Yeah. Morning. It's a good thing; overall. It's just really hard to appreciate with a distinct lack of caffeine in the bloodstream sometimes.

No Valley neighbor today, but Jill was there. She's teaching a class today & was feeling nervy. She had a leak, too. Called the same guy to fix it, so she got good work. She still has to clean up the mess in her crawl space. She had boxes down there. They did not fare well. Neither did the insulation under her townhouse. That will be expensive.

books: Started re-reading Dawn in Eclipse Bay last night. Brought it for my commute read today. I've been reading the 4th edition Shadowrun book recently. At least, the character creation info.

tatting: Almost through one column of the Workbaskets, at least enough to list them. I have at least 2 that Anitra doesn't.

Writing: Since I can't actually remember any of the runs we did when we played Shadowrun, I'm going to create one & run Short Fix 4.0 through one w/ some of the archetype characters. John suggested that I start the story with a run, to introduce what kind of person SF is. Even if I don't use it for the prologue, I need at least one run, with some details, in the story.

tv: More Knight's Tale, a repeat episode of Bones, more Ninja Warrior (that ballet dancer is a kick, he always wears a thong) and then a small dose of professional football before bed.

Chris cooked some of the chicken he bought at BJ's last night. The other half of the package went into the freezer. Tonight it will be spaghetti as I finish cleaning up enough room for Mike to sleep.

clothes: ~slippers & slacks, white woven texture check, all black jewelry - stone ring, hematite band, glass bead bracelet, tatted necklace & earrings & hairstick (with a diamond of 4 rhinestones) & hair in a ponytail/bun.

I think that I finally got enough sleep last night. I think. I had a headache bad enough that only migraine meds toned it down, I don't know why. I tried to call Mom last night but for some reason my cell phone didn't charge on Sunday. So I had to plug it in last night. No charge=no call. That will be fun to explain to Mom tonight.

tatting: I started the Workbasket database. I think I'm going to need 2 of them. One will be a straight list of issues & the other will have what's in them, at least briefly.

books: I bought & read The Mirror Prince. It's a very good fantasy novel. The premise is that there was a war in the lands of the Riders (aka Faerie) and the Prince that lost got exiled to the Shadowlands (ie our world). Unfortunately, part of the Banishment removed the Prince's memories, so he's been living as a human all this time. Over & over. Now though, it's almost the end of the Banishment & someone (or someones) are after the Prince. Only the first few chapters take place in our world, the rest is all in the Lands. The writer did a good job of world-building. I think I'll keep an eye out for the next book by Violette Malan (it does not look like it has any connection to the Mirror Prince). I tried to read Newton's Cannon but just couldn't get into it.

tv: We watched Bones and Ninja Warrior. I listened to an episode of Pop-Up Video; it was one I'd seen before so I didn't watch it.

clothes: ~slippers, black slacks, green Harrington Steading shirt, moss agate bead bracelet, clip watch, green amber ring, flower band, hematite band, green amber necklace & post earrings. My hair is up in a ponytail/bun held by 2 chopsticks, black with a band of tan & black ink painting wrapped around the ends.

What is with me? I woke at 4 am, hungry enough to eat my left arm. The only thing I could do was get up & get something to eat. Alas, there was nothing ready to eat; I had to fix something. Okay, it only took about 10 minutes; that's enough for me to thoroughly wake up. By the way, the only thing of interest on at 4 am was on TCM. They had a Roy Rogers' movie. Alas, I missed the beginning so I switched over to catch the weather. It's going to be hot. Again. Shock. Surprise.

I finished reading Harmony's Way though. It's a decent read but very explicit. I'm not often comfortable with that level of language.

I've had 5 hours of sleep and I'm tired, even now. I am not quite certain how I'm going to get through the day. I guess we'll just have to see.

I forgot my bus pass yesterday. Luckily the morning driver recognized me & let me on anyway. I realized just as the bus arrived. For the commute home, thought I had the fare, especially since I wasn't catching my usual bus.

Now I'm going to work on a database of the Workbaskets & their contents. Or maybe I'll work on my writing. We'll see.

dream: something about Rosemary, horses, carriage rides and starting a business of 'old-fashioned' carriage rides vs modern? carriage rides.

clothes: black slacks, black belt, ~slippers, white polo (UNC), moonstone earrings, pendant & ring, ~rope band, fem/dancer ring, hematite band & braided hair.

We went to Pizza & Pasta for lunch & I ended up with the other half of my meatball sub leftover. I guess that will be lunch tomorrow. I did eat leftovers for supper, from last Monday's Qshack meal.

I've listened to a couple more of Carry's podcasts. I do enjoy her stories.

After work, I stopped by the bookstore & found a couple things for Mya & something for my Dad's birthday. I bought a cardboard book, Bedtime songs, and an Ice Bat Ugly Doll. Ugly Dolls really are; but they are also cushy, soft and completely sewn. There are no plastic pieces to choke a child. I also bought a box of cards & postcards that were on sale. I've already filled one out for Aunt Evelyn and will mail it by the end of the week.

I mailed my letters late last week. I have a letter to read from my Aunt Vivian & my Aunt Jeri called me last night. She doesn't write, but she does call.

Not much on tv tonight. I've watched a little of Knight's Tale again. I wanted to watch a Roy Rogers movie on TCM but the sound was dead. I don't know if it was the channel or the movie, but after a few minutes I gave up.

