Well, I think that I've finally recovered from Origins. I think.

I spent too much money (big surprise) but I had a lot of fun. It was great seeing Sean again. Chris had fun most of the time but 2 of his games didn't make & he was more than a little peeved with those particular companies.

Tonight I go play a round zero of Living Kalamar in Cary. I need to leave on the dot of 5pm so I can pick up supper & reach Earl's house by 6:30 pm.

I forgot to update my character last night so I had to do it at lunch. I finally decided on a feat, took me a while. & I just remembered that I need to check what's required for the gladiator school. Ta for now.


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Well, I'm not packed yet & we leave tomorrow morning for Origins. Wheeee! I still need to do a little cleaning for the house inspection tomorrow morning & we have gaming tonight. What was I thinking? Plus, I need to do one load of laundry & get more airtime minutes for my cellphone.

Saturday's outfit: USAF hospital shirt, leggings & loafers as needed, otherwise barefoot. Mom came by, she showed me some old photo's (from grandmother's collection), we talked & she went home. I got some cleaning done & I got major depressed (as in wailing, crying jag depressed. Yuck).

Sunday: English language t, navy shorts, grey sandals & celtic knot jewelry. Chris took his parents & me to see the latest Harry Potter movie (I got more cleaning done that morning & I felt better). Then we went to Maggiano's for supper. We got there before the rush so we were basically seated immediately. I've never sat in the balcony area before. It was kinda neat. Great food, as usual.

Today's outfit: long-sleeved silk blouse, purple slacks, black loafers, feather & quartz bead earrings, moonstone cabochon pendant, spoon ring, band & my hair in a French braid.

I've been busy getting directions to the hotel in Columbus, plus one a half-hour away & one an hour away. I've also looked up some stuff for Living Greyhawk & finally posted in character about Nadia's promotion & transfer.

Gotta go, lots of errands to run.

I still have a nascent blister on my left thumb from trying to insert grommets through leather (4-6 oz). But the blister I didn't know about, the one on the ball of my right foot burst today. The skin underneath is tender & I'll be glad when that area of my sole toughens up. In the meantime, my shoes hurt.

I was a bad woman yesterday. I bought 4 books after work. I read 2 of them last night. I finished the 3rd one at lunch today (despite running that errand for Chris).

Today's outfit: rose silk short-sleeved shirt, black broadcloth skirt, black loafers, knot earrings (post), pendant & ring, onyx ring & ponytail held with black elastic. Whee, so exciting.

I finished Jordan's manuscript & I uploaded to where he can see it. Do you supposed I should have notified him that it's done? Probably. I forgot to mail Nick Perch. Blast. I'll do it Monday.

Quick post today. It's already 5:15 & I want to go home.

Today's outfit: black loafers, blue/pink/purple/black/white floral print broomstick gauze skirt, black rib knit shirt, silver chain, spoon ring, silver ~braid band, 3 silver ring earrings & loose hair. I washed my hair this morning & I forgot to pack brush or elastic band. I do have a couple hairsticks but I wasn't in the mood.

I worked a little on my Gaelic at lunch. I'm still on chapter 3. Hopefully that means I'm slow but thorough. I'm a lot closer to being done editing Jordan's material. I'm into the appendices.

Made it through another day. I'm almost finished my 2nd editing job (not including the stuff I did for Diana). I'm making corrections to the e-copy now.

Today's outfit: black loafers, black & white print cotton gauze broomstick, black crinkle cotton blouse (3/4 sleeve & round neck), black quartz/glass bead bracelet, black beaded tatted necklace & earrings, onyx ring, silver ring with black hearts & scrolls (open), & French braid held by a black elastic.

I'm almost finished making arrangements for office coverage while I'm on vacation. I need to email people tomorrow to tell them the arrangements.

Chris & I worked on his bags a little yesterday. One side of one bag is marked & holed and another side is marked. I need to get more done tonight. We didn't get enough done last night.

Well, what a weekend. Friday night we took Chris's car in to the shop. Since we're taking it to Ohio in 2 weeks, um one week, he's a little paranoid about it & wanted a check up before we left. Then we went home, I heated some chicken nuggets & went to PNO. I arrived about 8:30 but PNO was cut short by a thunderstorm. When I couldn't see the road I stopped at IHOP with some other people & ate some soup until the rain relented enough to see. I made it home about 10 pm.

The next morning we went to Southpoint Mall. Chris needed some new shorts; he also bought some new shirts since they were on sale. The shirts are for work but they didn't have the kind of shorts that he likes, about a 2" inseam. So he had to get some much longer ones;, they reach the tops of his knees. I found a pair of black jeans; they almost fit. As usual they are too big in the waist and a little long, despite being 'short'. Oh well, they mostly fit. We stopped to get something to drink & Chris stopped by the bank. We made it home about 10 minutes after Mom was there. On the bright side, she found it on her own. She left 3 boxes & one bag for me. I need to go through them. She'll stop by & see me on her way back from Jacksonville.

I had to take a nap when we came back but Chris accidentally left me to sleep for 2 hours instead of one. I was that tired. We went & got his car & stopped by Michaels to pick up a hole punch & some lacing. He also found pencils to give one of his co-workers for her birthday. She 'collects' pencils so she'll like them. When we returned home we started working on his saddlebags. We discovered that we have 1 hide, not 2. We cut out the front & back, sides & bottoms of both bags but only got one flap (with the brand on it, circle G) & we'll have to piece the strap. Chris went ahead & ordered more leather yesterday. He ordered Latigo, enough for the strap, the flap(s) & side pockets. Mostly we have scraps left from that one hide plus one bag of scraps to get side pockets, dice pockets, etc.

Saturday's outfit: 16th Annual UNC blood drive t-shirt, dark blue stretch jeans, black loafers & ponytail. I completely skipped jewelry. Sunday I wore my 2004 ShevaCon t-shirt, jeans, my new sandals (grey with beads), and wet hair. Yesterday I wore a white tux shirt, black slacks & loafers, the new black belt my mom left for me, onyx & silver earrings, braided hair held by a black elastic, spoon ring & black onyx (or some stone) ring. Today I'm wearing navy slacks, brown loafers, navy braided belt with leather buckle & tag, blue & white striped light cotton shirt w/ 3/4 length sleeves, dragon jewelry (pendant, earrings, 3 rings - 2 of which are same style in different sizes) & right now my hair is loose.

Sunday we (Chris) experimented with the hole punch & eyelet maker until we learned how to do it & get consistent results. While he worked on the first bag part I started cleaning. I had to vacuum early or we can't vacuum at all. We have to vacuum at least one hour before people show up or it sets off Mike's allergies. We packed up the bag supplies & got ready for gaming. Richard was late. 1) he hurt himself on the ladder in his new garage. The ladder isn't quite tall enough for what he was trying to do. 2) he ran out of gas on the highway. Chris went & took him more gas. So he was only an hour late.

After gaming we were going to get Chinese food but the place we wanted is closed on Sundays. So we went to Chili's across from Southpoint. It was good, I had the guiltless chicken platter & then shared the Molten Chocolate afterward with Chris & Rosemary. Even when we finished eating, we sat outside the restaurant & the five of us talked (Richard went home to Kathy). I had to leave hurriedly as apparently there were onions in the rice. I went to bed early Sunday but was still tired Monday.

Yesterday I learned that I had screwed up a co-worker's raise. It should now be complete & he should get it next pay day, back dated to the day of the raise. So I felt just lovely yesterday. If I had tried I'm not certain I could have felt more out of sorts & depressed. I made it through gaming, barely.

I did manage to get the church newsletter sent out yesterday evening. That's good & I scraped together an article of my own. But there were only 2 other articles, 3 if you include Steve's as 2.

Back to work.

Firday, TGIF! Plus, it's payday. Not that it does me much good. I've already spent most of it. Love those bills 8-P

Today's outfit: black loafers, gauze broomstick skirt w/ teal as main color, teal net shirt over pale blue tank, spoon ring, dragon ring, dragon pendant, pink/teal 'stained glass' earrings, & teal hair sticks holding my hair in half-bun.

Finished the data entry & the highlighting & the FBMO 90's. Yeah. Lots to do at home still.

It was very hard to drag myself out of bed this morning, despite going to bed on time. Giving blood yesterday may have taken more out of me than I realized. It took 2 hours 20 minutes from leaving lunch to getting back to work. At least 15 minutes would have been cut off if the 1st bus (route U) had not driven off without me. It never really pulled up to the stop but as I stood up & walked to toward it, it pulled away. I thought, at first, that it was simply moving up as another bus left but no, it left. I'm still a little ill about that.

I pulled two more books from my 'maybe keep' stack last night. I read one, I think I will keep it. The other one I brought to work with me this morning. I may read it at lunch, I may work on my Gaelic. I'm almost finished with Jordan's manuscript. I'm in the 2nd appendix. Then I have to make the corrections to the e-copy & send to him. Wheee.

The leather & other supplies for Chris's saddlebags arrived last night. We need to go to Michael's to get some suede lace, they were out. We may also need to get some more grommets, they only sent 2 packs, we ordered 3. Tonight I go by the library to get a leather craft book or two. And I think I'll put Steve's number on speed dial (so to speak). I'm very leery of relying on my 10/20-year-old knowledge of leatherworking. tonight I will also try to copy & cut the pattern out then piece a test bag (with paper or something so it's easy to construct). I want to see how the pieces fit together before I start cutting the leather.

Today's outfit: brown loafers, navy slacks (the pair with a hole), burgundy knit top, spoon ring, both turquoise rings, carnelian ring, turquoise & coral earrings, & hair half-up with brass clip.

Last night Chris went to the awards thing for work. Apparently nothing really happened. I went to bed before 10 so I was asleep by the time he came home & we didn't really have a chance to talk this morning.

Last night I played Beyond Good & Evil for about 2 hours. I made it a lot farther. I got more evidence & survived the spot where I died so often last time. So I've made real progress in the game. I also finished reading the book I bought at lunch yesterday, Almost Like Being in Love by Christina Dodd.

