Dead Tennis Shoes: Well, my old pair of black tennies are dead. I long ago wore through a spot on the heels but it wasn't until today that it started hurting. Say good-bye to that pair. I need to mail them to Nike for recycling.

Chris took his car into get the oil changed. Then we went to use Chris's 10 year gift certs. We went to Barnes & Noble, where Chris bought more books than I did for once; FYE, where I saw a digital camera on sale for $10; Target, where I spent too much on cloths; & Best Buy, where I bought Mom's present for Mother's Day.

I bought only two books while Chris updated his Dresden Files collection, ditto Star Wars. I also made a list of books to get after my birthday. Chris found almost a half-dozen cd's at FYE & vol 2 & 3 of Voltron (he had found Vol 1 at Best Buy).

One of Target's line of clothes has gone overboard on their flattery sizing. I had to go down to size 10 before it would fit. Since another line, with an elastic waist, fit just fine in large, you can see why I blame flattery sizing.

books: I re-read Owlknight, mostly. Next I want to start one of the books I bought today.

tatting: I've made the first petal or two of the burgundy silk flower & I've started on the Libin bracelet. It's orange beads with cream thread; which makes the beads look amber-colored instead. Too bad I've run out of thread on that shuttle, so I'll have to do a join.

Gaming: Nate wasn't at the game either, last night. So only the women were playing. We started with a girls' night out. Totem, my character, is not old enough to drink in the US. But she's from an ancient Egyptian culture, in which beer (I keep typo'ing that as 'bear'; I did that last night while typing the notes), is practically a sacrament. She won't get a fake id, that's illegal but Lady Celtic was tired of drinking canoe beer. Instead, they went back to Totem's home where they had Egyptian beer for her & Lady Celtic had picked up some Killians for herself & Troll.

They ended up getting a call to go help Dr. Atom at The Nucleus. That's the top 5 floors of the Goodman building where he is the house AI, from the digitized personality of the late Dr. Atom. His grandkids, the Atoms, were busy in another dimension so the ladies of Freedom League had to go find out who was attacking & stop them. It was Lady Lunar, convinced that there was an Earth plot to replace the leaders of Farside City (located oddly enough..on the far side of the moon). She was attacking The Nucleus because Dr. Atom's data banks would have the information about it. They (the female Freedom Leaguers) thought that there might be a connection to the duplication situation that they fought in South America but Lady Lunar said that it wasn't, the ones in Farside were a different kind of duplicates. [and yes, when she said Farside City, we all got flashes of a city populated by cows with funky glasses].

We took out most of her guards, the 6 in power armor, the 12 in body armor with guns & 1 of the 6 crater apes. At that point, she decided to get the heck out of dodge. Totem got a couple of hero points. One was for the terrain, she's decidedly non-tech (drawback - unfamiliarity with modern tech) in a high tech building. The other was for failing the save versus Lady Lunar's confusion blast. I used one to try & make the save a couple rounds later. It might have worked if I had rolled higher than a 2! That still left me 5 points shy of making the save.

However, I finally saved up enough character points to move Totem's jump ability out of her magic pool and into its own separate power (so I won't have to choose between movement & healing). I'm substituting paralyze attack, channeling Cobra, so I won't have to play numbers games & re-arrange my powers. I brought the book to work & read up on the stuff that I need on the way to work. At lunch I'll work on a new character sheet, complete with notes on what the powers do.

David C stopped by David R's. He had to get something uploaded to someone else for work but the work network connection was down. And he had a problem at home, too, so he came to use David R's internet connection. It took him an hour or two and a few phone calls but finally everything was working and he was done. He was profoundly relieved.

music: on the way home, we plugged my iPod into Diana's car stereo & listened to my music on the way home. I had it on the sing-along playlist. We started with 'Bedlam,' she'd never heard it, and then it was shuffle. Out of the other 9 songs, 4 were by The Donnas. Out of 143 songs on that list, there are about a half-dozen by the Donnas, but 4 of them played in the 1st 10 songs. One note about that song, it's provided the title to Mercedes Lackey's Bedlam's Bard series.

books: I finished Marriage by Design last night. For some reason, I ended up staying up to finish it. That means that I've had about 6 hours of sleep, again. And then about 5 I was dreaming that the alarm clock wasn't waking me up so I woke enough to figure out why..it wasn't on yet!

tatting: I'm still working on that silk Lyn Morton flower. Since I somehow lost a couple picots from the center ring, it's going to be a 5-petal flower instead of 6. I also remembered what I want to do with the perle cotton, I'm making a Nina Libin bracelet. It won't be as firm as hers are because I'm not using metallic thread. Hopefully, that won't be a problem. We (by that I mean I) will find out, I guess.

clothes: With the cold front that came in yesterday & left me chilled, I've dressed a bit warmer today; in gray suede boots, black jeans, purple long-sleeved shirt (iridescent cotton, purple & blue-ish), black belt, Celtic knot ring, hematite ring, Celtic knot star, moon & tree pendant, & chainmail earrings.

Virtual Villagers: the Lost Children - It's a computer game. It's in real time so if I'm going to be away from my laptop for awhile I pause the game. I forgot to do that once & 2/3 of my villagers starved. I had to start over, I just didn't have enough people to keep going (read no fertile females). I've gotten to all of the stage 2 tech benchmarks & to stage 3 (last one) of Medicine. I think I'll skip right to stage 3 of Farming. That's the only way to reliably & consistently provide food for my villagers.

I've also unlocked puzzles 1-5, 12 & 16. That's not quite half of them. One of them will be unlocked when I hit stage 3 Farming tech. I've gotten the population up to 22 (no deaths so far but a couple of the villagers are bordering on elderly now). I've collected a sample of each of the 12 rocks, 11 of the butterflies, 11 of the seashells & 9 of the beetles. For puzzle 3 I had to look at a help site. I just could not seem to figure out what the problem was.

TV: we watched Bones, Criminal Minds & CSI: NY last night. Bones, episode: Spaceman in a Crater, had aliens (sort of) which CSI is supposed to have tonight (Leapin' Lizards). Criminal Minds (Open Season) had arrows (which CSI had last week- Ending Happy) and CSI: NY (Cold Reveal) had a crossover with Cold Case. One of the detectives came to NY from Philadelphia following up on a case.

books: I started Paid Companion on the way to work & I finished it as I got home. Partially, I was able to do that because it's a re-read & I skipped certain portions. I also sort of re-read Mad Jack. That has been by bedtime book the past couple nights. Now I'm re-reading Marriage By Design. That reminds me, I need to check to see if that author, Lynn Michaels, has written any other books with those characters.

Gaming: tonight it's Mutants & Masterminds again. Chris won't be there, he's working late again. Diana will be giving me a ride, so that's helpful.

