Murder of Crows
I saw it again yesterday. I think that if I lived in one of the places that they've been around so regularly, I'd be worried. 6 crows is enough for a murder, right?

I was running late so I drove to the nearest park & ride to catch my bus yesterday. I'm glad that I did. A couple of the other people already there, pointed out a rainbow overhead. I just don't see enough of those, so the opportunity to see one shouldn't be missed.

I got another 2 rings done in Your Grape Big Heart. I do tat slower with size 80 thread.

I learned a lesson last night. No more watching episodes of Harper's Island while I'm alone in the house. It's just too creepy.

Met someone interesting at lunch yesterday. His vocation is with Fisher Scientific, but his avocation is storytelling. We had a nice discussion while I ate. He's still in the area, so I'm going to try to meet him for lunch today.

My attempt to cut down on soda is not going so well. Ah me, habits can be hard to break. If I brew the tea the night before, I'm more likely to drink it chilled the next morning. However, I have to remember to brew it.

Weekend plans: Tonight I'm playing an LFR adventure. I don't remember which one. Saturday, I'm running one and then we're having buffalo burgers on the grill. These will be Chris's stuffed burgers, with the 'toppings' inside the burger. They are so nummy. And Sunday I'm going to try to donate platelets at noon. Wish me luck with that.

Me Love AC
Yesterday's game got cut short when Rosemary's AC froze up. It was still cool, but it was dripping water into her closet. Those who could, stuck around 'til it got repaired. Luckily, it was under warranty so she didn't have a huge bill.

It's really good that she got it fixed. It's supposed to hit mid-90's again today.

Unfortunately, it took long enough that it meant that supper was at 9 pm and we did not get back until almost 11 pm. No stop off at B&N to pick up my ordered book. Ah well, these things happen.

The game was going okay. We stopped right before another fight started. It's going to be an ugly fight. They know that we are coming and they include a very ugly looking undead.

Saturday night I went to Quail Ridge Books. Jaye Wells was there, giving a talk on being published. I had mentioned it to Toni on Thursday so she & Rick were there, too. It was a good talk, very interesting. It was also nice to meet Jaye and I got her to sign a copy of her book for me.

Afterwards, Chris & tried a new restaurant, The Flying Biscuit. If Jaye was still in Raleigh, I would have recommended that she try it (assuming that she had not already).

I've gotten the letters written to my aunts, niece & namesake. Now to get them mailed. I used a pack of notecards with quilts on them.

I picked up two new manga on Sunday (before gaming). Since they're doing all that roadwork in front of FE (the road was completely blocked one day), Rick (different one) has had a a bad week. The one doesn't have anything to do with other but it made me glad that I paid for everything in my bag.

Plans are underway for the weekend. LFR and cook-out at Rosemary's on Saturday. I'm running so I need to finish reading the mod. It's low-level and D&D 4e is really easy to run, so I'm not really stressing about it.

Poor Snead's Ferry (small Onslow Co town at the coast). They don't have enough money in their budget to pay for a fireworks show this Independence Day.

Odds & Ends
Triangle Tatters met on Saturday. We had two new people; new to us & fairly new to tatting. They're in an on-line tatting class and were thrilled to find local tatters. I finished the brown edging (I ran out of thread) & finished the tatting on Melinda's bookmark. I need to do the finishing work though; tending loose edges, etc. Luckily, since it's butterflies & flowers, that just leaves the ends on the flowers to hide.

I started something new, the grape heart from Martha's Tat's Amore. I have some lovely variegated purple, pale purple & pale green in size 80 to use. I'm on the 3rd ring & I've made 2 mistakes on it. The first mistake was from not reading the pattern closely enough. The other mistake is from not paying enough attention. I haven't closed the ring yet, so I just need to untie the knots & re-tat it, correctly.

I'm going to miss next month's meeting at Katie's house. I'll be in Georgia. Oh well.

I finished book 8 of the Stephanie Plum series. They really are good.

I'm reading the book that Richard & Kathy gave me for my birthday: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I'm going to need to re-read Pride & Prejudice after this. And possibly Seducing Mr. Darcy.

It's been hot, seasonably so for the season, around 70F at 7am and reaching almost 90F in the afternoon. We haven't had more than scattered showers, though.

Dad had an appointment in Durham last Thursday, so I met Kathy & him at the mall with the Our History display. I showed it to them, especially 'my' images. We had Chinese food for supper & then they headed home. He liked his Father's Day present: Voices of Valor. When I called him on Sunday he said that he's been flipping through it and really enjoying it.

Next month, Diana and Colt move to Tennessee. I'll miss them. She might, depending on her schedule, be able to tele-game once in awhile.

Also next month, Richard is being sent to Japan for some training thing. I told him that I was already starting my shopping list. I was kidding. But if he brought a tatting book back for me I wouldn't say no to it.

Morning Oddities
So humid that my glasses fogged, after I'd been walking for a couple minutes, not as soon as I stepped out of the AC.
Someone took out a light pole, and the front end of their SUV, near my house. I don't think anyone was hurt because I saw two people filling out paperwork for the tow truck.
The bus windows were open and it was so humid that water had condensed on the handles and grips.

I had a very annoying phone call. The guy was so busy telling me what he wanted me do to help him that I couldn't get a word in edgewise about what I could do for him.

I got Dad's present wrapped. I suddenly realized that we had no non-kiddie/non-Christmas paper in the house & no bag the right size. I bought him a book about D-Day, it includes two cd's of oral histories of the day. I hope that he likes it.

One of the IT guys reads romances, I think. He recognized the title of the Krentz book I just finished re-reading. Or he mistook it for something else. One or 'tother.

Wildlife sightings
I don't know who was more startled this morning, me, or the rabbit running towards me. It was just hopping along the sidewalk towards me. As it neared me, it veered off into the trees.

My follow-up doctor visit was today. Not fun or comfortable but unless there's something wrong, I'm done with that for a year.

Dad has a doctor visit of his own on Thursday. He's going to be in the area so we'll have supper here in this area. I want to show him the display, my 15 seconds of fame.

I managed to scratch my left thumb on the joint, enough to draw blood. It really, really stings.

I'm about halfway round on my scrunchy. I had a long wait at the doctor's office. I showed someone else waiting; she had never seen anyone tat before.

I feel sick but my thermometer disagrees
I woke up with chills and sweats and full-body aches but when I measured my temp a few minutes ago, I was a comfortable 98.5F. So apparently, I'm a hypochondriac. Of course, I did take some aspirin. I'll call Rosemary and ask how comfortable she feels about~sicky at the table.

My 15 seconds of fame

I finally saw the season finale of Dollhouse. It rocked.

The DVD player decided to give me fits yesterday. I wanted to watch an episode of The Shadow (a movie serial, I think) but it skipped around, making an hour+ movie about 5 minutes long.

Been Very Busy
Animazement (manga & anime convention), ConCarolinas (sci fi/fantasy/speculative fiction/media/gaming convention), weekend with mom, and everything in between.

Animazement went pretty well. I ran three games of Jadeclaw, played one and played Qin. Chris bought me a skirt as a slightly early birthday present. It's a great skirt; floor length, double ruffle, fully lined, high-waisted, zipper closure on the side, cinch lacing in the back & double drawstring in the back for a faux-bustle. I now have the right skirt to make my Susan Sto Helit costume. I just need blouse, vest, lock of black hair & to make an omega cameo pin.

Memorial Day we went to see the Star Trek movie and then to Red Lobster for my birthday. It was a nice time.

