Archive for the Category ◊ Erich ◊

Making goals & attempting (again) to get stuff done…
Author:
• Monday, July 12th, 2010

It’s another Monday morning. I’m feeling a bit guilty about all of the time I’ve spent slacking off in front of the TV, so I’m getting a to-do list to get my butt moving again. To be fair, I was feeling pretty crappy over 4th of July weekend thanks to womanly issues – and the heat and humidity this week have been pretty nasty, so most of my time has been on the couch in front of the AC… simply because that’s been the only comfortable place in the house to be.

I have a lot of mail-related things to get done, but also projects I’ve been putting off. So… for this week:

  • Get together with Erich’s dad for his birthday
  • Finish sorting old clothes for donation (will do on Sunday)
  • Finish addressing all postcards for personal swaps on postcrossing
  • Finish addressing all cards for the July RR swap on postcrossing
  • Send out Rahenna’s piece for the UFO RR
  • Sort sheets & towels – match sheet sets up
  • Put away all clean laundry
  • Sort socks (dun.. dun… DUN!)
  • Finish the little Christmas ornie for the LaS stitch-a-long
  • Make pies before the ingredients go bad
  • Sift through 1 month of uploaded journal entries & fix them
  • Get my WoW account settled & ready to go for gaming again

And some generic tidying once the weekend comes around.

My focus to start this week is all of the mail-related things. That’s my focus for tonight. Years of penpalling and swapping still come into play and I’ll fly through them tonight!

I’m particularly proud that I’m ready to get the UFO RR on its way this week. I honestly could have sent it on last week, but I’ve been meaning to get a photo taken of it… AND… as I do every round, I do a good sticky roller over the piece to clean off any stray cat hair (in my house?!? NEVER!) before I send it off. We were out of sticky rollers – an issue now solved, so I’ll get that packaged up tonight.

Longer term projects include getting my stitching stuff completely organized, but that’s weather-dependent because my office is on the 2nd floor of our house and therefore not in the AC.  If we get a cool, rainy day by the end of the month I’ll tackle it – otherwise that’s a “early autumn” thing, as annoying as it is.  I received a fantastic excel chart from Jenn (thank you!!) to help organize my stash.  I’m looking forward to really getting in there and getting everything sorted.

Erich’s been very busy the past week cleaning out old boxes and tubs in the basement – a lot of it has been my stuff he’s been sorting, and I’m just accepting that it needs to happen. I’m so horrible about throwing stuff out that, aside from a few things this past weekend, I haven’t even dared look in the boxes of what he’s throwing out. I’m just letting him do it. I’ve kept deflecting the responsibility to go down there and clean stuff out, and he finally just started doing it – and as much as it kills me, I know I need to allow him to just do this so it’s done. I seriously doubt anything’s vital down there. To be fair, the vast majority of it has probably been in boxes down there since at least the cleaning frenzy before our wedding (in 2007) if not since we moved into the house (in 2005)… so I seriously doubt I’ll even notice it’s gone. A lot was just old bills and crap that’s been collecting forever. Hell, there were bills and other papers in there from my college apartment – they’d just gotten mixed in with junk in storage somehow.

So yes – our recycling containers have been very full the past few days. He’s doing a great job getting through stuff. Anything that’s a bill or has potentially important info on it is getting put in a specific wooden box for the “burn” pile. Two or three times per year Erich pulls out the wheeled camp grill (one of those grated metal jobbies) onto the driveway, pulls up a chair and just tosses everything into the fire. It’s a bit too hot right now – I imagine the next burn date will probably be sometime in September. But he’s got a nice, big pile to burn this time. We’ll have to invite friends over for a BBQ and bill burn at this rate!

So anyway, that’s my rambles for this morning. Time to get to work…

Share
Category: Connections, Erich, Life, Work, and all the Rest, Penpalling/Swapping, Stitching   Tags: , ,  | One Comment
Real Life Meme – the requested photos…
Author:
• Saturday, May 30th, 2009

Quite a few photos to share for this one. :) These were requested by wiggiemomsi, ctorres, ruisseau, roxyk630, jadore_histoire, and heathere3. All of these photos link back to Flickr, so just click on them to see them better. I know some look a little blurry on the resize link.

everything under the cut…

Share
Category: Catalanche!, Erich, Family & Friends, House, Life, Work, and all the Rest, Memes   Tags: , ,  | Leave a Comment
Closing Down the Year…
Author:
• Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

Since I have the time, I guess I’ll do one of these entries after all. Won’t be a month-by-month play as I’ve done in years past because honestly there’s a whole lot of blurring this year. But still, I think I can give a fair assessment of the year.

I will say honestly that my 2008 was decent. Some big ups and downs, but I am definitely in a better place now than I was a year ago. I’m happy, I’m employed, my finances are okay, and I’m both loved and love someone.