Gift-giving: Found a cool site; Kaboodle.com. It's all about lists. I have composed a wishlist (for upcoming gift occasions), a list of tatting books & a list of gaming sites.

clothes: It's supposed to be cooler today, so I broke out the black poly blouse I was going to wear over the dress earlier this week. It's paired with black jeans, socks & loafers, so I'm very monochromatic. Even my jewelry is, mostly, black & silver; silver ladybug clip watch, hematite ring, onyx earrings, labradorite pendant & bloodstone ring (that's the exception & it's still dark).

Power out! When it happened 3 times in one week, I suspected human intervention. I thought maybe some kid playing around & not knowing what the result was. Chris suspected new lawn care people doing something accidentally.

Now it happened overnight. I woke up & my room has no power. The rest of the house is fine. I need go reset the breaker. Weirdly enough, the reset is out-fricking-side. Do you have any idea what it's like to get do ablutions by candlelight? At least there's hot water.

books: I finished Games of Command. It's a pretty good book. It took a little while to get started but then it's like a roller coaster that way. There's a slow build up and then suddenly you're off on a wild ride.

Music: Two songs that I've recently heard & really like. One is Bomshel Stomp & the other is Before He Cheats. I kind of like You Know I'm No Good, too.

clothes: Luckily I laid out clothes last night. Black loafers, trouser socks, & slacks; with a dark green Geoff polo, moss agate bracelet, green amber ring, hematite ring, green amber necklace & earrings. I haven't decided what to do about my hair this morning.

Time to leave for work.

Mom: I called Mom last night. I'll be going to see her on Mother's Day. I need to wrap her Christmas present (that finally arrived after Christmas) & go get her Mother's Day present. I think I will go do that tonight.

AOL: I still haven't been able to contact anyone in AOL about that bill that I received. Since I don't have AOL service, I find it quite worrying. Their customer support line is an absolute joke. There is no way to talk to a real live person. It's all voice mail. Frankly, that alone would keep me from ever considering, much less recommending AOL. In fact, I would strongly recommend against it for that reason alone.

books: I finished reading Glossed & Found on the way home. I finished re-reading Truly, Madly Viking last night before going to sleep.

tatting: I need some really good light to figure out what's going on with that silk. Burgundy is pretty but it's hard to see. I went ahead & wound some cream perle into a ball, from a hank, for my next project. Of course, now I've forgotten what that is. *sigh*

I've started a tatting only blog on Friendster. For that I will post progress reports & pictures of projects. I'm aiming for a weekly update schedule. We'll have to see how well that works.

clothes: It's going to be hot today so I was going to wear the dress that I bought last fall. It's sleeveless so I had a short-sleeved shirt to wear over it. However, it doesn't look very good on me. One of those 'looks better on the hanger'...or on someone else. So I changed to my ankle-length forest green skirt, black rib-knit sweater (short-sleeved), black knee-highs, black sequined flats, bloodstone ring, hematite ring, moss agate bead bracelet, onyx pendant, & chainmail ~chandelier earrings. My hair is loose because I didn't have enough time to do anythimg else to it.

Sight of the day: Cross Pattee tattoo (the one on the far left) between ankle & Achilles tendon on a young man's foot/ankle.

site of the day: worth 100 is a gallery of photo shop artists.

Contest of the day: Science Idol; enter a cartoon or vote for one.

fingernail update: Wearing the band aid salvaged the nail long enough that I could clip it this weekend without doing further injury to myself. That fingernail is now absurdly short. It's especially noticeable since the other nails are long enough to project beyond my fingertips.

books: Started Glossed and Found. Maybe I'll finish it at lunch.

tatting: Finished up the multi-color Lyn Morton flower that I started yesterday. Finished off the thread from the shuttle by doing two butterflies & about 4 flowers. Pulled out a spool of burgundy silk. I've done the central ring but I've run into trouble on the 1st set of chains. I need to play with the picots on the ring, they're playing games.

clothes: black loafers, socks & jeans with white polo (chain edging on collar & cuffs), Celtic knot earrings, small pendant & ring, hematite ring, & spoon ring with patronymic initial etched on it. It's from plateware so it turns my finger green. That's why I don't wear it often.

It's been said that I have a beak of a nose.

Watch me turn into a
Eagle at YouWild.org

And others say that I'm a little batty

Watch me turn into a
Bat at YouWild.org

Seriously, it's cool stuff.

books: I finished The Dreamers series. I've read most of Eddings books so I was not surprised to see some familiar themes (& scenes). However, what I was not expecting was the repetition within the books. I didn't actually count but some scenes were repeated 3, 4, maybe 5 times as they were recounted from different points of view. When that happens once or twice, it's okay. It happened again & again, very rarely was the scene summarized. When the scene took place in an earlier book, I understood (then it's a recap), but in the same novel? Helloooo, I just read this scene 30 pages ago. I have not forgotten it. And while there are good points to the ending, it some ways it was a cop out. Overall, I enjoyed the series but I don't think that it's one that I will read again & again.

Today I read Blush with Death by India Ink. I was relieved to discover that this is a pen name & not something foisted on her by cruel parents. It's a pretty good mystery series. I have yet to try any of the recipes, though. I have the next book in the series, too. I'll probably read it tomorrow.

Harmony Hall: I had fun at Heritage Day. The weather was gorgeous & there was a steady crowd. The couple with the oxen were giving hay rides, plus there was a 'Civil War cavalry officer' there as well. Judy was at the other end of the porch making corn shuck dolls. Her husband kept us company, too. The chicken folks didn't come but someone did bring a goat. The candle maker was there & some women cooked hominy over a fire. It was pretty good. Lots of people took Squirrel's picture. She was quite cute in her outfit. Liz & I both had our picture taken a few times, too.

Almost as usual, I got lost on the way down there Friday night. I will not be taking that particular route again. I have adjusted my directions that I have saved. Maybe I'll be able to drive down in 2 hours next year. I would have been home in 2 hours this year but something disagreed me & I got stuck at a rest stop for an hour. Ick. I got home & collapsed into bed.

Music: Chris told me about a song called Bomshel Stomp. I think I want a copy. I'm interested enough that I'm going to look at other songs by this duo.

Tatting: I started some hen & chicks, thinking to trim my white shawl/fichu. However, I got tired of it & made another of Lyn Morton's 3d flowers, in white this time. I sold one that I had made in multi-color. I also sold some butterflies, three made per requested color. Since Judy was making corn shuck dolls, personalized with ribbons, trim, etc upon request; some of the kids decided that they wanted butterflies on their dolls. I only charged $.50 for the butterflies. I wish that I had had more to sell but maybe next year.

clothes: Yesterday it was my purple calico c.1810 dress & today it's t-shirt ('Cleansing of the Oytwood', grey with green letters), jeans, green socks & brown loafers. I'm wearing pretty much the same jewelry both days; Celtic knot ring, earrings, & small pendant, plus hematite ring & flower band. Today my hair is loose, yesterday I kept it under my tatted snood.

Memory, or lack thereof: I managed to not get much of anything done last night. I put the load of whites into the dryer. I found out where I had stopped on entering Reed's AR access in the Nyrond database, and entered a couple more AR's worth of access.

