bloodsong1: (Jareth)
Annual Gathering this past weekend. The last time I went was three years ago, during my Indigo days when I was actively suicidal and so anxious I rushed around Doing Things to compensate for my lack of funds. It was not a good weekend, but I did drive home with a handful of interactions that made me think.

This year, I was feeling a little resentful over my sense of Giri (duty) in making sure I kept an eye on my kiddos and Little Bear. While nothing bad happened in the two years they went and I didn't, there were enough Minor Incidents to freak me out. As you probably know, LJ-Land, Queenie is phobic about water. Seriously phobic, swimming pools and hot tubs trigger the shakes if the water level gets over my shoulders. I'm okay in bathtubs, but that's about it. The site, while beautiful and fresh and clean and well maintained and well staffed and has many amenities, is also a flood catch for a nearby dam. This means WATER. Dark, unfathomable WATER with CURRENTS and THINGS. THINGS in the WATER.

One of the incidents involved the WATER.

ahem.

So I didn't really want to go, what with the bad memories and the WATER and the Minor Incidents and the politics one always finds in large groups, but Giri demanded. I could look forward to the fire pit and the dance and plotting for 2018 with Nomad and maybe actually get to the Temple and have some fun while making sure all kiddos were accounted for and that really didn't help, so, yeah.

The good news is I enjoyed myself a lot more than I expected. Almost everyone said "Welcome Back!" and "We missed you!", with the occasional "Wow, your hair!" I found out Cuteness has at least one friend besides Little Bear who would play the girly games. Teenager kept the school kids and a few adults entertained with boffer swords and got shuttled to the Bachelor Room when bed kerfuffles happened. Bed assignments are difficult at the best times. Lower bunks and first floors and "But we ALWAYS stay in this room!"s make it nearly impossible. It all worked out in the end.

I also made some really cool new friends, joined the Fire Guild, talked for an hour with a new widow about widowhood, got painted up like my favorite sword spirit (although I won't send the author the pics. Queenie has had two children and it shows.) and my InuYasha costume was a huge hit. My bioelectric ears got rave reviews and only one person was creeped out by them. Teenager still looks stunning as Alucard and my girls were gorgeous.

Oh! Did you know dog demons can be Invoked? That was a Thing.

I'm actually looking forward to next year, but I still need another Adult Only Weekend. Nightfall and Pla keep asking me to come down to NYC. Not sure if I can do anything this year, we'll see in the spring.

And now, a few quotes:

"Sucks the energy out of you like Spongebob Squarepants on the beach."

"Sacred Space, Sacred Talk."

"And as we stir the cream into the sacred brew, we chant 'This is only the first cup'."

"Good Penny. Shiny Penny. I will keep the Penny and never let her go."

But my favorite:

"Wipe those stripes off your face, Miko."
bloodsong1: (Simple Abundance)
I have the limo reserved for the wine tour, currently working out how many we can visit and make it back to the resort in four hours, since lunch will have to be done somewhere in there too. Or maybe just a late breakfast, since we'll be leaving at 11 am.

I have two confirmed, three more interested, I can fit two more if anyone's interested! Donations to Queenie's wallet would be greatly appreciated. *bows*

In the garden, the potatoes are going nuts! My biggest stalks are over a foot high at this point and I'm checking the bases once a week. More dirt will be needed this weekend. I also planted marigolds, beans and carrots. The peas are still alive, I found one brave little broccoli and one cucumber may have made an appearance. If I get nothing else, I will have purple potatoes. They will be glorious.

I volunteered at the Medical Mission, providing some health care services for free Saturday. It was a Very Long Day and I left more disappointed then uplifted as a navigator, meaning I escorted patients to all the different services. Next time, I'll work registration.

Watching Iron Chef, the original, on Youtube. I heart Chairman Kaga. (^_^)
bloodsong1: (Interesting)
Had a really good Memorial Day weekend. Hung out, made fire, tended fire, drummed, made more fire, cut lots of wood and made fire.

