"life goes on...."

Wellsies.  How have y'all been?  My life has been just a little short of crazy lately, but still pretty awesome.  : )

I did a photo shoot of this little cutie pie the other day.  Care to see more?

Lately, I've been studying for my first CLEP test with CollegePlus - Analyzing and Interpreting Literature.  I've been studying for it for literally months - partially because I could never get it scheduled, partially because I had to take a month off so we could work on our basement (it looks FAB!!), and partially just cuz.  Life, y'all.

Anywhoz, I fiiiiiiinally took it today.  And I PASSED!!  WOOT!!!  I am now in BEACH MODE.  We're leaving on Monday, and I'm sooooo excited.  I got a million books at the library, so, combined with a few I'm re-reading (or, in the case of The Living Room by Robert Whitlow, bought about a month ago, but haven't been able to read yet cuz of school), I'm going to have a LOT of fun.  We're also planning several movie marathons - ALL of the Lord of the Rings movies (extended, of course), plus a few new ones, including Patriot Games, starring Harrison Ford and Sean Bean.  Can't wait!  We've been listening to the soundtrack for several months now, and if the movie is anything like the soundtrack, it's going to be AWESOME.

During my vacation at the beach, I'm hopefully going to have a lot of time to blog, so you should see at least two NYC-related posts next week.  One will be for Day Two, and one is... well, that's for me to know and you to find out.  : )

As I type this, I'm half-watching Melody Time.  I was doing research for my new novel (eep... so excited about the way it's heading!), and found out that it came out in 1948, which is the year the novel starts in.  I needed a movie for two main characters to go see, and picked Melody Time.  Remembering it was in our collection of movies in the newly-finished basement, I took it upstairs and have tried to watch it for a while now.  So far, Nut-Nut is enjoying it.  As the opening credits rolled, I found out that Roy Rogers is in it!  YAY!!  Can't wait to hear him!

Speaking of my new novel....  : )  I'm really enjoying doing research for it.  It's so much fun to watch movies, find pictures of people dressed in just the cutest outfits, and listen to music - all set in the late 40's.  I enjoyed researching ice dancing for Becoming Nikki, but I think researching for this novel is going to be even more fun!!  A lot of Arwen's favorite singers and actors were alive and in movies during this time period - Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, etc - so she's more than happy to watch and listen along with me.  : )

I've also found a lot of blogs lately that I'm really enjoying reading!  However, if you guys know of any writer blogs that you've enjoyed reading, I'd love to hear about them!  I can always use more inspiration.  : )

Ooh.  Nearly forgot.  My sister, Arwen, is turning twenty in September (sooooo oooold....), and, after much deliberation, has decided to have a Jane Austen Murder Mystery Tea Party.  *nods*  It's true.  She's inviting about fifteen people, but there are only ten characters, so she had some trouble deciding who should be who for a while.  We've got it all sorted out now, though.  Can't wait to tell you guys how it goes!  I'm playing Mrs. Bennet.....  So that'll be interesting......  *wink*  There's also Mr. Bennet (duuuuuuh), Lizzie, Darcy, Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (who Arwen is portraying, cuz she's the host), Emma Woodhouse, Frank Churchill (heehee...), Marianne Dashwood, and Willoughby (heehee.....).  Everybody is going to be dressed up in period attire, so it's definitely going to be interesting.  I can post pictures, if you want!

I've also been listening to a lot of great music on YouTube lately - studying, y'all, studying - but I don't think I'll post any cuz I have a little something in the works.  : )  It's been interesting trying to find videos the actors who were in the musicals I saw on Broadway.  I found out that the annual Broadway in Bryant Park show was the week after I was there....  Figures....  *sniff*  With each video I watch from it, though, I'm like, "I WAS THERE!!!"  : )

Well, I think that's all I wanted to talk about.  I should have called this another Random Post, but I like the title I have.  Cuz it's from this song.

(Speaking of!!  I heard Aaron's character, Mike, got shot in one of the latest Graceland episodes!!  Noooooooo!!  Is he okay?  People who have seen it, PLEASE TELL ME HE'S OKAY!!)

I guess that's it.  I'll tell y'all a random quote that's been making me laugh for the past few weeks (thanks, Kate!), and let you go back to your normal lives.

"You illiterate twit!"
"I am not illiterate!  My parents were married!!!"

~Eowyn~