Doctor Who 9.8

Waking up in a surreal room, Clara quickly assesses the situation and begins to take control of her body back from the Zygon running around posing as her. The Doctor and Osgood, having parachuted to safety, find themselves in dangerous territory as they begin to piece the puzzle together and try to locate Clara. The Doctor hopes she's still alive.

The majority of the Zygons would much rather live in peace while a small group of rebels, led by Bonnie {Clara's double} have other plans. They know of the Osgood box and go hunting for it. A battle of wits between Bonnie and Clara ensues with amusing dialogue but ultimately, the Doctor has layer upon layer of tricks up his sleeve with this little treaty and talks down the tantrum-throwing child. He's seen the devastation of war, herd the cries of children and seen death in so many forms. He's pressed the button and destroyed his own people. With such a heartache of pain constantly with him, why would he let Bonnie carry the same burden?

This was a very interesting episode, filled with fun little twists {though not necessarily unpredictable} and his big speech at the end was great, except for the very annoying fact that taking great gasps of breath in between each word really took the thunder out of it for us. Please don't try that one again.

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas Book Review

Title: Get Yourself Organized for Christmas

Author: Kathi Lipp

Genre: Nonfiction, Christmas, Organization, Self-Help, Humorous, Handy Holiday Guide

Plot: Christmas comes around once a year and you eagerly look forward to it, reminding the stuffed stockings and glorious feast from your childhood, and the looks of joy on your children's faces from last year when they unwrapped the perfect gift beautifully wrapped by you, followed by a delicious meal with all your relatives and perhaps a memorable board game or two. But as the festive day draws nearer, you remember that it took you hours to find those perfect pricy gifts, you bought three times the amount of wrapping paper you needed because you couldn't find last year's stash {and then you found it the day after all the presents were wrapped}, and that delicious meal took all your energy to create but you still forgot the apple pie you wanted to make by hand with little dainty decorations baking into the crust. And for some reason, only one side of your house was lit up.

If you find yourself dreading another year like that or maybe just the whole season in general, Kathi Lipp's new book is exactly the dose of reality and encouragement that you need. Filled with twenty-one easy to understand {and more importantly, follow} projects to start now that will help your Christmas go off smoothly, this book will be dog-eared and highlighted in minutes and kept close at hand every year till you have the routine down. And even then, you'll still keep this book nearby because it might very well have saved you from another disastrous unorganized Christmas. From online shopping to present shipping to meal planning and stocking stuffers, this book covers everything and then some. And it'll make a great present for that bookworm friend of yours.

Likes/Dislikes: I loved this book! I love being organized and getting a jumpstart on Christmas is something I'm trying to do this year, so when I got the chance to review this book, I jumped at it. While I figured it would be a good idea to round up needed items such as tape and wrapping paper, and do the present shopping and shipping early, it had never occurred to me to meal plan for the whole month or make a Christmas binder of all my Christmas-related stuff, right down to secret hiding places and favorite recipes. I will definitely be buying a hard copy of this book {partly because it's so great and partly because the format I reviewed it in was a little funky}. There's plenty of great tips and ideas in here to make anyone's Christmas a smooth peaceful event.

Rating: G- 14 and up for reading level. Highly recommended for all ages!

Date Review Written: November 2nd, 2015

I received a free copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

The Big Bang Theory 9.7

In last night's Big Bang Theory, we had quite a lot going on. Sheldon gets super excited when Will Wheaton contacts him, asking to interview him for a documentary on Spock that he is working on with Leonard Nimoy's son. The guest star of the show was brilliant and it was nice to finally see an episode paying tribute to Nimoy. I'd been wondering if they were gonna get around to doing something like this for awhile now and I quite enjoyed the results. During the interview, Penny and Leonard learn that Sheldon was intending to propose to Amy. While this shocks them, it forces Sheldon to come to the painful conclusion that he isn't over Amy at all and stick deep down wants to marry her, even though by all appearances, she's moving on with her life.

