And then, there's a bearded fetus.

Today is Sunday and we have nothing planned. We will probably go get lunch, but aside from that, I think it's going to be a relaxing day. And who knows, maybe we'll just order lunch.

Yesterday was a mostly good day. I worked for four hours, then we had game, then rest for a couple of hours. Unfortunately at that point, I started feeling hella nauseous and had to cancel my nighttime game.

My sister was out watching her adopted niece's soccer game, so I was up til about 11:30. (State finals, they won.) Eventually, I got too bored just laying there and the stomach had improved some, so I came out and watched videos about the Grand Dutch Cafe on the Holland America ships. This is the place that I'm going to go to first on the ship. We'll do what we need to--visit our Muster station and watch the safety briefing. Then, my ass is going to go get food. And honestly, nothing says vacation like going to the cafe that serves Dutch food, and having something you don't normally eat. They have a Bossche Boll, which is a creampuff covered in chocolate, about the size of my fist. That's definitely on the list, but so are some of their other things. Like the fried eggs on farmer bread with ham and gouda. I could fuck that up. And the fries look amazing.



Here's a video someone made about their experience, and the food looks amazing. (And usually that pair of travel bloggers are harsh about the food and experience.)

Yoda was groomed, so we sat on the sofa under a blanket and watched some videos. (We get him short, to avoid poopy butt.)

Okay, time for me to commence relaxation. Everyone have a wonderful Sunday!

It's the weekend! And I am still up at 5:30am because I am working this morning. I realized how good my check was going to look today. I've got two Saturdays of OT, a team meeting that was OT and the second friend who got a job at Hopkins passed her six month mark on this past Wednesday, so I'll get that $1000 bonus. We're going to get something good for dinner on payday.

Work was pretty busy yesterday, and I spent a bit of time working on filling appointments, yet still had time to take 47 calls. Usually Friday is a little bit less busy, but we're heading into the most wonderful time of the year, where everyone tries to get in for appointments they've known they needed for months before their deductible resets in January. Late November and December are brutal for radiology. And may I just mention that these people have no Holliday Cheer. For December, I'm working on the 27th, and not looking forward to it.

After work, I did a quick run to the pharmacy to get my pills, and inhalers. With a game at 7, we decided to take the dog out for a walk, but there was a bigger dog outside, and Yoda barked. The other dog barked back, growling loudly, so we went back in, both Jess and I having flashbacks to Tucker. I swear, the scars prickled when he growled, and I was 100% sure that someone was going to get hurt. Instead, we ran inside, and settled down for a while before game.

I'm thinking about doing another day trip up to the Mt Hope Wine Shop. We had picked up a bit of wine and booze while we were up there for the Renn Faire. We still have wine, but we've nearly killed off the Rum Cream. And let me just say, that is a sad thing. It's basically a sweet creamy base that would make an awesome coffee creamer married with coconut rum. It is SO fucking good. I'll pour myself a large shotglass and sip on it during game. It's only about 18% alcohol, so not too strong, but perfect for sipping. They also have a mocha rum cream that I'm looking forward to trying.

We do have a trip planned for the Yuletide Faire, which is basically the renn faire with carolers and holiday themed plays and music. But that isn't until mid-December, so I'm debating on a trip before then Right now, they don't have their Eggnog, but I'm hoping they will by the time the Yultide faire rolls around.

Today, I work, Jess and my sister take Yoda for grooming, and then we have game after work, then game tonight.

Tomorrow, I believe Jess has game at 7, but nothing else.

Okay, time for me to get myself together and be ready for work. Everyone have the very best Saturday!

And now it's Friday Eve! Hopefully, it'll be a quiet day. Yesterday ended up being quite busy. I ended up taking another 40 calls, even though part of the day was spent filling some cardiac slots.

Then, it was off to the dispensary to pick up sleepy time pills. It still kinda amazes me that I can just walk into a very upscale store and buy weed. Not just weed. Specially formulated weed that does exactly what I want it to, in. pill form.

Of course, coming out of the store, two dudebros were enjoying their stash in the parking lot, in the car right next to me. I had to walk through the cloud of haze and stink. Instant migraine, let me tell you.

I came home and ate dinner and immediately went to lay down. My ADHD meds were wearing off, so I was getting a little jittery, so I decided to listen to some music on youtube. Which is where this song came for my entire life.

One of our friends went to NYC Commic Con, and sent out a message to us that she was in the panel for the Lost Boys Musical, and they were about to release tickets, and would we be interested in going?

