Laura

So the house is more than a bit of a mess. It's been building up for years, and worse since Covid and the health issues I and others in my family had then (that were not, as far as we know, tied to Covid - certainly mine's not, that virus has been accused of many things but not literally breaking kneecaps!). Dealing with all the (miscellaneous redacted words) stuff that needs done around the house definitely forced me to work harder on cleaning up some areas. Hopefully I can keep a good pace going WITHOUT further crises to encourage it. *eyeroll*

Meanwhile there's getting ready for the school year (and the start-of-school scramble, and a new commute since it's twice as far to my youngest's high school as it was to his middle school, although that's not saying much), the scramble of dentist/eye appointments that cluster at this time of year, and surviving the heat.

I have a new chair, an amseatec which I love and so do the cats. The arms lower to horizontal, and now one cat or another will meow at me if I have the right arm up and they want it flat so they can curl next to me. (There is a wall to the left of me, so I can't do that with the left arm even though it's capable. Or I imagine I might get two cats yelling at me to lower each of them!) Kala, though, only does that when Scott's not also in the office. She would far rather perch on the plush upper back of his chair and settle her weight half against the back of his shoulders so she can be up and touching her person at the same time.

I'm also enjoying reading books, playing games, and hanging out. Don't think my life is one long run of boring tasks.

Some of the video games I've been playing lately: House Flipper Remastered; Vagrus - the Riven Realms; replays of parts of Avowed; and of course various Minecraft mod packs. (The first two on that list are, for the record, tonal whiplash between each other.)

I've been reading books by Glynn Stewart (currently a reread of the Castle Avalon series), Michelle Sagara (the Elantra series, or Cast In (whatever) as the books are titled), the Tuyo series (by Rachel Neumeier; she's written other series but I have not found them as much to my taste; but they're just very different settings and something about this one I really enjoy), and Victoria Goddard (Nine Worlds, but I will be cautious recommending this one because her writing style is a love-it-or-hate-it kind...well, some people love and hate it, but...).

What have you been reading or playing and want to recommend? (Happy to hear board game, card game, or RPG reccs even if I haven't been babbling about any of mine!)

Two weeks ago tomorrow, we flew to Colorado for a long weekend with friends from college. (The boys came along but mostly hung in their hotel room on their phones.)

We did not leave the hotel at all during the weekend. (Other members of the group did, but we decided not to go along on any of the few outings, and there was always someone around.)

It was so good to see everyone again, play board games, and chat. It was fun to successfully find the witches in one game of Witch Hunt (don't ask how the other game went), and it was fun to toss K a bunch of negative-point-value Unexploded Cows. (I deliberately acquired an extra negative-value cow from another player before sending them all her way. This was taken as the act of aggression it was!)

Yeah, gaming often makes little sense when you try to explain it but it is SUCH a blast.

And then we came home, and after we were home my oldest developed a cold, and I picked it up from him. Judging from his recovery timeline, I should hopefully start feeling better in a day or two. Judging from the timing, he caught it in the airport on the way home. So at least hopefully no one else from the gathering got it!)

I hate colds. (Classic cold symptoms, not classic anything else symptoms. Not flu or Covid from the testing, but the symptoms are classic cold and not as good a fit for rsv or the others. Just a really annoying cold and I am quite done with it. Unfortunately it's not done with me.

Maybe not everyone wants to read about this. Short form: had a previously root-canaled tooth break, have now had it extracted, am fine.

( Long form is...a saga. )

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/145281.html

1. What’s harder to live without, chocolate or alcohol?

I was about to say chocolate, because I cannot stand the taste of alcohol. But honestly, while I love chocolate and would like to have it, rubbing alcohol is actually useful for its purpose, so I might have to go with that. (In the end, absent disinfection needs, both can be done without. As far as food, I vastly prefer chocolate. But.)

2. Does the colour yellow remind you of anything?

Daffodils, the sun, and not much else.

3. Who most annoyed you last week?

Me. Look, forgetting to do things and scrambling to catch up isn't fun.

4. Do you have a cutesy romantic nickname for your partner (or previous partners)?

That is between me and him. I do have cutesy (but not romantic, obvs) nicknames for the kids. And I will not share them either, because they would be rightfully annoyed.

Kala and Maria, however, are "kitchen kitten" or "chaos kitten" or "mighty huntress" (Kala only) or "sili-cat" / "silly cat", among many other things. (They are not kittens. They are still kittens. Chaos kittens go zooming through the halls and then launch, still at running speed, to the top of the cat stand.)

5. What is your favourite Stephen King movie?

This one's easy. I don't like horror in general, but I do like _Firestarter_ which...walks a line, a little bit, at least in movie form. Mostly I'm not a Stephen King fan, but that movie I do enjoy, on occasion.

