Book Review: Fool Moon

Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher

Fool Moon is the second novel of The Dresden Files by author Jim Butcher. The story revolves around Harry Dresden, a wizard living in present day Chicago.  Dresden works with Karrin Murphy, a police officer with the Chicago PD, to help solve cases that seem to have happened by supernatural forces.

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Warning: Spoilers follow here.

This book starts six months after the events of the first book.  This time, there's a full moon, and bloody paw prints and grisly murders abound.  Murphy is under surveillance from Internal Affairs after the events of the first book, seen as an accomplice to Gentleman John through a chain of misunderstandings.  To combat this, she enlists Dresden's help on a string of new murders that happen every time there's a full moon.  She hopes that Dresden can help her get to the conclusion quicker, thereby impressing IA and getting them off her back.  From the word Go, things are weird.  FBI comes out of nowhere and takes over the whole investigation.  Where there's bloody paw prints and very grisly murder scenes, there are sure to be werewolves.  Bob the Skull drops some knowledge on us when he tells us there are 4 different kinds of werewolves: Werewolves (a human being who uses magic to turn himself into a wolf - still keeps their own personality), Hexenwolves (use a talisman holding someone else's magic to turn completely into a wolf), Lycanthropes (in your mind, you're a wolf, but you never physically transform), and Loup-Garou (the deadliest - someone who is cursed to become a wolflike demon every full moon).  All four types are represented, with werewolves and lycanthropes being combined into one type of creature.  After receiving help from Tera, a lycanthrope/werewolf hybrid, Dresden is set to rescue her fiancé, Harley MacFinn, who is a loup-garou.  Since loup-garou are the deadliest kinds of werewolves, everyone's first assumption is that MacFinn is doing all the killings.  But then it's brought to light that some of the killings took place either before or after a full moon, and there's still some questions to be answered.  In the end, we find out that the FBI agents are all Hexenwolven, and that they committed a lot of the murders.  They are trying to kill off John Marcone to get him off the streets of Chicago for good, and trying to simultaneously set up MacFinn and a gang called the Streetwolves (lycanthropes) to take all the blame instead of them.  The FBI agents are all taken out, mostly while Dresden becomes a Hexenwolf for a little while, and so is MacFinn, so he can't harm anyone else during one of his killing sprees.  Murphy is off the hook from IA after news is spread of how she aided in killing the murderous werewolf, and Dresden leaves us hanging as he contemplates who is trying to kill him.

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There's something about reading about wolves that just puts me to sleep!  When I read the Twilight series, I think it was Eclipse where all the wolves talk to each other, and my eyes got tired of that real quick.  Same with this book.  Not to mention, Dresden is so physically drained for the vast majority of this book.  It made me tired to read about him being so tired!  I have a few questions at the end, like: what about those romance books for Bob?  And where did he go; after he talks about the werewolf types, we never hear from him again.  Who is after Dresden, aka, who made the belts?  Why didn't his magic work for so long?  Why is Murphy so weird in this book?  The climax of the book was too long for me.  Butcher revealed everything a little quicker in the first book, but I will say I sincerely appreciate the nice little bow he wraps everything up with at the end.  I hope he does that again in the next one.  Opening: OMG.  Ending: TL;DR.  4/5.

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For Next Time:
Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher

In all his years of supernatural sleuthing, Harry Dresden has never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone postal. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone-or something-is purposely stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself. -barnesandnoble.com

O Hai, 2013!

I think this is a lovely first word of the year.

And so it is, another year has come.  As of 12 a.m., "yesterday" is now "last year."  Weird, isn't it?

Last year on this day, I wrote down some resolutions I hoped to keep/do in 2012.  Let's get a tally there...

