And then, there's a bearded fetus.

I wish I could get up later, but right now, my body is not behaving. As with last night, Boodle decided to get brave in the evening, and did her forays into the apartment. She was very brave. Also very loud. Sleep was difficult.

We're slowly settling in. We made more furniture yesterday. First up was the second end table, which I love. It willl be perfect to set my coffee on in the morning. Second, we made Jess' little desk so they will have somewhere to do school work that is not in the living room or dining room. Lastly, we made their nightstand. Today will probably be some of my sister's stuff.

Our bedroom is mostly done, aside from hanging some art. We have a wall hanging that was given to us by a talented friend. It was the altar cloth for our handfasting. It's this beautiful handmade quilt that's got knotwork on a flame colored background. So that needs to be washed and go up, and then, my desk painting and an IKEA painting will also come with.

Still, it's starting to look like a home!





More pictures coming as the boxes go away and as things settle down.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.



Since I was up early, I made a chocolate cake. It was very good. Now I'm relaxing until it's time to get my ass in gear to fetch the dog and my sister, as well as some more furniture.(we could definitely use some lamps. Then we shall see how the day goes. I'm going to make pancakes for brunch with Bacon, and then I'm going to try a tiktok recipe for dinner. I'm hoping it goes well on all counts.

If I remember, I shall also stop by the pharmacy for my dexcom. We'll see.

Okay, going to start getting into gear. Everyone have a lovely Sunday!

Today is the day! I am spending my last ever day having coffee on this particular couch in this house. I'm not sure how I feel yet about that. I may have feelings later? Right now, the anxiety is strong, and it's kind of blotting out any other feelings I might have.

I'm trying to hold onto it being a new adventure. And to that end, I've been listening to Disney songs all morning.



The plans for the day are that once Jess gets up (probably around 7), we shall strip our bed, and wrestle it up to the back porch so that the movers don't have to go down in basement. This is entirely because the water damage is icky looking, and we're ashamed. Next, I shall pull the car up, and offload the box of people and pet ashes, because it is fucking heavy, and neither of us wants to carry it up the steps. We'll quickly load the car of the things we need to take today, and move it out of the driveway so that they can pull up if they'd like. They will arrive between 9-10, and the fun will begin.

We will spend until 3pm doing laundry and starting to set things up. First up, my sister's bed, since her mattress will need 24 hrs to decompress. Then, it's off to Sam's club to get the food for the next two weeks. Then back, to put it away. The Sam's order comes with a sushi platter, which we will then take over to the house. We will eat, then, assuming Boodle has come out, we will stuff her in a carrier, probably taking 1d4 slashing damage.

Then, she, her food, her bowls and her litter boxes are on their way to the new apartment. We get everything in, and let her loose, and then settle in for the night.

It's a lot. Moving is a serious pain in the ass, and I'm not sure why people do this frequently. Maybe it's an amnesia thing like childbirth?

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.



I was not expecting this many boxes, honestly. it's a lot. Right now, my big concerns are getting the desk out of my office, and getting the bedframe in our new room. Not sure how that's going to look. But that is also not my problem. I need to remember to get my CONfab cup, since that's going to be my new desk cup for water. We were using water bottles, but now we have a Britta.

Okay, time for me to start considering getting dressed. Everyone have an excellent Friday!

Happy New Year! As the new year dawns, I'm concerned about what the year will bring, but I'm also oddly hopeful.

Yesterday was a long day. I got up at 5:30am thanks to kitty hijinks, and then by 8:15am, we were over at the leasing office. Getting the key was slightly stressful, mostly because we had to pay for the first month, and my sister had the money. So we were frantically texting her to make the payment. She did, and we got the keys.

The apartment is beautiful. New stove, new fridge, new carpet. We brought in the boxes we'd liberated from our storage unit, and I spent a little time nesting. The pots and pans are precisely in the cabinets and the dishes are stacked and waiting.

Then, I sat and wandered around the empty apartment and did a little plotting of where things will go and marveled at the plethora of electrical outlets! OMG, SO many. Our room alone has three and we're the smaller bedroom. The living room has four. I'm so happy that we'll be able to plug our stuff in.

I waited, and waited, and at about 3 pm, the furniture finally showed up. The sofa is every bit as purple as one could hope, and is pretty comfy. At 3:45, I called Verizon, and discovered that they didn't have my work order. Fortunately, they were able to set me up for Saturday, so I'll still have internet in time for work on Monday.

Today, we'll take some more stuff over, and wait for a walmart order to add some foodstuff to the house.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.



