And then, there's a bearded fetus.

Title ripped from David Crosby's Hero, which I remembered while pondering songs for the Fairytale capaign. (It's totally Jess' Paladin, Dalton's entire steeze.

As I'm writing and the lands are taking shape, it's been interesting to see how things are changing from where I started them. I'm sure it'll continue to to shape itself. This morning, it ocuured to me that the thing I did for Crooked Moon, I could do for Marchen. I had already planned to give the characters introduction scenes, but I could also put out the call for the character's theme song.

It's the song that plays over the introduction scene. They can use the music to further set the scene and to give the overal vibe for the character. One of our Crooked Moon players was introduced just before his entrance to his final UFC fight. She chose Blink 182's Blur-Song 2 for the intro, set up to hit the moment the character walked into the arena.

Players had so much fun with it, and I really felt like it helped to personalize the intro even further, to help the player really get a feel for their character. You write it up, and you have an idea, but then you realize that the "Perfect Song" you found speaks to a slightly different character. Maybe you change it, maybe you change the character? It's up to the player.

I really enjoyed it, and I hope my players in this group will too.

Yesterday was not bad. I was on the phones for the morning, then in the afternoon, I was mostly doing the new job. I got the dubious honor of checking all of that coworker's appointments. Fortunately, it seems like she's really slow, and only makes between 10-20 appointments per day, so I was able to whip through them. I got them done and was condsidering getting back on the phone when J hit me up to fix a cardiac opening. I did that, and another day sprung a cardiac opening. And it was a day where the appts could be Tetris-ed into a better formation that would allow us to get in a pt who got kinda fucked over by poor scheduling. It was a 90minute cardiac slot., which is a bitch to find. The pt was scheduled in May. But I got a cancellation, and was able to shift things around for the pt, and had her moved up to this coming Monday. Not half bad.

I was really sore yesterday, so we just had KFC for dinner. It wasn't bad, but not great either. My tender wrap was pretty okay, but the potato wedges were nasty. Ah well. They can't all be Reindeer Games. (This is another idiom shorthand that we picked up from a shitty movie, and still use to this day. In this case, it's from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. We are just full of these stupid quotes, and almost no one will understand them.)

While we waited for dinner, I made Jess watch half an hour of the 1987 live action He-Man movie, Masters of the Universe with Dolph Lungren and Frank Langella. It's actually far worse that I remembered, which is saying something.

I went to bed early, since I had trouble sleeping the night before. Fortunately last night was better.

Today, we shall work and get our pay slip. I won't get the actual money til tomorrow, but tonight at 3-4:30pm, I'll know how much it'll be. Probably not a ton. I don't think I worked any OT this paycheck, and it's still at the old rate. The one I'm looking forward to seeing is the 4/8 paycheck. That'll have the new rate, plus one day of OT. It should look lovely.

I made Yoda a pile of food on Sunday. Boiled the chicken, added vegetables and healthy rice. It made enough for 7 meals. Which should work out well. I planned to make two kinds of meals for him each week, so we can alternate which we give him.

It's going to be a lot of work, but I'll feel better knowing that he's got good food that will help his stomach. I even bought a food scale so that I can measure his portions out exactly. He's going to eat better than us. Though while I'm at it, I may try prep our dinners as much as I can. I'd like to use door dash less.

With the total clusterfuck that is our government, I'm debating on moving the ride to the car back an hour just to be sure we don't miss our flight. They're saying that in BWI, security is taking 2 hours. They open at 4 am, so if we go then, we should get through pretty quickly. That of course, will mean leaving at 3:30am, which would suck, but I am not letting anything fuck up this vacation.

I really have no idea what I'll be working on today. My counterpart, Jo, is in today, so I won't need to make a ton of calls. That's literally her only job, calling people back, so we send them all to her. She's only reliably here from M-W. Thursday, sometimes, Friday never. She's also an elderly lady who's been with Hopkins for like 50 years, so I can see why they've minimized the work she needs to do.

But we'll play it by ear. Also tomorrow, I can put in my request for the last of my vacation days! It won't cover the Monday after we get back. I won't have that time til close to the trip, but if need be, I can call out sick that day. I've got the SSL leave for it. We get in at 7pm thanks to the time change, and I am certainly not going to be going in at 8am on Monday. They'll be lucky if I stumble in Tuesday morning.

Okay, time to do a bit more writing in Marchen. I've only got about 3 1/2 weeks to get at least the first teir done. I do need to also have a little something for the RP two of the Marchen players want to do of their characters' first meeting. Everyone have the best Tuesday!

Today, I'm up because a small kitty said so. At 4:15 the patting on my head and face began. I nudged her off, and she came right back up and smacked me some more. I finally got up around 4:30 AM. I would prefer to be in bed, and I may go back a little bit later. Yesterday was our two game day, which was super fun, but also a bit tiring.

Yesterday, not long after I closed my computer, Yoda and my sister got up, and after his breakfast, he demanded walks. Still has a bit of the runs, and I'll admit to gagging as I was getting it up. I have a very sensitive gag reflex, and it just triggered it. He was a good boy, and we got back inside as Jess was getting up. After that, it was off to the pharmacy to get a metric ton of medication. It wasn't quite as bad as when Jess and I both have to get our psych meds, but close. I had an inhaler, plus the Mounjaro and scopolamine patches, plus a new Statin medicine the doctor had recommended. I do a coaching session with my insurance for my diabetes and asthma medications, so a chunk of the meds were free to me. Basically, I chat on the phone with a nurse case manager once a month, and Hopkins pays my copay. So the Mounjaro, the inhaler, and the Rosuvastatin, all are free. The other meds ended up being about $8. Can't really beat that.

Of course, the moment I got home, I popped the Mounjaro open and read the verious papers. Then I yanked my pants down and stabbed myself in the thigh with it. Good lord, it burned like hell. In cool things, though while the serum needs to be refrigerated, it is also shelf stable for 21 days at room temperature. Which is going to make the trip SO much easier. When the pharmacist pulled the package out of the refrigerator, my brain starting running the hamster wheel, trying to figure out how that was going to work.

Instead, it'll work just fine. I'll just have the pens in my bag, along with everything else.

I do know that next time I do it (I have an alarm set for Saturday at 9am) I'll leave it out overnight, and see if room temp makes it burn less than it did cold. It wasn't a dealbreaker, but it was somewhat unpleasant as the burn stuck around for about half an hour.

