Packing all done. Though I had to wait until my laundry finished. I packed my tatting this morning, as well as my laptop. Despite the warm weather, I also took my heavy jacket. There's a good chance that I'll need it this weekend (I'll be 2 states north & despite the current temperature, it is December - odds are good that the weather will revert to seasonal soon).

Christmas card exchange: I have most of the envelopes address & have put return address labels on them. Now I need to put stamps on the envelopes, write short note on the card & sign. I also need to get cards for the 2 overseas ladies. There are 3 out of country ladies but the 3rd one is Canadian, so I don't think that I need special postage for hers. I don't think. note: stop by post office & ask.

Addendum: I'm short one card. I have the envelope, but no card. Guess that will be three people for whom I need to buy cards.

clothes: tough choice today, it has to go from work to con. So I'm wearing black (what else) jeans, Vorkosigan polo, loafers & knee-highs. I half-braided my hair & might put it up later. I brought hair sticks just for that reason.

Books: I finished Shakespeare Christmas, although technically it's not. It takes place in Bartley. I also read Making Minty Malone. It reads like chick lit but it has a romance novel happy ending. I liked it. The supporting characters are just that, characters. Now I'm reading a Harlequin Blaze (the line they started when they realized they needed to add sex to their books) anthology, Secret Santa. All three stories are really short but so far pretty good. It was really nice of Jennifer LaBrecque to dedicate her story to romance readers, who keep the genre alive.

Gaming: I finally decided to get the Spell Focus: Conjuration feat for Zavin (my latest character). It's useless at this point but will come in handy later, for her bard spells. It's also the pre-req for getting augment summoning, which is a feat that rocks.

That Time Again: Times like this, I really consider getting that one pill, that you only spot every three months. Because I'm cramping & I only had 1 ibuprofen in my store of painkillers at work.

Don't Forget! Go by the Breast Cancer site to click to help fund a mammogram for a woman in need. And while you're there, click on the other charities , too.

Pain: My shoulder, where it meets my neck, cramped on Friday as I was stretching to get something off the floor. Then I didn't have any further problems until yesterday. It hurt to raise my hand enough to sweep my hair off my shoulder, forget actually doing anything with my hair. I massaged it & stood under the hot spray this morning & it doesn't hurt as much today. I managed to shampoo & braid my hair.

Gaming: I finally decided on a name for my most recent LG character; Zyvan merch Siofra. At least I think that's it. Well, it's written down on her character sheet, that's where it counts.

Packing: I'm doing that tonight. So I have to finish any character updates, pack the box with my game books & character notebooks, pack my other game supplies (paper for notes, pen, paper, miniature figure, dice, canvas tote, napkins & LG cards), finish my laundry & pack my clothes. To properly pack, I also need to check the weather. It would suck to pack all t-shirts & then suffer when the temperature drops down to freezing.

Shopping! Thanks to Jane Eborall, I've found a new place to shop (auction) on-line. It's all handmade goods, so even if I buy in March for a Christmas present, the receiver isn't likely to have it already by the time the gift arrives.

clothes: yesterday it was black, v-necked knit shirt (w/ 3/4 sleeves), black sacks, trouser socks & loafers. My jewelry was all silver & black onyx. My hair was loose because I lost the elastic (probably when I pulled my braid out of my jacket) & my shoulder hurt too much to re-braid it.

Today I'm wearing the forest green Geoff polo, yet another pair of black slacks, black trouser socks & black loafers. I'm wearing the emerald & gold jewelry set that Chris gave me. He knows that I prefer silver but he really wanted to buy me an emerald (one of my birthstones) but could not find any in a silver setting.

Christmas Card Exchange: I've started addressing the envelopes & learned that I'm short a couple cards. I think that I will find some local color Christmas cards to send to the 2 ladies overseas (Spain & Pakistan). That means that I will have to re-address those envelopes, but that's no big deal.