I took TTA again today. As a result I've already finished the book that I'd picked out. It was only 250 pages & I skimmed some scenes, but still. It was a re-read but it's been so long I didn't remember what happened. A Timeless Christmas, an old Harlequin American romance. It's unlike most in that it has a paranormal/time travel storyline. An Indian in Arizona is hung on Christmas Eve, 1894 by "Judge" McAllister. His crime was wanting to marry McAllister's daughter. He appears December 13, 1994 in the courtroom of JoP McAllister, the descendant of the Judge. She's a bit surprised by his appearance but thinks he's just some prospector or the like, who's been out in the sun too long. It's not bad.

Today's outfit: black loafers. black cotton duck skirt (button down the front), silk blouse (long sleeves, flowered print), black tatted necklace & earrings, braid w/ brown elastic, & same rings as yesterday.

I go to give blood today, if my hemogoblin is high enough. Sometimes it isn't. Right now, I need to work on check requests.

Today's outfit: black crepe slacks, acid washed black/green Harrington Steading Polo (new), black loafers, onyx ring, carnelian ring, flower silver band, onyx & silver earrings & brass hair 'clip.' I finished the FBMO 90's. yeah me.

Chris has an award banquet for work to go to tonight. His brother said that he had to go, perhaps he won something. That would be nice. I bought a book, bad me.

I wrote & mailed a letter to my Aunt Jeri & finally mailed the letter that I wrote to my niece. I'm still reading the Westwood book & I've started the 'how to write fantasy' book. I took the TTA so I have to hurry to go catch it.

Well I made it to Charlotte in good time. Spent some time talking to Liz, Leela (she burbled a lot), Alysa & James. Then it was off to bed. The next morning we left bright & early to go to ConCarolinas. I made it in time for the RPGA: Living Greyhawk interactive, Promotion Review Board. It was very tense. Since my success rested all on my own efforts, instead of being shared, I had some serious adrenalin moments, vicariously. I did okay on the written portion, started out decently on the obstacle course (in the lead by a considerable margin at first) & would have ended better if I'd remembered to take 10 on the ride test, did well on the command portion & acceptable on the interview. Nadia was one of the 2 corporals at the board trying to promote to Sgt, both the only women there & both vastly overqualified to be corporal. I ended up playing with the other newly-minted Sgt plus other high level pcs (even the 2 cohort people outleveled Nadia). Poor Nadia, half-experience & half-gold again; 9th lvl pc at an APL 12 table. Wheee. But it was interesting.

I had two players for my evening game because no one showed up for a D&D game that the girl was waiting upon. So I dragged her in & she really liked it. I ran them through Cup Quest. I finished up a little early (12:30 instead of 1 am) & drove back to James' & Liz's. Up early the next am & barely made it to the con by 9 am. So I was a little late for my game. The girl (maybe 12?) was there again. So I know she liked my game. Metra & Chasarae showed up (Rae played last year) late but I got them involved. Then Hoss showed up & I added his character. I ran the Rinaldi adventure. Poor girl, her character Enaid, had the flaw romace but she didn't specify. So I chose for her. Her character, a baroness & distantly related to the Rinaldi family, is now engaged to Don Fabrizio.

After that I attended a panel on 'D20, is it dead?' Answer, d'uh, no. But we talked about some of the D20 stuff, like hype vs. backlash etc. Since there were only 5 of us, including the 2 panel members, it was a very informal talk. More of a discussion really. Then I toured the dealers room & spent too much money. As usual. I did find a nice coin scarf to wear to the Living Kalamar interactive at Origins.

Made it home by 7pm tho very tired. Read Ring of Fire, one of my dealer room purchases, until midnight. Bad girl, I need my sleep. Oh well. I'm off home, I need to clean up enough to play Jadeclaw tonight.



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I did not finish packing last night so it's rush home, finish & get on the road to Charlotte. Wish me luck. I did get one bag packed last night, one this morning. The 3rd one is about 1/2 packed. I never did find my usual Ironclaw book, the one that's been so abused that I had to spiral bind it.

Today's outfit: purple, short-sleeved purple blouse (& of course it's the coolest it's been all week, 66F right now), black slacks, black loafers (unlike yesterday's brown ones), amethyst ring, Czech crystal earrings. silver braid band, silver band & short silver chain. I do look nice.

I had to do the stuff in the dryer again this morning. The stuff hanging on the rack was almost dry. Go figure. Of course, the 2 pairs of jeans hadn't dried yet but most of the blouses were fine (including this purple one).

Gotta go.



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Busy week this week. Monday was Living Greyhawk at 1pm, supper at 6pm, home campaign at 7pm. Clean up after gaming at 11 pm. Tuesday, prep for Living Greyhawk on Wednesday (read through module & take notes & pack), Wednesday was run Living Greyhawk at Cerebral Hobbies. Tonight it's pack for ConCarolinas in Charlotte this weekend. Tomorrow night it's drive to Charlotte, to spend the night with James & Liz. At some point I need to make certain that I know how to get to James & Liz's & then how to get to ConCarolinas. This could be important. Saturday I have entered Nadia (my primary LG character) in the promotion board, then I'm playing in a mod that afternoon & in the evening I'm running Ironclaw. I leave after that, maybe 1-ish. To return in the morning & either run the same one or a different adventure, depending on if I get the same players or not. Then I come home.

Yesterday's outfit: salmon silk blouse, print gauze skirt, black loafers, moonstone jewelry. Hair done in a temple braid. I'm trying to train it to side part again.

Today's outfit: bone slacks, print silk blouse, lapis posts (that fell out sometime this morning, I need new backs), same hairstyle with a different colored elastic, & silver rings.

Neato Quiz: I am

I took the What Mythological Creature Are you? test by
!

Last night I actually made it to bed more or less on time. I also walked 20 minutes to catch the bus farther down the road than I usually do. Lindsey was on that bus. She's reading Good Omens as I recommended. She's enjoying it immensely. If she wasn't working on Monday she could play RPGA:LG with us. Oh well.

Chris is playing Beyond Good & Evil still. He's farther along than I am, now. I have barely entered the factory & he's deep inside it. I have lots to do to catch up.

I spent a few minutes last night going through some of the books in the basement. I have them in 3 piles. One pile is take to sell at a used book store, if they don't sell then take them to Goodwill or the like. Second pile is old paperbacks that belong to a library, I need to return those. The third pile, & the largest so far, are books that I plan to keep. Hey, getting rid of any is progress.

Today's outfit: navy slacks, brown loafers, brown belt, floral (sort of) silk blouse (it has large red flowers, iron gates/benches, yellow flowers, green leaves and wood bench/fence), silver band - 2-strand braid, green amber ring, earrings & necklace. I had my hair twisted up in my large brass hair 'clip' earlier. But I took it down a few minutes ago. The loose hair wasn't hanging straight & it was starting to drive me nuts.

My brother, sister-in-law & my niece sent me a great b'day present. They sent me 2 old tatting shuttles. One is a Just-rite, it's not in as good as shape as my other Just-rite but I suspect that it's older. I dashed off a quick thank-you email to my brother & when I wrote a letter to my niece today, I added thanks there too.

I need to do another 5 points to finish the lace for Anitra. I've done 22" on the white lace. I may have finally decided what to do for my State Fair project. I will add a lace edging to some gloves. I have a lovely 1920's pattern I can use. It's a 2-color pattern. I just need to decide what colors.

I'm looking forward to my 3-day weekend. I'm gaming tomorrow, Living Greyhawk; home game: Forgotten Realms, on Sunday then another Living Greyhawk game on Monday & then another home game of AD&D 3.5 that evening. Wheee. Tonight & tomorrow I have to clean up the living room & dining room enough to play. Not so whee.

Last night was the 4th night in a row that I went to bed late. I really need to get to bed earlier tonight. I'm so tired today that I bought a 20 oz diet pepsi, even without vanilla, to help me get started this morning. The game, a Living Kalamar playtest, went pretty well. Today I'm, off & on, working on reading through it to make helpful suggestions, etc.

Today's outfit: grey Carolina Ren Festival 2002 polo, black & white cotton gauze skirt (it's a broomskirt really, like all my cotton gauze skirts), black loafers, onyx & silver earrings (from Fair Trade), onyx ring, silver 2-strand braid band, a simple silver chain & my hair is loose. I had it up earlier & didn't like it.

My left should still hurts a little. The books I carried yesterday for last night's game were very heavy (3 hardback game books plus 1 paperback game book plus assorted papers & dice). I think I strained something, or at least stressed it. It's feeling better than it did yesterday, at least.

Joe paid for supper last night. We went to Italian Pie in Cary. It's not far from Earl's & since that was the game location, that was important. They have excellent lasagna. Joe & I both had to box half our meal. It's near the crossroads of Harrison & Maynard, across from the new Staples. I have another reason for wanting to remember that; a used bookstore is near that Staple's: Mr. Mike's Used Books. *chortle*



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So, I just took a half-day off yesterday. I went home as soon as my lunch relief had arrived, after I'd briefed him on what needed doing. I thought about stopping for Chinese food but ended up eating leftovers. I played Beyond Good & Evil for hours. I really like that game. When Chris came home I played a little longer, then let him have a turn. I'd accidentally overwritten his saved game, so it was only right.

Yesterday's outfit: light cotton gauze skirt, dark blue knit shirt, hair sticks holding a half-bun, & the usual jewelry plus my new loafers. Today's outfit: different light cotton gauze skirt, pale blue ~spaghetti strap tank, turquoise open hole knit 3/4 length sleeve shirt, same loafers, rainbow moonstone cabochon (like it's ever any other cut) pendant & earrings, moonstone ring, spoon ring & ~turquoise-colored hairsticks holding a half-bun in my hair. For an outfit put together because I have no clean bras, it works very well (the pale blue tank has a built-in bra).

I'm trying to update my Living Kalamar character. It's not being easy. I can't find a good conversion document & I thought I had the character creation doc, but I can't find it.

Jury service (sit around & read all day just in case I get called) last Monday, on the 17th. Busy the rest of the week trying to catch up.