1. Pray more.  This past year, I got back into a praying routine, something I hadn't done a whole lot since college.  I hope to continue that more this year.
2. Finish scanning pictures from the red binder and give it back to Connie.  Some months ago, probably even a year, I borrowed this red binder from Justin's mom that had all of his baby pictures in it with the intention of scanning the pictures so we could have them.  I still haven't done this, and intend on completing this task this year.
3. Read and write more.  I made this resolution last year, and although I did read more than in 2010, I didn't write hardly at all.  I kept my blogs updated pretty regularly, but didn't partake in any recreational writing, which I something I really want to get into the groove of!  I also really want to finish up my backlog of books to read.  This time last year, I read two books in the time span of one week.  I was so proud of myself.  And then it took me almost six months to read the third book, and it's been an uphill battle since.
4. Worry less.  I've realized this a is a huge problem of mine.  I wasn't really aware of how much I worried until this year and I'd really like to worry less.  To say not to worry at all is just unrealistic, but I'd sure like to worry and stress out a LOT less than I do.
5. Be a more proactive housewife.  In other words, get shit done.  I got real slack this year.  This time one year ago, I had been married all of a month and a half and was getting increasingly cozy with being a lazy housewife.  This trend continued for most of the year and I don't want a repeat.  I want to be more proactive, and clean when things are dirty and put things up when they're clean.  I need to be more on it with my chores.

(Oh, and just for the record, I'm not on the Mayan bandwagon.  I think it's a load of crap.)

I'm especially proud of that last sentence, haha. :)

1. I'm proud to say that I made good for #1, I do pray everyday.  I'm really happy about that.  As mentioned above, it wasn't something I had done a lot since college, but I feel better now that I pray on a regular basis.
2. I did not scan any of those pictures in the red binder.  Renewing that one for this year!
3. I read a lot this year.  A lot to me, anyway.  After looking through a few different documents of read books, the total is somewhere between 8 and 10.  I attempted to start writing at the start of last year, but couldn't stick with it and eventually lost interest.  A resolution for this year is NaNoWriMo.
4. Absolutely not.  I worried so much this year.  Perhaps a better idea is to find a good outlet, or a way of releasing my stress, instead of just trying to not have it at all.
5. I think I did a little better at keeping a clean house this year.  I say that, of course, sitting in the midst of Christmas leftover-clutter and clothes that need folding, but I think that over the course of last year I can say I did better than the year before.

Now for this year!  What do I want to make good on for 2013, the lucky year?

First, before we get to the list of resolutions I want to make, I'd like to set up a mantra for 2013.  In 2012, I decided my mantra was, "Whatever Happens, Happens."  I sort of took that to mean, "Let the chips fall where they may," and then that escalated into, "I'll let (blank) come to me."  Basically, I just sat back and expected good things to fall in my lap.  I'm a Christian, and I'd heard so many times to just "hand it over to God."  But I think it'd be better if I met God halfway.  So this year, the mantra is, "Try Harder, Do Better."  I want to give a better effort to things, and physically do more.  So there's that.

Onto the resolutions.

I think I will make a list of 5 again.  That number seemed to do well, easily remembered, easily recounted, etc.

1. Do more.  This one means many things.  Do more for others, do more for God, do more reading, do more writing, do more cleaning, and do more good.  1a.  Do less.  Less whining, less complaining, less stressing, less lashing out, and less bad.
2. Lose more weight/run more.  This year, for the first in my life (seriously), I finally lost some weight.  It was a great feeling - I'd love to continue that this year.  In addition, I'd like to keep running.  I feel some shame that I haven't hit pavement since November 20, but I can fix that.  And I intend to!  2a.  Participate in another 5K.
3. Take more pictures.  I tried to do this with the 31-Day challenge back in October, but I'm not trying to photograph more simply for blog purposes, I want to generally photograph life more.
4. Red Binder.  Dude, I need to get on that.
5. Find a job.  After working three different jobs this year, and not having any of them turn out to be regular, lucrative, or good for my well-being, I'm on a mission this year to find a real job.  I'm tired of being a sell-out and a joke to everyone who looks at me and sees and unemployed job-seeker.  If it comes down to an unemployment agency, then so be it.

Some of my resolutions this year mirror those I made back in 2011 (that feels like SO long ago!).  It's funny sometimes to go back in time like that, to see what mattered so much back then and to see what matters now.  That's one reason why I keep this blog.  I like having a time capsule of myself, and a record of things I did and loved and ate and read.  That's important to me.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a fun, safe NYE, and I wish a good and prosperous 2013 to all.

2012: A Review.

Good Morning, Friends.

Tomorrow, I will write my annual post regarding resolutions and other new-year-beginnings.  Today, however, I would like to write about 2012.  I mean, this is the last day of it and all.

Let's see what amazing things occurred in 2012...

• I went in for my yearly physical in January and found out I was a lot more overweight than I thought.  I decided to do something about it and over the course of this year, I have lost 8 pounds!  I tried some new crafting techniques, tried to start a daily writing prompt but couldn't stick to it, started to scare myself about my future children, and found some new music - finally.