However, the pollen and dust and stuff has left me with a clogged throat for the last two weeks. Tis a wicked spring for allergy sufferers. I made The Teenager do all the sweeping and I was still sneezing.

In the garden, the potato plants are going nuts! I'm so excited! I've done the first round of mounding dirt to protect the roots and I'll keep doing it every other week. Some plants are taller and stronger then the others, but I'm afraid to thin anything. The broccoli died an ignoble death, the cucumbers didn't even bother to sprout and the peas took a break from growing, possibly due to lack of water. It's rained all day today, I will keep a better eye on them now that the First Thing of Summer is over.

My wedding is in less than two months. I'm finalizing plans with the venue, trying to get a count for a wine tour for Saturday, still need to call the bloody company, tomorrow. I will do this tomorrow. My spa day is booked and I'm toying with taking that Tuesday off too to just chill at home. I'll have to check my PTO.

That's about it.
bloodsong1: (Jareth)
Something was going around the office 1-2 weeks ago and I got it this weekend. Zahde, bless her heart, came down and made me chocolate cake and kept the kiddos entertained so I could sleep and drink lots of honey lemon water, sometimes with vodka.

I took the day off to get more sleep and honey lemon water. It seems to have worked, I feel mostly human. I'll be going in tomorrow regardless. This illness has cost me a day's PTO and I have two appointments on Thursday I can no longer make up, which means more PTO.

Oh well. It is why I save the stuff.
bloodsong1: (Interesting)
Visiting Brother Nightfall for the weekend. The drive down was pretty and okay until I hit Jersey and the construction around I85 outside the city. Asha is a lovely car, but her sat nav SUCKS. It was utterly convinced of an exit that was closed for construction and the detours made no sense whatsoever. I ended up on 95 heading the wrong direction TWICE before I found the Lincoln tunnel. I will need more toll money, I spent nearly $30 on five tolls between Jersey and Brooklyn.

So what was billed as a 3-3.5 hour drive and I figured a 4-5 hour drive turned into 6 hour drive. I'm still debating the way home, as 81 had a serious construction bottleneck in PA. We shall see.

Had Turkish food for dinner, it was DELICIOUS. Today is xiao long bao, soup dumplings! I've wanted these since seeing Anthony Boursain eat them several years ago on No Reservations.

Hope all are enjoying their weekend!
bloodsong1: (Interesting)
At least it didn't last long.

This was a bit bizarre weekend. Friday afternoon I tried to go to a dentist appointment I had already missed, so I took advantage of the extra time off and bought a new swimsuit, had dinner at Panera and got a hot stone massage. While I was on the table, naked and warm and waiting for the masseuse, I realized Zahde was supposed to be coming down. She hadn't called, so I presumed she hadn't left.

After the massage, I checked my messages. She had called me about halfway through announcing she was ordering dinner. I called back and she informed me she had been at my house since 3ish.

*HEADDESK*

I hurried home, almost beat the Chinese guy there and he kindly backed up so I could get in the driveway. The kids were out for the night, so Zahde and I sat up and talked and ate spare ribs. Ok, she ate the spare ribs and I gnawed the bones. Oog. Oog.

Saturday it snowed. I got my hair done (back to silver! YAY!) and bought groceries, then called Teenager to tell him I was picking him up NOW because SNOW. I had to knock on the door of his friend's house to get him to answer. By then it had stopped snowing, so I went home, telling him I'd be back between 5 and 7.

I left the house at 5, finished the errands I had forgotten because SNOW, and went to pick him up. I sat in the car, furiously writing a fan fiction inspired by a Friday night dream that would NOT leave me alone, until 8:30ish. We talked at 6:30ish and he said there were two matches left to watch. He apologized when he came out, but he was also high on adrenaline from Wrestlemania. I am a Kind and Generous Mother!

Today was my first fitting for my wedding dresses. Each fitting took about half an hour, with an hour + drive each way and a half hour lunch. I am looking forward to seeing how they look in May.

I got home just before Zahde left and Cuteness had been returned. I napped a bit on the sofa, the children didn't come down to eat, nor did I call them due to my late lunch.