Gaming, Living Greyhawk: Looking over my characters, preparing for the con this weekend, I realized that my 1st level character is actually 2nd level. She has the experience, I just hadn't made the changes. So I've started creating a new one. This will be my 2nd out of region character. My first one is a Bright Sands, so I'm not certain she counts.

My characters: Nadia Xianalannae, a high-level half-elf bard with a level of ranger, a knight
Reed of the CatTails, elf, almost as high a level cleric, with a couple levels of ranger & a level of sorcerer
Edana Tiernan, halfing Rogue & ranger, mounted scout-type, mid-level
Isolde (no last name), human sorceress with her raven, Tristan, low to mid-level
Kayla Swordspinner, human desert barbarian, low level
Brenna (can't remember last name), human fighter, cavalry

New one: no name yet, half-elf druid from Geoff. She'll be an arcane hieraphant, at about 8th level.

I may not need that 1st level character but for one slot there are only 3 people signed up. It requires 4 players to make an LG 'legal' table. Therefore, if we don't play that game, we'll go play the intro (1st level characters only) adventure. That's why I'm making up a new character.

Currently, I have characters that can play every APL. Except that Edana (APL 10 & 8) is out of non-military time units. She's in the Gran March army so that limits how many core mods & other 'vacation' adventures that she can play. It's a trade off. She also doesn't have to pay lifestyle cost.

What religion is your favorite comic book character? Do you know? Do you care? Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to examine what religion several comic characters are, both heroes, supporting cast & minor characters. Everything from agnostic to Catholic to Yoruban to Zenn-la is listed. Most are real-world religions, some are not; as to be expected by fictional characters with otherworldly origins.

Holiday shopping: Wondering what to get that hard-to-buy-for zombie in your life? Why not some brains?

Art fun: Drag your mouse to get a Jackson Pollock-esque piece. Click your mouse to change colors.

Music: It's been a day for random webpages, huh. This one is for a bluegrass band. I haven't had a chance to listen to the clips that they've posted, but I love the name; Black Swamp Bootleggers. Coincidentally, there's also a brewing supply store in Ohio by the same name.

Do you drink coffee? Do you like to be environmentally conservative? Then try bird-friendly coffee. Find store near you that carries it.

Vampire Name: According to The Vampire Name Generator, I am, wait for it...

The Great Archives determine you to have gone by the identity:
Mary Keat

Known in some parts of the world as:
Mother of Beggars and Lepers

The Great Archives Record:
Amongst the lowest of the low you will find this one travelling.

To half the people I went to high school with, I am

The Great Archives determine you to have gone by the identity:
Ella Keat

Known in some parts of the world as:
Mother of The Steely Moon

The Great Archives Record:
A child of the Moon Goddess - Cold, determined, but of the light in the night.

And to a few others,

The Great Archives determine you to have gone by the identity:
Mary Keat

Known in some parts of the world as:
Mother of The Flesh

The Great Archives Record:
A sensual one who knows the flesh - and knows the blood.

Apparently, everyone knows that I'm a mother. :smirk:
http://world4.monstersgame.co.uk/?ac=vid&vid=47157368

Tatting: I went & bought more white thread at Michaels. I have now made about 20 small, white snowflakes. Next step: mailing them for the Christmas Card Exchange. I did not find the type of red beads that I wanted in any number other than OMG.

Other crafts: I also bought the round set of knitting looms (on sale). Now I have to find the same yarn I used for mom's scarf. Maybe I'll make her another one, a little wider. For Mitra, I took a copy of every free knitting pattern. There are a lot available.

clothes: black loafers, trouser socks, slacks (newly hemmed), & 2001 Ren Festival polo. I'm wearing Celtic knot earrings, ring & the knotwork pendant that I think is from Williamsburg. Plus, I'm wearing the flower band & a silver scroll-y double hair stick. My hair (finally brushed) is in that ponytail/bun do.