Today, my leg is a bit achy, but not horrible.

Then, I hoped onto the smaller server to play a quick oneshot called "The Town where nothing goes Wrong Right. It was a fun non combat roleplaying game that involved a time loop. It was very cool and fun. I enjoyed it immensely. We have a prequel set up for next week with two of the players. Jess and I will help another player do her character sheet, and then we shall do a short role play about their characters meeting in prison. It's a set up for the Marchen Campaign, which shall begin in Mid April. Unlike a lot of our other games, we should be able to schedule a few in May, because we're only accommodating 5 people instead of 7 or 8. May is going to be a rough month for scheduling because of the cruise, and also people on the other server are away.

I suppose if the wifi is as good as it's supposed to be, we could probably play something on the ship on Friday night, but that might be tough. Though there is a vanity in the closet that one of us could play at. Might be tough, but it could be fun. We'll see.

The rest of the day was quiet. We took the dog out again and relaxed until it was time for the Crooked Moon game. I really enjoy the game, but it's definitely some heavy lifting as many of the more immersive games are. But the characters are wonderful. I put out the call for a folk horror game and my players, as always, understood the assignment for their characters. They're all disasters, and I'm looking forward to playing more with their backstories. I love each and every character.

Today, I have Strixhaven at noon, and that is going to be super fun, and then I have the rest of the day to cook. When I finish this entry, I'm going to go clean out the cast iron dutch oven and get some chicken boiling to make Yoda's broth. Then, later, I shall clean out the cast iron again, and fry up some spinach, and make the filling for my stuffed shells. They shall go in the oven with a liberal amount of mozzarella on top, and will be hopefully delicious. I'm looking forward to them.

Some of my packages came yesterday, so I am once again the proud owner of a glucose monitor and blood pressure cup. The swimsuit from Torrid was a tiny disappointment, as it again does nothing to make the boobs look good, which made me sad. It's pretty suit, so I'll keep it. It's just not great in the chest region. That'll give me three suits to rotate out for the cruise. That should keep me from having to wear a very wet one.

Another package is coming today with a few t-shirts, a sleeveless top and a couple of pairs more of shorts. It's my spring package! It's a shame they won't come early, because it's supposed to be a fairly warm day. I wish the downtown farmer's market was open. I could go down and get some things. Probably nothing that I desperately need, but it would be fun. But alas, not til 4/12, and that day I have a game at 9. Of course, the market opens at 7 am, so its still possible. I'll mark it as a solid maybe.

If I can source my meat from farmers, I'd much rather. But the farmers market by us (which doesn't open til the end of April) only has poultry and pork, and I do like my beef. If I'm going to frequent them this year, I might need to consider a wheeled cart, especially for downtown where they have a ton of stuff.

There is a year-round one on Saturdays, but it's not as big, and Saturdays can be difficult with work and games. Next weekend we're free on Saturday, so it's possible that I could head down there. I'll see what I feel like doing.

Yoda is doing so much better. He's eating his chicken and rice and acting like himself again. Still maybe slightly subdued, but SO much better than he was. He really likes the rice and chicken, and I'm not sure we're going to convince him that kibble is better after this.

I've been looking at new desks, and have come to the conclusion that I have expensive tastes. I like the heavier, solid wood desks with a little character, and they are all freaking pricey. There was this one that was perfect. It had a hutch, and it was big enough for both monitors, and I loved it, and it was $3400, which is excessive. I do want something that'll last, but it doesn't have to last quite that long. I may go up to the Amish Market and see what they would charge. I'm sure it's expensive, but maybe not quite that much? I also want to get a new chair, which is always a crapshoot. I may just get that off Amazon. The last time I spent extra money on a chair, it actually made my back worse, but the cheapo off Amazon has worked fine.

Okay, time for me to contemplate a shower, and also starting Yoda's soup. Everyone have a super Sunday!

It's Friday! Also the first day of Spring! Huzzah! Now if the weather will just behave like it's spring, we'd be in business. Though I think it's supposed to get up near 70 degrees today, so maybe it's figured its shit out. Though it is going to be kind of rainiy, which I'm a little sick of. We've had a lot of precipitation recently. It's to the point that seeing sun is a special occasion.

Yoda continues to improve from his little tummy issues. I fried up plain ground chicken, and he ate every bit of that in several small meals, and it all stayed down. Once I wake up a little more, I'll wipe out the pan and make another batch for today. He's still not 100%. Still a little tired and not as perky as normal. But he's definitely improving. Last night, he barked ferociously at the UPS person, so that was heartening. He had been indifferent for the last two days. I'm hoping he's even a little better today. He also agreed to go for a walk, which is the first time he's done that in probably 36 hours. (We have pads down for him in case and he was damn sure using them. Still has diarrhea, but hopefully that will improve now that he's eating again.

Yesterday was a good day. Not too busy, I took about 20 calls, which is on target, and spent the rest of the day watching for cancellations. After work, Jess made our hashbrown chorizo casserole, which tasted especially good. Then I relaxed a bit, watched a couple of videos, and then went to bed. Even UPS came a touch early so I didn't have to stay up for hours.

I got a few happy things. One was more cookies from the Honolulu Cookie Company. I love these fucking cookies. They're the best thing. Second was Jess' swimwear, and last was some shapewear for me. I'm a little embarrassed about the weight I've gained back as the Rybelsus is working less. I have hopes that the Mounjaro will do something for that, but that doesn't help me for the cruise. I've got all these great dresses, and I want to look cute in them. It's actually rather comfortable, I have to admit. I don't feel squished, but it does make the line of the dress a little cleaner, so I'll probably try that out for formal night, and if I decide to wear a dress any other time.

Today, I shall work, Jess has a checkup with their primary care, and then game, which shall be a lot of fun. Does the team fight a storm giant? We'll see! They're on their way to meet with a noble who has a shard of the shield they're trying to collect. That, plus diplomacy should take up the entire session. Then we'll need to figure out when we can play again. We're getting close to having to schedule the endgame sessions, which will see it move from Fridays to Saturdays, so that a player who had to drop because of work can play the last big battle with the goddess of the dragons and her handmaids. It should be a lot of fun. While it's bittersweet to have another game end, especially one that's been going on for over 5 years, I'm glad to open up time for other games. This is also good because two of my Wednesday games are moving to Fridays due to my school schedule. The college's assignments run Thursday to Wednesday, so I wanted Wednesday free in case I'm needing to cram the work in if I'm running late. I've also cut down to one game per day on the weekend so I'll have a bit of time to study.