Chris stopped by BJ's on the way home & picked up a couple steaks. He paid about $2 less than for the last ribeyes that he bought at the grocery store. That doesn't sound like much until you realize that these two steaks were each about the size of the two ribeyes. Even as hungry as I was, I only ate half of my steak. I have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Today, it's my supervisor's birthday, so we're taking him out to lunch, so no need to pack one today.

tv: We watched The Closer last night. I almost didn't stay awake long enough to see the end. I only made it because it took me longer than I thought to slice up the leftover steak & put everything away. Kyra Sedgwick is, as typical for an actress, an attractive woman. Their makeup & costume people do a good job of making her look average, or only moderately attractive.

They finally had a couple new episodes of Pop-Up Video last night. We also watched Storytellers on VHI, with Ringo Starr & the All-Stars. The only problem with that group is I get a nagging feeling that I should recognize all of them by sight.

books: I borrowed Academ's Fury from Chris yesterday & I finished it last night. It's the sequel to Furies of Calderon. For some reason, Chris acted surprised that I finished a book in one day. I'm not sure why. I usually finish a book in one day.

Tatting: I've started flipping through the Workbaskets & noting down which ones I have now. I left a message with Steve for Anitra to send me the list which ones she is missing.

clothes: ~slippers, black jeans, black golf shirt (what is the difference between a golf shirt & a polo shirt? Which one am I wearing?) embroidered with 'The Carolina Renaissance Festival 2001' in purple, thin silver chain bracelet, fem/dancer ring, hematite band, ~rope band, Celtic knot star/tree/moon, triskele earrings & braided hair.

Chris stopped by BJ's on the way home & picked up a couple steaks. He paid about $2 less than for the last ribeyes that he bought at the grocery store. That doesn't sound like much until you realize that these two steaks were each about the size of the two ribeyes. Even as hungry as I was, I only ate half of my steak. I have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Today, it's my supervisor's birthday, so we're taking him out to lunch, so no need to pack one today.

tv: We watched The Closer last night. I almost didn't stay awake long enough to see the end. I only made it because it took me longer than I thought to slice up the leftover steak & put everything away. Kyra Sedgwick is, as typical for an actress, an attractive woman. Their makeup & costume people do a good job of making her look average, or only moderately attractive.

books: I borrowed Academ's Fury from Chris yesterday & I finished it last night. It's the sequel to Furies of Calderon. For some reason, Chris acted surprised that I finished a book in one day. I'm not sure why. I usually finish a book in one day.

Tatting: I've started flipping through the Workbaskets & noting down which ones I have now. I left a message with Steve for Anitra to send me the list which ones she is missing.

clothes: ~slippers, black jeans, black golf shirt (what is the difference between a golf shirt & a polo shirt? Which one am I wearing?) embroidered with 'The Carolina Renaissance Festival 2001' in purple, thin silver chain bracelet, fem/dancer ring, hematite band, ~rope band, Celtic knot star/tree/moon, triskele earrings & braided hair.

Didn't get much done on Saturday - But then I'm dealing with borderline depression (again - everyone heave a sigh of weary resignation). I played on the computer some, read some & that was about it, once I finally woke up. We did go see a movie with Rosemary and get the part to fix the downstairs toilet. That's something, right?

Movie: Underdog; surprisingly good. I was expecting, at best, something mediocre. I was pleased to be proven wrong. While a bit Disney-fied, they did manage to carry the chief concepts of the cartoon over to live action while making a pretty good origin story.

We ate late, just kind of a late night snack after the movie. I had the yin yang boneless chicken. It was pretty good but the spicy kind of crept up on me. It's an appetizer, so if I'd been sharing it, instead of eating it as my meal, I probably would not have noticed it. As it was, about 5 am Sunday morning, my body decided to express its displeasure with my choice. I did get a lot of reading done, though.

Speaking of which, Books: I tried to read Small Town Girl when I first bought it but just hadn't been able to get into it. I tried again on Saturday & really enjoyed it. It all comes down to mood sometimes. I finished it Sunday morning, along with re-reading Witness in Death, finishing re-reading Rapture in Death & More Than a Scandal. I also read Vineyard Shadows (a mystery set in Martha's Vineyard - one of my thrift shop purchases). We went by FE after lunch on Sunday & I bought 3 manga & Shojo Beat. I've read the 3 manga already; Tail of the Moon, vol 6, Hana Kimi vol 19 & Atelier Marie & Elie: Zarlburg Alchemist vol 1.

Gaming: Rosemary had her game on Sunday, as usual. We finished fleeing Cyric, mostly by running into some Purple Dragon guards. My half-drow had the good sense to immediately pull up her Purple Dragon issued weapon/adventurer permit from Centarum (or someplace like that). Since she was vouched for, being lawful types, they immediately accepted her. Of course, the group still didn't get to sleep in peace. The god of murder came calling and they had to fight him. He killed all four of the guards at the base of the tower steps (where the party had been quartered), possessing 2 of them. We stopped at 6 pm with our 'priest' (aka sorcerer/monk of Mystra) grappling him, while explaining to the newly arrived guards that their compatriot had gone mad.

Tatting: My friend Leigh is cleaning out her storage unit & gave me 3 boxes, computer paper-sized, of Workbasket magazines. There are some duplicates but I can find good homes for them all. Just looking at the first box, they date from 1951 to 1995.

clothes: jeans & t-shirt all weekend; big shocker. I wore the Trinic*con Battle Interactive t- on Saturday & one of my Origins t- on Sunday. Today it's the same old shoes, black jeans, black tank under the ochre tunic, and dragon jewelry (3 rings, earrings & pendant).