It was a short week as I took Friday off to go to ConCarolinas. I played Witch Hunter & Living Forgotten Realms all weekend. I started a variegated purple scruncy, perfect for sleep-deprived tatters. I got to see Nina & Gwen again (saw them at Animazement). Mitra made it to the convention, too and we got a little time to talk.

It was a beautiful hotel and while it was expensive, they treated us like we were paying a lot of money, too. Rosemary needed foam pillow and mentioned it as we were checking in. When we reached the room, there was someone arriving with the pillow at the same time. That's good service.

I was so tired when we came home that I went directly to sleep. Alas, that means that I missed a phone call that I was expecting.

I spent the evenings looking at laptops online. Thursday I checked the options locally and Friday I bought a new laptop. It was more expensive that I expected, but I bought the insurance and a couple software programs. Alas, I caved, I bought MS Office. *weep*

Saturday I drove down to see Mom but she decided to put off doing the laptop thing. She wouldn't even go with me to look at ISP options. I left her with the assignment to look up her options and get one before I go back in July.

Last night was our Mutants & Masterminds game. We continued with the 2 new players. They will be an interesting addition to the game.

I have been tatting the brown edging that I started at the Harmony Hall Heritage Day. I'm almost out of thread. What I have left is on a thread winder. So I need to unwind it and add more to the shuttle. I decided to put that off and returned to the scrunchy.

I've had three meetings this week at work. Now here's the scary part. All three have been productive &/or useful. Frightening, huh?

Yesterday, we had a celebratory lunch for Angela. She turned 50 on Sunday. I gave her some coffee from Boca Java and Tommy baked her a black icing cake. It was nummy.

Blog experiment
Blogging while dosed with painkillers, and sleep-deprived. Thanks to my toothache (the one that woke me Sunday), I had 4 hours of sleep last night (8 restless Tues, and ~6ish on Sunday). It got so bad yesterday; my ear started hurting; that I called and got my appointment moved up. I have a great dentist.

I took what I needed to get to the app't. Dentists stress me almost to the point of panic attacks and I need drugs to take the edge off so that I can go. I had no brekkers so it was empty stomach. When Chris saw me staggering to my car, he decided that I should not be driving. So he drove me. He was not able to call his work because our phone's out. He was 'a little late.' I got back home at 11 am and still had to grab lunch and get my pain pills. So I emailed my boss that I wasn't coming in. I don't think that he was surprised. I hoped that I'd make it but this root canal just took it out of me.

I had stuff that I was going to write about. I don't remember what though. I messed up my "Bill" edging. I finally just cut that ring & I'll work in a new thread. Theshuttle is almsot empty anyway.

I've been want to go to sleep but the phone people might be senind gsomeone out. I don't think that I care anymore.

good blog for GMs: Gnome Stew

Neat shows: Time Warp & Deadliest Warrior. I don't always agree with some of the statements made in the latter. But it's still a neat show.

Memories
Despite the length of the trip (left home at 11 am, made it to the site about 4 pm, with a brief stop for lunch), the service was nice. Since Bill was such an avid nature lover, it was held outdoors on Pamlico River, or one of its tributaries. We stood around, with Bill's battered hat and a picture of him, uncharacteristically in a Santa hat. Bill, due in part to his size and shape, bore an uncanny resemblance to that famous fat man, which only grew as his hair and beard whitened. As a result, he would not wear a Santa hat & was in fact reluctant to wear a red shirt after Halloween.

We stood around and talked for at least two hours. It was very appropriate. We shared stories of funny things he had said and done; aid that he had given; glares he had dispensed; and some new thing that he had introduced us to.

Chris & I finally got home about 12:30 and it was one am before I made it to bed. Then a toothache woke me at 4 am. I finally got back to bed at 9:30 am. So I had 15 minutes to nap before I had to get up & about my day.

I was supposed to go to a tatting seminar/class this past weekend. Sorry as I was to miss it, this memorial came first. We had five, until we picked up Cameron in Goldsboro, in the van on the way down & back. We talked, a little about Bill but also a little about the sort of thing he would talk about.

I tatted, a nice edging in variegated blue & white size 10. I tatted during the service, too. Since Bill was the one who taught me to tat, it was appropriate.

Aw shoot, I'm getting all weepy again.

Excerpts from my Colorado vacation – Day 5
22 July 2008
7:30 am Breakfast at Waffle House. The waitress put songs on the jukebox: Neil Diamond, Genesis, Patsy Cline, Eagles & ELO.

8:30 am Leave town, 78F
Many overpasses are painted and have “Amarillo” with cowboy boots for the two “l’s”. It’s very attractive. Lots of RV parks around. There was one that advertised itself as horse-friendly.

Saw, and smelled, my first feedlot. Did not know what it was at first, just that it was not the usual terrain. I still think a hog lagoon smells worse.

9 am See another windfarm, Oldham C. more longhorns.

9:15 am Vaga, TX, gas; $4.10 per gallon. Ouch!

Dad’s stomach insisted on a slightly longer stop so I bought a Rte 66 t-shirt for my collection, plus 3 Texas ones (3/$10) .

9:40 am See a plane crop-dusting

9:45 am Terrain has changed again. It’s still scrubby but now it rises and falls. Here are mesas, hills that rise to a flat top-like cut with a knife. The sides are rumpled folds.

Sometimes there are buildings in the distance. There’s always a fence next to the road and frequently, there’s a dirt road or old roadbed alongside. More often than buildings, there are windmills and/or cattle.

Bushes polka dot the plains.

10 am New Mexico border

Speed 75 mph & time change, now it’s Mountain Daylight Savings Time. Set clocks back an hour.

Welcome Center is only 8 weeks old. It has no shelters and no plants. There’s just the building. It’s very pretty. The water is currently non-potable. So they provided the purell stuff.

Trees freckle the mesas.

10:13 am construction, 55 mph, until 10:24 am
½ hour nap, so tired

Flat bottom clouds like scows scudding across the sky
Once they reach us the temperature drops 6f.

11:43 am Clines Corners

Elevation 7200’ and 79 Degrees
There are barn swallows under the overhang. Neat!

I had a cheeseburger with toasted bun and fries. Our waitress, Mariam, is from Capetown, S. Africa.

Clines Corners was founded in 1934 [I read the history on the menu] at the intersection of 2 highways. Then Rte 66 came through and Ray Cline relocated. They lost the apostrophe but they’ve bee on the same site ever since then. It’s a huge, emphasis on the huge, tourist trap.

12:45 pm leaving
Rain is sprinkling down. 1^st rain on the trip. Since the land is so flat you can see where patches of rain are falling. There’s even some lightning in the distance.

Power & light poles are not creosoted. No insect protection needed?

Changed to highway 285 to go to Santa Fe when we left Clines Corner.

Bush-like cacti along the road. Some are in bloom, some pink and some yellow.

13 miles from Santa Fe I see my first Adobe. The highway retaining walls are pressed/imprinted to look like rock.

Adobe is everywhere, including the Walmart & the McDonald’s. I wonder if it’s like Cary or if they did it voluntarily?

1:45 pm Santa Fe Sage Inn, but the room’s not ready yet. We called the Art Van Gogh shuttle to take us downtown. The shuttle is part of the hotel package.

1^st stop: Governor’s Palace [I wish I’d taken more pictures] Since 16-something CE, Indians came to trade as they do to this day. There are 71 places for native artists to spread their wares on blankets. Better to buy directly from craftspeople. Very nice people.