Also, though I was already doing it to some extent, limiting one shots. I think that'll help get things rolling. I do have a short roleplay that I need to guide for Jess and one of her friends that is a prequel to the new campaign. I do have a one-shot scheduled for tomorrow, but that's the placeholder while I finish getting the stuff ready for the new game, so they still get to play in the interim. Plus, it's an easy game to run. Roleplay heavy. No combat unless they start shit.

Tomorrow, we have the last two game Saturday that I shall have for a while. First the one shot with the smaller server, and then Crooked Moon with the main server in the evening, and Sunday we have Strixhaven, which I'm looking forward to, since I can debut my new character artwork which I love so much. It really helped me flesh out who the character is as a person.

Oh, I also got my new dutch oven! It's a bright orange monstrosity of an enameled cast iron pan. It's also enormous. I could shove a whole roasting chicken in here to make soup. Which is kind of the plan. I've got a rotisserie chicken I could throw in today and make delicious chicken soup. I'm not sure whether chicken rice or noodle. I will have to think on it.

Tomorrow, I think I'm doing the stuffed shells, and then Sunday maybe beef barley soup. I was going to make stew, but I saw the barley in the cupboard yesterday and am considering that.

We'll see for tonight how much work I want to do. I might order out, or I might pull out the ribs and use up the golden bbq sauce I got from Navajo Mike's. Then it's just a matter of putting stuff on other stuff.

Tomorrow morning, I shall run over to the pharmacy and pick up the Mounjaro and other meds. I'm not sure where I'm going to inject. I'll need to read over the pamphlet to see what the options are. I sure hope switching from a GLP-1 to a combination GIP and GLP-1 will do the trick. Otherwise, I suppose there's Jardiance, which is a SGLT2 Inhibitor. We'll see! I really like the convenience of the Mounjaro, since it's a once a week injection. We'll see how it goes.

I may also run up as far as Luna's House to pick up my prizes from the virtual auction. I have a prize from the Holiday one I never picked up, so I'll see if it's still available. If I have time, I could go to the emissions center and get that done as well. Might be a lot to fit into 3 hours, though.

Sunday, before game, I'd like to make the pineapple coconut macadamia pancake batter I got. It just sounds baller. I wish I had coconut syrup to put on them, but alas. If they're good, I'll do it next time.

48 days out from the Alaska trip. It's creeping closer. Soon, I'll be able to print luggage tags and boarding passes. I'm still worried about what we're going to do about Yoda, but hopefully, he settles into being boarded well. I wish we had a little more time, but we'll make it work.

I'm staring to sit with the fact that it's going to be a long damn flight. We're in first class, so it shouldn't be bad, but I really am not a fan of flying. I deal, and I'm better than I used to be, but still. It's not my favorite thing to do. Still, I'm just very excited about it. I want to get going.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that we got tickets for a concert in Newark, NJ! They're doing a tour for the Undertale Determination Symphony. I don't really know Undertale, but it's Jess' favorite video game, so when it turned out that there was a concert coming on a day we could do it, we went for it. I already bought the tickets and booked the hotel. They were coming a bit closer, Philly and DC, but those were both on a Sunday, which would be tough for me PTO wise. So, Newark. At least it's right on the Amtrak Train line, so we can take that up easily enough. I'm going to have to brush up on my Undertale music before November!

Okay, I suppose it's time to go cook Yoda some chicken. Everyone have a fabulous Friday!

Here we are on at the halfway point through our work week already. It's hump day y'all. Boodle kindly woke me with a paw to the forehead at 4:15 am. She needs her claws clipped, so that definitely woke me up.

Today shall be a busy day again, no doubt. I have a meeting at 11am to go over the new position. It's set for 30 minutes, so they dont think there's a ton to impart, I'm guessing. I have a few questions, but I'm going to see what they say first and then come up with slightly smarter queries. Right now, my questions, per the word document I started was basically "What do?" "Am I still supposed to be backing up the queue? How often? Again, what do? Is my schedule changing? When will you announce it?" I should have more, but I was blanking yesterday. I want to ask more in-depth questions, but I don't have the information to formulate them yet. Hopefully, by noon today, I will have a clear idea of what I should be doing on a day to day, minute by minute basis.

Yesterday, I was only on the phones a little bit. I had too much other stuff to do. I feel like that might be a factor. Some days, there will be a lot of stuff. Other days, maybe not so much. I ended up doing 25 calls total. Which is fine. Even before the promotion, they were going to be changing the metrics for my calls per hour, which is good. The rest was trying to get people to call me back. They did, just very slowly. And one never called back. It's always the one who's diagnosis codes alarm you that don't call back.

I started the Corned beef and potatoes at 3:30. Probably should have given it a bit longer. It wasn't quite fall apart yet. Then, once I got out of work, I sautéed up the cabbage with bacon, which is my favorite way. Sadly, I only had the European style bacon, so it's not as fatty. But it was still really tasty.

We had our very Irish meal, an off we went to take the dog out for his brief walk. It was motherfucking cold last night. It's no wonder I had a freaking headache last night considering how far the temperature dropped. It's going to be cool today and then the rest of the week, it's going to climb until Sunday, when it's 71 degrees. Ugh.

Today I also have my doctor's appt. I'm supposed to come every 6 months and get an A1C test to see how my diabetes is doing. And apparently also get my blood pressure done. I want to talk to her about switching my GLP-1, if the other is still performing poorly. And then I need seasickness patches, just in case. Last, I want to switch my inhaler prescriptions to a 90 day supply. That way when we go in 51 days, I'll have two of each inhaler, just in case. I'm a big believer of just in case. I know I can't get 90 of my psych pills, but I'll get them the weekend before we leave, so I'll have plenty of those.

The doctor's office pissed me off a couple of weeks ago. I had put in for a Lisinopril refill. It's a blood pressure medicine, so it's fairly important. The medical assistant wrote me a somewhat snotty email about not having come in in over a year. I ended up sending an annoyed email back, pointing out that I had been scheduled no less than three times during that year, and the office cancelled every single one. Then, I would be rescheduled 3-4 months out, because I could only do late appointments. I also pointed out that I had this appointment, and would be there, unless they cancelled me again. They did not cancel me, and I did get the prescription refill, so that's something.

