Publishing Scheduled...and Yet Silence

So, I finished my post last week and set it to publish in an hour. And it never published. So, to anyone actually waiting for it, sorry. I hit Publish Monday (again), and this time it worked.

Friday, I went to lunch with my co-workers to celebrate one's lunch. We went to Carolina Brewery. I'd never been before but I can recommend their barbecue and their sweet potato fries. None of us had any beer; middle of the workday after all. No hardship for me, I don't like beer. Our newest co-worker told us about a trip she'd taken to Paris. She's good at telling stories.

Anyway, I made progress on my test swatch for my knitting. It failed, which means I'm starting over using what I learned. My target, is a 7" by 1" strip. My result was about 10" by 1/2".

I've made one earring, for the pattern for Tat Days. I say 'made', but I still need to make one join and hide the ends. Then I need to load more beads, make the mate and then start the variant.

No progress made on the blocking. I need to take the one I've blocked, photograph it, and send the picture to Anitra. And of course, I need to block the next one.

RG's puppy chewed a hole in her blanket (the puppy's blanket). I took it home and I'm going to try to patch it. My main concern is that my patch is not more vulnerable to puppy teeth than the rest of the blanket.

Of course, Fantasy Gamers Conclave was over the weekend. It's a small Saturday and Sunday convention. CD, RG, and I have been running Pathfinder games there for at least since 2010. Alas, they're taking a break and won't have a con next year. But maybe the year after that. :crossed fingers:

I ran Silverhex, or rather 3 of the 6 quests, for 3 people who'd never played tabletop RPGs before. They were interested, and one of them had a Beginner's Box but found it confusing. Getting a chance to play and see how it works in real life and learning by doing really helped. All three of them decided to join PFS (PathFinder Society). Whether they follow up with more PFS play, well, that's up to their preferences and opportunities. I had a picture of one of the maps, but I can't find it.

Saturday afternoon, I ran Sun Orchid Scheme. It's a regular scenario. I had a full table for that one. I had two new(ish) players using pre-gens and everyone else had PFS characters. We also wound up really late. I didn't get to sleep until after 2 am.

CD let me sleep in Sunday and our games didn't start until 1 pm, thankfully. I ended up running a couple of quests from Phantom Phenomena. I had 4 people playing, interrupted by a couple of them needed elsewhere for a time. All the players had fun, and that's the important part.

They raised over $3000 for Autism Society of North Carolina. I helped a little more by buying something at auction. There were other things up for bid that I wanted but they went out of my limited price range.









One really neat thing, on the way home on Sunday, there were some heavy clouds rolling in. And as the sun was setting behind them, there was a smaller whisp of cloud coming out and the sun shining through it cause it to light up like a rainbow. I really wish I could have gotten a picture, because my words are not up to describing just how unusual and lovely it was.

We also had another major storm roll through. There was one crash of thunder so loud it sounded like a cannon going off. Fortunately, this time we didn't lose power.

Some books I had ordered, also arrived on Saturday. I finished reading one of them on Sunday and started another one. That leaves 2 more (book 2 & 3 in a series), plus one I've been putting off because once I start it, I won't want to stop for anything, including sleep.

Tonight is my date with Carry. You'll find out about that next post.

And here's an entertaining flowchart. Are you caught in a time paradox?

More Zen Koi images

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.

Tooth well, that molar's gone. It went surprising well. The dentist was very good at making sure that everything was numb and he would take his hands out to give my jaw a rest every so often. Only the last little bit was painful, as he jerked the last bit of the root out. He had to essentially carve up what remained of the tooth to get it out. Ick. Finally got done at 3:30 and then I got John (who had kindly offered to drive to & from the appointment - people on painkillers should not drive) to take me to Foundation's Edge to get Chris's present. After that, it was off to the drugstore to get my post-op painkillers. Got home at almost 5 pm. Why is it, when your jaw hurts & it's painful to talk that you suddenly get a dozen phone calls?

I had to wait for the clot to form before I could eat. I had to eat before I could take the pain pill. Meanwhile the anesthetics were wearing off. Luckily I had my own form of meditation to take me away.

Yesterday I took my pain pill as I was leaving the house and a couple hours later I was throwing up. I finally gave up & left work at 10:30 or so, napped & caught the 11:30 bus. I spent the rest of the day napping & reading. I'm still sticking with soft foods for now; let's avoid dry socket, shall we?

books: while waiting for my prescription, I bought All Night Long, Krentz's latest. I read that to get away from the pain. I also read Black Cat, vol 2, it finally arrived & Tail of the Moon, vol 2. I re-read Chesapeake Blue by Nora Roberts.

clothes: yesterday it was black slacks, grey ribbed sweater (with button placket to my waist), black socks & loafers, paui shell pendant, fem power ring & feather (without quartz chips) charm earrings that I haven't worn in years because I thought that I'd lost one.

Today it's black jeans, loafers, socks, burgundy turtleneck, burgundy sweater w/ purple, black, burgundy & 2 shades of teal abstract along the hem, the emerald pendant that Chris gave me (yesterday for Valetine's day), emerald posts my bro & sis-in-law gave me and the black stone ring.