Today's outfit: new black loafers (Faded Glory: Jessie) bought on Friday, black & white cotton gauze skirt, black heavy cotton gauze blouse (round neck, elbow-length sleeves), black tatted necklace w/ black beads, matching earring, black glass/quartz bead bracelet, onyx band, silver spoon ring & bone 2-prong hair stick.

Dad came by yesterday, brought my 'new' desk. He bought it while he worked for the Post Office in LaJunta, CO. It was used then. It's survived the house fire in '74 and it's solid wood so it still looks better & is in better shape than the desk it replaced. That desk was my step-grandfather's computer desk in bought in the late '80's.

Dad took Chris & I out to dinner at Ted's Montana grill. The bison pot roast was maybe a little heavy for midday but it was really good & I was really hungry. I cleared my plate & then had their strawberry shortcake with ice cream, with Dad's help. I've decided that while their food is good, their desserts don't exactly blow my skirt up.

Today's outfit: purple silk blouse, black faux-suede slacks, black loafers, 'silver' earrings with black beads, tri-fem pendant on short chain, onyx ring, thin silver braid ring & hair caught up in a thick, black elastic band. I really need to replace these loafers. The inner sole is not attached at the toes, only at the heels. So they creep as I walk. Sounds like trip to Wal-mart. I'd like to get more expensive ones that wouldn't do that, but only Wal-mart carries the style that I like. Isn't that kind of sad?

Copeland's last night was very good. I love baked sweet potato. The crabcakes were a trifle spicy, but that's no surprise. The steamed vegetables were heavy on the cauliflower. The conversation was a good if a bit heavy on the computer talk. Considering the company of 1 programmer & 2 tech support people, that too was no surprise.

Kathy liked the two crossstitch kits, no surprise, they both have cats. The B&N gift cert from Chris & Rosemary was also well-received. She seemed almost surprised that she got presents. Kind of odd. The card I found was really good & I need to get another one like it for Mike. It was 5 reasons for buying a birthday card: #3 was the voices in my head. Very appropos considering Mike's frequent remarks concerning his 'God told me to do that. Well, the voice says he's God. And why would God lie about a thing like that.' Silly Mike. He's not schizophrenic, just a microbiology grad student.

I found a card for Diana's graduation. It's also pretty funny. I just don't know what to get her for graduation. Maybe a gift cert to B&N or the like? Tonight I go get Joe's birthday present. We're buying him a rail game. Tomorrow night, after Diana's graduation & maybe Artsplosure we're taking him to the seafood place at Southpoint.

I need to finish cleaning off my desk.

Today's oufit: short sleeve, collarless chambray shirt; denim vest, navy broadcloth skirtv, brown loafers; stamped leather hair clip; turquoise & coral earrings; both turquoise rings, & two different styles of braided silver bands.

It's hot & muggy. I'm glad to be wearing a skirt, even if it is very heavy & fully lined. I didn't go to lunch until 2pm. I read the entire time. Except when I talked to Steve (AC guy) & Gillian (English photojournalism student, whose mother's from Salisbury, NC).

My tatting got bizarrely tangled last night. It happened just as I was about to disembark from the bus & I didn't notice when I dropped my shuttle case. Bleah! I've called the bus company & see if it was turned in or found by the driver yesterday. I had to leave a message.

I have to leave now, I still need to find cards for Kathy & Diana and get to Copelands in Cary by 7:30 pm. Tah.

Saturday's oufit: Ironclaw t-shirt & jeans
Sunday's outfit: Celtic tree t-shirt & shorts
Monday's oufit: Dendarii covert ops polo & plaid crinkle gauze skirt
Tuesday's outfit: Vorkosigan polo & black slacks
Today's outfit: blue knit shirt & multi-colored gauze skirt

I've done over 22" on the white lace. Last night I started some ecru in the same pattern for Anitra. I'm going to make enough to put on the top of her apron. I've already done about 3" or so & I only need 8-9".

I finally fixed my fanny pack. I went to Jo-Ann's last night to get the buckles, thread, & to price canvas. They also have linen, a possibility for a new chemise for October. I got all the way out to the car before I remembered that I was also going to look for ecru thread in size 80. They had it. They also had red, green, white & variegated pastel. The red's on sale for a $1. They are apparently discontinuing it.

Site of the day: Weird things to make in your kitchen

It's supposed to be even hotter today (expected high, 90F), but I'm still wearing black. Today's outfit: black slacks & loafers, black heavy wrinkled gauze blouse (3/4 length sleeves & round neck), spoon ring, silver 'braid' band, moonstone ring, rainbow moonstone pendant & earrings & my hair is in that half bun/ponytail fixed with the steel hairstick with bells.

I started a new length of tatting. It's thicker thread so it doesn't require my crochet hook for joins. I'm trying some of the 19th century patterns from Flitting Fingers, the book that Anitra loaned me. I've been trying to translate the 'buttonhole stitch' & other instructions into modern tatting methods. The current length is for 'a chemise band' and it's just rings, not even any joins.

I changed my mind about what I'm getting my mom for Mother's day. I was going to send her a gift certificate for a manicure but I found a book at the Bullshead bookstore that I think she'll like. So I will go deposit the check from Saturday's tatting, buy the book & mail it at lunch. Busy lunch, huh.

Something yesterday really upset my system. I was tired when I got home last night & Chris was playing a video game. So I laid down on the couch for a nap. I answered the phone every time it rang, Richard & telemarketers, but I slept. Chris realized what time it was at 10 pm & cooked supper. He woke me when it was ready at 10:30 pm. I'd slept about 4 hours. I ate half of my steak & then had to go to the bathroom for half an hour, or so. Came out, ate my broccoli & then headed to bed by midnight. It wasn't the steak that upset me, it was too soon. I realized that my stomach started bothering me a little by 5pm. Maybe it was the burrito I had for lunch yesterday. It was a little spicy.

Bill called while I was eating. We chatted a bit. I must remember to contact Wes to tell him to call Bill. Bill doesn't have Wes's email or phone number.

Much warmer today so the outfit is also a little lighter weight (no jacket): black slacks, black loafers, silk blouse (red, rose, green floral with blue iron bench/fence look plus yellow something), black tatted necklace & earrings, onyx band, silver braid band & silver rope braid band (much wider, more like yesterday's braid band in width). My hair is loose because I washed it this morning.

My chest still stings from Tuesday's sunburn, despite repeated applications of aloe gel. Pbbbbt.

Time to go home. Maybe tomorrow I'll even post something interesting. Although I have to comment that my tatting has reached 17". I barely touched it Tuesday.

Instead I Tuesday & yesterday I read 2 of the Dark Hunter books by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Today's outfit: brown half-boots, navy slacks, brown braided leather belt, chambray shirt, LOVE stamp earrings (couldn't find the ones I had planned to wear), tri-moon moonstone pendant, 3strand-braid ring, carnelian band, silver band, pottery hair clip & braided hair. I had to put aloe vera gel on my chest, where I burned it yesterday. Ouch.

Gotta go, leaving early today.

Today's outfit: (when I'm cool) black ~sweater w/ 3/4 length sleeves & bateau neck, black ~suede slacks, black half-boots, onyx ring, dragon ring, silver band, onyx & silver earrings & braided hair. When I'm warm enough I take off the black sweater to expose my "I've lost 20 pounds" burgundy blouse with the faux surplice & split petal sleeves.

I think I may have gotten a little sunburned today. I forgot to put on sunscreen (didn't think I'd be outside, frankly). So I sat out in the sun at lunch for almost an hour.

My lace is at 13.5". I worked on it last night & during the meeting this morning. It's past time to head home.

I was listening to the Breakfast Club. It's from early December 1941. It was full of late-breaking news regarding the declarations of war against Japan by Great Britain, etc.

Saturday's outfit: black skirt, black half-boots, muslin blouse, red plaid bodice, cream colored apron, and muslin cap. Can you tell that I was garbed ~Colonial? I was at Harmony Hall in White Oak, NC (near Fayetteville) as part of the yearly celebration. I tatted on the front porch (facing the river) while Liz wove on her inkle loom (that I gave her years ago). Leela was greatly admired. There weren't great crowds as it rained off & on. But a few people showed & were greatly admiring. I did get a new question: 'is that real lace?'

Sunday's outfit: new green Celtic knot tree (w/ sun & moon caught in branches), jeans and loafers. I had fun at the picnic, after I woke up. At quarter til 4, I had to get up & answer mommy Nature. Then when the tank started to refill, the air in the pipes made them knock. It sounded like someone hammering on the wall. It completely woke me up, especially as I couldn't i.d. the noise at first. By the time it was over, I was starving. So I got up & grabbed a bite to eat. Chris dragged me to breakfast at Bob Evans (yay French toast). After that I napped. I woke up when the sun almost came out & didn't get to the picnic until 12:30 or so. Saw people I hadn't seen in months. Denise is moving back to Oregon & she's 5 months pregnant. It's a surprise as she'll be 41 next birthday.

Today's outfit: black half-boots, black slacks, lavender polo, Bronze Rose hairclip, onyx ring, silver braid band, flower band, violet bead earrings, & tri-fem pendant.

I got 9 inches of lace tatted since Friday. It's the really small white thread, too. I think that this year I will have trim on my clothes (Village of Yesteryear). I lost my little crochet hook though. I'm back to using my full length one.

When I was lying there, sleepless Sunday morning I thought of a direction for the time travel story that I started. So, it wasn't all bad.

Today's outfit: black loafers, black slacks & belt, multi-colored (purple, blue, green, plum, violet, cream, tan, & rust) silk blouse with flower ring, spoon ring, MoP pendant & Love stamp earrings. I washed my hair this morning so it's loose until it dries. It has dried but I can't find what I did with the purple hair sticks I brought to work with me.

Supper last night was more expensive than I expected but we all talked for a long time. The sushi was good, but then I knew that Yamazushi had good food. It was nice to see Kathy again. It has been months. We've seen Richard more recently, but only because he's come to gaming. We asked him if he was planning to run on Saturday the 8th, but he didn't really answer.

I did not get any packing done, not unexpectedly, so I will rush home tonight to change clothes, pack & drive to White Oak. It's 2+ hours & I'm not looking forward to it. This is especially true since I tried to re-tape my Grrrl tape & screwed it up.