I am going to have to get dressed during lunch, since I get off work at 3:30 and Jess has therapy at 3pm. I don't want to have to wait til their done to get dressed, since that'll be 45 minutes, and I kind of want to leave at like 4pm on the dot, just in case traffic is a problem. If I get there early, I'll stop in IKEA and get some dill mustard sauce and some pear drink. Then I could bake some of the salmon topped with it. I actually like salmon that way. Or I can tolerate it at least.

I went to wash out the dutch oven to make the cabbage in, only to find that despite soaking, I could not get the burned on crust off the pan, so into the trash it went. It served well for over a year, which is all you can ask for a ceramic coated pan. The frypan is going next. It's not doing a great job on being non-stick, which is literally it's only job.

I already got a replacement for the fry pan, a nice coated pan that still has it's non stick surface. It cooked up the sandwiches two days ago and the bacon and cabbage last night like a dream.

The dutch oven, having given it's life for our jambalaya, has been replaced by a larger 7 quart enameled cast iron pan in bright orange. I'm looking forward to making something nice and hearty in it. I've got some bite sized beef, so it might be time to make some stew or beef bourguignon. Or French onion soup. I'd need to get a few things for those, and have time to cook it. Sunday, I only have 1 game at 12p, so that would give me 3 hours to make it afterwards. It would be good to make that again.

I also need to get some jumbo pasta shells. I was going to make stuffed shells, with spinach and cheese, but they sent me large shells. Which are not the same as jumbo. I'll need my new cast iron to boil all the pasta. I'm going to do a cheese and spinach filling, then top with mozzarella and sauce and bake til tasty.

I might do the stuffed shells on Saturday. I have two games, but there will be about 4 hours between, so I could conceivably do that. I may also get a pastry bag with a tip so that I can pipe the cheese mixture into the shells to make my life easier and neater.

But first, we're going to get some thing tasty for dinner tonight. My appointment isn't til 5, so I won't get home til 6-6:30. That's an ordering night. Or, I could get some salad and a rotisserie chicken and have that. I've got a package with a Lilikoi Vinagrette that may come today. Looking at it, it'll probably be tomorrow, so I can order it then.

As of today, we are at 50 days til we leave for the cruise. It technically doesn't leave til two days later, but we're going to get in early so that we can properly sightsee. And of course, catch the new Mortal Kombat II movie that comes out on the 8th. I keep haunting the box office in Vancouver, waiting for tickets to go on sale so I can see the showtimes. I definitely want to do it at like 6 or 7 pm. Our wake up call is probably going to be aroud 7am on Saturday so that we have time for breakfast, and the porter to pick up our luggage and take it to the ship. Then, we shall go hit the Tim Hortons next door and get some good coffee and Timbits. That was the highlight of our trip to Detroit for Jess' Dad's funeral, so I assume it will be good in Vancouver as well.

Still fretting a bit about the dog being boarded. We're only going to have time for one stay before the trip. He can't go until 2 weeks after his second flu shot, and that doesn't happen til 4/9. So he'll stay for 4-5 days, and see how it goes. I'm hoping well. If not, it'll be a stay at Jarretsville Vet and Kennel. He's just such a prissy dog, so I'm worried.

He was being a little asshole last night, not wanting to take his pills. I finally got him to take it by taking a knife and hollowing out a chicken treat and putting it in. He refused cream cheese, peanut butter, fudge and a cake pop.

Stubborn little shit.

I have been on a book buying spree. I now have enough books to cover me reading non stop on the trip. I won't, but I at least have things for the plane. I've got a Scalzi that I haven't read, plus a handful of Kindle Unlimited books that have been recommended on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I trust their recommendations.

Okay, time for me to hop off and have a nice hot shower. Gotta be clean and pretty for the doctor. Everyone have an Excellent Wednesday!

It's Monday! Let the great shitshow begin. We're supposed to have severe weather today, so that could be fun. Yoda will not be happy. They've got us in the Enhanced threat area, so there's the chance of storms, wind, hail and possibly tornadoes. No thank you, I don't want it. Iam not fond of storms and the dog is terrified, so it's going to be a long night.

Right now, it's just foggy and bleh, so we'll see how much of it we're going to get. Actually, as of this morning, they've downgraded them to strong storms instead of severe, so maybe that's a good thing.

Yesterday was a day of nap. I convinced Jess and we went to the Asian buffet in Catonsville, which is about a 30minute ride. Umi Hot Pot and sushi buffet is a small chain, but very tasty. It had some Chinese, some Korean, and some Japanese. For a buffet, it was damn near amazing.

The sushi is up at the front, and it was definitely a crowd pleaser. Then was the hot pot meat and vegetables. Then began the first of like eight stations, each holding about 10 dishes. We didn't hot pot owing to getting full on the rest of the stuff. On round one, I hit the hot tables. I had braised pork belly that was delicious as well as 1/2 a garlicky lobster tail which was very tasty ad some General Tso's that actually had a little spice to it. The sushi was a standout for round 2, especially the hamachi tuna nigiri, which was delicious. Round 3, I was picky. I got more pork belly, a slab of beef and I also tried abalone, which I decided was not my thing, at least how it was cooked. The snow crab legs were mid after all the really good Dungeness legs I've had.

Finally, very full, we grabbed my sister a box and headed home. Not long after arriving, I realized that I was tired and had a headache, so I went and took a "short nap." I figured I'd be up in 30 min. 2 hours later, I got out of bed and had some coffee to wake up for game.

It did it's trick, and I was ready when game started. We stumbled into a town infested with low-level undead, and well, we made big boom. There was an evil necromancer, who we beat the holy hell out of before he used a spell to run away from us. I look forwards to him showing up again, after a bit of a level up to kick our asses. This is the game where I'm playing the slightly overpowered Wizard. He's a bladesinger, so he he's hard to hit, and he has devastating magic that he can use in concert with his sword. Right now, he's at level 11, which means spells up to 6fh level, which are baller. I only get one of them for now, but soon. Soon I will have two! It was a great game. We spent the session just beating the hell out of these zombies and ghouls, and it was super fun. I was able to kill 14 of them with one well placed Fireball. It was amazing. Also the spell Steel Wind Strike. Five hits at 5 enemies and everyone hit and killed that particular undead.

