Christmas Season Has Begun

And by that, I mean I've gone to my first Christmas party. It was supposed to be my second one but I got sick and didn't go to the first one. I gave Chris the latest Edge book by Ilona Andrews. He had just learned it was out and hadn't gotten a copy yet. I still have his other present but I haven't wrapped it yet.

This one was mostly getting together with friends, playing games, eating supper and then opening presents. It was very low key. My SO bought three books from my wish list while one of my friends found the perfect journal for me to use as a character journal for an upcoming game.

I made some serious progress on my sock. I have about another half inch before I start on the heel. Again.

I am waiting for my brother to call or email me. I have a questions for him. Shopping for my niece is getting harder and harder. She's 16 now and very different from me or my brother, in many ways. She has her own interests, which is as it should be. She should not be a clone. But it was so much easier to shop for her when she was 6.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Website of the day: list of shops participating in bookmark drive in 2008. I will look back & see if they participate again in 2009. I have some bookmarks to make.

Okay, winter is back. And the moon is gorgeous. I tried to take a picture but every shot was blurry. *sigh* I also want some steamed milk & honey.

John came by and we gave Chris his birthday/Christmas present. He's thrilled. We gave him a digital camera, extra memory card & batteries. It's just in time to take pictures at the party tomorrow.

We gave John the cd, Gaelic Voices. We got lucky; he doesn't have that one.

I finally got registered & signed up for games at Wukon. I'm mostly going to be playing LFR with one game of Witch Hunters.

I ordered some presents from hungersite.com today and picked up a few things from the Student Stores (today was their end of the year sale).

Chris's birthday: I did not have his present ready. He wants a padded bag to hold & protect his D&D 4e books. I was about to sew up the sides when I realized that it's too wide. I will be working on it some tonight but he's leaving for Wicked Harvest (gaming convention that's all Witch Hunter) so he won't get it until he gets back.

State Fair: looks like it's going to be cold & rainy so I'll pull out my Colonial era outfit. I think that I will take my new bodice & an appropriate blouse in case I need a change of clothes (Anitra & Steve usually do laundry Sat night after we get back & the clothes are ready the next day).

Work: Yesterday was interesting. When I came back from lunch I learned that the power was. The power went out in the restaurant that I was in, but since it's a 10-minute walk I didn't think that my building would be out, too. There wasn't much that I could do except hang around and wait for the power to come back.

Today was Employee Appreciation. There's free food, and this year's selection was much better. Since I volunteered, I got a different lunch though. I also hit the sale at the store and went through the information fair; lots of drawings and free pens.

Before things got started

and while things were in full swing. Yes, that's the line for lunch. The lunch tables are just out of sight on the right.

And this is where I worked during my volunteer shift. We were visited by a number of 'striped damsels', mostly honeybees but with the occasional yellowjacket for variety.

Craft: I finished the rag 'rug' that I was working on. It's from a craft that I saw while on vacation. Originally, they would use a wagon wheel; since I didn't need anything that big, I used an embroidery hoop. You tie & weave strips of fabric to make the rug, or in this case trivet type. I tied the ends too tightly though & it cupped, as you can see. The first picture is how it looks from 'the top' & in the 2nd picture you can see where I tucked in the ends.

I ran into not one but two nice people today. That just perked up my morning.

One was the woman who called out, letting me that someone was trying to get my attention. Of course, the person trying to get my attention is the guy who works where I usually pick up my breakfast (I'm toting my breakfast this week). We made faces at each other through the window.

The other was the woman who let me know that I was missing my hair elastic. Not that she was to know that I had removed it because it clashed with my outfit today. So I thanked her and let her know that I had removed it and thanked her again for letting me know, 'cause if it had slipped off that would have been well, not a lifesaver, but something to tend.

