Weekend with Mom
I'm off to see Mom this weekend. I'll drive down tonight & come back on Sunday. I need to make certain that I have the things for her; chopsticks, video tape, etc.
I started this on Friday...you see how far I got.
Anyway, the visit would have gone pretty well; the traffic wasn't too icky and although I got there later than I planned, I made it before full dark. Saturday morning, over breakfast, I was bragging that I hardly ever get migraines anymore. Yeah, I know, mistake. Guess what hit me that afternoon. There went 4 hours, asleep, with something over my eyes as even the light coming through my eyelids was too much. At least I didn't reach the sound sensitive stage too.
Neat family stories: my mom's oldest sister went to lots of dances, with two dates every time. She had one date for the slow dances & another one for the fast ones. She taught Mom how to jitterbug.
Mom grew up in Havelock, NC; near Cherry Point. Somehow they got hold of a defective parachute and they (grandmother et al) made a skirt for that aunt from it. It had so many yards of fabric that they had to cover a leather belt to hold the fullness.
The first gift the man who would become her husband gave her was a rifle. He also taught her to shoot.
Mom loved her in-laws. Both families got along great. Dad's older sister is eerily similar to Mom's oldest sister & Dad's step-sister eerily reminiscent of the sister immediately older than mom (I mean, both married pharmacists, who both owned drugstores; both women helped their husband in the store on occasion, and both never left the house without looking like they'd just come out of a salon).
Had to start back too early on Sunday but I had a cushion of time to get gas. That turned out to only take half as long as I thought it would. So I had plenty of time to wash my hair before Sunday's activities (love my mom, hate the smell of cigarette smoke).
Gaming: We had a great time playing Shadowrun. Too bad Mike couldn't make it. He was suffering, both from illness and from massive guilt (for not making it). It was kind of funny, none of us really knew what we were doing. I was the only one who had even played 4th edition Shadowrun. I think the gm & I were the only ones who had read the rules. I found a great character dossier thing; too bad it looks like it's for 3rd edition. I may be able to use it anyway. I'm going to try.
The conversations were great, during & after. I love geek convo's. Where else can the talk range from the direct to DVD Wonderwoman cartoon to the casting of the Green Hornet movie, the success/failure of modern Pulp era movies, & the history of Charlie Chan. And that's just a sampling.
I did see the oddest tanline on Sunday. Older gent who obviously usually wears socks; from mid-calf down he was about as white as I am. Then toasty brown until just about his knees, then variable brown up to the hem of his shorts. It was kind of like a tan-line trainwreck. It was hard to pull your eyes away from the horror.
More Gaming: They were short of GM's at the local gamestore for Thursday's Living Forgotten Realms. So I volunteered to run. That gives me 2 days to read, research & know what I'm doing. Frankly, I'm okay with missing playing a game. LFR just doesn't grab me like LG or some of the other "living" campaigns have.
Tatting: I've been working a little on that new edging for my hankie. I should take a picture and post it. It's variegated brown & the pattern is from the same tatting book that I got the last edging from. If I get stuff done, I'll edit this post with the exact pattern & maybe a picture.
I also added the button for TattingChic's 50,000 visitor giveaway. I wasn't going to enter but I have a friend who'd like to learn and this would help her.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Tatting Pictures, Finally!
Here's the brown edging that I did. It's from the Big Book of Tatting by Darlene Polachic. It's the white trefoil edging on p. 9. That's also the label from the thread, a ball that I picked up at a thrift shop.
And here's the purple & white scrunchy. I forgot to pack it this weekend. I don't know what I'm going to tat when I'm brain dead.
Here's the brown edging that I did. It's from the Big Book of Tatting by Darlene Polachic. It's the white trefoil edging on p. 9. That's also the label from the thread, a ball that I picked up at a thrift shop.
And here's the purple & white scrunchy. I forgot to pack it this weekend. I don't know what I'm going to tat when I'm brain dead.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Long, Long Trip
With bathroom & lunch breaks, we expected to reach our hotel around 4pm. We got here about 7 pm. Yeah, we hit traffic that bad. One was 45 minutes or so for an accident. It was a single car and the people were standing around (with a police officer), so no one was hurt it looked like. It just backed up traffic.
