1. What was especially good for your mental health this year? Work, curtains haha, traveling, etc
2. What was especially good for your physical health this year? I walk a LOT at work, though my knee is "creaky" now because of that haha
3. What did you learn this year? Various facts I've learned in books and stuff
4. As this year ends, what’s trending to make you optimistic about next year? A fresh start is usually nice! A couple books are coming out that I'm excited about too
5. What’s better now than it was twelve months ago? My Internet..much faster now, yay!

Yesterday was work's annual Christmas party! We were able to bring a +1, so mom could go, yay! We ate food, opened our stockings (all of us brought stocking stuffers..my stocking was very full haha), and did a white elephant gift exchange..I was the second person to go, and the present I chose had two books, a fancy Robert Frost poetry book, a journal with a cool cover, and a scented candle (something to do with rain)..I immediately knew Vicki has brought those, it was definitely her style! Last year I also got her present (The Sleeper and the Spindle)..I must be drawn to them lol. The person next to me stole my gifts, and the next gift I opened was..transmission fluid?! Woooow, so special LOL. Mom knew I really wanted those books back, so she took them and she swapped those with the transmission fluid..so nice of her!! My books were safe then because they had been stolen twice, yay! After that we did the "Reindeer Olympics." Each program got together (GED, Bookstore, etc) and we each did one event. The first was picking up a marshmallow with a straw and putting it on a plate, the second was drawing a snowman blindfolded, the third was tossing rings on a reindeer hat one of us was wearing (I was the reindeer, and Vicki got seven rings on my antlers, so we won that event!) and the last was wearing cups on your hands (like reindeer hooves) and picking up marshmallows (small and large..the small ones were worth two points because they were harder to pick up) and putting them on a plate (I also did that one..it was harder than it sounded! I got 70 something points though, nice!). How fun! The bookstore got 4th place, I think. I also got a $300 Christmas bonus!! Considering we're a nonprofit, that's super generous! The bookstore is open Monday and then I'll be off for about two weeks..I hope I don't get bored!! I saved up on hidden cat games, so that'll help too lol

( a few pics from the night )

Mom said dad had the stomach flu a couple nights ago! Before that, the only time either of us had known him to throw up was when dad and I took the ferry up the Inside Passage in 2012. Very unusual! That is definitely one of the worst sicknesses to have. He's feeling better today, but tired..the stomach flu definitely takes a lot out of you! (Literally and figuratively lol)

14. What’s the Best Gift You’ve Ever Given or Received? The junk journal mom made, a glacier cake, a cat with a sign that says "I love you" that I gave to mom, etc

15. What Annoys You? Being mean for no reason, chewing/popping gum loudly, snoring, etc

16. If the World Was Ending, What Would You Want to Do? Spend time with loved ones

17. What Role Does Procrastination Play in Your Life? I procrastinate a lot haha, especially when it comes to housework :P

18. Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About a Hot-Button Issue? Probably

19. What Are the Best Things You’ve Watched, Read, Heard or Played This Year? The Cormoran Strike series, The Mystery Guest, Stray, "Defying Gravity," etc

20. Was There a Toy You Wanted as a Child but Never Got? I wanted "real" pixie dust..mom gave me a box with stuff inside it (cinnamon, maybe??), but the note said not to open it because all the magic would leak out. She told me when I was older that she didn't want me jumping off the balcony to "test" it..probably a good idea lol

1. What's the present you gave you're most proud of? A TV, a cat statue with an "I love you" necklace, etc
2. What's the most memorable present you've received? A Trans-Siberan Orchestra concert, a bike, etc
3. How many people do you typically buy presents for at once, at the most presents-ish part of the year? A few
4. What sort of presents do you usually most enjoy receiving? Books, gift cards, shirts, etc
5. How do you wrap presents? Paper or bag? Sellotape or just folding magic? Ribbon? Gift tag? Other? I prefer paper bags, because I'm terrible at wrapping haha

I did go to work's Christmas party, which was ok..not many people participated in the White Elephant gift exchange, which was weird. Amazingly, there was nothing coffee related! I stole a little cat tent from someone..I hope Abby likes it!

