MELANIE'S PONCHO FINISHED

Well, I did finally finish the poncho on Sunday, just before they left for Iowa.

Surprisingly, it fits just right.

It seemed so big while I was working on it. It was the only craft I worked on all week, even during lunch at work and during the evenings while everyone else was watching movies. But I did get it done.

Now I'm kind of in a wishy-washy, what-should-I-work-on-next state. I did do some on the baby afghan while watching my tape of three episodes of America's Next Top Model and one episode of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.

I've also been trying to finish some of my majorly-overdue books--some so overdue they've been declared "lost". I recently returned Elizabeth Castro's Publishing a Blog with Blogger--got some good hints, though a lot I already knew; Marc Romano's Crossworld: One Man's Journey into America's Crossword Obsession--mostly about the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (I enjoyed this very much); Kathy Reich's Crossbones--a kind of departure since it delved into the possibility of a post-Crucifixion Christ (very interesting); Patricia Rice's Much Ado about Magic--the latest in the Malcolm Family series in which the women have "talents" that might designate them "witches" (loved it and can't wait for the next); Shirley Jump's The Bride Wore Chocolate--another of her funny recipe-a-chapter contemporary romances in which each recipe (in this book, all have chocolate in them and are easy) has relevant character commentary (enjoyable, but the recipes really made me wish I wasn't allergic to chocolate [sigh!]); Jeff Lindsay'sDearly Devoted Dexter--funny and disturbingly gruesome at the same time because the main character/narrator is himself a serial killer of serial killers (really nasty deaths, but still a compelling read); Sarah Andrews' Mother Nature--geologist Em Hansen goes to California and investigates a murder relating to environmental cleanup of old, buried, leaking oil tanks in a flood plain (not a quick read, but very interesting); Jo Beverly's A Most Unsuitable Man--another excellent romance set in the Malloren milieu (hard to put this one down, even though this time period is not a favorite of mine). I just finished Betina Krahn's The Book of the Seven Delights--an exciting, Indiana Jones/The Mummy-type of adventure romance set around the turn-of-the-century in which the heroine (a Librarian!!) searches for the lost Library of Alexandria (loved it! great fun)--and Sam Baker's Fashion Victim--murder during New York's and Milan's Fashion Weeks (very timely and intriguing since I've been watching ANTM 5).

Yvonne and I also watched Revenge of the Sith this week--great special effects, but the story, etc., "eh". Now I'll have to read the book version--which is supposed to fill in some gaps.