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.
Labels: flowers, gaming, I'm Not Dead, Pink, Raptorcon, spring, Try This, Voyage of the Scarlet Queen, weather
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.
Labels: basketball, car, Elenium, gaming, The Ruby Knight, The Sapphire Rose
Blog of the Day: Okay, this guy, Aaron, has a much cooler blog than I do. He can only update periodically, something about a 56k modem being shared by about 20 people, but he's a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo. Read about his project, too. I think it's great.
Tatting: almost done with Ben's snowflake, I only have one more point to make. Correction, make that 3 rings to make.
Gaming (D&D): Chris finally gave us experience last night. We also finally finished the watery plot. Now we go to our new assignment (our characters are scouts in the Imperial army) at Skyreach (mountain). We're joining the cavalry. This really upset the dwarf before Chris told him that of course the dwarves don't ride horses. They ride cave bears.
Present: Chris & Rosemary gave me Christopher Hart's book on drawing manga villains. I brought it work but haven't done anything with it yet. I played with it at lunch, well that & Draw Great Manga. I really need to practice more.
bus: So yesterday I caught the bus at one of the 2 possible stops. It's 13 minute walk, more or less. This morning I got off the bus at a different place & decided that I didn't like it. It may be the same distance but it's all up & down. By the School of Government is all a straight shot. Today I will try to catch the bus at the hospital. We'll see how that works. I definitely need to leave earlier though.
Book: I finished Worlds of Honor. I don't know what to start next.
clothes: black tennies (still have the extra 20-30 minute walk), black slacks, black ribbed knit shirt, moonstone earrings & ring, tri-moon moonstone pendant & ~rope band. My hair is braided because I washed it this morning & I didn't want to do anything else to it.
Labels: bus, gaming, tatting
Tatting: Well, I counted. I have at least 12 snowflakes made. I need another 7 or so, plus the ones for that I've made for my aunts.
Clothes: jeans & t-shirts the past three days. It's been long-sleeved t's Thursday & Friday & a short-sleeved one today.
Gaming: yesterday went well. At least one fight each was pretty tough. The other fights were either easy or just not as scary. But at least once per game, this one fight was very close. One of the fights even had smart bad guys...who used healing. If it hadn't been for that, each of their thugs would have dead twice over.
Books: Just re-reading, dipping into & dropping books.
Labels: gaming, tatting
Steps! The entire time that we've lived in the townhouse, the stairs have had a slight tilt. As a result, they've been a little unstable. The HOA patched them a year or so ago but that didn't last. The real problem was the foundation under the steps. We tried pouring dirt under them (there was a discernible hole) but that did not solve the problem.
For about a week, there's been an orange cone next to the steps, either from a prank (?) or to alert us that they were going to do...something to the steps.
Typically, we do not leave the porch light on. It's too close to the door & bugs gather 'round it. During the warmer part of the year, it's light long enough that I can see the door fine. After the leaves fall from the tree, the light from the streetlight is enough during the colder part of the year. However, due, in part, to the earlier time change, the door & porch are very dark as the sun has set & the leaves block the streetlight. Still, I have a flashlight on my keys so it's not a great worry.
Except. Except last night when I came home, after sunset, the cone was moved to the walk. And there's a bucket behind it. I turn on my flashlight & also see that the rest of the walk is blocked by dirt & bricks. Oh look, to the left is another pile of bricks. Look further. No steps! Um. No steps.
Oookay, I can reach the porch. My legs aren't that short. I can just step on that freshly-poured concrete pad...um, is that wet? shine flashlight and tap with toe Why yes, it is wet. To reach the porch, I have to stretch over that pad? My legs aren't that long. And we have friends coming over for Chris's D&D game.
I hover indecisively. Diana's already arrived so I go to see if she has her cell phone. We may not be having gaming (again - we cancelled two weeks ago because I was sick). Chris & David arrive while I'm talking to her.
Chris, more or less, climbs around the a corner to reach the porch. Then he let us in the back door. After that, we turned on the porch light and stretched tape to warn people about the cement. John climbed over the porch rail to get inside.
This morning, I climbed down one corner to get out. It wasn't hard and I got a better look at the cement by the light of day. The edges had started to cure but it started raining by the time I get to work. We may not have steps for a couple days.
Tatting: I finished one of the 6 ring & chain ~wreathy looking ornaments, with beads, in size 80 yesterday. Then I started a 5-ring & chain ornament in size 80.
Clothes: Since I was cleaning at home, I spent a lot of time in a tee & leggings this weekend. When I did get dressed, I just changed to blue jeans.
