This was the first sign that I was having trouble reading patterns. This is Jane Eborall's oh-so-cute wheelbarrow pattern (from 2007 Palmetto Tat Days). I finished the wheel in class and then worked on it the following week. I got to ring #30 & realized that something was wrong. Turns out, I'd made a mistake. Back on ring#11. Ooopsy. I keep meaning to send this to Jane. Maybe I'll just point her in this direction.

Blood donation: I tried. I ate something and drank a smoothie (anti-nausea calcium & liquid in one dose) beforehand. None of it worked. They couldn't find enough of my veins for me to donate. They stuck me but then lost the vein. Three phlebotomists looked but oh well. Maybe it was too early, the food, etc hadn't reached my veins yet. I'll try again in a couple weeks.

I cooked last night; nothing huge, just mini-calzones. I used a small squash & a jar of sliced mushrooms instead of a small zuccini & half a bell pepper, then forgot to add the left-over chicken into the mix. I ate 2 of the calzones for supper last night & ate one for breakfast this morning. That leaves just one more. It's a quick, only half or so in all, and pretty easy recipe.

tatting: I did get past the halfway point on my necklace while waiting to donate platelets. I debated pendant or not & finally decided on a pendant. I have some of the teardrop beads left, I guess I'll use those on earrings. Thanks to the commute in & an errand for work, I'm now well past 3/4 done. Alas, I'm short about 2 teardrop beads. Somehow I miscounted while I was threading the beads. However, two problems together solve each other. I'm also almost out of thread on the shuttle. Thus, I will have to take some of the thread off the ball & transfer to a 2nd shuttle, giving me the opportunity to add beads, before re-loading the 1st shuttle.

I've already seen a couple students dressed for Halloween. I will probably wear my Colonial outfit to answer the door.

books: Read Truly Yours, as I liked other books the author had written. This one was pretty good, too. Her characters are not perfect, even though this heroine was a little closer. I also bought & read Fruits Basket vol 3 & 4.

clothes: yesterday, black jeans, black suede shoes, purple polo, grey knit sweater, amethyst pendant, purple Czech bead earrings, and silver ~rope band. Today I'm wearing the same shoes, black jeans, black Origins shirt, black & red stone rings, dragon earrings & harp pendant. My hair is braided again for simple convenience.

I have a post from Saturday, I'll insert it later.

FE had their 20th Anniversary sale yesterday. I spent too much money. What a shock. I got a neato navy Battle of the Planets t-shirt for $5 and some old gaming books. I also picked up a couple manga to try.

Since a migraine woke me at 6 am, I took a nap after we got back home (we also stopped to buy candy for Wednesday). I woke to watch the end of Thirteenth Warrior. Then we watched Heartbreak Ridge but I went to bed soon after we started watching Midsummer Night's Dream.

books: I read the 7th volume of Her Majesty's Dog.

Donating platelets tomorrow. Whee!

tatting: almost halfway done now, I'm on the 20-something teardrop bead.

clothes: yesterday I wore my brown Hal-O-Scream shirt, jeans & white sneakers. I was going to wear brown loafers but my socks were too thick. Today (Autumn has finally arrived), black ankle shoe/boots (that I need to take to be re-soled, I want to do that on the way home), black jeans, burgundy knit shirt, heavy grey long-sleeved knit shirt, & Celtic knotwork jewelry.

Okdokay. Friday: I finished Ain't Myth-Behaving and then a couple of the Lt Leary books by David Drake. I mailed a couple pictures to Rosemary & one to Anitra.

It rained all day, which is a good thing. I was just so dead. And needing to do laundry, I wore a skirt & my tall boots (vs the rain).

We played the first Witch Hunter adventure today. Now I have to look and see if I want to change anything about my character. She was mildly helpful and did get one really good shot in to finish the bad guy. I had fun with my character's name; she's Solange-Marie Lannae Cecile Brichler.

Chris got the oil changed in his car and I need to do the same. I did finally fill the gas tank and boy, gas is just getting more & more ridiculous.

I'm taping the 1^st season of Heroes. G4 is showing 12 hours of it so I've pulled out a couple tapes to get it all.

Books: I've re-read a couple old Jayne Anne Krentz books (like Twist of Fate, Flash & Perfect Partners) and that sort of thing.

Tatting: I didn't get much farther on my necklace, just a few more rings. It was just too damp.