Gaming: Diana was able to make it & has changed her lab so Mutants & Masterminds will continue to be Thursdays. We introduced her new character, by rescuing her. We had a hard time getting started and stopped the game at 10 pm in mid-fight. We recognize her kidnappers as part of group hired/created by a company that wants to create superheroes. Since she's a recent addition to the superhero ranks, they grabbed her to find out how she became one. Her origin is very traditional; she was experimenting with a new color photography developing process and had an accident. After the accident she changes colors and has a different set of abilities & powers.

Music: this morning's iPod playlist started with Worm in the Wood, a Kipling poem sung almost a cappella (if there's just a background drum beat, is it still a cappella?), Vacation by the Go-Go's, She's My Baby by Tennessee Ernie Ford, Deep in the Heart of Texas by Gene Autry, God Is a Bullet by Concrete Blonde, I've Got a Theory from the episode of Once More With FeelingBuffy, Not the One by the Donnas, Space Oddity by David Bowie & ending partially into Take Me to the Backseat by the Donnas.

books: I bought and read The Marriage Spell, staying up a little too late after gaming to do so. The author, Mary Jo Putney is on an email list that I'm on, I'll have to tell her how much I enjoyed it. It's an alternate history book set during the Regency. In this book, wizards openly, if discreetly, exist. Abigail, the heroine, is a gifted healer who, at great risk, saves the hero Jack Frayne when he's on the brink of death. The price she sets is his hand in marriage but knowing that like most of England's aristocrats his distaste/dislike/negative emotion of choice for wizards, she posits that once she has a child she'll gladly settle in the country and they'll live apart. That will preserve his good name &/or reputation. However, there's more to it than that, like Jack's own suppressed magical ability. Like I said, it's a good read and unlike so many heroines, Abigail is not TSTL (Too Stupid To Live).

I brought an anthology, Lovescape, to re-read for my commute today. The first story, by Anne Avery is unusual in a couple of ways. One: it's a series of emails exchanged between an architect & an interior designer. Two: both of them have a serious obstacle in their life (I won't reveal it, it ruins the plot).

tatting: I finished the cross. Sort of. I did the last ring & realized that when I started it that I had screwed it up. I started with two chains & a small ring when I should only have done a single chain. *sigh* I've been getting emails from the instructors at Palmetto Tat Days; telling/reminding me what supplies I'll need. It's in 2 weeks so I really need to get my crap together.

clothes: ~slippers, black jeans, dark aqua/grey/purple/blue/black silk blouse with short sleeves, clip watch, loose hair (although I'll probably braid it again later), onyx pendant & earrings, black stone ring, fem/dancer, silver hash mark ring & hematite band.

It rained! Okay, it was only half an inch, which is what we got night before last. Night before last it had soaked into the ground or evaporated before dawn, so there was absolutely no sign of it yesterday. This morning, the trees were still wet. There still wasn't enough rain to really make it muddy, but at least everything got rinsed again.

I tried to catch the 5:05 bus yesterday, expecting it to show up at 5:28 like it has all week. It came earlier than that. So I caught the 5:35 bus whenever it showed up. It was probably close to 6 pm when it did but I didn't look at my watch. Since the Mutants & Masterminds game is tonight & it's a good 40 minutes away (if there's no traffic jam), I may well ask my supervisor to let me go early enough to try & catch the 4:35 bus (assuming that it comes at just before 5 pm). I worked through lunch on Monday, so despite coming back late from lunch on Tuesday & Wednesday (10 & 5 minutes respectively), I have the time to do it. Otherwise, I'm taking a long lunch tomorrow, to prevent working overtime.

Yes, I'll be clogging up the air with my single passenger vehicle exhaust tonight. Diana has a lab tonight & won't be giving me a ride to the game. She's trying to get her lab changed to Tuesday. If that doesn't work, we may change the game to a night other than Thursday. That would also bring back the other David, who hasn't been able to play since he got his job that pretty much requires working late on Thursdays.

Mya's party is Monday week & I still don't have a present. Then again, when have I had time to really find something? Richard & Kathy said that presents are optional but seriously, it's her first birthday. Like we're going to let that go.

books: Re-read part of More Than a Scandal & started trying to read Aztec. I gave up on the latter; it's going straight to Book Crossing.

tatting: I took a picture of my progress so far on the cross (I'll post it to my Friendster page). Then, since my book was a failure and it's so much cooler this morning, I got quite a bit farther on the commute into work. I am on the top of the last arm. I have a chain, 2 large rings, 2 small chains, a small ring & then it's the last clover.

clothes: It's only supposed to hit 90F today (maybe even cooler, depending on the cloud cover) so I wore black jeans, my Vorkosigan polo, black ~slippers, braided hair, moonstone tri-moon pendant, moonstone earrings & ring, ~rope band & hematite ring.

Long day; I have only now gotten to the point of doing my blog entry for the day. Better late than never, right?

I finished writing my letters today, after about a 3-week hiatus. Now I have to address the envelopes & buy stamps. I'll do that tomorrow.

books: Bought & read When I Fall in Love by Kurland. It's another of her time travel romances. It's pretty good & she readily admits that the family tree is pretty confusing.


Listening to Carry's podcast. I'm still about year behind; I'll catch up someday.

You know, not much really happened over the past 24 or so hours. It happens.

clothes: slippers, light olive skirt (mid-calf with fringe & embroidered up to the knee with leaves, etc), multi/blotchy silk blouse (olive, turquoise, navy, teal, etc), braided hair, flower band, fem ring, ~rope band, hematite ring, & 3-women pendant.