Highlight of the Year

By far, this is our trip to the UK. From the sheer fact that I was in another country, seeing another culture, sharing it with my husband, and just having a blast. Seeing David Tennant and Patrick Stewart at the RSC may have been the catalyst to book the vacation, but in no way was the only high point of that trip. We had an absolute blast on our honeymoon. No regrets whatsoever (aside from perhaps better shoes to walk in), and I know both of us have commented several times that we miss places we went to over there. It’s so strange that a place we only visited for a brief two weeks is already so dear to our hearts.

I will go back. I know I will.

Low Point of the Year

For me personally, it was throwing my back out in May, and the weeks of severe pain and fear (that it wouldn’t heal by our honeymoon) that followed. I have never felt such agony before, nor have I ever felt so humiliated as I did those six weeks of walking horrifically slowly between South Station and my office, having to sit down at least twice in that short four block span. It’s bad enough to have people glare at you for being obese (and they do). It’s even worse when they give you a sneer because you’re both obese and having to sit down because you’re physically unable to walk down the street normally – but of course don’t look like there’s anything wrong with you. Yay.

Reconnections

I’ve connected up with a lot of old classmates and marching band/sorority buddies via Facebook. It’s funny when you catch up with someone you went to elementary school with, who you haven’t talked with for fifteen years. I’m still working on reconnecting with my dad. That will probably continue to develop slowly – and carefully.

De-connections

Offline friends? None this year.

Online, I had to make some hard choices earlier this year. A fear to post my unpopular opinion regarding Who led to a reinforcement of why I was afraid to post opinions when I was semi-publically flogged in a journal entry by someone else. More b.s. followed, and I called it quits. Not worth it, and I’ve become much more careful about who I’m welcoming into my circle of friends these days, sad but true. On occasion, I doubt – did I do the right thing? Occasionally, I see their comments in other entries, but I don’t dare respond to any of them. I do miss their more enjoyable entries. But overall, I’m glad the connections are gone. I’ve learned to love LJ again, and the cons of those connections were far larger than the pros. The hypocrisy was just stupid.

Health

Is so-so. My thirties are catching up to me. On deck for 2009 is to get to the doctor for my blood pressure, which is sitting on the lower level for hypertension. My back is still twingy. I’m far too heavy, and need to start working on attempting to lose weight… again.

But I’m able to get up and get to work and get through most days feeling at least okay. So really, I’m fine.

Wealth

We’re doing okay. Erich’s Mom’s estate was settled this year. We sold his grandfather’s house, with much nailbiting before it closed. The house in Maine was refinanced to help Erich and his uncle be protected from his dad’s impending bankruptcy filing.

The house sale helped Erich whittle down his credit cards. More careful spending has helped me with mine.

So I think we’re in far better shape this year. I am worried about the economy, but at least I think both Erich and I have done what we can do short-term to protect ourselves.

Wisdom

Heh… i can has?

I dunno. I’ve learned some things. I’ve forgotten others. What makes people wise?

Faith

I have come to terms with the fact that connections are not what I thought they were. I am sad at the loss of my connection to Her, but at the same time – I don’t feel the desire to go through the pain involved to reconnect, based on my experiences during my Walkabout.

So I move on. And I have focused on things in my control, and within a scope that I feel able to do. I would say I’m spiritual at this point, but religious? Not at present. I have not sat ritual for about a year now. And I don’t regret going against what I know I was “supposed” to do during Walkabout this year.

I continue to wander. And I’ll find positives in my wandering, I suppose. I hope.

Do I still believe in Her? Yes. But I know She does not in me. It hurts, but it is what it is.

Happiness

Definitely happy, and grasping onto that happiness as tightly as I can. I’ve had far too many years where I haven’t been. I know when to treasure it.

Hopes for 2009

I don’t make any resolutions because I know I will break them. But hopes, I will state.

I hope to finally get some serious work done on our house – whether peeling wallpaper and painting, or doing something with the outside of the house, or beginning the window replacement project… something to start working on our house. We’ve had excuses the past couple years – first the wedding, then saving all money for the honeymoon.

Now, it’s time to get to work and make this house ours. And I seriously can’t wait.

I hope to do some satisfying writing this year – whether fanfic or original fiction or blogging or whatever… I want to write. I want to enjoy writing. And I want to complete some writing.

I hope to get back to stitching, and to complete at least one of my bigger projects. Ivanna’s Wedding Sampler, perhaps? Getting it to her by her 4th anniversary might be a good plan. *sigh*

I hope to find a couple of little Mom ‘n Pop food places here in RI – those places you love going to on the weekends that are nice and cozy.

And I hope to continue to be surrounded by family and good friends. Because they really are what makes life enjoyable.

And I am blessed.

Share
Category: Erich, Faith, Family & Friends, Life, Work, and all the Rest   Tags: , , , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Feeling more on top of things
Author:
• Monday, December 15th, 2008

Posting both fics last night has made me feel a heck of a lot better today. They were big deadlines looming that I absolutely wanted to do on time, and I did… so yay! It’s a little weird – and daunting – to have your husband beta things. Particularly smut fic. I don’t know , it’s like there’s a weird line there – fanfic smut should not be shared across the marital relationship.

