Tue Dec 6 - Apparently I've worried a few people here, and I apologize. Several of you have written me to say "Hey, is everything okay? We haven't heard from you." Allow me to ease your worries—Everything's fine.

There were two short draft entries tucked away from last week for my journal...

* * * * *
Wed Nov 30 - Worked late, all the way until 1 am.

Thu Dec 1 - My co-workers completely rock. My two different web-design co-conspirators completely rock. My band rocks (pun intended). My boss rocks. (Even my boss's boss rocks.) My roomie rocks. My family rocks.

And even movie-going lately rocks... lookee! Another Pirates of the Caribbean is coming out, and the trailer is available now: http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/piratesofthecaribbeandeadmanschest.html
* * * * *

...And that's where I last left off in my Drafts folder. Funny, huh? Let's see if I can sketch out the rest for you.

Last Week, at work - Four of five nights I was at my office until either midnight or 1 am. Only Tuesday did I get to leave at a "decent" hour, and that was to get to the studio for rehearsal. But I went on and on Thursday about my co-workers being wonderful because they helped me finally meet my nasty evil horrible deadline, without going completely insane. Yes, the giant book is done (yippee!!) and I adore my workplace, for the amazing co-workers I have.

The strange thing was my computer blowing up on Friday. Yes, I finally have experienced a computer completely frying itself. Apparently after I left at midnight Thursday but before I arrived on Friday morning to put the project to bed, so to speak, the capacitors [or something] blew on the motherboard of my normal development computer. My "lab machine" was still fine, but it's isolated on a different network, and is limited in its capacity. I cannot even get work-related emails on that side. So the IT guys were running around Friday, swapping out the hard-drive and trying to get a working computer for me. They were unsuccessful. Even swapping out the hard-drive, the substitute computer had hardware problems and the monitor would lose signal after 30-60 seconds. Talk about frustrating!

But my boss has a desktop and a laptop, so we installed some software on the laptop and I was able to work most of the day on her second machine. I took a desperately needed dinner break, and then finished the book files on one of the other developer's computers after 7:30 Friday night. We had never ordered a license for the scripting software for our boss, and so I couldn't finish the book on her laptop. Once the book was done, and I had the final file burned on CD and all the files backed up on the network [in two places], I was able to take the book order down to Kinko's and get the classroom order placed [for pickup by 6 am on Monday].

Sat Dec 3 - Our band performance also got moved last week, from Sat the 3rd to Sat the 10th. So you haven't missed our show yet, and if you're able to join us this Saturday, I would be truly honored. I spent part of Wednesday and Thursday getting all the announcements sent around, and then I got to spent Saturday with friends (since the guys cancelled our normal Saturday rehearsal).

I went to the local Baronial Yule (winter holiday) party, and I even went that extra step to braid in extensions into my hair and wear a more formal velvet outfit. I hope someone got a nice photo of me, which I'll share with you if I happen to see one. But picture me in dark green velvet and burnished gold, and braids past my waist with burnished gold silk for my veil. (I got lots of compliments!)

The dinner was lovely, and I wrote a new song for the Baroness (as her personal Bard for the year). I woke up with a piece of it in my head, and just had to write it. [I was even asked to sing it twice.] Here it is for you.

Blessings
© 2005 Cat C. Ellen

Some celebrate the return of the sun
As the great wheel turns in the sky
And so to you “Happy Solstice” I pray
And Blessings to you, and your family

Some celebrate the festival of lights
And the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days
And so to you “Happy Channakah” I pray
And Blessings to you, and your family

And some celebrate the birth of a King
In a manger in a stable spare
And so to you “Merry Christmas” I pray
And Blessings to you, and your family

And some celebrate the power of man
Of love, and brotherhood, and good cheer
And so to you “Seasons Greetings” I pray
And Blessings to you, and your family

And some find this time a cold and dark day
Lonely, berift of their family
And so to you, I invite by my side
Let’s create blessings and maybe a new family

      For what is a family but those that you love?
      Those you hold dear? Those you hold true?
      So come raise a glass with me, old friends and new
      Let’s celebrate our family

For those that you’re born to, and those that you choose
And all that you love, and all you hold dear
And so to you “Happy Holidays” I pray
And Blessings to you, and your family

Please feel free to ask me to sing it to you (or teach it to you) next time you see me. I'd be happy to do so.

