Friday, June 29, 2007

update: finished Ex, Why & Me. It's pretty good. It has an unusual premise.

Got another 2 repeats done on the edging. Dropped my shuttle holsters in the water & now I'm waiting for them to dry.

Did not get the last 4 letters sealed.

Down to 178# in weight.

Another warm & humid day: I almost wore a skirt today but changed my mind because I didn't like my selection of warm weather skirts. The pair of black jeans that I pulled out has white spots on the front so I switched to the faded to charcoal slacks. At least they're thin which shouldn't be too bad in today's weather.

I put the new earphones on my iPod this morning. I don't know if I like them. They are sound dampening, which is not so good when I'm walking but it is good once I'm on the bus. But to really test them, I wanted to listen to an episode of the Scarlet Queen, but I couldn't get the 'menu' part of the button to work. *worry*

tatting: I have butterflies for the last of my letters and I gave one to one of the riders on the bus. She was talking the other day about how her mother loves butterflies. I had made a couple extra ones, so I gave one to her this morning. I only got 3 rings of the edging done last night. I did more than that on my errand this morning (walk 2 buildings away, pick up paperwork & back).

Letters: I only got the one to Aunt Evelyn sealed yesterday. I couldn't keep the candle lit, too much wind at the wrong times. I barely got Aunt Evelyn's sealed, the fleur-de-lis is somewhat truncated because there's not quite enough wax.

books: I picked up Ex, Why & Me again. My bookmark was still in it, so I just picked up from where I left off. As I read, I remembered what had come before. So far, so good. It was too warm to tat on the way to work, so I read instead.

One of my bookcrossing books from yesterday has been journalled. This is the 2nd book that I've released that I've heard about afterward. Whoot!

website of the day: drawing tutorial (w/ anthropomorphic specific tips)

clothes: black slacks that have faded to charcoal, black ribknit blouse, black ~slippers, black belt (goldtone buckle), onyx pendant on long chain, black glass bead bracelet, black & red stone rings (same finger), hematite ring, onyx earrings, & hair up in a ponytail/bun with very dark brown hairstick barely visible above the knot.


Thursday, June 28, 2007

David's house is very warm tonight. I cannot even tat, my hands are just too warm & sweaty isn't the right word but the effects are the same.

180 energy drink is pretty good. I have some tonight to help keep me awake on the drive home. I drank it at 8 pm so I have a chance to fall asleep when I get home.

I finished Jennifer Scales & the Messenger of Light. That's partially why I was so late tonight.
Weather It's hot but it's not record-breaking hot. The summer of 1952 saw temperatures hovering at or above 100F about this time.

I got a notice from my insurance. They covered 3/4 of my last bill. But the last 1/4=$100. Same thing happened last visit. I really cannot afford that. Mom said that she'd help with my dental bills but I've been avoiding that. Looks like I'll have to ask her for help. Great. Now, I'm fricking depressed. Money problem always do that to me. Pardon me while I go all hermit.

sight of the day: ~10 year old boy with a pink & white striped mohawk.

tatting:
3 butterflies done, 1 more to tat. Then back to my edging.

books:
I finished Scent of Darkness. I've started (again) Jennifer Scales & the Messenger of Light.

writing
: I got maybe another paragraph or two done. That's it.

gaming: Mutants & Masterminds tonight. I'll be driving in myself again. Diana has to work closing.

tv: More The Wild, Wild West last night.

website of the day: make your own soap

clothes: ponytail/bun affixed with same hairstick, white textured plaid shirt, black jeans, black belt (w/ gold-tone buckle), silver bracelet, black stone ring, hematite ring, Celtick knot ring, knot earrings (I finally fixed the one that was ~broken), triskel/knot pendant, black ~slippers.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Romance Chat: I had fun on the Changeling Press chatroom last night. I also was exposed to a few more interesting authors. And I managed to amuse a few people at least once. And to give someone else a very odd story idea. That is a good thing, right?

I forgot my tatting shuttles at home this morning. I took them out to measure against the apron & forgot to pack them again. I do have the little ~Hoare shuttles that Anitra gave me, so at least I'll be able to make those butterflies for my letters.

books: Finished my e-copy of We Few and read a couple Changeling Press stories that I bought (ebooks are frequently, but not always, cheaper than hardcopy). Got quite a ways into Scent of Darkness. last night I also read vol 1 of Hoshin Engi.

tv: Nada. Busy on the laptop so turned it off.

website of the day: Potters for Peace

clothes: another new top & tank top; clay/ochre-colored thin, cotton, kimono waist blouse; grey/lilac roses tank edged with wide lace; black jeans, black ~slippers, 1/2 hair pulled into a ponytail/bun while rest hangs loose; hairstick is black with bead that almost matches blouse; black & crystal bead bracelet (whose elastic I really need to replace); black stone ring; Celtic knot ring; hematite ring; black bead & black thread tatted necklace & earrings.


Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Something new on my blog I've added a list of my favorite blogs. That way I won't have to go searching through my email or blog posts to find them.

books
: Finished Comeback by Dick Francis. It was a pretty good mystery. I was certainly surprised. Started Scent of Darkness by Dodd at lunch today. I also read vol 2 of Millennium Snow.

letters: I sealed and mailed the letters to my dad's sisters & to my niece. I suddenly decided that I want to add butterflies (tatted, naturally), to the letters so I after I finished eating (& sealing the letters with sealing wax), I tatted another butterfly. They are green size 20, so they are not particularly small or delicate butterflies in my opinion.

genealogy: No luck with the search of past State Fair winners. I ended up leaving a message on the voicemail of the assistant to the head of the Swine Husbandry department at the State College, hoping that he would know where to look for past State Fair Hog Winners. Anitra suggested that I contact the guy who wrote the book about the past 100 years of the State Fair.

On the bright side, after talking to Mom I asked the NC Census list to look for Great-grandpa in the 1920 census & they found the family! I now have confirmation of where they lived & the kids' names. To avoid flooding the list, you're limited to one request a day, so tomorrow I'll ask about grandmother's family.

tatting: another inch on the edging & three green butterflies.

tv: Last night was more The Wild, Wild West. It's between seasons on tv & it shows.

clothes: I received a few compliments on my outfit yesterday, so it looks like I will wear it again. Today it's simply ~slippers, black jeans, white polo (UNC-CH logo), tri-moon moonstone pendant, moonstone earrings, fem ring, red stone ring, hematite ring, silver bracelet & ponytail w/ black elastic.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Family stuff: while Mom was visiting, we talked about her grandparent's farm (that would be her father's parents). Mom visited when she was a little girl & she told me what she remembered. Grandma (for simplicity sake, I'm leaving off the Greats) Suzy did not like new things. Even as late as when Mom was a little girl (early 40's), she was still cooking on an open fire. They did not even have electricity on the farm until Mom was a teenager (late 40's/early 50's). Once they had electricity, it was only in the kitchen.

Grandma Suzy did not even leave the farm for years at a time. When she did leave, it was for one-day trips to the nearest town (which to this day isn't very big). They had a well-house attached to the kitchen; that was as new-fangled as she got. Every new appliance or change was a struggle to get her to accept.

Grandpa Claude didn't like tractors until his legs got so bad that he had to stop using mules. Then he fell in love. He bought not only tractors but a ditch witch (dug several ponds on the property) and other machines.

He also raised prize-winning hogs. They were huge and the kids were not allowed down at the hog lot; it was too dangerous (or they would disturb the hogs, who knew which one).
Bookcrossing woot! Someone finally not just found a book that I left, they logged it. The person read it & enjoyed it (even better). 3 years after my first release, and 20-some books; someone logged in about catching a book.

weather: It is so hot & muggy, even by 7:30 am. It might storm, I don't know if that will cool things off or make it worse. I have my fingers crossed.

Letter writing: I've written most of my cards this weekend. I need to finish Aunt Carole's & then Hailey's & Leela's. I've added Aunt Evelyn (married to my grandmother's younger brother Stanley). However, I couldn't find her address, so I called my mom who gave me her phone number. When I called Aunt Evelyn, she didn't know who I was at first. I had to explain twice that I was Polly's daughter. Apparently, my accent thickens quite a bit when I'm talking to family like that. Chris commented on it, also claiming that he needs to tape it & play it back for me to get the full effect.

Mom visited on Saturday. She was 2 hours late because traffic was backed up so badly. I think, it was because of construction but I'm not certain. We went to the thrift shop because we could avoid the highway to get there. I found a half-dozen or so tank tops so I can finally wear those blouses that I bought a month or so ago.

Movies: Went to Spider-man 3 yesterday evening. We (Chris, Rosemary & I) just caught it; only three theaters are showing it. Thomas Haden Church was a great Sandman & the special effects weren't just fantastic, they were artistic. J.K. Simmons had J. Jonah Jameson down pat. I missed the full effect though because I had an upset stomach and could not watch Spidey swinging through the city or the fights. That's one of my favorite parts, too. They crammed too much plot into the movie though. There were three villains & they could have done a full movie just with the Green Goblin. Venom doesn't make a good stand-alone movie villain but they could have merged him with a 2nd Green Goblin movie, easily enough.

tv: I saw the extras on the Another Thin Man dvd. This time it was a romance short and The Bookworm cartoon. Chris watched some more of The Wild Wild West while I worked on my writing.

writing: I got another scene or two written. I also worked on the timeline a little. I've shared the story with 2 viewers but neither one has commented on it. I know that one of them is very busy right now, he warned me that he might not get to it anytime soon.

books: I re-read Fifth Elephant, My Favorite Bride & She Walks in Beauty (by Liz Carlyle). I read most of Ouran High School Host Club #9 (except the bonus story - Love Egoist) & all of Hana-Kimi #18.