I did not: eat supper; iron my clothes for tomorrow; locate my c. 1780 outfit; find where I'd packed my fingerless gloves; look for my copy of Flitting Fingers. Guess what I'll be working on tonight. That's all before I leave for the coast.

wish list: My birthday is coming up. So I've started working on my wish list on Kaboodle.

bookshop: Bull's Head is moving back into their old quarters today. When I stopped by, before work, to pick up the next Dreamers book I got a look at it. It's looking good.

books: I am reading Games of Command & The Elder Gods: Bk 1 of the Dreamers. I waited to pick up the other 3 books in that series until I knew how I liked the first one.

clothes: blue 2005 NCAA men's basketball champs polo, navy slacks, brown belt, brown trouser socks, brown suede loafers, silver ladybug clip watch, blue Hungersite silicon bracelet, hematite ring, lapis flower ring, quartz pendants & moonstone pendant necklace, chainmail & silver rose earrings (Roundcon purchase), & ponytail.

Fingernail: I didn't mention that the first thing I did when I arrived at work yesterday was rip a fingernail. I don't mean just a 'oh dear, I'll have to file that', I mean, 'ack, that's a spot of blood where the nail has tried to part from the nail bed'. It's a little sore but I immediately put (& kept) a band aid on it to keep it from getting worse. It won't actually heal, but maybe it will heal enough that I can clip the nail someday.

blood donation: I failed. My hemocrit was a full 3% too low. Then I suddenly realized why. I'm a post-puberty, pre-menopausal female & it happens once a month. For me, it started yesterday. Very bad timing.

Retail therapy: I indulged in some retail therapy. I needed the light bulbs, yes. The gel pens? Sort of. The children's cardboard books? At a dollar, it's nice to have some small children's presents on hand. The doll? It's perfect for Kelly's baby (fingers crossed, due any day now). The shoes? The ballet slipper type go with gauze skirts better than loafers do (I'm wearing them today). The document holder? It was $1 & even if it doesn't hold the steel sqwire spell templates better than the other holder does, maybe it will hold those 'campaign documention' stuff I need for LG.

Books: I finally read Framed in Lace (I've had it for months). In this one, the important clue was bobbin lace. They also mentioned tatting, knitted lace & crocheted lace. Very nice. I also read vol 1 of Shugo Charra!.

Tatting: Saturday I'll be at Harmony Hall doing a Historical Demo. I need to find my copy of Flitting Fingers. I also need to check my clothes. I know where my c. 1810 outfit is but it desperately needs ironing (& maybe some febreze due to a laundry room accident). I need to know where my 1780ish outfit is, too. I should wear that; it's just so warm.

clothes: turquoise skirt (tiered, cotton), lighter turquoise net/crochet sweater over poly shell, black ballet slip-ons, moonstone ring, hematite ring, rainbow moonstone pendant but forgot the earrings. Hair is loose because I just didn't want to bother.

I have a new toy to add to my template. Spam poison. Yay!

Dentist: Started the day with a dentist appointment. This is the 2nd reschedule but this time I was able to make it. I got my car fixed (April 6th - water pump - ick). We did all the x-rays, exams & stuff to plan my treatment. Not so fun but I didn't throw up and it only took an hour.

Podcasts: I listened to a bunch more of Carry's podcasts last night (they certainly beat anything that was on tv). I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm caught up.

books: Buso Renkin vol 5, Deadly Advice by Roberta Isleib & What's a Ghoul to Do? by Victoria Laurie. There are more but those are recent & I remember them.

Tatting: I have finished the tatting for the brooches, now I need to do the fixtures part. Almost there. I also made a flower pin for my assistant. Today is her last day working for me.

clothes: black slacks, lilac polo (Carolina Ren Festival embroidered in white), black & crystal bead bracelet, silver dome ring, hematite ring, purple Czech crystal earrings, small black labradorite pendant & my hair up in a ponytail/bun. That's affixed with a butterfly hair stick w/ pink crystals in the wings. (Note: spell the ruddy stone right if you want to find it on a search).

Being unable to get any of my posts to show has really made me reluctant to bother. But I saw this news article & had to post it.

1944 Miss America stops an intruder

books: Mamotte Lollipop vol 1, Chibi Vampire vols 2 & 3, Tactics vol 1, Millennium Snow vol 1, and a host of others (I haven't been keeping track).

today's outfit: denim skirt, crochet blouse (over white knit tank), brown suede loafers, lapis flower ring, hematite ring (finally replaced it at Roundcon), blue & brassy earring, quartz pendant & moonstone in Celtic knots pendant necklace. I have my hair parted on the side & a braid to help keep that way (no elastic of right side so it keeps coming unbraided).

Gaming Ahoy! We did two zero rounds this weekend to prep for Roundcon & we have one more to go. Then it's do laundry & pack for the con. We travel down on Thursday (taking Mike with us).

whoops, gotta go.

blog issues: In case it's not obvious (& it probably won't be for 2 reasons: no one else reads this & you can't see something's that not there), I'm having posting problems. I haven't been able to get a post to go up since Friday. Monday's post was a little long but Tuesday's was really short. Neither one will post. I'll keep trying.

movies: I watched Only Angels Have Wings on TCM last night. There was nothing else that really drew me & it's a Cary Grant movie after all.

books: I'm still reading All Hallows' Evil. I'm about half-way through it.

clothes: Another warm day but they said it was supposed to cool off & get breezy this afternoon, so I packed a light shirt/jacket (black). White polo with crochet chain edging collar & cuffs (quasi-lace like), black slacks, black belt with gold tone buckle (it's larger than the other one), black socks & loafers. For jewelry it's my silver harp pendant (Nadia's), Celtic knot earrings, black stone ring, & dragon band. I'm still trying to re-train my hair for a side part so I did the side braid again today.

Gaming: We played Freak of Nature last night, all 5 of us (plus Doug as GM). I played Zavin, my druid. We ended late enough that I didn't do more than sign the AR & do the quick math (experience, cost of living, etc). I did remember to re-set my alarm clock, just as I was falling asleep.

A lot of earthworms this morning were out & about. Does that mean that we're going to get some rain? We really need it, if only to wash some of the pollen away. It's certainly supposed to get warm today.

I manage to get something in my eye this morning. I almost think that I've washed it out & then it seems like I feel it again.

clothes: plaid texture white cotton blouse, black slacks & belt, black trouser socks, black sequin/bead flats, white shell earrings (almost nacre-like), flower fairy pendant, flower band ring, ~rope band ring & side braid in my hair (opposite side part). I'm still tired & didn't feel like putting a lot of thought into what I'm wearing today.

Panic of the day: My alarm clock reset for the time change & I didn't realize it. So I woke up at '7:45 am' & absolutely freaked. I realized that I couldn't catch any bus earlier than 8:30 & I'd be an hour late for work. Then, as I rushed downstairs to call my boss, I saw the clock on the stove: 6:56 am. Whew. What a relief. I still forgot to pack my leftovers for my lunch, though.