So none of my usual things got done and the snow negated any gardening work. I'm okay with this, as the damned fan fiction is ALMOST done and it will be posted tonight so help me gods.
bloodsong1: (Cuteness)
Weekend went well, despite my fumbling with party times. We got Zahde, RB Darkly, Little Bear and Pan. Saturday was grocery shopping, a lot of lazy and a cheese fondue dinner. Also hot cross buns, because Zahde is awesome.

Sunday was Bunny Cake, more hanging out and a chocolate fondue lunch (very late to give RBD and Bear time to get here). The chocolate bunny was ritually sacrificed. Melting jokes were made. I need to start stabbing the damned bunny before throwing it into the fondue pot. Cuteness got several presents she wanted and she declared it Best Birthday Ever!

RBD and Zahde gave me a late birthday present by cooking dinner and cleaning my kitchen. By "cleaning" I mean "They scrubbed the stove!" And cleaned all the counters. And put stuff away where they thought things went, leading to confusion today as we were hunting for snake feeding tools. This happens and items were easily relocated. I have only 8 forks to my name. W. T. F.

With the super late lunch and a super late dinner, it was a scramble to get everyone showered and in bed. Laundry had to be put off to Monday, I was too tired and very Out of Sorts. I blame it on the dream Friday night of getting Wolf back for a little while and PMS, as the bleeding started today. woo.

I do get susceptible to cranky a few days before bleeds. Also, Little Bear is EXHAUSTING. More so than Cuteness.

Overall, it was a good weekend. I generated more ash for the garden and planted rosemary, sage and basil from the grocery store. The basil has already died, but the rosemary and sage are doing well. Basil does not like me. I accept this. There MAY be some broccoli germinating. I really need to order some heirloom seeds from Bakersfield. Cucumbers. I really want cucumbers.
bloodsong1: (Jareth)
Not the most restful, but that's okay. Good times were had, snuggly company, and more turkey and pumpkin pie! Yay! Thanks, Zahde!

Watched some Top Gear and a lot of Ultimate Spiderman. Discussed "Psychology of Fae" with Zahde and Pan, so far so good. I have NO idea what happens next, His Royal Sparkliness is glowering at me, he wants a happy romantic story, which this is NOT. Oh well, he should be used to this from me by now.

I'm tired.
bloodsong1: (Interesting)
Got to hang out with Zahde. I inflicted the Slayers (anime) drinking game on her, season two so I could cheer for Xellos. Vodka, y'all. I don't think I put more then two shots in our respective glasses, but I was smashed after four shots and Zahde was "buzzed". I am SUCH a lightweight.

Apparently I created a Twitter account as well. Hrm. Whokay then.

Today was spent recovering, nursing a low grade migraine all day due to missing pills, and making stock for turkey brining. I've made about two quarts, the next two are on the stove now, I will boil for cleaning and bag that up tomorrow for Wednesday night. 23.9 lb turkey I have to cook. This will take some work.

In the garden, the carrots have been left to rot and I have the heritage seed catalog I ordered months ago! Huzzah! Heirloom bush beans! Heirloom beets! Cabbages! I have no idea what I'm going to grow in my two little plots, but it will be interesting. Broccoli for sure. I like the idea of cultivating heirloom varieties and saving seed, but I'm not sure how well that's going to go. At least I have a grow light to start really working something in pots, if I can get a good arrangement set up. Maybe this weekend. It's not like I'm going to go anywhere. *shudder*

Also got most of the laundry done and at some point I'm hitting that peppermint bark gelato I grabbed from the grocery store yesterday. When the kiddos are in bed.

Hope all was well for LJ-land!
bloodsong1: (Wolf)
Samhein was spent with my coven. We had "Witch's Soup" for dinner, along with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and pomegranate seeds. The kiddos went trick or treating and after they got back we had Ritual. A "round table discussion" as it were, with each of us Invoking. I Called Down Inanna, everyone else Called Down Greek or Roman gods. Inanna and Hecate kind of hit it off, but there was not nearly enough talking to Inanna's taste. Mars made Inanna laugh. It was NOT my normal laugh, which was kind of weird but also kind of fun. Hestia flirted with Bacchus, making Inanna's eyebrows go up and Hecate brought her ravens. Mars gave each of us mortals a gift of strength. I'll be using mine in counseling tomorrow.