I considered, and then said yes. We head up to Broadway in April to see the show. In the meantime, they've relased a couple of the songs, and so far, they've all been pretty much bangers. And I listened to them and liked them, but I must not really have listened to the lyrics? Because last night, Wild came on, and I guess with the earphones I could really understand the lyrics, because they were like a sledgehammer.



I feel like this is me now, just slowly scrabbling out from under years of caretaking. I'm finally to the point that I can love my family to death, but feel like I can matter too.

I may have listened to the song and Patrick Wilson telling me that I could be wild again a few times.

Tonight, I have to go get my roots touched up, which desperately needs to happen.

Okay, time to get myself moving. Everyone have an amazing Thursday!

Hopefully, Tuesday will be less crazy of a day, but I'm not holding my breath. Yesterday, our phone systems were down. Well, not the phones themselves, but the queue that brings them to us. I spent the morning filling in a few openings, and then at 12:06pm (over 4 hours late) the queue came up. And I never had another moment to breathe all day. Even with only having roughly 3.6 hours, I still came in at a tidy 39 calls. (The goal for a full day is between 35-40.). It was a lot.

For the most part, patients were nice, which helped. But damn, that was a lot of calls.

Tomorrow, our Christmas tree arrives. I'm just going to set it up, since I would want to test it out anyway. It won't be decorated until our ornaments arrive around Thanksgiving, but it's getting cold and dark and I want the pretty.

It is super cold yesterday and today. I had to use the heavy coat to walk the dog in last night, because it was in the high 30s. Right now, it's 31 degrees, feels like 22. It's supposed to be back up to normal temps tomorrow, though. Back to the 50s and 60s again.

A friend of mine has started an Etsy shop for her quilted goods. I bought my sister a bag from her, and asked if I could comission stockings for my sister and the dog and cat. She didn't have any pet themed stuff, so I bought it, and will send it to her for stocking making. She's very talented and could use the extra money for Christmas. Her husband passed 2 years ago right before the holidays, so she's raising 2 kids on a single paycheck. If you're looking for a new bag or anything like that, give her a look.

We're down to 177 days til Alaska. My excitement had waned, but it's picking back up. The BIL asked if I could cancel the fishing trip I'd booked him for, because he's not sure he could physically do it, so instead, we're all going to a Dungeness crab feast in Ketchican. I fucking love crab, so all you can eat in an hour should be good.

Mostly, I'm just looking forward to being away. Disney was the best week of my life, and I want that feeling again. Nothing that I need to do except what we want, It sounds lovely. And the ship looks so nice and they have so much food! I can't wait to do everything first class and have a blast.

Okay, time to get myself in gear, and see what the temp in here is. I'm actually a little chilly. Everyone have a stupendous Tuesday!

It's Sunday! And it's going to be a busy day! Even though my boss ended up being able to use her tickets, I've been scouting online, and I found a pair of orchestra tickets that didn't break the bank. So we're going to see Phantom of the Opera for the matinee showing at 1! I've never been to this particular theater before, so we're definitely going to leave early so we can find parking.

I'm really excited about seeing the show! I've seen the Gerard Butler movie, but never the play. My family used to go to dinner theater now and again, but it was for shows like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Oklahoma, and it didn't appeal to teenage me. But since, I've listened to a few soundtracks, and I no longer think I hate musicals. (Except the one touring play of Cats that I saw in San Antonio-that particular performance can fuck off into the sun.) But I really loved Rent, I'd like to see Beetlejuice and Hadestown. I loved the Phantom movie. I have songs from the Buffy musical in my playlist. So we're going to see how this intro to the Baltimore theater scene goes.

Hopefully, the seats aren't too tiny. I always feel bad when I have to squish my fat ass into a seat and try to not encroach on my neighbor. I'll admit, I'm a little anxious about it. Also, I'm completely clueless what to wear. The internet says "smart casual," but I don't know that I really have that. So it's going to be schlub, me thinks.

I was productive as fuck yesterday, despite doing almost nothing. I mentioned that Jess' fic had inspired me, so I wrote a little bit. It's just over 2,000 words, but it's a little snippet of what's going on directly before the campaign starts. For me, any fic is unusual. My normal is to write in a very list-like style for campaigns. I'll write the triggering factor, then what happens, and then just flesh it out during game time, flying by the seat of my pants.

I know DMs who will spend hours prepping every game. For modules, my prep is to read the module once, and then reread the part that I think we'll get through the day of. For homebrew, there's some prep. That's when I flesh out the world, and the characters, all in helpfully presented bullet points. Once that's done, I hardly ever use it again.