52 days to Alaska. *runs around in circles screaming*. I've got a few things that I need to get before we go. More underwear and socks, definitely. The rest, I kind of need to wait to see what the weather up there does. Right now, it's fucking cold, but I'm hoping that spring comes soon. I'd like temps closer to 60 than 30, please. If I have to take the heavy coat, I will, but I'd rather not. Takes up a lot of space in the luggage. Though I think I'm going to be okay as far as that goes. Leggings and t-shirts don't take up a ton of space. The jeans and dresses might take up some, but I plan to have plenty of room for souvenirs, too. Gotta have room for that.

I'm mentally skimming the part where I'm going to have to be locked in a plane for 5 hours. I'm not really a fan of that, but alas. I know Jess is worrying about TSA and border control, but I'm thinking everything will go okay. *fingers crossed*. Even with the top surgery, I think they'll be okay. They are perfectly willing to lie and say that they had the breast cancer gene, and had them taken if anyone hassles them. I'm honestly more worried that my sister is on some list for being outspoken about her liberal views. We'll see how it goes.

I did find on the flights to Chicago two years ago and Detroit last year that going first class made a difference in comfort on the flight. I'm going to assume the same is going to be true of Seattle. It's a longer flight, but I think being in a comfy seat, and being able to move around a bit will help. I'll have my kindle and my phone and if I want it, my laptop. With Tmobile, the internet is free, so I can surf the net, maybe do some schoolwork. We'll see what I want to do. I know Alaska has a lot of free movies and stuff to watch. So maybe I'll watch something. It'll be pretty early to drink, so I'll probably just have a cranberry juice with club soda. It looks pretty and tastes good, and it's appropriate for a flight that departs at 7am East Coast time and lands at 9:51am West Coast time. A wee bit early to drink, I think. It'll be almost 1pm in my brain, but still. I will save that til we get to Vancouver. I may have a wine with dinner, we'll see.

Today is going to be bugfuck at work, and I may have to ask A & J directly what they want me to do. Though if we have storms, it may not be as bad. Especially since a lot of school systems are closing/letting out early. Do I take calls, do I do my new job? Throw a girl a bone. Later this week, I will see if they have a moment to go over what I should be doing starting next week.

Tomorrow is supposed to be quieter weather wise, thankfully. Though if the weather affects call volumes today, it may be crazy tomorrow instead of today. You never really know with our patients. We've been really busy the last couple of months. Every day there's a point where there's 10+ calls waiting. We're just really getting hammered.

Next month, they're "upgrading" our phone system, and no one is looking forward to it. It's going to be VOIP, and I'm expecting massive problems. Right now, it's not fully intergrated with our system, and I don't know if that'll be fixed before it goes live.

I'm got a second headset that I'm not sure will work, but we're going to give it a try. I want to have a good backup, because the one I have is over 2 years old. If the one I got doesn't work I'll just get another of the ones like I have. I love this headset. The only reason I got the other was because the one I like is rather expensive. In retrospect, I probably should have just gotten the one I wanted. *shrug*

The plumeria pendant I got is supposed to come today. I am excited about that. I can't wait to see what it looks like in person! I've already got the chain for it, so that'll be nice. I can wear it whenever I go out again. (Probably not anytime soon. lol. I'm a homebody.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have an outstanding Monday!

It's Saturday, and Boodle let me sleep til my alarm (which I forogot to shut off). Of course, then she wouldn't let me go back to sleep. I wonder if she thinks she's helping? I have absolutely no idea, but she would not let me drift back off. So, up I got. Maybe I can sleep in til 7am on Sunday! We shall see what kitty shall permit.

Today, we have one game planned, the greek mythology analog module, called Odyssey of the Dragonlords. I'm looking forward to it, as the group is in a labyrinth. There are some fun things in the labyrinth with them, so I'm looking forward to it. It should be super entertaining. That's at 2pm. Hopefully, the nice people from safelite come early to fix the crack in my windshield. Their window is 8-12:30, so fingers crossed.

Our new phones are coming from Tmobile today. UPS says it'll be between 1-3. I'm hoping it comes early, so that I'm available to sign for them. If not, I'll just interrupt game and go grab them in. My sister will probably be out in the living room, but I'd rather she hold the dog, and I gett he box. I will do the herculean task of waiting until after game to open the box. IT IT will suck, but I'll do it, even though I'll be doing grabby hands at the box. We already got Otterboxes for them. I sure hope this helps some of my and Jess' battery woes. I'm looking forward to getting it all set up and learning about some of the photo tips and tricks.

I just want it to take really good pictures.

We're down to the point in our countdown to the Alaska cruise, (54 days) that every number seems momentous. It's ticking closer and I am in no way shape or form prepared. I mean, I'm prepared. I have warm clothes and pretty dresses, and all of that. But internally I'm not prepared. My anxiety does a thing where it kicks in before vacation and doesn't let up until we're actually there. The month before Disney, I was all over the place. Let me say up front that I want to go, and I know it'll be an amazing time. It's just that it's a big change, and sometimes my ADHD brain gets very change resistant. So while I'm going "Oh this is going to be great," Anxiety and ADHD are double teaming me until I also am looking at the countdown with trepidation.

A good chunk of it is Yoda's boarding. I didn't think that we were going to have to board him, and I was unprepared. I had planned to get him acclimated to the boarding place, but instead, he'll probably have one visit before we leave, so I am nervous. If he flunks this eval, then he's going to be boarded at a vet. I also need to get him on a flea and tick regimen. So I'm going to do that. When he goes back for his next visit, I'll buy the flea and tick med and give him a dose. Thank god, he reacted well to the flu shot. No side effects or crying.

We got him set up for his grooming appt next week. That'll give a little time between the two shots.

Then, we'll get him groomed at the end of April, and he'll be good to go for his boarding.

Yesterday was busy at work. I spent most of it working to get people in for their appts. I got a lot of shit done, which was gratifying. They seem to be letting me do what I want to right now as far as work. Most of the day, I hung out in a non-available status, and did what I do best. I played Jenga with our schedules, moving patients to make a hole for an add on and then filing it. It was a good day for that.