Clothes: Friday was khaki skirt (very straight), tall black boots, black tank top & black silk shirt printed with bamboo in taupe, grey & tan (with occasional slices of blue). I wore my tatted necklace but somehow the jump ring of the toggle came off the tatting. Luckily, I caught it before it disappeared. I also wore the matching rings.

Today it's blue jeans (my last clean pair), orange Celtic knot Ren Festival shirt, knotwork pendant & ring, ~rope ring, & knotwork earrings.

Vacation tatting: bookmarks - The notorious "How many mistakes can you find" bookmark (by Jane Eborall):Same bookmark, correctly done. Olympus thread, pastel variegated & bright variegated
First leaf of November bookmark from Tat's Where I Stopped

Two leaves done
Four leaves done (& then donated)
Heart from Tat's Amore, with extra double stitches on the upper curves of the heart:
Different heart, same book

Still not ready for a real post. Just a kind of passing update.

tatting: started my new necklace this morning. I threaded the beads onto the thread & tatted the 1st 5 rings before work. On the way home, I did the next 5 bald rings and the first chain & ring with beads. So I've made a good start.

I finished the John Ringo book last night, staying up a little too late to do so. I'm a little tired & right now really fricking irritable.

Joe called me to see if I wanted/could come play Blackmoor tonight. I told him to call me back in an hour so I could check with Chris, see if we had any plans that I didn't know about. Chris was okay with it so I read the Blackmoor stuff that I had and prepared myself to play. Joe never called me back. I took the bus home and booted up my laptop to try & get directions to the game location. While I was doing so, and running a little late, Joe called. No need for me to come. They have a full table. Yeah. I'm pissed.

Chris just got home. Since he was not expecting me to be here, he had already stopped to get his supper. Well, we have leftovers for me to eat.

The dining service sponsored a farmer's market with fresh fruits & vegetables plus recipes (those were free), baked goods and nutrition info. I tried a sample of the new Luna elixir, but I didn't care for it. I have another flavor to try later. I bought a couple sweet potatoes, a yellow squash & a small loaf of apple cranberry loaf.

It's raining. For the second day. We need a lot more before we're out of drought though. It's a start so I'm not complaining, even if it is much colder. I even had to wear a jacket this morning.

clothes: black ~slippers (should have worn something with socks), black jeans, purple "Book Wyrm" embroidered polo (has words, dragon & a book), amethyst pendant, ~rope ring, hematite ring, braided ring, & violet & grey earrings. I wore a ponytail most of the day.

Convention upcoming: MACE (Mid-Atlantic Convention Expo) is hosting its annual game convention from November 16 to November 18, located at the Radisson Hotel in High Point, NC. Gaming events include over 70 board and card games, over 100 role playing games, collectible card game events and tournaments, and over 20 miniature gaming events. Other activities include four Live Action Role Playing events, video games, a charitible auction, and "talk with the professionals" discussion panel. Jimmy John's Subs available on site, as well as soft-drink fountain. You won't want to miss this action-packed event! Pre-registration is $25 FOR THE WHOLE WEEKEND. For more info call (336) 869-5410 or visit www.justusproductions.com

It's a pretty good con. I recommend it.

site of the day: Twenty-sider, for the gamers. It's a limited run comic that takes still from Lord of the Rings movies & overlays dialogue, etc as if a bunch of hack-n-slashers were playing the adventure (with never having heard the story before or any of its elements). Man, it is sooo funny.

got my flu shot today. Now my arm hurts. Wow, big shock.

random notes: made earrings to go with my necklace. I'm contemplating a bracelet & maybe a ring to match.

Reading Into the Looking Glass by John Ringo. Need to create a Witch Hunter & Blackmoor character by Saturday.

Cirque Eloize: Rain was incredible. And it rained during the performance. Yay!

clothes: ~slippers, black jeans, black tank top, ochre blouse, tatted necklace & earrings (I made 'em, I'm gonna wear 'em), a couple silver rings & hair worn loose.

site of the day: Sinister Bedfellows, it's not a comic. It's more a slice of life with commentary. No. That's not it. It's aphorisms for today. That's not it either, but it's closer.

I am massively tired. Tired enough from working at the fair to not really post. I'm going to Cirque Eloize: RAIN tonight. I hope to actually post something tomorrow. A lot has happened.

