Malice Files

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:53:16 GMT

We did eventually get the car out. I wish I had pictures of the resulting tunnel. It's quite impressive. I managed to pull something in my back in the process. Yay me. Went over to James' house yesterday to dig him out. He'd gotten stuck in a drift in his driveway. Had dinner over there and got to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and also Up. Both very fun to watch, though I did have to cry at several points. Figured out how to do screen captures on WoW. So here is Khory, fully kitted out in her Paladin battle gear. Yes, the thing that looks like a beer keg stuck on a telephone pole is her weapon. It's a two-handed mace and it rocks! She got a chainmail coif on if that confuses anybody. It make her look scary. Then I got a slightly more close up view of her without the hood. Badd-ass, isn't she? You should see my stats. They are unreal, but then I've been told over public channels that "Paladins are overpowered and should be nerfed". If shes overpowered then I don't wanna play another char, cause kicking that much butt is beyond awesome. I'm level 33 now. :)

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:02:56 GMT

Ok, so I heard Jim tell me last night in my sleep that the restaurant wasn't going to be opening for lunch because it hadn't been plowed and not to worry about coming in.

That was not what he said.

I just called Ingrid and she wants me to be in to work by 1pm if I can make it because Elaine, who usually does the evening shift, can't get off her mountain.

I have four hours to dig a few metric tons of snow out of my driveway and see if I can't get to work.

I'm only doing this for the coffee and food. And money, yes that too, but mostly coffee and food.

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:51:45 GMT

The plows finally made it through.

The first one tried going uphill and just got stuck. So he left a mountain of snow right in front of the house and didn't come back. The next time I heard plows was sometime after about 11pm last night. They went through three times, and at least the first one went downhill, which was much more successful. Looking out there now I can say the official count is two feet.

TWO FRAKKIN FEET!

I have seriously, no lie, never seen this much snow in my whole life. Jim is all like "this is what it looks like all the time in places that have real winter". Well, heck with that! I never wanted real winter! I was pleased as hell that my move to the mountains didn't require me to own snow dogs. Now I get to miss two whole days of work and be sick to my stomach worrying about bills because I can't dig myself out of the driveway.

And I'm afraid to send Jim out there, because as my boss pointed out, if you live a largely sedentary lifestyle then shoveling snow is a really good way to give yourself a heart attack. It's true. You should have heard him coughing after he came in yesterday. It was like he had asthma or something.

On the up side I slept for almost 14 straight hours, so I feel like I've been hit by a bus. Oversleeping like that makes me feel like utter crap. My head is pounding and my whole body hurts. So of course I have spent the last hour playing on the interwebs and updating my userpics on LJ. :)

By the way, the pic above is the one I use as a signature pic on all my rp sites for my character Khory Bannefin (yes, I stole the name. It's mine now so shut up.) Khory is also who I created on WoW and my avatar looks surprisingly similar, except recently I chopped all her hair off and gave her a tomboy cut. *shrugs*

I really want coffee but we're out of milk and I'm not leaving the house...I might have to make do with tea.

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:31:58 GMT

I am well and truly snowed in.

It started last night at about 6pm or so, and has been pouring non-stop all night long. The snow is piled up against my front door and I can't even see my own cars. It's over a foot, and I don't remember the last time we had that much snow. We're supposed to get just as much today as we've already gotten and it won't end until Monday.

I got up this morning like I was going to work, knowing full well I wouldn't be able to get out. Only an inch or so had stuck to the roads and it was too slick for Jim to get to the store. I tried calling the restaurant at 6:30am and got no answer. I guess Ingrid decided it wasn't worth it to try to hike down the hill. I am grateful for that. She doesn't need to be fighting her way through this mess.

The only thing I regret is I kind of need that money, and if I'm not at work bills are gonna start getting a little worrisome. Still, I am making some progress on my tax stuff, so hopefully I can do some of that come the New Year and make a little bit of a difference. It's gonna suck trying to do both jobs at once, but I can deal with it. It's only three and a half months.

I did a survey at work to find out what everyones favorite Christmas song was. So far I've gotten different answers from everybody. My favorite traditional one is We Three Kings and my favorite non-traditional is called Five Pound Box of Money. Jim really likes Good King Wenceslas by the Crash Test Dummies, which we actually got on a holiday mix cd from a friend several years ago. Come to think of it, Five Pound Box of Money was on that one too...

So, what's your favorite Christmas song?

I wanna go build an igloo, but Jim says the snow is too dry...maybe tomorrow.

Things fall apart...