A self-portrait Christmas card that my father's father's father sent out. He had a mobile photography studio. Dad has some of his blackroom equipment.My father, our dog & me, when I was 4 years old. Come to think of it, that may be my grandparent's dog, and we might have been at their house. I don't really remember it.

I'm trying to add a photo to my profile & I'm trying to decide which one (or maybe a more current picture) to use. Probably the latter, at least I'm in that one.

Had supper with Joe last night (Living Greyhawk Gran March's newest Triad member). We went to Q-shack and talked about the whole end of LG thing. LG ends next year (year 8 of the campaign) so Chris came up with a bunch of 'year 9 adventures'. They were pretty funny.

The end of LG is all part of the D&D 4.0 release (warning link is to YouTube). The company plans to focus on the Forgotten Realms setting instead. My first thought on hearing about 4.0 was: 'well, I know they're trying to make a profit but now they're just money-grubbing'. Frankly, unless it rocks my socks off, I'm not going to bother. My 3.5 books work just fine & I see no reason to convert. Unless the GMs of my home games decide to go that way, I don't have to. My home game GMs feel the same way.

After Qshack (I had the chopped beef brisket, with fried okra & sweet potato fries -leftovers for lunch today), we went to Edy's to get ice cream. I know I should have had the sorbet but frankly, I've been very good about not having ice cream and I really wanted some. It was delicious.

books: I finished Night Shift & Night Shadow last night and sort of re-read part of Rapture in Death. I just wasn't in the mood for it. I celebrated paying off my dentist bill by buying Thirty Nights with a Highlander Husband at lunch. I read through most of it.

I was glad to sit in the bookstore and read. It was way too hot (100F and rising) to sit outside & do anything.

tatting: I'm turning the next to last corner. I did some at supper last night while we talked & tried to do another ring this morning. Just too humid.

Ran into the new neighbor while walking to the bus stop this morning. We talked on the way into work again.

clothes: black ~slippers (I'm having to spray them with febreze every night, they get sopping wet by the time I get home), black & white print cotton gauze skirt, white texture plaid shirt, silver dome ring, silver bracelet, hematite band, labradorite pendant, onyx earrings & braided hair.

Addendum -

Saturday shopping: Mom & I hit the thrift shop & I found a few more tanks & one top to layer over them. Then I got hit with muscle cramps & couldn't shop anymore. Blech. I did find a cheap set of color pencils to play with. That'll be fun.

When I packed for stuff to play with at lunch, I forgot that Ben (my assistant) is at orientation today & won't be here. So I worked through lunch.

I did get the last of my dentist bill paid and it was a little less than I remembered. Maybe I'll go buy a book on the way home (or not, I forgot to pack my lunch & had to buy it instead).

clothes: today it's the calf-length (shortest of my gauze skirts) floral gauze skirt, burgundy knit top, ~slippers, plaited hair, knotwork pendant & triskele earrings, fem ring, & hematite ring.

Weather: big shock & surprise, it continues to be hot & humid. I'm fairly certain that we've had 19 days of 90F+ so far this month. We're about 2" low on rain for the month & 4.77" low on rain for the year; just in this area. Farther west in the state, it's worse. Even here, you can see the effect that the drought is having on the trees.

books: Finished The Four Forges. It's really good and there were a couple surprises. I'm looking forward to the next book, because this one is obviously book 1 (even besides it being mentioned on the cover). I re-read Pyramid Scheme. That's a really good adventuresome, and sometimes thought-provoking, romp through mythological Greece with a short visit to Egypt. I also found & re-read Accidental Goddess. I really need to find some more of Linnea Sinclair's works. Mom has discovered Catherine Asaro. I brought Nora Roberts Night Shift & Night Shadow (2 books, 1 volume) to read on the commute, etc.

Ran into my new neighbor again this morning. She's going to try to get her bus pass today. We had plenty of time to talk on the bus as we had a short breakdown this morning. The back doors wouldn't close so we had to have someone from TTA come out to fix them. I made it work before my office door unlocked but I didn't have time to stop & get a soda or my usual granola bars. At least I had a bite of danish & part of my soda from last night to sustain me.

Movie: Went to see Stardust last night after coming back from seeing Mom. Wow, what a great movie. It had adventure, romance, humor & a little magic. Chris & I have both decided that we want a copy of that movie. Robert deNiro was fabulous in this movie; he plays a pirate captain. It was also nice to see that none of the women were OMG beautiful. They were attractive, but also human looking. Maybe it's all my exposure to British tv but I get really tired of all the 'perfect' actresses & actors that you see in Hollywood productions.

tv: Watched Dr. Who and not much else. I was quite tired Friday night. Mom & I watched a couple episodes of her Christmas/Mother's Day present: Last of the Summer Wine, one movie from her birthday present (10 Hollywood classic movies set) My Favorite Brunette & a couple episodes of the Irish RM that she had checked out of the library.

clothes: This weekend it was all t-shirts & jeans. Saturday I wore a Red Cross blood drive t- & on Saturday it was my Trinic*con 8 t-. For jewelry: paui shell pendant & ring, ~filigree earrings, moss agate bead bracelet, red silicon Ronald McDonald House bracelet, flower band, hematite band, navy loafers & plaited hair.

Just as an aside: my mom & brother argued over 11 years ago. They still haven't made up. They don't speak to each other. My mother has never met her granddaughter. She didn't recognize my brother when she saw him on Saturday. I want to shake both of them until some sense falls into their heads. The really sad part? I'm the one in the family without common sense.

