Thanksgiving and other stuff

For US-type people, Thursday is Thanksgiving. I have noted which stores will be open on Thursday, because I will NOT be shopping at any of them this holiday season. This is a bit hypocritical of me because I am going out to eat on Thursday. I am thankful for the staff who are making my meal possible.

Last Thursday, I had a 'fun' migraine; my head did not really hurt but I suddenly lost half my field of vision. Thankfully (there's that word again), Excedrine migraine took care of which. I am especially thankful because I was out to eat before gaming and driving with half your field of vision gone seems like a really bad idea.

I went to see Mom this past weekend. I saw something shocking; I saw gas for less than $2/gallon. I'll pause while you recover from the shock. We did a little shopping (I needed some electrical tape) but mostly we worked on organizing her yarn stash. Considering she mostly 'inherits' yarn, her stash is quite large.

Here's something cool; a huge archive of American (US I think) folk and blues music available online for free. Here's the story about it.

I had a dental appointment on Monday, so the only tatting I've really done are the little 1-ring, 5 -picot flowers. Strings of them. My mouth is still a trifle sore.

flowers, late blooming

sunset

sunset and autumn leaves

just outside my office

On Friday, as I was walking home in the dark, I managed to miss the sidewalk. It was on a downslope and not only did I fall down, my shoulder/teardrop purse tried to flip over my head. My hair got caught, but luckily I was with someone and she untangled my hair so I could move. I scraped up my knee and my iPad popped right out of the hardshell/keyboard case. On the bright side, it fell on my notebook and only cracked one corner of the screen. I didn't rip my pants either. I'm still a tiny bit sore, though.

And in other news, I've broken 21000 words in my Nanowrimo. But writing meetings are hard.

Tragedy and Hope

We played Pathfinder, Wardens of the Reborn Forge, on Saturday. We started late, because we talked about the Paris events (one of the players has a sibling in Paris and he was late as he checked on the sibling's safety). That lead to discussions about 9/11. Of course, that really depressed me, because it makes me so sad.

It was soon after that, I heard about the incident in Beirut and the heroism of Adel Termos. I mourn with his family over his loss, but rejoice over the people he saved.

And here's some info to keep in mind whenever there's a major news event.


I'm almost at 19000 words for NaNoWriMo and I've tatted another bracelet (variegated purple with pink and purple seed beads). I attempted a new earring pattern but all I got was a hot (beaded) mess.

Last night was my date with Autumn Breeze. She was sick on our usual Tuesday and had another commitment last week. We met at our usual diner and then went to see the bartender at the sports bar we used to go to regularly.

15000 words+

Yes, I'm behind. Yes, NaNoWriMo is still eating my brain. Plus I had the spreadsheet from hell this past week at work. It wasn't not a truly difficult spreadsheet, just data entry. But I had to find the correct reports (new system) to get the information and even then it took two help tickets to find out why some of the data was not there.

Tri-Tatters meeting was Saturday. ~19 tatters there, including 5-6 who were either new or re-learning how to tat. Pretty cool. I've made one bracelet and one more would be done, but the thread shredded. I'll be helping monsterunderthebed with the scans of Tatting Times. Whee!

Playing pathfinder tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

RG got a job! About 2 weeks after her severance ended, so the timing was pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.

Have a picture from Neko Atsume, a tablet game I've been playing. They finally made a version in English. Too late, I've already renamed all the cats I've found so far.

NaNoWriMo

Guess what I'm trying to do? It's NaNoWriMo time again. I'm behind in my wordcount already. I'm only at 2900 words, when I'm supposed to be at 1800x3 (3rd day of November, 1800 words per day). I have done the prologue, chapter one, and started chapter two.

I won't be writing much of a blog this month. Sorry (not sorry).

Halloween we had 9 trick or treaters come by. Not bad for our neighborhood.

Oh, to console you regarding the lack of post, here's something from The Bloggess. Do not read while eating, drinking, or while in public.

I've been making a few bracelets. Not a lot, because I've been distracted, but a couple. Here's Pearly Girl (thanks to the nice lady who named it for me).

I've started one in pale pink with purple beads.

I've taken some sky/cloud pictures and some flower pictures.

frost bitten pansy

touch of blue

And the clouds came rolling in

The sun sets

clouds like scurrying sheep

Very red

Wild Rose

December Rose

I've made a Blue Rose character (not that I expect to play her any time in the near future, but I can wish, right?). I'm reading Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusades, with the intention of reviewing it. I bought the new game The One Ring, set 5 years after the events in The Hobbit (by J.R.R. Tolkien if you've been living under a rock or not from an English speaking country).

Saw both parents at Thanksgiving (no, this is not typical and hasn't been since they separated when I was 6). Dad came by for lunch on Thanksgiving Day; thank you, K&W for being open so I didn't have to cook. I at supper with the SO's parents. I was supposed to donate platelets on Friday but I got a migraine; and aspirin means no platelet donation. I went to Mom's for the weekend. We went to only 2 stores; an AC Moore & a thrift shop. I did pick up some new audiobooks.

I found out the cassette tape iPod accessory in my car doesn't work so well anymore. All that noise was not coming from my car stereo, after all. My car stereo is old enough to be in college, so I wasn't surprised when the noise quality declined. Except, those pops and static were from the cassette hooked up to my iPod. I've been listening to some audiobooks instead.

I took part in NaNoWriMo. I wasn't expecting to hit the 50,000 words, I just wanted to finish my short story. And I did. I'm going to wait until the new year to look at it again and start the editing process but I have a beginning, a middle and an end. The end desperately needs work, but it's there.

I've started reading Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series. Bluntly, the blurb for the first book turned me off. But I've enjoyed her Guild Hunter series so much, I decided to give her other series a try. I've read the 1^st two books now and I'm looking for the 3^rd.

I just read a book by a new (to me) author, Jessica Sims. Or is it Jennifer? Anyway, the book title is Beauty Dates the Beast. It's an entertaining book and I'm looking forward to the next one.

I figured out what to get my mom for Christmas. I found a really good source for hair henna. Unlike what she used to use, this stuff won't turn her white hair to neon orange.

I'm still working on what to get Dad. He might get a stove or something for a reservation resident. I'll have to look. I think he might like a charity gift this year. I saw a book I thought he'd like. I was right, too bad someone already loaned him a copy.

I have an idea for my brother (he was the 1^st one I figured, I just need to order it). But I'm at a loss for my sister-in-law. My niece will be getting a new pair of earbuds and maybe a bracelet made to order. If I find an interesting cd, she might get that, too. Maybe.

I have a couple things for the SO already. But there's still quite a few people I'd like to get something for them. I need to pull out my list and make decisions.

The VCR died. Or maybe just the tape that's in it did. The tape is kind of hanging from the VCR, like a cat holding a mouse by its tail. There went my copy of Strictly Ballroom.

Last night I went to a presentation about Chang and Eng Bunker. Do you know who they were? They were the original Siamese twins. They took a physical drawback, and it was severe (the King of Siam almost had them beheaded for being a 2-headed Chinese demon) and became businessmen. They were sharp, too. They were successful enough to buy a good tobacco farm in North Carolina. They married and had full lives. They were articulate and made sure all their kids had a good education.

WARNING: Politics Ahead

This is a speech before the Iowan Congress