Thursday, January 31, 2008

We had Jessica's good-bye lunch yesterday. Her position has been transferred to Facilities. I think she's actually packing up her office today. We went to Nantucket Grill. It was good. I had the soup & half-sandwich. Then I had the bright idea to get dessert. I managed about three bites. I'm eating the rest of the slab of apple cake for breakfast this morning.

books: I bought & read The Undead Next Door by Kerrelyn Sparks and finished re-reading Star Princess. I started re-reading Desire by Amanda Quick.

work: The director decided that he wanted new carpet in our offices. Yesterday the vendors came through to measure the entire space before submitting their bids. It was more involved & took longer than I thought it would.

tatting: I broke the thread while closing a ring yesterday, so I used the rest of the size 80 ecru on the shuttle to make a tiny butterfly for Jessica. Then I wound more thread onto the shuttle & started the bookmark again after work. I spent a few minutes and planned the pattern for the bookmark, I hope that it works. I won't know until I turn at the end.

TV: we watched the 1st episode of the 2nd season of Torchwood. James Marsters was on it as "Capt John Hart", an old time agent partner of Capt Jack Harkness. You can tell that it's Brit tv. We also watched some Thundarr cartoons. They did a remarkably good job on that one. Their hair moves. Okay, there are some silly bits, 'their blue skins show that they are amphibians' for example. WTF? But when the wind is blowing hard their hair moves. Sometimes Thundarr's necklace even moves.

clothes: yesterday it was black suede shoes, black jeans, pale green turtleneck, dark green cord vest, Celtic knot jewelry & braided hair. Today it's black shoes, black jeans, cream blouse, dark red cord vest, black tatted jewelry, black & red stone bands, red bead bracelet, & braided hair.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

TV: Watched After the People on History Channel. It was okay. I did learn some neat stuff, at least.

books: Finished reading Circle of Magic: Sandra's book for the nth time & finished vol 1 of Zombie Fairy.

tatting: finished Stars & Stripes. Started day 8 of Jane's TI&S.

scarf: It's now long enough to cover my hand from wrist to fingertip.

clothes: black jeans, black/brown polo, emerald pendant & earrings, black striped trouser socks, black ~slippers, black stone ring, hematite ring, moss agate bead bracelet, ponytail/bun with black/brown hair sticks.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Poem for today
Crunch of frozen ground,
Frost-limned grass snap
Under trudging feet.
Monday workward bound,
Half-moon rising
Shares the sky
With the dawning sun.
Wintry air bites
At open skin
Nipping me awake.


Gaming
most of the weekend. We did the next 2 parts of Greyhawk Ruins on Saturday. Then we took Diana out to supper for her birthday. The t-shirt was too small so I'm going to have to return it & order a size larger. Sunday it was Rosemary's home game. We had a short fight & Mike's character really pissed mine off. Note: Mike did not piss me off. Amber is mad at Dratsab.

tatting: I finally started Jane's Tat It & See. I got through Day 7. I don't think that it's an elephant because she's already done one, but it's distinctly elephant-shaped at this point.

I took a load of books to the Used Book Store. I picked up 4 with the store credit plus I bought Season 1 of Lois & Clark (since I didn't get it for Christmas). Now I need to get rid of the books that they didn't buy.

My copy of Witch Hunter still hasn't arrived. It looks like it won't ship until the company puts out their next product, which is supposed to be sometime this month.

books: I finished Accidental Vampire, read The River Knows and re-read Wait Until Midnight. The latter 2 are from the Used Bookstore.

I did a few more rows of the ribbon yard lattice scarf. It's starting to look like something. I'm still not 100% certain it's like a scarf.

clothes: t-shirts, jeans, tennis shoes & sweatshirts this weekend. Today it's white turtleneck, new dark red corduroy vest, black jeans, black suede shoes, black tatted earrings (the ones that I made), black stone ring, hematite ring, & black plastic bangle bracelet.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Gaming: Mutants & Masterminds: Rosemary's character, Lady Celtic, met her predecessor's son (who's old enough to be the current Lady Celtic's father or perhaps grandfather but only looks old enough to be her older brother). That was...mildly awkward. He's wondering how much of his mother's memory she has & she doesn't want to blurt out 'all of them'. I managed to out-crude the entire table with just one remark (regarding the likelihood of Lady Celtic having an affair with her previous self's son). We did some investigation & research stuff, no combat. We didn't have enough time.