Weather: Still hot & humid; so much so the air has a peculiarly soft quality that I associate with summer just before thunderstorms. The air feels like hot, damp flannel wrapped around you. You don't so much walk, as swim through the air. It's pretty much overcast, to the point that I saw streetlights on at 9 am. We need the rain so badly, that I welcome the storms, although a long soaking rain would be better.

I finally called the OPT OUT service to get my name removed from most credit card & insurance offers for 5 years. There are some that will still have my name & some that get my name from other sources that will still mail me but this should at least reduce the landfill/recycling load. The 1st R in the trifecta: Reduce.

books: I'm continuing to read Complete Scoundrel and I'm still working on sketches from Manga Madness. I was going to treat myself & buy a book today, but then I looked at how much money I had left after putting aside enough for food for the next 2 weeks, paying the dentist & other bills & realized that I had better not.

TV: They showed the last of the Kunoichi that they had and then started with the 2nd season of Ninja Warrior again. Incredibly, a full 1/3 of the 100 contests (34) made it past the 1st stage. Of course, several of them were eliminated in stage 2 but that's typical. We also watched Burn Notice & a CSI rerun that we'd missed when it originally aired.

Gaming: I checked & realized that I hadn't tracked data for the last few of Edana's ARs (Living Greyhawk character) on the Nyrond site. I started to fix that last night. I also heard that Wizards has announced the release of D&D 4.0. This is really looking like the end of my Living Greyhawk play. It's a pity, I've really enjoyed it.

tatting: I'm starting to get low on thread, I can glimpse the bobbin spindle, on one of my shuttles. It's the one I use for the large rings. So I've been using the shoe-lace trick to eke it out. I have started up the bottom leg of the cross. It's a chain, 2 short chains, 2 large rings & 1 small ring before I start considering that end almost done. That will leave the right arm of the cross & the other half of the top to do. The end is in sight (sort of).

clothes: 'pirate-y outfit' as Chris calls it; black ~slippers, navy & blue printed cotton gauze skirt, navy cotton/linen short sleeved jacket with a horizontally striped blue/navy & white tank visible in the vee of the neckline, 3 women pendant, blue thehungersite silicon bracelet, lapis flower ring, fem/dancer ring, lapis lazuli chandelier earrings, hematite band & my (wet) hair pulled back into a ponytail; held by ponytail holder with 2 translucent plastic squares.

books: And I finished Simply Unforgettable.

Weather: Oy, it's hot. We only tied the 54-year-old record; just like yesterday. It was 99F/37.2C and today it hit 100F/37.7C. This morning started out in the high 70's (~25C) though, and that makes such a difference. The AC on the bus was cranked up enough that my glasses fogged up when I disembarked.

Speaking of the bus, I met one of my neighbors this morning. I wondered, as she was exiting her home as I passed, if she were on her way to the bus, too. When I saw her walking a bit behind me, I thought that I was correct. Of course, when she actually came to the bus stop, asking if the bus would be going to campus, I knew that I was correct. She had orientation today & I was able to tell her where the building that she sought was located. She grew up in Virginia (& is named after the famous valley) but has been out of the South for a long time. She doesn't even have a Southern accent anymore. Most recently, she's from Wyoming and is having to adjust to the high humidity.

She seems nice but I probably talked her ear off. I did warn her about that, after a few minutes. And she could have chosen to sit, well not far away, but not next to me on the bus. So if I hurt her ears, it's her own fault.

tatting: I've begun to turn the corner on that bottom staff of the cross. I'm about 2 chains, 1 small ring & one large ring from being half-done.

Video of the day: What teachers make

Books: Finished Complete Champion, read a bit in Complete Scoundrel, got a bit farther in re-reading Simply Unforgettable & another page or so into Manga Madness (drawing as I go).

tv: More Women of Ninja Warrior. Everything else was ignorable, as a repeat.

Mom: Mom called me last night, a good thing as when I tried to call her, I found that my cell phone battery was dead (yes, it was at the hotel; Chris picked it up on the way home last night). I'll be going to see her this weekend. That means Friday night I'll be going to look for her birthday present (her birthday was yesterday). I know what I want to get her; I want to hit the thrift shops first, looking for old movie DVDs. If they don't have any, I'll check at Target & the like for any cheap ones that they have. I could buy expensive ones for mom but 1) she'd prefer that I didn't & 2) she likes old movies. She's really enjoying that DVD player that I bought for her. She's been checking things out from the library.

clothes: black ~slippers, brightly colored floral skirt, white polo, green bead bracelet, lapis lazuli flower ring, flower band, hematite ring, flower fairy pendant, ~filigree earrings & hair up in a ponytail/bun affixed with a ~bone curvy hairstick.

sites of the day: Ethical pork products & the article that led me there.

Bus Pass: I had to stand in line for a bit, but I got my new bus pass yesterday. That's vital as it started today. Deborah retired so she's not there in the parking office anymore. I'm happy for her but I miss seeing her there.

cellphone: still haven't found it and maybe today I'll remember to call the hotel while the lost & found is open.

tv: More Kunoichi last night. I've missed one session, 3rd run through, because I watched #4.

books: Finished Falling Awake & almost finished reading/skimming Complete Champion. There were a few things from CC that I might be able to use for my characters. But not much. I brought Complete Scoundrel & Manga Madness for today.

tatting: I've started the bottom leg of the cross this morning while watching the weather on tv. I got another ring done on the bus but the usual humidity problem stopped me, no big surprise.