Sad news of the day: Tsunami in the Solomons

YouTube of the day: chicken-fried bacon strips

sight of the day: bracelet made from pop tops. It's a double row of overlapping pop tops on elastic cord.

Last night it was the sight of the 'snow' underneath our Bradford pear. The rain had caused the tree to shed a literal carpet of white petals.

gaming: We've finished the 1st two parts of Red Hand of Doom. Started about 10 am on Saturday, played 'til late. Started again by about noon on Sunday & stopped about 8 pm. We have 3 clerics & that's a good thing. One is a healing cleric, one is a buffing cleric & one is a damage dealing cleric. That's kept my barbarian, the only front-line fighter, alive. As it is, one of the clerics died.

The rogue bought a deep hound (large mount/fighter) to help for the 2nd part. That's been a big help. Even if the hound never actually does damage (which he does), just having another body there to take the hits makes a huge difference. It's a very well-written mod overall but the last encounter that we had predicates a certain pattern of behavior that seems, well, foolish. I can't go into detail, I don't want to spoil it for anyone who plans to play it themselves.

Tonight we're playing Freak of Nature; another zero round.

books: I read The Woman at Belguardo, one of the books from the sale last week. With all the gaming, I haven't had time to read anything else. I only finished that today. Next I'm starting An Old Faithful Murder. There were several books by this author at the sale so I hope that they're good. After that, I'll probably read All Hallows' Evil, the next book.

Radio show: I finally finished listening to episode 17 of The Scarlet Queen. I only needed about another 5 minutes, but first I had to listen to the 1st 20 or so, again.

tatting: I just made more butterflies. As soon as I've emptied this shuttle, I'll start on the next brooch.

clothes: This weekend it was t-shirts & jeans. It was remarkably warmer than I thought it was going to be, so I never needed my jacket. Today it's black slacks, socks & loafers, green/black Harrington Steading polo, black belt (w/ silver tone buckle), quartz feather pendant, feather & quartz chip earrings, flower band ring & loose hair. I still have it in a side part, too.

Living Greyhawk game: Played City of Malice (core adventure). Whoof. I now see why Mike made Rosemary take an oath, vowing NOT to play up (for non-gamers that means the adventure difficulty is set by the average level of the characters at the table & your character is below that average level - the average party level, or APL, of 3 1st level characters & 3 3rd level characters is 3 because the formula is (1+1+1+3+3+3/6) +1 [for a full table], which yields 3 so they could choose to play APL 2 or APL 4. Unless they're very stupid they'd choose APL 2). I played Reed, my CatTail, while Chris & Rosemary played her cousins, Grawl & Araby. We also had a halfling wizard/arcane trickster, a human bard/sublime chord & a human cleric. And this time, Grawl proved that Wall of Thorns is a wonderful, nasty spell to throw at someone (especially when you're a druid & can ignore it). Reed proved it last time.

The only problem was that Chris & I didn't leave until 12:30. That's very late for me, especially considering my late night on Wednesday, too. I was so tired, that from one eyeblink to the next I was asleep & didn't wake until the last stoplight before home. Waking up this morning was veeeery difficult.

More Living Greyhawk: Tomorrow we start Red Hand of Doom! We'll be playing most of Saturday and then Sunday afternoon. We hope that will take us halfway through it.

Heh, I forgot that I have a Frappr map. I wonder when I signed up for that.

Weather: There was actually %#$*&^%* frost on the ground this morning. Wednesday it was in the 80'sF. Today there's frost. Okay, it did rain yesterday which was almost a transition but still!

books: I'm still reading Rapture in Death. Next I'll start Held Accountable, it's one of the books that I picked up on Wednesday from the used book sale. It's a mystery set at a mental health center. The setting alone sets it apart.

tatting: I got very little done; just a couple shuttle-clearing butterflies.

clothes: black loafers (I have all the mud off from yesterday I think), black socks, black jeans, black belt (gold-tone & black buckle), black shirt (Origins), and same jewelry. I braided my hair today because it got into such a rats' nest yesterday from the ponytail.

I'm on Frapper

Website of the day: want to know a little about Keeshonds? They are a rockin' cool dog breed.

2nd website of the day: work with wood? How about some info before you buy or decide to work.

Dental app't: I screwed up and John didn't give me a ride. So I came into work late. I rescheduled for next month. Maybe by then I'll have my car fixed and I won't need a ride.

Gaming: Looks like we're playing Freaks of Nature tonight at Rosemary's. I'm catching a ride with the gm so there's no way I'll be late. Chris has my gaming stuff.

books: I finished The Cove last night. I stayed up too late doing so, too. Ah well, it was a good suspense/romance. Frankly, the only reason I knew the heroine wasn't nuts was that it was a romance & the genre predicates happy endings. This morning I started re-reading Rapture in Death. It's been a while but I'm starting to remember whodunit.

clothes: black: loafers, socks, jeans & polo (w/ purple embroidery [ 2001 Ren Festival]), black glass bead bracelet, silver hashmark ring, fem-power ring, onyx earrings & pendant on long silver chain. My hair is up in a ponytail for lack of anything better.

Today's Excitement: There was a fire alarm in my building this afternoon. That gave me the opportunity to go the library students used book sale. I bought some books while I waited for the alarm to be over. Never did find out what caused it. I started reading one of the books I bought at the sale.

gaming: Looking at playing a slot zero game (pre-con games that get enough gm's to run games at the convention). It depends on whether one guy is sick tomorrow that determines which game we play & where. After all, if he's sick then 1)he won't be up to gaming & 2) he might be contagious.

weather: I'd like to find out if the weather set a record today or just tied it. The record high for today is 86F, set in 1945. If it didn't get that hot today it was gosh-awful close.

books: I also read the 3rd volume of R.O.D.: Read Or Dream. I forgot to pack Creeps Suzette this morning so I didn't read this morning. On the bus home I started The Cove by Coulter.

clothes: white, notched mock-turtleneck shirt, crepe skirt in black, cream & tan, triple hoop silver earrings, ring with circles, fem-power ring, flower fairy pendant & hair up in the ponytail/bun affixed with two black & tan chopsticks.

Gaming: Chris's game was last night & we (our characters) learned some things. 1) Mimics are nasty beasties, 2) don't hit them with electrical attacks (they spawn) & 3) grappling a dire lioness is bad for mimics.

website of the day: What's that actor's Bacon number? Ask the Bacon Oracle! And funny website of the day: stick figures used to make science jokes (& literature, etc).

