Laura

Still can't cook that well. No, not explaining, just sulking. But my roasted zucchini and mushrooms came out decent, at least.

I have started using Twitter again today. I do not know if this will continue but it seems more likely. The web interface on the iPhone is much easier than text messages from the old Samsung (plus? I never wanted to pay for text messages - and twitter was not the app to make me start - but the web stuff uses my required unlimited data service anyway!). No need to watch me there if you don't want to; it's for those who like Twitter and for my own notes. Anything I consider important/interesting will hopefully make its way into an LJ post (as is happening now), with more complete sentences/better typing. (I sometimes mess up on the little iPhone keyboard. Okay, I do it a lot, but only occasionally do I fail to notice and fix it. Oh, well!) (I'm at http://twitter.com/kyrielle if you do want to follow for some reason. Not that exciting. I don't get alerts sent to my phone so I may not notice replies/twitters/whatevers right away. Or at all, if I forget to check it or give up on it. *wry*) I'm trying not to let it interfere with my LJing, anyway. If it's just "the next shiny thing" then I'll get bored with it and wander away, otherwise, hopefully it will just be an additional quick thing. (And if you see Twitters in my account tonight, it means I botched the setting where I try to have them post private so I have a record of them. We'll see.)

Scott may have been delayed but everything went smoothly after that - he arrived about 15 minutes early in Indianapolis and is now settled in the hotel. He informs me that I am probably glad I'm not there, as he's on the third floor, about as far from the elevators as it is possible to get. Of course, if I had still been going, I'd every intent of calling the hotel in advance to make sure that didn't happen, trading on my pregnant status to get it (especially since that's why I would have wanted it), whereas he made no special requests for himself. Still, whether I'd have gotten what I wanted, who knows. I am glad I don't have to deal with that at the end of a long day at the con, I admit.

The plumber cancelled today, and will be doing tomorrow. So tomorrow I: take Babe to the vet, appointment at 9:30, go over things with them, and leave Babe there. Hopefully she gets the procedure done the same day, but maybe not - emergencies can preempt. Then I go out to the Ridge to meet the plumber (who may or may not be there ahead of me: I've given the access code for the lock box, so he can get in before I get there if need be), get that sorted out or started, possibly get other things done or not (as long as they do not involve coming back to MY house because after 9 am I can't drive on the street before the slurry seal dries, they think by 4 pm - we'll see). I pick Babe up, about 4 pm, at the vet. (If for any reason the seal isn't dry enough for the car, I park on an unaffected street or parking lot and carry her to the house, as foot traffic is allowed sooner and in any case I should be able to stay on the sidewalks if I pick the right route. However, I really don't wanna have to do that. I think they're sealing the neighborhood across the street also, and if so, I'd have to walk the equivalent of 4-5 long blocks. Babe won't enjoy that and, given the size and shape of a cat carrier as well as the 14-pound weight of the cat, neither will I.) As long as the seal's dry I can just drive home normally, which is an idea that I vastly prefer.

My dentist has lost my business. I expected him to do so, and it's nothing against him. It's just that I need a cleaning and they cannot schedule me in on a Friday (since they aren't open then), nor during my vacation given the short notice. (I didn't call sooner because I didn't get the reminder sooner and, in any case, didn't know far enough in advance that I wasn't going to be out of town during my vacation.) There's a perfectly nice practice in the same building that I saw once when my dentist was out of town for two weeks and I had some kind of problem (I forget which). I called them and they have me in for early September. On a Friday. Otherwise, I was going to hunt for a place that could fit me in Mon-Thurs in Hillsboro, but I admit I'm happier going with a practice I've been to before! (Yes, they know I'm pregnant. Skipping the x-rays. Yay.)

Did laundry today. Need to do dishes. Tomorrow is packed full. I'm not sure what Friday will bring. A chance to relax from Thursday's busy-ness and tension, maybe. That would be good.

Pleased so far with a couple apps I've added to the iPhone: DataCase for file copy/transfer/storage/viewing; Zenbe for lists, which integrates with the website - nice trick is, Scott can add things to the shopping list at the web site (I shared access to that one with him) and I can pick it up on my iPhone when I'm at the store; YouNote tentatively for note-taking. I haven't played with the last one much at all.