I've lost my small crochet hook, the pendant one. Well, crap! That means I have to get the other one & its longer length is very inconvenient for portable tatting.

Still trying the 19th century patterns. Not going well. Buttonhole stitches,....pbbbbbbt.

Today's outfit: black boots, black button down skirt, white silk brocade shell, cream & tan checked silk jacket, rainbow moonstone earrings, moonstone ring, silver band, onyx ring, tri-moon moonstone pendant & hair in a half bun/ponytail, affixed with a bone (faux ivory) hairstick.

I mailed the letter to Nick today. Maybe Nadia (my rpga living greyhawk character) will finally be a knight.

Today's outfit: black slacks, black half-boots, black belt, grey bib-shirt with Mother of pearl snaps, amber earrings, pendant & ring. My hair is loose, I may braid it later.

I'm still reading the book on 19th century tatting that Anitra loaned to me. I'm in the 19th century patterns section. I tried to work on one yesterday. Using buttonhole stitch instead of chains is very different. I think I'll try it again, substituting chains for the buttonhole stitches.

I have a daisy in the vase on my desk. Ginny, a former co-worker, gave it to me. I happened to see her on my way in. Her daughter got married Satureday & this flower is one from the decor. Since I didn't have time to gather any wildflowers this morning to replace the dying ones, I'm extra glad that she gave me that flower.

Yesterday's outfit: grey polo, black slacks, black loafers, celtic knot pendant, celtic knot post earrings, onyx band & silver band plus braided hair.

Today's outfit: blue chambray shirt, navy slacks, brown loafers, carnelian band, silver band, celtic knot earrings (small dangle), ring & pendant, flower ring & braided hair.

Friday I went directly to visit Steve & Anitra. I met the new redtail hawk and identified the raptor I'd seen Monday as a peregrine. Anitra & I talked until late, so I slept on their couch. Anitra loaned me her book on 19th century tatting & a set of Colonial style clothes. Steve gave me an editor's copy of Dawn Rising.

I wasn't feeling 100% so I postponed my massage session. Chris & Rosemary came by briefly, from Bark around the Park, on their way to a Living Greyhawk game (that I'd already played). Then Mike & Kelly showed so we drove to Charlotte. We ran into a little traffic on the way, plus stopped for supper & reached Chantells & John's apartment a little later than we'd planned. We, plus Jeff, ate & talked before beginning the reading part of Polidori (sp). I read first & it was received well enough. It's a very incomplete story, more an introduction really. We finally left about 11 pm & dropped Kelly off at 2 am. I had slept for the past 2 hours but stayed awake to talk to Mike & keep him awake until he dropped me off at home.

Sunday, Mom stopped by on her way home from visiting her sister near the coast. She caught me up on a bit of news and then left herself. The first gamer for the 2 pm game showed just as Mom left. We played until 8:30. Partially as a result of that, I neglected to make a very important phone call. I did not call the Durham Co Gov't about jury duty. I did not even remember it until I saw the note in my dayplanner this morning.

I made three wrong turns on the way to Red Cross this morning. None of them were irreparable, just annoying. I still made it there by my appointment time at 8:00 am. They had problems finding my veins, as usual. So I didn't get up from the chair until 10:30 am. I did get to watch Zorro the Gay Blade. That's one of my favorite movies.

I returned to work at 11 am & went almost immediately to lunch. I met Allen & Metra outside. I'd seen them as I'd gone into to work. It was nice to see them, especially as I may not see them again until next semester.

I wrote a letter to my Aunt in Florida yesterday. I also started one to my mom. I need to finish hers. I also need to work on a present for Squirrel. I'd like to make her a blue-grey kitsune, with 2 tails. But I may not have time.

Today's outfit: pale grey 'Dendarii Free Mercenaries' polo, white/green/blue plaid gauze skirt (ankle length+), black loafers, spoon ring, silver twisted band, silver hoops earrings, moon & star MoP pendant and loose hair (I washed it this morning & I hesitate to put it up until it's at least mostly dry). Unfortunately this skirt doesn't have pockets, (what gauze skirt does?) so I can't wear my pocket watch.

I managed to get most of the personnel stuff done yesterday. Now I'm catching up on Leave records. I've learned that I only have about 5 minutes AWL to make up (that 's Adverse Weather Leave). Since Ashley is sick she's not here today or tomorrow. I'll just leave a note on the door and take a 55 minute lunch today. Then tomorrow I'll decide if I'm going to use slightly less vacation by taking a short lunch.

I finished re-reading Star Princess yesterday. It's not a great book, the world building is, ahem, not scientifically sound. Salt is rare throughout the galaxy except on earth? I just can't see sodium chloride as rare. But it's still an entertaining story.

This weekends outfits: jeans & assortment of t-shirts, tennis shoes & jewelry assortment.
Yesterday's outfits: black faux-suede slacks, black polo shirt, black loafers, onyx & silver earrings (new pair), mother of pearl & silver pendant, silver band, & braid.
Today's outfit: khaki slacks; Vorkosigan brown acid-washed polo shirt; brown loafers; yellow amber pendant, earrings, rings; silver band & assorted amber bead bracelet, & bun/ponytail w/ curvy 'bone' hairsticks.

The weather apparently decided to skip straight from late winter/early spring into late spring. Today's morning low (62F) was last Wednesday's high. I am not very prepared. I still have all my turtlenecks out. I have to dig out my summer weight blouses, short sleeved shirts & light weight skirts & slacks. I have to pack up my sweaters, turtlenecks & most of my sweatshirts. I can probably keep my vests out. The office has AC and is often chilly in the summer.

I finished The Dreamland Chronicles: In the Net of Dreams, When Dreams Collide & Woman of His Dreams. 3 books in one volume, it was very good. There were a lot of puns & little pokes at classic fanasy & sci fi. Like 'they went to Smith's Dock.' If you've never heard of Doc Smith, that line means nothing. If you have, then you get a quick snigger.

The con was great. I talked to Jill for quite a while again. She's the con organizer's wife & she's really the co-head of the con. I did not get to talk very much to Keith but I did see the people at the Game Griffon again. They have a daughter now! She was a preemie but she's healthy & doing well. I met new people, Darlene & Keith who just moved down from Indiana (they know Doug Wood), owners of the dachsund 'Rogue' & Doug, (friend of Keith B. & Carol) who lives in Hickory, plays the 1/2 orc barbarian Budd. I did not get a chance to use the pool. Chris & Rosemary went Friday evening & I was just too tired. I went to sleep about 9 pm.

Duncan was sick most of the weekend but the pepto bismol helped. He was a very sick little doggy on Saturday though. Rosemary had to walk him every hour & even that wasn't enough. So Chris & I went to Wally world after our games Saturday night (C&R played 'Sterich Burning' while I played the interactive) and got the cleaning supplies & the medicine. He was feeling fine on Sunday when he met Rogue.

Reed died, again, for the 3rd time. Nadia really died but the gm let her be at -9 hp & I made the stabilization roll. That gave other characters time to reach her & heal her. *phew* It was very close. So Nadia leveled to 9th level but Reed is 5th again.

Warmer & sunny today. Is spring finally here? I certainly hope so.

Today's outfit: navy blue jeans, purple t-shirt w/ female villains of Disney, black leather vest (which I may remove before I leave the house), black tennis shoes, 3 fem pendant, copper ring, silver flower band, violet bead & 'silver' metal earrings, & my pendant under my shirt. Navy belt currently hidden by my vest & my hair is in a braid.

I tried to use Nair today. 1) It did not remove the hair & 2) I had a reaction on my knees that makes my jeans a 'trifle uncomfortable'. I had to shave my legs in addition to the Nair. I'll be wearing a bathing suit at some point this weekend (love those indoor pools & arriving early) so I wanted to be shaved. I know, shaving is a personal choice & I choose to shave.

I still have packing etc to do so I will post again on Tuesday.

It got colder by the time I went to lunch than it had been when I came to work. Someone please explain that to me. And also tell me when spring is really going to get here?

Today's outfit: brown half-boots, khaki slacks, brown belt, flowered (blue & green) knit shirt (it's not a t-, it has buttons), silver band, fem ring, lapis lazuli posts (which is missing on my left, great 1st time I wear these & I lose one), & hair in a ponytail with glass beads (2, brown with white dots). I'm glad I wore my coat today.

I returned Joe's battlemat today when he picked me up for lunch. We went to Charlie's, a Chinese restaurant on Elliott Rd. I overate but the Gen. Tso's chicken is very good there. Ditto the egg drop soup.

I have stopped one of email lists & set my email on vacation, starting tomorrow. Now I need to go to yahoo & put a stop mail on all my lists. Wheee.

I feel better today. Yesterday was so rainy (we need it though) and I felt pretty blah (long list of reasons). Today one of those reasons is gone & I have enough distance from the others that they don't affect me as much. I forgot (for the second day in a row) to put in earrings this morning. Same pair, too.

Yesterday's outfit: white blouse w/ wide collar, calf-length full black skirt, black boots, marcasite necklace, spoon ring, fem ring & pocket watch. Had my hair braided most of the day.

Today's outfit: pale grey turtleneck, red brocade vest, black slacks, pocket watch, black half-boots, brown belt (covered by vest), large silver chain, carnelian ring, fem ring, silver band & red kid's chopstick to hold the half-bun/half-ponytail.

I've been reading the Three Sisters Island trilogy by Nora Roberts. I found a few deity names from the encyclopedia of mythology, or should I say, one encyclopedia. I'm sure that there are others.

Lots to do, gotta go.

Today's outfit: red cotton sweater, khaki slacks, cream trouser socks, brown loafers, Celtic knot jewelry, silver ring band, carnelian ring & 2 'bone' hairsticks in a small bun (with rest of hair loose).

Was sick part of the week & busy the rest of the week. I am still trying to get one more player for both games tomorrow, with no luck.

Today's outfit: rose turtleneck, black slacks & half-boots, black vest decorated with paint appliqued calico roses (shades of pink, rose, grey & green), watch chain across the vest, spoon ring (not silver, the coating is starting to wear through on the band), silver band, silver & black dangling earrings, Mucha inspired silver pendant on black leather cord (present from Germany), & my hair is loose.