Lunch today is leftovers from Sunday. I'll be having a crabcake, glazed carrots, and mashed potatoes. We ate at Red Rock Canyon Grill with Mike. The food was yummy.

books: I read Innocent in Death last night & learned that I'd missed an ..In Death book. So I'll be looking for that today. I brought Creeps Suzette with me to work but I'm very early into it.

clothes: black loafers, black socks & jeans, burgundy tank/plaid blouse set (tank is burgundy embroidered with a band of leaves along the neck, & over/attached to it is a plaid shirt in burgundy, grey, tan and light variants, with the same leaves embroidered randomly in green), feather charm/quartz chip earrings, quartz point feather pendant on long silver chain, ~rope band, silver dome ring, & my hair is loose for lack of anything better to do with it.

Raptorcon! It was fun. I played two core LG games & the rest were Geoff mods. Unfortunately, the first mod of Sunday (core) I (& the rest of the table) had to deal with the notorious JC. Gah. And the people at Trinic-con can blame me if he comes. I wore my 2006 shirt & he saw it. *sigh* He may be a very nice man but he's, how should I say this, less than accurate in some of his statements. And he ignores what other people say, interrupts, etc (ie Rosemary said, 'even with the web spell there, can I step to get the cleave?' and JC said, as she stepped into the web that he cast in her way, 'if you had cleave, you could just hit that guy.'). Just a very rude guy.

Zavin, my first level Geoff druid, finally made 2nd level. It took 2 more intro mods to do it. I 'met' Eric's new 1st level PC. His old character is currently plugging some portal, so he got a cert to play a fey. He's playing an ice fey warleader, female. She's been informed that she should go scout (to get her out of the tribe/clan's way).

The roleplay interactive on Saturday night was lots of fun. There were games, mini-missions & some good roleplay. I played one game; smash the candy man. I need to find a copy, maybe 2 or 3. It's a Candyland variant where when you pass the other players you can 'hit' them. When they take 6 hits in one area, (head, limb or torso), they lose that area. If you use gingerbread men & frosting tube to score; you can eat your opponent's limb when you finish it off. Delicious.

As usual, I didn't get enough sleep and napped on the way home. I got to sleep late this morning, too. Unfortunately, the hotel didn't manage to get the number of towels right at any point past the first day. Luckily, I learned that I can dry off with just a hand towel.

tatting: I finally picked up my shuttles this weekend. I made the two apology brooches (all I had was white thread), now I need to work on the primary ones. Here's what I made:
I managed to get them done, starting Friday night and finished Sunday morning. I started another one with more beads but I screwed up on the first round of chains & just put it away. I'm not even going to bother posting a picture of it as it's only going to be cut up.
I started to make a silver/white choker with clear seed beads:
It's from Lyn Morton's book (as is the brooch above). That thread is really pretty but it's a pain to work with; eventually I screwed it up & gave up on it. Can you see what I did?

So I used the rest of the thread on the shuttles to make a couple butterflies & some simple flowers.


books: I finished both books that I took with me. Quelle surprise. My Fair Temptation I finished today on the trip back. So I read more of The Pillow Book.

clothes: Obviously it was jeans & t-shirts this weekend. I wore white tennis shoes all week because my left loafer sole tried to come off. It was half-off by the time I got halfway to Maryland. I couldn't wear those shoes. That left the black tennis shoes that I packed, both left ones. Or the white ones. I wore them with black jeans (red Meepa Con tee), blue jeans (Geoff 'Against the Giants' tee & 2006 trinic-con tee). I finally wore my 'strawberry' with dangles earrings on Saturday.

Today it's blue jeans, black 2003 NF conference Panthers champs, feather charm & quartz chip earrings, quartz point/feather pendant on long chain, ~rope band & fem-power band.

3 websites with green (ecologically preservative) focus & 3 cleaners that are cheaper & less toxic than storebought:

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/

http://lesstoxicguide.ca/index.asp?fetch=household

http://www.glamour.com/news/articles/2007/03/bestecosites

Discount Cleansers There are several ways to cut the expense of manufactured cleaners. Not only are they cheaper, they are also environmentally friendly and child-safe.

For Glass cleaner, mix 2 tbsp alcohol to 16 oz of water.

To clean hardwood floors, mix 1 cup vinegar per gallon of water.

To make furniture polish mix 2 tbsp olive oil, 16oz water and 1 tsp of lemon oil.

As Iraq Casualties Mount, So Do the Stories We Must Tell

Four years ago we invaded Iraq and today the occupation continues. A new project is working to tell the stories of the service members whose lives have been lost -- in the words of the people who loved them. A growing, living memorial by those who knew those who fell.



read more | digg story

First day of spring, my Aunt Fanny! While a pretty day, I would not call it spring-like weather yesterday. I did pick a daffodil to put in a vase in my office, though. I love those flowers. They smell nice, they're bright & cheerful after the grey days of winter, and they appear early, like the forsythia; heralding spring's arrival.

books: I read Vampire Doll, #2 and sort of re-read part of Devil's Bride. I haven't gotten very far because I have not been taking lunch; since I'm off Friday & Monday for RaptorCon (in Gaithersburg, MD). That will cut down on the vacation time that I'll be taking.

Interesting book of the day: The author is coming soon to speak at my alma mater, so I looked up her book. It sounds fascinating. The book is Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel & the War on Terror. She grew up in Cairo; the daughter of man who died after leading raids on Israel. She was considered the daughter of a martyr of the jihad & thus was honored.

Con: I finished my laundry last night & packed. Then we packed the car, since Chris will be picking me up from work & we're leaving for Maryland then. We're not going back home, so if I haven't packed it, I'm not taking it. That did mean that I brought my laptop to work with me. It's a heavy sucker, this morning.

Music: I loaded Try This & I'm Not Dead (P!nk) into my iTunes the last couple days. I've sync'ed my iPod & put some of the songs onto playlists. I also loaded a couple more episodes of The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen. I checked the dates on the episodes last night & I'm missing (or rather Radiolovers.com is missing) at least half-a-dozen episodes by #20. Bummer.

clothes: yesterday it was grey 2002 Carolina Ren Festival polo, black slacks, black socks, black half-boots (that really need to have the heels replaced), black belt (gold-tone buckle), & moonstone jewelry. Braided hair yesterday & today.

Today it's forest Geoff polo, black slacks, same belt, black trouser socks, black loafers (I finally found the smaller pair), emerald earrings & necklace, & fem-power ring.

Bruises: Remember that fall on Friday? I do; I have a nice collection of bruises to remind me. There's one about hand-sized on my left hip; it's big & ugly. There's another, about the size of a quarter, on the inside of my right arm & a small, only nickel-sized, one on my right thigh. That's probably from hitting myself with my umbrella.

TV: The Riches was on last night but it started about the time that I needed to be heading to bed, so I didn't watch it.

website of the day: boing boing, a directory of wonderful things

guilty food(s) of the day: milk chocolate covered mint Oreo cookies, Reese's Brownie & Hershey's Brownie (very rich, almost too much so).

books: I finished Hana Kimi #16 & Chibi Vampire #2. I started New Moon by Rebecca York & Punch #3 but just wasn't in the mood.

radio show: I finished listening to episode 15, The Huntsman's Quarry & the Dead Chinese, of the Voyage of the Scarlet Queen this morning. I'm really enjoying that show. Funny thing, according to Old Radio, that's episode 21.

clothes: white turtleneck, black poly-suede shirt, purple slacks, black trouser socks, black sequin/beaded flats, Celtic knot jewelry & ~rope band. My hair is loose because it was falling out of the braid & I forgot my hairbrush.