• In February, I tried lots of new recipes, quit my job at Intab, bought a new dresser, got tickets to see Wicked for Vday, and started Freakin' Obsessed Friday.

• March was a more wound-down month.  I came to the incredibly unfortunate conclusion that I had lost 6 months' worth of photos.  I still haven't recovered them, by the way.  We found out Durham had a Zaxby's, which thrilled our souls, and it's right next to Goodberry's!  I finally finished The Green Mile.  I learned about taxes, the hard way.  I was also given a sewing machine by my absolutely awesome husband, but the post was never published.  (Well, maybe March wasn't so calm after all!)

• In April, Bonnie revealed how much of a scaredy dog she is.  I painted some pretty shoes for Easter.  We went home for Easter and I got all my hair chopped off.  Although I had heard of Etsy, my love affair with it began here.

• May had the fewest number of posts, with only two.  I started writing about my move to Durham and how hard it was for me to acclimate.  Desperate Housewives ended, and I started watching 30 Rock instead.

• June turned out to be a busy, fun month.  Ray Bradbury died, and the literary world wept.  The Indy Weekly came out with their Best of the Triangle issue and Justin and I made the best of that weekend trying out new things.  KK5 came out and was promptly read.  I told the blogging world about my then-new job.  I discovered Boy Meets World exists in DVD form, and was graciously given the entire series by my sweet hubby.  I participated in my third handmade gift exchange.  I made my first, very little, thing on my new sewing machine.  Justin and I had our first ever commission made by the supremely talented Gabe Dunston.

• The first week of July was my birthday week, and I turned 26 on the 5.  The blog got a face lift.  I found out that sometimes reliving your childhood as an adult isn't a good idea.  I got that old, familiar baby bug - but this time, Justin and I actually discussed it and there may be Lunchables in the near future. :)  I read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  I looked into this neat 5K called Color Me Rad, and started thinking about running it.  Then, after several signs, I decided to do it.

• In August, the date for CMR in Raleigh was finally announced.  I read The Postcard Killers.  It was in August that I started looking for other work.  Still no word on that front.  I suffered a good two-week bout of IBS, and pulled a Cinderella, using new shoes to fix the problem!  Halloween came early, and I couldn't stop thinking about it!

• The Halloween kick continued into September.  I discovered Wordle.  I will make another cloud tonight to encompass an entire year's worth of words.  I was finally able to run again, in crisp autumn air no less, and had a lead for a job that didn't end up panning out.  I discovered Gangnam Style.  I read and re-watched The Time Traveler's Wife.  I left a sweet little goodbye letter for our little apartment, when the times comes for it.

• October was another busy month, clocking in the most posts for the year, with 23.  I tried to do a 31-Day challenge but just couldn't stick with it.  After buying an iPhone in September, I was then on the hunt for a case.  I chose the I-Arc Reactor-You case.  My blog finally reached over 1,000 page views since its installation in September 2009.  I held a Halloween Movie Extravaganza, and started with my favorite, Hocus Pocus.  I finally started seeing results from my running.  This is the only positive reinforcement I received from my boss this year.  I ran the Color Me Rad 5K in Raleigh, and wrote about the little-known details.  I started jotting down ideas for tattoos.  I published a long-forgotten post about accepting Durham as my new home.  Justin and I held an awesome Halloween Party.

• We started November out with Daylight Savings Time.  Justin and I voted in our first presidential election, and Obama won.  For our anniversary, Justin and I went to Asheville, NC to see the Biltmore House at Christmastime.  Still haven't had time to work on those pictures, though.  I wrote up my experience with running in CMR.  Justin and I continued our tradition of not eating turkey the day of Thanksgiving, and had Phil to enjoy the meal with this time.  At the end of the month, I offered some cleaning tips I use myself.

• The Waterfields ended the year by heading down to Spartanburg for Christmas (no post yet), and I participated in my fourth handmade gift exchange.  I was given an ultimatum about my job that I started in May, and there still isn't a lot that is certain on that front.  As a Christmas present to Justin, I started reading The Dresden Files.  I am currently on the second book.