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:57:09 GMT

I've been here talking about Mystic RPG since this past February, which means I have been on the site for less than a year. It was already heading downhill when I got there. I know this, because they were entirely too impressed with me and my rather desperately prolific writing. Since then there have been ups and downs, and I have received a promotion from player to Goddess and from Goddess to GM. Since being promoted to GM I have discovered Warcraft, and since nothing much was going on with the boards I have checked in perhaps once a week, sometimes even longer in between. Several weeks ago, when I got promoted to GM, there was a message posted by Katastrofy, the owner of the board, saying she was burnt out with the whole RP thing and didn't want to run the game anymore. She would still pay for the website but she was handing the game itself over to Devolution, one of the other GMs, and was leaving. Everyone seemed really surprised by this, even though Kata hadn't been around or active in quite some time. Devo was especially surprised, as Kata hadn't mentioned this to her previously or even asked if she wanted to take over the game. Still, Devo was excited to have her chance to improve the game and watch it grow again. She immediately started brainstorming sessions to discuss what options we had for upgrading the stat system, adding new features, etc. At one point one of the GMs mentioned that they really liked and preferred free-form RP. They weren't the only one, but it was quickly decided that changing the game that radically would upset the few players we still had, and so discussions of stat systems continued. Yesterday morning I logged in to Mystic to check on things, as it had been nearly two weeks since the last time I had done so. It being the holidays the boards usually go very quiet this time of year, and Mystic is no exception. What do I find but that things have completely blown up! Kata, for all she said she was handing it over and it was all done, apparently still retained all her GM powers and was monitoring the brainstorming session. She obviously didn't read it very well. She got to the part where someone mentioned making the game free-form and totally freaked. She locked off the GM section of the board so nobody could post there and removed all the GM powers from everybody else so they couldn't get into the program and change anything. She posted that when she handed over the game she didn't mean that she wanted it changed to the point it was unrecognizable and since we couldn't be trusted then all we were allowed to do now is post stories. Since she took away the GMs abilities to upgrade character sheets and add XP there is now no reason for anyone to play. The other GMs went ballistic, saying, publicly (since Kata posted this all in the general public forum to start with) that this was the whole reason the boards were dead to begin with. Every time they had an idea that she didn't like she came in like a fury and slapped them all for daring to change HER game, even though she wasn't playing or even working to upkeep the damned thing anymore. Basically all the GMs just up and quit while giving their rather nasty two cents and went off to a new board. This new board is Aleris, which I am also a part of, as it is a faction of Mystic that broke off several months ago, under the reasoning that the game on Mystic wasn't being run well and wasn't keeping them interested. Mystic dies, and Aleris gets a new influx of people. Such is the life cycle of an RP board. Still, I'm shocked and very depressed that it had to go that way. I'd never been given the chance to be a GM on a board before, and I didn't get to even do anything administrative before it all fell apart. The sad thing is, Aleris doesn't even really interest me. It's all the same people, the same chars as Mystic was, only it's run by different people. So far it's the exact same, and I'm quite frankly bored with the whole thing. I don't want to tell James that because he's still playing there and really wants me to join in. I've just not been motivated for so long that I'm not sure I want to get involved. I hate trying to write out of obligation instead of creative inspiration. This sort of game and structure just isn't my bag, and never really has been. I miss writing angsty elf slash...

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:13:44 GMT

I've been doing better today with my head, which is why I'm actually going to attempt to do some of my tax training. I'd been putting it off because I just couldn't concentrate on tax law. I'm not sure pushing it this soon is a good idea, but I have to have the training all done by the first of the year. I feel bad not starting already. In fact, I'm gonna email my boss to tell him I haven't been blowing him off. He might not believe me, but I'll feel better about it.

I got a surprise yesterday in the mail! Jim came home from the grocery store and had to have me open the front door because his hands were full. "Get this, please." He says as he kicks a medium sized box through the door. And whose address is on the box? Why, it's from Angel!!!He included a lovely letter which explained that he had meant to send it all last year. Christmas presents, especially with international shipping, are really unnecessary, but so very fun to get!

There was a lovely silver necklace with a starfish on it, which I just love so much. Oceany things are very personal for me. I've even held a live starfish a couple of times (and boy do they feel weird!). The necklace is incredibly pretty, and reminds me of summer even though its cold and gross right now. I haven't taken it off yet.

There was a postcard from Cyprus, which looks like a paradise. Jim says it's definitely on our list of places we should visit one day. There was a snow globe from there too! One of the touristy ones that I really like (I collect them, in case no one knew). It's plastic resin of big seashells and "I <3 Cyprus". Very cool. I added it right to my shelf along with the one from Australia and the little pewter ship from Denmark that were also gifts.

There was a stocking, and I have to admit that I giggled a lot at it. It's got a stuffed reindeer sewn into it. It's a bloody big thing too! If Santa filled that thing I'd make out like a bandit. I haven't had a stocking or hung one up since I was about 10 years old. Jim asked if Angel even knew we had a fireplace. I don't know if he does, but it isn't as though we can use it (it's been cemented shut because the chimney has partially collapsed and it's a fire hazard.)

He included a CD by Tarja, who used to be the lead singer of Nightwish but apparently moved on to have a solo career. I listened to the cd driving to and from work, and I think I like this one even better than Nightwish. It's much quieter, for one thing. Nightwish was more heavy metal sounding, with harsher music and her voice trying to bring it together. This album, called Winter Storm, has a definite story to it, it's all in English, and her voice is much clearer. You can tell she's been opera trained.

Last but not least there was a picture, etched in foil and framed, of a woodland scene. It's a glorious thing of brilliant greens and golds. Angel said it reminded him of our LotR rps, and it certainly does to me too! It looks like Lorien in late afternoon, with the sun coming down in heavy golden beams through the branches and gilding everything.