clothes: Saturday it was tie-dyed striped wolf tee with jeans & navy loafers. I think I lost one of the feather charm earrings when I was trying on clothes. Sunday it was grey Cleansing of the Oytwood tee with blue jeans & navy loafers. Today it's black ~slippers; blue, navy & black gauze skirt; striped blue tank; navy, short-sleeved ~jacket; Celtic knot ring; smaller dragon ring; ~rope band; Celtic knot post earrings; Celtic knot star/tree/moon pendant & hair up in a ponytail/bun affixed with the wood 3-prong comb w/ mother of pearl star.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Scared a squirrel & myself. I was passing a garbage can on my way into work. The squirrel scavenging inside erupted out & startled me no end.

More training: this time in career banding. They've changed how certain events/processes take place & this was the information about it.

computer game: I went back to Diner Dash. I never actually finished that game. I finished Diner Dash 2 but I got stuck on game 4 of the last level. I finally made it past it last night, with expert. I finished the next level but didn't get expert until I did it again at lunch.

tv: a little M*A*S*H* and more The Wild Wild West. It was the spookiest episode ever! I had to watch a few minutes of something else just to ensure that I'd sleep without nightmares. I also listened to the After the Thin Man radio show that I fell asleep during on Tuesday.

music: odd, maybe good musician (accidentally came across her in YouTube): Trish Thuy Trang.

books: Started A Date with the Other Side, so far it's pretty entertaining.

writing: I actually got some done last night. I started with the scene explaining where Short Fix got the money to expand her shop & hire Spindle. The scene isn't done yet but I'm working on it.

clothes: black ~slippers & slacks, grey polo, silver clip watch, paui shell ring, Fem ring, hematite ring, paui shell pendant on long chain, brass/bronze & pewter earrings & ponytail pulled through above elastic.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

i am a major geek 38.46154%
website of the day: Offworld Designs, t-shirts, etc.
Better day: no bus breakdown, weather is cooler & a puppy decided I was nice. One of my neighbors is fostering a couple of beagle puppies. As I stopped to pet & say hi to her dogs (on leash) one of the puppies decided to come sniff me. He decided that I was friendly & got damp dirt (dew-laden grass + dirt) all over my shoes & hands. Very cute.

Chris's dad is in the hospital but apparently it's more precautionary than anything else. He has a bad case of laryngitis or something. I'm not real clear on the details.

tv: Watched most of AFI's 10th anniversary 100 best films.

books: started to read a little of Careful What You Wish For. I still haven't finished Child but I needed a break from it. I'm also reading a serial story: Tales of Mu.

tatting: I only got part of one repeat done yesterday. I did almost another repeat today before the thread ran out. I joined a new thread & even got an additional ring done. I looked at the tentative class schedule for Palmetto Tat Days & I've made my 1st & 2nd choice (& sometimes 3rd).

clothes: ~slippers, black jeans, green/black Harrington Steading polo, green/black glass bead bracelet, flower fairy pendant, bloodstone ring, Celtic knot ring, hematite ring (as usual), ~filigree earrings & 3-prong wood hair stick with a white mother of pearl star holding my ponytail/bun.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Thunderstorms make me sleepy - which might explain why I fell asleep on the couch at about 9 pm. I completely missed Veronica Mars. C'est la vie.

It also made the training yesterday afternoon very difficult. It was late afternoon, it was not exciting, it was a lot of material crammed into a short amount of time and I got very, very sleepy towards the end. It's hard to make leave recording (vacation, sick, etc) exciting, but they tried to make it as interesting as possible.

They've shut off the air in the building for 2 hours this morning. We're halfway through. So far, it's not too bad. Fortunately, it's a comparatively cool day (only in the 70'sF this morning & only supposed to hit the 80'sF).

The bus broke down this morning so I was 15 minutes late to work. I sat & waited at the stop for it to arrive, just calling my boss to let him know.

The thief has struck again. Last week, I was missing my pound or so of jelly beans, today it's the microwave lunch that I brought in last week. I ended up not needing it last Friday, but I was planning on it for lunch today. I am an unhappy camper. Meanwhile, the cd/tape/radio is still there.

tv: Nothing I was in the mood for was on last night, so I pulled out my Thin Man dvd again. It didn't really have much in the way of extras so after I watched it again, I put in the After the Thin Man dvd. It has 'How to be a detective' extra, a cartoon 'early bird & the worm' and then the radio show of After the Thin Man.

tatting: not much done, it's too hot. When I say that it's too hot to tat, that means that my hands sweat & grime up the thread. I need to sign up for Palmetto's. Alas, I need to wait until I get paid so I can register.

books: I didn't see any other stories that Reader's Digest volume that I wanted to read, so I read Wicked Fantasy. Last night (before I fell asleep), I re-read Going Postal. This morning I started Child of a Rainless Year. I've owned it for over 6 months but haven't read it yet.

clothes: yesterday I wore a burgundy knit shirt, black slacks, ~slippers, clip watch, labradorite pendant, onyx earrings, black stone ring, fem ring & two black hair sticks holding up a ponytail/bun. Today it's same style shoes, black slacks, deep green Geoff polo, dragon pendant, dragon band, dragon ring, fem ring (too tight to remove today), & 3-prong hair stick in a ponytail/bun.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Went to Ted's Montana Grill for supper last night. I had the buffalo meat loaf, with enough for supper tomorrow night. I was really happy that I did not have any unfortunate reaction to it. I was really tired though, I'm not entirely certain why.