Rosemary & Chris were late & then David showed off the scrapbook his Weightwatcher person made for him. David made his lifetime goal, so he's less than half the man he used to be (from >400, to <200). style="font-style: italic;">

books: finished re-reading Lost & Found and Terrier. Read Accidental Vampire. Lynsay Sands's series is pretty funny. It's book 7 in the Argeneau series. The next one is due out next month, I think.

Wrote to all my relatives. Just need to get the envelopes ready to mail. Ran into Barb (fellow gamer, plays Katherine in Witch Hunt) at lunch. I didn't know that she worked on campus.

clothes: the same (appearance-wise) yesterday & today on the black jeans, black belt, black shoes, hematite band, and braided hair. Differences: black turtleneck & black shirt, circle jewelry (silver band with circles, 3 silver gradated hoops hanging from a French wire, round quartz pebble pendants & round silver Celtic knot & moonstone pendant) & red elastic on the hair vs. black shirt & purple sweater, amethyst ring & pendant, purple Czech bead earrings, silver twist ~rope band, & purple elastic on hair.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Mom gave me a Tomtom for Christmas. So far, it's not perfect but it's a great comfort. It did overestimate the travel time from Aunt Shirley's to my house by half an hour. I'm fairly certain it's because of a stretch of 70mph highway.

books: reread Ace of Hearts. Rereading Terrier by Pierce.

Wrote letters to my Dad's sisters, my niece & my namesake, plus my great-aunt. I also wrote a quick note to my aunts down near the coast. Aunt Dot wanted an oyster sauce recipe so I found one.

TV: Watched The Court Jester starring Danny Kaye this past weekend. Also saw The Whole Nine Yards again, or most of it. Last night I watched an episode of CSI that we'd taped.

clothes: It's much warmer today. I'm wearing black shoes, black tights, brown panne velvet broomstick skirt, cream colored sweater over country blue tank top, my feather earrings & pendant and the bangles with matching ring.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Tatting: Only 4 people at the meeting on Saturday. It started snowing just about 3:30 so that's no surprise. I found it without getting lost; that's a surprise. I finally finished the Gemini Star during the meeting. I've decided to make the pink into a bookmark instead of edging.

Also I've completed both Cupid Stars from Oh My Stars! (so far I don't like dimpled rings. I need to try them a couple more times before I settle with that opinion though) and the Shooting Star. The rickrack Cupid Star is in variegated pink; from a very old ball. I started the Stars & Stripes, in size 80, gadzooks. I only had two colors of thread in the same size in the 80. So it's variegated blue & solid white.

books: Read A Tisket, A Tasket, A Fancy Stolen Casket, and um, still working on Chapter 2 of Teach Yourself Gaelic. I've started a vocabulary card thing. I write the Gaelic word on the front & the pronunciation (as best as I can tell), definition & helpful information about it on the back; things like 'causes lenition' and other tidbits. The former is a mystery set in small town South Carolina, with the protagonist Calamine "Callie" Lotion Parrish. She's a cosmetologist at a funeral home; giving loved ones a final beautiful memory of the dear departed.

My cousin Kathy, Aunt Evelyn's younger daughter, called me Saturday evening, so I'm a little glad that caution about the weather prevented me from driving down to see my aunts after the Tatting meeting. If I'd left, I would have missed her call. We talked for a few minutes. She's only about 10 years older than I am.

Sunday, I waited until the roads had a chance to thaw before I left. I took some stuff out of my car first, so I left a little later than I'd planned. I got there via the 5th route now (as of the last 2 trips plus this one). I'm getting better. They were glad to see me & I tatted while Aunt Dot & Uncle Albert watched football & Aunt Shirley read. Mom arrived that evening and she was surprised to see me. I had tried to call her to let her know about the roads (& let her know that I'd be there) but she had her cell phone off again.

We did a little sewing on Monday. Mom had found a better suitcase for me to use to carry my sewing machine. It's a lot sturdier than the one that I have been using. However, it doesn't have pockets, so I used some drapery fabric & sewed a couple. That will help in stowing the presser feet and extra bobbins. I completely forgot my bag of 'needs repairs' and the satin fabric for my new pillowcase. I could, theoretically, work on that tonight. Theoretically.