Meanwhile, Howard recruits Raj in a last ditch attempt to convince Bernadette not to redecorate his mother's house. His classic guilt-trip lines of "My dad left when I was little and my mom died" have lost their magic on his feisty bride who brings in her dad to help with the remodel. While crawling around underneath the house, Howard and his father-in-law unearth a much more interesting sore spot than redoing the house and this leaves Howard and Bernadette with some serious thinking to do. This was another issue I've been wondering about for awhile and while it wasn't satisfactorily solved, at least it was mentioned.

This was fun episode and I especially enjoyed Bernadette's little earthquake scene, but I really enjoyed it because it was more thoughtful and held promises of character growth which, as a writer, is something I like in stories. Can't wait for next week's episode!

The Decoy Bride Movie Review

Title: The Decoy Bride

Starring: David Tennant as James, Kelly MacDonald as Katie, Alice Eve as Lara, Hamish Clark, James Fleet, Dylan Moran and Sally Phillips

Genre: Romanic Comedy, Chick Flick, Scottish, Humorous

Release Date: 2011

Plot: Internationally famous actress Lara has been stalked by the paparazzi since she was fifteen years old and now, when she is on the brink of getting married, the media destroys her dream wedding. Fleeing to a faraway island with her beloved, Lara hopes to finally get married without the media finding out at all. But one persistent photographer has other plans. Meanwhile, James is a writer suffering from a severe case of writer's block after his first book took off. Whisked away to the island featured in his book, James suddenly finds himself wondering if this was a good idea after all.

And local girl Katie, reeling from her own personal drama, is thrown into the lot when the wedding planners decide the only way to evade the press is to have a decoy bride. While the offer sounds appealing at first, Katie quickly realizes she's probably in over her head. But it's too late to back out now, right?

Likes/Dislikes: This was a hilarious very clean movie set in a wonderful little part of the world. I loved all the Scottish accents and the descriptions of the island were vivid and colorful. I particularly loved the fact that James and Katie are both writers and watching them go on about each other's books was a treat. I thought Lara was funny though I personally wouldn't know what to do with such a character in real life and the wedding planners were a riot! Once or twice it seemed a little far-fetched but overall wrapped up very well into a cute little story. I quite enjoyed it and Tennant was so funny.

Rating: PG-12 and up, mainly for content and target audience {there's a scene where two people get soaked and have to change into dry clothes, and the engaged couple tease each other about sex before the wedding but nothing happens}. Recommended for family viewing.

Date Review Written: November 2nd, 2015

November Snow

The first to fall is the first to go.

Earth wears its mantle damp and chill —

Patina of November snow.

Leaves raged with fire just days ago —

Now grays, ash browns, pale yellows tell

The first to fall are the first to go.

Remains of harvest in desolate row

Brace for the final winter kill

Beneath their shroud of November snow.

The rakes now dry, the plow and hoe

Await Spring’s promise to fulfill —

The first to fall are the first to go.

Lit by the sky’s anemic glow

The pines are standing stiff and still,

Defiant of November snow.

In barns of silence wait those who know

What lies beneath the fields they till —

The first to fall are the first to go,

Together with November snow.

~ Joseph Pacheco

Doctor Who 9.7

Looking back to when there were three Doctors, the Zygons and humans made a peace treaty that benefited both parties very well. Lovable Osgood and her Zygon {or human} double were put in charge of it by the Doctor and given special instructions for what to do in the event of the Nightmare Scenario and when this event actually takes place, despite all hopes that it never would, the surviving Osgood knows exactly who to contact.

Hurtling back to Earth to take care of this, the Doctor leaves Clara an astonishing 172 calls, trying to get a hold of his companion. When she finally does call him back, asking why he called himself Doctor Disco, Clara is swept off to help UNIT investigate. Breaking off into three teams, they try to use their limited manpower to figure out who is behind the surge in Zygon aggression, where they all are hiding and what exactly they're planning to do. But the truth could be so much worse than they anticipated.

Admittedly, I really enjoyed this episode. It was intriguing, well-written, tied in with a previous episode, kept up with the thread of an alien hybrid and was fast-paced. Plus, the Doctor played Amazing Grace on his electric guitar which was awesome!! Loved it. And badass Clara was a nice change for once. And I enjoyed having Kate and Osgood back; they're such cool characters.