Blog of the Day: Emily X of Planned Parenthood; read it, love it, get informed.

I forgot to mention one incident from Busch Gardens. Rosemary & I waited an hour for Chris to ride the Griffon, because it malfunctioned while he was in line. A group of people got stuck on it, in the sun, until they got it fixed enough to bring them to the platform. Then they had to work on it. Run a few empty, test cars & then Chris got to ride it. He did enjoy it though.

Yesterday it was raining in the morning, so we took a quick stroll down Duke of Gloucester Street to see the armory. I took a lot more pictures. It's a good century after Witch Hunter, but you never know what information will come in handy. Plus it was just neat! It was a light rain, so we didn't even bother getting out umbrellas, but we had them, just in case.

I bought a book called Putting on the Dog. It was overpriced and I had hoped it was something about Colonial dogs or dog training but it turned out to be, supposedly, word & phrase origins dating from Colonial times. It's meant in fun or I'd be writing an angry letter to the author. I know that at one of the 'origins' is wrong. I also bought a commemorative tin of mints. The tin is the perfect size for tatting stuff.

We grabbed a quick lunch from the Mexican Maiden (aka Taco Bell) and then off to the Yorktown waterfront. We had reservations to go sailing aboard the sloop Alliance. It was a 2-hour tour & it was FABULOUS! There were about 20 others on board, and Duncan was very popular. We were worried that he might get hot in his lifejacket & bag but he appeared fine. He really enjoyed the trip (after we got off the boat & dock & took him out of his life jacket & bag, he tried to get back into the bag to go back to the ship). We got into a nice long conversation with Lee, Sue & their daughter (whose name I never heard). Chris got to help pull up one of the sails. I got a couple pictures but Rosemary got a movie of it.

I had to download my camera Tuesday at lunch because I literally ran out of memory while at Historic Jamestown. At the first cenotaph. I could take another 14 pictures, saving them to the camera's harddrive & that's it. That's 295 shots. Some of them were from Palmetto's but still.

We had supper at Florimentes, a great deli that Chris found. We had gotten dinner to go from them earlier & now Rosemary really wanted garlic knots. Alas, they were out. But she had the artichoke heart & chicken while Chris & I had the meatball heros. Last time, I had gotten the beef turnover while Chris & Rosemary got the top round heros. They have an incredible bakery too. So far, we've tried the apple strudel, Napoleon (chocolate & vanilla), tiramisu cups (tiramisu in chocolate cups), & some strawberry jam pastry with powdered sugar.

This morning we're taking Duncan to the Yorktown Battleground. Since it's a national park, he's allowed there, on leash. He's not allowed in buildings but we should still have fun. Yesterday we could see the Yorktown Victory monument from the water.

I'm not sure what we're doing this afternoon. Maybe we'll go to the Yorktown Victory Center (state park) after lunch. Duncan has really enjoyed going on long walks with us. We've taken water & a water bowl for him but he's been pretty smart about staying in the shade & stuff like that.

Early night last night. We were very tired after the ship.

clothes: Today I'm wearing black slacks/jeans, purple angel/moon t-shirt, moonstone jewelry, Celtic knot ring & ~rope band. I'll braid my hair again. It's the only practical hairstyle (though how it gets tangled when I brush it then braid it immediately, I'm unclear). It's also black tennis shoes again. And probably will be until the con.

Busch Gardens: I only rode 2 rides; Corkscrew Hill (in Ireland) & DarKastle (in Germany, I think). They had technical problems with Corkscrew Hill (part of the last scene was green) but it was fun anyway. The only reason I didn't scream during DarKastle was I closed my eyes & breathed. Rosemary screamed once. She went on to ride Alpengeist & Big Bad Wolf, unlike me. Chris rode Griffon & really enjoyed it. I can't understand it myself; 95 foot drop people. 95 feet!

I bought a personalized name pull for Hailey & a glow in the dark charm bracelet. I bought a couple sticker books for Leela. I bought myself a purple & blue teddy bear (one they fill for you, I entertained the gift shop worker, who'd apparently had a very bad day, by telling her that I planned to add bat wings to its back & head to make it an incubus bear. She really needed that laugh, it was half an hour before closing & she was tired). I didn't like any of the ride t-shirts & I really wanted a griffon one. The only DarKastle shirt they had was for kids! I was greatly disappointed.