Dad was talking to the husband of one of the artisans. If more than 71 people show up, they draw lots to see who gets a place. Today, one nice older man (with gorgeous & pricey pots) split his spot with a woman working in beads & silver. If I had had the money I would have bought one of his pots especially because of that. They were beautiful, a bonus. Or would the beauty be the key & his kindness a bonus?

I bought a pottery turtle for Steve and pottery cats/tiny bowl for Maya (Richard & Kathy’s little girl – her own ornament). I bought some jewelry for myself; a turquoise barrette (her son is a Marine at Camp Lejeune, finished 2 tours of Iraq); an earrings & necklace set of turquoise & other stones; silver earrings; silver & turquoise ponytail holder with water symbols; and a pendant from Mable, a very sweet older woman. She has the softest hands.

Kathy & I roamed the nearby shops, including an art gallery. I found presents for my co-workers, magnets of wood with a turquoise chip. I also found a wolf décor thing for Chris. I got a Santa Fe tee for myself & finally found a summer hat; a black straw cowboy hat.

We met Dad at 5 pm and set off to find a restaurant for supper.

~5:30 pm Coyote Cantina & Café
Downstairs (2^nd floor) was not open so we went up to the roof to eat. It was cheaper up there, too. Gorgeous view.

I had the Taco el Pastor, a 2 on the spiciness scale of 1-10. It was still almost too much, but very good.

Live jazz started playing in the plaza downtown. We were all tired so Kathy called the Van and we went back to the hotel to unpack the car.

I had trouble downloading the video from Dad’s camera. It took me over an hour and I finally gave up on trying to read the disk directly and hooked up the camera to my laptop.

I read a little bit and played a round of a computer game before going off to sleep.

Out of the Office get-together
I think it was only my 2nd ever, that wasn't held at work. A student in one in our offices graduated, after working for us for over 2 years (much joking that if she had worked for us for 3 years she would have gotten a car instead of a watch). We gathered at a restaurant/pool hall/sport bar. We were in the bar area so yes, there was *cough, cough* cigarette smoke. Blech. I fabreezed myself when I got home.

But we had fun. We played (5 of us, 2 teams of 2) 3 games of pool (my team lost all 3 times, I'm a lousy pool player). I also got to know the folks in that office a bit better.

Power was out in my room again. By the time I found out, I just didn't care about resetting it. I pulled out my emergency alarm clock and went to bed by flashlight. Didn't matter. Woke at an hour early, starving.

Tonight, meeting John & Chris for supper. I suddenly realized, when will I get my laundry done? I may be gaming tomorrow (it's up in the air because the gm's mom is sick). Saturday it's down to Bath for the memorial and Sunday it's Rosemary's game.

tatting: I continued the brown perle 5 edging that I started at Harmony Hall until I ran out of thread on the shuttle for the 3rd time. I started the butterfly bookmark for Melinda. I found a cute pattern that alternates flowers & butterflies. (I made one butterfly last night & about freaked the graduating student, she had never seen tatting before).

Mother's Day
Mom loved her present. She did wonder why I signed it (like she wouldn't know who I was), but that's because we were at her sister's house and if her brother-in-law comes across it, he'll know who it belongs to.

I gave Mom some chickens, in Guatemala. Aunt Shirley liked it, too. She really wants to get that sort of thing from her kids, too. I also have a couple video tapes for Mom, but I forgot to take them with me.

Mom hemmed some jeans for me. As usual, they were too long. She also patched one pair and she's going to work on a black pair and see if anything can be done for them.

I almost finished making a chemise from a torn sheet. I need to run elastic through the neck casing, sew a casing onto the sleeves, then hem the sleeves & bottom and it will be done. I used a fitted sheet and used the pre-existing casings for the top edge. It made it a little harder to cut out but saved so much effort in sewing it that it wasn't funny.

The left nosepiece on my glasses has disintegrated a little more this weekend. The hard plastic "skeleton" is now exposed and pressing on my nose. Not painful, exactly, but not comfortable.

And Chris picked up that certified letter. I need to make a phone call and a doctor's appointment this morning. I am not looking forward to it.

We got the call last night. Bill's memorial is next weekend. At least 4 of us, maybe 5 or 6, will be going down to Bath, where his closest cousin lives, for it. Part of me doesn't believe that he's dead. He's just out of touch.

And of course, this morning I took 5 steps out the door & it started raining. Rather than unlocking the door & finding an umbrella, I just got my emergency umbrella from the car. It's bright yellow & highly visible. It had also come off 2 spokes. That's why it was an emergency umbrella. I sewed it back to the spokes once I got to work.

It's a cycle, a downward spiral
Yeah, I'm depressed. Again. It's not enough to prevent me from eating or working. I just have problems sleeping and I hit the Escapism button over & over.

Let's see what's happened in the past 3 weeks. Dinner with Dad. Dad's bootcamp 'yearbook.' Weekend with Mom. Breaker to my room flipped. Again (3rd or 4th time). I think it's the grounds maintenance folks, cause it's usually on a Tuesday.

Finally got my state tax refund. Played Rosemary's game, with the new plot. The one that she started the game in order to run (demon web pits or something). Interested in Shadowrun Missions. Writing 3 Jadeclaw adventures to run at Animazement.

Got my necklace repaired. Bought a couple (okay, 3) computer games. Played one to the end. May give it to my niece. It's a hidden object puzzle kind of thing.

Went to Harmony Hall Heritage day. Really hot again this year. Bought a couple history books. Gave my namesake her birthday presents (bookbag, flowerpot thingy, & books). Tatted a split ring rose & started an edging.

I Saw Deer
Friday I got a few things done but not all the things that I wanted to do. I failed to get anything to the thrift shop like I had planned. I did add a few things to that collection, though.

Friday night we had what I think of as a summer shower; short, intense, and with lots of thunder & lightning. We needed the rain.

Saturday, we went to David's house to play Living Forgotten Realms, the special. On the way, in Raleigh, I spotted a deer in a clearing not far from the road. As I looked at it, I saw a second one. There may even have been more under the trees. Not bad for an area that is at least surburban, although not what I would consider really urban.

The game went pretty well. Rosemary had her usual lousy dice luck. Nonetheless, no one died and my 'drow' rogue is now 4th level. We didn't have a full table, either but it was okay. We had fun, that's the important part.

Sunday was quiet. We watched taped shows and played games. We went from about 80% full to only about 45%. Some of it was learning that both of us had watched a particular show & it could be deleted.

Kord Mandoon is pretty funny. It's not exactly intellectually stimulating but it's funny. The only problem is that the first episode seemed like it was a few episodes into the show, not the pilot. I guess that means it feels more 'real' in that it has a past. Theoretically that means that it also has a future.

I'm still trying to read the gamebook The Secret of Zir'An. The setting is interesting but the system is driving me nuts.

Excerpts from my Colorado vacation – Day 4

21 July ‘08

6:40 am Light breakfast in the HoJo library. I had their cinnamon (packaged) bun and my tea, Majestic Morning. I’ll be hungry later.

Met National Guard Army guys, during breakfast. They’re in OKC for Search & Rescue Training. Very nice guys.

7:30 am All packed and ready to load car. Laptop still exiting.

8:30 am Off to the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. I took pictures of the mural on the western wall and of our hotel (HoJo0 from the museum parking lot.

1^st pictures inside: Triptych of Yellowstone. 1 to establish size, 1 for ‘close look’ of 1 of all three. There were more triptychs in the banquet/meeting room but a meeting was about to begin so I didn’t want to take too long taking pictures. If you looked at the center painting, ‘closely’ you could see two individuals on the overlook. I overheard someone pointing them out, otherwise I would never have noticed them. They were that small.

