A Light Through the Darkness

Went to Cape Cod - forgot the Patriots played at home at 1 pm and got stuck in traffic for a bit (stupid people - don't you know the best way to watch the game is at home? Then you can actually HEAR the plays!), but it was a niceish day and I didn't mind too much.

Saw Nana and Aunt Anna and Uncle Stephan - Nana beat me 2 games to 1 in Scrabble (honestly, Goddess? Please let my mind be that sharp at 91!!!) and gave me a gorgeous pair of real opal earrings (yes, I get my love of opals from her, apparently). Anna also brought out some AWESOME pictures of Mom when she was little - oh, caitlindancer, she looked EXACTLY like you when she was a baby. EXACTLY. There is NO way you were adopted, sorry. :p

Speaking of Mom and Dad, they are now loose in Ireland. I apologize to all you out there in advance - they can be a bit of a natural force when they get going. Luckily, they should only be there for about 10 days, and then they'll come home (we hope. They tend to do things impulsively - I MIGHT get a call that says "Sell the house and pack up the cats - we're staying!" Then I'll really have to get my passport.)

Oh, and one more thing. I had to buy new jeans today. I was bumming - the scale wasn't kind this morning. Then I went to the store - and walked out with jeans a size SMALLER than I was wearing when I went in! Good day!

And I stopped at Whole Foods in Bellingham. Thank god I don't live closer to that place - I'd be broke. But wow!

Bed soon. Just need to catch up on my flist and WW.

My friend Donna, irysangel and I went to the Red Arrow Diner, which is a NH Landmark. It's a 24-hr diner that has some of the best food ever (we did get cheese fries. We resisted the deep fried sourdough french toast with bacon, though). We talked writing and novels and characters and stuff for about 3 hours, and then Donna and irysangel went back to Nashua, and I went to WalMart in Concord.

I got the cutest little Bissel vacuum - it works on hardwood floors AND carpets, is bagless and is SO light. I did most of the stairs and the living room today. YAY! A vacuum that works!!!

This morning, Evil Jocelyn met me at the Dartmouth DOC House, which is where we're holding Baronial Yule this year. It's a pirate theme this year (shocking, I know, since I'm running it and all) and I think we're going to have a BLAST. Then we went to lunch at Lou's (whole wheat grilled English muffins, topped with sliced tomato, steamed asparagus, two eggs over easy and melted fontina cheese, with fruit salad on the side) and then, once we were full, we went over to the King Arthur Flour Bakery Store and Outlet to browse. Um. Deadly. I got a tea strainer that just sits in your tea cup (so cool!), a gluten-free cookie mix, a gluten-free gingerbread mix and a bag of almond bark. Not bad, really.

I'm going to make the cookies and gingerbread tomorrow and bring them in for our team meeting, to see what people think. Jocelyn and I talked about a bunch of stuff to do for Yule, and one of the things I want to do is cookie decorating. lysystrata, are food colorings okay? Can I just use the little tubes from the regular grocery store, or do I need to get special ones? Thanks in advance!

Jocelyn talked about maybe doing a pirate castle out of gingerbread - I'm thinking that would be cool for the kids to decorate - maybe they could trade it for Father Christmas? Hmm, ideas!

There's a super hill for sledding too - I hope we have snow. I'd love to see the final battle for Father Christmas be a snowball fight.

Tomorrow, I'm going to print out Belladonna Dreams and start working on revisions. It's eating my brain - I can't help it.

Now back to beading.

To do list for today:
1. TIMELINE!!! Stop being a wuss and finish the damn timeline!
2. Christmas List - start thinking of ideas for presents
3. Christmas Card List - need this updated
4. Send out Potluck List for team for Friday
5. KFC Order for tomorrow for dinner (must have KFC!!!!)
6. Update Training Schedule
7. New WI Calendar
8. Prologue for Seasons
9. Cancel TripRewards

Big day today (NOT!) I have decided to stop whining (except to my cubemate)about the book and just be a big girl and write the damn thing. As my little sister would say, "Time to put on my big girl panties and get to work."

Back in a bit with updates.

Update the first: Team stuff is done. Working on Christmas list now. Weeping with how broke I will be come Christmas.

Update the second: I will be broke for the next four months. *sigh*

I felt like crap this morning. Headache, body ache, stomache ache, just awful. And I forgot my purse AND my notes for Seasons at work. So I took a lazy day this morning, and was very, very good to myself. A hot bath, and then a leisurely breakfast. I did some dishes, made dinner, took a shower, and then went to work.

I'm a little bummed, too (okay, not really, but a little) that my favorite purple skirt is apparently getting too big for me. It's falling down in the back - I'm going to see what I can do to take it in, because I really don't want to give it up. But a small squee of delight too! Just small, because my head really does hurt.

As caitlindancer reminded me, there are only 6 weeks left on the annual town run. I'm really not ready for Pennsic yet, and I've discovered that somewhere in the move, the little foot (not the pedal, but the actual foot) on my sewing machine has vanished. I'll be looking for a new one tomorrow, since both Argus and I need new garb. Oh, the joys of losing weight!

Back to training now. More later.

I went home an hour early last night, because I felt awful. Puking in the work bathroom is NOT my idea of a good night's work. So home I went, feeling a little guilty (but hey, it was only an hour before close anyways) and spent two hours in the bathtub. Today I felt better. YAY!

Got 650 words last night, despite feeling crappy. More tonight, hopefully.

And, for all of you, Kitten pictures!!!

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/captain_hobbes/slideshow?.dir=/a50b&.src=ph

For all the kind wishes. You guys rock.

Onto the writing stuff. Umm, nothing. :p Although I had an idea for a new naughty short that I might work on while waiting for the doctor today. We'll see.

Tonight I need to write.

Yup, I do.

*sigh*

Anyone got another 6 hours a day they could loan me?

Today was a reminder that I am:

A. Not as young as I used to be.

B. Woefully out of shape.

Went to fencing practice this morning - got my arse handed to by Jack the Black and several others, although I did get in some good shots. Got to play with this adorable little buckler Jack has. It's a change from my big silver monster, let me tell you. I still think I like my wooden buckler best, though - just need to fix the handle (currently a leather strap, but I think I'm going to put a metal door handle on it). I also got the velco to (FINALLY!) finish up my armor, so I hopefully will not be wearing duct tape next practice. :p

Then we went home, and showered, and met several of my work friends for bowling. The six of us bowled 3 games (Argus made quite the good showing - he used to bowl in a league and brought his own ball and shoes), but despite being a really bad bowler, I did not totally disgrace myself. I got better as the games went on, and Argus and I are talking about maybe joining a league together. It might be nice to have an activity to do together that doesn't involve the SCA... :p

So now onto Dreams - goal today is another 1k.

So not surprised at this...

You're a Queen. You rule the Blood and are
considered to be the land's heart and the
Blood's moral centre. You are the centre part
of all the Blood.


What Caste from the Dark Jewels Trilogy are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


And I'd love to say I was like Jaenelle, but the truth is, I'm probably much more like Karla.

Which isn't a bad thing. *evil grin*

Kiss kiss!