Oh, and a bag of chocolate, which I split with Jim and is all gone. It was so good! The back of the bag said it was made by Kraft food company, but the chocolate is so much better than Kraft makes here! It was all caramels and toffees and things all covered in chocolate. They were awesome, and the only ones we couldn't eat were the licorice ones. Thankfully there were only three in the whole huge bag.

So thank you so much, Beloved, for my prezzies. Perhaps I will surprise you with a return box sometime...

Off to study taxes, and then perhaps I can level my char on WoW since Jim is asleep and used up my whole game day yesterday dragging me around town with him. :)

screaming in frustration

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:06:38 GMT

I was just caught in a server shutdown. I WAS IN A FRAKKING INSTANCE!!!!! I swear, this paladin mission isn't worth it. The damned quest is grey for me. I don't even get any xp, but I want the weapon that is the quest reward. WHY?! Why do the Gaming Gods hate me so?

In other news, my head might explode all over this keyboard. I really don't have the concentration to be playing, but Mondays are my game days and the last piece I need for this quest is in that instance. If I could just get it, and manage to hit level 30. But I won't. I'm level 29 and the 19 Elites that I'm fighting give me no xp. None. In fact, so far they haven't even given me any loot. The only up side is that it seems Worgen are the only humanoid species that I can skin...weird right? I can't skin Gnolls, and they are basically big hyenas, so why can I skin werewolves? Makes no sense.

Jim has gone out to get coffee, stuff for breakfast, and more medicine for my head. I'm supposed to help him go out and buy stuff for this construction project he's doing, but I feel awful and don't want to have to get dressed and spend hours either in public or in someone elses house. He's putting a closet in the babys room at James and Stephanies house, which is cool, but I'm not as attached to it as they are. It's a baby, and it's an apartment. Why does he need a closet? *shrug*

Yesterday we had a party of 50 people all at once at the restaurant. It was insane. I ran in circles for about an hour, and then they were gone. I managed to not pass out. It was a good day.

So long as driving through them counts...

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:44:25 GMT

This is as much of the country as I have seen. Keep in mind I was much younger at the time, and at the whim of my fathers random driving.

Stole this from MTBandit.

visited 27 states (54%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:33:16 GMT

Best intentions are for beans this week. I've managed to irritate my sinuses so bad that they're infected now and I'm suffering some of the worst pain. It's almost like having a migraine, the swelling and pressure is so bad. I can't even think past it, which is why I haven't been on.

Just so you guys don't think I died...

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:16:29 GMT

I sit here squinting at a screen I can barely read (cause I don't have my glasses on) sniffing bleach fumes and getting high on the combination of that and fresh chili.

I went out today and came home with meat for the chili, as well as cheese and sour cream with which to garnish. I should have grabbed some fresh cilantro, but I didn't think about it until just now. And maybe even some ancho chilis...Dammit! Why do I think of good stuff when it's too late?

So, yes, bleaching the hair and dyeing it purple. The color will be Manic Panic Purple Haze, and it looks very grape colored in the jar. I really hope it turns out well.

While I was at the beauty store I also got several little things I've been looking at. I got a cholesterol conditioner, which a friend recommended. I also got a vitamin E stick for my lips in the hopes that I can get them to heal. Yes, the chapstick queen is having problems with the cold weather. I got a cuticle eraser for a friend of mine, because they are awesome for pedicures. They were also having a sale on the China Glaze holiday colors so I got a brilliant sparkly red and a vibrant sparkly green. I'm considering doing my toes...

Also, one of the girls there heard me whining about my dry hands (you know, the ones that keep fissuring in the creases where I've gotten calloused?). She got me a set of cotton gloves. I had been using old winter gloves at night, which were nylon and apparently they don't work as well. So, cotton gloves and this cream that is supposed to heal hard cracked callouses on the heels of your feet. She swears it works for hands too. Hell, I'll try anything at this point. You ought to see my nightstand. It's covered in every moisturizer I can find! I should never need lotion ever again! So, here's hoping that starts working.

Jim did make it home last night at about 6:20pm. Mom was supposed to email me to tell me he was coming, but she thought we shared an email account and sent it to Jim's address, so I never got it. Still, it's the thought that counts.

The ice storm that we were supposed to have all day yesterday turned into heavy rain instead. Now the roads are fine except for some local flooding and most of the snow has melted. The temp will drop though. The lows come Friday are supposed to be 18 degrees. Yeek! I got a gift card to JC Penney as my lot in the gift exchange at work. I'm wondering if they sell wool socks...Or maybe a wool suit to wear under my clothes.

Anyway, going out to karaoke tonight with some of the girls from work. I don't know how many are actually going to come, but I have heard confirmation from Silvie at least. She so cute! Her name is actually Silvana (which none of the country people at work can pronounce) and she is from Uruguay, which fascinates me no end. I mentioned the karaoke and she got all excited. I asked if she did karaoke and she replied "Not in English!" But she wanted to go anyway. So, perhaps I can manage to sing something for her, or maybe Dave will have something. Her daughters say she sings really well. I'm quite excited to have new people to hang out with. It's neat. :)

I hope the purple hair doesn't embarrass her. She laughed a lot at the pink last time...

Oh, and for the record, I am in process to re-certify to do taxes again this year, so if any of you knuckleheads is in Staunton and wants to go by Jackson Hewitt for your taxes...