The "strange" thing was that when I asked everyone to start Drawing Down, I meant do it together. Hestia was Called first and then we went around the circle. Inanna was present before Hestia arrived (due to me Calling immediately), so it was a little weird. She kept looking around going "This is not my normal group."

Zahde and I agreed Mars is just so cute when he's being all idealistic and young.

Today was a lazy day. I took a nap with Zahde and got the laundry done. IDK (Indestructo-kiddo) got the dishes done. That was about it. I have enough ground coffee to fill a travel mug tomorrow morning. I just might do that.

Happy New Year to my pagan/Wiccan friends and Happy End of Daylight Savings Time to everyone else. Embrace the darkness, we have two months before the Solstice when the Sun comes back.
bloodsong1: (Interesting)
Slept in until 10:3ish. Got the dining room reclaimed, Jazz-cat groomed, some bills paid, IDK (Indestructo-kiddo) got the dishes done, and we watched some movies together.

In the garden, something has predated on the yellow jacket nest! Research suggests skunk, possibly raccoon. The hive is in pieces next to the deck, you can see all the little chambers where the larvae used to be. This means I can use my compost again!

Tomorrow is errand running and putting another section of garden to bed. Hopefully IDK will get the front lawn mowed.
bloodsong1: (Jareth)
It's the coming back that's the hardest.

I had a Good Weekend. There was hot tubbing, Country Stores, an epic game of boy versus girl Taboo (girls lost by 4 points), many wonderful conversations and So Much Food! Omnomnomnomnom.

The good news is I can handle a 4-5 hour drive by myself, as long as I has my phone. Apple Maps win over Nissan Sat Nav. I also now know that 5 Hour Energy + peanut butter crackers - any Real Food for 12 hours = Very Upset Tummy. Yay, Life Lesson!

The kiddos had a good time too. Sadly, I have learned the adults they were with did not, at least where the kiddos were involved. Cuteness + His Royal Highness - adequate supervision = Bad Things Can Happen! *SIGH*

I REALLY need to get Cuteness into a counselor. She's acting out at school, she acted out over the weekend. The paperwork is on my dining room table, I will fill it out and post it tomorrow. Tomorrow I have a work sponsored Spiritual Renewal Day. Here's hoping they don't preach TOO much.

I guess that settles it. Next year either we all go to the Annual Gathering or none of us do. I really don't want to go.
bloodsong1: (Lilly/Guyth)
My brother Lord Nightfall really needed it and we could see a small difference in the morning. May he continue to improve and bask in the knowledge we love him for who he is.

Had some good conversations, ate Moon Cakes (one of those is a bloody MEAL) took a walk in the woods and got home in enough time to take a short nap and get laundry done. As for work tomorrow, what will happen will happen. I can no longer drink coffee or strong tea at work, I can't listen to KUEC on headphones. Both of these combined with shifting programs quickly will trigger fierce migraines and the Imitrex only makes the vertigo worse. Sad Panda. Oh well.

Family Reunion in three weeks! Whoot!
bloodsong1: (Interesting)
but it's giving me a headache. Not quite a full migraine, but enough to drive me to the couch with chicken salad on a toasted bagel, my laptop and Life of Birds because David Attenborough has a wonderfully soothing voice. Life of Birds, Life of Mammals and the "Wildest" series are my "not feeling good and needing sleep" shows. Sadly, Jazz-cat has not cottoned to what the Breaking Cat News correspondent Puck already knows. Humans like to cuddle with their furry overlords when they aren't well. Jazz-cat is sleeping at the opposite end of the couch.

At least the kiddos are upstairs entertaining themselves. We got the downstairs tidied up and the floors vacuumed. I'm proud of IDK (Indestructo-kiddo) He didn't pitch fits over tidying up. Cuteness fussed more.

