Snapshot from Along the Broken Road: December 2011

A photo of me:


1) Candle scents this month:
Hollyberry. Cranberry. Autumn Fields. Hot Apple Pie. Mistletoe. Hazelnut Coffee. Mountain Berry. Christmas Cookie. Christmas Cupcake. Christmas Rose (tried this one but it smelled more subtle until I lit it; we last about ten minutes until I had to blow it out & toss it--something that happens only rarely, but makes me glad I only buy votives unless I *know* it's a scent I really love). Be Jolly. Deck the Halls.

2) What I am reading this month:
I finished "Atlas Shrugged" (Ayn Rand) -- finally!! -- and started "Love in the Time of Cholera" (Gabriel Garcia Marquez).

3) Top three songs I was drawn to:
"A Baby Changes Everything," Faith Hill. "A Cradle In Bethlehem," Vince Gill. "O Little Town of Bethlehem," Sarah McLachlan.

4) Movies I saw:
Santa Clause 2 - nothing special, but it was on in the background while we trimmed the tree. Elf. Holiday Inn. Home Alone. A Christmas Carol (George C Scott). Disney's A Christmas Carol (the full-length animated one, not the short Mickey one). The Polar Express. A Christmas Story. The Nativity Story. It's a Wonderful Life. True Grit. And the standard Christmas shows: "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Dr Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

5) Favorite tv moments of the month:
The one that stands out most in my mind is Sore Loser: Parenthood (season 3, episode 9). That was, without a doubt, such believable acting that I actually forgot that it was acting at all. Dark Was the Night: Grey's Anatomy (season 8, episode 9) was very intense, even beyond an "action" level. I mean, there was plenty of intensity from the action but the *emotional* intensity blew even that away. And This Is the Way the World Ends: Dexter (season 6, episode 12) packed one *heck* of a cliffhanger punch!

6) Something yummy I made:
My Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Sandwich No-Bake Cookies absolutely blew. my. mind. It just doesn't make sense that something that simple should be *that* tasty.

7) Restaurants where I ate:
Columbia Harbour House (Magic Kingdom). Via Napoli (Italy pavilion - EPCOT). Panera.

8) Five things I am loving this month:
1. Google Chrome and the fact that I can sync it up between computers so all my bookmarks are available to me no matter where I use the Chrome browser! 2. Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich No-Bake Cookies - seriously, someone needs to take these away from me before I weigh a million pounds. 3. The way the lights on the Christmas tree reflect on the silver garland I have hanging around the window. 4. Feeling extremely small and insignificant while standing underneath a sequoia. 5. The outstanding customer service I received from United Airlines when my flight back from California proved to be a bit...challenging.

9) A goal I had for this month:
To finish Atlas Shrugged - successful!

10) This month I looked forward to:
Ten days off from work.

11) Something that made me cry this month:
Christmas music. There was something about my Christmas playlist on my iPod that made the words catch in my throat as I sang them. Perhaps it was that I wasn't just singing along with words that are familiar, some for as long as I can remember, but that I really soaked in what they were saying. It was not an uncommon sight to see me driving with damp eyes.

12) A photo I took this month:

This is a grove of sequoias, on the Congress Trail, in Sequoia National Forest, called "The Senate." Not that the photo possibly does their enormity justice...