That's a lot of stuff!  Truthfully, when I start writing this post this morning, I wasn't expecting quite that many links.  But it makes me happy to see the year in bullet form. :)  2012 yielded 122 posts, more than 2009, 2010, and 2011 combined!  I hope to see similar numbers next year.

A whole mess of other stuff happened that just never made it into a post.  One of my best friends, Dave, wrote and published a comic called Pizzula.  Along with me turning 26, Justin turned 25.  We went to see Wicked in May.  The gang reunited for our yearly shenanigans at D*Con down in Atlanta, and this time Luke got to come!  My mom started a new job.  My step dad got laid off from his.  Luke and Elyse started dating way back in February.  I got a new Keurig for Christmas and have been loving it.  Those are just some of the things that never got written about.

2012 was a pretty good year.  A lot of good happened, and a lot turmoil got passed around, too.  But I guess that's how it is with every year.  As of midnight tonight, we have officially survived the Mayan apocalypse.  I'll be glad when the year is over.  It seems like December burdened me with a bit of the Scrooges.  I've been in a bad mood almost this entire month.  I'll be glad to turn the new calendar to the first clean page and start over in 2013.  Thirteen is a lucky number for me, and I hope next year will be lucky.

Hope you enjoyed my little recap there.  Happy last day of the year to you!

Book Review: Storm Front

Storm Front, by Jim Butcher

Storm Front is the first novel of The Dresden Files by author Jim Butcher. The story revolves around Harry Dresden, a wizard living in present day Chicago.  Dresden works with Karrin Murphy, a police officer with the Chicago PD, to help solve cases that seem to have happened by supernatural forces.

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Warning: Spoilers follow here.

The book starts with Dresden receiving a package at his door, where yet another mailman gives him grief about his sign advertising that he is a wizard.  Dresden operates out of Chicago and helps others with magic or supernatural problems.  He gets a call from Murphy ordering him to come down to the Madison hotel, the scene of a grizzly double homicide.  Both victims have had their hearts ripped out through their chests, and it looks like black magic is the culprit.  One victim is Tommy Tomm, a henchman for well-known mob boss Gentleman John Marcone.  The other victim is Jennifer Stanton, a call girl who works for Miss Bianca - a vampiress.  After several attempts from Murphy to dissuade him from looking into the case on his own, Dresden talks with Bianca and Gentleman John.

Meanwhile, a woman named Monica Sells comes to Dresden seeking help for her missing husband, Victor.  Victor has been missing for several days and Monica tells Dresden that Victor was practicing magic when he suddenly disappeared.  Monica is nervous during their meeting, and Dresden keeps asking her why she didn't just go to the police.  Monica tells him that the police would just laugh at her, hearing her excuse of magic.  Dresden takes the case, and a $500 deposit from Monica, who rushes out the door as soon as she can.  One of the leads for Dresden to find Victor was the Sells's lake house, near Lake Michigan.  Dresden heads up to the lake house and does some snooping.  He finds a red film canister.  After calling for and wrestling answers out of Toot, a faery he knows, Dresden is finally able to assess that Victor was seen having sex at the lake house just the night before.  Dresden thinks that Victor is simply cheating on Monica and decides to concentrate on the double homicide instead.  However, when Dresden calls Monica to update her on what he's found out, Monica is suddenly very standoffish, telling Dresden to keep the money and never call her again.

After a woman named Linda Randall, a former call girl friend of Jennifer and employee of Miss Bianca who now works as a driver for a rich couple named the Beckitts, is found dead in her apartment in the same manner as Tommy and Jennifer, Dresden starts putting the pieces together.

Everyone is connected in one way or another.  The Beckitts had a daughter who was killed in a crossfire between Marcone's gang and another rival gang.  Victor struggles to provide for his family financially, so he takes up Black magic and seeks out help from the Beckitts, who can give him a lot of money.  In return, he will take out Marcone as punishment for killing their daughter.  Victor needs strong energy to make his magic work, so he starts having orgies in his lake house to feed of the lust energies.  Jennifer is actually Monica's sister.  Because she is a call girl and the situation would help her sister's family financially, Jennifer agrees to be a part of the orgy scheme.  Jennifer and Linda were lovers as well as coworkers.  Linda also takes part in the orgies.  Once he had been engulfed by the Black magic, Victor started to scare Monica.  Jennifer threatened Victor with police action if he didn't stop scaring Moncia.  Victor took out Jennifer to keep her quiet, and the force of the magic was so powerful it took out Tommy as well.  After Linda figured out it was Victor who killed them, she attempted to tell the police, but Victor killed her too.