( 9. Have you ever actually punched someone (not counting a friendly jab to the shoulder)? Have you ever been punched? )

I do a fun video survey! Hope it's not too long lol. One day I won't stutter when saying "post," but apparently not today. :P I thought I said it better the second time, I didn't realize I struggled that much till I watched the video again! *glares at word* Hopefully you have fun watching anyway :P

Mom and Ryan and I went blueberry picking on Murphy Dome again this weekend..there were still lots of berries left (they're really good in milkshakes!) and I always love the views up there. <3 Jo also had friends over, to celebrate his and another friend's birthday. I'd never met her before, or any of her friends, so I was kind of panicking again, but Jo's friends that I knew were all sitting by the fire, so I joined them and was fine (and in a better mood haha). I was definitely tired at the end of the day :P

Yesterday Donald came over for CDs again, and Abby went to say hi and explored the hallway. We talked and then I went back inside..I heard a faint meow and was like "huh, that's weird.." and then heard it again a few minutes later and then realized Abby was still in the hallway!!! OMG I felt so bad haha, and apologized to her, but she yelled at me anyway LOL..oops :P

( more 9th grade journal entries )

28. What do you usually drink with breakfast? Orange juice

29. How many closets does your house have? Three

30. What year is your car? I don't have a car

31. What’s the largest animal you’ve ever had as a pet? A dog

Today's trivia: The Northern cardinal is the most popular state bird. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia all picked it as their favorite species

Today was our Christmas party at work! We had a contest to see who could wear the most "festive" outfit, and this is what mom and I wore!

Everyone LOVED mine lol, Donna actually put someone on hold while on the phone to tell me how awesome it was haha. I am now the Tree Elf. :D I bet mine would have won if Holly hadn't dressed up as a Christmas tree, with a really cool tree hat with presents and stuff and she was wearing a tree skirt over her shirt. It was really cool and creative! I was in the top five though, which is still cool lol. It was fun seeing everyone's outfits! Hopefully I can get the picture of all of us together. We also did the White Elephant gift exchange like usual..I got a box of Ferro Rocher chocolate. Elias got a dog cookie jar and a Chicago Bears shirt..as soon as he saw it he tried tearing off his shirt, and he was SO proud when he finally got to wear it..he walked around babbling and pointing at it and sticking out his chest haha! Elias is so fun..I can't believe he'll turn two already on the 24th! It wasn't exactly the same without Paulette, but it was still festive and fun :)

Yesterday the bookstore made over SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS!! That's incredible! Probably one of our best non-event sale day! I remember the days when $300 was a big deal, now we get disappointed when we end the day at "just" $300. :P It's fun working when it's busy and selling lots of good books :D

( December 11-14 )

A good way for new and old friends to learn more about me!

•THIRTEEN RANDOM THINGS YOU LIKE•
1. Reading in bed
2. Coming across a one-of-a-kind book at work or other used bookstores that I'd never find anywhere else
3. Warm paper fresh from the copier
4. The mountains on a clear night, with lots of stars
5. Putting my ear on a purring cat and feeling so happy lol
6. A smoothie on a hot day
7. Walking home when there's big flakes of snow falling and it sounds so peaceful and quiet
8. The feeling of excitement when taking off in an airplane
9. When animals get really excited when they see me
10. Thunderstorms after a long hot summer day
11. The smell of a new book
12. Going across a bridge
13. Music with epic choirs, like Dies Irae and O Fortuna

•TWELVE MOVIES YOU LIKE•
1. LOTR: Return of the King
2. Interstellar
3. Cutthroat Island
4. Twister
5. V for Vendetta
6. Mulan
7. POTC: The Curse of the Black Pearl
8. Wall-e
9. The Great White Silence
10. Narnia
11. K19: The Widowmaker
12. The Avengers
( the rest )

Today was the Fairbanks Geocachers Christmas party..always fun lol. I love how we all share crazy caching adventures with each other :P

1. You know those delicatessens that name sandwiches after famous people? What would be the ingredients of the sandwich named after you? Uhhh..turkey, onions and cheese??
2. What’s your favorite part of staying in a hotel? The novelty of being on vacation, etc
3. What was the last book you read, and how was it? Frozen in Time, about WW2 airplanes that crashed in Greenland. One group survived and were stuck on the ice for like 3 months!! The people trying to rescue them crashed and died, and a guy led a modern expedition to find the plane. It's pretty good!
4. What’s something super-unhealthy you’ve recently eaten? A cupcake
5. What do you do with all those Christmas cards with photos of friends and their kids? I don't really get those, but I would keep them

Today's was work's annual Christmas party..usually we do a White Elephant but this time we did it differently. We sat in chairs across from each other and had to pass the presents in the direction the story Paulette was reading said (like "grandma LEFT the house and went ACROSS the street"). It wasn't really that fun to me, but other people seemed to like it. I definitely prefer White Elephants. We opened the gift we ended up with one by one and got to trade them at the end if you wanted to. I got a really nice green and blue fluffy scarf..the person who brought it told me she made it!! That is SO cool, that makes it extra special :D

( oh yeah, and worst journey in the world #4 LOL )

Today was the Literacy Council's annual Christmas party..the gift exchange is always fun haha. Except there were annoying gifts like chocolate covered coffee beans (EW) and stuff like that. The one I chose had coffee and candy and stuff in it too..not impressed. After the party was over a guy was nice enough to trade the books he got with me, and one of my coworkers gave me the "Alaska Mountains" shirt she got (she got PJ pants too, but she wanted to keep those. I really wanted the shirt anyway though). Still fun though :)

( next meme: christmas )

Today was the Literacy Council's Christmas party..it was fun like always haha. There were a bunch of kids' toys for the White Elephant gift exchange this year..everyone thought that was hilarious haha. I ended up with this snowman picture holder thing and a little picture frame..glacier pics are going in there. ;) After tomorrow the bookstore is closed till Thursday..long weekend!

This was today's weather in the newspaper haha: "It's so cold, even the Apocalypse won't come near us. Score one for Fairbanks winters" :P

( 119. Skull )

Today I was at work in the back with the other cleaners and suddenly Paulette comes back and is like "3 minute movie warning!" and we were like..there's a movie? Haha. I asked which movie and she said it was The Gods Must Be Crazy. I was like "OMG I love that movie!!" haha. It felt like movie days at school haha. We watched it till the disk stopped working. :P We also had our Christmas party too. There was food but I wasn't really hungry and most of it looked gross anyway. I don't understand why people don't bring things like rice and beans and bring disgusting things like potato salad. ALWAYS at a gathering there's that stuff. Ugh. We had our fun gift exchange too haha. The first person went and opened the gift she chose and it was an awesome warm blanket! I SO wanted it but it was stolen the maximum amount of times before it was my turn (too bad I was #21 :P). The person sitting next to me told me she was actually the one that made it and she had more made in her shed..she said she'd give me one when she unfreezes her shed door haha. Sweeet. The first give I chose was an ice scraper! Niceee. It definitely is useful..except I don't have a car! Heh. Luckily it was stolen from me and next I got a Christmas tree with a scene on it. THAT was stolen from me too and my last one was a tin filled with chocolates and a couple cookies. Someone gave this toy toilet thing that I think was like a piggy bank which made a flushing sound..that was definitely a hit haha. It was kinda too loud for me though..ah well

( 17. A photo of one of your classes )

Arlene, a volunteer

( more )

Would you rather have to eat 100 hot dogs in one hour or 1,000 French fries in one hour? The fries

Today's trivia: The busiest stretch of highway in the US is New York's George Washington Bridge