Books: Started reading one by Patrice Cornwallis. But it's hardback & too hard to lug to work. So I picked up the autographed copy of The Princess Diaries that Steve gave me.

Ticket: Today is my court date to hopefully not pay for having my tags out of date. I still can't believe that I did that. I guess that's the downside of not driving my car much of the time. I don't notice these things as much. Since the office in question closes at 3:30, I'm leaving work at 2 pm. That should give me enough time to get lost & find it before they close. Since I couldn't actually find it on mapquest, I have reason to be concerned.

Cooking: I made those Reese's Cup cookies last night. I took chocolate chip cookie dough, put it in muffin cups, & baked them. Then, when I pulled them out, I took chilled, unwrapped mini-Reese's cup & squished them into the cookies. After I let them sit for a bit, I put them in the fridge to chill. They turned out really tasty, even if they do have a tendency to stick to the muffin paper.

Tatting: Well, I counted. I have at least 12 snowflakes made. I need another 7 or so, plus the ones for that I've made for my aunts.

Clothes: jeans & t-shirts the past three days. It's been long-sleeved t's Thursday & Friday & a short-sleeved one today.

Gaming: yesterday went well. At least one fight each was pretty tough. The other fights were either easy or just not as scary. But at least once per game, this one fight was very close. One of the fights even had smart bad guys...who used healing. If it hadn't been for that, each of their thugs would have dead twice over.

Books: Just re-reading, dipping into & dropping books.

Thanksgiving Mom & I had a great visit. She helped me fix a few clothes and she loved the sunflower scarf that I found for her. I also found a couple Simmons exercise videos for her, ones that she doesn't have already. She plays them while she does housework.

Book: I read Candle in the Window by Christina Dodd. It's a medieval set romance. I know a little about the era, King Stephen vs. Queen Maud thanks to reading Brother Cadfael mysteries. It's a good story. I really enjoyed it. Of course, I usually enjoy Dodd's books.

tatting: I pulled out a spool of silver decorative thread, by Sulky. Thanks to some advice that I read by Susan BT, I managed to tat a small snowflake, instead of throwing the spool & shuttle across the room in frustration. I also finished another small, white snowflake with clear beads. I started a larger snowflake. I finished the 1st round but I haven't started the second round.

Movie: While Chris was at his parents' for Thanksgiving, I watched all three Topper movies; well, I went to bed soon after the 3rd one started. Something about getting some sleep.

Gaming: Two Living Greyhawk mods today. We start at noon, so I had to vacuum, or at least run the vacuum over the floor before then. First, though, I had to clean the filter. It still needs cleaning, I just barely got a layer off.

Nightmares: I had two last night. I don't remember the 1st one, but I woke up to take a migraine pill at about quarter to 6. The second one involved the Charmed Ones, the first set with Prue. It involved a demon who had them trapped in a house. Somehow, no matter how long they were there, no one could tell, some kind of time stop? I was fighting him, but no matter what I did, it was unsuccessful. Finally, I resorted to distractive measures, thinking that if I kept his attention, the Charmed Ones could somehow get free. My last memory, before waking, I was ratting his long, brown hair.

Day before Thanksgiving and boy, it was slow at work. My boss called me at 2:30 to say that he hadn't been able to reach anyone in finance. I tried to change my message; you know, the 'we're closed for the holidays' sort of thing. But I couldn't get into that part of the voice mail system. It was quite vexing.

Mail: I did manage to mail the letters to my Aunt Vivian, Aunt Jeri & Aunt Carole as I left work. They'll hit the post office tonight.

After work, I got off at the shopping center & walked across the street to the drugstore. I printed out the pictures for Aunt Dot & some of the same for Aunt Shirley. The pictures are of my dress, the Colonial outfit that Aunt Dot helped me make. It was a nice little walk. Getting the pictures took longer than I expected because there was someone ahead of me. After getting the pictures, I went to the Chinese place to get Mom's lunch for tomorrow. In all, it took longer than I wanted it & I missed both buses that I had planned upon. So I walked home. It's about a mile and took less time & less effort that I expected. I admit that the bags were a bit of a nuisance sometimes.