I've finished my Shadowrun Missions character. Chris's spreadsheet really helped. It did the math for me. Now I just have to translate it to paper. It took longer than I expected.
Last night's LFR game ran long, too. We played high and we barely squeaked by in a couple places. It was nice to see my avenger be useful and we got some actual role playing in (Rosemary was playing her tiefling who came forward in time through a portal, our PCs were kids about the same time, but now mine's really old and hers is still young).
I didn't get any useful tatting done. I don't know if it's because I was tired (1/2 required sleep) or what. I only managed to sleep an hour on the way down. That's unusual for me.
We had a great supper at Pappadeaux. And most of us have leftovers. It was a lot of food; especially since we all wanted dessert, too.
As soon as I wrap up a couple things, I'm off to bed.
With bathroom & lunch breaks, we expected to reach our hotel around 4pm. We got here about 7 pm. Yeah, we hit traffic that bad. One was 45 minutes or so for an accident. It was a single car and the people were standing around (with a police officer), so no one was hurt it looked like. It just backed up traffic.
I've finished my Shadowrun Missions character. Chris's spreadsheet really helped. It did the math for me. Now I just have to translate it to paper. It took longer than I expected.
Last night's LFR game ran long, too. We played high and we barely squeaked by in a couple places. It was nice to see my avenger be useful and we got some actual role playing in (Rosemary was playing her tiefling who came forward in time through a portal, our PCs were kids about the same time, but now mine's really old and hers is still young).
I didn't get any useful tatting done. I don't know if it's because I was tired (1/2 required sleep) or what. I only managed to sleep an hour on the way down. That's unusual for me.
We had a great supper at Pappadeaux. And most of us have leftovers. It was a lot of food; especially since we all wanted dessert, too.
As soon as I wrap up a couple things, I'm off to bed.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Gaming This Weekend
I'll be playing quite a bit of Living Forgotten Realms and one session of Shadowrun Missions. The Witch Hunter game was cancelled because everybody (but me & one other guy) had already played what was being offered (not a lot of selection right now).
Problem: I haven't finished writing my Shadowrun character. I still need gear, cyberware & contacts. Making these decisions is hard; I'm not certain what to expect or what to prepare for.
We played on Sunday and it ran a little late. Even though it took 'just a little long', it was fun. My "drow" is now 5th level. I need to do the progression on her, since I'll be playing her this weekend.
Tatting: Did I mention that I missed a picot join on Your Grape Big Heart and had to start over? I have started over and fortunately tatting over threads really doesn't show in size 80 thread. Now I only have 5 more rings until the next stage. At least it's looking good.
I did the finishing work on the bookmark for Melinda. She seemed to really like it.
I'll be playing quite a bit of Living Forgotten Realms and one session of Shadowrun Missions. The Witch Hunter game was cancelled because everybody (but me & one other guy) had already played what was being offered (not a lot of selection right now).
Problem: I haven't finished writing my Shadowrun character. I still need gear, cyberware & contacts. Making these decisions is hard; I'm not certain what to expect or what to prepare for.
We played on Sunday and it ran a little late. Even though it took 'just a little long', it was fun. My "drow" is now 5th level. I need to do the progression on her, since I'll be playing her this weekend.
Tatting: Did I mention that I missed a picot join on Your Grape Big Heart and had to start over? I have started over and fortunately tatting over threads really doesn't show in size 80 thread. Now I only have 5 more rings until the next stage. At least it's looking good.
I did the finishing work on the bookmark for Melinda. She seemed to really like it.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Good Deeds & Tea
Chris & Rosemary took me to use the gift certificate for tea that she gave me for my birthday. First, we stopped by Natural Neighbors & I bought some lavender pump soap. She also gave me a sliver of soap in a small baggie, to try as an alternative to using commercial handsoaps. It does work, sort of. But I still want to try soap powder or flakes.
On our way to Tea-rific Spices, I stopped to finally get my glasses fixed. The nose pads have been slowly disintegrating, exposing the hard plastic skeleton, so they really needed to be replaced.
