Ending My Autumn To-Do List

December is here!  December is here!  I've waited a whole year for this month!  And man, it has been a looooooong year, hasn't it?

This picture is brought to you by my getting to go out and see Casablanca (1942) in the theater with some friends last month.  We all dressed up in as close to period-correct clothing and so on as we could.  (This picture also brought to you by the Keto diet, thanks to which I have dropped 15 of the pounds I picked up after my gall bladder removal a few years ago.  I finally have a jawline again.)

Anyway.  Because December is here, that means it's time to wrap up my autumn to-do list and see what I got checked off.  All book and movie titles linked to my reviews where applicable.  All pictures are my own, and most are from my Instagram account.

~ Write a short story Semi-fail  A couple days ago, I did get an idea for a short story sequel to One Bad Apple, and I've started it, but it's not nearly finished.

~ Start writing my Beauty and the Beast retelling Check!  It doesn't have a real title yet, though I call it Schoen und Stark just because I hate writing things without a title.  But I know that won't be its final title.  I've got three chapters done and will start on the fourth as soon as I finish the aforementioned short story.

~ Read Roverandom by J. R. R. Tolkien Check!  It was enchanting -- my review is here.

~ Participate in Heidi's read-along of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien Check!  It's still going on, and I'm still participating.

~ Finish reading Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome aloud to my kids Fail.  Other books distracted us, plus we've had less reading time the last few weeks.  But we're still working on it!

~ Read 1 other title for my Classics Club list Check!  In fact, I read SEVEN more classics!  They were:

• In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
• A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
• A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshall
• If Only They Could Talk by James Herriot
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

~ Read 7 other books off my TBR shelves  Check!  I read TWELVE books off my TBR shelves besdies Roverandom.  They were:

• In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
• Crossfire Trail by Louis L'Amour
• To Tame a Land by Louis L'Amour
• A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
• A Man Called Peter by Catherine Marshall
• The Father Hunt by Rex Stout
• Over the Moon by Natalie Lloyd
• Aslan's World by Angus Menuge
• A Very Bookish Thanksgiving by Kelsey Bryant, Sarah Holman, J. Grace Pennington, Rebekah Jones, and Amanda Tero 
• Tales of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov
• Come in, We're Closed by Tyler Bramwell
• Marsalis on Music by Wynton Marsalis

~ Read 2 books from the library Check!  I read three: 

• Mr. Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker
• Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
• Call for the Dead by John le Carré

~ Read at least 1 book each month about/by someone who is not white Check!  I read:

• Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
• All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
• Marsalis on Music by Wynton Marsalis

~ Watch 4 movies off my TBW shelves Fail.  I only watched three: Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Mamma Mia! (2008), and season 3 of Leverage (2010).

~ Finish the blanket I'm crocheting for my 8-yr-old's bed Check!  I'm so pleased with it, and so is she:

~ Make a new fall wreath Check!  I love how it turned out, too:

~ Go hiking Check!  We went hiking while on our staying-in-Virginia vacation this fall.

~ Toast marshmallows Check!  We did that on our vacation around a fire pit, and we've toasted them in our fireplace too.

That's all, folks!  I'll make a winter to-do list and share it soon, but for now, I'll leave you with this picture of my hairdo from my evening at the movies last month because I did it myself with no help, which can be hard when your hair is 4 feet long, but it came together at last: