Long Weekends are the best

[linsell_farm]

I have officially made it through another Christmas Rush at work and am now very much enjoying a long weekend doing whatever I feel like.  A good part of today was spent sleeping or lying on my couch reading fan fiction.  Eventually, my desire to get back to posting things on here kicked in, so here I am.

I am currently working on another, longer (4 part) post but that gave rise to my immediate gratification trait, so here's a quick, point-form post to catch you guys all up on what's been going on in my life.  

• I had a lovely Christmas Eve with my brother and his family.  I got to play the piano and even did a little duet with my niece.  It's impossible for me to hear Heart & Soul and not join in.  We had a big feast of Chinese food (which is a tradition) and then I was put in the spotlight (not my favourite place) while I opened all my gifts from them. 
• Here's a picture I took before leaving:

• A shout out to skylar_d3 for being the kind, generous, lovely person that she is. When she learned that I was working on Christmas Day, she promptly packaged up the turkey dinner that her & her husband had enjoyed and drove over to my apartment to deliver it.  She simply didn't want me to miss out.  You really did make my day, B [and there was enough food there to feed me for several days].  
• I've been rewatching S4 of TVD over and over again, in an attempt to get a grasp on my thoughts about the sire bond.  I'm starting to figure it out, but still nowhere near being able to articulate them.  I have been reading a fair amount of all human, alternate universe DE fan fiction and also found one today that is based in canon that I quite liked.  I plan on doing a fic rec post in the near future with more details
• My To Do List for the next couple of days includes a veritable mountain of laundry,  grocery shopping, cleaning my apartment from stem to stern, sorting through my clothes and donating some to The Diabetes Foundation, clearing out excess electronic devices
  
  
  
• My canine friend, Willy, has left the building and is happily at his new home.  His owner, Janne, is leaving the country in January to travel several different places (including Atlanta, Buenos Aires, Stockholm, Madrid, and Barcelona).  I will miss having Willy around but know that he will be well taken care of at Donna's.  
• Here he is on his last day happily lying in my lap:

• Despite my ingrained denial, winter has descended on my city.  :( 
• First, exhibit A (taken November 26th)

and exhibit B (taken today):

• Notice any difference???  
• My back does not appreciate trudging through all this white stuff before the street/sidewalk crews have been around
• And for further evidence, here is the view from my kitchen window:

• I'm enjoying S10 of NCIS very much, when I get time to watch it.  If anyone knows of a site that might have all the S10 episodes, please feel free to share.  I've tried Let Me Watch This, but they only have much earlier seasons available.  Someday, I'll have enough money to get Netflix and can watch all kinds of TV that way.  
• Between TVD re-watches, I've been having a Jane Austen Festival of sorts.  I've watched the BBC Series of Pride & Prejudice and the movie of it and come to the conclusion that I prefer the movie.  The series is a more direct adaptation of the book, but I felt the movie conveyed more of the emotional content.  I preferred Matthew MacFadyen's Darcy to Colin Firth's (although I do enjoy Colin's work in other moview).  I've also watched Sense & Sensibility and still love Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet in those roles.  Hugh Grant was awesome, as well.  I plan on reading Emma, as well and would love to find a copy of that movie, as well.  
• Nina's red dress in Shanghai was just stunning on her!!  Also, her & Ian continue to entrance me with their adorableness and harmony.  I simply love when Ian is in protective mode.*sigh*.  Also, they both looked freakin' amazing after a 15 hour flight!!  First class or not, that has to take a lot out of a person (not that I have any experience with this), and they came out looking incredible (as per usual).   One of these days, maybe my obsession with them might result in my attempting an RPF story (but for the moment, I can't get past my own internal censor).