While I waited for Chris & Rosemary to ride rides, I managed to get conversations with a couple other people waiting. That was interesting.

Other things that we did besides shop & eat: watch the Fright Night show & rode the train. We walked, a lot.

Monday we went to the Jamestown Settlement Museum. That was really cool. They have reconstructed the fort, a Powhatan village & you can go on the three rebuilt ships. I took a lot of pictures. There were two 'guards' who demonstrated matchlock rifles; firing them off. I missed the cannon firings. They told us to plan for 3 hours, we took 5. Afterwards we walked Duncan & vegged out. I also bought postcards for all my family. I bought a Jamestown t-shirt, Chris gave me another one; I also bought a Jamestown commemorative coin/medal and a kit to make a possible bag (probably called that because it could have possibly anything in it). There were a lot of fun kits for sale; weaving, drop spinning, quilt, doll, embroidery, model of Jamestown fort, tiny canoe, etc. It was so hard not to buy one of everything. Except the tatting one. I know how to tat.

Yesterday we went to Historic Jamestown. That's the national park/archeology dig. We had Duncan with us so we went a little slowly. Once again, it's unseasonably hot with temperatures hovering around 90F. We looked at the signs, at the James River (the tide came in while we were walking & suddenly there was this salty fragrance in the air). The heat was hitting Rosemary pretty hard, too, so she & Duncan sat in the shade with some water while Chris & I went into the Archaeolasium, or whatever it's called. That's pretty neat. They have glass panels in the floor so you can see the original structure foundations under the building. They also have some human remains in a special closed off hallway. That way, there's no chance of coming upon them unexpectedly. They've learned a lot from those remains though, especially about those individuals ignored by history.

Last night we did laundry. It was so late by the time that we got back & we were so worn out by the heat that we didn't want to go anywhere else. The laundromat was un-air conditioned though. Blech. Rosemary continued reading Witch Hunter, Chris read Emerald Sea & I worked on my tatting & read a little bit of my Shadowrun book. I read just enough to learn that I had messed up my Short Fix 4.0. So I'll be doing a little of that today.

tatting: I made one leaf, badly, from the autumn leaf bookmark from Tat's Where I Stopped. I've made, badly, Jane's SCMR bookmark & a heart from Tat's Amore. I have updated my tatting blog, though. I posted pictures of my necklace.

clothes: it's been jeans everyday. I wore my new Jamestown t-shirt that Chris gave me yesterday. It's a soft not quite sage green with white edging on the arms, neck & hem (unhemmed knit) with a soft yellow/pink sunrise looking background behind a silhouette of a sailing ship and the words "Jamestown, 1607-2007" on it. Other than that; my burgundy NC Archaeological Society t-shirt and my purple Feat the Four t-shirt. Most of the jeans I've been wearing are black since I only packed one grey/blue pair. I have also been wearing black tennis shoes, my clip watch & usually Celtic jewelry. Not every piece, I've worn chain mail earrings one day.

dream: in a movie/computer simulation of history, with a posse in the Old West pursuing desperados. We're holed up & a shoot out is about to commence as the bad guys arrive. Something goes wrong & I'm suddenly in it. Then things start to repeat and it gets worse. I leave, briefly, to talk to the programmers and when I come back the sheriff tells me that the entire posse died because I wasn't there. I was gone for weeks. He locks me up and complains of a horrible drum beat. Then the fireplace animates and this demon/creature emerges & locks me in a cell with energy bars. When I try them, I get mutated, my hands merge into one bar & my eyes/face relocate to the bar. My mouth also gets sealed shut. Other people, in other history sims are also dumped into the same cell, including one poor guy who's not mutated, he looks like that naturally.

Turns out that the company behind the big computer sim is being foreclosed and their head programmers and board are locked into the simulation too & a virus is causing these problems. They somehow have the papers with them & my bosses look over things & track down the problem.

It ends with the head boss making some speech about how we're all human & made in god's image (seeing that one guy) no matter how that looks.

I am so tired. We just got back from Busch Gardens; they're doing their Howl 0' Scream festivities. I only rode a couple rides, between my knee acting up & me getting a distinct feeling of sensory overload, I just was not up to it.

So while Chris & Rosemary went, I took care of their bags & sat. I did get into a couple interesting conversations while I waited. I had an airbrush tattoo applied (Celtic knotwork - big surprise there, right?). I also bought a purple bear at London Britches (you select the animal & they stuff it, 10% of the money goes to animal conservation.