It's been a confusing day. I planned to leave at quarter til today, but I wanted to wait until the person I'd contacted about her lost keys came by to get them. She got them & now I'm going to leave. Good night, Gracie.

Important note to self: volunteer opportunity, proofreading for Project Gutenberg

Today's outfit: black slacks, black half-boots, white turtleneck, striped red/black/ecru woven vest, spoon ring, silver ring, green amber ring, silver bracelet w/ 3 pieces of amber: yellow, orange & green, silver necklace with 5 pieces of green amber, & my hair in a plait until it dries a bit more.

I've read 2 of the 3 books I bought Tuesday evening. They were quite good. I've started the 3rd one.

I made 'not fried' chicken last night, plus mashed potatoes & peas. I skinned the chicken drumsticks, dipped them in milk & then coated them with the oven fried coating. They baked for 50 minutes. I made the potatoes from a mix, with milk, water & butter. The peas were frozen. So it was a fairly easy supper to make.

I've tried to think of a good April's Fool joke but I can't just think of one. The only thing I've thought of is posting some 'myth' races to the Ironclaw list. I've made stats for the jackalope, drop bears & I thought of something else but forgot.

It was great talking to Heather last night. We talked for an hour & a half & then spent another half hour looking at books. I'm so glad that I saw her on Friday.

Today's outfit: navy slack, navy turtleneck, brown half boots, oxblood belt, dragon earrings, pendant & ring, spoon ring & hair in a ponytail. I was wearing a cream sweater but it's a little too warm in my office.

I did a bunch of crosswords at lunch. Got 3 of them done. Got another done while the network was down this afternoon. The spare office is cleared out now, except for the 2 boxes that the accounting people need to take care of. Hopefully we can get the desk moved in tomorrow.

I'm going to get some more typing on my project. Then it will be off for home.

I stayed up too late last night. And since the house is still set on AC, it was a trifle chilly this morning. I am very irritable this morning. I am tired of people interrupting me. I am tired of it seeming like whatever I do is wrong. The worst part is, I know that it's perception, not reality. My intellect knows but my emotions are willfully ignoring it.

Mom came by for her visit on Saturday. We didn't get any sewing done but I did get 1, maybe 2 blouses for the State Fair, at least one vest for same & 1 blouse & a half-dozen vests for work. Whee! I need to go back to that thrift shop. They had some intriguing books.

The Green Regent game went well enough. I had a raging headache & made a couple mistakes but everyone had fun & that's what matters.

Sunday we got some cleaning done, put together some shelves for the VHS tapes, DVD's & games, plus a case to hold the cd's. Made a big difference. I almost have the entryway ready to put together the shelves for my shoes. Whoohoo. I also cut my hair. It's now over a foot shorter, up to my waist. I've got the rest ready to send to Locks of Love, as soon as I get a padded envelope.

Today's outfit: brown half boots, brown belt, navy slack, grey 2002 Carolina Ren Fest polo, agate ring, knot ring, pendant & earrings, silver braid band and braid fastened with grey elastic. In other words, nothing exciting again today.

I've been reading Diana's supplement. I'm editing it again. Plus, that way I'll be ready to help with Tiffany's character. Of course, I'm only on page 63 of 105. I'm also working on my own supplement again. Only 14 pages so far & that includes a page of the summary. I'm printing out a copy to show to Diana.

I have to run, have to get home in time to greet Tiffany & Diana. Oops, almost forgot to call John to tell him not to come tonight.

I think I may have gotten a bit of sun, um scalding is the best word I can find, on my neck. I sat with my back to the sun, thinking my collar & hair would cover my neck. It did not, quite. It mostly stings. Maybe it's all in my imagination, Linda (my co-worker) says that she can't see anything.

Cool, I 'found' a new player for our Monday Ironclaw/Jadeclaw/9 Tribes game. Tiffany is fun. I might see her for coffee tonight. It depends on Chris, mostly.

Today's outfit: black half-boots, purple slacks (just a hint too loose), dark purple tank with connected purple long-sleeved blouse (striped satin & chiffon & thin gold), celtic knot pendant on chain, knot earrings, knot ring, grey agate ring, silver band & fem ring. My hair is in a knot/ponytail held with hair pin with bells.

I'm handling a long phone call with a guy asking about the new job posting. Most of the questions, I can't answer. It's been at least a 20 minute call at this point.

I'm almost caught up. But I still have a lot to do.

Today's outfit: same brown half-boots & same brown belt, different navy slacks, navy scoop neck knit shirt, brown shirt with open neck trimmed in geometrically embroidered ribbon (I made the shirt), braided hair by blue elastic, silver band with 4 greenish pieces of turquoise, silver spoon ring engraved with an 'M', 3 ages of woman pendant & turquoise & coral earrings. The brown shirt is long & I'm wearing it out so it covers me to my hips.

I finished the 2nd book of the The Seven Brothers by Curt Benjamin yesterday. The first book was The Prince of Shadows, 2nd one is The Prince of Dreams & the 3rd will be The Gates of Heaven. I'm really looking forward to reading it. Alas, it will not be soon. I thought that the protagonist, Llesho would find one brother in each book but he's already found 4 of his 6 brothers. Of course, although he thinks his sister Ping is dead I'm pretty certain that she's actually alive. I do wonder what happened to their mother, though.

Network went out yesterday afternoon so today I am playing catch up. Whee!

Today's outfit: navy turtleneck (another unseasonably cool/cold day), tapestry vest, navy slacks, brown half-boots, brown belt, silver flower band, fem figure ring, flower stamp earrings, & braided hair (blue elastic). Nothing exciting or interesting today, except the maybe the vest. Oh & today I remembered my watch, so the watch chain is showing from my right pants pocket to where it's clipped to a belt loop.

Time to go check the mail & go attend to my ever-growing list.

Mental note: at cons make certain to drink lots of water. Or I will, again, regret the aftereffects. I called in sick to work yesterday. Not because I felt awful but because I thought it would be difficult to get work done between hour-long bathroom trips. So I stayed home, watched tv, read, did laundry & cleaned up the kitchen a little. Plus, I moved stuff from the coffee table to the dining room table in prep for last night's gaming & I cooked chili for supper.

I did have lots of fun on Saturday. I was very tired by the end, but that's to be expected. I saw Bob again. I met him in the con suite at SheVaCon & here he was in the con suite at Stellar Con. I keep feeling that he's a guest & that I should know who he is. I 'met' Timothy Zahn & complimented him on his work. As he said, 'all authors enjoy that. It helps to make up for the months at a time isolated in our offices.'

Lots to do today to catch up from yesterday, so must get working.

I spent money last night. This is a not-good thing because I'm trying to save money to take some trips this summer. But anyway, I bought Undead & Unwed and read it. It's really funny. Blurb: Betsy's had a bad week, she got laid off, it's her birthday, her dad & stepmom blew her off, a snowstorm hit & now she's died. And came back. As a vampire. And other vampires believe that she's some foretold queen.

I'm re-reading A Caress of Twilight. I have it reserved at the library but apparently it's lost because they haven't called me about it yet. I've put Sex in History on hiatus. I need to read some light fiction.

I called Joe. He's going to Stellarcon tomorrow only too, so I'm catching a ride with him. Leaving the house at 6:50 am, instead of 7:00 am & then driving home @12:45 from Carrboro is a lot easier than driving home from High Point from 11 to 12:30 am. I need to prep my game for tomorrow, so Ta.

Dark red/crimson turtleneck, navy wool vest, pocket watch in 1 vest pocket & work key on other end of chain in another vest pocket, navy slacks, brown boots, Jamestown Colonial National park pin, brown belt, dragon pendant, dragon (Welsh) earrings, 2 of my 3 dragon rings, spoon ring & simple twined band, my hair in the same style as yesterday but with different sticks. Same source but these are wood with pierced, ~twisted carving in the ends. That's my clothes for the day, anyway.

Met Allen, Metra & a friend when going to lunch. Ended up sitting there & talking the entire time. Good thing I'd already eaten. Drank about 8 glasses of water. Now I need to go get some exercise. 15 minutes Monday & Tuesday, 20 minutes yesterday. I need at least 15 minutes today.

I have got to get a better light in my closet. I swear, this turtleneck was green when I selected it. Seen outside & under florescents, it's obviously teal. Well, my tapestry vest has green. Which is good because my slacks, shoes & hairsticks are black. I'm wearing a set of the hairsticks I bought at Claire's while getting my niece's birthday present earrings. The hairsticks are square, black plastic with dark brown leather decoratively wrapped on the ends. My hair is tied in a knot at my crown with the remainder streaming down in a tail. My jewelry is all silver & white today. I'm wearing the nacre moon & star pendant on the short chain, silver circles band, silver spoon ring, silver flowers band & the 3 rings on french wires earrings. Very circular & flowery, yes?

Chris took me out for ribs last night. I ate a rack of pork ribs, 2.5 potato skins, a small dish of steamed broccoli & a slice of bread and only after I finished did I wonder if perhaps I had eaten a little too much. But I was sooo hungry. When we got home we watched Discovery channel's program on the Roman 7 wonders. We missed number one but number 2 was the aqueducts (I finally found out why some had 2 or 3 rows of arches & some had 1), #3 the Via Appia (Roman roads); the others were the colisseum, Caracalla's baths; the Pantheon, Trajan's marketplace (precursor to the modern mall) & the Circus Maximus. It was fascinating.

I'm still reading Sex in History by Reay Tannahill. I've gotten up to the Romans. Having read this far, I'm going to look for her book Food in History, too. Allen Wold recommended it. I happened to get into a discussion with him, his wife & another woman before things got started at SheVaCon. I would not say that we are friends, but we are acquaintances. His wife used to shop at the Piece Goods where I worked. What this really means, if I remind him, he remembers. Otherwise he doesn't know me from Adam's off ox.

I really doubt that there is anyone in Spain or from Spain or who has relatives in Spain reading this, but just in case.

I am a writer, of prose and poetry. But the heart aches so, that my pen lies still. The flowing ink does not bleed, though my heart does. There are no words to express my grief, only silent tears, shed where you do not see.