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/144788.html

1. What do you see when you are looking out of the window closest to you?

Rain, hedges, neighbor's house, our car, sidewalk, street, vans from some construction group or other (neighbor next to us, not the house I can see across the way, is remodeling something-or-other).

2. Who was the last person coming into your room?

My oldest, on break from online school, to hang with me and the cats for a bit.

3. What is the most predominant colour around you?

If I count the generic walls and blinds and such, white. Otherwise, brown - a fair amount of natural wood and similar colorway art in the office.

4. What is right behind you?

Scott's personal computer and desk and all. Wait, no, RIGHT behind me is the air conditioner which helps keep a small room with many computers from overheating them (or us) in the summer. It's off for the season but I haven't put it away yet.

5. What is on today's calendar sheet?

NOTHING. Today is entirely routine. (Which means it includes school for the boys, housework for me, errands to run, and joy of joys - gaming night tonight with the gaming group. But none of those are a calendar entry. They're just life's routine.)

1. Do you ever wonder if the way you see things visually aren't how other people see them?

Not really; more I know. I mean, sometimes I wonder if it's more different than I realize, but I know very well just how different the world can look with and without my glasses - and I had bad vision even as a child and didn't get glasses until five or so; I imagine that affects how I process things visually, somewhat.

2. What kind of sounds are the most annoying?

Ones I have to do something about (or actively not-do something about if it's something I normally might respond to). A song I like on infinite loop is fine; "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom." will get old fast. White-noise "rain sounds" are great, a slow and steady drip from the shower is agony.

3. When walking through a store, do you shop with your hands by touching/feeling the texture of things?

Somehow I started by envisioning running my hands over everything, which just seems weird to me. But then I thought about it. I DO use my hands to judge the ripeness of some fruits and vegetables if they otherwise look good; and I do run fingers over fabric if I'm otherwise considering a piece of clothing. So in a few cases, yes, but otherwise no.

4. If you could only smell three scents for the rest of your life, what would they be?

Are they the only things I can ever smell *when they're present*, or the only things I can smell, which I may smell if they're not? Different answers, though not much different.

Vanilla, cinnamon, and a crisp clear mint if the former. If the latter, sub out the mint for the smell of clean air after a good rain, because sometimes one needs a relaxing non-scent.

5. What sorts of things do you savor when eating them?

Sweets, especially chocolates. Tea, sometimes (sometimes it's just a warm beverage!). Steak.

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/144035.html

Oh, it's not my course. Oldest is doing it for high school credit. So far either it omitted or he missed a simple but key step in setup. Given he's a high-schooler, I'd normally chalk that up to reading the instructions too fast.

Except it also had him copy/paste an imperfect program about ages, which he did, and build it until he cleared all the errors, which he did. And then claimed it would output his name and address. Which, fortunately for my sanity, it was not able to do without those having been input to it.

What the heck....

Yes, I will send an email to the school later. Getting the lesson name and info to let the online coordinator know about it will mean using his chromebook, which he needs to use to do other schoolwork. That is hopefully not attempting to make a psychic computer.

1. What is your favourite fruit?

Marionberries, although blueberries are a close second.

2. What is the last book you read?

Regent's Mate by Glynn Stewart. Love that series.

3. Do you like any of your school photos?

As photos of me? Not terribly. As memories and reminders of the time? Sure.

4. Do you ever blowdry your armpits to get the deodorant to dry quicker?

Wh -- what?

5. What was the last film you watched?

Unless watching over my son's shoulder as he does instructional videos for online school counts, that would be Five Nights At Freddy's. Also with my son, as it happens.

I can so carry a tune in a bucket. Sheet music doesn’t take up that much space, just have to bend it to fit.

1. What is your favorite childhood memory?

Hard to say. There are many good ones. Time with my parents and the cats at home is definitely up there, but picking one is not easy.

2. If you could be reincarnated as anything besides human, who would you want to be?

A cat. Preferably a pampered housecat, but even as a feral, I think it would be interesting.

3. If you had to start your life all over, what are three things you would change?

I would write down more things in the moment to help jog my memory later (which I nevertheless still don't do often enough). I would spend more time just talking to my parents. And I'd try to be more courageous about changing jobs more often, rather than staying as long as I did. That has worked well for me but meant I've gotten to do fewer different things than if I'd moved on more often.

4. If you had to forget everything in your life, except one thing, what would it be?

There's no good answer to this. I mean, if I remember my self but nothing else, does that drag along all the how-I-became this way? I think the best answer would be "my family" just because it's pretty broad and I wouldn't want to forget them, but then that implies forgetting non-family friends which just no....

5. Do you have a lucky charm?

Nope. Sometimes we have them for a bit when the boys beg and I'm feeling like a sucker, but otherwise, nope. (No, I don't have one the way the question means it, but how could I pass up a chance to make it about the cereal anyway?)

Questions post