I'd like to add more but I'm just too tired.

A few items though - no entry in the State Fair this year. Entries (the paper form, at least) was due by mid-September! There was no publicity about this except the premium book, which I didn't even look at until um, last week. And even then, it wasn't exactly splashed all over that. Anitra called to find out if I'd dropped off the original form or a copy. If it were the latter, then no problem because I must have already sent in the original. Alas.

I bought a couple things for my niece & namesake. Most of the t-shirts this year at Busch Gardens sucked. Most of the few that didn't suck didn't say Busch Gardens. There was no adult sized t-shirt for Dark Castle & I really wanted one.

tatting: almost finished the bookmark. It's not pretty but it will do the job.

book: read part of Lossing’s Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution in the Carolinas & Georgia. I'm re-reading the 14th chapter (where the book picks up - the entire series covers the entire war, I'm just reading a selection of it).

clothes: purple 'fear the 4' t-shirt, black jeans & tennis shoes (& black socks), celtic knot/star/tree/moon pendant, knotwork earrings & ring, Fem/dancer ring, ~rope band, hematite band, clip watch, blue hungersite silicon bracelet, braided hair & tan sportswear company gimme hat.

We made it. I fell asleep around 9 am & woke up an hour late, near Richmond. Another hour passed (& one missed exit) and we were pulling into the hotel in Williamsburg

It was raining yesterday, whoot. It's not enough but it's a start. However, traffic backed up enough for a 40-minute drive to take over an hour. The first 40 minutes of that was to cover about what's 10 minutes of travel, normally.

We're staying at the La Quinta, which provides breakfast. This one has the largest breakfast I've ever seen at a La Quinta. It was still completely full, with people waiting to find a table.

We took our time about getting started & did not actually get to Williamsburg & get our tickets until about noon or so. We wondered around a bit and finally had lunch at The King's Arms at about 2 pm. Rosemary & I had the Norfolk Pottage Pye (aka chicken pot pie) & it was delicious. The crust was so flaky, it had huge chunks of chicken, just yum. Chris had the East Indian Company chicken (ie fried chicken) with a slice of country ham, a biscuit & mashed potatoes. I tried a bite of his chicken & a bite of his potatoes. Again, yum. I had a shrub to drink (fruit juice & sorbet drink) while Rosemary finally had a mint julep. She had never had one. I had a taste of hers. We both agreed that we prefer rum.

All three of us bought the souvenir mug and got cider. They are refilled for free and for each of us, maybe another 2 or 3 refills & the mug has paid for itself. I also bought a couple maps, Colonial America c. 1719 & New France, same era. I may give them for Chris as his birthday is the 15th and he wanted them, too.

I've seen a number of things that I'd like to get for Hailey & Leela. It's hard deciding upon just one item each. I might get one of the whistles for Liz. They are perfect for calling wandering kids, or husbands, home.

We toured the Governor's Palace. I took more pictures this time. Last time, we had to cut our tour short to be in time for our carriage ride. This time we completed it and then looked through the gardens a little.

Williamsburg has gotten a little more like Disneyworld, in a good way. They have collectible (& at least theoretically, tradable) pins, the refillable mug, & if you are staying at one of their hotels you can have your purchases shipped to the hotel & you get preferential treatment for tickets & stuff.

They are doing the Revolution City right now & we've caught part of it. We were at the edges of Hardcastle's tar & feathering & heard one of his speeches. We saw the rider come in with news of the events in Lexington & the aftermath.

I bought a notebook and a couple cedar pencils. I've started a travel journal. I'm leaving spaces to add some of the photos that I've taken. I want to do things like add my ticket to it & stuff like that, too. I'd love to use a quill pen but 1) I need to get one [though I have one at home], 2) get better at using it, 3) get some ink & 4) get a stoppered inkwell so I don't waste the ink.

It was very hot today & after the threat of rain cleared up, it was sunny. Good thing I put on spf 30 this morning. Since we walked about 4 to 4.5 miles today, we all got hot & sweaty. I think that I got a little heat sick. After we ate supper at the Dairy Queen (a short walk from the hotel), I was cold & took a nap. I was still abnormally cold when Chris woke me up.