I asked J. who said that yes, there are plans to announce it, though he wasn't sure when. I hope it's soon. Though that will have its own issues, because they never announced the job opening. It never appeared on our weekly list of open positions. It was on the website, if you looked, but how many people actually do that. So, I'm hoping it doesn't seem like they're just ramming me through. I mean, that is 100% what happened, but still. Hopefully people are cool about it.

One of the calls I took yesterday, I had to send an email about. They updated the inbox and added me to the add on inbox just in time for me to get my own email. Perfect timing, and very confusing for a moment.

I got to take the lead on the add ons today, so I was using that power to get people in, and then I replied to the coworker's emails, which is a pretty strong indication that I'm no longer just a PASII, as they do not have access to that account. I now get email updates when things come through for fuck ups that coworkers have made as well. And I got to see a bit of the pushback that people give management over said fuck ups. I would definitely not talk back to a manager the way they do. I mean, just own your fuck up and get over it. Fix it and we're all good. There's no need to come back and flounce about how the system led you astray. (Also because J. is petty and will pull that call and see that you totally ignored the warning. No one likes getting errors that you need to fix, but you do it and you move on, and reply with a facepalm and a "I can't believe I missed this. Sorry."

The rest of the weekend looks good. A restful Sunday with Prophecy of the Nine Omens in the early evening. It's going to be a good weekend.

Monday, my new pendant is coming. Since I looked at some Hawaiian merchandise, I'm now getting ads for all things Hawaiian, and one of those was for jewelry. There was this gorgeous silver Plumeria pendant. It's a little expensive, so I wasn't going to get it, but then I got promoted, and so I got it as a little celebration present for me.



I don't know why I fell so in love with it, but I really love it. I got a different chain for it, as my fat neck will not fit an 18" chain, which is what comes with it. I need at least 24".

Okay, I suppose I should get myself together for the windshield dude. Maybe I'll finish off my orientation first. Everyone have an outstanding Saturday!

It's Thursday at 4am, must be time to get up. I probably should get used to it, since I will probably move my alarm back when I start school so I have time in the morning to study or do my classwork.

Yesterday was payday, so always a good day. Mostly, I took calls, as we were crazy busy. Like 20 calls holding in the queue busy. I'm looking forward to that being done in a couple of weeks. Not that I mind the calls that much, but it'll be nice to only make outbound calls. I love when patients call you back hours after I call them for a same/next day appt. I cannot hold it that long, my good bitch. That's why my message says "if you get this by _____, please call back, I can hold the appointment until then." Some days I love patients. I was perky as hell yesterday, and I have no idea why. I think I had a somewhat rude patient, and so I perked at them, and then I couldn't turn it off.

I asked J. a follow up question. Apparently, I can still do OT, which is lovely. That'll be $45/hr Every couple of weekends, which should be lovely. IT'll probably damn near pay for Hawaii next year, especially if they want us to work any holidays this year. I am 100% here to work Memorial, Fourth of July, Labor and MLK again if they need me. I love those extra 8 hours of PTO.

After work, we threw in some potatoes to bake, and I cooked up some steaks in the cast iron pan. I used another of my "hype" presents, some Aloha Smoke Spice from Kailua Seasoning Company. OMG, it was SO good. Lightly smoky, a little bit of chili, but not enough to bother even my whitest of palates. But overall, it was salty and delicious and brought out the flavor of the steak even more. I loved it. So far, Hawaii has not disappointed. I've got the macadamia nuts, which are excellent. I got the macadamia butter shortbread and the white chocolate coconut shortbread, and those have been amazing.

After dinner, we had game scheduled, but the electric had other intentions. It went out with an almighty bang right around 6:30pm, and came back on after 1am. No game for us. And another one to reschedule *bangs head*. I stayed up for a while, hoping it would come back on, but eventually the early morning caught up with me and I fell asleep with my phone on my chest.

We did have some storms, though not severe like the weather said they might be. And at one point a tornado warning that was cancelled almost as quickly as it occurred, so that was fun.

Thanks to the weather dropping from 80 degrees to 40 degrees today, Jess had a particularly bad migraine, and my head and neck were twinging too. I would have been fine to play, but Jess had already dropped out of the game for the night.

Today, we're having tomato soup and grilled cheese. The BIL brought over his homemade tomato soup, so we've gotta use that up.

I'm sure work will be busy again, as it has all week. We'll see what I end up doing most of the day. Maybe there will be another Cardiac slot that opens so I get a little bit of time off the phones.

I don't know when they're going to set up everything for me. I think there are a few things to download on my computer before I start the new job. I need access to the queue as well as the main inbox, and I'm sure a few other things. I, of course, am ready to go. Get me set up and let's light this thing.

They pushed the rollout for the new phone system back a little further. Our team is too big, so they're putting us in two groups. Whoo. They say that everything has to be wired for it. Wired headset, ethernet connection. That is going to be an enormous pain in the ass. I am litterally paralell with the box, but there's a 15 foot kitchen wall between it. So, I'm going to have to tack the cord up over the cabinets, or under them. It's really freaking annoying. I got myself a 50' cord, so it should make it easily, but ugh. It's switching from an actual system to VOIP, so I expect problems. Massive problems. They don't know if we're still going to get screen pop ups in Epic, which is a lifesaver when you have a patient with a heavy accent. If they put in their phone number and date of birth, we will get a pop up with their chart. Then all we have to do is verify name and address. It has saved my ass many times, and I'm cranky that we may lose it. They want us to cut down on our talk time, but they're taking away one of our time savers. It's just corporate bullshit. Someone had a meeting, and they decided it looked good and was cheaper, and so they're switching it.

Tonight, after I make dinner, I suppose I will relax, and maybe watch a little videos. I'm flip flopping between Alaska and Hawaii videos. First I'll do one on excursions in Alaska, or boat tours, and then I'll pop back to Hawaiian food trucks. (They have some tasty looking food trucks. I'm especially looking forward to having garlic shrimp.) I think at this point, I can pretty much figure out my way around the ship. I know what floor all the important stuff is on. Our suite and the Neptune lounge is on 7, the food is on 2, 3 and 9 and the pool is deck 9. Oh, and the thermal spa is also on deck 9. Those are the important things.