Chris's game: We finally had the showdown with the Salt Baron (expletives inserted by our PCs who are really pissed at him). He had at least 3 salt golems and all his spells are salt-themed, like he got elemental substitution: salt. We had finished off his 2 guards and were working on the golems when 10 pm hit. Kelis, my druid, slowed down that spell-slinging idiot by casting sleet storm on his half of the room. At the same time, Gaius's (Joe's cleric) spiritual weapon is whacking on him. His 3rd salt golem is defending him but so far not 100%.

I spent most of Saturday getting the table & environs cleared for last night's game. It's a shame, I had wanted to go to What the Hell Con. Oh well.

Sunday, I took more books to the Used Book Store & bought more. But I also found V'day presents for Chris. I bought him season 1 & 2 of Veronica Mars. That was half my book bill right there. My Witch Hunter book still has not arrived. *wah*

I still need to get a birthday present for Rosemary. Chris sent me her list so I have some things to find. Joe seemed to like his Christmas present last night. I went ahead & gave the 50 comic book villains book to David. He really liked it. Joe gave me season 2 DVD of Ranma 1/2 & he utterly thrilled Rosemary by giving her the Isis tv show on DVD. He got a good D&D book for Chris & the latest Shadowrun book. Diana got the next book in a series that he'd recommended to her. I don't remember what or if Joe & David got anything from him.

Sunday, was Rosemary's game. Richard brought presents, too. He gave coffee to Chris, a couple candles to me, a Munchkin game to Joe & I can't remember what he gave Rosemary.

Those stupid undead cursed & gaunts came back to attack our characters in Rosemary's game. She had designed that encounter thinking that we'd have a 9th level cleric with us. We don't because Diana had to pull out of the game due to her irregular schedule. But Richard managed to turn the mounts (cursed, I think) & that got rid of half of the combatants. When we killed all the riders (gaunts, I think, I'm no longer certain which is which), the remaining mounts fled. They're smarter than the riders and both are nasty, icky, undead things. Midnight & Aidon only stayed alive thanks to plot immunity. Otherwise they were both just soooo dead.

The wind was intense Sunday evening. I was quite glad not to be driving.

tatting: I finally got past adding both new threads on my bookmark. I did that yesterday & last night. Then I forgot to bring it work with me today.

books: Read vol 1 of Magical JxR, Reluctant Rogue, vol 2 of Pantheon High, White Lies, & Larceny and Old Lace.

clothes: black or blue jeans, t-shirts over the weekend, polo shirt yesterday & turtleneck today.

site of the day: Want to do a good deed for only a few seconds of time (depending on how fast your internet connection is)? Download a text file. Read the information given about why, it will explain better than I can.


Weekend trip: Drove the 3 hours to see my Mom, Aunt & Uncle. It should have been just over two hours but I didn't have the new & improved directions. And I took the wrong highway. Luckily, I saw a road that I recognized & it was pretty much one way at that point (the other way involved a security checkpoint & I knew I didn't need to go that way) so I took it. Of course, my aunt & uncle live at the other end of that road.

We worked on some mending for me and I altered a nightgown for mom (the sleeves were too wide & too long). I finally completed the credit card bag that I've had cut out for months (you cut up a credit card to make the bag closure). I used a scrap of the floral denim that I used for that jumper years ago and a scrap of quilted fabric from a panel Christmas tree skirt, also from years ago. Even though the bag was barely wide enough for the closure, it turned out very well. Mom & Aunt Shirley were very impressed with the idea. If you need to make a larger opening, you can cut the plastic from a bottle instead. The bag I made is almost long enough to hold my glasses which means that it's plenty long enough to hold a shuttle.

I made a haversack for Chris, his Christmas present. I just need to clean up some threads & to work on a closure for it. It's a very easy bag to make but I need to make adjustment if I ever make one again. I sewed the strap into place the length of the bag. Stress will not tear that strap off. There's an "x" at the bottom of the strap plus 3 lines of seam to hold the strap in place. Thanks to the length of the fabric, there's even an interior pocket, I doubled the fabric for the bottom, with a single width for the flap. Imagine: 60" X 18" fabric rectangle. Fold it lengthwise but double, about 2/3 or 4/5. Now fold the doubled fabric in half; that's the body of the bag. The single layer is the flap. Leaving the flap open, sew up the sides of the doubled fabric to make the bag.