We went on the Haunted Ghost Tour, which is a fairly recent addition to the Williamsburg experience. It's about an hour & the guides carry old-fashioned lanterns. They tell of encounters & unexplained occurrences in the area around Duke of Gloucester Street, including the old jail & other nearby locales. The oldest one that they relate is only a decade or so old & it's the first of a recurring sighting. The Lady in Green is probably a daughter of the Shields family which used to live in & run the Shields Tavern. She died, a teenager, of an unknown diseased in the 18th century. She often shows up in the Tavern since they reconstructed it, usually in the family's rooms.

Since there were children along for the tour, the guide did not talk about the occasional unfriendly ghostly encounter just the friendly ones; even if a couple of them were downright creepy. They ranged from footsteps to a mysterious meeting to a figure seen behind a locked gate to water faucet turning itself on. At the end of the tour, everyone got a pin. They could choose from a lantern or the Lady in Green. Rosemary & I chose the latter, Chris chose the former.

books: I bought Savannah of Williamsburg & the author signed it. I haven't done much reading though. I've had no time, really.
Tatting: I've worked on one of Jane's bookmarks but I messed up and it's canted to one side near the top. I'll use it but this is not one that I'm going to show off.

clothes: black ~slippers (which are now very dusty), black jeans (yeah, good idea on a hot sunny day that you'll be spending outdoors), burgundy NC Archaeological Society t-shirt (with time line of arrow points on the back), clip watch, black bead bracelet, andromorph Celtic pendant, chain mail earrings, Celtic knot ring, hash mark ring, hematite ring & braided hair.

packing: I finished this morning (my laptop & books to read & tatting to, um, tat) but my suitcase & game crate went into the car last night. That reminds me, I need to charge my iPod. It's going to be a long trip.

Gaming: David took steps to work on one of my character's subplots. She's the hereditary champion of the Valley of Moon & Stars and there are supposed to be 2 champions, Moon Champion & Star Champion. One of them is sort of an apprentice Champion, also a spare in case something happens to previous one. The Moon Champion died early, leaving Totem as the Moon & Stars Champion so she's been looking for successor, or the priests of the Valley have. Totem found him, sort of by accident.

Last session we were guarding a tribal mask found in Northern Arizona and loaned to the museum by the Navajo Nation (before you ask, no it wasn't completely Navajo, that's part of the reason they weren't too concerned about it being on display - other than the usual security concerns of course). Turns out, Totem's father, the previous Totem, had done a little accidental time travel. Needing to return to 'the present' (aka 1960's). He got help in doing that from local, early Navajo shamans (so the mask was part Coyote & part Anubis).

One of the thieves, which we caught last night, traded information for reduced sentence. He revealed that he knew where to find the next Totem, as there were indications that the position is in some fashion hereditary (at least through a bloodline). Turns out that he's this 15-year-old kid who thought that someone else, deceased, was his father. So the kid's a little upset & next time we resume, Totem will be trying to explain things to him. Oh yeah. That'll be fun. Totem has *ahem* an interesting take on the world.

Jokes that arose out of last night's game: all the previous Totem's slept around, is that part of the position? Hmm, you don't but your father & grandfather did. Maybe it's a sex-linked trait. That's right, your dad was a Himbo (derivation from the word 'bimbo').

And there are indications that this may in fact be true. David also revealed that there is possibly another bloodline from a child sired while Dear Old Dad was 1000+ years in the past. It's also possible, that the offspring went East & journey with certain Easter Band as they sailed across the ocean (& ended up in the Valley of Moon & Stars).

tatting: I filled out my entry form & left it all with Anitra. She very kindly agreed to turn it in for me. The necklace turned out very well, if I do say so myself. I can't wait to wear it.

Books: On the way into work I read Wallflower vol 4.

letters: I finished the letters. I just need to make copies, put stamps on the envelopes & drop them into the mail. I already mailed one, I had the postage for it.

clothes: black ~slippers & slacks, black glass bead bracelet, hematite ring, 3 dragon rings (all three that I own), dragon earrings & pendant, hash mark ring, braided hair, brown/black Vorkosigan polo. Oh, & my clip watch, I found it this morning as I fixing my laptop bag.

Packed: I am, mostly. I still need to pack my jewelry & I'm missing some game stuff. I need to find that, really. A lot.