Hot bath tonight.
bloodsong1: (Interesting)
This was a good weekend. I didn't get any gardening done, but the back lawn was mowed (city sent a warning notice dated three days after I had mowed the front WTBH), I learned how to grill clams (4 HOURS, it should not take that long), and I braved the local pool to take Cuteness swimming. It turns out the pool is only 3'9" at its deepest. I THINK I can handle that.

It's been sweltering hot all weekend. I had to strip to undies this afternoon. Tomorrow I'll be using a space heater on my toes because the office is held at 55 degrees, too cold for my reptile blood, but the humidity lays me out just as easily. Fortunately, a thunderstorm is coming through, so the upstairs have several windows open to catch the breezes. Don't know how much rain we'll get, but I'll take the cooler temps!

Mama A says September is going to be brutal. We shall see.

In other news, I took my Urban Fantasy and ported it to my Kindle to see how it looked. The formatting is TERRIBLE, [livejournal.com profile] ursulav has my sympathies with her self pubs, but it was a real thrill seeing this story in a format I use to read published work. I have been Inspired, so hopefully I can get this DONE. Bloody fight scenes.

In Wedding News, *fanfare*, I have my Maid of Honor and Bridesmaid confirmed, four-six invitations confirmed, the bouquets and flower hair pieces confirmed (we're carrying bundles of fresh herbs, I shall try to grow what I can myself and talk to a local florist as a backup) and I need to go dress shopping and find this bloody venue. Polar Bear, could you send me those pics we discussed Friday, if you have more then what I already saw? Cornell has a botanical garden, I'll check with them too. Everyone's going to have to drive, there's no good central location to do this. Ugh, I'll have to add a hotel to my budget.

I have a budget. 6k. The same as both previous weddings combined. Might as well do it right, ne?
bloodsong1: (Lilly/Guyth)
Got the laundry done, a new stew made, the living room & dining room tidied up and Cuteness picked up most of her room. Still need to put the sheets on my bed.

I keep dying in Don't Starve. The longest I've lived is 61 days with the Librarian. I'm now trying to play as the Scientist. The hardest part is Summer, the heat will kill you. If the hounds don't because you can't run away because Heat Will Kill You. It's frustrating, but still fun. I'm looking forward to showing it to Polar Bear.

I'm still pondering my future work team, I know I want one girl For Sure, the rest I'm not as decided on. There may be one or two more interviews and then a decision will be made. GNYAH! *claws face*

In my garden, the peas are starting to die, the beans seem to have stalled and the cucumbers continue to flower. I am not a dedicated gardener, I've spent hardly any time this weekend out there in the dirt. Once everything is in the ground and growing, I dust off my hands and call it good. This is not a Gardener's mindset. Perhaps I do not have the gene. Or perhaps I only want to garden to escape the children. I do get more work done when I'm frustrated. The last two weeks have been peaceful and I don't have to share the television with a teenager. This is disappointing and I'm not sure if I have the drive to change it. On the flip side, once the peas have died back, I do intend to try broccoli again and I have plans for next year's crop rotation. That's something, right?

I'm going back to Don't Starve. Eventually I will get bored with this game and stop playing...
bloodsong1: (Simple Abundance)
I only stalled the mower once and was able to restart it fairly easily once it was level. It's a stubborn mower, it must be level and my front yard is sloped. There's patches I could not get, but I asked to borrow Handy BIL's weed whacker tomorrow and he agreed, so I will finish it then.

Cuteness and I had fun at the day spa. She got her fingers and toes painted and a new haircut. I got my fingers repainted and chipped the left thumb and right middle finger within two hours. Not sure if it was the weeding or the charcoal recovery. Ah well. Cuteness is Adorable.




She also has a new fairy life jacket to go swimming in. Loooo is coming tomorrow, weather permitting, so I can whack weeds while she takes Cuteness to a local pool. Monday I have off, as no one is available to watch Cuteness and my supervisor is cool like that and I have the time saved up.