Into the gardens: otter sculpture “Ring of Bright Water”, tiny frogs, koi, koi, Buffalo Bill, water people statue (look for dragonflies on the spears), heron statue

I took pictures of the military officer’s dress helmet & great coat. I want to show Chris but without flash, I’m not certain how well the pictures turned out.

Parade saddle: I’d love to know how much it weighs.

Canyon Princess statue and End of the Trail.

Colonel Tim McCoy, early actor in Westerns. He was an actual Army Colonel c. WWI and was fluent in multiple Native American dialects. Early Westerns (pre-Depression) frequently had real Native Americans as extras, for realism. I learned this in the Westerns in Hollywood & TV section of the museum.

I got a little lost in the Prix de West section. It was art/sensory overload.

~12:30 pm we had lunch at the Museum restaurant. I had shepherd’s pie and fruit salad, which was cut up fresh fruit. I decided against the buffet because I wanted a light lunch. Then the food was so good that I couldn’t stop eating.

At the gift shop I bought a couple shot glasses for Rosemary’s collection and a t-shirt & a couple pins for myself. I found nothing for Chris, coworkers, Leela, Hailey, Anitra or Steve.

[sticker from museum: black silhouette of cowboy with yellow bandanna and belt buckle against yellow mountain silhouetted against royal blue sky, all next to ‘National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’]

This is the sticker so that they knew that we had paid to tour the museum. If you were just going to the restaurant, you got a round green & gold sticker.

101F but it’s dry. That really does make a difference. For once ‘they say’ is true.

We left the museum ~1:30 pm and I napped. Dad woke me at 2 pm because the terrain had changed.

The wheat has been harvested. It’s very flat, more pastures with cattle or a dozen horses loose in the pastures. Lots & lots of sky.

And the state troopers use SUVs.

~2:30 pm We’re paralleling Route 66. I see a lot of streambeds, arroyos?, that are dry. Is there a drought or are they seasonal?

The grain silos are huge. They are more like silo complexes.

Before the Texas border, we passed a wind farm, big wind turbines. And a dust storm, or cloud, hit us, brief and orange.

2:45 pm I saw the 2^nd, or was it 3^rd, Cherokee Trading Post. It has gas $3.69.

Canute, OK
Gas stop

I saw a truck “soil farming” but it turned out that it was just the company name.

Clouds splatter across the sky like paint flung from a brush.

4:22 pm Crossed into Texas panhandle

Don’t see any more farms, it’s ranches. There are fewer trees, a few clumps, but they are scattered.

4:25 pm

See a barn, or shed, with murals painted on the walls. Very pretty. Wish I could have gotten a pictures.

Soon after, see my first longhorns in the field.

The travel center is 100 miles inside the border, near Amarillo. No welcome center. 1^st rest stops are picnic shelters only, no bathrooms. Texas hospitality, my sweet Fanny Adams.

At the first real shelter with facilities, we stopped. I took a panorama shot from the overlook. I also took pictures of the neat picnic shelters there.

They had a warning about rattlesnakes on the doors and about fires on the notice board. The interactive windmill exhibit was not active (couldn’t turn the display model) but it had neat info.

“Miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.”

Texas highway speed signs have a day speed and a night speed.

Near Groom, TX (~exit 110)

Leaning water tower, used to be functioning. Made to advertise a now-defunct service station. Also saw a giant cross with a life-size Jesus Journey to Cross behind gift shop [looking back at my note, I remember the water tower and the giant cross but not the rest of that].

5:45 pm Finished 4^th round of doily, despite problems. I ran out of thread 3 rings too soon, etc.

6 pm Amarillo, Ritz Airport Plaza Hotel

The Texas Travel Center closed at 5 pm.

Dad’s not feeling well, upset stomach. About 7 pm, Kathy & I went to Big Texan for supper. Kathy & Dad went there the last time they went to Colorado. The restaurant’s claim to fame is their offer; as home of the 72 oz steak, if you can finish the whole thing, plus fixings, in an hour, they’ll pay for the meal. They charge you ahead of time, so they refund your money. Some guy finished it with 10 seconds to spare when they were there last time.

No one was trying it while Kathy & I were there. Certainly, we didn’t. We both had the 6 oz Austin Lady cut steak. Soooo good, steak sauce would have been a sacrilege.

We hit the gift shop. I found a perfect lunchbox tin for Gretchen. Yes, I am enabling her storage container addiction. But it’s such a cute tin, the perfect size for tatting.

We came back to the hotel room and I watched Hogan’s Heroes while catching up on email, etc. Dad was feeling a little with judicious application of ginger ale and crackers.

Hotel pro’s:
Wifi
Very good towels

Cons:
No iron in the room, had to ask for it
Breakfast had been canceled with no recompense
2 lamps unplugged (of 3)
Entry light almost burned out
Alarm clock not plugged and never found an outlet for it

Once a great hotel, lobby chandeliers are gorgeous. Gift shop was closed. It has an interior garden/atria but showing signs of neglect.

Are we really half-way through the week?
It feels a little like Monday. Maybe that's because I only got 5 1/2 hours of sleep last night. I woke up before my alarm clock went off, completely & utterly awake.

I finished typing up excerpt #4. I think I'll post it Friday. Should I include some of the pictures that go with the excerpts? I'll do another poll. Aaand no one noticed when I skipped an excerpt. I have now inserted it; appropriately enough, on April 1st.

Why Aren't I Asleep?
Really, it's half-past 11. My bedtime is 10 (some of us need 8 hour of sleep).

This morning I found out why I've had such a hard time catching the bus. Their clock was 5 minutes faster than mine. No wonder I was cutting it so close, and even missing it sometimes. Then traffic was so bad this evening that what I thought was my bus running a couple minutes early, was the earlier bus...running that late. Erk.

Anyway, the big news is that my college (alma mater & employer) won the 2009 NCAA Championship. It was a little crazy today as a result.

I spent most of the day printing, copying, data entry & more copying. Plus distributing said copies. That took most of the day. Just as I was feeling massively frazzled, one of my co-workers gave me a chai tea latte. I did not realize how much I needed it until I took a couple sips. Let's hear it for caffeine addiction.

I hit the bookstore with John after work. Yeah, I spent a little too much money but at least 2 of the books are gifts. Really. They are.

I'm sending in my article to Bitemark 5 (Bitemark is a free ezine for players of the games by Sanguine). It's in early enough that it may even get illustrated. I do wonder how it will be recieved.

Time to get some sleep.

Weekend with Mom
did not start well. I woke up with a migraine (love those ever-changing weather fronts). Plus I could not find the charger cord for my Tomtom. I ended up leaving about 3 hours later than I'd planned. I finally got there & we went to lunch at Panera's. Remind me: the chipotle mayo is too spicy for me. I managed to finish my delicious sandwich, with the help of 2 smoothies.

We hit the consignment shop and found a couple skirts; still none with a pointed hem *pout*. I also found a couple more pairs of pants. Ran into a young lady whose clothes sense really disturbed Mom. The young lady was a little punkish; extra long jeans ~held up by black legwarmers; fuschia tutu edged with lime green; green striped tie; t-shirt & blue streaks in her hair. I thought she looked very individual, personally.

Sunday we went to McKay's, taking 6 books to trade in. I brought back 3 (including 2 gamebooks) plus 2 for Mom. Mom brought back 9. What can I say, the free shelf was really spiffy.