Meh, I’ll get over it. :) And he did just want I asked him – check to make sure my verb tense is okay, and if anything jars, give me a heads up so I can rework.

(He’s a much faster beta than I am, by the way. I realize now that I do, in fact, suck.)

Also got to the post office this morning – sent off a couple small packages, bought a crapload of stamps. My first batch of cards is going into the collection box over my lunch hour. :) I have a few family and friend cards left to write, but for the most part I’m in good shape to get everything in the mail with plenty of time, I think.

So it’s now down to getting some promised beta work done, start drafting my Support Stacie fic, and just getting some other cleaning projects done around the house.

Hard to believe it’s only a week until Yule and a few days extra until Christmas. Where the hell did this year go? And why is it December and feeling like early May? (Yes, I know you guys in the Midwest are icicles right now… ugh! Stay warm!)

Random question – I stopped posting my journal entries from the UK trip due to personal craziness, but I’m going to have some extra time again now that the chaos of the holidays are over. Is it something that’s now a “old news, move on” thing, or is there anyone who wants them posted?

Share
Category: Erich, Fandom, Fanfic, Geeky Stuff   Tags: , ,  | Leave a Comment
Ponderings & bouncing
Author:
• Friday, October 31st, 2008

Blessed Samhain and Happy Halloween all. :)

Not celebrating the former tonight, but am celebrating the latter. We have 20 bags of candy on deck for trick-or-treaters this evening, and with the absolutely beautiful weather we’re having today, I imagine the vast majority of it will be gone by 9 p.m., handed out to the vast hordes of kids who will roam our neighborhood.

We live in one of THOSE neighborhoods. And honestly, handing out candy is a good time for me – it’s one of those few times I really feel part of my neighborhood, since I travel so far to work. For the most part, the kids are polite and say thank you. When the junior high and high schoolers come around, you grab the candy, guard the bowl, and hand it to them (as they have the tendency to be obnoxious and try to grab everything). For the toddlers and younger kids, you let them pick pieces.

I’m not petty – I don’t care if kids have costumes or not. We live on the edge of a very poor neighborhood, and it’s why we get so many kids – ours is safe and well-lit, with almost entirely single family homes. So the kids from the rough neighborhoods come here. While yes, I don’t think it’s much effort to throw an old ratty sheet over your head with holes in it (I got a rock…), *shrug* not my place to judge where each family’s at. Particularly in these times.

So yeah… should be a fun evening, sitting on the front steps with one of my new Doctor Who novels in hand should the guys not choose to join me to hang out. :)

****

New eggs for the day in the Dragon Cave. I imagine only for Halloween:

Adopt one today!

****

Erich bought me my Yule/Christmas/Birthday present (the present combo is traditional from somene… since I was, like, 3…) early – a new laptop! :) My poor old iBook died a few months ago after six hard years of service.

Now that the newest model Macs are out, the 2008 models have been slashed quite a bit. PLUS – my office gives a generous one-time discount for energy-saver computer purchases. So it really was a great deal. I haven’t seen it yet, but I know it’s a 15″ MacBook Pro. Can. Not. Wait. to have my own computer again (it has now been over a month… I’m going through withdrawl). This move may be equally to release his laptop from my clutches so I don’t fill it with fanfic. :)

And I’ll once again have a working Mac. All is right with the world.

*bounces happily*

Share
Category: Celebrations & Holidays, Erich, Family & Friends, Life, Work, and all the Rest, Sabbats   Tags: , ,  | Leave a Comment
UK recap – journal entry 16 October
Author:
• Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Part two of the recap, now with photo goodness at my flickr site. :) As before, spelling and weird grammar errors are what comes from the entry. I’m being a purist here.

—-

16 October 2008
on train to Cardiff via Birmingham

Well, leg one has ended and now we’re on leg 2 – a couple hours until we arrive in Cardiff. I’ll miss Stratford – it was a lovely little town, so quiet at night yet bustling all day.

Love’s Labour’s Lost was extremely good last night. Our seats were directly below ours from last night – only 8 rows from the stage and an unobstructed aisle view straight to the stage.

We laughed most of the night – it’s amazing how modern (or perhaps… universal) the humour is in Shakespeare. Add to that the very flirtateous asides of David to the audience (and the screaming fan girls) and it was a good time had by all.

I’m not sure which play I liked better in respect to David’s performance. Both were so different that it’s honestly a bit tricky to compare. I think they provided a fantastic cross-section of his talents.

Unlike Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost had one set – a large tree with multi-coloured stringed glass hanging from the rafters to represent tree limbs. Lounging pillows and a swing that dropped from the ceiling added to different scenes. And there were a few instances where David was up in the tree. :)

So yes – no regrets. The shows were fantastic! :)

After the play last night, Maria and Erich and I went to the Dirty Duck, a pub known for post-production pints by crewhands and actors at the RSC. It’s a cozy llittle place – only a few tables. While we were there, a few of the actors came in – the actor playing the Spaniard, two fo the Ladies, and Zoe Thorn, who is the tinest woman! She was in 4″ heels and still barely could see over the bar! Last call was early – about 11:30. We walked Maria back to her B&B and then went back to our hotel, the Thistle.