I may have to do a little more with this one, just because it's going to be a longer campaign, so it's going to have acts and quests and all sorts of shit. We'll see how it evolves.

The fic, should anyone be interested is right here.

Okay, if I'm going out, I desperately need a nice hot shower. Everyone have an excellent Sunday!

Good lord, I did nothing yesterday aside from work. I ended up at 63 calls for the day. It was a lot. So afterwards, I flopped on the sofa and watched youtube videos about Alaska cruises.

We're at 181 days til our trip, and people are working on getting passports and I'm getting a bit excited again. I've booked out transfers, so that we'll be ready to go. Next step is getting a dog sitter and making them Yoda's trusted friend.

I've got our initial day set up. We've got a car that will pick us up at the airport, and drive us around Seattle, stopping at a couple of places, like Pike's Place Market, and the Space Needle. Also the park they suggested for good pictures, Kerry Park. Aside from that, it's a little tour, then they will drive us across the border to the Pan Pacific Hotel, arriving just in time for us to check in.

We'll probably crash at that point, maybe sneaking out for a snack later in the evening. Friday is a free day to play in Vancouver, then Saturday is onto the ship. After that, my obligation is done. Everyone can do their thing while we're on the ship. My plan is to relax a lot. Spend a ton of time on the balcony, especially on sea days. And eat a lot. There's so many places to grab a snack.

I had posted on a Facebook community about what people thought of the suite we're in. There was a bunch of answers. People really fucking love this suite. They were telling me to ask the concierge to bring us a few meals in suite, especially high tea. Basically anything you ask, this concierge will do. And as I've mentioned in the past, because we're in the super suite, the crew is given pictures of us, so that they will know who we are and greet us by name.

I'm going to start ammassing some $1 bills for drink tips now.

I'm hoping today is a little quieter at work, and that Saturday is chill. I work the next two Saturdays, which will look lovely on the 19th, when my check comes out.

But for now, everyone have an outstanding Friday!

It's Hump Day! We're almost halfway through the work week!

Yesterday was super busy again at work, to the tune of 48 calls. (I'll remind you that generally, we're supposed to aim for 35-40, but since I spend time making outbound calls and trying to fill slots, I'm actually supposed to aim for around 28. So basically, I was kicking ass.

A little tired this morning. I woke up around 10:30 and checked the news and got excited and couldn't get back to sleep.

I couldn't be happier about the results of the elections last night. I felt like they were a good step, but especially Mamdani's win. The man literally calls himself a democratic socialist, and people *turned out* for him. It feels like a pointed message both to Republicans and maybe even more so to democrats. A message that we don't want centrists. You can win without throwing marginalized people under the bus. I loved that his last campaign stop on Halloween was a queer club. I love his messaging. And the last video of him petting the bodega cat was genius.

So yes, today feels a little bit like hope. Our elections are in another year, and hopefully by that point, we can flip some shit around in DC.

I'm feeling the itch to bake. I got a bunch of cookie cutters and flour and brown sugar and butter and eggs, so I am ready. I think first up will either be sugar cookies or snickerdoodles. I kind of want to try the sugar cookies, so I might go for that. I really need to get some colored sugar for topping.

I don't have anything planned for Sunday, so I may do an orgy of baking. Get a few kinds of cookies going. Could be fun. I might make the sugar cookie dough tonight or tomorrow night so I can roll it out on Saturday. I'm still looking at recipes. My mother's recipe got lost well before the move, so I'm scanning through recipes, looking for one that is similar. I know she put a tablespoon of sherry in her dough, so I'll probably do that.

And on that note, I shall go forth and get a nice shower, and get ready for work. Everyone have a wonderful Wednesday!

Y'know, I had such a nice weekend, I don't even resent that we're back to Monday.

Yesterday, we woke up early, thanks to daylight savings. (Did it again this morning, too.) So we had a little time before game. Then we had a delightful game where my cleric chose to do the stupid thing. It worked really well, for the 30 seconds before the next player in line killed him, but I like to think it was a big morale booster, and buoyed the paladin to slapping that giant pig demon really hard with his sword. He was by that point, bleeding copiously and looking diseased.

Then it was off for lunch with my friend from 911. We went to an Indian Buffet, and ate very well. The Saag paneer was especially tasty. It's always nice to catch up with friends, so that was good.

Then, we came home and relaxed until it was time for our second game of the day.

Second game of the day was also excellent. We started in a fight with some vampires, with our heavy hitter charmed by one of them. He wasn't out and out attacking us, but it was close. Our party was falsely accused of stealing the crown jewels, and had to ditch. Now we're heading towards my character's family home to see what's going on with his brother who is ill. Downside, Irsu's father is a horrible person and a Duke. Irsu ran away from home rather than get pigeon holed into being his brother's trusted mage, and has not been back. He has complicated feelings.