Over supper, Chris, Rosemary & I worked on the character that I tentatively plan to play in LG's Greyhawk Ruins. I'm planning a wood elf 2-weapon fighting ranger. With the re-training options available in LG now it's a lot easier. She can take Improved 2-weapon fighting and then when she gets it from being a ranger, she can retrain that feat to be Natural Bond.

tatting:
another 5 repeats done.

books:
I read Hot Money by Dick Francis from the Reader's Digest volume.

clothes
: forgot to add to yesterday's clothes: blue silicon childhealthsite.com bracelet & navy loafers. I'm wearing the same loafers today with navy slacks, white polo, silver & blue bead bracelet, braided silver ring, Celtic knot ring, hematite ring, blue & bronze earrings, & hair up in a ponytail/bun with a white chopstick with a blue dragon.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Pain: Ow my knee hurts. My head still hurts. The cold pack helped my knee, some. The painkillers (1 aleve & 2 ibuprofen) did very little.

Gaming: We were missing our artillery (archer with blow through, etc) so we just did some 'shopping' and some travelling. We spent a lot of time talking & socializing. So that was loads of fun.

website of the day: Steve's website


books: started reading another volume of Reader's Digest. This one is vol 2 1988.
Red Hand of Doom: We only narrowly saved Hadrumentum yesterday (Diana's character). We thought he died, in fact but then Chris remembered the his character Relgar had a +2 on the save & he survived. So he was able to Delay Death Hadrumentum. A good thing; Hadrumentum's Sacred Healing feat saved my character at least 3 times. Tell you the truth, I'm kinda tired of it though. Only 1 more session to go.

Pain: My right knee hurts like nobody's business this morning. Plus I have a headache & my left neck/shoulder cramped last night & that hurts. I put a cold pack on my knee & that's helping.

books: I finished Atlantis Rising; it was better than I expected. How rare is that?

tatting: I got a little more done yesterday, not much.

clothes: blue jeans, ~taupe Busch Gardens wold t-shirt, braided navy belt, flint crescent moon pendant on cream silk cord, moss agate bead bracelet, bloodstone ring, Celtic knot ring, hematite ring, lapis & brown bead chandelier-ish earrings & braided hair.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Red Hand of Doooooom! We're off to slightly slow start (spell selection, etc).

Washed my hair this morning, so I have a strip of wet t-shirt down my back. Very chilly.

Made blueberry muffins this morning. With chai tea. Yum.

books: Finished Southern Discomfort & started Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day.

clothes: navy loafers, blue jeans, maroon stone points of NC, bloodstone ring, ~rope ring, fem-power ring, hematite ring, flower fairy pendant, chain mail earrings & braided hair.

Friday, June 15, 2007

website of the day: cooling vests for working dogs in Iraq

You see why I made the website the start of today's post and why it's so large & attention getting. Most of the websites I mention are interesting or humorous. This one above & this one are important for other reasons.

I finally reached Mom last night (still don't have the answering machine set up - problems getting outlet space). Since I'll be playing Red Hand of Doom tomorrow instead of going to see her, she'll be coming to see me on the 23rd on her way back from visiting Aunt Shirley.

Gaming: Chris was finally back at the Mutants & Masterminds game last night. It was good timing. He was there to rescue the rest of us. We had been captured by The Cosmic Brain (who had possessed the leadership of Far Side City and was mentally controlling the city population), who had implanted a post-hypnotic suggestion blocking our powers. So Wraith, and Lady Lunar, are the only individuals with their powers. Cosmic Brain wants to use the rest of the Freedom League as breeding stock and make duplicates. Our characters are not happy about that, Lady Celtic & Totem (Rosemary's & my character) are fairly certain that she (the Cosmic Brain) cannot really duplicate them; she doesn't have the magic ability. She might be able to duplicate the effects, but they'll be fakes.

