Well, I haven’t blogged since last Christmas eve!!! OMG, I’ve missed my blog so much, and more importantly, my reading!!

There’s a *really* good reason for my hiatus, though. =) My wedding was on January 31st 2010!! Yayyy!!! Congratulations to me! =)

So I’m not the most organized of people, though that’s changing, I hope, and one month before the wedding, there was a lot of last minute details we needed to finalize, but that’s normal. What wasn’t so great was that there were also some last minute changes, coz of cancellations and conflicts, etc.

I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say, I was very stressed out and busy for the whole month before the wedding, to the point where I didn’t even have the mood or the concentration to read!!!!

Can you imagine? Me??! The girl who *always*, and I mean *always*, has a book in her hand and never goes anywhere without a book, and in fact, never goes a day without reading at least a couple of pages no matter how busy she is.

I went a whole *month and a half* without reading!!!!

I lost my mojo, and I felt totally lost without it. That’s how stressful my wedding was! I have *never* in my whole entire life, gone so long without reading! And it wasn’t even that I wanted to read but didn’t have the time to, I totally didn’t even feel like picking up a book! When I did, I read the same page 10 times before realizing that nothing was registering at all!

OMG, I’m so glad I’m only ever gonna have this one wedding! If I ever marry again, I’m gonna elope! =P

After the wedding, I was so out of whack that I still couldn’t read a book! It wasn’t until only five days ago that I finally got into a book!

Luckily, I had things to keep me busy because our friends from Canada came for our wedding, and right after the wedding, we became their tour guides for 10 days before they went back to Canada. And after they went home, it was Chinese New Year, so I had that to keep me busy too.

I’m so glad I finally got my reading groove back, but let me tell you, I’ve never felt so un-me in my whole life! Betty isn’t Betty if she doesn’t read. =(

Well, I’m finally Betty again, and I’m finally reading again, and I’m finally blogging again! I can’t wait to get back in the blogging groove! I’ve missed a lot!

But I’m so glad to be back! =)

 

1. 13 things I want for Xmas
2. 13 of my favorite Xmas songs
3. 13 of my favorite Xmas movies
4. 13 things to do on Xmas
5. 13 things NOT to do on Xmas
6. 13 things for people who don't celebrate Xmas to do
7. 13 most memorable Xmas
8. 13 funny Xmas stories
9. 13 ways to celebrate a tropical Xmas
10. 13 ways I want to celebrate a white Xmas in Canada next year
11. Presents I got my dad for his last 13 birthdays (on Xmas)
12. 13 significant things that happened this year
13. 13 things to look forward to in the new year
    

Somehow I seem to have a lot of closer friends who are born in December than any other month! (Or maybe it just seems that way because there are so many presents to buy in December! Yikes!) So anyway, here are 13 December Birthdays!

Dec 2: Rob, a very close friend of mine who I’ve never met IRL!

Dec 4: Seng, an old and dear friend

Dec 4: Samantha, an old friend I’d lost touch with but have recently found again!

Dec 7: Eddy, a very talented musician friend

Dec 9: Lone, my dearest husband

Dec 13: Jason, one of my bestest friends ever!

Dec 15: Sanjiv, a student of Lone’s

Dec 20: Riri, one of the sweetest friends we have who’d recently gotten married

Dec 20: Sandra, Rob’s wife, whom I’ve also never met IRL but feel like I know so well!

Dec 21: Ceaser, the guy who helped bring Lone and I together

Dec 24: Tati, the wife of one of Lone’s bestest friends

Dec 25: My father! Born on Christmas!

Dec 29: Teody, a musician friend who taught us some very valuable music-related stuff.

Are you a December baby too?

Dear Enemy by Jean Webster

Dear Enemy is the sequel to Jean Webster’s more popular book, Daddy-Long-Legs. Daddy-Long-Legs is one of my most favorite books, and if you’ve read Daddy-Long-Legs and loved it, you’ll love this book too.

Daddy-Long-Legs featured Judy Abbott, an orphan from the John Grier Home, who was sponsored by a very rich and generous alumni, to go to college. The whole of the book then consists of letters that Judy writes to her anonymous benefactor about her life and her friends in college.

Among her closest friends is Sally McBride, who is the protagonist of Dear Enemy. Sally is asked to be the director of the John Grier Home after Judy’s husband bought it over, and this book tells the story of how Sally takes over the running of the orphanage, falls in love with the kids, and falls in love, all in letters that Sally writes to various people.