Books: I read The Rats, The Bats & The Ugly by Flint & Freer. I quite enjoyed it. It's a good sequel to Rats, Bats & Vats.

I ran into Robin on the bus and told her about Rats, Bats & Vats, by Eric Flint & David Freer & about Baen's library. She told me about her boss always bringing in food. In the past year, Robin has gained 30 pounds. Plus, thanks to the store she & her husband own, they're never home to cook. They've found a plan to try & lose weight. It involves cooking healthy. Sounds like a good one.

Tatting: I finished another snowflake. I still haven't counted how many I've made. Someone at the bus stop recognized what I was doing. I was so pleased.

PDA I finally have batteries! Yay! I put them in yesterday, but the batteries immediately died. So I've had them in the charger. They finally, finally were enough. They weren't completely charged but there's another pair still charging.

Still Sick but getting better. I no longer have to sleep reclining, I can now lie down. But I still cough & hack. And now my mouth is raw from all the lozenges.

Neat! I came across the life & work of a very interesting woman; Frances Benjamin Johston. She was a professional photographer, circa 1889-1930+. She was widely reknowned, even when she turned to strictly architectural & garden photography in her later years. Luckily, she donated much of her work to the Library of Congress before her death. She took pictures of young & old, rich & poor, unknowns & famous. Many of her pictures can be cropped for multiply 'mini-pictures.' One photo, of school children boarding a trolley, can be seen as one entire photo, or as multiple portraits, framed by the trolley's windows.

Thanksgiving: Talked to mom last night. Instead of me driving to see her, she's coming to see me. So I'm 'preparing' the second most popular Thanksgiving meal: Chinese food.

Tatting: Making more of the small snowflakes from Vida's book; often using beads. I need to count how many I've made so far.

Clothes: yesterday & today; black jeans & loafers, braided hair, Celtic jewelry & an additional silver band. Yesterday I wore a black polo & today a multi-colored plaid blouse from Alexander Julian. Not from a recent line; but pretty & long-sleeved. It's quite cold & windy today. I wore socks & tennis shoes to work; changing when I got here.

Sick I been sick. Hacking (& recently productive) cough, sore throat, etc. As a result, cancelled Thursday's Mutants & Mastermind game (well, David cancelled the entire game because he had a work deadline).

Played Living Greyhawk Friday, maybe a mistake. No game on Saturday, or today. Didn't go see my Mom. Didn't go to the Wake Co Library sale.

Barely got any cleaning done. The only useful think that I've really done; put the tags on my car.

Books: I read Diamonds Are Forever by Flint & Spoor, pretty good, a little short. Re-read some others.

Tatting: more snowflakes done.

MACE: I finished packing my suitcase & my box of PC notebooks & game books last night. This morning I packed my messenger bag. The suitcase & box went into the car last night. I brought the bag with me to work.

clothes: brown-overdyed acid-washed black "Vorkosigan" polo, black slacks, knee-highs, black loafers (that I've noticed may be falling apart), Celtic knot earrings, ring & Star/moon necklace; plus dragon band, flower band & ~rope band. My hair is up in a knot with a ponytail hanging from it. It's fixed in place with a black chopstick with small gold & cream MoP inlay lozenges.

Books: the book that I finished was Santa, Baby, and while I haven't avoided Jennifer Crusie, after reading her story, I think I'll pick up a couple more of her books. She's very funny.

Tatting: I found the snowflakes that I made while at Mepacon. So I have about 10 or 12 made. I finished the size 80 one with beads. My next one will be from the snowflake book.

Oh, I finally loaded pictures of the jewelry set that I made onto photobucket. Gradually, I'll post links to other tatting that I've done.