That reminds me, I need to find my character for tomorrow, Amber for Rosemary's game on Sunday & clear up around our table for Chris's game on Monday.

tatting: I now have enough trim to reach the front of the apron. I need just a little more than double what I have now.

books: I finished Deep Waters last night. I stayed up a little too late to do so. I made it out to McKay's (the used bookstore) yesterday before gaming. They did not buy any of the books that I took in & I used my store credit from my last visit to buy 4 books. Two of the books that I took in will now be Book Crossing books. This morning I started reading Southern Discomfort.

clothes: dark brown loafers, tan socks, tan slacks (last chance - if they give me any problems they go to Goodwill), brown belt (on its last legs), blue polo (2005 NCAA men's basketball champs), turquoise ring (4 pieces of green-blue set flush in silver), flower band ring, hematite ring, turquoise & coral circles earrings (circle of turquoise chips set in silver with two ovals of coral chips at the bottom), silver ~tube necklace with silver & turquoise pendant, & French braided hair with brown elastic at the end & a navy hair clip at the top of the braid.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Dentist: It was certainly more expensive than I expected. Apparently, there was an unpaid charge from my last visit (surprise to me). It doubled the amount that I expected to pay. Looks like I had better be careful with my gas. I can't afford to put more into it until next payday.

It was raining cats & dogs when I headed for my car to go to the dentist. Even with the umbrella I was getting wet. Maybe a white cotton shirt was not the best wardrobe choice considering the weather.

I watched a little tv, a couple of Philo Vance movies. I really think that William Powell did the best job but they didn't show his movie (or it was earlier in the day & I missed it). It's also possible that I was distracted by the subsiding numbing agents in my mouth and residual pain.

I took a nap after I got home. I slept for about two hours. Woke up, ate supper while watching a bit of the 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean movie & then went back to bed.

gaming: tonight it's Mutants & Masterminds but no ride from Diane. I'm schlepping out there on my own.

books: I finished First Eagle. I started re-reading Deep Waters. I'm also still reading that same issue of Real Simple.

tatting: I got quite a bit done waiting for the meeting yesterday, & on the bus. I ran out of thread again & did another thread join. While in the dentist chair I did some on the blue silk. Made a mess as usual.

clothes: black 'slippers' (the larger pair), black jeans & belt, silky poly shirt, labradorite pendant, onyx earrings, black stone ring, dragon band, hematite band, same hairstick & same hairstyle. I damaged yesterday's bracelet & have no idea how to fix it.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Forgot the pin. Spent 3 hours in a meeting about record management (more interesting than it sounds - they had historical records to show off).

New shoes are a 1/2 size too small. I hope that they stretch enough to be comfortable.

books: I'm reading The First Eagle by Hillerman.

Breaker woes: It happened again last night. Of course, I think that it happened after I got home. So I went out, reset it & then put a lock on the flap.

Lunch every day this week has been leftovers. Monday was my leftover sesame beef from Saturday. Tuesday was Chris's leftover General Tso's chicken. Today is half mine & Chris's leftovers from Red Lobster on Sunday. Tomorrow will probably be the other half.

I have a meeting all morning & then I have to leave early for my dentist appointment. I think I'm just getting a filling put in, but I have some ~waste thread to tat, just in case.

Mail goodies: I got the circle skirt that I bought from an Etsy crafter. It's really pretty, I just ned to sew it up. I also got the things that I ordered from hungersite & associated sites. I now have some pins. I'm thinking of wearing the pink ribbon one.

books: I read Aishiteruze Baby vol 2 & Law of Ueki vol 3. I'm still reading an October 2006 issue of Real Simple magazine.

tv: I watched The Wild Wild West until Veronica Mars came on. Then I watched the last half of a Perry Mason tv movie until bedtime.

clothes: black 'slippers' (new pair to alternate w/ old pair), black jeans, white textured check shirt (3/4 sleeves, band collar), black belt (w/ gold-tone buckle), silver flower fairy pendant on small chain, flat silver chain bracelet, flower band, hematite ring, fem-power ring, ~filigree earrings, ladybug watch, & grey/black hairstick w/ 4 tiny rhinestones holding the ponytail/bun.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

website of the day: Dice pouch. Alas, they are not taking any orders right now. *pout*

BTW: I have now lost 17.5#
Bookcrossing:I may finally have had a book picked up. At least, I released one at lunch & when I checked back after work, it was gone. It hasn't been journalled yet but I have my fingers crossed.

books
: Tail of the Moon vol 5, Her Majesty's Dog vol 5, Ouran High School Host Club vol 7 & 8. I also read a little of Thrift Score. I got that latter as a freebie from the Bulls Head. I am definitely giving to my mother as soon as I finish it.

tatting: I finally made got that new thread added, plus one more repeat. The edging is now more than a foot long.

tv: I finally noticed the extras on the Thin Man dvd. I watched part of one short & a cartoon. I need to go back to the other DVDs & see what their extras are. Then we watched two episodes of the Wild, Wild West.

writing: I did a little more fiddling on my story. No big changes but I've moved a couple things around.

blog of the day: Thrift Shop Project, now here's someone I can relate to.

clothes: black 'slippers', black jeans & belt (gold tone buckle), brown/black Vorkosigan polo, gold amber drop earrings, shades of amber (gold, brown, yellow & green) bracelet, 2 gold amber rings (1 sphere & 1 ~poison ring), 3 ages of women pendant on long chain, braided hair held by a brown elastic, hematite ring & ladybug clip watch (the latter two as usual).