Yesterday was very Monday. 1) A lot, to all, of Woodcroft lost power sometime early in the morning. So no alarm clock, get dressed by candlelight (yeah, it is black & not navy), dare not open the fridge 'just in case' so can't pack a lunch, and get to work only a little late, with no coherent idea what kind of weather to expect for the day.
2) Jammed the 'supply' drawer where I keep the stamps & the mail key. 3) Broke my necklace while trying to open it. 4) Overate at lunch (all you can eat, Top of Lenoir). 5) endured a nasty headache all afternoon - bordering on migraine as I drove home
On the bright side: drank @6 glasses of water, walked for 15 minutes, finished catching up on Queen of Wands and there was power when I got home. We cancelled gaming, just in case. Chris made hamburgers (outdoor grill or indoor stove depending in conditions).

The weekend was great. Saturday, the weather was beautiful and I played 2 RPGA Living Greyhawk games on Saturday, walked Rosemary's dogs & had a great lunch & supper w/ Chris & Rosemary & other gamers. Lunch was with Lyman G., Joe J, & Mike M. Supper we had with people whose names I don't know really well. Lyman is a ova-lacto vegetarian (ethical-based) on the Atkins diet. He eats lots of vegetables he says. Greek food for lunch & Japanese food for supper. Yum. Earl was very nice to me, partially because I gave up my seat in the second slot to let a complete newcomer play. I admit, it was nice of me, but someone at some point has done something similar for me. Just because I don't remember it, doesn't mean that I shouldn't repay that debt to someone else.

Sunday I ran Diane Y, Steve F., Chris, Rosemary & Doug W in the LG game "When Orcs Attack", or as Steve called it 'When Orcs Get Sodomized." The big bad foes in the game were Diane's character's favored enemy; Keelin's a ranger. So she wiped them from the board before they even managed to close to melee range. Everyone had fun & did some great roleplaying.

Yesterday's outfit: black slacks, black half-boots, black bateau neck summer sweater, Celtic knot pendant on long chain (now broken, literally split 2 links), knot ring & knot earrings, plus bronze rose hair clip (the larger one) holding my hair in a knot. I also wore my black leather UNC baseball cap & the tan trenchcoat that mom gave me.

Today's outift: plum slacks, black loafers, white shawl collar blouse (collar drapes over my shoulders), tri-moon rainbow moonstone pendant, rainbow moonstone earrings, moonstone ring, 'M' spoon ring, silver flower band, Fem power ring, & the same hair clip holding my hair in a fall. Lately I've been wearing the pocket watch that I ordered from publishers clearing house. It's a watch that my skin will not eat the chrome backing.

Gah, how can people do stuff like that!? I'm talking about the bombed trains in Madrid. Almost 200 people killed, hundreds more hurt. And why? So some political/religious extremist can get his rocks off?! All those poor people, I think I'll just sit here and cry for awhile.

Good for me, I've written 2 letters this week & sent them. I wrote 2 epistle emails to people I haven't seen or talked to in months (or years) today. I feel very connected. Too bad I'm supposed to be working through this contact list. Oh well. Back to the grind.

Neat website of the day: Old Radio shows The only problem I've had is with the Charlie Chan I listened to. I love a good mystery, but I also would like to hear the solution. Blast!

New online game: Guess the show/movie It's still in development, but it is entertaining.

I saw a really neat thing yesterday, one I don't see often. I suppose that I would if I was outdoors more. I saw a redtail hawk raiding a squirrel nest. I was running an errand & I heard a squirrel; they do make vocalizations you know. So I looked up to see if I could see the squirrel. There was the squirrel & there was the redtail in the squirrels' nest. One squirrel was hiding, it popped up every so often. The hawk was raking through the nest & parts of it were floating away on the breeze. I just stood there & watched for a few minutes. Like I said, it was really neat.

Good news, no snow last night or today. I am relieved. I am actually sick of snow. Ask me again in four to five months, though.

I did go to SheVaCon. Since my back-up was on vacation I was only going to be able to have Friday the 27th off if my supervisor's baby held off that long. She didn't. She was born Wednesday the 25th. So I was glumly expecting to work all day Friday & then to drive to Roanoke, by myself, after work. I went ahead & packed Thursday night & at Chris's urging put my gaming bag & my amusements/food bag in the car. After all, one way or the other, I'd need them there. As you may (or may not) know it started snowing Thursday afternoon. I left work early because the last time I didn't, it took me three hours to get home. The next morning, UNC was condition III in the Adverse Weather Conditions. That means only emergency personnel show up & I'm not emergency personnel. So I drove to Joe Junger's house, put my stuff into his van; we picked up Mike & Kelly; then drove to Roanoke. By the time we hit the Virginia border, the roads were dry. Roanoke didn't get a thing, not even rain.

It was a great weekend. I played 6 games, including a 2-rounder. I had 5 hours of sleep Thursday night (packing kept me up until almost midnight & I woke at 5 am), 5 hours Friday night (late gaming & then up at my usual wake up time), & 2 hours Saturday night. I played midnight madness Saturday & the game started about 12:30 or 1 am. When we finished playing, I looked at the window & asked, "What's that light coming in the window?" "Dawn" was the reply. Oh. It was too early to wake my roommates so I tried to check my email on the computer in the lobby. No luck, someone was playing cubis. I finally gave up & went to the room, 312, at 7:20. I either went into the bathroom to put on my pajamas (scrubs) or I went to bed at 7:20. Either way, I woke up at 9 am. I don't know why. I had planned to leave a note "wake me one hour before check out."

Since I was awake I went to the dealer's room, bought stuff I couldn't afford (but the room was cheaper than I had expected), and bothered Eric Menge as he was running Rites of Eternal Spring (guess what I played for midnight madness). Actually, I 'entertained' the players while Eric checked on the status of the art he wanted to buy in the art auction. Then Joe, Mike & I went to the Tanglewood mall & picked up pizza for the Eric & his players. Rites is a double round mod & they were trying to get done in about the same time everyone else was doing a single round.

I tried to nap on the way home, but failed. I read the signed, hardback copy of March to the Stars instead. I think I finally caught up on my sleep about Wednesday. That evening (Wednesday), Chris & I went over to Richard & Kathy's for supper & so Richard could download the pictures from my camera for me.

Hailey, my niece, had her 8th birthday party this past Sunday. She had it at Tumblebee's. So the girls (all 8 of them) played on the trampolines, the uneven bars & in the foam pit. They had lots of fun, burned off lots of energy & then we had cake & ice cream. Hailey opened her presents. She likes the wrapping paper that I use, she told her friends so. She got 3 or 4 music cd's. She liked the Klutz book of simple embroidery that I gave her but she wasn't certain what it was. Just that it was used to make stuff. She just had her ears pierced so I bought earrings at Claire's. I bought 12 pairs. It was a set of 6 pairs for $6.25, buy one, get one free. Hey, she's 8, if she loses them it's no big deal. Her other aunt (Lisa's sister) bought her 14k gold ones. Hope Hailey doesn't lose those. The party was a lot of fun.

I spent too much money Saturday at SouthPoint while I was getting Hailey's presents. I bought earrings & hairsticks for myself at Claire's, plus I went to the Body Shop & stocked up on shampoo. They're getting ready to do new formulas. I also bought 2 games at Electronic Boutique. Both for Xbox & both are used. So one was $20 & one was $9. I haven't played them yet.

Chris & I had lunch across the street from Southpoint at Ted's MOntana Grill. The bison burgers are very good. Alltell, next door, was having an open house. I picked up a Duke tshirt for Dad, entered the drawing for the Duke signed basketball, $100 gift cert to Wal-Mart & something else. 3 drawings; I won the Wal-Mart certs. Yay me. I picked them up Monday evening, after work.

Sunday, before I left for the party, Chris & I went to the grand opening of the SuperTarget where Southsquare used to be. We bought some open shelves for the kitchen, for shoes at the front door & for the dvd's, cds & games by the tv. Plus picked up a few grocery items & I bought a car seat cover my car. The color is close to the upholstery & I put it on Monday. It doesn't fit very well but hopefully it will prevent any more wear on the driver's seat. It's wearing through on one side. Returning from Target we made it home about 1:25. I had planned to leave at 1:30 for Greensboro. I still needed to wrap Hailey's presents: 2 books (previously mentioned embroidery & a Klutz activity book), 2 sets of earrings & 1 cd (Shania Twane's Up!). I left about 1:45, got gas & was on my way out of Durham before 2pm. I was trying to make to Dad's place in Pleasant Garden by 3pm. Luckily, the new I85 is shorter, plus I broke the speed limit most of the way there, and I was on time, barely.

This has gotten absurdly long. I'm going to stop now.

Neat tech toy of the day: flash drive

ARE YOU A GOOD JUDGE OF CHARACTER?
TRY THIS OUT.BY LOOKING AT A PICTURE OF A PERSON, YOU HAVE TO DECIDEIF HE IS A PROGRAM LANGUAGE INVENTOR OR A SERIAL KILLER.
GO WITH YOUR GUT FEELING : Killer or Programmer?

It's amazing what getting a bit more sleep will do for one's mood. Plus chocolate, chocolate is vital.

Tonight (weather permitting), I'll stop by the grocery store to pick up my snacks & sodas for the con. Then I finish my laundry & pack. One way or the other, my bags are going out to my car when I do in the morning. Either I'm leaving immediately after work or due to AWL I'm not going to work. Of course, if it's bad enough, I may not be going to SheVaCon at all.

Charitable website of the day: Big Girl Princess Project

Regional website: Are you a Yankee or a Dixie?

neat website of the day: fun with photoshop

Well, I'm depressed. My boss is having her baby, might have it by now. That ruins my weekend plans. I get to drive to SheVaCon, by myself, after work. And I loooove long drives. Yeah, right.

I just can't write anymore, I'm too ill.

Erk, I haven't posted since Friday? Mea culpa. Been busy. Um, still busy. Talk later.