We did some sightseeing whilst there. Before the play, we hopped the train to Warwick and went to Warwick Castle. It’s been kept up lovely – there were tours through the main living quarters, decorated in Victorian times – there were residents in teh castle until the twentieth century. Each room was wax-like fitures that honestly appeared too real. A bit creepy – almost as if they could turn to you at any moment.

Erich, Michelle and Maria did the ramparts and towers walk. I managed to get up to the first rampart, but had to turn back at the first tower. The stairs were so narrow and so tightly enclosed that I panicked. Full-on claustrophobia. So Erich helped me back down to firm Earth, and then continued the walk. Apparently I bailed out at the right time – the stairs and path grew more difficult later on. But Erich got pictures. SO I’ll still be able to enjoy them. And even without that, I got to go into a real castle! :) I’m not complaining!

This morning we headed over to Trinity Church to see where Shakespeare is buried. Unfortunately there was a funeral this morning, so we were unable to go inside. We wandered the church grounds, though – now nearly entirely a graveyard, very peaceful and quiet. The centuries have worn many engravings away, much as they have in New England.

We went back to check out, and then I popped over to a newsagent to get postcards and a Shakespearean bookmark for Matt. I found the cards, but no bookmark. So I decided to head back over to the Courtyard Theatre. I bought a couple bookmarks at the RSC and walked into the main foyer, where I find…

David Tennant! Having some water during a rehearsal break!

I shook his hand, complimenting him (and a couple of the other actors) on the plays, and then left him alone. Quiet, simple, but oh… squee!

Erich, Michelle, and Maria all hate me now, of course.

But such strange timing – to think that I was there only to find that bookmark. SO I suppose I have Matt and his desire for a Shakespeare bookmark to thank! :)

I’m a bit sad that we had to leave Stratford so soon – we might have needed another day or two. But hopefully we can go sometime again. Erich jokes that we’ll do that on the next Doctor Who hiatus, when David’s again on an RSC turn. :)

I’m sure I’ve forgotten to record some of the early stuff – I’ll write more later tonight once we’re at the Cardiff hotel.

–

So yes, that’s the rest of the Stratford recap, and yes – I got to meet the man under purely unusual circumstances… but was so stunned and shocked at it that I barely said anything. No photos (the camera was with Erich), no autographs (too shy to ask). Just a handshake, and my chance to compliment him.

And I didn’t even mention Doctor Who. Somehow, I bet he would have known anyway, given that there was a Yank at the RSC. :)

Squee!

Share
Category: Erich, Family & Friends, Fandom, Foreign, Geeky Stuff, Travels   Tags: , , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Thursday morning thoughts…
Author:
• Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Hooray train internet access!

My last entry in Russian. Was me venting off steam about a decision I made yesterday (or more accurately, the reactions I got from friends on the decision). It was the right decision for me to make, and to be honest I should have made it a couple months ago when I first started feeling this way. But yes, the reactions surprised (and irritated) me a bit. Especially when I was encouraged to speak my mind on the subject. I’m sorry they feel it puts them in a difficult place, but I was very careful in my email wording to speak only for myself and didn’t presume to speak for anyone else (even those who had been agreeing with me in private).

My box set of the X-Files arrived yesterday. Now I need to go through my old tapes and find my blooper reels and such that won’t be on them, to make sure I save those somehow. Otherwise – anyone want a ton of VHS tapes? :) And when I say a ton, I mean it. Those who watched me put the collection together can vouch. Two episodes per tape, all tapes numbered in order. I can guarantee I have through season 7 complete. After that, it might get a bit shaky. A few episodes in the 1st season are pretty bad quality because they were tapes of tapes (of possibly tapes). Otherwise, everything is probably in good order.

I’m very jealous of the people going to see the taping of Friday Night Project tonight with David Tennant. Very jealous. I will, however, enjoy watching it late tomorrow night or Saturday morning with the rest of the non-UK crowd.

I’m not really sure what the fuss over on OG is about regarding Who being on at 6:20, but that’s probably just because I’m used to watching new Who at around 5:30 p.m. my time on Saturdays.

Took yesterday off for mental health after the commute from hell on Tuesday. Wound up being a good thing anyway due to leg pain (from standing for so long) and some frustrations with my period that came two weeks early this month. I spent a decent amount of the day playing Warcraft – exploring the new patch that came out Tuesday. Made about 300g during the day. :)

Our tax refund cleared Erich’s account this morning – yay!