STEPS There they were, covered in plastic. So they still weren't usable last night or this morning. Tonight, the plastic was gone. The steps were steady and feel...different. It's because they're level.

Clothes: black loafers, striped black trouser socks, black socks, black short-sleeved sweater (with black beads & embroidery on the neck), onyx earrings, black stone ring, black elastic hair band & the flower band ring.

Tatting I've almost finished another snowflake. This one is size 80 five ring & chain with beads on the chain.

Books Finished a Christmas romance anthology.

Writing a letter to Mitra. Now to write the aunts. Called Mom last night. Maybe go to Jacksonville next weekend.

Tammy from high school emailed me. She's living in Georgia.

Off to get supper.

Most of the people for whom I voted were elected. Apparently my choices were popular this year.

Steps updated: to no one's surprise, the steps were not done yesterday. I looked this morning & the person working on the slab will have some clean up to do. Leaves have fallen onto the wet cement, probably imprinting it, plus there are signs of water impacts. It's still drizzling, so I doubt that they've made any progress today.

However, when I got home last night, I noticed that they had added an additional cone & hazard tape. How thoughtful. It would have been more useful Monday. But better late than never.

clothes: black loafers, socks, slacks & hair elastic. My polo is deep forest green (Geoff) and I'm wearing my green amber necklace, earrings & ring, plus the silver ~rope band.

books: re-reading Dark Legend by Christine Feehan.

something fun to listen to: Listened to Carry's 2 most recent podcasts. She's so funny. I need to go back & listen to the 30 or so earlier ones.

Four Things (fun questions)
Four jobs I've had:
1) fabric & craft store clerk
2) waitress (lasted 2 whole months)
3) bindery clerk
4) secretary/receptionist

Four movies I would watch over and over again:
1) The Thin Man (all of them)
2) As You Like It (or pretty much any Shakespeare comedy)
3) Princess Bride
4) Star Wars

Four places I've lived:
1) Greensboro, NC
2) Lexington, KY (2 months)
3) Carrboro, NC
4) Durham, NC

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1) Veronica Mars
2) CSI (all)
3) W.I.T.C.H.
4) Buffy (if it was still on)

Four places I would return to for vacation
1) NC beach
2) Washington D.C.
3) Disney
4) Williamsburg, VA

Four websites I visit daily:
1) Hungersite.com (& other charitable websites)
2) etatters.com
3) belfry.com (comics)
4) rpol.net

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Chocolate
2) eel roll
3) honey sesame chicken
4) banana pudding

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1) Curled up with a good book
2) visiting my family
3) at the beach
4) in bed, asleep

Election Day Addendum: I've done my civic duty & voted (Thanks Diana & Colt for the ride). Now I have the right to complain incessantly about 'that idiot that I didn't vote for' & 'that idiot, I can't believe that I voted for him!' That's not cynicism, it's realistism & a hefty lack of optimism. That's the pity.

Steps! The entire time that we've lived in the townhouse, the stairs have had a slight tilt. As a result, they've been a little unstable. The HOA patched them a year or so ago but that didn't last. The real problem was the foundation under the steps. We tried pouring dirt under them (there was a discernible hole) but that did not solve the problem.

For about a week, there's been an orange cone next to the steps, either from a prank (?) or to alert us that they were going to do...something to the steps.

Typically, we do not leave the porch light on. It's too close to the door & bugs gather 'round it. During the warmer part of the year, it's light long enough that I can see the door fine. After the leaves fall from the tree, the light from the streetlight is enough during the colder part of the year. However, due, in part, to the earlier time change, the door & porch are very dark as the sun has set & the leaves block the streetlight. Still, I have a flashlight on my keys so it's not a great worry.

Except. Except last night when I came home, after sunset, the cone was moved to the walk. And there's a bucket behind it. I turn on my flashlight & also see that the rest of the walk is blocked by dirt & bricks. Oh look, to the left is another pile of bricks. Look further. No steps! Um. No steps.