Friday night: I made it to the Books-A-Million just fine on Friday. At about 7:30, there was a fire at a substation (found that out later) & the power went out in the entire strip mall. So I left the store. And the power came back on. And went off again. And came back on again. It was still on when Chris found me & we left for the restaurant. There was a delay before we got seated (had to wait for the people ahead of us to leave) but it was a great evening. The conversation (between the 7 of us, Colt, Diana, David R, David C, Chris, Rosemary & me) ranged from children (only David C has offspring but most of us have nieces/nephews); to car accidents; to animals; to movies, 300 & Ghostrider; professional wrestling; Star Wars, is Obi Wan an Orthodox or Reform Jedi; Christianity, Bible as literal or guiding truth; concerts; & theater. We gathered at the restaurant starting at 8 pm & didn't leave until about 11 pm.

TV: Watched the pilot for The Riches on Saturday. Eddie Izzard is a lot shorter than I thought he was. And he looks really good with facial hair. The pilot description isn't quite as the actual show unfolded. It's more interesting than that.

Last night we watched Christopher Titus's 5th Annual End of the World Tour. He is a really good comedian and some of his stories made me leak tears. Because he doesn't always talk about funny stuff. Heck, a lot of his subject matter is decidedly unfunny (9/11/01, anybody?) but he finds the humor.

Radio shows: It was a long bus ride on Friday and I had to watch where I was going, so I listened to Voyage of the Scarlet Queen. I got all the way through episodes 13, Kang's Treasure & the Ghost of Tangolan Bay, & 14, The Beautiful Girl in the Bargain Basement.

Music: I've almost listened to & rated all the purchased music on my iTunes (lots of Free Music Tuesdays). Once I've finished that, I'll burn them onto a cd as back-up. I also bought Pink's CD; Try This while we were at Best Buy yesterday. The new one near us opened up last month but we were waiting for a flyer announcing it (which never came).

books: I finally finished Shelters of Stone. It's historical fiction set in pre-history; about the time Neanderthals & Cro-Magnon men were both extant.

Books-A-Million had a table of buy 2 get a 3rd book free, so I picked up a few. I read A Babe in Ghostland on Friday. It's a paranormal romance. She's an inexperienced psychic who helps the male lead get rid of the ghosts in his house. I finally read Outrageous by Christina Dodd, a medieval romance set just after Richard the 3rd's reign. I don't know how long I've had it. I also read Penelope & Prince Charming (Regency era but at least half the action takes place in Nvengaria) and Just Desserts on Sunday. The latter is a contemporary mystery.

clothes: I forgot to put on green clothes on Saturday (purple turtleneck & jeans), so I wore an emerald necklace & earrings instead. Sunday I wore another turtleneck with jeans, this time with the feather quartz point & feather charm & quartz chip earrings.

Today it's green turtleneck, black slacks, black belt (silver buckle), black suede shoes, silver flower band, black stone ring, silver feather charm & quartz chip earrings, braided hair & quartz point pendant with a carved feather.

Weather: Yesterday it was 81F & sunny. Today, it's 47F and raining. Just to add the loveliness, the sudden change in pressure gave me a massive headache (woke up at 2 am to take meds).

dream: I was a vampire (how that happened I don't remember) and as I was out stalking my prey, I found a gang of youths that looked perfect. Except that they were zombies & they were hunting me, not knowing that I was a vampire. The only living creature was someone who made Quasimodo look like a GQ posterboy. So we went looking for meals (blood for me, brains? for the zombies & flesh for the ghouls). We ended up at a high school & things went fine as we munched down on football jocks & cheerleaders (after school, it was night, duh). Then we found some elementary school kids on one of the rooms (age 8ish); they were watching some film or other as a kind of sleepover thing - school related. I couldn't let the zombies & ghouls eat kids, so I fought them off & barricaded the door. I took steps to prevent them from getting in (painting warding symbols on the doors, windows, walls, ceiling & floor). Somehow there were kittens involved but that may simply have been imagery symbolizing the innocence of youth. By that time I had thoroughly infuriated the lead zombie (& the one that I almost ate) and he was determined to munch on those kids. About that time my headache woke me up & I took some heavy painkillers.

After that, I dreamed that I was at some boarding school; one that was very odd. It turned out that it was for 'talented' kids (magic?). There was an incident involving a ghost or spirit of some sort and we ended up accidentally burning down part of the school. Me & the two kids with me (we may have been siblings) were being sent to another school; one that was also set up to handle people with our talents.

Stuff: To add to my fun, as I was disembarking the bus (& wishing the driver a good & safe day), I slipped. I slid/slipped down the bus steps until I was seated on the last one, with my feet out the door. My backside is bruised but everything else seems to have escaped injury.

This evening I'm not going home, I'm meeting Chris, Rosemary & others for David's birthday supper. Since I don't have a car, I'm taking the bus to that part of town & waiting for someone to get me from there.

book: Finished the book I brought with me yesterday and started The Service of the Sword (Worlds of Honor #4). I also brought along another book, A Fine Passion (one of the Bastion Club series) because I have a long bus ride this afternoon.

clothes: tall, black boots, brown velour broomstick skirt, navy turtleneck, navy cord vest embroidered with flowers, paui shell pendant & ring, flower band, fem-power band, and blue bead & silver heart dangly earrings. My hair is up in a ponytail & braided because it got so very tangled yesterday in the ponytail, I decided not to go through that today.

cold: Thanks to the fact that I'm sick again, I've had to cancel my platelet donation on Friday. That really bums me out. Yesterday I started coughing, too, a wet, hacking one.

dream: One of the things I dreamed about, I was in bed but I could see a road. The road was very wet, with standing water. I saw two police cars headed towards me & a small car away from me. For some reason, the departing car, with 3 young men in it, was going over the line, in a zig-zag. I remember thinking that they must be doing it to avoid the standing water, and just as they passed the 1st police car they hydroplaned right into the 2nd police car, almost a 't'. It went out of control and hit the 1st one, pretty much destroying it. The small car came to a stop on the side of the road, maybe after rolling. The policemen were not happy with the three young men. I came forward, a little reluctantly I admit, and told them what I saw.