Talked to Mom last night… she’s doing fine, enjoying her new job that doesn’t have her driving all over Pennsylvania every week. Big news isn’t from her, but from my brother… Scott got accepted at the University of Arizona. He’s looking into student housing, and will start as a freshman in August. I’m very proud of him – and admire him for going back to school full time at age 30. He got an associate’s degree right after high school, but apparently work in the computer field wasn’t panning out as he’d hoped, and he’s decided to go back to get a full bachelor’s to help open up more options. Apparently he’s been saving money/working two jobs so he can pull this off and got the federal loans and such to support himself in it. I’m not sure what degree he’s pursuing, though… I’ll have to give him a call this weekend to see what’s what.

I’m hoping that part of this weekend is warm enough to open the windows in the house – I want to start on the spring cleaning (starting in our sunroom) on Saturday. Erich did a huge deal of work in the living room and dining room last week – so if we can get the sunroom and kitchen done this weekend, that’s one full floor of the house complete. :) Need to get through my old clothes soon, too.

Oop.. almost to Back Bay… time to start shutting down the laptop…

Share
Category: Connections, Erich, Family & Friends, Fandom, Geeky Stuff, Misc. Musings, Tau Beta Sigma, World of Warcrack   Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment
Looking forward to the weekend
Author:
• Friday, February 08th, 2008

I’m a bit off-center this morning, mostly because Erich’s cough sent him into the guest bedroom last night so he didn’t have to feel paranoid about being restless (and allowing me to get some sleep). Very considerate of him, particularly since I am such a shitty sleeper as it is.

I did sleep, but I swear, even while asleep, I had this weird sense about being alone in the bed. Marriage is clearly getting to me. :) Not that we haven’t slept in the same bed for six years now, of course… but still… there’s a LOT of room for one person in a king-sized bed.

The extra room, of course, promptly filled up with cats. I woke up with three balls of fur in various spots on the mattress. I imagine at least one of the additionals was with Erich, playing nurse kitten. Hoodsie was undoubtedly downstairs on his ottoman. Cat #5 (whichever it was) was… wherever.

I have a lot to do this weekend, but I’m intentionally forcing myself to take as much of Saturday as possible to curl up in my office and do some brain-dump style writing. Whether on my OSK fic, other fic ideas, or just random schlock writing. I need to get myself comfortable with my own thoughts, and I just need to make the time for it. As I told Erich last night – what I really need to do is just set aside a day, dump off all of my chores and errands as “will do later” and just let myself go for it. If I plan other things to do, I won’t be able to relax and write. It just won’t happen at all.

So that’s tomorrow’s plan. We’ll see what comes of it. I do have a lot of little snippets of ideas churning, so it literally may just be writing 100 word images in my head that have absolutely no coherancy beyond the immediate images. But hey, they’ll be down in print. And I can see later if something comes of any of them. I just need to get them OUT. If I’m getting too distracted at home, a trip down to Borders for a pot of tea may be used as well.

Speaking of tea…

The sorority Tea is on Sunday afternoon for the potential new class of pledges membership candidates, so I’ll be going up to Boston for the afternoon. Should be fun. Hopefully goes well. Need to remember to go buy a car battery beforehand so I can actually get to Boston, though. That may have to kick off Saturday pre-writing.

I read last night that next week’s Torchwood is a double-bill. Eps 5 and 6 will be shown back to back on BBC2. Six is the first of Martha’s run on TW… we’ll see if something’s actually done with her character now that the dreaded unrequited love crap on Who is over.

Hmmm…

Share
Category: Catalanche!, Erich, Family & Friends, Fandom, Fanfic, Geeky Stuff, Life, Work, and all the Rest, Writing   Tags: , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Thursday Thirteen: January Insanity
Author:
• Thursday, January 24th, 2008

I haven’t posted here on measi(dot)net in a while – it honestly has been slipping my mind. I don’t know. I think I just want to keep all of the fandom insanity separate from my blog over here, but it seems that my life is just wrapped in fandom these days… so, eh. I probably just should let it bleed over and give up, eh?

In any case, it’s been insane since the beginning of the year, and here’s my thirteen things that have been taking over my life since the New Year:
1) Birthday celebrations. I’m 33, had a fantastic birthday with friends over a Pats game and some delicious strawberry hookah smoking.

2) The Patriots. Sundays have been owned by football. Absolutely owned. And I’m loving it. The Superbowl party is in the works. :)

3) Being sick. I fell ill with a cold on New Year’s Eve, and still have the annoying cough that goes with it, despite otherwise feeling fine. It’s not a painful cough, mostly in the mornings and evenings, but the cold weather (and the hookah smoking on my birthday) didn’t help.

4) Fanfic writing. I’ve been finishing up pieces that were due around the holidays. Got one done and posted last week. Now I’m working on the other one, which I hope to have completed this month. A small idea just snowballed and, with some help from another writer, looks to be a much better, satisfying piece.

5) Work. I’ve been absolutely insane with work lately. Lots of little projects, lots of paperwork to get through because insurance policies have just renewed as of the first of the year, and lots of really random little things like redesigning the company letterhead (eep!)