I had to leave last night and made it home just after dark. It was markedly colder. When I was putting my bags in the car, I just wore a turtleneck & felt fine. Getting them out, I felt like I was freezing; it was only 2F above the freezing mark, so no wonder.

clothes: jeans, turtlenecks, Celtic knot jewelry

Friday, January 18, 2008

Tatting get-together tomorrow. And snow is predicted. And I wanted to go to visit my Aunt Shirley tomorrow, since Aunt Dot is expected this weekend. *sigh*

books: Bead on Trouble & reread Slightly Shady.

Still on Chapter 2 of Teach Yourself Gaelic (Scottish). I'm working on vocabulary cards while I try to master a/do/dh'/etc.

tatting: none

clothes: turtlenecks, sweater, black slacks. It's cold. I've given up on the fleece boots that Mom bought for me. They are just tooooo big. It hurts to walk in them very far. They are warm but even with inserts, it just doesn't work. Inserts made all the difference on my half-boots. While they're still a little too long, my feet don't slide around.
Tatting get-together tomorrow. And snow is predicted. And I wanted to go to visit my Aunt Shirley tomorrow, since Aunt Dot is expected this weekend. *sigh*

books: Bead on Trouble & reread Slightly Shady.

Still on Chapter 2 of Teach Yourself Gaelic (Scottish). I'm working on vocabulary cards while I try to master a/do/dh'/etc.

tatting: none

clothes: turtlenecks, sweater, black slacks. It's cold. I've given up on the fleece boots that Mom bought for me. They are just tooooo big. It hurts to walk in them very far. They are warm but even with inserts, it just doesn't work. Inserts made all the difference on my half-boots. While they're still a little too long, my feet don't slide around.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

still not recovered.
Read Tutu Deadly, Crime Seen, Tapped Out, 1634: Ram Rebellion, Bring Your Own Poison, & vol 5 of Genzu no Seiza.

Not enough of the white/color yarn to make a scarf; maybe a dishrag? Started new scarf, lattice work with ribbon yarn.

Friday, January 11, 2008

I had this lovely post in my head and all ready to write it. Then mom calls. Aunt Evelyn died Wednesday. I never sent her Christmas present. The funeral's tomorrow. Wukon is this weekend. I'm so conflicted. And I keep crying.

clothes: silk blouses all week, yesterday wore a skirt, Wednesday wore a scarf in the metal hairstick (almost mantilla like)

Monday, January 07, 2008

Dryer's still broken. We got the back off & we finally found the heating coil. It's inside a box. Next problem: how do we get it out of the box? Since my laptop died last week, guess what I'll be looking up at lunch time?

Site of the day: Gorgeous, gorgeous artwork

getting over my cold. Whee.
books: Some Golden Harbor, Heiress for Hire

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Real friendship (if anyone knows who composed this, please let me know so that I can give credit where credit is due)

Are you tired of those sissy "friendship" poems that always sound good,

But never actually come close to reality?

Well, here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship.

You will see no cutesy little smiley faces on this card-

Just the stone cold truth of our great friendship.

1. When you are sad -- I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.

2. When you are blue -- I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

3. When you smile -- I will know you are plotting something that I must be involved in.

4. When you are scared -- I will rag on you about it every chance I get.

5. When you are worried -- I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.

6. When you are confused -- I will use little words.

7. When you are sick -- Stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.

8. When you fall -- I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.

9. This is my oath.... I pledge it to the end. "Why?" you may ask; "because you are my friend".

Friendship is like peeing your pants,

everyone can see it,

but only you can feel the true warmth.

Send this to 10 of your closest friends.

Then get depressed because you can only think

of 4

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

As usual the New Years party was fun. It was a little scattered this year. Keith was on call & couldn't arrive until Monday. Our dryer died on Friday, so we had to come back early to try & work on that. Sherry never showed. We opened presents as people showed up. Keith liked his calendar, as usual. Russ liked his sugar free chocolate (& gave out lumps of coal to everyone, carved anthracite). Liz liked her chicken book & saw one bit of info that she wished she'd seen earlier (about chickens taking dirt baths look like they've died). Alisa thought that book that I got her looks interesting (Bless Your Heart, Tramp!). James can always use a hardware store gift card. I gave Shannon (Larry's wife) a tatted snowflake because she admired them & thought that her sister might like to tat. Namesake liked her presents, although I didn't see her unwrap the last one because I left that one for her to unwrap while Sherry's kids unwrapped theirs.

books: But, But.. Barbarians and partially read about 3 others, including Rainbow's End & Heiress for Hire. Read vol 3 of Tactics.

tatting: Up to Gemini Star in tatting book.