There is a certain charm to the way Jean Webster tells her stories, and although some people don’t like epistolary novels, I think these two books are among the good ones. Some epistolary novels are hard to read because of the way they’re written, but both Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy are written in short and witty chapters, with illustrations to boot!

Daddy-Long-Legs has long been a favorite since I was a little girl, and now I’ve added Dear Enemy to my exclusive list of favorite books as well.

The Music Lesson by Victor L. Wooten

If music was a religion, and some people would say it is, *this* book would be its bible!

I have never heard of Victor L. Wooten, and it was my husband, who is a musician, who bought this book.

Initially, I thought that it was some kind of autobiography of how Wooten grew spiritually as a musician, and I wasn’t really very interested in reading another musician’s autobiography, especially since I haven’t even heard of this particular musician.

Well, thing is, this book isn’t really an autobiography, or maybe it is, but you find yourself really wondering how true it is. It’s believable, yet so incredible that it you have to wonder at it. There’s so much in this book, about music and how to live your life fully and completely, and the more I read, the more I wonder, how could anyone live without music?!

The phrase “no music, no life” is true as far as I’m concerned, and I believe anyone, not just musicians, who love music should read this book. It is beautifully written, but I lack the skill to express how beautiful it is. There’s a lot to the book, I can’t describe it, I can only urge everyone I know to read it and live a richer and more musical life!

I have a lot of interests and hobbies, because I think there are a lot of fun things to do out there. I may not do them all at once, but all these 13 has been a hobby or an interest at one time or another.

1. Reading and collecting books!!
2. Singing and writing music
3. Crochet and knitting
4. Writing snail-mail letters to penpals
5. Cooking
6. Fishing
7. Palm reading
8. Tarot reading
9. Sketching and painting
10. Watching TV shows and reality TV
11. Learning Chinese
12. Looking for fairies in the garden
13. Making hand-made cards

The Book Depository is offering more than 11,000 free ebooks for a limited time! I’ve been downloading like crazy the last couple of days!!

Here are 13 (out of like a thousand!) of the books I downloaded:

	Dear Enemy by Jean Webster This is the sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, one of my favorite books in the world! I’ve been looking for this book a long time, and I found it free! How cool is that! They also have Daddy-Long-Legs if you want to download it.
	Edmund Dantes by Edmund Flagg A sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo which I didn’t know existed! I love the Count of Monte Cristo, and I’m thrilled to find this! The Count of Monte Cristo is also available for download.
	The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas I loved the movie, I fell in love with the Musketeers, but I’ve never read the book. Maybe I’ll love it even more! =)
	The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan This is one of those books that you always hear about and kinda know what it’s about, but never actually read. Now I finally got me a copy and I’m going to see what the fuss is about.
	Fanny Hill by John Cleland Banned book, never seen a single copy of it anywhere, heard so much about it, finally found a free copy! ‘Nuff said! =)
	Five Children and It I’d never heard of it until the movie came out. Haven’t watched the movie, but found the book and got curious.
	Les Miserables by Victor Hugo I got a copy years and years and years ago, from a very generous bookcrosser while I was in Melbourne. Unfortunately, I lost the book coming back from there, and haven’t been able to replace it until now!
	Paradise Lost by John Milton A book that everyone seems to know about and talk about, but I’d never read it. It doesn’t seem easy to read either, but I’m curious!
	Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin I vaguely remember hearing this title somewhere, but the author’s name isn’t familiar and I don’t know what the book’s about.
	The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang And also the Red, Green, Yellow, Crimson, Brown, etc. Fairy Books!!!! These books were featured in a blog I visited a while ago, but I never thought that I’d actually be able to get my hands on them. Now I have! =)
	The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope I don’t know what it’s about, and to be honest, I was never interested, but finding free books is one of the best ways to open yourself to books that you’d normally not read!
	Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche Again, not a book I’d normally be interested in, but I’d heard about it and thought I’d try it. Since there are free books galore!! =)
	Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe A classic I’ve been wanting to read a long time. I still don’t know what it’s about, but so many great reviews can’t be wrong!

And these are just 13 of them! I’ve got lots more, and there are lots more free ebooks waiting at The Book Depository! Go download like crazy now! ;-)