Monday, June 11, 2007

A couple were looking at getting an Alaskan Klee Klai after years of malamutes & Siberian huskies. They wanted to see what one really looked like so they came to see Duncan. Rosemary, being a reasonably cautious person, asked for Chris & I to be there. The guy sounded nice on the phone, but I've heard that Ted Bundy seemed like a nice guy, too. The visit went well & the couple seemed impressed with Duncan (big shock there, *snicker*).

movie: Shrek 3.
I enjoyed it. I don't think that it was quite as good as the previous two but there were one or two truly excellent moments. If you have not seen it yet, watch Snow White, one of those moments are hers.

tatting:
attempted a join of a new thread but failed (pulled the wrong thread).

books: River Road
by JoAnn Ross. Next I'm going to read some of the manga that I bought on Sunday.

clothes
: black jeans, green/black Harrington polo, moss agate bead bracelet, bloodstone ring, fem-ring, hematite ring, onyx earrings & pendant; braided hair, and lack loafers.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Did a bit of cleaning yesterday. Gathered a couple books for the used bookstore. Worked on my story, a little.

movies: watched The Thin Man Goes Home.

books: bought & read More Than Fiends & Night Life. Re-read Oathblood & 2 books from a Reader's Digest volume (Every Living Thing & All Around the Town).

clothes: Busch Gardens purple 'fear the 4' t-shirt, blue jeans, navy loafers, Celtic knot ring, flower fairy pendant, fem ring, ~rope band, silver bracelet, & chain mail earrings.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

tv: Watched Shadow of the Thin Man and then a couple episodes of Wild, Wild West. Bones was a repeat but watched it anyway.

tatting: only until I ran out of thread on the shuttle.

books: been busy writing, working on the time line, etc.

website of the day: Yard Sale Queen

clothes: blue jeans, white song of 3 summonings t-, navy loafers (forgot to put on jewelry).

Friday, June 08, 2007

Heat! Who the heck turned up the thermostat? Just sitting in the shade at lunch was almost too warm. I expected high temps (we're about 10 degrees above normal) but with the humidity it feels like summer already. Whew...

Bookcrossings! It's a catch & release program for books. Click on the link to join & I get credit for the referral.

Still tired: Do I need more sleep as I get older (shudder), am I still recovering from the con? Or is it the heat? It was a struggle to stay up until my bedtime last night.

movie: I watched Another Thin Man again, I had missed parts of it last time. Then we watched Pretty in Pink. It's not one of Hughes's better movies in my opinion (very angsty) so we hadn't seen it in years. I'd forgotten portions of it.

books: didn't quite finish The Pursuit of Marriage because I spent time working on my own story.

music: I have 213 songs on my 'wake up list.' I had gone through about 50 as of Friday when I left for Charlotte. That trip, I went through about 100 of them. I'm now, a week later, one & a half songs short of going completely through the list. I'm halfway through song 212 as I arrived at work.

Money's going to be a little tight this pay period. I had not set enough money aside for my car insurance. That plus the con hotel bill, etc means not much spending money. I want to buy a pair of white shoes to wear when my black 'ballet' shoes won't work (like today).

tatting: did barely one repeat yesterday.

clothes: navy loafers (don't really go, style-wise but I had nothing better), brightly flowered gauze skirt (2 shades each of pink, yellow, green, & purple, plus a little bit of white & ~black), white crinkle blouse (embroidered with flowers scattered around the neck, ties at neck & sleeves, gathered at waist, cords keeps untying & need to be replaced), quartz point feather necklace, silver bracelet, fem ring, circles band, hematite ring, feather charm earrings & ponytail/bun affixed with a white chopstick with a blue dragon almost worn off.


Thursday, June 07, 2007

Got some sleep: Seriously, about the time Chris came home, I laid down for a nap. Next thing I knew it was 9 pm. I stayed up long enough to have supper & went back to bed.

sight of the day: young woman, dressed almost stodgily in classic black dress & mary janes, with pale traceries of tattoos all along her arms, below her short sleeves.

books: I finished Smile of the Stranger at lunch yesterday & read my October issue of Shojo Beat!. This morning I'm re-reading The Pursuit of Marriage.

Tatting: I got about 3-4" of edging done yesterday.

tv: I forgot to mention that I watched Women of Ninja Warrior Tuesday night. Last night I watched a little of Pleasantville before heading to bed.

clothes: black 'slippers'; forest green, ankle-length, wrap skirt (embroidered & guimped front panel); burgundy poly knit blouse; malachite & silver cuff bracelet; malachite & silver wire ring; ~rope band; flower band; hematite ring; same hairstick (w/ a black bead on either side of a faceted clear one & a dangling silver spherical charm); & ~silver chain mail earrings.


Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Bloody Tuesday: Not really, I had a really good technician. I got to work yesterday & almost immediately left again to go to the blood drive. All told, I was gone about an hour and a half, from out the door to back again. I saw only one person that I knew, from Printing (although now she works at the Lineberger Cancer Center). I did see a copy of Our State (May 2007) that I would like to have.

I also had a training on employee tuition assistance at midday. I saw two people that I knew there, if you don't include the person teaching the class; Smitty from Carolina Copy & Cyrette from TTK.

I took the department car to the training & was delayed getting back because I parallel parked perfectly. Alas, the stone wall meant that I wasn't able to open the door. So I had to pull out & park again, farther from the so-called curb.

I was still tired from the con so I just went home and vegged. John came by and gave me my birthday present; a book on learning Japanese, in manga format. We talked about the cyberpunk/urban fantasy romance novel that I'm writing. Since it's based on some events from our Shadowrun game I wanted to see what he remembered and if I could use his character's name. As soon as he left, I went to bed.

I felt much better this morning but I'm feeling just a touch tired still. The roses I brought back from the con are almost gone. I've already pulled both the pink ones and pulled off the petals to dry.

books: I finished Dragon of Despair Monday & re-read Holiday in Death yesterday. Today I'm reading The Smile of the Stranger by Joan Aiken.

Tatting: I continued to work on my edging.

clothes: yesterday I got a half-dozen yards outside my door & realized that I had donned black slacks instead of the navy blue. Since I was wearing navy trouser socks & loafers, plus a light blue UNC (2005 NCAA men's basketball champs) polo this was a problem. I had to dash back & change slacks. Thus, I forgot my watch. I wore the paui shell pendant & ring, blue bead & silver wire bracelet, chain mail earrings, & flower band. My hair was braided much of the day just to keep it out of the way.

Today it's the black slacks that I accidentally donned yesterday, black 'slippers', white UNC polo, narrow silver bracelet, ~rope band, quartz feather pendant on long rope chain, feather charm earrings, & hair up in a ponytail/bun affixed with the hair stick with black & white beads & a silver charm.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Tired Monday

Con Report: I missed the bus that I needed, so I got a 20-minute late start. That, plus the extra long time waiting in line to get gas & get food, made it a near run thing. I got to the con right before the game slot. I barely had enough time for a pit stop before I had to find the table.

It was a double-rounder Living Greyhawk so I played that the rest of the evening. We found Alisa, or she found us, and we caravaned to the LaQuinta.

It was up early on Saturday (I woke up before the alarm clock, no surprise there) and we created a dwarf fighter for Alisa to play in Living Kalamar. She decided to play the second round of Saturday with us, too. She really seemed to enjoy her fighter. She even got the perfect crit to finish off the big bad (not bad for a 1st level character at an ATL 3 table).

Saturday night was the BI & we played at the 12 Advanced Table. We had the central fight and it was a near thing. Reed used most of her spells for healing alone. Funny thing, she never even lost the temporary hit points from the Hero's Feast but at least two of the other characters went down to single digit hit points a couple times. Thanks to a couple of well-place disintegrate spells, the last combat was quick (maybe 3 rounds) and we finished up a little early.

Ironclaw: Sunday morning I drove to the con hotel so I would have my Ironclaw stuff. I had a full table, including at least one person who had never even heard of the game. I think everyone had fun and there was some very well-done roleplaying. Everyone chose pre-gens and two people, luckily seated next to each other, chose the siblings Argent & Sable; their interaction was great! Diane was there again and although this game was not particularly focused on her character she had some absolutely wonderful moments (the joy of a well-chosen use of flaws). It was good to see her again. She's gotten so tall.

I need to work on Unexpected Inheritance, though. It runs long. With inexperienced players, we finished the first fight at 3 hours plus. I called it rather than let it keep going. I pretty much hand-waved the other fight. They did enjoy the suspenseful ending, or indicated that they did.

Someone else was there running a Jadeclaw game & a Usagi Yojimbo game. I got a picture of him running the latter and a couple pictures of my players in the IC game. If I could just remember his name.
Bill got a picture of me with his camera phone.

The Sunday afternoon LG game was an investigation mod, not the best choice for the last round of the con but we had fun. We were playing APL 4 & my 2nd level fighter, Brenna, is finally 3rd. We managed to finish on time; I had expected to run late.

I called Teresa to let her know & we sat down to eat at about 6:30. She was pulling in just after I arrived to I gave her the tins immediately. We had a nice dine & chat.

It was still just after 8 before I headed home. I had a sugar free Red Bull to drink (nasty tasting stuff) so I was fairly confident of my ability to stay awake. There were still some troubling moments but some pit stops and a stop to get gas helped.

When I got home, I didn't fully unload my car. I just pulled out the stuff I needed most & the stuff that shouldn't sit in it all day today (the heat would warp the map for example).