6) Torchwood & Doctor Who – Torchwood Series 2 just started airing in the UK last week, and it starts on BBCA this Saturday, along with Doctor Who series 3. Both shows are must-see, IMHO. The second series of Torchwood is already MUCH better than the first. Much slicker, stronger plots, and much more sure of itself. And Series 3 Who? Absolutely wonderful. The first six episodes are a mixed bag, but the last seven are much-watch. Particularly Human Nature, Family of Blood, and Blink which should be on in March. You must watch Blink if you haven’t done so. It’s a brilliant piece of television, regardless of science fiction leanings. It’s up for a Nebula award, and undoubtedly will go up for a Hugo this year (the writer, Steven Moffat, has won for his Who outings the past two years).

7) Money issues. Erich and I have been… let’s say, stressed. Partially holidays related, partially increase in heating bills related, and partially issues that come up with his mom’s estate. I’m just really worried about financing our trip to England in October.

8) Emotional stuff. Erich’s worn down by his mom’s estate affairs. I’m worn down from being constantly on the run since, oh, last August. We’re both in dire need of a break. Thankfully we’re not snapping at each other, but both of us are just exhausted.

9) The weather. Unlike last year, where it was nearly 50 degrees for a good portion of January, it’s been quite cold with lingering snow. I think it’s contributing to some of the emotional exhaustion.

10) Attempting to get our lives back in order. Vet appointments are being caught up on, getting stuff cleaned around the house, finishing up the final few thank you notes from the wedding, etc. – we have a lot of little projects around the house that we desperately want to get done.

11) Cat issues. Along with the generic vet appointment, we’ve been dealing with some feline frustration. One of the cats was taking to peeing all over the house. We’ve added a couple additional cat boxes (one upstairs, one out in the sunroom), and that seems to have stopped most of it. We still have an idiot cat who is apparently going into a cat box and peeing, not realizing its ass is hanging out of the box when it goes, though. Haven’t caught the culprit, but somehow I think it’s one of our bigger three – Colley, Gus, or Hoodsie.

12) World of Warcraft. Attempting to have some me-time has resulted in a lot of hours playing WoW again, and doing all of the in-game related stuff I’ve wanted to do but couldn’t commit the time to while also planning the wedding. Meaningless to real life, of course, but still a little sense of accomplishment all the same.

13) I really don’t have a thirteen. Maybe commuting time? The MBTA continues to suck and get worse. This morning’s sightseeing excursion on the commuter rail took us ringing around the city through Dorchester because apparently there was something wrong on the mainline track. Never mind the fact that when we got to the junction where both lines meet up by South Station, there were three trains that came through the main line. AND, our train was forced to wait through three trains coming through (10 minutes, standing still), despite us being the ones that were running 20 minutes late into the station. *sigh*

Will February calm down? I hope so!

Share
Category: Birthdays/Anniversaries, Erich, Family & Friends, Fandom, Fanfic, Geeky Stuff, Life, Work, and all the Rest, World of Warcrack, Writing   Tags: , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Friday musings
Author:
• Friday, November 16th, 2007

- Seeing your name next to the words “Last Will and Testament” is a very surreal experience. But it’s nice to know that Erich and I both have wills in place as well as DNR documents in case, Goddess forbid, something happens to us.

- New Doctor Who tonight. Woot! :)

- I’m now the proud owner of a 500 gig external harddrive. It’s quite spiffy – the height of a paperback, thickness of a Robert-Jordan sized paperback. And it’s 3 times larger than my computer’s harddrive. Should take care of some of my… issues.

- Less than a week until Thanksgiving. Eeek!

- I have an entire weekend with no scheduled events. Instead, it’s going to be a weekend of around-the-house projects. Thanksgiving dinner shopping, cleaning up (and out) the kitchen so it’s ready to go for Thursday’s whirlwind, scrubbing the bathroom, and tidying up the living room.

- Save your medical bills for your taxes, folks. Erich managed to decrease a LOT of stress on his mom’s final taxes via the medical bill statements. Really. You want to.

- I seriously need new clothes. Two of my favorite sweaters now have armpit holes. I’m going to attempt to sew them back together (because I think they’re fairly clean seam holes), but still… I need new clothes.

- World of Warcraft just became more awesome with Patch 2.3. Faster levelling, new daily quests involving cooking, and my hunter tracking is now ass-kicking because aggressive enemies show up in red, instead of the generic yellow. (yes, I’m geeking… but seriously). AND the auction house is so much faster.

- Simmer Dim is one of the more delicious fanfic pieces I’ve read in a long time. Absolutely lovely. You must read if you enjoy Who!fic.

- I am not a jelly doughnut. Contrary to my body size, I am not. I promise you.

- I’m craving Indian curry. I don’t think my intenstines would appreciate it, though.

- Apparently today is the day for all sorts of roadwork on I-95, because there are blocks up everywhere. Driving in to Boston today was… interesting.

- Right now, the prettiest part of said drive is right at the northbound exit for Route 1 in Sharon/Walpole. All of the leaves are still on the trees. Colors are past-peak, but the most beautiful variety of burnt orange, deep reds, and browns. Absolutely gorgeous.