After all of this is out in the open, and since it now looks like he is the next victim, Dresden goes to confront Victor (who, in the absence of orgy participants, has had to rely on energy from a storm front) at the lake house as the next storm is starting.  After a long battle, Victor is finally defeated and Dresden is saved.

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First of all, you need some back story.  The Dresden Files is my husband's favorite book series.  He began reading it in college and has been hounding me to read it ever since.  So, this Christmas his gift was me reading Dresden.  I think Dresden is such a badass.  The scene where he goes to confront Marcone at The Varsity really had me cheering Dresden on.  The steamier scenes were written well, too.  This book really makes you fall in love with Dresden, you almost want him to protect you.  (I'm totally scouting out pentacle necklaces on eBay - don't judge me.)  He is so kind, and a badass, and a wizard.  He's the total package, and I can't wait to see what else he does in the upcoming books!  This was an amazing first book, and Justin assures me they only get better from here.  So here ya go, Butcher: 5/5.

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For Next Time:
Fool Moon, by Jim Butcher

Could a werewolf be loose in Chicago? Common sense says no. The grisly evidence says yes. So does Harry Dresden. And with his weird connections, he should know. -barnesandnoble.com

The Story of 14 Hours

I'm going to scream.  And when I do, you will probably hear it; no matter where you live in the world.  You will be inclined to think it's a meteor hurtling toward Earth, but fear not for it is just my agonizing acknowledgement of Murphy's Law.

Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong, will.

Have you ever read "The Story of An Hour," by Kate Chopin?  It's a short story read in many English classes.  It's about a woman who learns her husband is dead from a freak accident.  She goes up to her room to be alone and grieve, only to realize over the course of an hour that she is really much happier now that he is gone.  Afterward, there is a knock at her door.  She answers it, to find her husband standing there, not dead, and her world is forever changed by the realization she had in her room.

I've had my own Chopin story, only it's been over the course of the last 14 hours.

To make a long story short, I have been working as a Marketing Specialist for an HVAC company in Raleigh since May of this year.  It has become abundantly clear recently that my boss is trying to fire me, for all intents and purposes.  It seems that almost since I was hired, my boss hasn't been thrilled with my work, despite my many efforts, and has gradually lowered my time, pay, or both, in an effort to eventually pay me nothing at all.  This has been really frustrating, hence my other posts about looking for other work.  Since I have been unable to find any other work, I have been putting up with the nonsense of low pay and hours.

Last night, I received an email from my boss Adrian.  He says that "we" (not sure who the other half is, since I had absolutely no say in this) have decided to cut down on social marketing (meaning me).  His current offer is for me to become a contractor (instead of an employee like I am now) and receive a monthly fee for social media marketing.  I've written back asking him several questions and haven't heard back yet, so I'm playing my favorite game - The Waiting Game.  I'm a pro athlete there.


I read the email around 10 p.m. last night.  I sort of had the same realization Kate had.  Maybe I'm happier without this job.  It's caused a lot of stress for me over the last few months and I'm sick of dealing with an incompetent boss.  Perhaps if he's offering me an open door, I should just walk out of it.  This was before he clarified the outsourcing bit for me.  Now that I know I could still work for him, should I stay?  I don't know what to do.  I've felt sick all day and until I get any more answers from him regarding the terms of my new "position," I won't know which answer to give.

This all just happened so suddenly, and it's a really sucky situation.  I wasn't making real good bank as it was, and now I'll be making even less.  I've applied to every job I can find that even remotely requires my degree, and even a few that don't.  I'm a good worker, and no one seems to appreciate that.  I feel like the bottom of the barrel to everyone and how they have to scrape the bottom to get to me and even then they don't want what they find.  I'm very sad and ill and depressed today.  I hope that changes but for now I guess I'll go back into my corner.

Don't feel bad.  This will pass and I'll be okay.  Always am.  Justin has been more than supportive throughout this whole thing, and that helps tremendously.  But I'll always take encouragement from comment-leavers, too. ;)  Hope everyone is having a better day than me (honestly)!

PS: Also, Bonnie ate a wooden spoon in the kitchen and we may have a flat tire.  Murphy's Law.