Once we got to the tea shop, I ordered some iced herbal tea while Rosemary had a cold fruity tea, raspberry I think, and Chris had some other iced tea. I bought a tea strainer and three teas with my gift certificate. They were out of the Peach white tea that I wanted, so I got some Pai-mu-tan, another white tea instead. I also got a nice vanilla chai for a wake up tea and something called mango mate.
I had some of the Pai-mu-tan last night & this morning. It's great iced, too. I brewed some and chilled it in the fridge to drink this morning.
After shopping and lunch yesterday we went went to see Monsters Vs. Aliens. It was an entertaining movie. I definitely liked Susan, and even Bob was kind of cute, in a brainless kind of way.
GAMING:
Saturday's game went well. At least I made it a little challenging for the players. I took one person down to negative hit points and had at least a couple people bloody every fight. I haven't reported it yet, but I will as soon as I find my notes.
after gaming cookout/holiday party:
Rosemary's house got a little crowded with everyone but we had fun, talking and eating. Since I only had one burger, I had enough room for watermelon & ice cream afterwards. It would have been a shame to miss anything. Mya had a hot dog. She's 2 and a half now and I had fun occasionally confusing her by asking her if she could say 'no.' Or not say 'no'.
Chris & Rosemary took me to use the gift certificate for tea that she gave me for my birthday. First, we stopped by Natural Neighbors & I bought some lavender pump soap. She also gave me a sliver of soap in a small baggie, to try as an alternative to using commercial handsoaps. It does work, sort of. But I still want to try soap powder or flakes.
On our way to Tea-rific Spices, I stopped to finally get my glasses fixed. The nose pads have been slowly disintegrating, exposing the hard plastic skeleton, so they really needed to be replaced.
Once we got to the tea shop, I ordered some iced herbal tea while Rosemary had a cold fruity tea, raspberry I think, and Chris had some other iced tea. I bought a tea strainer and three teas with my gift certificate. They were out of the Peach white tea that I wanted, so I got some Pai-mu-tan, another white tea instead. I also got a nice vanilla chai for a wake up tea and something called mango mate.
I had some of the Pai-mu-tan last night & this morning. It's great iced, too. I brewed some and chilled it in the fridge to drink this morning.
After shopping and lunch yesterday we went went to see Monsters Vs. Aliens. It was an entertaining movie. I definitely liked Susan, and even Bob was kind of cute, in a brainless kind of way.
GAMING:
Saturday's game went well. At least I made it a little challenging for the players. I took one person down to negative hit points and had at least a couple people bloody every fight. I haven't reported it yet, but I will as soon as I find my notes.
after gaming cookout/holiday party:
Rosemary's house got a little crowded with everyone but we had fun, talking and eating. Since I only had one burger, I had enough room for watermelon & ice cream afterwards. It would have been a shame to miss anything. Mya had a hot dog. She's 2 and a half now and I had fun occasionally confusing her by asking her if she could say 'no.' Or not say 'no'.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Holiday Tomorrow!
From work, anyway. Saturday, of course, is the actual Independence Day. I am profoundly relieved. I feel a great need for a vacation.
I have a couple errands to run and other than that, well, some household chores.
Tonight, at one point I looked up and said, 'is the AC running rough, or is that rain?' It was rain, heavy rain. Finally. After rain threatening scattered showers for a week, we finally got some. I don't know if my plants got any or not, though.
I feel like I had something to say. But now I can't remember what. Ah well.
From work, anyway. Saturday, of course, is the actual Independence Day. I am profoundly relieved. I feel a great need for a vacation.
I have a couple errands to run and other than that, well, some household chores.
Tonight, at one point I looked up and said, 'is the AC running rough, or is that rain?' It was rain, heavy rain. Finally. After rain threatening scattered showers for a week, we finally got some. I don't know if my plants got any or not, though.
I feel like I had something to say. But now I can't remember what. Ah well.
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.
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.
Monday, June 29, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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 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.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, June 12, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, May 18, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, May 15, 2009
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.
22 July 2008
7:30 am Breakfast at Waffle House. The waitress put songs on the jukebox: Neil Diamond, Genesis, Patsy Cline, Eagles & ELO.
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.
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. 1st 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.
1st 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 (2nd floor) was not open so we went up to the roof to eat. It was cheaper up there, too. Gorgeous view.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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).
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).
Monday, May 11, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
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.
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.
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