black: International? The orginal three are some of my families favorites, but I was wary about that one because of no Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones.

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    1. Thanks, MC! Overall, I liked MIB:I quite well. Maybe not as much as MIB and MIB3, but definitely better than MIB2. When I watch it a second time, it may rise in my estimation, we'll see.

      Yes, I was wary to be without Smith & Jones too (and I do miss seeing "Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones" on the posters, which always charmed me), but Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson have excellent rapport too, and I liked seeing them feed off each others' acting energy much like in Thor: Ragnarok. Definitely one to at least watch and see what you think of it.

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  2. I'm definitely going to watch Frozen II; just don't know when/how, yet. And I want to see Charlie's Angels, too.

    I'm still really looking forward to the Snow White book. :)

    A skirt with cowboys on it?!

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    1. (I meant that the skirt sounded cool, btw. After I published the comment I wasn't sure I'd conveyed that. XD)

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    2. Olivia, yeah, I feel like I'll be fine seeing Charlie's Angels on DVD, but I do hope to see Frozen II in the theater. So I'm glad it's doing well and will be around a while yet cuz... I really need to see Midway at least once more.

      And yup! I found brown fabric with cowboys all over it and made a tiered peasant-style skirt with it and some other brown fabrics. I should try to take a photo...

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  3. Frozen 2 IS SO GOOD. I was so pleased with it. I'm gonna see it twice, in fact, if I can manage to get myself to the theater. Elsa's arc in particular is A++.

    I can't wait to read your Snow White story! You've got this! I'm rooting for you <3

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    1. Katie, oh good! I'm glad it's not a disappointment. I do hope to see it later this month. We'll see how life works out, hee.

      Thank you for the encouragement. Part of me is chafing at the bit here, wanting to work and work on it until this draft is done... and part of me is very practical and knows that this is the busiest month of the year, and I'll have less writing time than usual. Just need to be patient with myself, but that is HARD.

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    2. I definitely get that feeling!!! When you've been writing for forever and you just want to be DONE . . . but you also want the finished product to be the best it can be . . .

      *sends motivational chocolate*

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    3. Katie, yes, that's a big part of it. I've got like 6 chapters of brand-new stuff to write next, but WHEN??? And now I've got the cold my family has been passing around, so... ain't gonna work on it this weekend. Argh.

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  4. You got so much done. Gemini Man wasn't amazing it wasn't bad, but I'm not sure it was really good either.

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    1. Thanks, Skye :-) I'm hoping to see Gemini Man on dvd at some point, cuz I do really like Will Smith :-)

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  5. I always love to read your entries. I am a bookworm myself and definitely enojoyed reading all your posts!

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  6. I really love it, Thanks for sharing! Looking forward for more!

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  7. Awesome blog post Hamlette ..Thanks for the share anyway!

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