Monday: purple pants, violet polo, burgundy sweater w/ purple & navy, black sequined flats & knee-highs. Plus dragon earrings, pendant, & band. Hair braided (needs brushing badly). Hey, my alarm didn't work properly yesterday morning & I had 20 minutes to get ready & out the door.
Today: black pants, black Origins shirt (w/ dragons), black socks & loafers, braided hair (still needs brushing, but less so), black stone ring, 2 dragon rings (1 band & 1 more obvious), dragon earrings & pendant. It's warmer today, so I didn't bother with scarf, hat or sweater. I just brought my umbrella.
Gaming: M&M on Thursday; we got captured. Bad villains, bad villains. Go sit in a corner. We're trying to help some South American superheroes, Chileans. It looks like someone has duplicated or mind controlled them to do bad stuff. We have to free them & prove their innocence.
Chris's D&D: we fought the 2 drow spellcaster, the 2 drow archers, 2 lizardmen & the giant. Luckily the giant focussed on our dwarf (monk), who can take it. He still had a couple close calls. But a stoneskin spell & his own "Wholeness of Body" ability did a lot to help. My druid got into melee more, in her own form, which is unusual. She didn't transform to a dire lionness until near the end & that was mostly for the healing. At one point she was down to -9 but the cleric had insignia of healing which saved her. Literally.
Election Day: What is it with elections & rain? The last three mid-term elections have been rained upon. Luckily this time I have a friend who'll give me a ride to the polls.
Books: Enh, nothing earth shattering. Just re-read It's in His Kiss & partially re-read a couple others. I'm having trouble settling down to one read.
Labels: Chris's game, election, gaming, It's in His Kiss, steps, tatting
Today's outfit: red cotton sweater, khaki slacks, cream trouser socks, brown loafers, Celtic knot jewelry, silver ring band, carnelian ring & 2 'bone' hairsticks in a small bun (with rest of hair loose).
Was sick part of the week & busy the rest of the week. I am still trying to get one more player for both games tomorrow, with no luck.
Labels: gaming, sick
Class from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, plus travel time = 5 hours away from desk. That leaves 3 hours to get my work done. I'm a little bit behind as a result. Leave records are done. Check requests are not. My supervisor did the copying on the FBMO's so that's one less task for me.
Found checkbook last night. Mailed car insurance & TV Guide renewal today. Good thing!
Entertaining game last night but fell asleep. Falling asleep better than having a hissy fit & screaming at two of the other players.
My bf works late tonight, we may have supper together tonight, if he picks something up. Or I may eat on my own & he gets something for himself.
Still haven't done my homework for tomorrow's class. Guess I get a long lunch coming to me on Friday, as I work more than 8 hours today. Wheee!
Labels: gaming, work
[insert Monty Python voice] I'm not dead yet. I'm much better [/Monty Python voice]
I really am. I don't know what happened yesterday & I won't go into details. We'll just leave it with 'it was unpleasant.'
We had gaming at our house again (every Monday night). We were supposed to be play testing Diana's adventure. We did, a little. Mostly, we talked. And talked. And talked. Until Rosemary realized that it was 11 pm. Ack. We scattered.
I've had about 7.5 hours of sleep. For those of you who thrive on less, congratulations. I don't. I like having 8 hours of sleep. So far, I have not resorted to caffeine. But I have my tea all ready, all I need is the hot water. The only thing I'm wondering now, did I forget to turn on my alarm clock or did I turn it off in my sleep?
It's a lot colder today than it was yesterday. It's about 45 degrees F right now, with occasional breeze blowing. At least it's nice & sunny.
I forgot to do the clothes thing yesterday so I'll do this weekend, yesterday & today's, now. Weekend: t-shirts, jeans & loafers. Yesterday, white oxford shirt, navy slacks (with an annoying zipper that keeps flipping open, acceptable when I'm wearing something to cover it, not when I have a shirt tucked into the waistband instead), brown boots, Celtic knotwork themed jewelry (pendant, ring, earrings) & my hair in a plait.
Today I'm wearing a violet turtleneck; indigo blue jumper; black boots; multi-colored. geometric checkerboards & stripes sweater, moonstone pendant, earrings, ring, silver band jewelry & my hair is loose. It was braided but I let it down because of all the flyaways. I'd put it up but I forgot to stash a hairstick in my purse this weekend. The jumper, like so many of my skirts, come to mid-calf. I think it's because I'm short & often too lazy to hem them.
Ramadan ends today. FYI, if you didn't know already.
Labels: gaming, weather