We have a weekend of games, one tomorrow, one Sat and one Sunday. I'm looking forward to all of them. Tomorrow is my goth disasters in Vecna: Eve of Ruin. Saturday is the game in the style of epic Greek myths in Odyssey of the Dragonlords. And Sunday, I'm a player for Prophecy of the Nine Omens. I'm looking forward to all of them, but I'll admit, I'm especially fond of playing my Bladesinging wizard, Irsu. We're finally getting to the levels that wizards do some serious damage, which is always fun. Also, he's just a lot of fun to play. Very impetuous, always can be counted on to do the stupid, brave thing, even though he has wizard hit points.

Okay, on that note, it's probably time to take my shower. I just didn't have the energy yesterday, so I put it off an extra day and now I feel grungy. Everyone have an amazing Thursday!

We survived Monday! It actually wasn't that bad! It went relatively quickly, I got a few people in for appointments. Had one really obnoxious one who asked me like five times if I'd done it correctly. I flipped off the screen a lot with them, and took a little five minute break when I hung up. That's pretty rare, but she was on my last nerve.

I also got some more news about the promotion. So A. had said that she had never got the application, so she went back to HR and was like, wtf? And it turned out that the job I applied for initally had me shortlisted for the job, and it paused my application. So they figured that out, and A got the application, and has sent it over to Talent to write up my offer letter. I teased her about not needing an interview, and she said "1. Who has time for that. 2. Why would I bother? The job was literally created for you." So that made me feel good.

I did have a blip in the morning, where Jess was a little sad about all the games that were ending and that I'm only doing a game a day on the weekend from here on out because of school. I felt like they were giving me pushback, and was a little bit upset about it. And in retrospect, it wasn't even about Jess. One of my players took it upon themselves to nudge to schedule some of the games that are in limbo. But they did it with somewhat passive agressive-feeling sad faces in a bunch of my campaigns. And at the time, I was like Okay, lets schedule. But it really bothered me. I'm not a fucking D&D vending machine. This shit takes actual time and effort to prep, and there's only so much time. This isn't like a Goshapan machine. You put in an emoji, and the D&D falls out. So I could have responded better to Jess. We settled down and talked it out during lunch and we're all good. I'm just going to need to be better about laying down boundaries while I'm in school. Or alternately, just boundaries, full stop.

Sadly when my sister got home, she brought news that they're firing her employee, effective on the 27th. They don't feel like she needs an extra person, since they took the records away and sent it to NY. My sister is devastated. She adores the employee, and she feels like her company is being a bunch of liars. They had assured everyone that the shakeup was done, and then two weeks later, shut down more sites, and now they laid off her employee.

She's started applying to other companies, but probably won't start until after our cruise in May. She's looking at fully remote and hybrid jobs, or jobs that are much closer to home, since she currently has a 45min-60min commute on the shitty Baltimore Beltway. Work from home could be a challenge for all of us, but we'll figure it out.

Today will surely be another busy day. Hopefully we'll get some cancellations, so I can get in more patients, but we'll see what the day brings. It would be nice if it brought an offer letter. I don't know how long that normally takes. I know when I got this job, I applied and got an offer letter the very next day, so I have hopes for soon. I also have hopes for a decent pay bump. Ideally in the $3-$4 range. I don't know how Hopkins works promotions. I know at IKEA, your pay bump was limited a percentage of your salary, and it wasn't much, like ten percent every level you jumped.

Had I gotten any of the team lead jobs I applied for, it would have been a double jump, so I probably would have gotten a decent bump, but otherwise, it was like $2.

It's not like I even need it to live off of. It just would be nice. Though if my sister takes a lower paying job, it would be helpful. I mean, she'll have less gas money and less frequent oil changes, which will save some money, but still. It's not like the company paid that well anyway. I make more managing only myself than she makes managing a multiple sites, and like 8 people, which is fucked up.

Tonight, I shall make some pork tenderloin and try out this hawaiian sea salt blend I got. It's got 3 kinds of salt--one of which is smoked--and some mild chili. It tasted really good when I sampled it, so I'm looking forward to seeing how it tastes on meat.

As per my usual, I'm sitting here with a shortbread, nibbling on that. I may have to order again from them. There were a bunch of other flavors that looked really tasty. And I'll probably get more of the white chocolate coconut macadamia. Or the butter macadamia. That is also really tasty and excellent with coffee.

The macademia nuts are slowly being eaten. I need to get Jess another bag of the chilli, so they won't feel bad about eating the rest of the bag. They really liked them.

I'm mostly a fan of the plain sea salt ones. Though the lilikoi ones as well. It's a sweet and tart Hawaiian flavor from the yellow passionfruit. They're really quite tasty.

Okay, time to do some more orientation. I'm hoping to have it done by the weekend. Hopefully, today or tomorrow, I get my offer letter to sign, and it'll be good. Everyone have a terrific Tuesday!!

It's Sunday, and I seem to have lost an hour somewhere around here. I forgot about daylight savings, so I was all proud of myself for sleeping in. Then dine reminded me in her post, and I was like "Well fuck." I did not sleep in, not really.

Yesterday was a busy, but fun day. I worked in the morning, which was boring as shit. I was on admin, which means doing the faxes and emails, but we hardly ever get any on the weekend. I think I did maybe 10? They take about three minutes each, so I had plenty of free time. In between, I filled some cardiac slots and generally putzed around. Finally, it was noon and I was free!

Half an hour later, it was time to play Arvandor. The players took on the Lord of Blood, and defeated him after some dicey moments. It was a good battle. I dropped that last little secret, and it was wonderful. And then, the campaign was over. I did my epilogue, which turned really well. It felt like a fitting send off to three years of my life. Now, I need to buckle down and finish writing the next campaign, and source maps, and make character sheets. It's a lot, but I think we'll probably do a few one shots, and then we'll probably start after we get back from vacation. Sooner if I can do it, but that's quite a bit to do in one or two months. I was very emotional about the game ending, both elated that it had gone well and sad to say good bye to these characters. I think I'm going to have to sit with it a while for it to really hit home. Right now, I'm at the stage where I'm just so grateful that my friends put their trust in me and allowed themselves to be vulnerable and to really buy into this little world that we created. They made me excited to DM for them each and every game, and they helped me breathe life into a world that existed until then in my head. That's such a gift.