One of the other dreams, involved Rosemary explaining to David R about a recent Living Greyhawk game that we'd played. It was part of a larger storyline and the recent adventure involved saving the lives of the leaders of X (I don't remember what). We didn't like the leader but we did like his 2nd in command (& successor). Unfortunately, we couldn't save one without the other. Chris was adding that there was a whole...mythology (he meant backstory) to it. Rosemary was trying to explain without going into so many details that it would bore David. She ended by saying the game was so exciting & tense that she was wound up like Mike (M, in MD).

books: I've tried reading Bridge to Yesterday before. Yesterday I finished it. I don't remember why I stopped reading it the last time. It's a pretty good book. Then I bought & read The Trouble with Witches. It's the 3rd Abby & Ophelia mystery. I'm continuing to read Shelters of Stone but for the commute (& lunch) read I brought Paid Companion to re-read.

clothes: Green/black Harrington steading polo, black slacks, black belt (with silver buckle, I'm finally small enough to wear it again), black knee-highs, black sequin/bead flats, malachite & silver bracelet & ring (which is a little large on me now), black stone ring, quartz point 'feather' pendant on long silver chain, & feather & quartz chip earrings. Hair's in a ponytail for lack of anything better.

Cold: my cold is moving faster this time. I started coughing yesterday. Ah, the joys of mucus. Blech.

I used the facial scrub that I bought a week ago. My skin feels really soft this morning. I'll use it a couple more times before I make a final judgment on it, but so far, so good.

books: Kind of reading Shelters of Stone. It's hardback, so I'm reading it before going to sleep, that sort of thing. Used my frequent customer card to buy a couple books yesterday, Charmed to Death & Lover Revealed. I really like the characters in Charmed to Death. Abby is a sweetheart. JR did a good job in Lover Revealed. She developed plots that she hinted at, or alluded to, in past books of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Yep, I read them both yesterday. I only stopped to eat supper.

clothes: yesterday it was a black polo, with Carolina Renaissance Festival embroidered in purple, black slacks, same black belt, black socks & loafers, with the paui shell pendant on a long chain, paui shell ring & ~rope band. Most of the time I left my hair in a ponytail.

Today it's dark green Geoff polo, black slacks, same black belt, black knee-highs, black sequined & beaded flats, emerald pendant & earrings, black stone ring & a ponytail.

MOVIE: Went to see Ghostrider last night. It will never qualify as one of the greatest movies of all time but it was entertaining & did have some good moments; both humor & action.

Afterwards, we went to eat at Bonefish Grill. It was a little more expensive than I was expecting but the food is very good. I had the tilapia with the pan Asian sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and the seasonal vegetable: spaghetti squash. I don't care for spaghetti squash but they seasoned it well & I ate a couple of bites anyway. Besides, even if you're not certain that you'll like the food, you should try a couple bites to find out. Unless you're allergic of course.

Saw part of Thunderbirds on tv, the live action movie. I think I'll look for it to watch it from the beginning some time.

sick: My cold from January is back. Saturday I woke up with that stupid sore throat. So I've been sucking on zinc lozenges, taking some echinacea & taking cold & sinus medicine. Oh. Whee.

books: Re-read all three books of the Tamuli by Eddings. I read Domes of Fire & The Shining Ones Saturday & Sunday & finished Hidden City while I had insomnia this morning. This morning I started re-reading A Loving Scoundrel.

I listened to a few more of Autumn Breeze's podcasts; she really is a good storyteller.

clothes: Saturday it was another Miami Parks & Rec pool staff t- with blue jeans. I never really went anywhere so it didn't matter. Yesterday it was black loafers, socks, jean & "I survived the Big Bad Wolf (Busch Gardens)" t-. I forgot to put on jewelry, completely.

Today it's black sequined & beaded flats (I'm sick of my 'now too large loafers'), 'sand' knee-highs, black slacks, black belt, lilac Carolina Ren Festival polo, Celtic knot earrings, ring & pendant (same as last time), fem-power ring & magnet bracelet. My hair is pulled up into a ponytail with a lilac elastic.

Car: I made good time getting home last night & was headed to meet Chris for supper before gaming. Less than a mile from home, the car started squealing. It sounded almost like the brake pads about to wear out noise but I wasn't applying the brakes. I called Chris while I was stopped at the red light and he couldn't id the noise (over the phone? no surprise there). Then it stopped as I accelerated away from the light. And it started again, so I pulled into the nearest parking lot (an apartment complex). By that time, I also saw smoke & smelled something burning! I put up the hood, carefully but no fire. I also couldn't see the source of the noise or smoke. Radiator fluid was dripping from under my car, in 2 places so I waited until the car cooled. I called Chris to tell him that I wasn't driving to Raleigh & called David. No gaming, I wasn't the only canceller. After my car cooled for 20 minutes, I started it, intending to drive home. I pulled out of the parking space & pulled right back in again. The squeal & the smoke had started up immediately.

I called AAA & got my car towed back to the house. Chris arrived not long before the tow truck did. We almost had a 'America's funniest home video' moment as the driver was putting the towing apparatus in place. My car, once I'd backed out of the space again, was on a slope, thus the parking brake had to remain engaged until the last minute. Otherwise, down the slope, probably into other cars, it would have gone. With the way the tires were turned though, it was remotely possible that it would have rolled into the one empty parking space.

It's probably a belt problem & probably need to have many of my belts & hoses replaced. It's been awhile since I've done anything with them & even as infrequently as I drive, stuff needs to be maintained. At least belts & hoses are cheaper than a new engine.

This does play havoc with my schedule for next week. I need to make a few phone calls to figure out how to re-arrange things.

Sports: My alma mater plays Fla State in the ACC basketball championships today. I hope that they do well.

books: finished The Ruby Knight & started The Sapphire Rose this morning. It's book 3 of the Elenium.

clothes: black suede shoes, black twill slacks, pink raw silk blouse (& black faux-suede shirt over it for warmth when needed), Celtic knot earrings & ring, knotwork moon/tree/star pendant & silver ~rope band. Hair is loose because the waves below my shoulders are pretty & I don't feel like doing anything else with it.

Supper with Dad: I arrived at the Cracker Barrel very close to on-time. Dad had been there for 3 hours, he said. He had stopped by the shop, between where he lives & where we met, where his moto guzzi is getting repaired. He had the day off and had the time to spend. We had a nice supper, conversation, etc. He showed me the bottle stoppers that he'd made. One of them had a corkscrew in it, very clever.

I had to take my leave just after 9 pm; I was really tired. I stopped for gas and a soda (caffeine to help keep me awake) & got home just after 10 pm. I stopped to talk to Chris a bit & then went to bed. I vaguely woke up around 5 am but dozed & slept until my alarm went off.

Website of the day: Need a laugh? Watch long enough for the mike to be placed in front of the guy in the middle.

gaming: Tonight's it Mutants & Masterminds again.

books: Finished Diamond Throne, book 1 of Elenium & started The Ruby Knight, book 2.

clothes: black jeans, grey suede boots, ~watered cotton purple/blue blouse, paui shell pendant on long silver chain, paui shell ring, fem-power ring & I forgot to put in earrings. I gathered the hair from my crown into a braid with the rest of my hair loose.

bus: I went to the central bus depot but my hat isn't in the lost & found yet. That was a wasted trip. I'll call on Friday & if it's there, I'll get it on Saturday.

books: I finished To Distraction on the way home & started re-reading Diamond Throne.