I was so tired when I got home that after I washed my hair, I barely managed to stay awake until 9 pm. I did have a slightly easier time of waking up this morning, at least. I remembered, barely in time, that my clock had reset for Daylight Savings on Sunday.

I got only a little bit of tatting done. I spent most of the time, talking with mom, shopping, eating & reading together; plus a little bit of tv. Mom had to catch her shows on Saturday night. PBS from 8 pm to 10 pm, sometimes until 11 pm, depending on the week.

I wore the shoes that I bought with Mom the last time that we went shopping. They felt a little tight at first but I, or the shoes, soon adjusted. I was glad to have them. It was mizzling this morning and I wanted a bit more foot coverage than my Mary Janes provide.

And it's that time of year. The puddles are all edged with yellow-green of pollen. The asphalt walkway was yellowish, except for the hash marks left by someone on roller blades. The trees are trying to mate with everything in sight & I'm scared to sit outside.

Additional note about the weather. It was gorgeous this weekend, sunny and in the 70's (Fahrenheit). Tomorrow they're talking about a hard freeze in the morning. Love NC spring.

Colorado Vacation, excerpt 3

Excerpts from my Colorado vacation – Day 3

20 July 2008

6:47 am CDT, Memphis, TN

La Quinta

Dad woke up and turned on the lights at 5:52 am. That’s 8 minutes early. At 5:55 am, I gave up and got up.

I’ve showered and other ablutions and repacked my bags. I’m not used to living out of a suitcase.

8 am and we are leaving the hotel. I have left Planet of Whispers at the hotel for Bookcrossing. There’s a couple Little League Teams in the hotel & I feel that DeSade’s Valet is not a book for 13-14 year olds to find. Not a book that I wanted to read, myself. It came for free in a bag of books.

Leaving town, we passed St. Jude Hospital Complex. That includes the Memphis Grizzlies House (housing for families of St Jude patients, funded by professional basketball team). Visually striking is the Pyramid, the glass & steel pyramid arena.

8:20 am Arkansas border

Skipped the Arkansas welcome center.

12:30 pm Oklahoma border

Ozarks look like the Blue Ridge Mountains, but spread out.

On 3^rd round, got a knot in the thread & can’t close the ring.

1:26 pm arrive at Sallisaw, OK and have lunch at a Taco Bell/KFC.

In town, I saw a carwash converted to a barbershop. Small town, with some historical sites.

~2 pm stopped for gas at a Phillips 66

2:30 pm McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System – transportation & flood control

[I’ve had to start keeping memo notes to look things up and then write in my journal later]

~2:40 pm We hit road construction, about 10 miles of it, ending at McIntosh County line.

3 pm Passed Lake Eufaula

3:30 sun behind clouds and the temperature dropped by 4F, from 101F to 97F

Soon after saw first oil well, then two more soon afterward.

~3:50 pm I took a picture of clouds, once with sunglass lens over camera and then once without.

4:54 pm Howard Johnson in Oklahoma City, next to the Cowboy Museum. Formerly the hotel was a Gardens Inns & Suites

6 pm off to supper at County Line, next to hotel. Took pictures.

Formerly it was the Kentucky Club and it’s been around about a hundred years. It was a dance and gambling club, run by the Mob. It still has some of the old fixtures and lots of old posters & ads.

It’s also haunted. “Russell” haunts the fireplace; he was killed there. A medium said that a female presence was in the women’s bathroom. The medium would not go into the basement; ‘not happy’. Our waitress doesn’t like to go down there either.

The food and service were great. Our table was in one of the old gambling niches. From the windows in the bar you could see the Capital dome.

So far, the trip looks a lot like NC, but without the kudzu.

After supper:

I downloaded videos from Dad’s camera and we watched them. I wasn’t able to erase the disk, though.

I did the first tat demo for Kathy. I just showed her the knot. We were both too tired after futzing with the videos to do any more.

Never got a good internet/wifi signal, despite the hotel clerk’s attempts. She reset the router twice.

Oklahoma highway speed limits have one speed for cars & another one for trucks.

Excerpts from my Colorado vacation – Day 2

19 July 2008
~7:20 am
Hickory, NC Cracker Barrel

I set my internal alarm clock for 4:30 am but my bladder was set for 3:30 am. Good thing, because we left at 4:37 am.

I napped some and read some before the sun rose. Car was a little cool so I wrapped up in the quilt from Kathy’s first husband’s family.

We smelled skunk, in passing, as we headed for the highway. Dad almost managed to miss the dead one on the road. That is an incredibly rancid smell. The van still has a whiff aobut. I suggested driving through tomato sauce. No one took me seriously.

We stopped at about 6:17 am to have breakfast. Our waitress’s name was Annette. I ordered hot tea and drank from my own supply.

9:43 am

Welcome to Tennessee. We stopped to get historic pamphlets for friends of Dad & Kathy. Hoowally homeschools his boys and they’re educational materials.

~11 am local time Crossville, TN
Lunch at McDonald’s – nuggets, diet coke, apples slices & 2 apple pies.

~12:30 pm CDT near River Bend?

Finished second round of snood. Kathy’s driving and Dad is listening to a Neil Diamond cd.
I finished Death in Holy Orders by PD James earlier. After lunch, but before I picked up my tatting. I hope to leave the book at our next stop [Bookcrossing.org].

1:47 pm CDT
Narrowly averted accident?

Saw a guy in big pickup pulling a large trailer; we smelled smoke. Then it’s obvious that the rear-most right tire is shredding. Kathy waited until a straightaway, hit her flashers, flashed her headlights and as we came even with the driver, she honked her horn as Dad gestured. Soon after, we saw the guy flip on his hazards and he slowed down. We were out of sight before he pulled off the road but we’re fairly certain that he did, soon afterwards.

[poem in pencil]

Summer sun, so much light
Reflects off chrome so bright.
Waves of heat from the road.
Rivers of asphalt that have flowed

From pens and pavers of DOT’s
Like streams to both seas.
Carrying travelers of business and pleasure
Vehicles of commerce and leisure.

Travelling west on vacation
No longer station to station
On the ribbons of steel.
Instead, motel and fast food meal.

The less direct route,
See what’s about
Road digressions along the way
Museums and parks and shopping, yay.

Time to talk.
Stop to walk.
History and stories of family and nation.
Take time for relaxation.

Take a look at scenery.
Admire the greenery.
Not just the goal, enjoy the journey.
It’s true, not just corny.

Truckers thread the states
Entire country, all the dates.
Like quilters who stitch
With lane, lines, median and ditch.

Patching the towns and days
Build community, a nation to raise.
From Manteo to Modesto, Key West to Point Hope,
The roads like threads, string, twine and rope.

4:23 pm CDT Memphis TN
La Quinta on Macon Cove, off Sycamore View Rd.
670 miles

~6 pm Corky’s on Poplar
BBQ ribs & so forth

***** Small dining room, great food, BBQ slightly sweet
Had BBQ (pulled pork of course) sandwich and banana pudding. Huge sandwich and rich dessert.

9:45 pm Almost in bed
Check two of my email accounts. Caught up on eTatters; released a book on bookcrossing; IM’d with Bill F; and briefly checked Facebook.

Dad and Kathy hit the pool. They came back as I was about to brush my teeth.

I am very tired. And I forgot my card reader. Unless I find another way, I will not be downloading my camera until I get home.

Tropical Storm Cristobal is hitting Eastern NC with rain. If it stays that way and followed the predicted path, it will be a good thing.