Food: Since my dental insurance ran out (just as I was getting a root canal), I'm really short of funds this week. Plus a hefty chunk of my next paycheck is also going to my dentist. Leftovers are looking really good. Today it's leftover pork steak & mixed vegetables (identical to supper last night, alas).

weather: another hot one, it will possibly break a 50-year-old record (99F set in 1953). It was surprisingly (& comfortably) cool this morning.

clothes: black & white print cotton gauze skirt, black rib knit blouse (that unfortunately does not quite conceal the straps of my bra, but luckily that's black, too), hematite ring, flower band, ~rope band, black ~slippers, black etc bead bracelet, harp pendant, onyx & silver earrings & hair in a ponytail/bun affixed with a black hairstick with a brown bead.

More Women of Ninja Warrior last night. It was the 4th competition & someone finally won. Unsurprisingly, she's a dancer/acrobat. I keep meaning to have my laptop up & online while watching that show to do a search on some of the contestants. A couple of them look really tall, but the winner looked like she was only about 5'.

books: I read (re-read?) more of Simply Unforgettable & I almost finished Falling Awake. I brought Complete Champion to work with me for my commute & lunch reading.

Tatting: it's so hot & humid that I get to one large ring & it refuses to close; thus calling my efforts to a halt. I closed one large ring (last ring of the 1st clover of the pattern), short chain, small ring, short chain & then the large ring refused to completely close. Back into my bag it went.

dream: Richard T (of Lost Goblin) asked a bunch of us to find certain plants/trees for him. I think that it was gaming related. He gave each of us a plastic bag with a sample of the plant & a short description of its growing conditions. I think that I had sassafras; at any rate it had somewhat long, narrow leaves with unusual vein pattern & black berries. I ended up at my family reunion (either granddaddy's or grandmother's side, I don't know which, but grandmother was there - odd considering that she's been dead a few years) looking for the plant. I thought that I found it once, but it had the wrong kind of berries; I concluded that it was a relative of the plant that I was seeking. While I was checking the edge of the yard, one of my younger cousins latched onto my wrist and toddled along with me. Her dad managed to move the (photo?) album on the table right before she ran into it. I felt bad because I hadn't even noticed that she was about to hit it with her head.

clothes: Since I was busy reading, I ran late and just grabbed clothes. Black slacks & slippers, purple Bookwyrm polo (green dragon wearing spectacles reading a large book embroidered on the left breast with 'Bookwyrm' embroidered in yellow above it), moss agate bead bracelet, flower band, flower fairy pendant, hematite band, tri-hoop silver earrings, clip watch & my hair is down for the moment but I may put it up as soon as I locate my hairstick.

Cut my bangs yesterday: As usual, I cut them just a little too short. At least they'll grow out.

Forgotten Realms: Even with Mya as a distraction, we at least got through the fight yesterday. As typical, the wild magic played havoc with our plans (& those of our opponents). Rosemary is doing a good job of taking a module that was written as a tram ride (ride the tram, door opens, you watch stuff happen, your actions mean nothing) and turning it into something playable. We do have the problem that our characters have traveled back into their history so they have some idea what happened and dare not interfere too much. Although they did try to prevent Cyric from becoming the god of death & murder. They failed, as became shockingly obvious in yesterday's game.

Mya: Duncan's reaction was pretty funny. He likes babies because they're about his size & thus they are not intimidating (he overcompensates). However, at one point he was quite vocal and as best we could tell, he was scolding Richard about something. We think it's because he was holding Mya & she was crying. She really doesn't like being put down for her nap.

At some point, everyone at the game but Chris had a turn at holding her. She's fascinated by everything around her and whoever is holding her becomes the focus of her attention. I was holding her while Richard set up the play pen (it folds up to the size of a large fencing bag) and I was watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom episode about wolverines. So I would repeat what the show was saying about wolverines, bears, etc while I held her.

books: Read the next volume of Kitchen Princess, #3 & also the most recent Genju no Seiza #4. I'm now re-reading Games of Command. I really want to re-read An Accidental Goddess, but I can't find my copy.

Dreams: another weird one. Saturday night it was a CSI dream. There was an old woman first, but I'm not sure how she was connected. The team was called out to look at a dead body in some kind of wet suit, in a sealed coffin/sensory deprivation tank found floating in the river. It turns out the DB was an addict & the set up was for smuggling. They checked records & this particular addict had been brought in by the same EMT every four weeks for the last [indeterminate period]. It turns out that was also part of the smuggling. The drugs were in the addict, who's kept out of it in the container, floated on the river across the border & then the container is retrieved and then the EMT retrieves the drugs from the addict/mule as part of 'emergency call.' The EMT gets arrested, natch.

Last night's was set in a dystopia. Some government agent had tracked down The Wells Traveling Circus. It turned out that Mr. Wells, who had had the contacts that kept them traveling without getting caught had died; so they had settled in this apartment/brownstone building. The agent, a woman, was going up the stairs, around the ex-performers who are exercising and practicing when she was finally met, near the top, by Mr Wells's assistant. The assistant showed off her hat/wig that she wore for her dance routines in the circus (based on an old friend who was a belly dancer, with the addition of a hat with braids hanging down). The performers would probably be executed for seditious and disloyal behavior (entertaining etc). The acts consisted of everything from a Fat Lady (who had lost a lot of weight since they stopped traveling) to Martial Arts Exhibitionists to Dancers and Acrobats.

Switch to an underground gambling hall, where drudge office workers/drones entertained themselves playing slot machines etc; none of which is permitted by the government (nothing entertainment is permitted - it is a distraction from working all the time). Under the floor of the gambling hall, people try to keep the machines running. I was working on trying to repair an old ticket/lottery machine when the establishment got raided and I had to flee.