Joe came over & all three of us went to Rockfish to eat. I spent too much money but the food was very good. I had the grilled tilapia with the maple glaze, creamed corn & whipped potatoes. We talked about Witch Hunter, the new Living Forgotten Realms campaign coming next year, the end of LG, and Blackmoor. Yes, it was a lot of gaming conversation.

Morning commute soundtrack: Mr Brightside, Time Warp, Along Came Jones, Pass It Around, Pep Vim & Verve, & Ya-ya by Lee Dorsey.

tatting: I finished the 2nd attempt at the pendant. It's too big. So I've loaded the beads for a 3rd try.

I spent most of yesterday, off & on, feeling like I still had something in my eye. It wasn't painful enough to actually be anything, so I thought it was kind of like a ghost of the pain from Tuesday night. This morning I noticed that I have a sty on my eyelid. I blame my father. I inherited a tendency towards sties from him.

I got my bus pass replaced yesterday. This one has an intact magnetic strip. We'll see how long it lasts. If it turns out to be a problem with the fare boxes, this one should start to peel in about a month.

letters: I only have the letter to my namesake left to write. I need to see if I have any stamps to mail the letters. If not, then I need to run to the post office to get some.

books: I finished Risky Business, the 1st book in the Dangerous anthology. Then I figured out that I wasn't really in the mood to read the other 2 books. Oh well. I need to write & tat, anyway.

clothes: navy loafers & slacks; navy, short-sleeved, shawl collar linen jacket over horizontally striped tank in navy, country blue, light blue & white; brown belt (hidden by the jacket), lapis lazuli bead earrings; lapis lazuli flower ring; hematite band; silver cuff bracelet; the blue barrel bead necklace from Dad; & my hair is loose; at least until I feel like putting it up.

I made it to the craft store last night. I spent too much time & a little too much money (yeah, I know, you're shocked). At least, I spent most of it on either 'need it to finish my entry' or stuff that was on sale or only $1. I was too tired to cook & didn't have enough time for a restaurant (& wasn't really in the mood either, not even take out), so I stopped by the grocery store & bought a frozen dinner. They were on sale so I bought 3 of them & I'm having one for lunch today; using my new lunch bag I got from the charity fair on Monday (kick off of the SECC campaign).

It's a fairly big deal; the State government decided a few years ago to consolidate the charity giving of its employees & to reduce/stop solicitations at work. So employees can make payroll deduction contributions to any of about 550 charities. Anybody can contribute, but only state employees can do payroll deduction. The charities range from local, city-based to international, from children, to disabled, to seniors, to health-based, to environmental & everything in-between. About 86 cents of every dollar goes to the charities, with no further overhead. The charities have to guarantee that no more than 25% of their income goes to overhead. If they go over that, after being approved, they go on probation for a year. If they continue, they go off the approved list. Since the money is payroll deducted, the state collects the money in interest-bearing accounts and distributes it on a quarterly basis. The interest also goes to the charities, based on % of the money sent (so if 10% of contributions go to the United Way, then 10% of the interest does, too). Since the money is guaranteed, per quarter, the charities can budget based on that income.

site of the day: find out about the eco-labels on your food, how accurate & truthful are they? Is that milk really organic?

Morning Commute Soundtrack: The Cry of the Wild Goose, Walk Away, Hazy Shade of Winter (Bangles), Losing Grip, In the Jailhouse Now (Gene Autry), Where Do We Go From Here, Rest in Peace, You're A Star, Vacation, & finally, I heard most of Bat Out of Hell before I got into my office.

While the washing machine & dryer did their work, I watched Bones, Cold Case, & Reaper and worked on a mini-memory book and my necklace. I did about 3 pages of the memory book & really hated the 3rd page that I did. So I stopped. I turned to my tatting.

tatting: I found some large beads that might do as the center of the bauble as well as a bag of glass globs & small marbles. The bag included some small black marbles which what I decided to use ($1 for bag versus $2 & $4 for the large bead packages, *sigh*). I loaded the thread with copper & black seed beads (1 copper, 4 black & 3 copper) and did the 1st ring for the bauble. And it's too small. The size 12 perle is quite a bit smaller than the Olympic that I used before. So I started loading the thread again (using my brand new big eye beading needle - boy is it easy to use), without taking the old one apart. I'll wait to do that until I'm completely done.

