Well, here it is – the beginning of another year. Wonder what this one will have in store for me?

I managed to still be awake last night and see in the new year, which still has me boggled. I’m usually a-snooze on the couch long before that.

Not feeling very motivated so far. Got a roast into the crock pot for supper and have had my first coffee of the day. Soon will be starting the dismantling of the Christmas tree and removing all the other festive decorations.

And no video clip for the “Death of my Christmas Tree.” Only upbeat things.

2011 has arrived in Scotland and the rest of the UK among other parts of the world but not for about another four hours here. My plan was to watch the fireworks and other Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland via web cam but it wasn’t to be. Too many other people with the same idea. Oh well.

At least my haggis hunting web cams were working so saw a wee bit of the Fireball Festival in Stonehaven and the concert in George Square in Glasgow.

And, horror of horrors, I actually managed to get some writing done! Woo-hoo!!!

Yup, I did. Here he is. Isn’t he cute? He’s soft and cuddly and the dog thinks he’s his toy. Not on your Nelly! My hippo isn’t a toy. He’s an eyeglass holder. You put your glasses in his mouth. And on his tummy, he has a pouch where he keeps a micro fiber cleaning cloth.

Here he is… a real cutey pa-tootey!

Oh I got a hippopotamus for Christmas

One who wears glasses like me, too

He’s cute and cuddly and pink and gray

Something I’ll count on every single day

Oh I got a hippopotamus for Christmas

And my dog wants to take him away

Got my nails done on Christmas Eve and let the girl ‘have her way with me’ as far as my new nail design went. This time I got snowflakes and glitter and my French manicure has a scalloped edge and hearts and is on the diagonal.

I think they turned out really well.

Wish everyone has a Happy Christmas and that Santa was good to one and all.

It’s taken a bit longer to get this post up than I thought it would, mostly because I couldn’t get the video in the proper format to upload. Click on the link below to view.

tree movie

Like it or not, whether I’m ready or not, Christmas is quickly approaching. Way too quickly. No motivation, desire, anticipation this year at all.

I spent last weekend printing, collating, punching and binding my homemade calendars that I do every year for my family here and abroad and wrote Christmas cards to go with them. That’s been the extent of my preparations for this year.

Last night when I got home from work, I printed labels for my domestic cards. I’m off today so the plan is to put the tree up and if time permits, get a bit of shopping done while I’m “alone”. But we’ll see how it goes.

I cancelled my nail appointment last Saturday because of being unwell (I wonder how long the cold/flu germs will live on those calendars I did?) so re-scheduled for after work on Tuesday. Of course, it picked Tuesday to snow. I made it there in time so there were no worries on that front. I was going to just get my usual French manicure done but the gal who did my nails insisted on giving me a design. So… here it is.

This is the original orientation of the photo I gook of my hand. I’m not sure how well the design shows up on some of my nails.

Hmmm… I should look pretty cute assembling and decorating the tree with a pair of blue mechanic’s latex gloves on. And why wear them? Who wants to damage these beautiful nails?

I don’t.

My favourite time of year. The Scotsman with the aid of various webcams send you out on a virtual hunt looking for the elusive haggii. Hunting season starts on Nov 30 (St Andrew’s Day) and ends on Jan 25 (Robbie Burns Day).  It’s great fun and provides hours of entertainment. And you even have the chance to win prizes!

Click on the link, create your personal user account and happy hunting! http://haggishunt.scotsman.com/

When you see one of these critters, click on the blue “I saw a haggis” button to the right of the picture to notify Farquhar Farquharson, the Head Ghillie of your sighting. Whilst hunting, a dram or two of fine single malt helps keep out the chill.

I have to admit, I’m not the most conscientious person when it comes to writing something on my blog every day. Mind you, I can say the same for writing anything every day. I’m excluding work because there are a certain number of things I must document on a daily basis. I’m talking about creative writing. Using my imagination. There are times when my creative thinking comes in fits and starts and other times when it doesn’t come at all.

But I did manage to get some scenes revised… plot bunnies corralled and such from earlier chapters of my novel. That might sound like revising to some but in order to do it, I had a lot of “new” writing in there. And I’ve got some ideas percolating for another scene I have to write for further along.

I thought when I wrote the manuscript for my second novel – The Anniversary – I was weird because I wrote it as it came to me. If a scene presented itself, I wrote it and worried about how and where it was going later on. However, after attending the workshop a little over a week ago, I found I’m not so strange after all. That was one of the things mentioned to keep you motivated. Don’t try to write linear. If an idea comes to you, get it down and worry about the small stuff later.

Something else that was mentioned is when you have those noctural inspirations, rather than try to write them on paper which you’d never be able to read come morning (especially if you tried writing in the dark), write your thoughts in the air. Supposedly, this will help keep it in your head. Unfortunately, since then I’ve not had a good nocturnal brainwave to be able to test this theory on.