Oookay, I can reach the porch. My legs aren't that short. I can just step on that freshly-poured concrete pad...um, is that wet? shine flashlight and tap with toe Why yes, it is wet. To reach the porch, I have to stretch over that pad? My legs aren't that long. And we have friends coming over for Chris's D&D game.

I hover indecisively. Diana's already arrived so I go to see if she has her cell phone. We may not be having gaming (again - we cancelled two weeks ago because I was sick). Chris & David arrive while I'm talking to her.

Chris, more or less, climbs around the a corner to reach the porch. Then he let us in the back door. After that, we turned on the porch light and stretched tape to warn people about the cement. John climbed over the porch rail to get inside.

This morning, I climbed down one corner to get out. It wasn't hard and I got a better look at the cement by the light of day. The edges had started to cure but it started raining by the time I get to work. We may not have steps for a couple days.

Tatting: I finished one of the 6 ring & chain ~wreathy looking ornaments, with beads, in size 80 yesterday. Then I started a 5-ring & chain ornament in size 80.

Clothes: Since I was cleaning at home, I spent a lot of time in a tee & leggings this weekend. When I did get dressed, I just changed to blue jeans.

Monday: purple pants, violet polo, burgundy sweater w/ purple & navy, black sequined flats & knee-highs. Plus dragon earrings, pendant, & band. Hair braided (needs brushing badly). Hey, my alarm didn't work properly yesterday morning & I had 20 minutes to get ready & out the door.

Today: black pants, black Origins shirt (w/ dragons), black socks & loafers, braided hair (still needs brushing, but less so), black stone ring, 2 dragon rings (1 band & 1 more obvious), dragon earrings & pendant. It's warmer today, so I didn't bother with scarf, hat or sweater. I just brought my umbrella.

Gaming: M&M on Thursday; we got captured. Bad villains, bad villains. Go sit in a corner. We're trying to help some South American superheroes, Chileans. It looks like someone has duplicated or mind controlled them to do bad stuff. We have to free them & prove their innocence.

Chris's D&D: we fought the 2 drow spellcaster, the 2 drow archers, 2 lizardmen & the giant. Luckily the giant focussed on our dwarf (monk), who can take it. He still had a couple close calls. But a stoneskin spell & his own "Wholeness of Body" ability did a lot to help. My druid got into melee more, in her own form, which is unusual. She didn't transform to a dire lionness until near the end & that was mostly for the healing. At one point she was down to -9 but the cleric had insignia of healing which saved her. Literally.

Election Day: What is it with elections & rain? The last three mid-term elections have been rained upon. Luckily this time I have a friend who'll give me a ride to the polls.

Books: Enh, nothing earth shattering. Just re-read It's in His Kiss & partially re-read a couple others. I'm having trouble settling down to one read.

Election Day is right around the corner. I'm looking at the candidates. I'm signing petitions

I've already found one that I'd like to be voting against. Vernon Robinson was one
of the first ads of the season that I noticed. It was one of the most virulently
racist ads I have ever seen. I'm just sorry that I'm in a different congressional
district; he's running in 13th & I live in the 4th. David Price is one of the
politicians in my district. My other representatives are, well, I don't think I've
heard of half of them. Isn't that just shameful. But Representative Henry M. 
Michaux, Jr. certainly looks distinguished.

Tatting: I've finished another flake. It's the same one, from Lyn Morton's book,
but with clear beads instead of picots. It looks very good that way. Instead of
doing another one, I started a 4ring/chain motif, with beads. That one has 2
beads on each ring & 3 on each chain. I have one chain left to do & it's done, too.

Clothes: it's a lot colder today, so I pulled out a turtleneck, black. My pants,
tassled loafers, knee highs & hair elastic are also black. However, I'm wearing
my reversible print vest. That's black, brown & tan with Chinese coin button/frogs.
I decided to wear my yellow amber today but couldn't find my pendant. So, in
addition to the amber drops and the amber poison ring, I put the 14-cabochon amber
bracelet on a chain & am wearing it as a necklace. The cabs vary in color; green,
brown, gold & orange. It looks really good & goes fantastic with this vest. My hair
is French braided, again. I didn't feel like fussing with it this morning.