To all my friends, I apologize for how long this is. I meant to put it under a cut, but I typed it in the wrong screen and I'm afraid it will delete if I click over.

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:17:55 GMT

Jim still isn't home. I haven't heard from him today at all. Not even a quick email to let me know that he was either leaving town or that he was staying.

The weather on NOAA says that our weather outlook has turned to Heavy Rain instead of the ice storm we were supposed to have. Bully for us. It's raining right now, but the temp is hovering right around freezing and I could swear I keep hearing little ice balls hitting the windows next to me.

Needless to say, I am concerned.

I had to throw out all the meat I brought home. When I opened it up to cut it into bits to go in the chili the blood was black and it smelled sour, like barbeque. I decided not to take the chance on massive food poisoning. Yay for meatless chili, extra beans!!!

I did not make cheesecake today. I did go to work and make a pumpkin spice cake. This was unusual for me, as I have never made a cake from scratch before.

Elaine made pumpkin pies, and had a little of the pie filling mixture left over. To it I added one cup sugar, 4 cups all purpose flour, 2 cups milk, 6 eggs, and an assortment of spices. I poured the thing in a bundt pan and baked it until the toothpick inserted came out clean. The cake tastes good, but the texture is solid, almost more like a pudding than a cake. I think the problem was in using all-purpose flour. I think if I use self-rising next time it will get a bit more fluffy.

Anyway, it came out edible, and so I am pleased. I left it at work so I wouldn't sit at home and eat it for dinner.

OMG! I am so starving right now. Did I mention that?

I started cooking chili because when I went to log on to WoW I remembered that today was their server maintenance day (why the fuck don't they do that shit like overnight on a Sunday for fucks sake?) Before I could give up on logging in the damned thing started downloading the new patch for the game. After twiddling my thumbs at it for a few moments I decided to let it do what it was gonna do. I went and took a shower, made the chili, futzed with the cats, and wandered back to watch the damned thing finish downloading (yes, dear god, I'm that bad.) A whopping 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 19 seconds and the patch was all done and updated. It took me to the login. I put in my info. It says "Success!", and then just sits there, telling me my Realm is open but not letting me enter it. Then it booted me, and continues to boot me. *throttles the WoW* I need to check my mail! I have shit on the Auction! LET ME ON YOU STUPID PIECE OF CRAP THAT I PAY MONEY FOR!

Ok, so, big nerd, and unhealthily obsessed.

Gonna have to eat stollen for dinner cause the chili isn't ready...Maybe I'll eat the liverwurst instead. I could use a good sammich.

Warcraft rant incoming...

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:23:39 GMT

Doing the Deadmines Instance by yourself blows chunks.

It sucks extra when you are level 26 and you're fighting level 19 Elites. They're just as hard to kill as regular Elites, but they are greyed out for me.

I died 5 TIMES, and got exactly ZERO experience for any of it. Fucking shit.

I did get some spectacular loot, but the best loot soulbound as soon as I looted it, and it wasn't even stuff I could keep! They were Blue items, and all I could do was foist them off on a vendor!

The absolute worst part is I got almost to the end before I ran out of potions and food. I'm so frustrated that I dropped all the Deadmines quests I had.

Screw it. I'd rather get my ass chewed off by the Orcs in Lakeshire...

PS. I am totally aware that to those of you who do not play this game the above makes absolutely no sense and might as well be written in Ancient Mayan. I apologize, but I had to yell at someone about this and Jim isn't home.

Wow, just what a week!

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:17:18 GMT

Between work and home I feel like I haven't had a moment, and when I have I've been trying to de-stress with WoW, which is more or less successful depending on how long it takes me to bug Jim to get the hell off so I can play!

Anyway, this week at work two of the dayshift crew were on vacation, which left a lot resting on the rest of us. Business in the restaurant was slow. We were slammed the whole weekend after Thanksgiving, but this week was just dead as far as customers went. It was nice that it worked out that way because then I could focus on my work and didn't feel like I was trying to do prep, and bake, and serve customers all at the same time. Still, there were several moments where I got dizzy from running in circles.

To top it off we had our restaurant Christmas Party last night, which added a lot of extra, as Ingrid cooks almost everything while she's there in the restaurant. I got to learn whole boatloads of seasonal recipes that she doesn't ever serve to customers, it's just stuff she makes for her family and for the party.

The party itself was huge. Between Jim and I we could not handle the panic of being in a very small room with 50 people we didn't know, so we left almost before the darned thing began. It was still awesome. I told Ingrid we were gonna have to leave and she started shoving containers into my hands, ordering me to take food with me. You wouldn't believe the amount of food!!! The whole thing is done pot luck, and there was acres of it. All kinds of variety too. Deviled eggs made with horseradish, lasagna, corn pudding, shrimp, veggie trays, swedish meatballs, cole slaw, ambrosia salad, and dozens more dishes. That's not even starting with the desserts, of which there were also many.

It looked like it would have been a fun party, but I was seconds away from hiding in a corner and Jim was stiff with the effort it took not to physically flee. We had a much better time at home, eating food out of containers and watching Jim kill trolls over his shoulder.

Jim's mom has been here for about a week and a half. She and Jim just left about 45 minutes ago to take her back to South Carolina. I hope they get there safe. The weather is ok now, but we're supposed to get hit with a hellacious storm tomorrow when he's driving back.