I got the shipping notice for my latest Fantasy Bath order today! Soon, soon. And glee. Bunches of fizzies I haven't tried (so I can), and a three pound bag of the Mango Tango fizzy (which I tried on a whim and was surprised to find that I loved it and found it very, very soothing). So that will be good when it gets here also. I'm for bed soon, though - with a soak first. (Not mango-scented, alas, but I've other Fantasy Bath scents 'til then.)

Remember the eggs I posted the other day? They are hatchlings now! Yes, I'm far too easily amused. If you have time and want to help them grow (or just find them amusing), look and click. :) ( They're behind the cut, to spare anyone who's not interested. )

It was supposed to be rain mixed with snow this afternoon, nothing sticking below 500 feet. Instead, this morning it began to snow lightly, but not stick. Which made me worry this afternoon might be colder. But no, it was warmer, so all it is cold wind and soaking rain. Did I mention the tropical storm that's supposed to come in tomorrow morning and warm the temperatures up but kick the winds up to 45-60 mph gusts in the valley, and rain on us enough to cause potential flooding issues? Cheery. We've already got the wind and rain but not the warming trend yet. I feel like a whiner complaining about how cold it is, since some of my friends are getting similar weather patterns but with snow.

I got my most recent order from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. Just a bunch of imps. And a few freebie imps (one of them an LE - alas, not one I was interested in, but hey). And something in there - hopefully one of the freebies - has given me a screaming headache. Water, tylenol, and keeping the box away from me for a while should hopefully help.

I need to do laundry tonight. And I think maybe some sprawling in front of the fireplace with a cat would be good.

When I said "Basta Ya, lady, that's enough" - it just seemed appropriate. Basta Ya was her full name, "That's Enough!" is the translation. It was given her as a kitten when she was hyperactive. She was a great huntress in her middle years. But 21 years, as sorry as I was to see her go, are a good long run for a cat. That is, in the end, enough - in a very different way than we first said it to/of her.

We will almost certainly get another cat. Babe is being very cuddly and affectionate, she always is, but even moreso. I think she needs a companion, when we're at work, and I like cats. As my allergies are behaving (in general, they're being brats this week), I think this would be good. So Friday we take Babe into the vet. Kitty needs a diet, but she also needs to be tested for the nasty diseases like feline leukemia. They were indoor-outdoor cats. I didn't worry about them exposing each other - they'd lived together four years in the same conditions. But if she has anything, I want to know, so I can choose a cat with the same disease, rather than a healthy one. I doubt she does, and I'm hoping it's all good, but I want to know first. That will take until next Friday...and then it isn't long until our GenCon weekend. So, probably Babe will be an only cat for a month or so before we start seriously looking into finding her a friend. The local no-kill shelter is my source of preference, in particular because I'm hoping they'll let me foster the chosen cat for a few weeks to be sure they get on, before adopting. I don't want to take a cat in and then find they need to go back, and not have a place for them. I doubt it will happen, but....

The Harry & David fruit shipment this month is peaches. I will be so glad when this fruit thing ends. They have a habit of showing up the day after I buy fruit! There's a Harry & David store a half hour away, or I can order online, if I want to get specific stuff when I choose. Not that these aren't good. They are good. They are just - here when they feel like it. So today I find a recipe and make something with peaches in. Probably cobbler. We'll see.

I no move. As I type this paragraph, Babe has her head on my shoe, paws wrapped around it. And her back half sprawled over one of my bare feet. I no move. It would disturb the cat. (She's gonna be disappointed when I have to go deal with laundry, or cooking, or something, isn't she?)

Yesterday, my order from Sidhe Creations came in. More perfume oils. (I encountered the woman who does this via BPAL decanting, so was interested to see what she came up with.) They smell nice in the sample vials. I do not know if they smell nice on, except for one that I tried. My allergies are acting up something fierce. I think it's the heat, the time of year, the fact that we have a flowering plant in the house right now, all that.

I was so sad to sleep in/wake late this morning. For two weeks, I have not slept in because I have been up at six even on weekends, to give Basta her medicine. I am not sorry that I get to sleep, but waking late, on a weekend even, hurt. It will stop hurting in time, probably fairly soon, since that pattern was only the last two weeks.