I managed to get a ticket on the subway train (in Germany or France) and somehow managed to stretch the ticket to Rushford in England. About that time, my alarm went off.

clothes: navy loafers, khakis, white UNC polo, ~rope band, hematite band, knotwork earrings, star/moon/tree/knotwork pendant & braided hair (white elastic).

Quick post, leaving soon to have lunch & then to Rosemary's game. Read bk 2 of Wild Magic yesterday. Started new cross, same thread, etc.

Richard is bringing Mya to gaming today.

Chris helped me wash my hair this morning. I'm wearing navy loafers, blue jeans, brown belt, gray spaghetti strap tank, lace-edged with mauve roses; white mesh top over it, lilac animalrescue bracelet, flower band, flower fairy pendant, navy bead & silver heart earrings& wet plaited hair with white elastic.

Water leak: it's now fixed, or should I say they are fixed. Turns out that there were two of them. One was caused by someone putting a 4" (legal minimum is apparently 18") patch on a leak created when they fixed a neighbor's line. We had about 4 hours without water but it was worth it. Now we have to call about getting a credit for the water bill overage.

books: reread Lord Perfect this morning.

I played a little Nanny Mania this morning; played through 3 level. Worked on one of my stories a little and watched Psych; taped last night. We watched Chris's Starblazers DVD and then watched part of the Superman story on the History Channel.

I managed to lose my cell phone. I think I may have left it at Trinic*con last weekend. I know that I had it Sunday (I recharged it & the cord is in my bag) but haven't seen it since. I thought that I left it in one of the bags either in my car or Chris's.

clothes: jeans & blue t-shirt. I haven't bothered with more than that; I'm not going anywhere.

And now I can't even save my blog much less publish it. I'm going to try again, let's see if it works.

Water leak: it's now fixed, or should I say they are fixed. Turns out that there were two of them. One was caused by someone putting a 4" (legal minimum is apparently 18") patch on a leak created when they fixed a neighbor's line. We had about 4 hours without water but it was worth it. Now we have to call about getting a credit for the water bill overage.

books: reread Lord Perfect this morning.

I played a little Nanny Mania this morning; played through 3 level. Worked on one of my stories a little and watched Psych; taped last night. We watched Chris's Starblazers DVD and then watched part of the Superman story on the History Channel.

I managed to lose my cell phone. I think I may have left it at Trinic*con last weekend. I know that I had it Sunday (I recharged it & the cord is in my bag) but haven't seen it since. I thought that I left it in one of the bags either in my car or Chris's.

clothes: jeans & blue t-shirt. I haven't bothered with more than that; I'm not going anywhere.

site of the day: squishy plushies

site of the day 2: 3 page document listing brands & sources of fair trade (non-slavery) chocolate

Migraine's still here. It's a residual background pain that never quite goes away. But then, a multi-day headache is one of the symptoms that distinguishes a migraine from a garden variety headache.

I don't know if it's the heat or the headache but I took a nap yesterday after I got home from work. I went to bed about half an hour early & then tried to sleep through my alarm clock. Not counting the nap, I had about 9 hours of sleep.

reading: I just couldn't face anything that requires real thought; so I'm re-reading something quasi-light - Penelope & Prince Charming. It's a Regency with a definite twist. He's the finally out of exile prince of Nvengaria (exiled by his own tyrant/madman of a father) & she's the long-lost Nvengarian princess that he must marry to fulfill the prophecy (or the head of the Council of Dukes will have him executed). Of course, the Duke is sending assassins to kill him anyway. There's some drama, some magic (mostly subtle - no fireballs), and definitely some sex.
Supper last night cost about $6, not including the sodas. The meat was a fairly cheap cut at about $3, the marinade (which softened & moistened the meat amazingly well) was about $1, and the package of mashed potatoes was about $1. I think we may have that meal more often. Wednesday night was spaghetti; another fairly inexpensive meal.

weather: It is still hot. Yesterday it hit 104F and it may get that hot again today. Blech.

clothes: today I'm wearing a dress that I picked up at a yard sale & have never worn before. Pear-shaped women should not wear tube dresses, even ones with ties. However, add an Empire waistline tunic over it & it is transformed. The dress is sleeveless, not-quite-scooped neck, mid-calf length with side slits to above the knee and is watercolor blue, aqua & navy with a hem of cream & black flowers reaching to the waist (scattered watercolor flowers with streaks of black for leaves & stems). Over it, I'm wearing a navy cotton gauze v-necked (to the waistband), Empire waistline tunic. I've added navy loafers, lapis earrings & ring, fem/dancer ring, hematite band, 3 women pendant & braided hair to complete the outfit. Jessica, one of my coworkers, was vastly impressed with the dress/tunic combo.

Leak update: The guy dropped off the invoice for the work yesterday. He had to call to find out where we were; he was confused by the multiple streets with the same name (actually it's the same street but it crosses twice).

He'll come by on Saturday to actually do the work. The temperature will be down into the high 90's (that's sad that 90'sF is considered cool).

Root canal this morning. It was not nearly as painful as I've heard others complain about. My headache on Monday felt worse than this. The worst part was my jaw cramping, which the jaw chock helped but did not solve.

I did not see the cardinal with male pattern baldness this time. I think that the bird feeder was empty. I only saw one bird go up to it the entire time I could see it (out the dentist's window).

read: Never Deceive a Duke by Liz Carlyle. It's a fairly decent Historical Romance. The hero Gabriel/Gareth learns that he has inherited a dukedom. He knew that he was related but never expected, or even wanted, to inherit. To add to the mix, the previous duke hated him and Gabriel's mother was Jewish (and in those days that was a major obstacle). The heroine is the late Duke's 4th wife & widow. She has some issues of her own to deal with regarding her first husband, her own family, and her past. Both of them are very much wounded souls but finding each other really helps them. I set it down thinking 'that was a good book.'