It might seem like D&D is a kind of silly frivolous game. People talking, sometimes in silly voices, rolling dice and talking about casting spells on beings with names like Ragnar, Lord of Blood. And yeah, it is. But when you look a little bit deeper, at it's core, it's people making connections and telling a shared story, letting your characters have agency, in a world with solveable problems. And that's powerful.

Then it was off to dinner with L, who was my lone friend from 911. We went to Michael's Steak and Lobster house, and I had my usual steak with imperial crab. It was SO good. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was nice to see L again. She had the stomach bug recently, and this was kind of her first big meal, so I hope it settled.

I've been looking at San Francisco and it looks like there's plenty of things that we can do while we're there. We're going to get in way early for check in, so we're probably going to leave our bags at the hotel and explore. Maybe start with Alcatraz and go from there. I know I want to see Muir Woods and the redwoods and I definitely want to eat in Chinatown. I need to reasearch some of the Chinese restaurants around there and see where we want to go. We'll have most of Friday and all of Saturday, then on Sunday, we'll be winging our way off to Oahu.

We have so many things to look forward to! We're going to have so much fun. Next up, in April, I start school, and then after that, we go to NYC for the Lost Boys musical. Then, May is Alaska, then back to NYC in June for the Rocky Horror, and then to Hershey to see Weird Al in July.

I'm looking forward to all of them, and I think we're going to have an amazing summer.

Today, I need to go to the pharmacy for all my medication, and then the rest of the day is for resting, and eating a pile of Dungeness crabs. I'm looking forward to that.

I was talking with my sister last night, and they're looking at going on vacation in August of next year, up to Maine. They've been before and loved it, so I hope they have an amazing time again.

I'm not quite ready to repeat my vacations, though I would like to take Jess up to Boston and Salem at some point. Who knows, maybe that'll change. I might fall in love with Alaska or Hawaii, and want to go back, but right now, I'm doing a Jack Sparrow. "Now bring me that horizon."

Tomorrow, it's back to work, with a borked sleep schedule. That should be fun. I always hate springing forward and falling back. The cat does not understand this bullshit, and it's weeks before she stops trying to get me up at random times. Tomorrow, we will also be back to our normal schedule, of having an hour or so to relax in the morning and write my little journal before my sister gets up and talks to me.

Okay, time to go forth and get myself moving. If I'm going to the pharmacy, I'm definitely going to need pants. Everyone have a stupendous Sunday!

It's Friday! I have completed my last night in my sister's bed! Whoohoo! Tonight, I get to snuggle Jess for the first time in 5 days. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. I actually slept pretty well most of the nights, but I miss spouse. Jess is up, getting ready to go to Sibley for their post op. They're not coming til 5:45am, but this way we get to see each other for a few minutes before they go. I was not able to take the day off, so I got my sedan company to take them. They were really good when we saw Ghost, dropping us off at the door and picking us up right there too. Once I get off work, we've got one more night of peace, since my sister won't be home til 8-8:30pm. Of course, once she gets home, there will be a blast of sound as she tries to tell us everything about her week at once.

Today, I shall work and then relax. Tomorrow morning I work, then game (Arvandor). I believe the party will reach the Lord of Blood's castle. We'll see how that goes for them. I'm excited to drop one more little character secret before the end of the game. I wrote the epilogue the other day. As I said to Jess, I for epilogues, I always think back to my first D&D podcast, the Adventure Zone. After a long campaign the party was victorious, and they settled in for the epilogue. And the DM, Griffin went through the other characters, and it was good. But then he got to the lone human character in the party. (The other two were long lived races. Elf and Dwarf.). And he simply said "Travis, tell me how Magnus dies." And they ripped my heart out. That's what I want it to be like, without the death. I don't know if I've approached that or not. I know I wibbled while I was writing it, so maybe that's a good thing? We'll see how it goes. I don't know if we'll get there tomorrow. It depends on how much monologuing the players allow the bad guy. If they jump to a straight fight, then it may be needed tomorrow.

Tomorrow afternoon, after game, I'm going out with my friend from 911. It's been a while since we got together, and I have a ton to talk about, so that'll be nice.

Sunday is gloriously empty, so I'm going to relax and eat the crabs that came via UPS last night. I had ordered some crab legs from Costco and was very excited to have a little crab feast, only to find that they were rancid. After that I gave up and went back to the source, ordering from Sitka Seafood. They arrived last night, and were immediately transferred to the kitchen. They ship them very well frozen, with plenty of dry ice. They were still frozen and look delicious. They can thaw in the fridge and will be ready for a Sunday feast.

In my continuing digging about being a respectful Hawaiian tourist, I have discovered a few things. First of all, the freaking Mormon church is everywhere. They own so much shit in Hawaii, most of which masquerades as a local experience. It's made things more challenging, like a game of whack a mole. Two, it's really difficult to find a locally owned Luau that I want to do. I think Toa Luau is going to be the place. They tick the local box and they're located in the Waimea valley, which I wanted to see anyway. Three, food truck rallys are a thing. There's a weekly Farmers/Night Market, where you can go forth and get a variety of good food. This sounds amazing to me. Also there's a swap meet/maker's market that you can go to get inexpensive souvenirs. I'm a sucker for that as well.

So that's basically two days that we have things to do. Add in maybe a full or half day tour, and the Luau and our week is looking pretty full!

After talking to Jess, we decided to fly into San Francisco, and spend a day or two. I've always wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge and visit their Chinatown. Then, we shall fly to Hawaii. On the way back, we'll spend a single day, and be home 10 days later. I think spacing it will help us out immensely. Now I just need to decide whether to take United the whole way, or switch airlines and fly from San Fran to Honolulu with Hawaiian Airlines. We'll see who has the best price. Though I'll admit, it amuses me to think about flying in on Hawaiian, since we're going to the cruise on Alaska Airlines. But you know what that means: More vacation to plan! Whoohoo! More hyperfocus time!

Well, that's annoying. The car service did not show, and the owner can't reach the driver. This is a problem. So, Jess will be taking a Lyft to Sibley, and he swears that he'll have someone to pick them up. This makes me nervous about the cruise, since we need pickup so early. If worst comes to worst, I guess we take two ubers to the airport. Just a little adrenaline to start the day. I feel bad for Jess, since instead of riding in comfort, they're stuck in a Lyft. Hopefully the drive home will go well.

Okay, I suppose that means I should wrap this up and get ready for work. Everyone have a fantastic Friday!