The friend who cat-sat while we were on vacation brought by a card, and a catnip plant, as a memorial for Basta. So...as a memorial for my sweet lady, we will encourage the remaining cat to tear the house apart? *laughing* Seriously, it was very cool and oddly appropriate and I think Babe will appreciate it. I just find it faintly humorous. Which is good; something to laugh at is good.

I was out at my parents' house on Friday, and I saw one of the 'kittens' (not any more!) from last year, at least, I assume he was. He came up on the back porch (outside), but fled when I went out - too wild to approach. A tan-brown-black tabby, elegant, not too lean. He looks like he's been eating okay, so the lack of food in their/our barn has done him no harm. The prospects for a wild cat out there aren't that good, but I wish that one (and any others) the best of luck. Not much else I can really do for them....

Suddenly I need to figure out what I'm reading next. No more Harry Potter; the sequel to The Assassin King isn't out; etc. Bah, humbug.

Mom almost never posted, over at pheontoo, but she read. Rarely did she even comment. Her userpic was an image of Basta. (Semagic says userpic is not a word. That's funny. I think I'll tell it that it is, though.)

And now I post this, disturb the cat who is still on my foot, and go get stuff done around the house.

Yes, I really am checking on her this much, and I would more if I didn't know I'd drive them AND myself to distraction. I went to visit her - she is definitely doing better. She stood some of the time, sat much of it, lay down only when I closed the door on her again. She purred for me, and she ate a bit of the canned food I had (with their permission) brought over - I left some there with them, since she can be finicky. They'd gotten her to eat some of what they had but I suspected she might eat more if it was something she liked, and she did eat some of it.

She wanted to climb out of the cage and down into my lap (or go exploring, not sure which) though I didn't let her. That's a lot more initiative than she had last night, as you might imagine. Poor kitty, she still looks worn, but I think she is doing better. I hope she is. We'll see what the results are - I'm still hoping for the best there.

I did go to the Gardens this morning, in the end, after I'd called for the morning update on her condition and found out we couldn't bring her home yet. I was hoping they'd bring me a bit of peace. But because of my timing, I arrived about 10 minutes after they opened on a lovely July Sunday, rather than during members' hours as I would usually do in the summer. The parking lot was almost full. Lemme try that again: the parking lot was almost full. They were lovely, but they were crowded, and more than one "oh look, a baby screaming" moment occurred (only two, that I can recall, but still!). I missed the irises this year by not going sooner. There was one left, slightly limp, and several that were drying and going, but basically I missed the irises. On the other hand, I saw a lovely purple flower cluster tucked back by a waterfall in the lowest, farthest corner of the natural garden, where I don't recall ever seeing such a flower before. That was a magical moment even if it was soon followed by continuing on so as not to block the path for the rest of the hordes....

STILL processing photos from our trip to Michigan/Ohio/Wisconsin. I will get them all done and then uploaded. But it may take a bit yet. In the meanwhile, for those who haven't already found it, a really cute photo of our friend's kitten Max, from when we were cat-sitting for her, during the worst of the heat.

Oh, and I ordered a bottle of 13 from BPAL. I hope I don't regret that, but I adore what most of their chocolate scents do on me. And if it hates me, I imagine I can find someone who wants it somewhere.

Did not see Harry Potter. Not sure now when I will - not up for a lengthy movie, especially if it stays true to the book, right now.

We have driven around Albuquerque and seen the sights, which was fun. We have also seen many McDonald's. To the point that I commented on them and then Jenn began pointing them out as if they were important landmarks to note. I commented on the way back that I was going to post that we were cataloguing all the McDonald's in Albuquerque, but she said we missed about seven of them in the core downtown area that we didn't want to go through, and I doubt we'll go pick them up. So alas, my analysis of the distribution of McDonald's restaurants in greater Albuquerque will go unwritten.

(Which it would have anyway, of course.)