Tomorrow, sadly, I have to work, and then Friday is the big day. I'm so nervous. I just want things to go smoothly.

But mostly, I'm pleased, and looking forward to the new start.











And on that note, I'm going to get ready for another round of ferrying stuff to the new place. Everyone have an excellent New Year's Day!

If all else fails when trying to decide on a lyric for the morning, Leonard Cohen is always right there.

Yesterday was a full day. We put together Jess' chair, and sorted through some stuff. Then, they brought out a bunch of boxes from Dad's room. We've got a stack of boxes that are just half filling the living room. After that, we went to the storage unit and pulled everything out. It took some serious Jenga-ing, but we got the stuff into the car.

I wish we could just skip through today and get to tomorrow morning, when we get the keys to our apartment. I just could not have any less interest in today.

It's been a weird weekend as far as my mood goes. Mostly I've been good, but every now and then, this wave of sadness and unreality sweeps over me as I realize that this is the last time we'll have a Friday game in the house, or a lazy Sunday morning. Or that the streets I've driven on for my whole life are no longer mine. And then it hits me a bit, and I get teary.

I'm really excited about the new place. It's a brand new start, and that's amazing. We get to shed so much of the past and step forward into a future with our own stuff. And that's exciting.

I'm also a bit nervous about it. I'm having occasional random anxiety like "what if the couches wont fit through the door? What if the dog barks? What if Boodle doesn't like it? It's just a lot.

And I'm also grieving the loss of the house. But a lot of what I'm mourning hasn't been that way in eons. Maybe I'm finally mourning some of the people I've lost, too. It's weird.


Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.



I'm not sure whether today will be dead or busy at work. We'll see! I've got my kindle and my ibuprofen, so I'm ready for anything.

Tomorrow, we can pick up the keys at 8am. The window for the furniture people is 10am-4pm. The internet will be installed between 1-3pm. I'm hoping everyone is on the early end of that scale, but we'll see. Jess will be in and out, since we can't leave the puppers alone for 8 hours. They'll be there in the morning, and I imagine they'll be over once the couch arrives to see just how purple it really is.

Okay, time for me to get myself in gear. Everyone have an outstanding Monday!

It's walkthrough day! And of course, it's absolutely pouring outside. I personally could have stayed in bed until it was time to do the walkthrough.

This is going to be my first apartment, so I've been looking to see what we need to check, aside from obvious cosmetic issues. Mostly, I want to be able to see it and imagine what our stuff will look like in it. I've got my tape measure, so I can see how deep the closet is, and figure out if we'll be able to put our bed sideways. I think we can? And I need to see where in the eat in kitchen I should put my desk. I'm thinking on the side away from our room, but I need to make sure there's enough wall there.

I think the whole family is coming for the walkthrough, even the brother in law. I feel a little bad for descending on them on a Saturday, but they'll live.

First, though, work. Hopefully, this will be a simple day. Patients have been trying mine for the last two days, so we'll see. People are just not comprehending that they need to wait for their appt.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.



The rest of the weekend will be quiet. Going to try to just chill out and relax and maybe clean up my office some.

I'm wondering if next week, we are getting our check early. With the holiday, I'm not sure. It's on Wednesday, which is when I normally get my check, however, I get my check early. So I don't know if I'm going to get it on Tuesday or Thursday.

Question: How much would you tip a furniture delivery team? They're bringing my couch and loveseat on Tuesday, and I'm debating how much I should give them. The couch is kind of a monster--91" long. I was thinking $40? Is that enough?

Frostmaiden last night was so much fun. I need to remember that 3 high powered enemies are enough to keep them on their toes, without giving me 800 creatures to keep track of. I knocked our Cleric down to 0 hit points, and came close with a few other people.

Okay, I'm going to get myself together for a half day of work. Everyone have a wonderful Saturday!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas/Hanukkah or Wednesday!

We had a nice, mostly quiety day. I got up at 6 due to smol kitty, and then settled in to drink my coffee until everyone was up. At about 10:15, we did presents. I got a very nice d20 for my collection and a gorgeous necklace from my sister. Jess got a D&D themed Hawaiian shirt and a d20 as well. My sister got a faux cashmere robe from Land's End. Then we headed out to have brunch/lunch.