- Our trees just turned color in the last two nights. Yesterday’s deluge of rain knocked a fair amount off into the yard.

- My cats are insane. Especially Noby.

- Is it can be weekend tiem nao, pleez?

Share
Category: Erich, Family & Friends, Fandom, Fanfic, Geeky Stuff, Life, Work, and all the Rest, New England, World of Warcrack   Tags: ,  | Leave a Comment
The weekend, and the future
Author:
• Sunday, September 09th, 2007

14 days. Eep!

The bachelor party was easily survived. I, as planned, spent most of my evening on the couch. I did not, as planned, get anything else done. My brain needed a complete break from all things wedding last night, and so that’s what I did. I just shut off the phone, took a break, and had a very needed evening to myself.

The unedited Graham Norton episode had me laughing so hard that I went into a coughing fit (and had to stop watching it for a while). Funny stuff. Sometime around 11:30 or so, I threw in my Blackpool DVD and settled down, fell asleep somewhere into episode 1, and woke up when the guys came home – right as the scene in Funny Girls starts. :)

Erich and the guys returned just a bit after 2 a.m., and amazingly, the party broke up immediately- apparently the guys were just exhausted on the bus on the way back from Foxwoods (and most had sobered up by that time). I guess this is the sign of a bachelor party when the guys are mostly in their 30s! Most of the guys went home. I ended up with only Matt, Jason, and Erich’s Dad crashing out at our house.

Got up this morning, had coffee and breakfast, and then just relaxed for a while. Some of the guys came back over to watch the Pats game, play board games, and just hang out and plan out characters for Erich’s new d20 game he’ll be kicking off at some point.

The last folks left around 7:30. Erich and I have just been relaxing since then – I have some laundry going, but otherwise, we’re chilling out. We got a LOT of housework done. Other than the kitchen, the entire downstairs is put together and ready for family to see it. The upstairs just needs some work done in my office, and then we’ll be good to go.

One very productive thing for today? We bought our full membership to the Royal Shakespeare Company. So as soon as tickets go on sale online? Oh yes, we shall purchase. :)

Share
Category: Big Life Events, Erich, Fandom, Foreign, Geeky Stuff, Misc. Musings, Travels, Wedding   Tags: , , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Random Wednesday Thoughts
Author:
• Wednesday, August 01st, 2007

Day three of getting up butt-ass early (aka “crack of dawn,” which IMHO is the same as “butt-crack of dawn,” ergo butt-ass). I can now see through time due to fatigue

I dreamt that John Barrowman sang at my wedding last night. Dressed as Jack. ’twas a good dream. And in said dream, masquedbunny was doing a damn good impersonation of the teenage girls screaming and fainting that you always see in 1964 Beetles reels. Unfortunately, the alarm woke me up during this dream, so I have no further details to provide. *sigh*

No, David wasn’t there. Bastard. ;)

Speaking of which, have I mentioned that the love of my life dared me to send a wedding invite to him when we wrote our wedding invites? I said no, of course – my fangeekery would cross over into fanwank soooooo quickly with that idea. (although seriously… from a complete stupid fanwank angle… if he happened to come, OMG!)

*ahem* *takes back control of self*

I really miss cross stitching. I haven’t picked up a needle now since… ugh, mid-May? The last time that masquedbunny and I had a Stich, Bitch & Who and bothered to even attempt to do crafty stuff. I seriously can’t wait until the week post-wedding, when I pull out the Qsnaps and fabric and get a sense of where the hell my stitching even is at this point. I know I have Apache Wedding Blessing, Egyptian Sampler, and Floral Bellpull in various Works-In-Progress stages, plus a couple little pieces here and there (the elemental dragons from Dragon Dreams come to mind)… but other than that? I have no friggin’ clue where I am. And I’d like to get my OWN wedding sampler stitched at some point, too. Post wedding. All post wedding…

Erich sent me an email when he first got to work this morning. All it said was in the subject line: “WE’RE GETTING MARRIED NEXT MONTH!!!!!!!” Freaks. me. out.

Tonight’s plan, should I not drop over exhausted upon driving home – beta reading. Followed by some more writing of my own.

I’ll honestly probably pass out, though.

I’m very glad I’m not a member of Harry Potter ‘net fandom right now – particularly the kink fanfic community. Because seriously… using miscegenation as a prompt? Sweet jeebus, whose bright idea was THAT one? It made metafandom assplode yesterday. Rightly so.

I’m hungry. Want food. Now.

Yay! Manager on project just told me I’m done… final copy is completed. Woo hoo! *runs off to lunch*

Share
Category: Big Life Events, Erich, Fandom, Misc. Musings, Stitching, Wedding   Tags: , , , , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Yet another reason why I love him…
Author:
• Thursday, July 14th, 2005

I’ve lost count, honestly… but regardless of how many ways I love him already… today, he added another one:

Around 5:20, when I’ve missed my train to South Station to meet up with him and am waiting for the next one to arrive, he gives me a call.

“Just wanted to call you hon– I bought you a copy of The Book.”