Books: I finished Damsel. Now I have to decide what to read next. Do I re-read
something or hit my to-be-read pile.

News: I've read some of the blog & forum entries about the fire. I posted one of
my own on the Greensboro News & Record site.

High school burned I cried about it today. To a certain extent, I'm not sure why. It's been 20 years. Okay, so it was a main component of my life for 4 years and I have a lot of memories. Still, while I was never tormented, at least not to the extent of actuall bullying, those were not my 'glory days.' For 2 of those years I had glasses & braces. I was not one of the popular or 'in' kids. I was too weird & too different for that to happen. I wasn't a complete outcast either; I'm too nice & friendly (it sounds egotistical but it's true, mostly) for that to happen.

work: I finally finished the org chart, complete with temporaries, students & vacant positions. Whee. That's done for at least a week.

Tatting I gave up and continued the snowflake/wreath from Lyn Morton's 6th book of Easy Tatting. You can barely tell that I made a mistake.

Books: I've finished the 6th Grantville Gazette, with the usual caveat about the fact articles. I've also read most of Sinful, a romance anthology. I had read one of the stories before & I haven't finished one of them (thus the mostly read). I re-read Mystique by Amanda Quick. Right now, I'm re-reading Damsel in this Dress by Marianne Stillings.

Clothes: black slack, black polo, black knee highs, black sequined flats, black stone ring, Celtic knot ring, dragon band, Celtic knot posts (found the earring back, yay!), & andromorph pendant on long silver chain. Once again, I've French braided my hair, using the metal Celtic knot on black elastic to hold it.

Gaming: I completely forgot that tonight is Mutants & Masterminds. Luckily, Diana is giving me a ride so I can stop by home to pick up my books & stuff.

Still tired. Maybe still sick.

News: my high school burned down today. When I say burned, I don't mean 'keep it closed for a couple days/weeks/months'. I mean, 'don't send in the firefighters, it's too dangerous because a wall just fell down' burnt. It gives me mixed feelings. I would not repeat high school for love nor money. But still, I have 4 years of memories tied up in that place.

I'm still working on that stupid Org chart at work. Oh yay. It's the 3rd format in as many years. I can't even get into the previous format, they lost the access/product code.

Tatting: I finished 4 snowflakes over the weekend. I started another one yesterday & screwed up on the 4th chain. I just have to undo the lockjoin to retro-tat 2 knots. Blech.

Clothes:
Monday: MepaCon t-shirt (red with black ~bird logo), blue jeans, white tennis shoes & socks & Celtic jewelry. French braided hair w/ Celtic knot on elastic.
Tuesday: Harrison steading polo, black pants, loafers & knee-highs. Celtic knot earrings, ring & pendant; rope band & black stone ring.
Wednesday: purple Geoff polo, black pants, knees, sequined flats, grey/black/crystal bead bracelets, rope band, black stone ring, double hash mark band, onyx earrings & French braid again.

More stuff: I checked my email Tuesday and there were >50 PAGES of emails (25 emails per page). A couple pages were spam (there were 278+ messages in my spam folder) but most of the rest was one of my lists...very active that one.

Gertrude Hawks: a lovely chocolate shop in PA. We stopped in Monday before checking out of the hotel. I bought some chocolate-covered pretzels for my co-workers & a peppermint patty for my student. If it hadn't been for the miniatures room, we would have kept to our timetable. It is usually closed on Mondays but the nice man let us in to see it. It is massively impressive; he's spent 50 years on it & it shows! He even turned the lights down & up so we could see night views & days views & take pictures. As it was, we spent so much time looking at it we were almost late checking out.