The Mint Leaf is an Indian place near the Hunt Valley Mall. They were a little fancier than I'd expected, but since it was lunch I didn't feel badly. They had their "Grand Lunch Buffet" for the holiday. Having never been there before, I don't know if it was more or less grand than their normal, but It was delicious. There had to have been like thirty dishes, from vegetarian to meat to dessert. It was slightly spicier than the other buffet we go to, but it was so good. I only had two plates, but their plates were these huge square things only slightly smaller than a manhole cover. All of it was amazing, but my favorite was the freshly fried pappadum crisps. I think I ate like five of them. This on top of two helpings of palak paneer and saag aloo. They also had these dark roasted potatoes with a yogurt cream sauce that were stellar. Add to that, two cups of chai and a little tiny bowl of rice pudding and we all practically had to be rolled out. When we thanked the waiter and told him that it was amazing, he thanked us for appreciating it.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.



After that, we relaxed until it was time to play our holiday game, which was a lot of fun. While we were playing, the second half of the prime rib was cooking and turned out really well. Jess and my sister said it was better than the first.

Then, it was off to bed to relax. All in all, a very good day. We kept some old traditions and made some new ones, and it was nice.

Today it's back to work for two and a half days, as it's my Saturday to work. Then, apartment walk through!!

Okay, time for me to get myself together for work. Everyone have an excellent Thursday. And happy Second Day of Hanukkah!

Up early for Christmas Eve, since we start half an hour early and get off an hour early. I don't like to feel rushed getting ready for work. I've got nothing planned today except maybe getting gas in my car. Or that might wait til the 26th.

Our fireplace, which they swore was coming on 1/2 is now coming on 1/3, the day we move. And it's unlikely that it'll be delivered by 9am when the truck is coming, so I'm going to have to move delivery to the new address. Not a huge deal, but annoying. I'm slowly coming up with an attack plan for what furniture gets set up when. First up will be my sister's bed, because the mattress requires 24-36 hours to reinflate. Not looking forward to hauling that fucker on the bed. It's one of those mattresses that's especially made for fat people, and goddamn, it is heavy. I'm hoping my brother in law is there when we're doing that, because we might need the help. Then it's onto the hall tree, then the other bedroom furniture. Then, Jess' desk. Then the fireplace/tv stand.

This assumes that I'm able to put together some small stuff like end tables and nightstands in the days leading up to the big move. But we'll see!

I still have presents due today. My sister's big present is due today. It does say out for delivery, so here's hoping! It's a Lands End faux cashmere robe. Hopefully, it's very soft and pretty. I also got her some nail polish, but it turned out that it's gel polish and needs a UV light to cure.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.



Okay, time for me to consider the joys of work. Everyone have an amazing Christmas Eve or Tuesday depending.

The longest night is over, and slowly, sluggishly the light is returning to the world. Happy Belated Solstice to everyone.

It's funny, I don't generally practice any religion these days. I'm kind of agnostopagan? Unsure, but following the rhythms that made the most sense out of the religion's I know? I still say hello to crows and hawks, but I don't still do rituals. I miss it sometimes, especially worshipping with a Coven. There was a community there that was like a family you chose. I don't know that I especially *want* it again, but at the same time, around the big holidays, there's a certain ache.

My Coven only lasted about three or so spins of the Wheel, but while it was there, it was warmth and safety and comfort. I also miss the ritual? I grew up as catholic, so I expect a certain amount of drama to my religion. And Paganism had that. Especially on the big holidays. My favorite was Samhain. That was my holiday to lead. We started a ritual called the Negativity pumpkin. I had done a haunted house with magic geeks, and had been introduced to the wonders of flash paper. This is paper treated with chemicals to ignite and burn in seconds if you introduce it to a spark. When you see magicians do a slight of hand that involves a little burst of fire? That's flash paper.

So, baby me got the idea to use flash paper in the ritual. We'd each get a piece and you'd either write the things you wanted to leave behind for the coming year, or just try to imbue it with that intent. Then, you'd crumple it up and put it in the hollowed out pumpkin. At the climax of the ritual, the priestess would toss a match in. It was like a goddamn flame thrower. Fire would shoot out of the open top of the pumpkin, sometimes up to 4'. The first year, we did the ritual indoors, and it nearly wiped out the ceiling fan. It was awesome, and bright and people fucking loved it. I miss that drama. Also picking out wine for the ritual.

I mention this today, because just like all the other rituals, ours are about to change. Christmas is going to be different. The coming year, we're going to be finding new paths. And maybe I needed to take a moment to think about what came before, so I'm moving forward in a direction that will work for who I am now.

Okay, I have navel gazed enough. Time to consider what I need to do before my 2pm game today. Possibly a look at the module. Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

It cloudy and it's cold, but it's Friday!! Whooo! One more day til two whole days off!