After supper (frozen lasagna), I was wiped out so I took a 2 hour plus nap. I woke up in time to go to bed. Mom & I talked for a little while & then went to sleep.
On the way home on Sunday, I managed to miss a turn & went out of my way again. Luckily, as soon as I crossed into the wrong county I recognized that, stopped, pulled out a map & figured out how to get back on track. With all the detours, I had to put more gas in the car. The lowest that I saw was $3.089 a gallon. That's just ridiculous.

Chris ran a zero round on Saturday. He told me a little about it after I got home. He had received one of his belated birthday presents this weekend, too (it had been on back order).

I took a nap & then we watched one of his other birthday presents; Transformers DVD. That really is a good movie. It looks like they had planned to make the army guy the lead but then changed to the young guy. It's something you may not notice the first time that you see it. Friday night we watched another of his birthday presents; Ghost Rider DVD.

books: I finished Light in Shadow (not Light & Shadow) but I've started writing letters & have not had time for more reading (shocking, I know).

sight of the day: young man with the right half of his hair in an afro & the other half in small braids or twists, a la Coolio, but shorter. Either hairstyle is fine, together? Um, not so fine.

clothes: I started Saturday wearing a turtleneck but it was too warm in Aunt Shirley's basement, so I changed to a t-shirt. T-shirt & then turtleneck on Sunday, blue jeans both days. I wore tennis shoes when I went out but slippers the rest of the time. Butterfly earrings, flower fairy pendant, flower ring, ~rope ring, & a ponytail. Too bad the ponytail caused horrendous rats nests in my hair, right where the ponytail hit my shirt collar.

I really wished my mom would stop smoking. My hair reeks.

Today I'm wearing black shoes, jeans & belt, same watch & hematite ring, sage green rayon shirt (Mom fixed the cuff), triskele posts, triskele in triangle pendant, Celtic knot ring, black stone ring & loose hair (after I got the tangles out, I just didn't feel like doing anything else to it).

We made it. I fell asleep around 9 am & woke up an hour late, near Richmond. Another hour passed (& one missed exit) and we were pulling into the hotel in Williamsburg

It was raining yesterday, whoot. It's not enough but it's a start. However, traffic backed up enough for a 40-minute drive to take over an hour. The first 40 minutes of that was to cover about what's 10 minutes of travel, normally.

We're staying at the La Quinta, which provides breakfast. This one has the largest breakfast I've ever seen at a La Quinta. It was still completely full, with people waiting to find a table.

We took our time about getting started & did not actually get to Williamsburg & get our tickets until about noon or so. We wondered around a bit and finally had lunch at The King's Arms at about 2 pm. Rosemary & I had the Norfolk Pottage Pye (aka chicken pot pie) & it was delicious. The crust was so flaky, it had huge chunks of chicken, just yum. Chris had the East Indian Company chicken (ie fried chicken) with a slice of country ham, a biscuit & mashed potatoes. I tried a bite of his chicken & a bite of his potatoes. Again, yum. I had a shrub to drink (fruit juice & sorbet drink) while Rosemary finally had a mint julep. She had never had one. I had a taste of hers. We both agreed that we prefer rum.

All three of us bought the souvenir mug and got cider. They are refilled for free and for each of us, maybe another 2 or 3 refills & the mug has paid for itself. I also bought a couple maps, Colonial America c. 1719 & New France, same era. I may give them for Chris as his birthday is the 15th and he wanted them, too.

I've seen a number of things that I'd like to get for Hailey & Leela. It's hard deciding upon just one item each. I might get one of the whistles for Liz. They are perfect for calling wandering kids, or husbands, home.