Who Died?
I got this from Deadman's Log, who got it from Shellhawk. And it's morbid enough to amuse me on a bright spring day.
129,118 People
Back from four-day weekend trip. The 6.5 hour drive, plus half hour or so for meal & bathroom stops, became a 10.5 hour drive thanks to a trio of traffic jams. Ick.

Of course, there was a list of things waiting for me. Some of it, I wonder about. My job is not rocket science. Why do some people find it so hard?

The fire alarm was set off about noon. I joked with my boss that if I'd known how pretty it was outside, I would have pulled the alarm myself. Luckily, it was a false alarm; so no damage & no injuries.

Two books that I ordered arrived. One was Secret Life of a Vampire. I read that during the fire alarm & over lunch, pretty much. I then started Night's Rose by Annaliese Evans. I'm now up to July 2008 in my Shojo Beat. I'm almost caught up. Whee!

My tatting this past weekend was less than successful. The thread kept breaking.

FYI

People who died on May 25 (various years)

• 2007 - Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor and host
• 2006 - Desmond Dekker, Jamaican ska musician
• 2005 - Gregory Scott Johnson, American murderer
• 2005 - Ruth Laredo, American pianist
• 2005 - Graham Kennedy, Australian television personality
• 2005 - Robert Jankel, British coachbuilder
• 2005 - Sunil Dutt, Indian actor and politician
• 2004 - Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher
• 2003 - Jeremy Michael Ward, American musician (The Mars Volta)
• 2000 - Nicholas Clay, British actor
• 1996 - Bradley Nowell, American singer and guitarist (Sublime)
• 1995 - Dany Robin, French actress
• 1994 - Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist
• 1988 - Ernst Ruska, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1986 - Chester Bowles, American politician
• 1983 - Jean Rougeau, French Canadian professional wrestler
• 1981 - Fredric Warburg, British publisher and author
• 1979 - John Arthur Spenkelink, American murderer
• 1977 - Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer
• 1965 - Sonny Boy Williamson, (Alec "Rice" Miller) American Blues singer, songwriter, and musician
• 1954 - Robert Capa, Hungarian-born photojournalist
• 1951 - Paula von Preradović, Croatian-born writer
• 1943 - Nils von Dardel, Swedish post-impressionist painter
• 1940 - Joe De Grasse, American film director
• 1935 - Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer
• 1934 - Gustav Holst, English composer
• 1930 - Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1927 - Payne Whitney, American businessman
• 1926 - Symon Petlura, Ukrainian politician and statesman
• 1924 - Lyubov Popova, Russian painter
• 1919 - Madame C.J. Walker, African American philanthropist and tycoon
• 1917 - Maksim Bahdanovič, Belarusian poet
• 1912 - Austin Lane Crothers, American politician
• 1899 - Rosa Bonheur, French realist painter and sculptor (d. 1822)
• 1849 - Benjamin d'Urban, British general and colonial administrator
• 1848 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer
• 1805 - William Paley, English philosopher
• 1797 - John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, British field marshal
• 1789 - Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist
• 1786 - Peter III of Portugal, consort of Queen Maria I of Portugal
• 1741 - Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian
• 1693 - Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette, French writer
• 1681 - Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright
• 1667 - Gustaf Bonde, Swedish statesman
• 1632 - Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician and philosopher
• 1595 - Valens Acidalius, German critic and poet
• 1555 - Henry II of Navarre
• 1555 - Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer
• 1452 - John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury
• 1261 - Pope Alexander IV
• 1085 - Pope Gregory VII
• 992 - Mieszko I first lord and knight of Poland, duke of Polans
• 967 - Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 926)
• 735 - Bede, English historian and monk
• 709 - Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne

Gaming News
My wizard finally hit with her new daily power. Finally, finally, finally. And she critically hit even (a 20 on a 20-sided die). Whoot!

We made good time driving down yesterday. At least until we got off the highway. Between the traffic, the lights, the rain and the unmarked roads, the last 12 miles took an hour.

I read two more issues of ShojoBeat and did a lot on my wizard during the drive. She jumped from 4th to 6th pretty much, thanks to Scepter Tower of Spellguard. I went 'shopping' for magic items that she'd like.

I thought that I would sleep more but I barely napped for 10 minutes. Chris and Rosemary started muttering about pod people and alien replacement (I always sleep during car trips).

I managed to slam my fingers with the car door this morning. I had a cold drink to put on them, but no ice. They are still tender but haven't bruised, yet.

My current tatting project is the butterfly bookmark for Melinda. Size 80 pink & yellow, using single shuttle split ring.

Gaming Weekend and other stuff
I'll be near Atlanta this weekend, playing Living Forgotten Realms. It's not a con, but it was supposed to be. The con dates got changed, too late to change vacation dates. But the locals stepped up and offered to run a couple games, since we were going to be in town.

We were going to leave this afternoon, and I would have worked a half-day. Instead we leave in the morning & I worked all day. That was good 'cause I was in a training class all morning and I had other stuff to do today, too.

The class was interesting. It's called "not from 'round here, are ya?" It's all about regional communication styles and stereotypes (positive & negative). It verbalized some things that I already knew.

I'm on the 2nd wing of AnneB's dragon. And I just ran out of thread on one shuttle. Oh dear.

Rosemary's game finally wrapped up the Time of Troubles storyline. Yay! Now it's time for the adventure that she started running for. The characters needed to be at least 8th to start it, so everything has been leading up to her running this module.

I read another good book recently, Amber Benson's. It's urban fantasy type & really good. I can't recommend it enough,.

First, go look at this video on YouTube. Go on, I'll wait. Thank you, Jane E for pointing it out. I'm still giggling.

Which should I do, an excerpt a day, or an excerpt a week? Poll going up.

Living Forgotten Realms Game tomorrow. I need to update my character. And do my taxes. Which one do you think is harder?

Discovery of the day: Amber Benson, the wonderfully talented actress who played Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a writer, too (in addition to a director, etc, etc, etc).
Here are her blogs & website
http://amberbensonwrotethis.blogspot.com/ and
http://www.deathsdaughter.com.

I just have to say, "Wow!"

Excerpts from my Colorado vacation – Day 1

Something a little different today. I'm still concentrating on my Palm V, so I've posted the first day from the journal I kept during my vacation last year. And yes, I am that boring.

18 July 2008

Not a propitious start. A migraine woke me up at 5 am. I managed to sleep again until almost 6 am. Exedrine migraine dulled it to a mere headache so off to work I went.

My short list soon grew. Only one item went undone. I just could not face bending over to finish unpacking that last box in the office.

I stuck it out until 5 pm. I started/resumed packing soon after I got home.

Chris brought supper from Outback and I stopped long enough to eat. Thank goodness I’d already written my packing list. This migraine makes it hard to think. I finally set out at 9:20 pm, only two plus hours later than I’d intended.

It’s 11:30 pm now and the van is packed. I’ve pulled my nightclothes and tomorrow’s outfit and then my bag went into the van.

Up and out by 5 am. Time for my aching head to rest. Long day tomorrow.

Update for the past week or so
Gaming: We finished Scepter Tower on Saturday night & Diana ran Lost Temple of the Fey Gods on Sunday. It was lots of fun. David played his Tracks character for the first time, with my Tracks character. He got to have a real moment in the sun, in the last combat.

I have pictures to post. Tatting and gaming events. But I'm busy fighting with my 'new' Palm V. So stay tuned. An actual blog post will someday occur.