WTF Wednesday

My brain and heart are going to explode from pent-up exasperation.

Pictured: GTFO.

Here's what happened.

Yesterday was Tuesday, the one day a week I usually go into work.  My boss emailed me yesterday morning, mere hours before I was to be at work, to tell me I didn't have to come in because I wasn't needed.  With my ego deflated, I took to the Internet in search of other jobs.  I've been trying to find another source of work for several weeks now, as my current job isn't meeting my initial expectations.

Yesterday, I was simply on the hunt for whatever/whomever was hiring.  After finding pretty much nothing that even remotely required my degree, I gave into gender roles and began looking into secretarial/assistant openings.  I saw an opening for a Resident Assistant and jumped on over and applied.  I didn't really think anymore about it after I applied.

This morning, I get a call about the RA position.  I am offered an interview tomorrow morning and start to get pretty excited about it.  It's not an ideal position, nor is it a job I am particularly interested in, but the fact that I got an interview somewhere for a job I applied to made me happy.  I called Justin immediately after I hung up from setting up the interview to tell him about it, and I was met with the "Oh."  You know what I mean: when you are so excited about something and you tell someone else that you're close to about it and all you get in return is, "Oh."  It's like the other person was expecting something incredibly monumental and all they got was whatever you said, despite the fact that it's pretty monumental to you.

After Justin and I were talking for a few minutes, he began asking questions about the position.  Really simple ones, like, "What would your responsibilities be?" and "What is the position?" and "Where would you be working?"  And eff it all to hell, I had no answer for any of those!  It's true: I had applied for a job which I knew nothing about.  I had to look the listing up while I was on the phone with Justin to tell him anything about it.  It was embarrassing.  But through the embarrassment, I realized this job was almost the farthest thing from what I wanted - it was more of a CNA job than it was an RA job.  The job was a senior center in Chapel Hill, and I would be expected to pretty much nurse all the seniors.  Some of my responsibilities included bathing, toileting, and feeding them.  Now, I must be the most selfish person on the face of the earth, because that sounds absolutely disgusting to me.  I wish I could feel like I was helping someone, or that I was doing a good deed, but I can't get past the ick factor to appreciate those things.  I'm a bad person.

Anyway, once I got a better glimpse of what the job really was, I sat here for an hour trying to talk myself into it.  "You'd be helping people!" and, "This is what you get for not doing your homework, deal with it!"  But after that hour, and after my nerves were pretty much officially shot, I realized I just couldn't do it.  Even though it was the only interview I'd been offered in months, and it would surely be the only application that showed any interest in me, I didn't feel it was right to put my interviewer and myself through the process when I didn't even want the job.  I called the guy back and told him that I wanted to be honest and that I had looked over the job requirements and I felt like I wasn't the right candidate for the position.  He thanked me for being honest and we both hung up with no hard feelings.  I feel like an idiot, but at least now I don't have to go through all the motions for a job I don't even want.  There is someone else out there who needs this job and is better suited for it than me.  Here's hoping I have opened up that slot for someone who deserves it!

In closing, kids, make sure and read all the details and fine print before you fully subscribe to something.  It could come back to put you in a chokehold later.

My 4th Handmade Gift Exchange

So far, I've done 4 gift exchanges with Craftaholics Anonymous.  For the last three, I actually made a gift with my own two hands and usually some tools.  But this time I did things a little differently.  I made a computer graphic for my craft buddy.

The background is applied so you can see the colors better.  I printed out the graphic on beige card stock paper and mailed it to PA!

Here's how I did it.

1. I downloaded a Christmas dingbats font called RA Holiday, from here.
2. I opened Photoshop and wrote out the alphabet, numbers, and other characters in the RA Holiday font.
3. I saved that as a PNG file.
4. I opened up that PNG file, and opened a new file in the size of a 4x6 photo.
5. I typed Cummings (my recipient's last name), and colored it red.
6. I went back over to the PNG file and started selecting the different dingbats I wanted to use.
7. I pasted them on top of Cummings, and moved them where I wanted them.
8. I colored them however I saw fit; they were all "hollow" to start.
9. Once I was happy with how everything looked, I printed it out and sent some holiday cheer to my craft buddy. :)

What do you think?  I thought it came out really cute, and my mom is already asking for one for her name!  Nothing like being able to give someone happiness for such little time/cost!