Remember what I last posted about having 3 hours to get my work done is a bit scant? I'm still a little behind but I'm better than I was. Linda did the check requests so that's one less but I had to do the meal plan reports because my student assistant feels that going to grad school is a good thing & maybe she should, um, actually go to the auditions (she's a singer) to get in. So I spent most of 3 hours after class the last 2 days just getting those done, plus whatever else popped up.

I found Chris's Valentine Day present. And since I had to stay late last night getting my confidential email address, to handle HR stuff, etc, I can leave early today to try & get it. Yay me! And yay cranky computer.

I still have lots to do so it's back to work.

Class from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, plus travel time = 5 hours away from desk. That leaves 3 hours to get my work done. I'm a little bit behind as a result. Leave records are done. Check requests are not. My supervisor did the copying on the FBMO's so that's one less task for me.

Found checkbook last night. Mailed car insurance & TV Guide renewal today. Good thing!

Entertaining game last night but fell asleep. Falling asleep better than having a hissy fit & screaming at two of the other players.

My bf works late tonight, we may have supper together tonight, if he picks something up. Or I may eat on my own & he gets something for himself.

Still haven't done my homework for tomorrow's class. Guess I get a long lunch coming to me on Friday, as I work more than 8 hours today. Wheee!

I mailed the letter to my aunt & uncle. I used my last check Friday so I need to either get a money order or withdraw the cash & get someone to write me a check for my car insurance. Could be important.

Rosemary bought Arms & Equipment Guide for D&D so I have to find something else to get her for her birthday. I have no ideas. Candles & potpourri are out because of her pets, ditto most houseplants. Cross stitch supplies are not viable because her dog Duncan, won't let her crossstitch anymore. He sits in her lap when she tries & she can't get any done.

We did not get much done in Sunday's game because we sat around having too much fun talking & joking. Mike's character Dratsab is a great favorite with the chambermaids at the Old Skull Inn. He was throwing money around while the elf went to check on his home & the rest of the characters collected our pay. Joe was two hours late (he warned us that he would be) and we had not even left town yet. Although we were on the verge of doing so. We played from just after two until just after six. Then we scattered to our various suppers.

I managed to get 2 loads of laundry done. I finished my white load on Saturday & did my load of blacks & red on Sunday. The rest of the dark colors are in the washing machine today. I need to put them in the dryer when I get home.

I did not get any writing done, or tatting. I read. I still haven't played any of my game. Maybe tonight or maybe tomorrow.

Chris & I watched Operation Petticoat. Apparently, this kid named Bernie Schwartz saw Cary Grant in Destination: Tokyo & vowed to become an actor & be in a sub movie with him. As it happened, that kid changed his name to Tony Curtis & he & Cary co-starred in Operation Petticoat. It's a funny movie. It's been awhile since I'd seen it so I'd forgotten portions of it.

It's another cold, frost-covered morning. I had to scrape my windshield. It's odd, Saturday at noon was warm & comfortable. I had to roll my windows down while I fetched lunch so my car wouldn't be unbearable hot when I got back into it. By 3 pm it had gotten cold & windy. The weather changed from nice & spring-like to another burst of winter.

I missed today's mail so I'll mail my note to Aunt Jeri & Uncle Warren on Monday. It's not big deal. I did get my taxes done, not that they are complex or anything.

I fixed the strap on Joe's bag and darned a couple of Chris's socks. He did a few last night & I told him that I'd work on them today. I did a two plus I worked on a third. I finished reading The Redemption of Althalus by the Eddings and read a book with 3 short stories. One was a Harrington one I'd already read, by Weber; the second was a Belisarius by Flint, I think I'll have to start reading the series of that story is any sample & the last one was a Hammer's Slammers story.

I started to work on my Ala Shan material, that's why I'm on the computer, but I can't find where I saved it. I thought I had some on my email, as a note to myself. That's frustrating.

They are still playing the special mission. One character has already died & been reincarnated, he's now an elf. Phelps almost died, again. He was at 0 hit points. Whee! Nick, the GM, said that the final battle had been cut down by 2/3 & they were still fighting 12 specters. Ick.

Back to checking email, etc. I probably won't post again until Monday.

I was so miserable at 9 am that all I wanted to do was to leave work early. But first I had to take care of HR stuff & then do accounting stuff. I finished the accounting stuff at 4pm. Now, I realize that I feel human & have for a little while now. My throat doesn't hurt, much, & I can breathe through my nose.
Yay!

I sent out the sympathy card to my Great-Aunt Martha today. She might get it as early as tomorrow. When I talked to Mom last night, to get Aunt Martha's address, Mom said that she had just received her card & I sent that Wednesday.

Tomorrow Chris & I are hosting an RPGA:Living Greyhawk game. It's a special mission for Just Phelps to regain his human species & regain his place among the Knights of the Watch. He was Watcher Phelps, so when he lost his place, temporarily, he became known as Just Phelps. I'm not playing, it's APL 10 & my character is only 7th level. I have other characters, but they are even lower.

Sunday is Rosemary's Forgotten Realms game. That should be entertaining. We've all gone shopping for new goodies & now we start the next module. We won't get experience from this one until the very end. We may jump a couple levels when that happens.

I've written a letter to my Aunt Jeri & Uncle Warren, in Illinois. I finished it too late for it to go into today's mail, so I'll send it tomorrow.

My cold proceeds. Today, I have a stopped up nose to go with the sore throat. I'm continuing with the zinc lozenges, plus echinacea & yesterday I had a Jamba Juice Coldbuster smoothie. Why am I not better yet?

I never remembered the 3rd thing to buy. Oh well. I did get the zinc lozenges & some sympathy cards (might need another one suddenly). But I've lost Aunt Martha's address; I left a message for Mom to call me back with it.

I'm tired and I want to take a nap. Bleah.

I forgot the neatest thing about Saturday's NC Game Day. They had a raffle and you bought tickets & put your tickets in the bag for whatever you wanted a chance to get. I put my tickets in for Draconomicon and for Beyond Good & Evil for the XBox. I won the game! Isn't that faboo. I squealed & bounced when I won. A guy I know, Jason (who btw is really cute & if I weren't monogamous & he wasn't married....), also wanted it & said that he was mildly consoled by the thought of my squeal & bounce reaction.

I made it home at 6:30 last night & Chris was actually home before I was. Both of us were really tired so we ordered pizza. Mom called while we were eating, she had a question about 1880's San Francisco. I was able to answer part of it but I need to look up some references to find the rest. We talked for about an hour. She liked the letter/card that I sent. I had to explain what Monster House was though. I had written to her about the episode that Richard taped for Chris & me.

Chris & I watched cartoons last night. We watched Legend of Tarzan, Fillmore, & Weekenders. I missed most of Fillmore & Weekenders because I was talking to Mom.

Errands to do tonight: pay storage, buy sympathy card for Aunt Martha, buy zinc lozenges & I know I'm forgetting something, but I don't know what. Hopefully I'll remember it by this evening.

I admit it. I'm sorry that we did not have inclement weather last night or this morning. I just didn't want to come to work today. I stayed up to watch CSI: Miami last night so I didn't head to bed until 11 pm. I cooked chicken last night, plus peas & mashed potatoes. Simple meal, but filling.

Diana cancelled gaming last night because she's still recovering from the illness that laid her low this weekend. John did not get the message so he showed up at 7:30. As a result I did not get to see the last 10 minutes of the Pretender episode that I had taped because he talks over tv shows. We sort of watched the Stargate: SG1 episodes on Sci Fi channel instead. He & Chris talked about Chris's D&D game. John hasn't done his 'shopping' yet. I watched those last 10 minutes this morning & then taped over it with today's episode of Pretender on TNT.

I've had some soda & I'm drinking another one right now but this headache is not going away. I also took an aleve & that hasn't kicked in yet. Luckily my HRIS training isn't until next week. If I tried to do it this week, it would not be pretty.

I finished one book last night, started another one & finished it this morning plus finished yet another one. Although that last one was a re-read, so parts of it I just skimmed.

Funny site: RFC 1149 or Standard for the transmission of IP datagrams on avian carriers

And There are no such things as UFO's

And SpiritRover's livejournal.

Wow! What a weekend. Saturday, I went to NC Game Day at State. I left home at 7:50 am, stopped to get cash & found a parking spot by 8:40 am. If I'd been any later, I would not have found a spot. No players showed up for my game until about 10 am. The one who did show, who had signed up, had all the books & wanted a chance to play before trying to run it. He'd played at a con & that was it.

He made up a character & two more people showed up & asked what we were doing (thanks Sean for the Game Host screen, it does attract attention). they made up characters & we started to play. We had Nutmeg the squirrel elementalist/cleric (journeyman air mage), Allisan the ferret robber/charlatan & the wolverine bodyguard/bounty hunter. Once characters were done I sent them on a simple errand to find & capture 3 bandits. So they got an introduction to combat. By that time it was 2pm so I wanted my lunch. Gerald (Allisan's player) & I went to get Chinese food on Hillsborough St.

When we came back, the table I had been using had another game running, so Lyman (who was running things) found me another table. I didn't have another game officially but I said that if I found interested players then I'd run something else. Gerald was interested & so was Nutmeg's player. Then 2 guys who had never heard of Ironclaw stopped by & I gave them pregenerated characters. Unfortunately the Excel spreadsheet character sheets are still in beta test & were not as complete as I'd like. But they found 2 possibilities, so Nutmeg & Allisan were joined by Dante & Rafael. Rafael was the ferret witch hunter while Dante was the goat apothecary/homeopath. I sent them through Cup Hunt. No combat but lots of interaction & man/sentient vs. environment. They had fun, which is the purpose after all.

As I was packing up a young man named Clay stopped by. He had thumbed through Ironclaw & he was interested in the game but wanted someone to explain it to him. His gaming group is concluding their D&D game & they are shopping for another game. So I went through character generation, how the rolls work etc. He fell in love with it. We then sat down & he and two others who happened to be standing around, made up characters. If we had gotten done early enough I would have run again but it was getting to 9 pm & I wanted to get home & get some sleep.

I made it home before 10 pm, finding my way off campus easier than I had found my way on. Then it was spend some time with my SO before heading off to bed. I had left before he woke up Saturday morning so this was of some importance.