Tonight I'm meeting my Dad for supper. We're going to a Cracker Barrel on the highway between us. Too bad I'll need gas to get there. Gas is around $2.39 in my neighborhood (at the cheapest). On Friday, I have to be there to supervise the company moving my stuff from storage to the new location. Next Wednesday is my dental appointment & the Friday after that, unless there's a problem, I'll be donating platelets.

clothes: green/black Harrington steading polo, black jeans, black belt (w/ gold tone buckle..again), black socks that won't stay up (they're driving me nuts), black loafers (that are mite too big since I've lost weight, they flop), emerald & gold heart necklace, emerald & gold posts, & black stone ring. I've got my hair loose until I have to go outside. It's too windy not to braid but even in the braid the wind pulls strands loose & it looks messy.

Biography Channel: We watched the biography of Billy Pratt, aka Boris Karloff. Really, for a man who gained fame as a monster, he was a good-looking and versatile actor.

books: I finished Wintersmith & decided to re-read something I know that I'll like; To Distraction.

clothes: black loafers, sock & jeans with the same black belt & a black polo (2002 Carolina Ren Fest), with amethyst & silver ring, amethyst pendant on a short silver chain, purple Czech bead earrings, ~rope band, fem-power ring & magnet bracelet (black magnets) with clear, blue & silver beads.

Radio Shows: I'm up to episode 13 of the Scarlet Queen. But I've listening to music recently because I've been talking instead of listening to the radio show.

movie: Half-watched Bourne Supremacy last night. I was going through my iTunes library of purchased songs. I'm way behind on listening & sorting them.

@#$% left my hat on the bus this morning. Gotta go by the central bus depot to pick it up, maybe I can go after work tomorrow.

gaming: I picked up the 2nd endition of Lace & Steel at the recent sale at FE. However, it requires the combat deck to play properly (which I admit, I may never get to do). I have found a source for them at rpgnow.com

books: Finished Blame It on Cupid and picked up Wintersmith again.

website: Making seafood choices for a healthy ocean

clothes: today it's black jeans, black suede shoes, black socks, black belt (w/ gold-tone buckle), brown/black Vorkosigan polo, gold emerald heart necklace, gold & emerald posts & braided hair. It was going to wear it loose, but it's much too windy for that.

car: I (with Chris's help) finally got the milk can stool from my dad out of my car. It was too heavy for me to get by myself. While I was at it, I got out a box and a couple bags. I can even see the floor behind the passenger seat again.

I clipped my nails yesterday after that pinkie nail broke again. One thumbnail is till long enough to see over the end of the thumb, but the rest are just long enough to have white beyond the quick.

clothes: t-shirt & jean, navy loafers. The tee is a white one that my aunt gave me; it's Miami parks & rec staff shirt & not something that she wanted to give anyone who actually lives in Miami.

books: I'm trying to read Mind Pool by Charles Sheffield but I'm having a hard time getting into it. So I turned to Blame It on Cupid by Crusie.

car my car is now legal again; I got it inspected this morning. It needed a couple side lights but that was an inexpensive fix; thank goodness.

Chris's car is being serviced so we're a one (workable) car household today. We went by the mall; Chris wanted gloves to match his coat (blue & black) & I'm almost out of moisturizer with spf (did you know that it's really hard to find one with higher than 15, I've failed so far). Plus, Chris had a gift cert for Williams & Sonoma. We hit Wilson's first but they didn't have the gloves that he wanted. They did have the jacket, for him & for me. And the new back-friendly bag (it says it can hold a laptop but not mine), and the new camera bag. It was a good sale. My jacket was only $40 after the assorted discounts. Sweet.

I bought two tubes/containers of vitamin E moisturizer with spf 15 from The Body Shop. Since they had a buy 2 get 1 free (face products), I also bought a container of face scrub.

At W&S, we shopped around. They have lots of neato stuff. No appliances today or knives, just kitchen knick-knack & tools (tea ball, tea egg [make a pot o' tea], etc).

books: I finished Not Another New Year's & Howling Moon. I read a little farther in Pillow Book.

clothes: Trinic-con 2006 shirt, blue jeans, brown belt, blue loafers, grey ribbed shirt (it's warm but that wind is pretty sharp), flower fairy necklace, ~rope band, fem-power ring & feather (real feathers) earrings.

supper: I fixed House Autry oven-fried chicken last night (House Autry breading, baked in the oven). That plus mixed veggies was the entirety of supper. Then I had some chocolate for dessert.

Work is kicking Chris to pieces right now. He's so tired all the time. None of our usual shows were on so we watched 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?' and Dharma & Greg re-runs.

Weather: It's warmer than I expected this morning. I should have checked more closely but all I checked on was the status of the thunderstorms & tornado watches.

books: I finished A Little Bit Wicked, Lord Harry & Dragon's Kin. Someone, mentioning no names, stayed up a little late last night.

clothes: navy loafers, socks, slacks & belt with white blouse (3/4 length sleeves & texture plaid, band collar), light blue silicon 'cultivate peace' hungersite bracelet, moonstone ring, ~rope band, moonstone earrings & tri-moon moonstone pendant on short silver chain. My hair is up in the ponytail/bun affixed with a single white chopstick printed with a blue dragon.

Signs of Spring: buttercups blooming, a fat toad leaping for shelter, flocks of robins, and thunderstorms

Missed the bus tonight & ended up home a good half-hour later, right as the rain started. That wind is something fierce, too. Whoofties.

It's been more than 2 months since I touched my tatting. Am I finally ready?

Check out my Dark Ages profile!" HREF="http://aetn.waidev5.com/dark_ages/index2.html?link=,Drifa%20The%20Water%20Goddess,1,female1,0,1,2,1,0,6,2,1,1,1,6,6,false,">Check out my Dark Ages profile!

Happy St. David's Day (UK): Presumably, he's an Anglican saint; I can't say that I've ever heard of him. And Happy Samil Independence Day (S. Korea).

Pout: I finished the last of my Jungle chocolate (w/ pineapple) today. It's sooo good.

website/article: 10 influential women you've never heard of

web slideshow: old cars

tv: I watched the first two episodes of Dresden Files, only 3 more and I'm caught up. Until tomorrow night when the 6th one airs. We also watched Criminal Minds, which had a female serial killer.

books: I finished re-readed Sex, Lies & Online Dating and I read volume 1 of Kitchen Princess manga. I've also started A Little Bit Wicked.

Radio shows: I'm up to episode 9 of the Voyage of the Scarlet Queen & we've finally met Kang, the guy who hired Capt Phil Carney.

clothes: dark teal blouse, black jeans (& belt), knee-highs & loafers with silver Celtic knot jewerly, plus ~rope band & fem-power band. Hair up in ponytail/bun & affixed with lighter teal hairsticks.