Today, Wed Nov 30 - I'll try to sum up in a quick and straight-forward manner. (There's a first, hmm?) I hate to get behind, but then again I hate not writing for days at a time. I have photos to add later, but I'll skip that for now too.

First, just a little piece of silliness for today: http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/yankeetest.html

Catching Up

Wed Nov 23 - Project Night with Aliskye. This was *way* fun. At first I thought I was going to bake Pumpkin Scones, like I made for Halloween, but at the last minute I decided to make veil/hat pins for the SCA. It was easier to run to Home Depot for supplies than figure out if I had all the recipe ingredients. Plus I needed pins for the weekend, as well as gifts for later.

So as I sat and clipped safety pins and made little felt books to keep them in, Aliskye worked on several projects: embroidery, pewter, and cooking. I took lots of photos, and I'll post them another day when I'm not swamped at work. But the evening was a massive success, and I'm glad we're doing this together!

Thu Nov 24 - Packing for the whole weekend was really a larger task than I thought it was going to be. But once I was on the road, I was really lucky I left as early as I did. I never hit any traffic snarls, although the radio was telling me about problems behind me as I got to town.

And I spent my drive ringing up family and friends to wish them Happy Thanksgiving. Had a great chat with my Dad, and I only teased him about all the snow a little bit. *grin*

When I got to town I spent a little time running around delivering CDs to the chorus, with rehearsal WAV files created on my new digital recorder. I'm thrilled to have this kind of technology at my beck-and-call now, and thrilled to be able to supply the recordings to everyone.

I was kind of hoping more people would have joined Dayle and me for the lock-in-get-projects-done idea she had proposed, but then again it was nice to spend a weekend with Dayle and Ken on my own. I brought *my own table* for my work (I know, I'm silly), but working on my laptop at their house has been a little difficult now that the wireless doesn't have as much signal in the media room. But I *loved* my setup in the dining room/living room, and it worked out beautifully.

Thankgiving proper was celebrated with Dayle and Ken, Morgana and Brian, Morgana's Mom and her Mom's Mom. We went out to the Old Vienna Restaurant (which I'd never been to before), and most of us opted for the Turkey dinner, mostly because of the "And All The Fixin's" feature... how could it be Thanksgiving without stuffing? yams/sweet potatoes? real gibblet gravy? Morgana's Mom ordered the goose (an entire 1/4 of a bird!), mainly because they were out of goose last year when they came here. And Mom's Mom ordered the salmon. Everyone went away stuffed and happy, and we have plans to come back again for a non-holiday dinner, just to have a chance to try the Venison on another night. I had a really yummy mulled wine with my dinner, and probably the best Black Forest cake I've ever had in my life. *swoon*

The rest of the evening included playing around with my laptop (archiving files, clearing up space on the drive, uninstalling unnecessary programs)... and thankfully Brian and Morgana came over to hang out for a while, since Brian was able to fix a mistake I introduced into the system. [Oops, don't uninstall *all* the java!] Then we watched a DVD on greeks who still worship Zeus, which although interesting, seemed a little bit long, and my eyes were more than fluttering closed in parts. It's really hard to listen with your eyes closed when they're speaking Greek and you're no longer reading the subtitles. *blush*

Fri Nov 25 - My mom threw the "Visit me the day after Thanksgiving so you don't have to dash off to see the inlaws too" party on Friday, which was very well attended. Sarah is 6 months old now, and Lilli is 26 months (ahem... this is silly, just call her 2!)... and we all had a blast playing with the girls. Grandad and Joyce were in town, plus all the kids/spouses/kids and we got to enjoy Mom & Larry's new kitchen remodel and gigantic table for the feast.

The remodel was delayed because apparently Larry had a small stroke (eep!) and I was the last kid called... but he's okay, the hospital stay was just cautionary. (sigh) I'm glad he's well, but it was weird to not hear about it until late Wednesday night on my cellphone voicemail.

I was back at Dayle & Ken's for dinner time, and we enjoyed the rest of the evening browsing a local independent record store. (Yes, they actually still sell records, too!) Dayle and I were both getting the new Kate Bush album, and I finally gave in and got some CDs I'd been putting off for the past year or two (the latest Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge, and Tori Amos). It's a fun store, and even better with friends.

Back at Dayle and Ken's, I spent a little time outside smashing the veil pin heads with a hammer (really, this is part of the process!) so I would have pins to wear tomorrow. The photos will really help with this story.

Sat Nov 26 - Saturday was mostly spent at the park with SCA friends. Yes, there was an event but I really wasn't there for the event. I'm helping redesign a business website for several friends, and working with Mariam to do it. I'm really *really* enjoying all the web design work I'm doing lately, and working with others on a team is quite exciting.

And... I bought a great wheel! Actually, my roomie and I went in together "to buy a great wheel for the house" since I couldn't justify that much money in my budget all at once. But now we own a huge spinning wheel that just looks gorgeous and on which I actually know how to spin now. I can even break it down and fit it inside my tiny Festiva, although not much else fits once the wheel is in there.

I spent some time at the event being photogenic, spinning and teaching and demonstrating to folks who wandered by. I'm beyond happy with this purchase!

After the event I went to the studio for rehearsal. And then I drove the wheel (and a lamp from my Grandad that my Grandmother bought in the Phillipines when my mom was only 4) down to my apartment, and jet back out again. Saul was home, so we hung out for about an hour or so, where I got to watch him play an online video game that is just too darn cute. You play little puzzles, but you're a pirate. It's very addicting to watch!

Having enjoyed my four-shots-of-espresso soy latte while watching little pirates run around, I was ready for the rest of the drive "home" to Dayle's place, and made it back just fine. The hottub towels were hanging up to dry when I arrive, which made me immediately consider a dip and a soak before bed. There's decadence for you: Coming in at 12:30 am, sitting in the hottub outside in November, and then going to sleep.

Sun Nov 27 - No, I spoke too soon. Decadence is waking up at 5 am, being cold, and going back outside for a soak in the hottub again, then going back to bed. Now *there's* decadence!

I ended up running late in the morning, and opted against going to church after all. They were going to be at a different congregation this morning anyways, and I wasn't really sure I wanted to walk in there, late. So I continued working on my laptop, and working on the business redesign for hours and hours.

In the evening, I had choir rehearsal once last time before this weekend's concerts, which went very well. Then it was back to Dayle and Ken's, and a chance to hang out in the hottub *with* them for the evening, chatting, laughing, and enjoying ourselves before each retiring to bed. In fact, Dayle was teasing me to get off my computer and go to sleep since I was getting up for work the next morning at oh-dark-stupid. I had to admit she was right, but then again sitting at my computer after sitting in the hottub, I got cold. So I slipped out for one last soak in the hottub, then went to sleep warm and snuggly.

Mon Nov 28 - The drive to work wasn't bad, even getting up at 4 am, but I do miss being at home sometimes. The great wheel was still in the living room, looking at me mournfully. *laughs*

Monday there isn't much to tell other than two of us were still working late at midnight, when I finally went home. Craigor didn't get out of there until 1:30 apparently. Erp.

Tue Nov 29 - Yesterday was also a work-hard, work-late kind of day, but I did leave at a "decent" hour to head over to the studio. And that's that. *grin*

* * * * *
Recent Achievements Toward My Dreams: Rehearsals in the studio, rehearsal with chorus: Musician. Great Wheel: Fiber Artisan. Laptop maintenance, design meeting, redesign work: Web Designer.

Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Mom and Larry. She's home safe from Jordan, he's safe after having had a stroke. I'm so lucky.