Speaking of storms, we got our first good snow on Saturday. I looked out the window at 5am and it must have just started, because it was all over the cars and just starting to stick to the grass, but the roads weren't wet yet. Jim asked if I wanted him to drive me, and I told him I thought I'd be ok driving in, but I wasn't sanguine about getting home later in the day. He took me in anyway, and it was a good thing he did!

It poured snow all day long. We got about 6 inches, and I got home ok, but that night the temp dropped and lots of the rest of the restaurant staff didn't make it in for evening shift. Elaine even got stuck there and had to stay in the motel next door to the restaurant overnight. She couldn't get her van out of the parking lot!

Yesterday the main roads were utterly clear, though getting out of our driveway was a trial. The car doors were iced shut, and both our driveway and our road live in perpetual shade, so it wasn't melting. They don't even bother to plow Rose because no one lives on it but us and it's so small it looks more like an alley than a road anyway.

I'm supposed to cook at some point today. I doubt I will. In fact, I can practically guarantee that, even though I'm hungry and the house is full of food, I will sit right here on my ass all day and not do a fucking thing but play on the computer. Today is my day for that, and with Jim not here I'm edgy enough without trying to cook. Still, I may get bored later. I have to do something with the meat I brought home.

Oh yeah, some genius managed to turn off one of the downstairs freezers at work and the whole thing thawed out. I have a lot of beef that I have to cook today before it goes bad. Also, I am the proud owner of 3 pounds of cream cheese, with which I plan to make cheesecake. I may save it and take it to work and do it there. I want Ingrid to try it, and I simply can't have two entire cheesecakes at home. Neither Jim now I need all that.

I can't decide if I want to make chili or beef stew. First I have to eat the rest of the chicken and dumplings that are in my big stock pot. I don't know that that will happen...we'll see.

Anyway, that's my life so far.

Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. Well, it's the legal one. As far as I'm concerned Jim and I got married 8 years ago in March (that's when we gave vows to each other). December 8, 2006 is just when we paid for the license and made it official according to the state government.

I also get paid tomorrow.

I'm thinking of coloring my hair again...Maybe purple for reals this time...or a really good red...

I have RETURNED!

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:44:37 GMT

I got back home from S.C. after 11pm last night. I spent the last few hours sleeping in the car (courtesy of the Dramamine). I collapsed upon arrival and could barely be bothered to undress before falling into bed as it was really cold in the house. We brought Mom back from Billy's so she could see people and everyone could have a break from their routine. That said, I was kinda liking my morning routine and now have to figure out something else because Mom is sleeping on the couch in the living room.

I spent half an hour this morning huddled in front of the heater in the bathroom trying to convince myself that I really needed to put real pants on to go to work.

By 9am this morning it proceeded to pour down snow while I was at work. Ingrid was just finishing up decorating the downstairs Christmas tree in the restaurant. The snow didn't stick, but it looked hellacious before it stopped. It came down for about an hour.

Busy busy at work today. Lots of shoppers were starving come 11am and German food sounded just fine, so I was kept jumping. It's amazing how out of shape you can get in 4 days. I hurt a lot, and both ankles are messed up despite wearing my braces all day. Part of me wants to hope that the weekend will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.

Oh, and next week Brenda is on vacation all week, so it's all on me in the mornings. *dies* I honestly don't know how I'm gonna cope.

To console myself I bought pizza and pie.

Don't judge me.

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:47:19 GMT

Here I am down in South Carolina. I've been crocheting since I got here, pretty much since the instant I came in the door. I should have known better and brought my own stuff, but I didn't and have had to borrow crochet hooks and yarn from Mom. It's ok though. She wasn't doing much with them.

So far I have made a hat for Jim (because I stole his), fingerless gloves for Lily (because she saw mine and wanted some, in pink to match the hat I made her last year), and I'm working on a hat for Roman, because he liked Jim's so much and I haven't made one for him yet.

Other than that I can tell you I have watched more Disney movies in the last 36 hours than I think I've seen in a year. So far the list includes Barnyard, Aliens VS. Monsters, and the Bee Movie, none of which I had seen before, so that's fun for me. Jim doesn't really get down with the Disney, so I never get to watch cartoons. Yes, I realize Pixar isn't Disney, but it might as well be...

Mom gave us Christmas presents early. I got snuggly socks, toe socks, and coffee mugs with cows on them. So I'm happy. :) Nannette gave me a sweater this morning that's really nice. It's a scarlet hoodie that's knitted. It zips up the front and has little pockets. The best part is only half of it is artificial. The other half is wool and angora, so it's really snuggly and warm. She gave it to me because it makes her itch. So, I've got a red riding hood!!!

More news as it happens...

It's Lauren's Birthday!!!

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:43:46 GMT

So, happiest of birthdays to my wonderful Globe-travelling friend Lauren, who is somewhere in the southern hemisphere right now that isn't her home. Being that it's Saturday I think she'd at a wedding and won't get this until later, but no matter!

*sneaks in and sets down a virtual gift that is abnormally huge*

The question is, does she open it?

OMG! She does! *squeee!!!!*

Do you like it? Is it what you always wanted?