It's a very games weekend with four sessions, all of which I'm DMing, so I'm going to be busy. The holidays are both hard for D&D and awesome for pick up games. Go figure. These are all one shots that are not. I'm not sure what the designers were thinking, to be honest. I know a lot of people will game for 6 hours, but some of these aren't even two shots--they're basically a mini campaign.

Yesterday was good. I had my meeting after lunch and met with my manager. I am getting a raise this year, though they haven't gotten numbers yet from HR. She doesn't believe it'll be prorated. I have been shorting myself my present for getting 100%. Basically, every month you hit your projected goals, you get an hour lunch to use. Well, I now have four to use. lol.

So I'll take them over the next few weeks. lol

They're currently finishing up the current class, but when it's done, I'm going to be enrolled in Leadership Academy for radiology. It's a class on how to be a manager, and the woman who got the job I had applied for had gone through it. So that's exciting. I'm looking forward to it in the new year.

Today, Yoda has his pre-holiday day of beauty. Jess will take him over, and then one of us will pick him up as soon as he's done. If he's after I get off work, I'll get him, and he might have to wait an extra hour while I run to Sam's Club.

After thinking about it, and running the numbers a few times, I realized that going to Fogo was just not fiscally responsible. So we're going to get a prime rib roast, and some sides and have dinner at home. And while I'm there, I can get a few extra things like coffee creamer (do you know how many of them have aspartame or sucralose? Ick.) and some more hardboiled eggs for breakfast.

I could do Sam's club tomorrow, but it's so bugfuck on a weekend that I'd rather do it tonight. Tomorrow, I have to brave Heavenly Ham to grab our ham and cheese biscuit breakfast for Christmas.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get ready for work. Everyone have an amazing Friday!

Ugh. It's morning and I feel like ass. I got my second shingles shot yesterday and it is messing me up. The first one was a little tender, but nothing else, so I didn't think twice about getting it. My arm hurts so much, I didn't really sleep much last night and I had chills off and on. Today I just ache all over, and I may have a little fever. I'm going to try to go into work, because I need the PTO that I have. Though counting it, I could probably take half a day if I just can't do it.

I need to have enough time for the 17th of Jan, so I can go get my pap smear. Whoo.

Aside from the shot being a lot, I had a good day. Went for my doctor's appointment and got my prescription for my new Dexcom, had my labwork, which was all pretty good. Cholesterol is a wee bit high, but I can try to add some fiber to my diet. But my kidneys are in good shape (always a concern with diabetes) and the rest of me is chugging along. Then we drove up to the cupcake shop and I got cupcakes a half dozen, plus my free birthday cupcake! I also got a peppermint mocha latte, because having fasted, I was WAY behind on my caffeine consumption.

Then I headed home, where my sister had bought us breakfast. A cheese biscuit with egg, bacon and boomboom sauce was just what I needed. Then, I relaxed for a while until it was time to take Jess to acupuncture. We made a little stop to grab them some blue cheese and crackers (though I plan to get them some more cheeses when I get paid. I may duck over as far as Trader Joes and grab some stuff for game snacks.

While Jess was being stabbed, I chatted with one of my old IKEA coworkers, who I've been trying to get into Johns Hopkins. My dept had an opening come up, so I sent her the link to apply. She got a reply asking for an interview whill we were speaking, so I'm hoping it works for her. She's just had a shit sandwich of a life, especially the last two years since her husband died suddenly.

Then, back home and putting on the second rack of ribs. We discovered Kinder's sauces and spices via an enormous bottle from Sam's Club. Then we learned there were about a dozen and a half flavors, so we got a few to try. The ribs in the crock pot got the Georgia Bourbon Peach. The oven got the Gold sauce. Both were excellent, but I may have liked the gold a tiny bit more.

Then we had cupcakes. Jess had a white chocolate rasberry, which was excellent-tart and sweet and delicious. My sister and I split two cupcakes, so we could try more flavors at once, so we each had half of a Peppermint Cocoa and half a Gingerbread.

My mouth was so happy. The gingerbread was so good. Kind of spicy, offset by a not too sweet buttercream. The peppermind cocoa was a chocolate cake, with a chocolate peppermint mouse in the middle, and topped with a whipped cream icing. I'm not the biggest chocolate person, so when I say that I could have eaten it all night, it says something. It was amazing, and I may sneak back out before Christmas so I can get another.

We went to bed early, and my arm was on fire. I could feel the ache from the shot all the way to my wrist. So, I medicated, and we listened to the podcast that Travis and Teresa McElroy do for the Great British Bake Off, called Bake On. That helped me doze off for a little while at least.

Okay, time to get myself together somewhat. Everyone have the most amazing Wednesday!