The next morning we sat around and watched the history of drinks in America: coffee, Kool-aid, beer, wine, martinis, cocktails, sodas etc. It was very interesting. Then I finally got moving & tried to make a bannock cake. Instead of dough I ended up with oat soup. I wrapped it in tin foil & took it anyway. Chris left to do the grocery shopping before I left for Imbolc. I packed up my supplies & even with my errands, made it to Gaia's Gardens about 1:45. Chris H. showed up just after I did, so both of us were early.

He unlocked the gate & helped my prepar & set things out. Of course, things never go quite as you plan, so the braided circle ended up smaller than my foot in diameter; the Bride's cross was okay but I only made 1 instead of 4; there were only 3 tables instead of 4 & 1 of them is broken so I set up 2 together to make one ~decent-sized altar; I'd forgotten scissors but Chris's knife worked; had to tie the tablecloth onto the tables; the candles did not want to stay lit - the wind; the firelogs in the tin pans worked well; and I'd forgotten the sage to cleanse the circle & people; & I'd brought my draft notes instead of the final copy. At least I'd brought my source material. The making of Bride's crosses with the raffia went, um, okay. I set the ~bannock to cook over the fire in the center.

There were 2 new people at the circle, they seem nice. The ritual went well, people were complimentary at least. I set the ~bannock out as an offering. After the ritual I put the water & milk from the altar plus the stones & seashell offerings near it. They'll be used to decorated the garden later. It was still cold so the gathering after ritual did not last long. People ate the 'Jewish bannock', aka bagel, & the cheese so that was good. I put the candles & other re-usable supplies in the building as I packed up. I took the glass holders home to be washed. I'll put them in the supply drawer later. Steve & I were the last to leave. He locked up & we talked a little bit. He's writing a story & he wants my input. It sounds fascinating & I can't wait to see it.

I stopped by Wal-mart on the way home & bought Carolina Panthers: NFC champ t-shirts, one for me & one for Chris. I also bought about 4 books & a pair of bike shorts. I hope that the shorts fit. When I got home I took off my out layers of clothes to get rid of the smoky smell, & wore my new t-shirt & the leggings that I'd been wearing. Chris made hot dogs & hamburgers, salsa & chips plus an apple crumble with ice cream & caramel or chocolate sauce. It was great. Oh, and he made pizza rolls.

Chris, Rosemary & I, and her two dogs, watched the Superbowl XXXVIII. It was a great game. Rosemary doesn't understand football & doesn't want to. I understand a little bit, partially from what I learned in that chapter of Phys Ed in high school & partially from Chris as we watch the game. Based on my behavior during the game, Chris says that he doesn't want to me to watch games during the season. I get, um, a little involved in the game.

It was a close & hard-fought game. The Panthers lost to my disappointment but I'm still proud of them. Unlike so many Superbowls it was not a blow-out. They almost won, came very close in fact. I plan to send an email expressing my pride & support for the team. I'd like a shirt: "Carolina Panthers: Superbowl XXXVIII Champions almost."

The Budweiser commercial with the mule interviewing to be a Budweiser Clydesdale was great, as was the ad for next season't football. Most of the commercials were a scream, like the Fed Ex one with the alien. the worst ones were just, okay. I liked P Diddy & Nelly's act at half-time & Kid Rock wasn't too bad but what was up with Janet Jackson? I mean her opening outfit was okay but she had a train without a skirt and that just did not go with the rest of her clothes. All of her dancers were dressed oddly. Then the bit at the end with Justin Timberlake apparently ripping off part of her blouse. It was, frankly, stupid. Not shocking, just stupid.

Helping others/ourselves website of the day: Fair Trade coffee

Funny site of the day: Ugly dresses

handy site of the day: Bicycle traffic safety

So, for those who have been ignoring the weather recently....it snowed in central NC (& the midwest & most of the east coast, etc). It started snowing Sunday morning & it finally subsided to a freezing drizzle about 5pm. They were very small flakes so there was only about 3" accumulation. Chris & I went out for breakfast Sunday morning so we were driving along as it was falling. They flakes were so dry that they blew across the road like drifts of sand. You could see wind eddies in the snow as it blew across the aspalt.

By the time we finished eating quite a bit of snow had accumulated on the car. The parking lot of the Golden Corral was fairly clear but the lot of the hotel next to it was a carpet of snow. The difference in traffic was thus clearly illustrated. We made it to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping & then headed home. We were supposed to be playing in Rosemary's Forgotten Realms game that afternoon but we cancelled it. The trip to our place wouldn't be too awful but the trips home would be.

UNC was closed on Monday so I sat around & went through all the VCR tapes that didn't have labels. In other words, I either watched the shows to be then taped over or decided to tape over them without watching, as the case might be. I also finally saw the episode of Monster House that Richard had taped for us. The Monster House crew transformed the interior to reflect the owners' love of castles & the husband's English heritage. It was great!

We cancelled gaming on Monday, too. It was supposed to be the first session of Chris's Freaks Campaign. He claimed that the character of anyone who missed the session would fail the saving throw when the group met the wights Monday night. Cute, very cute.

Tuesday we both went to work late. I left at 9:40 am to catch the 10 am bus. I never saw it. I saw the bus going the other way but not mine. I waited half an hour & gave up. I was literally 3 minutes from the bus stop when the bus came by. Of course, since I wasn't at the stop the driver kept going. I said a few expletives & walked back to my car. I was about to start cleaning it off when a young lady passing by offered to give me a lift. She had just gotten her car up the hill from mine & knew how much trouble I was going to have getting out of there. Thanks to her I made it to work by 11 am.

I left work a little after 4 pm to catch the 4:07 bus. I did not leave soon enough but I was in plenty of time to catch the 4:37 bus. It never came. I met a nice young lady named Caroline & her friend who was visiting her. They were going to try to go to Southpoint. At 5pm I gave up & I called John. I forgot that his driveway is a sheet of ice & they aren't getting out until maybe today or hopefully by Friday. So I called Chris & he left work at 5pm and drove to come get me. A good thing that I left work early or Chris would have gotten home, then drive in the dark to Chapel Hill to fetch me home. As it was, we made it home just a little after 6pm.

I am not happy with TTA today. I didn't even bother trying to catch it this morning, I just drove in. It wasn't too bad. Yes, the first 3 roads that I'm on were sheets of ice & slush but they were mostly in the sun so had started the melting process despite the 20-some degree temperatures. Until I got to the park & ride the roads were fine, except for the stop & roll on Hwy 54 for the last 15 minutes. So I was a little late to work this morning, but not too badly. I will leave work a little early today, just to get home before sunset.

In the meantime, I've been trying to catch up on work. The 3-part class I was supposed to be taking yesterday, today & tomorrow has been cancelled. Oh well, they'll reschedule & I'll take it then.

Cool website of the day: Multiple Sclerosis Sucks or "How to Suffer From a Chronic and Incurable Disease Without Appearing to be a Total Loser."

Happy Belated New Year. Welcome to the Year of the Wood Monkey

My SO & I went out for Chinese food last night in celebration of the Chinese New Year. I couldn't work on my Gaelic on the way home because the batteries in my tape player were giving out. I put in them in the recharger when I got home & put more batteries in the player. I called my Mom with the information about the Medieval Fair at the Carolina Club on Sunday. I'm gaming so I can't go. Then I headed for bed at 8:30 (with a lovely hot pad to warm my sheets & my toes). I didn't settle down for sleep until after nine but still, that's early.

Now it's payday Friday & I have errands to run after work. I drove my car in & gas has dropped $.05 since Monday so I'll be able to get gas tonight.

Neat website of the day: Your name in Chinese

It's still cold. But at least it's gotten up to 53F today. I have not been outside since 10 am so I'm not certain that I believe that it's comparatively warm. I will find out at 5pm when I leave to go home

We watched part of Secrets of the Vikings last night. I learned one or two things & Chris learned that Kiev was founded by the Vikings & that there was an Imperial Honor Guard in Constantinople made up of Vikings.

The installation of a new program today did not work. The network was down so that the last stage could not be completed. They are going to try again next week.

I had sushi for lunch. I have been promising myself all week that at some point I would get sushi. Yum. I had eel & shrimp nigiri sushi & (fake) crab maki sushi.

I have finally finished putting the data in my dayplanner for the year. I finished the birthdays and anniversaries but I wanted to put in the Celtic months, the solstices, equinoxes, full moons & new moons plus pencil in the regular games.

Now it's back to work. My little break is over.

Interesting evening last night. I arrived home just after six, the bus was running a little late. There was a package that I had been expecting on the doorstep & a post-it note on the door. The post-it said that water was pouring out of my basement. So I ran downstairs & there's not a sign of water in the basement. I check the back door out of the basement & there is water pouring/jetting/streaming from the deck. So I race back upstairs to look at the deck. Nothing. It's dry as a bone. I check for where the water is coming from & couldn't tell. My first thought was that there was something wrong with one of the bathrooms, the dishwasher or the washing machine. Nope, none of those. I finally remembered where the water shut off was located. It is too tall for me to get enough leverage to turn it off. I went into the living room & fumed a bit. Then I recalled the stool in the kitchen & it was perfect. Chris called at 7pm, he was just getting ready to leave work. I broke the news to him.

When he came home he finally discovered the source of the water. With the recent frigid temperatures, and the fact that the thermal tape apparently busted, the pipe for the outside faucet at the deck split. He called a plumber or two until he found one that would come out, even at 9pm on a freezing cold (29F & falling) night. The split came into the house but there does not appear to be any internal damage. The plumber only had the supplies to cap the pipe, not replace it. That's okay with us, this way we don't have to worry about it happening again later. Next year we have to remember to drip that faucet to prevent this from happening again.

I watched part of Barbarians on History channel last night. It was better than I thought it was. I do wonder how much the actor portraying Attila really resembled him. If he does, then Attila was pretty good looking. From what they said Attila was politically as well as tactically savvy.

The package? Oh, it's a 1920's magazine with tatting & embroidery patterns in it. It's very nice & it was only $10, with shipping from an auction on Ebay.

Now, I have planning & writing to do, so ta for now.