I know this is kinda silly, but I'm horrible about birthday and sending stuff international post is kind of iffy sometimes. Still, I hope you had fun with it and you have an awesome birthday.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:26:11 GMT

Wow, was it ever a long day, and it all started with stress.

My alarm was set to go off at 5am, and I knew I had to get up really fast, get dressed and get out the door to be at work at 6am. So of course the dream I had was full of paranoia about being late.

In my dream I was late for work, and my car was somehow parked inside my house. I didn't wonder in the dream how the damned thing got in there, only struggled with how to get it out. At first I thought "well, I'll just back up" but then I couldn't fit through the door. All I could think was that Jim was gonna be really pissed if I had to drive through one whole wall of the house, and whether getting to work would even be worth the repair bill. Still, I had to GO! So I closed my eyes really tight, put the car in gear, and concentrated on not being solid. When I peaked my eyes open the car was outside and going down the driveway.

But it was my parents driveway half a state away from where I needed to be. I'm sitting there looking right, then left, then right again, and all I could think was "great, now how the hell do I get to Greenville Avenue from here."

I woke up so freaked out, it was making me shake. And that feeling didn't let up the whole day.

I got to work at ten minutes till 6am and started running around like crazy. I turned on lights, made coffee, started cakes and rice pudding cooking, filled the dish sink and started the steam table, all before Brenda got there.

Then I got to listen to her bitch all day about how Ingrid must not trust her if she gave someone else the alarm code and told me to be there early instead of her AFTER they gave her the key and everything. She was pissed. And I don't really blame her. She's been doing this for 25 years at the restaurant and with as rarely as Ingrid goes on vacation it really hurt her feelings to feel like she wasn't trusted.

So today I made 2 apple crumb cakes, 2 apple custards, a batch of rice pudding (24 in all, with baked meringue on top), one hazelnut torte and 1 raspberry torte.

I rock.

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:30:41 GMT

So, today is my day off, and I would be playing Warcraft right now except I got stuck in a server reboot and it won't let me back on. I'm seriously spitting distance from level 20! I WANT MY FRAKKING MOUNT! But since I can't have one I've gotten a cat, who follows me everywhere while completely ignoring me, even to the point of swimming with me when I attack stuff in the water. It's really the perfect pet for a Paladin loner, which I tend to be.

And just for the record, seeing a cat underwater nearly made me laugh myself right out of my chair. I am easily amused.

I am also starving, and I was gonna make cole slaw but Jim is asleep. He only manages to sleep 3 hours at a time, and they are almost never at night when I'm home to snuggle with. I wanted to spend time with him today, but he's sleeping. Oh well.

In other news, Ingrid went on vacation to the beach, so I have to be at work at 6am tomorrow, and I'm basically doing my regular job plus Ingrid's job. I've gotta make rice pudding and apple crumb cake first thing in the morning. I'm terrified I won't have enough time to get everything done, but I really ought to relax and trust that Brenda will help if I need it. She can't do the baking, but she can help with the steam table and stuff. In her own defense, Ingrid really tried to do everything before she left so we wouldn't be struggling too much without her. She's gonna be back Thursday, so it isn't as though she's really taken a lot of time. It's not even full vacation, only two days. I hope she has fun at the beach. Wish it was me.

Next week is Thanksgiving, and I'm going down to South Carolina to see the family. I haven't seen them in about a year (I haven't seen my own parents in longer than that, but I'm avoiding that subject). I'm sure Lily and Roman won't remember me. They almost never do, but eventually they have to reach an age where I stick in their heads, right? I'm hoping. I know they both remember Jim because they ask about him all the time. They don't ask about me. I just don't see them as often.

So, I've been in kind of a funk lately. I'm playing a lot of WoW because it doesn't require me to think a lot, whereas posting requires effort be put into it. I feel bad because I just got made a GM, and I can't seem to be bothered to do anything with it. I feel like I'm crapping out creatively, but I don't know what I can do to fix it.

In the meantime, I'm headachy all the time, and this problem with my joints is getting worse. I'm taking stuff for it, and sometimes it seems to help, but other times I just feel like a little old lady.

Somebody wave a magic wand and fix me. I'm too young to feel this decrepit.

I haven't been around much.

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:04:15 GMT

I'd like to tell you that I haven't been around because of important things, but that's not really true. The day-to-day has just been getting me down and I haven't felt motivated to indulge in my usual hobbies.

I have, however, been playing a lot of WoW, because it's easy and I don't have to think much. I am apparently really good at manipulating the auction and making money, which is hilarious to me because in real life I seem to hemorrhage money whenever I happen to have any. I've been playing for a few weeks now and my char is only level 17 (Jim's primary char is level 34 and his secondary is level 19. He has way more free time.). The reason I've been working the auction so hard is so that I can get a mount. You can only get a horse once you reach level 20, and learning the skill is expensive, though the mounts tend to be cheaper. Still, Jim said I'd need gold, so gold is what I have. Admittedly he sent me some seed money, but I've been really good with not only keeping up with it but using it to gain me more. Makes me wonder why I don't play the lotto or stock market...