We came back to the hotel and began testing BPAL scents. Much to my chagrin and pleasure, it turns out I SHOULD have given into the temptation to buy Tokyo Stomp, as it does truly lovely things on my skin. Fortunately (and unfortunately) it prefers to be "interesting" on Jenn's skin, so she doesn't want to keep the bottle and we're swapping. I'm sorry for her that it doesn't work, but it does like me, and it is fascinating both by itself and sniffed with my beloved Wicked.

GLEE! Also, I believe I have managed to amuse Jenn by my diligent acquisition of tourist brochures from the hotel. What? They're fun!

All that fun stuff. Went to Convergence XIII today. More accurately went to the dealer's room, not the con. No laminate required to go in and spend money. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab was there with four Convergence-only scents, one only available if you'd gone to a fashion show the night before and gotten a card. Fortunately I didn't love that one. I loved two of the other three and liked the third. And rather a lot else. Um. Yeah. I bought bottles. I went back for two more later on, too.

I bought enough bottles that I got a double-handful of frimps - 29, counting both batches (the second was maybe 4-ish), as it happened. Frankly, I scare me.

Then headed up to Powell's where I, ah, spent some time. And some money. Then wandered over to the park blocks, sat down, and read until about 6:15 when I headed up to Ringler's Pub (a McMenamin's location) for the meet'n'sniff. This was a blast - I got to meet a ton of people I might not have otherwise, and I also got to meet solcita. I knew she'd be there and was looking forward to meeting her, but it was especially funny because I came in the door and she was already there and nearly right in front of me. I walked over, waited a moment, and she recognized me. So, so cool to meet her.

The Labbies were there in spite of a very long day vending beforehand. They handed out imps labelled Ah'Duno. Don't ask me what's in it, because Ah'Duno! Dragon's blood, I'm confident of. What else I'm not sure. It's nice and the name is highly amusing. (solcita apparently got the story from Beth, which is over in her LJ. I didn't hear that bit until I got home tonight and read it. :)

When I got home, my Blue Moon order was here. Squee! Though I think my poor nose is overwhelmed right now!

Also, on my previous voicepost, SpinVox transcribed "bag full of books" as "bag full of Bush". For anyone who saw that, I did NOT have a bag full of Bush. Sheesh.

And the universe says "don't push your luck".

First, we have The Candy Butcher, which isn't bad but isn't great on me. It smells like chocolate and dry bones, in chill night air (no other idea how to put it, the only scents I can quantify are chocolate and bone, but it smells cold). It is a very neat effect, but I vastly prefer the simple chocolate of Bliss, which has the advantage of being general catalog as well.

Second, we have Silence. It turns into a thick floral/fruity on me. I can't place the florals but they are heady to the point of being cloying and make my head hurt a bit. The fruit smells mango-ish, under them. I can't do better than that without jamming my nose to my skin for a lot longer than I'm willing to.

And the more I smell Midnight on the Midway, the more sure I am that I don't like it that much. It's not awful, but it's not me. I'm not sure about Gennivre; need to drop that in the 'try again' pile.

First, a photo of a nightstand beside the bed. Kid you not, they match. Separate purchases, separate stores, there is no nightstand that is part of a "set" with this bed according to the catalog from the manufacturer that was present at the store where we bought the bed. If I didn't know that, I'd swear we'd bought nightstands from the same set.


And, in the drawer of the nightstand (well, actually the other one since I don't think Scott wants it in the drawer of his), my latest somewhat-amusing way of organizing my bpal - a lipstick holder from Storables. The 10 mL bottle won't fit, but 5 mL bottles will, or 6-7 imps, in each square.

I ordered an imp of Queen Alice, among other things, in my most recent BPAL order. It'll be a while before I see it (I ordered a bottle of Blue Moon as well - this was April 30). Meanwhile, just today, I see a thread in one of the communities wherein someone comments (to someone who likes the Carnation SN that you can't get any more) that Queen Alice smells to them just like the Carnation CN.

If their carnation is my carnation (old-style spicy carnation), and if it works the same for me, I should be so lucky! That's why I ordered it, the hope that it would. When I was young, I found a carnation (spicy-carnation) scent I utterly adored. I have been trying to find something in approximately the same range since I started with BPAL, honestly. Of course, it's questionable whether it'll do the same thing on my skin, but I can hope.