Sun Dec 4 - Ah, our community chorus performance date. First we did three songs for the church congregation that provides our rehearsal space. And normally I sing a hymn during communion, to provide some music to meditate and reflect. This morning I felt compelled to share my new composition. And just like the night before, the song seemed to really move people. At Yule, one lady came up to me afterwards, clinging to my hands and thanking me profusely for my song. At church, one of the guys felt the same way.

At our afternoon performance, I included my song as a solo in the afternoon show. [Our duet dropped out, so I swapped out a solo instead.] And some of the choir members also were moved by the song, wiping away tears and teasing me that they couldn't possibly sing again after that. *blush*

The show went well, even if the audience was a little small, and we all felt wonderful about the quality of our performance. We had a nice meet-and-greet fellowship hour afterwards, with brownies, cookies, cupcakes, chips, and hot cider. And next year we want to be certain to go sing at the local street Arts Fair. We were too late this year, as our concert was done at 4 pm and so was the Fair. Ah well. Now we get a break from rehearsals for a while, and we'll reconvene in mid-January.

In early afternoon, as I headed home, I started calling friends who live in the Westside to see was available for dinner. One friend was working and cleaning (and in a foul, but apologetic, mood), one friend was sick (but recovering), and then I found Erika and Ben free for dinner. They were out and about, so I stopped for coffee and a relaxing hour alone reading a book, and then we met in Westwood for pizza and beer. [Well, they had beer. I think it tastes foul. *grin*] Then we went back to Erika's apartment and hung out watching a movie together ("10 Things I Hate About You", which is a modern take on "Taming of the Shrew"). It was a lovely evening together. Light, funny, silly, and very relaxing. [And one of the actors was really cute, so Erika and I giggled together all through the movie.]

Mon Dec 5 - My computer still wasn't working first thing yesterday morning at work, but by lunch time or so they found a better substitute, swapped the harddrive one more time, and it's been working well ever since. Turns out there's one model of desktop that's notorious for having bad motherboards/capacitors and both of the machines that were breaking on Friday had that problem.

So now I have a good loaner, have been able to catch up on work, email, and now my journal.

Tue Dec 5 - On the way to work this morning, my car sounded a tiny bit funny, so I turned around and went straight to the shop to have it checked. Yes, my dearies, I had 331934 miles on my speedometer as of this morning. I love my car! The rear bearings were having some kind of problem, and two tires had flat spots [which makes sense, since the bearings were just out of their 12,000 mile warranty at 13,000+ mi on them, and I only replaced two tires the last time I was in for repairs]. So I had a relaxing morning over coffee at the Borders bookstore across the street, browsed the calendars and optical illusions books, picked up my car, and headed in to the office. My boss was caught in traffic for over two hours, so she finally turned around and went home. She offered that I could "work from home" today too, and just lie around relaxing, but although I appreciated the offer, I left my backpack and laptop in the office last night and really did need to come in to work.

So that's it, my dears. Looks like rehearsal in the studio tonight, the launch of a dyestuffs guild tomorrow night, dinner with Jade Thursday, rehearsal with both my band and the visiting band Friday night, and our show Saturday night.

I hope you're all doing well. Oh! And please write me an email offlist [meaning: not in the comments] if you'd like to share your mailing address with me. I would love to send you a holiday card this year.

* * * * *
Recent Achievements Toward: My Dreams. Work project actually finished: Valuable Employee. Band announcements sent, new composition written and performed, and chorus performances conducted: Musician.

Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Incredible friends & partners in so many life: work, hobbies, family, just everywhere!