TV Shows I'm Taping (& Watching)
Ashes to Ashes. BBC drama about a police inspector who is shot and finds herself in 1981. This is sort of a sequel to Life on Mars. The other inspectors are there, including the infamous Gene Hunt. Inspector Alex has been reading Sam Tyler's file (thinking he's a complete nutball) when it happens to her.

Eleventh Hour: American crime drama. Dr. Jacob Hood is an FBI consultant who investigates scientific crimes. Okay, it's not a great but it's decent.

Bones: another procedural crime drama, this one focused on forensic anthropology, etc. Luckily, thanks to my upbringing, I have no problem watching it, even while eating spaghetti. Thanks, Mom!

The Big Bang Theory: Another success by Chuck Lorre. Per Chuck's formula, he contrasts two social types, in this case highly intelligent geeks with a wannabe actress who's making her living as a waitress. I have trouble watching sitcoms because they are just so predictable. Not anything by Chuck Lorre.

Hogan's Heroes: Okay, so it's been off the air almost as long as I've been alive (almost), I still enjoy the show.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: Chris started taping this and I'm enjoying it immensely. A wonderful part of it is the bit at the end when the guy is on his own.

Diner, Drive-ins, & Dives: I enjoy this show but it really makes me want to take a road trip. Or five. I want to visit those places Guy F 'reviews.'

Adventures in English: BBC show about the history of the English language. Why yes, I am a word geek, why do you ask?

Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares: again, one that Chris started watching & now I watch, too. You have to be careful about watching, though, or you will never, ever, eat out again.

CSI, CSI:NY & CSI: Miami: yeah, three shows; more or less the same premise but the flavor is very different. Funny note, the city of Miami has no CSI unit.

And that's enough for one blog. Ye gods, I watch a lot of telly. That's not even glancing at stuff that's not in season.

tatting: I finished the Celtic Cross in Rozella Linden's Celtic Tatting Knots & Patterns. I should have done it with 2 different threads, though. Even with variegated, switching off so that the colors contrasted where I could, it just didn't contrast enough.

Now it's back to the burgundy dragon. I want to have it done by next weekend. I started the 1st wing.

Gaming: this weekend it's back to Scepter Tower of Spellguard. This weekend will finish it. If need be, on Sunday.

The weather's turned cold. After almost a week of unseasonable high temperatures, it's plunged down to the mid-40's. The high today was only in the 50's. Tomorrow will be even lower. And it will be raining. Um, what season is this again? I've lost track.

Reunited with an Old Friend
He actually found me through Facebook. How cool is that? It is so great to connect with him. I haven't really been in contact since he went to college.

Cool contest:
TotusMel (she of the fabulous tatting) is having a contest at her blog. Go look at her etsy shop & drool. I am not kidding.

weather: Once again, my office is just as warm as outside. But at least the lock has been fixed.

I managed to leave the house without my wallet this morning. And without my tatting. *sigh* I am having such trouble adjusting to the time change.

gaming: I may end up running 4 Jadeclaw games at Animazement this year. Should I have 1 plot ready, or 4? Or some number in between? I have no idea. I might prepare 4 and if I don't have duplicat players, I'll run the same one over & over.

Beautiful Morning
The time changed and I did not sleep well. I made use of being up 'early.' I went to the grocery, which was not open yet because the store manager had forgotten to change the time on his clock. I went to another grocery store instead. I didn't need anything major, just a few odds and ends, but they were necessary odds & ends.

It's a really beautiful morning at least. So it wasn't a completely annoying trip. And I bought doughnuts for breakast, Krispy Kreme of course. Not that there's one around here so I had to settle for grocery store Krispy Kreme, so not the same.

This afternoon is Rosemary's Forgotten Realms campaign. I really need it because having stuff to do really takes my mind off, well, Bill. I had a real crying jag yesterday, enough to give me a headache. I know, it's part of the mourning process. But the mourning process should not leave you with a headache & a clogged nose.

Does Mommy Nature Hate Me?

This was the weather Monday. Today it hit 70F. I wore longsleeves and Mary Janes. I didn't even need my jacket on the commute home.

I met a woman from China tonight. She had the 'misfortune' to sit near me on the bus when I was trying to distract myself from my headache. I chattered away at her. She seemed, well, surprised by how much I knew, like I could recognize pine trees. Huh? To me, that's like 'hey, I know what grass looks like.'

My office door went wonky this afternoon. You have to fiddle with it to leave the office. Entering it is no problem, but you can't get out easily. Then when the door locked (it's on a timer) you couldn't get out at all. Luckily, there's another door so I was not trapped. But it's still very odd.

I picked up Stories of English again. It's not a book that I can read quickly. I have to think & marvel over it. Did you know that the 'they, them, their' pronouns came from old Scandinavian? English of the time used 'hie, heo' & something else. And the verb form 'are' was adopted, too. It used to be 'be'. Like 'what fools these mortals be'.

I'm still coughing. Blech. At least most of them aren't those 'check whether I can spot my own lungs' types. The coughs are almost half-hearted in comparison.

I met someone new. I think she's a grad student, or she came/went back to college. Her name is Ally and she's an artist. Wow. She showed me a dragon figure that she is working on. It is just spiff. Then she showed me her fiance's computer art. Wow again. Both of them are so gifted. At least I have my tatting.

Winter Wonderland? Or where the heck is Spring?
Here are some pictures from Monday & Tuesday.

I Found Black Ice
Luckily I was on foot and there were no cars coming when I did. For those who don't know where I live & haven't noticed the weather there, it snowed on Sunday night. I came home early last night to avoid black ice but I had a focus group to go to tonight. I got home long after dark; and what I thought was wet cobblestones was slick with ice. There were more ice patches but I manage to navigate around those. My knee & hand hurt but they don't look bruised.


Tatting: The other tatters gave me enough bookmarks for this literacy class and enough to get a good start on the next class. Carolyn has been taking crochet classes so all of hers are crocheted. There's a nice variety, thank goodness. Katie took a picture.

Bad news, though. Really bad news. The man who taught me how to tat died yesterday. Chris had to go down to see if he has anything that he has to do; arrangements, etc. His health has been bad for years but it was still a shock to hear that he had a heart attack.

As part of a local history project, I had a heart that I had tatted scanned and added, plus a little bit about how I learned & the connection to UNC. I also did an oral history interview. I got started on a writing project but had to go back to work. The others seemed to find it interesting. It needs some polishing, though.

Gaming: Sunday's LFR game went well. It didn't even run very late. Black Raspberry Chocolate Tracks is now 3rd level. Whee. I need to do her level up stuff, now.

MY Mardi Gras 'celebration' & other recent events
Since I turned 35, I've been meaning to get a mammogram. For my New Year's Resolution, I promised myself that I'd actually get one done this year. So, this year for Mardi Gras, I bared my breasts. And had them smashed by the radiologist. Yay me. In some ways it was not as painful as I feared; in some ways it was. Ouch.

The doctor that I saw later siad that my cough was probably a residual, 2ndary infection from the flu. She doesn't think that I had bronchitis but that I probably had the flu instead. Huh. Guess my flu shot was useless this year. Glad I stayed home from work for a week. At least that way, I didn't infect anyone.

Tatting: I did have time, between/during appointments to finish another bookmark. I have made three, found an older one and I'm on yet another one. That will bring the total up to 5. I still can't find the first one I made. It's variegated blue and it was my first, ever, successfuly split chain. This tan one is the exact same motif pattern but the tail is different. I made it in one round by using split rings and a split chain.