After the mowing, weeding, harvesting (five more pea pods and a bean! My cucumbers are flowering!) and charcoal recovering, I came in and went upstairs to watch Top Gear and fell asleep. Down for over an hour, WTH.

I still have to do dishes. *sigh*
bloodsong1: (Simple Abundance)
Cuteness and I spent it at home, watching TV, playing "Don't Starve" (once again addicted to this game, WTH) and watching the baseball stadium fireworks from our front porch. I tried to explain why we celebrate to Cuteness, she was too distracted with the pretty sparkles.

Today we went to a sprinkler park in JC. This is a small area with a variety of fixed water sprinklers, like hoops to run through and a bucket tree that fills and dumps, as well as a variety of in-ground mini fountains. Cuteness had a ball. I sat with Loooo using Cuteness' parasol to keep us shaded and not freaking out. Sprinklers I can handle. It's the bodies of water larger then a hot tub that trigger my phobia. Cuteness does not understand this and wants to go swimming. *sigh* We were there for about two hours before the sun did me in and we came home. Cuteness was not happy about leaving, but being allowed to slide a few times while I retrieved the swimsuit that had been lost along the sidewalk helped. She also had ice cream when we came home.

I did not get any gardening done this weekend, but we did harvest a few more pea pods. They are DELICIOUS! I also grilled Saturday evening, dinner was hamburgers. Cuteness declared hers too thick, so I ate both. I also cleaned the organic matter off the deck so I wouldn't fall and break something. Looking forward to more grilling. I want to grill clams!

This week starts the "new" job and the raise. Squee!
bloodsong1: (Simple Abundance)
I did not get much done. Hair cut and manicure, already ruined. *sigh* Groceries bought, clothes washed. IDK (Indestructo-kiddo) got the dishes done and the lawn mowed before he leaves on Wednesday with Zahde. I am looking forward to a month with just my Cuteness, even if I have to do dishes and take out the trash myself.

I booked Cuteness and I a mother/daughter mani/pedi at the day spa where I get my hair done. She gets the "Sweet" mani/pedi while I get a regular manicure so she's not waiting on me. I'm hoping she doesn't get too squirmy. The day spa has a bunch of massages I'm quietly drooling over, but I keep reminding myself the raise needs to pay off the credit card and start rebuilding my savings.

In other news, one quote finally came in on the porch. Between $2-3k to fix, almost $10k to replace, including taking off the wrap part that leads to the non-door. Said non-door will be sided over sometime next month. Once I get the second quote I'll make my decision.

Mama A continues to improve with her therapies. She is threatening to brain the neurologist with her cane if she is not allowed to drive on Wednesday. I have informed her it's fine either way, my schedule is now flexible and I can do 8:30-5 or 9-6 or work a twelve hour shift and take half a day off if I need to and I don't have to go anywhere else. Pulled a 4 hour shift Saturday night as my last pool hurrah. Yay overtime.

So that was my weekend, LJ-land. How was yours?
bloodsong1: (Simple Abundance)
Spent it down at RBD's, I got my own room with lace curtains and a wicker chair with green & yellow plaid cushions and a grass green carpet from the 1950s and a mattress at least as old. Saw good friends, made new friends, was Fire Marshall for two nights, found a staff named Seeker, was called Fair Wanderer and had a Tarot reading that slapped me upside the head with a clue by four. Par for the course with me and Tarot. I only ask questions of Tarot decks when they look at me and say "We need to talk". I don't use Tarot myself, I have no decks and I know I shouldn't. Oracles are delicate things and I'm not of the vibe. I'd much rather grow plants and make healing teas and spend an hour weeding Wolf's tree. RBD and I have an agreement now. If either one of us wins a mega million lotto, I will move into her mother's house and take care of the gardens and be her personal assistant after the house is made safe and livable and gets a much, much needed makeover. 1950s, man. I fail to see the romance.

Still, a good weekend. I'm tired, but I'm clean, my kiddos are clean, Jazz has been somewhat appeased for being left all alone with no loving. He bit my nose when I stopped petting him to try and catch a nap on the couch. Also we are all tick free! Yay DEET!

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