We toured the Governor's Palace. I took more pictures this time. Last time, we had to cut our tour short to be in time for our carriage ride. This time we completed it and then looked through the gardens a little.

Williamsburg has gotten a little more like Disneyworld, in a good way. They have collectible (& at least theoretically, tradable) pins, the refillable mug, & if you are staying at one of their hotels you can have your purchases shipped to the hotel & you get preferential treatment for tickets & stuff.

They are doing the Revolution City right now & we've caught part of it. We were at the edges of Hardcastle's tar & feathering & heard one of his speeches. We saw the rider come in with news of the events in Lexington & the aftermath.

I bought a notebook and a couple cedar pencils. I've started a travel journal. I'm leaving spaces to add some of the photos that I've taken. I want to do things like add my ticket to it & stuff like that, too. I'd love to use a quill pen but 1) I need to get one [though I have one at home], 2) get better at using it, 3) get some ink & 4) get a stoppered inkwell so I don't waste the ink.

It was very hot today & after the threat of rain cleared up, it was sunny. Good thing I put on spf 30 this morning. Since we walked about 4 to 4.5 miles today, we all got hot & sweaty. I think that I got a little heat sick. After we ate supper at the Dairy Queen (a short walk from the hotel), I was cold & took a nap. I was still abnormally cold when Chris woke me up.

We went on the Haunted Ghost Tour, which is a fairly recent addition to the Williamsburg experience. It's about an hour & the guides carry old-fashioned lanterns. They tell of encounters & unexplained occurrences in the area around Duke of Gloucester Street, including the old jail & other nearby locales. The oldest one that they relate is only a decade or so old & it's the first of a recurring sighting. The Lady in Green is probably a daughter of the Shields family which used to live in & run the Shields Tavern. She died, a teenager, of an unknown diseased in the 18th century. She often shows up in the Tavern since they reconstructed it, usually in the family's rooms.

Since there were children along for the tour, the guide did not talk about the occasional unfriendly ghostly encounter just the friendly ones; even if a couple of them were downright creepy. They ranged from footsteps to a mysterious meeting to a figure seen behind a locked gate to water faucet turning itself on. At the end of the tour, everyone got a pin. They could choose from a lantern or the Lady in Green. Rosemary & I chose the latter, Chris chose the former.

books: I bought Savannah of Williamsburg & the author signed it. I haven't done much reading though. I've had no time, really.
Tatting: I've worked on one of Jane's bookmarks but I messed up and it's canted to one side near the top. I'll use it but this is not one that I'm going to show off.

clothes: black ~slippers (which are now very dusty), black jeans (yeah, good idea on a hot sunny day that you'll be spending outdoors), burgundy NC Archaeological Society t-shirt (with time line of arrow points on the back), clip watch, black bead bracelet, andromorph Celtic pendant, chain mail earrings, Celtic knot ring, hash mark ring, hematite ring & braided hair.

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.

*insert expletive of choice* I tried to buy my SO's b'day present yesterday. Steve told me that he saw Xboxes on sale for $99 at Wally world. Not at the one off Chapel Hill/Durham Blvd. They didn't even have any in the store. So I went to Best Buy across the parking lot. They don't accept starter checks. *insert range of expletives*

I let my fingers do the walking when I got home. At least one Wally world (aka Wal-mart) has Xboxes in stock, the one in Garner. But they're $179. I think I'll go to Southpoint tonight & talk to the guys at the computer game store. They claim to sell re-furbished ones for $149. I need to see what exactly is the difference. Regardless, I'll pick up the game there (& go to a dollar store to buy some wrapping paper) before going to PNO tonight.

John will not be going with me. He called last night. He's buying Chris's present tonight (a copy of the Sleeping Beauty DVD). I also talked to Kathy, Richard's wife, they are buying Chris a copy of Halo. Richard has it for PC & he's addicted. Hmmm, I should recommend that he also buy a 2nd controller. Then he & Chris can play the game together. You know, just a suggestion.