Things at work have pretty much stopped dead, and it's funny because we're all still in high gear and can't seem to slow down that fast. We're still prepping too much food for the traffic we're getting, so Ingrid says it's time to start baking. She makes a lot of cookies and things for her family around the holidays. It gives her something productive to do while everyone is still all wound up, and it gives us an excuse to keep the ovens on in the kitchen now that it's gotten cold. I've been in a baking mood too, but haven't had the money to buy groceries, never mind stuff for baking. I did, however, find a whole cabinet full of baking pans that I didn't know I had, so now I just have to do something with them. I was thinking of cheesecake, but don't tell Jim...I've also got a serious need for gingerbread, but I think it's a little early in the year for it.

I did manage to take some time off, so I will be spending Thanksgiving down in South Carolina with the in-laws. I may or may not be able to update from there, so if I'm gone that week you know why.

Other than that I have nothing to report. (Oh, except for this dream I had about making out with Lauren. It was really nice, but then all of a sudden we were topless and she freaked and ran out of the room. It was kind of a let-down in the dream, but just bizarre once I woke. I know that I dreamt about her because the day before I'd been telling people at work how awesome she was and how she was coming to play in Canada. Not sure what the "making out" portion was caused by. I promise I do not intend to assault you, Lauren.)

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:25:12 GMT

I did spend last night hanging out with Brittany and Seth. We exchanged jokes, but I think Jim won the contest. We watched "The Fountain", and I was simply confused as to who thought it was a good idea to cast Hugh Jackman as the Divine Buddha character. Seemed like a strange choice. We ate some Applebees food (always disappointing) and showed each other some cool stuff on YouTube. I had a really good time hanging out with them. I should definitely do that more. I hope they had fun too. It was nice of them to let us crash their house, since I pretty much just invited myself over. We stayed until 1am, and remembered to set our clocks back before bed, which was nice. I usually forget. Let me tell you though, that alarm at 5:30am went off way too soon.

Today at work was much slower than it has been. Now it starts to wind down. October is over and people start thinking about the holidays in major ways. I'm looking forward to not having to keep up such a frenetic pace. I'd like to be able to take the time to focus and refine my skills before the next big rush hits. Apparently that will be in April/May, right around Beltane, when graduations start.

I did make sure to schedule some time off. I've got a 4 day Thanksgiving holiday scheduled to go hang out with the family in South Carolina. I don't think I've seen them in a year. I'm looking forward to that immensely.

Other than that, not much to report. I'm home, showered, and in snuggly pajamas already with a heater running under the desk. It's been raining all night and most of today, being all gloomy and yuck. The temp has dropped too. It's going to get down to freezing this week according to the weather guys, which sucks. I'm considering cutting all my hair off again. I really shouldn't cut it so short for the winter time, but I don't want to deal with it, really I don't, and I already bought the clippers. Gotta get some mileage out of them to justify the expense. My tooth is healing very rapidly. It's already much smaller than it was and I can see in the mirror where it's starting to knit closed. I'm still taking the ibuprofen though. I can tell when it wears off because things still ache. At least it isn't the horrible shooting pains that it was that first night. I'd be insane by now.

I'm so tired from staying up last night that I've got a bit of a sick headache. I can't take anything for it for at least another hour. I'm gonna go play WoW and see if I can't get Khory up to level 15.

And tomorrow, it's all WoW, all day!

I need coffee.

Improvement!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:58:15 GMT

So, yes, it's only been two days but I feel a bazillion times better today than I did yesterday. Of course, it helps that it's my FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR! Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, and I've been bouncing around since 5am, just giddy and ridiculous.

Yesterday I couldn't even open my mouth, and I was starving but I couldn't figure out how to eat anything without it hurting. It was not fun. Today not only can I speak normally, but I can sing too! And I can EAT! I even found myself chewing on my bad side for about three chews before I noticed that it was the wrong place. It feels so weird to not have a tooth in that spot. I keep feeling it with my tongue (very gently!) because the hole feels bizarre. Give me a week and I should be golden. :)

I Dressed up to go to work. Everyone loved it and thought I did a wonderful job with both the costume and makeup. Ingrid said I was adorable, and kept pulling me out of the kitchen to show to people. Walter took a picture of me with his phone. He calls me "Rhode Island Red", which I had to explain to one of the other cooks is the name of a breed of Rooster. He calls me that because of the haircolor I've got (which isn't really red so much as fuschia). Jim told me I was creepy looking. Brit told me the same. She said I would definitely freak Stephanie out. I think she'd be ok, but you never can tell with phobias.

I'm going over to Brittany's house tonight. I don't know what we're gonna do. She's got movies and games and karaoke, so we'll figure something out. First I have GOT to change the cat litter box. I've got a wonderful gingerbread candle burning, and yet all I can smell from this seat is cat pee. I already have a headache and that level of ammonia is not helping. I may pass out in the course of changing it. Won't that be fun?

Jim has gone to take a nap before we have to be at Brit's. He left me with the order to level my character, so I suppose I must do some of that too. *sigh* I wanna get our computers linked so we can play together so bad!!! But we're broke, again, and lord knows when that is going to change. Not soon if I can't get my expenses under control.

Blah. I just need to be rich. Honestly, Jim and I would be the best rich people.*looks to the sky* Make that happen!

Sharing a wealth of random information via Meme.