I saw Cherie at the con & Alisa got a chance to talk to C J Henderson. I didn't really see any of the guests but I did find a book of People's Names for 1/2 off. That was my only purchase, other than food & a con t-shirt. Good thing, too.

I was relying on the gas card that Mom gave me for the gas home. Too bad the place was having card reader problems & I couldn't use it. After that, I only have about $5 left of my con money. That's just a little close for comfort.

I played my wake-up song list from my iPod. It takes about 50 songs to get to Charlotte, by the way.

sights: From Thursday - cute quasi-kimono style blouse in a black print on white with the 'inner kimonos' in black & pink but with jeans cuffed up to capri length with 3-4" cuffs & stilleto heels.

books: I'm still reading Dragon of Despair; obviously I didn't have much reading time this weekend.

tatting: I started another one-shuttle edging from the Jones book, in size 12 ecru this time. I think I like this one & I plan on edging my c. 1810 apron. Finally. I have enough done to either more than edge the very front or to make a decent start on edging from back, over shoulder & around the neck to the other side.

clothes: Saturday I wore my flower fairy t-shirt, blue jeans, white tennis shoes, the new earrings, dragon pendant, Celtic knot ring & fem-power ring; plus I had my hair up in a ponytail/bun with silver bells on it.

Sunday I started out wearing my Ironclaw t- with blue jeans & white tennis shoes. It was raining (Yay!) so I wore a flannel shirt over it until I got inside. I kept my hair loose and wore my dragon necklace, lapis earrings, Celtic knot ring & fem-power ring, plus silver cobra bracelet. Eventually, I wore my new con t-shirt over my IC shirt. It was cool enough, until I was almost home, that I didn't find it too warm at all.

Today: navy loafers, navy/black/white print gauze skirt, burgundy knit blouse, silver wire & blue bead bracelet, fem-power ring, Celtic knot ring & other new earrings (which are heavier than I expected). I'm also wearing my dragon pendant & my hair is loose because I just don't want to deal with it.

This pair of earrings are pewter finish pierced, teardrop shaped. They are almost but not quite floral & pierced on both sides. They are not fine enough to call filigree.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Packing for the Con! I packed my RPGA stuff on Tuesday & then spent Wednesday night looking for my Living Kalamar character. I had hidden it really well; understandable since I haven't played her since 2005. Then I had to unpack my crate enough to pull out the character that I'm playing tonight, plus things like dice, the figure, etc so that I can be ready to play her when I get to the con. Of course, it's Reed, one of the larger notebooks.

Chris reminded me that we were playing Mutants & Masterminds last night so I packed my clothes yesterday morning. That just left my Ironclaw stuff to pack.

I tried to do that when I got home last night but all I managed to do was gather the books that I needed before I had to go to bed to get some sleep.

I woke up an hour early this morning to get the Ironclaw materials actually packed. I opened up a bunch of the miniatures that I'd bought for Ironclaw & put them in the case that Chris gave me for Christmas. They don't quite fill the top layer. I made certain that I have blank character sheets, pregenerated characters, and other supplies; plus the adventure, the map & the map stamps (thank you Green Dragon Studio). The only thing I forgot was the spray bottle (of water) to clean the map).

Gaming: Chris still had mandatory overtime so he wasn't at the Mutants & Masterminds game last night. I got a ride, there & back again, with Diana. We finally talked to Lady Lunar enough to get her stop attacking, for 5 days anyway. We promised to do what we could to get rid of the duplicate leaders of Far Side City (moon city) & to find the culprit(s). It was an enjoyable little series of fights first, to get to her. Even after all this time, I have trouble figuring out how Totem's regeneration works. I made a couple notes in the margin of my character sheet that may help me next session.

I didn't have my laptop, so I wrote the notes in my spiral notebook instead of typing them as we played. That will be fun. I'm behind already (by 5 sessions now). We ended the session by being captured due to being knocked out by a massive psychic blast. A round of Hero Points for everybody.

books: read Spirited Away & started to read The Dragon of Despair. I've also released one book into the wild, registered on BookCrossing. I plan to release another one today and a couple others this weekend at ConCarolinas.

clothes: Yesterday I wore the lilac Ren Fest shirt because I didn't want to bother changing the purple elastic on my braid. How sad is that? I also wore black slacks, belt (with silver buckle), 'slippers', fem power ring, 3 ages of women pendant, hematite ring, & forgot to put in earrings.

Today it's black (repaired) loafers, socks & jeans with dark green Geoff polo, moss agate bead bracelet, black stone ring, hematite ring, fem power ring, green amber ring, necklace & earrings, other green glass bead bracelet (3 strands; one small green spheres, one 2 green cubes to ever single sphere & one larger green spheres bracketed by small green ~pony beads & separated by opaque green octagonal beads) & braided hair (w/ olive elastic at the end).