I went back to The Four Forges on the way to work.

weather: It's still inordinately hot. Yesterday did set a record & today likely will again. It's already 102F and may climb another degree or two. It wouldn't be nearly so bad if it would just drop into the 60'sF at night. The difference between a 100F day after a 60F degree night & one that barely dipped below 80F is perceptible.

TV: We watched GPhoria last night. Gears of War pretty much swept the awards. I think that it won in every category it entered. Personally, I've never played it and likely may not ever. I went to bed early so I missed the episode of Women of Ninja Warrior that Chris watched.

tatting: I made about 30 of the little single ring flowers while getting my root canal. I can do them without looking, there are no joins, and if I screw it up, it's no big deal. And tatting calms my nerves; not as much as Valium, but I can drive later.

clothes: black shoes, pink skirt, white blouse embroidered with flowers, flower fairy pendant, ~rope band, flower band, pink & blue ~stained glass earrings & hair in a ponytail held by scrunchie that matches my skirt.

weather: It hit 102F.

Oh, and another fire alarm this morning, about 8:30 am. This one lasted longer but it was earlier in the day so it was cooler (only in the 80'sF).

Still have the migraine.

sight of the day: tiny little black ants, very busy. The actual ant hill (I think) was about 20" long, along a crack in the sidewalk. But the trail of lots of busy little ants was another 9 feet, all along the same crack in the sidewalk. And when I say lots, I don't mean a half dozen or so; I mean a nigh unto solid trail of ants & the hilltop was so active it looked like it was moving. Tres bizarre.

And bright yellow bird with black wings, frightened from the planter at work.

tv: Women of Ninja Warrior 2 (3 women made it past stage 1 this time & 2 even made it to stage 3); X-Play, and Pop-up Video.

read: It's Witch Fire not Witch Hunt, and the question mark was The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. I also read the 2nd volume of Canon. Last night I read The Quantum Connection and part of Four Forges. This morning I'm re-reading Born in Death.

clothes: black & white skirt, black shoes, white polo, moonstone jewelry

Head still hurts but no nausea and less pain. Still carrying purse; too much effort to carry larger bag.

Good Trinic*con. Bought art & shirts. Ran games. Played games (LG only). Reed died again, twice (only 1 delay death to save her once). Started Caskishar.

Read yesterday. No computer. Hurts.
Witch Hunt, Not Quite a Lady & ?

weather: expecting 100F with heat index even higher. Orange ozone alert & rating 10 sun advisory.

Fire alarm at work; too hot to stay outside. Went to bookstore & bought books. Not something that I needed to do.

clothes: black shoes, pink skirt, white shirt, dragon jewelry.

Great weekend. Lousy Monday. Migraine. Nausea.

Packing: I got my RPGA crate packed last night, and most of my Ironclaw bag. The rest, I packed this morning. Chris will take my crate, my clothes, my minis & my map for me (he has the day off & plans to get the oil changed in his car before going to the convention). I am taking with me, my Ironclaw bag, the RPGA bag with supplies for the one round this afternoon, and my laptop.

Water leak update: Chris talked to another plumber about getting our leak fixed. The roto-rooter man gave an estimate when he was here, but it was 4-7 times what we expected, based on the previous leak. So we got a second opinion. To completely replace the pipe section (dig it up, replace, pack with gravel & rebar, etc), this guy's estimate was about 1/3 of what the roto-rooter guy estimated just to fix the leak. Guess which one we're having do the work.

After the plumber, we went & I got the Ironclaw flyers from the nearest Kinko's. The flyers are very nice. Chris & I got supper to go & went home to eat. Less time & less clean-up; both were very important factors.

tv: We we watched a little of Ninja Warrior before the plumber came & then later, while packing, etc, The Bourne Identity but I went to bed about the time Burn Notice came on. I just couldn't stay awake without fretting myself silly.

Then of course, I woke at 5 am & had to talk myself into sleeping another half-hour. That did give me plenty of time to finish packing, load my car & get to work in time to pick up a couple things at the Student Store (new markers, new 'manga' sketchpad, art markers, etc).

clothes: black ~slippers, black jeans, Vorkosigan polo (I have my IC t-shirt in the car to change into before running my game tonight), clip watch, moss agate bead bracelet, ~rope band, fem/dancer ring, Celtic knot ring, flower band, hematite band, knotted earrings, star/tree/moon knotwork pendant & hair up in a ponytail/bun affixed with brown/black wood hairstick.

Chores: I spent the evening doing laundry & getting my Living Greyhawk characters ready for the weekend. In one case, that meant updating the character sheet to 3rd & in two other cases, it means preparing the character sheet for the next level; just in case.

TV: Was a mix of a Criminal Minds re-run, Ninja Warrior & X-Play (which really sounded like they were ending the show; I really hope that was just a season ending & not the show finale).

for grins & giggles:

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clothes: navy loafers, navy faux jacket (shawl collar, two buttons, tied belts & very short sleeves), striped navy, white & light blue tank under it, silver & blue bead bracelet, Celtic knot ring, Triskele pendant, knotted earrings, fem/dancer ring, & hair worn loose (I washed it this morning).

I really need more sleep.
reread Thrones, Dominations
wore black jeans, slippers, belts & grey polo, feather/quartz earrings, 3 women pendant, ~rope band, flower band, hematite band & clip watch.