Absolutely no other definition was needed. I knew what Book he spoke of.

“How on earth did you get it?”

“The news stand at South was selling them. I got the second to last copy.”

He doesn’t ask me beforehand. He just sees it, and buys it. Never mind the fact that the place was selling the book illegally… or for a slight mark up.

I got to South Station about ten minutes later, and he placed the big thick green covered book — with purple metallic lettering — in my hands.

“You have something to read on the ride home now.”

Damn skippy I do. I’m already about 40 pages in. There are 652 pages total.

Ooooh….

*drool*

But seriously– it’s weird knowing that I have what amounts to an illegal copy of the book. Two days early? I have what millions of children (and adults) covet. Very, very odd.

And yes, I promise to keep all comments behind cuts. On my LJ. In fact, I’ll create a filter for them. So if you want to know about it, befriend my LJ, or let me know to email you the entry. :)

*happy dance*

~ Mel.

Share
Category: Erich, Geeky Stuff   Tags: , , ,  | Leave a Comment
Lessons Learned in Moving (aka We’re Here!)
Author:
• Friday, July 01st, 2005

I feel so weird. :) After a couple months of coming down here to do little maintenance and update projects on the house, we’re living here. It’s so strange. But oh so cool.

We spent the rest of yesterday doing very little due to exhaustion. We’d packed up any non-boxed stuff into our cars to haul down, and the trips up and down three flights of stairs killed both of us. Dinner (with celebratory margaritas) was spent at the Texas Roadhouse down the street. Bed arrived soon after. Both of us were out by around 10:30.

Things I’ve learned this move…

Getting movers was the best idea ever. They might be somewhat expensive ($1,200, in our case), but were worth every penny. They showed up at around 8:30 yesterday morning. They cleared the entire apartment out by noon. Had lunch, drove down, and had everything unpacked and into the house by around quarter past three. It saved our backs– and our friendships with all of our friends. :)

Color-coded room tape from U-Haul rocks. Once we directed the movers for the individual pieces of furniture, they just moved all the boxes in by themselves. We just taped pieces of white paper with a slash of each individual room’s tape on the doorways… they were able to do half of the unloading by themselves. The tape costs $25 for a 4-bedroom pack and saved tons of labelling and sorting time on both ends of the move.

Starting early to pack was key. Since my life had been enveloped by the office move until about mid-June, I hadn’t had time or energy to focus on the apartment move. Taking two weeks off before moving was a lifesaver. Save a few hodge-podge items and the bathroom, we were completely done packing by around 8 p.m. the night before. We actually got a full night’s sleep before moving. Which is nearly unheard of. The only thing I would have changed as far as our packing was concerned was start a bit earlier with items we didn’t use as much– cleaning through drawers, throwing junk out. It would have made the last two days much more relaxed as far as packing goes.

But we’re here. And I’ve already managed to unpack most of the dish boxes. I’ll be doing double the work in the kitchen– I need to wipe out and re-paper the dish shelves, but we’re doing so much furniture moving that I just wanted to put all of the dishes safely away in cabinets for peace of mind. If they need to be washed, no big deal– we have a dishwasher for most of that. :)

The cats are doing okay. Gus is completely traumatized and spent most of yesterday in a fetal position in either the cat carrier or under hiding places. He’s getting a little bit braver today, but his tail is firmly tucked between his legs, and he’s slinking around very low to the ground when he actually goes anywhere. Colley’s getting a bit more calmed down, after spending yesterday wedging himself into very good hiding places (as is his signature style in strange places). Fizz has been the brave one, being the first to really explore. She’s completely on edge, though, and is hissing and growling if any other cat approaches her at all.

All three cats insisted on accompanying us to the bathroom in a pack this morning, and then back to the bedroom. I found that very amusing.

So today’s going to be fairly laid back. A few boxes done, a few furniture placements, a little shopping. Nothing frantic, though. We got through the hard stuff. It can go slowly now. :)

It feels so good to actually be home.

Share
Category: Big Life Events, Catalanche!, Erich, Family & Friends, House  | Leave a Comment
Oh… is that today? ;)
Author:
• Tuesday, May 31st, 2005

Life is so crazy with Big Important Life-Altering Events ™, that I nearly forgot one little notation that really sparked it all…

    Countdown

    Thursday, May 31, 2001 ~~ 03:42 PM
    T-minus three hours until I meet Erich.

    I’m nervous as hell. But happy, too. And excited, and just warm and tingly all over.

    I’ve missed this feeling. But I think I’m also happy that it’s taken a while so that I can appreciate it that much more.

    I just hope that everything works out okay tonight and that the two of us get along. Maybe it won’t turn into a dating relationship… but even another cool friendship would make me very happy.

    *crossing fingers*

    –Mel.

Happy Anniversary, Erich. :)

(I think it’s safe to say… four years later… that everything worked out okay, and that the two of us get along… yes?)

Share
Category: Erich, Family & Friends  | Leave a Comment
« Previous Entries
Next Entries »