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:42:36 GMT

Just a thing I gacked from anyathe . Thought ya'll might be curious.

Five things you will find if you open my bag.
1. Tinkerbell wallet
2. A Nintendo Micro with Pokemon
3. Powerpuff Girls sunglasses (sparkly pink)
4. Lots of gum
5. Twelve different kinds of Burt's Bees chapstick

Five things in my bedroom.
1. My computer
2. A lava lamp (blue water/white wax)
3. My crystal ball.
4. Star Wars paperbacks
5. Lavendar aromatherapy eye mask

Five things I’ve always wanted to do in my life.
1. Perform in public to rave reviews.
2. Learn to dance well. (Any kind of dance.)
3. Travel the world.
4. Ride a train and a ship.
5. Swim with dolphins.

Five things that make me very happy.
1. Role-playing of any kind, especially with friends.
2. Halloween!!! Or any other excuse to dress up.
3. My cats.
4. My husband.
5. Knowing that despite never talking, the love in my family is total and all-encompassing and will be there when I need it.

Five things I’m currently into.
1. World of Warcraft
2. LOLcats
3. Wicked, the Broadway Musical
4. Ouran High School Host Club
5. German food

Five things on my To-Do list.
1. Network my computers
2. Talk to my boss about a raise.
3. Save up money to see Wicked again in march.
4. Get the rest of my teeth fixed
5. Make binders and things for my Henna Class.

Five things some people may or may not know about you.
1. I would be completely Goth if I could afford the clothes.
2. My inner self looks like young Kate Hudson with wings.
3. I'm such a nasty person in my head, but I can't bring myself to be rude out loud, so I fake being nice to people.
4. When I go to bed I pay particular attention to what I'm wearing in case I get beamed up to the Enterprise in my sleep. I have to be ready.
5. Occasionally when I am feeling really crappy emotionally I will intentionally punch myself in the eye to see if anyone else will notice the bruising.

Five most important moments of the last year.
1. Got fired from Hallmark.
2. Did my first ever paying henna gig.
3. Got hired to work in a restaurant that I would NEVER have applied for.
4. Became a Goddess Mother to the sweetest little boy ever.
5. Joined the world of online rp again after having quit for several years, and have gained oodles of new experience and responsibility.

Five things you enjoy doing during your free time.
1. Writing.
2. Reading.
3. Watching movies/tv, especially musicals and animation.
4. Making crafty things.
5. Singing karaoke

Happy Halloween from "The Guild"

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:29:04 GMT

Yes, this standalone episode is hilarious. Hey they had to use those costumes for something other than the uber-tasty music video.

I know it's hard, but hang in for the end. A 2-year-old in a chicken suit is not to be missed. He has +10 to cuteness, oh yes he does.

video.msn.com/

Zombies in Staunton

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:41:10 GMT

She arose from her bed as the alarm sounded. Her bed was stuffed with fuzz, and she tasted rot and blood. What had happened to her in the night? She couldn't think, couldn't remember. There were images of a doctor, who both was and wasn't a doctor and also was and wasn't British. She saw him before sleeping, so perhaps it was television.

She wandered down the stairs, drawn to light and sound. There was a man sitting in a chair, a computer in front of him. The man was familiar, and even engendered warm feelings, though that was muted by the hour of the morning and the strangeness in her head. One the computer screen was a dark-skinned man running through a forest full of colors that could only exist in a digital world. A game, she assumed, but she wasn't entirely sure of that either.

"How ya doin'?" asked the man. Turning around he gave a start as he looked at her.

"Uuuuuuuhhhhhg." She moaned through lips that would not move.

"If the next word out of your mouth is "brains" I'm gonna beat you to death with this keyboard." The man had a sense of humor. Oh good. She went and looked in the mirror to see what had caused the strange reaction and the equally strange comment.

The woman staring at her from the medicine cabinet had obviously been through some sort of horrendous trauma. The sleeve of her pajamas were soaked in bright blood. So too was there blood crusted and dried around her mouth and down one side, as though she had drooled it. It was smeared across her face.

What horror had occurred to this woman in the dead of night? How had she survived?

The answer, of course, is quite simple. The woman is me, and the smartass on the computer is Jim. The doctor really should have warned me about the bleeding issue. Thankfully I've only stained a pajama top and not the entire bed. Still, I almost wish I had pictures. I could have scared the crap out of people.

Tomorrow I am going to work dressed up. I may or may not come home and change into a completely different costume and go play with friends. Depends on if any of them feel like going out. So far bribing them with candy and perhaps cake isn't working.

Being home on Halloween when I know damned well there aren't going to be any Trick-Or-Treat-ers is lame.

De agony of de-face

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:34:13 GMT

He pulled the wisdom tooth.

I can't even begin to tell you the agony I am in right now. I saw him pull a three-inch chunk of bone out of my skull. Then he took a scalpel and "modified" the gum.

I am swallowing so much blood, I don't know how I could have any left.

Plus my mouth tastes of rot, and that is apparently from the massive infection that was present which he had to SCOOP OUT while I was still numb. I'm on antibiotics with that.

He prescribed Vicodin, which I can't take. So, that's extra sucky.

Gonna watch stupid TV until I can't stand it and try to sleep. Hope the bleeding stops before then or this is gonna be interesting.