I made a spiral for the tail of the blue one (Josephine knots). I need to take pictures of the other ones. The green and burgundy ones are also from Lindsay Rogers' Tatting Collage. I took a motif and added a tail. The yellow one that I'm tatting now is from Rebecca Jones' The Complete Book of Tatting.

A note about split chains; they are much easier to do when the thread is a tightly twisted one. I gave up on the perle 8 one that I tried to do. I kind of fudged it.

Triangle Tatters will be meeting Saturday. After that, I'll know how many more bookmarks I need to make. I promised a total of 24. *crosses fingers*

Bad News: I somehow broke the cover of my Palm pilot this morning. I'm not sure how, but only one hinge is still attached. If both hinges were gone, then I could just re-insert it. If both were present, I could clip the cover back onto them. Soooo, it doesn't look good. I won't know how bad until/unless I find the cover.

I may be shopping for a new one. I don't want the latest & greatest (I don't need a cellphone PDA). I just want one that I can move my stored info to and that recharges instead of using batteries. Is that too much to ask?

Family: off to meet Dad & stepmom for supper tonight. I'm not looking forward to the drive, but I am looking forward to seeing them. I'm going to give 3 Cups of Tea to Kathy for an early b'day present.

Still no pictures
I was gaming last night so I had no time to look for my card reader. It was go home, get game books & character sheet, get to game. Game for 3+ hours and home again to sleep.

Tatting: And I have somehow lost the first bookmark that I made. I'm hoping that it's merely disappeared into the depths of my bag. I hope. I finished the second bookmark but it still cups a little, even with the extra 2 ds per chain. Maybe I need 4 extra ds? OTOH, I did manage to do a creditable split chain again.

Gaming: It was more fun with Rosemary's character, Lady Celtic, last night. We thought that the 'revived' Allies of Freedom (Lady Celtic, her husband The Human Tank, his brother Gunner, Sgt Shrapnel, Spitfire, & Red Fox) might be clones but it turns out that they were nano-robots. We had fun fighting them. We didn't get far into the fight but we got a surprise. Lady Celtic's (the previous incarnation) son showed up and shot the fake Lady Celtic. Since he went a little out of his head recently and attacked our Lady Celtic, it was good to him on the side of Right again. Although Wraith wants to see if Troy was let out or if he got out (look for the red stamp 'Sane' on one hand). We'll finish the fight in 2 weeks.

Rosemary liked her blanket. I wish I'd taken a picture of it. But it's a good size and her old fleece blanket was losing its border.

*grumble* Where's my card reader?
I have some great photos to show but no way to download them from my camera. I have to find what I did with my card reader before I can show off.

Tatting: I finished the Eritrean flag & it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. There's a flickr group & I plan to post the picture as soon as I get it downloaded (notice theme?). Since that was finished and even mailed off, and I don't know how many bookmarks to expect from others, I started on the bookmarks for my company's adult literacy class. [I really want to finish AnneB's dragon. I have 2 of them started who just need wings.]

I decided to do something simple for my first one, so I chose the square motif from p 58 of Lindsay Rogers' Tatting Collage in variegated blue (I have a picture, honest) Olympus 40. I adapted the pattern with a split ring so that it's one round instead of two. But then when I got the end, I'd have to cut & tie and then put the tassel elsewhere. Ick.

Instead, I finally mastered split chain. I've only been trying to for 2 years. I am not kidding. I remember trying to take Karey Solomon's morning split chain bag class and just. not. getting. it. Then Mary S. at last year's Palmetto Tat Days showed me her cabochon ring trick for learning split chain. Nonetheless, when I tried it with thread my attempt yielded your basic rat's next. Yesterday, I finally got a chain instead of something that the cat threw up. See Arlene. See Arlene do the happy dance.

I am making the same bookmark again but in variegated brown Red Heart size 20. I am also adding 2 extra ds, at the beginning & the end, to the chains. My blue one cups a little and this will fix that. I tat tighter than Ms. Rogers, I guess.

Other craft: Technically the flag goes under this, too since I quilted the flag and only tatted the olive branch & wreath.

I made a quick fleece blanket for Rosemary's birthday. I bought 4 yards, 2 each of 2 different fabrics, of poly-fleece. I laid them out on the conference room table during lunch. Then I carefully trimmed them (to get rid of the selvages), clipped and tied them. It's a fairly simple way to make a reversible fleece blanket. One side is a dark tartan; navy, forest, garnet, thin yellow & thin white stripes. The other is a cheerful red with multi-colored snowflakes. It's big enough to cover her completely, and should be very warm.

Gaming: tonight is Mutants & Masterminds. Yay! I get to hit things and not think much. The funny thing is, my character Totem is very intelligent. But her ignorance of modern technology lead people to drastically underestimate her.

Apparently I failed my Perception roll
(it's a gaming joke) As I watching the news this morning, to catch the weather, I heard about a couple local housefires. There was one, a big one, not too far from where Chris works. The other one really surprised me; it's on my street. I was quite puzzled, because the fire took place yesterday afternoon and I saw no sign of it when I came home. How tired was I yesterday?

Turns out, to see the places (2 townhouses) that burned I had to take a half-dozen steps past my door. They are down the hill and around a curve. One place is so badly burned that it's been condemned. The other is not as bad, more scorched.

I'm going to send a note to the ones in the badly burned place. After all, I know their address. I'll see if there is anything I can do for them.

I'm still coughing but not as badly and most of them aren't as deep. I still do not have any energy, though. I'm going to have to call my mom and cancel my visit.

I worked on my project last night. Too bad I sewed the layers in the wrong order. I had to take it apart again. I got some done tonight. I'll finish it tomorrow and add the (tatted) olive branch & wreath.

After stressing about it for a little for over a week, I finally found a V-Day present for Chris. We don't do the stereotypical cards & flowers (although Chris did buy me a personalized 1# chocolate bar once). We try to find something that the other really, really wants. I found copy of Jim Butcher's Princep's Fury.

Back at Work
I managed 4 hours of sleep last night, plus one hour. I laid down and for the next 40 minutes I coughed. I finally got up, fixed a cup of hot tea and went to sleep more or less sitting up. I woke up an hour later, tried a cough drop, and drank another cup of hot tea before drifting off to sleep, still sitting up & half expecting to wake up in an hour, coughing again.

It's probably redundant to comment that I'm tired today. I didn't drag my usual 'OMG it's heavy' bag today. I resorted to a moderate-sized craft box/tote (I got it at 2005 Tat Days; it's about 6" x 10"x 4" deep). It's enough to carry a paperback, my mini-lunchbox of tatting, my zippered tin of tatting, my camera, and yesterday's receipts (so that I can make my reimbursement claim).

Here's a hint, if you weren't already aware, that you might be sick. You look lustfully at a pack of cough drops with the sort of yearning that you usually reserve for your favorite chocolate truffles.

I checked this morning on the tea chest that I got last year for Christmas. I have used some of the tea bags in the past year but I've really hit it hard the past week. It's 3x5 divisions with 5 tea bags per section. It's 1/3 empty now. That's a lot of tea.

My supervisor is so good. He handled most of the time-sensitive stuff for me while I was out. Considering one of the things that almost had me coming to work on Monday is this mondo huge monthly report; I am so happy I did not have to work on that today. I'm feeling wiped just catching up on the other stuff. That in addition, might have been too much.

Doctor Visit
I got some misinformation straightened out and went to see a doctor today. He gave me a prescription and I should be over this soon. Wow, all I've talked about is my health. For a week. Is everyone (okay, all, um 12 of you) bored yet? Back to work tomorrow.