For my second try, I'm using 2 copper, 5 black & 4 copper beads and 10 ds instead of 6. We'll see if that works. I started loading the beads this morning but I had to get ready for work & did not finish.

letter: I've finished writing to my Mom's sisters now. I've started Aunt Lillian's letter but have not finished it yet. I'm going to try to mail my aunts' letters today. I still have Aunt Evelyn's, my niece's & my namesake's letters to write. I want to have them all done before I leave town.

books: I'm still reading Witch Hunter and I've sent them some errata. I haven't bothered with the typo's or anywhere in which the intent is obvious. I've only included things like the example contradicts the rule or the rule needs some expansion. In one case, I sent in a question that specifically relates to the shared world campaign, Dark Providence. I've also dipped into 1633 though and I brought a Nora Roberts anthology to work with me.

clothes: Since I'll be packing tonight, I'm keeping all my jeans for the trip. I've set out the slacks to wear to work. Today though, I'm wearing a dress. It's the blue one (like I have more than one) with the cream flowers that I wear under the navy, batiste kimono blouse. I rather think that the navy loafers detract but 'oh well.' I was going to wear my 'new' (mom gave them to me, they belonged to her but she never wears them) navy enameled earrings but they just didn't suit. Instead, it's the textured navy metal with the textured, brass cut-out over it earrings, flower fairy pendant, lapis lazuli flower ring, flower band, hematite band & my hair up in a ponytail/bun held by 2 cream curvy hairsticks. No clip watch today, I don't have anything to clip it to.

I got diddly-squat done last night. I got one load of laundry as far as the dryer & that's it. And it's a heavy load that needs two runs of the dryer to finish, so it's of limited usefulness. I did put a load of delicate laundry into the washer this morning but I didn't go looking for beads, or to use my discount (that ends today) at the bookstore. I didn't even eat supper. I finally fixed a tiny cake dessert just so I could say that I'd eaten...something.

tv: Watched some M*A*S*H*; the 2nd episode of the new series Chuck, too bad I missed the pilot. After that I tuned into cartoons. I didn't have the attention span for anything more committed than that.

tatting: I finished my necklace, except 1 ring, the findings & the pendant. The bauble is done, I just need to do the decorative bit. I did get an idea for the pendant though, I'll do a bauble. I need copper and black beads though. I have a gold bead/marble to put in the center. If that doesn't work, I'll use the clear marble that I have.

clothes: black slacks, clip watch, black ~slippers, burgundy tank/woven check over shirt embroidered with autumnal leaves set, onyx pendant & earrings, black stone ring, hematite band, & flower band. Yesterday I wore my hair loose until it dried & then into a ponytail/bu affixed with square black hairstick. Today, I think I'll just braid it.

site of the day: something different for your pumpkin carving; wildlife stencils.

I managed to 'stub' my toe, or rather the toe of my shoe. Now I need to glue the sole back onto the upper. Or at least a couple inches of it.

Not much has happened since last night. I watched some M*A*S*H*, tried out the cd of games that my Aunt gave me & went to bed. I did get a little writing done, so I did something productive. This morning I finished loading the dish washer & set it to run as I left for work.

letter: I wrote to my Aunt Dot while checking the weather on tv. I've finished the letters to my Dad's sisters & really need to go ahead & send them. I still have my Mom's other 3 sisters plus my two great-aunts.

I missed the family reunion. That's what happens when you stay up until 2 am and your body insists on getting up about sunrise. You need a nap in the middle of the day. At least I was awake & alert for the drive home. That's of at least moderate importance (assuming that not falling asleep at the wheel is important).

tatting: I have one more chain with bead & then another 10 rings & 'bald' chains to do & the necklace will be close to finished. After that, I need to either find/buy or tat a pendant.

Morning commute soundtrack: All the Things She Said, Vacation, Me & Bobby McGee (Joplin), You're A Star (Josie), The Wolfrider: The Hunt, Silent Running, Wrap It Up, She's a Low Down Momma, & then into but not through Shady Grove.

clothes: black ~slippers, black rayon shirt (worn open), black slacks, bright rose pink sleeveless sweater tank with round neckline with pink ombre ribbon threaded through it & tied in a bow to one side, black tatted necklace & earrings, black stone ring, hematite ring, fem/dancer ring, silver clip watch & (it's cool enough this morning - I'm not sure about this afternoon) black texture striped trouser socks.