I also got a portrait of said character made:


I love it so much. He looks exactly as badass as I was hoping.

poisontaster and I were talking about Kpop Demon Hunters, and we agreed that the line I used for my subject line is kind of our jam. She said that you can be the most broken, weird person, but when you find that harmony with someone, it's amazing. And I pointed out that that's what D&D is for me. We find the harmony with the people we play with, their play style, their personality and you wind your style into that, and the next person looks at the whole, and so on and so on.

And when that happens, you can create beautiful stories of triumph, of found family, and heartbreak and loss. Sometimes, you create something silly and fun, sometimes, while the players are finding family, you are too. You've find that harmony, tap into that song and it's the best, most exhilarating feeling.

It's easier to find that in a campaign than a one shot, but it's still there. I'm so fucking lucky that I have a 2 good servers, of people who are way cooler than me, but still mesh with my song.

It made the pervasive fear and dread of the pandemic seem less when we played. It gave us a human connection, even as we were all locked in our homes. And game after game, we forged connections and friendships. I'm so grateful for that and that even as we've all started to go back out into the world, we still make time to get together and tell stories.

Basically, I love my friends.

And now, I shall go forth and read a little bit more of the module. Which is now 19 days away. Everyone have an outstanding Monday!

It's Saturday, glorious Saturday! I slept in by a whole two hours! It's something at least. Today shall be a busy day. At 11, we shall have Arvandor to play. Then, immediately after, we're going to see Kpop Demon Hunters, which I have not yet seen. Then, back in time for Jess to play their Strixhaven game, run by poisontaster.

Tomorrow is shaping up just as busy. We have a 9am game, Life's a Beach, by coyotegestalt, and then I'm going out with my 911 friend for lunch, then back in time for Prophecy of the Nine Omens by poisontaster.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Work kept me busy calling patients back, but in between emails, I made my little PDF of how to work the specific function that I have discovered. I got the PDF done in about 20 minutes, complete with highlighted screen shots, which probably tells you how complex this life hack is. It literally takes a minute to do.

Then, after work, I relaxed for a little while. Right around then, Jess discovered that Folk horror campaign we start in 21 days has plushies of some of the twisted creatures. They're SO freaking cute that I may have bought the whole lot of them. Jess has claimed the round boi crow, and the other two will DM with me.

We had delicious food from McAvoy's Sports Bar, who have the best onion rings in the land. They have this crispy, greasy beer battered onion rings that have always been sweet and perfectly fried. Just so good.

Then, we took puppy out to do his business, and it was time to play Vecna: Eve of Ruin. These are my goth baby disasterse from Strahd. Whe tasked with making characters to fit in the story of the most famous horror module of all time, my players 100% understood the assignment.

We finished Strahd last year, but the players (and I) loved the characters so much that we decided to keep going. It took me a bit of time to read Vecna, but it seemed to fit in with the theme, so we went with that. So far, it's been fun, though we haven't hit the main plot yet. Sooon!

Okay, time for me to go forth and prepare for game and KPOP Demon Hunters! Everyone have a stellar Saturday!

It's Friday Eve! Good lord, I was on the struggle bus yesterday. My back was hurting and the people calling me were either so dull/awkward that I couldn't really connect with them, or out and out assholes. I survived, taking 52 calls. And now I get to do it again today.

The back is still cranky. and I'm sick of it. I ended up dropping from my game last night, because I was hurting so much. Today, it's better than last night, but still painful.

I spent some time putting all our outings into the countdown app. I like being able to flip through and see all our stuff.

I ended ordering some stuff from Costco for dinners for the next few nights, so I don't have to cook. Maybe by Sunday I'll feel up to cooking.

From here on out, I'm going to be hoarding my PTO so I will be good for the cruise. If I can avoid taking PTO from here til Feb, I will be able to put my PTO in for the cruise in March. Mind you, I'll start as soon as I start accruing.

I have two half days off in December, one to take Jess to their next post op, and one for the comic con. Though I'm a little unsure of that one. Once I see the schedule, I may decide to give it back.

I have a couple more packages on the way. One is some nail polish, which was an impulse buy. The other was a watch for the cruise. I've been told that sometimes cells and computers have a hard time adapting to the changing time zones in Alaska, so I just got myself a nice analog watch.

Okay, time for me to take a gander at my games for Friday and Saturday. Everyone have an awesome Thursday!