auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
Coming to the end of my four day 'spring break' weekend. I managed to:

*update my voter registration (well, I did this sometime last week) and receive my new card in the mail.
*plan menus for the week and buy only those groceries necessary for the menu items
*get chicken and stuff in crockpot this afternoon for a week's worth (roughly) of chicken and lentils
*determine a weight loss goal and calculate a daily calorie limit (using the MyPlate function at livestrong.com)

Mainly, though, after being reminded several times lately about Dragon Con I brought the subject up with [livejournal.com profile] eve11, she said, "yeah, sure!" and next thing you know, we have a place to stay - and no, I don't advise waiting until the end of March to look for a hotel room for Dragon Con (Labor Day weekend) - memberships are purchased, and all that remains is to put in for the days off work. We lucked out a bit with finding a place to stay, honestly. The hotel situation was a bit grim. Places that were either miles out, close enough to walk from but in bad areas, or plain old skankiness. And then Eve remembered about AirBnB and HomeAway. She found us a little two bedroom condo less than a mile from the host hotels, with kitchen and everything. I think the only reason it was still available is that the guy is brand new to AirBnB.

And now I'm reminding myself that I chose not to do laundry earlier in the break, so even though I'm feeling a bit under the weather and just want to curl up all day, at some point I do indeed need to do laundry.

Happy Easter/Spring/Sunday to you all!
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
What the elections would look like if they were taking place in Middle Earth.

It's Over Gandalf...
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
I had a lovely visit with [livejournal.com profile] lyda_pearl this morning. We went to Cafe Moulin in Shadyside for breakfast. LP had some sort of savory crepes and I had an absurdly yummy sweet one with bananas, strawberries, chocolate and nutella. Sooooo good. Then we went across the street to Kards Unlimited. It's my favorite card store in Pittsburgh, but since I haven't had reasonable access to Shadyside in years, it's been a long time since I've been. In that interval they switched one whole aisle over from silly gag gifts like fake spilled coffee, to an amazing book selection. All the sorts of books I love best gathered in one place. Not a single romance or seriously serious book anywhere. Gorgeous editions of every series I've ever loved from childhood up to now. Of course they only carry beautifully bound hardbacks so nothing is actually affordable, but hey, what's money got to do with anything? I picked up a superhero book for work which I think I'll be able to get reimbursed for (so cute, when the superhero gets angry, he goes to his Fortress of Awesome and gives himself a little quiet time to calm down, before returning to his job as Super Awesome, or whatever his name is). And for me, I selected a P.G. Wodehouse. One of those authors I've always wanted to get started on but almost never actually run across in generic bookstores. And then I sternly resisted all the countless other things I wanted to buy (Serenity comics, TARDIS mugs, posters, etc, etc.) LP and I spent a good long time browsing, then came back to my place and hung out for a while before she needed to take off for work.

The morning was lovely, a shame that it had to end with a reminder that I live in a shitty neighborhood. I totally forgot to lock the car door when I got out and in the half hour that she was in my apartment, her car got broken into. Luckily nothing was damaged and she said nothing of any value to her was missing but it was unnerving for her and pissed me off. Pissed at myself for absent-mindedly forgetting that the locks on her car are strictly manual, and pissed that I have to live in this crappy part of town where my neighbors are breaking into cars parked right in front of my home.

Anyway, I intend to put on some music, throw some food into the crockpot, do some housework, and then settle down with my new book and have a lovely relaxing afternoon spent inside in the warm. It is cold out there!
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
My sinuses finally got miserable enough that I felt justified in staying home today. I probably should have done it yesterday but I didn't realize it was going to get so bad until it was too late and I was already at work. Today the kids are making stone soup and I wanted to be there, but based off of how I was yesterday, I would probably have just scarred them for life with my miserable crankiness if I'd tried. I got up at 8 to feed the cats, call work, and take meds. The plan was to take Zyrtec, which is powerful but messes me up too much to take during work. Turns out I must have thrown it out for reasons of expiration date when I moved because I don't seem to have any here. Oh well. I took Flonase (YUCK) and dayquil and slept the worst of it off. The main hope is that the flonase will ease up the pressure in my ears because that is almost the worst part at work - it means that every sound is just noise and everything sounds loud and I end up shouting all day because I can't hear myself over all the cacophony my ears are providing, and it's misery for everyone, not just me.

So I'm just here, cuddling with the cats, and reading comfort fic, which in my case means working my way through the 2009 Stargate Atlantis Big Bang stories. Not a terrible way to spend a sick day.
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
I've overcome the lack of functionality in my kitchen in order to get the crock pot plugged in. Chicken and stuff is cooking. Maybe it will be yummy, but the ingredients and spices are a bit haphazard so it's a bit of an adventure.

Mal is being cranky. I scooped the litter boxes but I don't have any new litter to put in, so the boxes are not as up to snuff as he prefers. Which means he is refusing to use them. The puking and attempting to poop on the carpet has begun, and I suppose this means that until it's run its course (him getting constipated, eventually pooping multiple times in inappropriate places, and refusing to eat for a day or so) he's going to be locked in the bathroom. Fun times.
auntiemeesh: (snow angel)
It's 68F in my apartment, which in this place usually feels very cozy. But in warm socks, thermal long john bottoms, jeans, two shirts and a hoodie, I was still shivering. I now am dressed in my warmest pjs, a huge thick sweatshirt, hat, scarf, flip-top mittens (can't find my wrist warmers) and wrapped overall in a fleecy bathrobe, with the kettle boiling to make a lovely pot of tea. For the first time in about two weeks, I'm finally starting to thaw out.

Winter storm Jonas hit earlier than expected and harder as well, so my plans for the evening went kaput. But I'd rather the people I love stay safe at home than try driving through a snowstorm just to keep me company. So instead of dinner with my sister, I stopped at Target for a microwave meal, plus enough food for the weekend (along with all the other people out doing their emergency snowstorm shopping - sadly mine was just the usual Friday "I don't want to leave the apartment over the weekend" shopping spree).
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
After a week and a half of sneezing like crazy, that rotten headache on Saturday, and general exhaustion this week, half way home from work this evening I got a sore throat, which has been worsening throughout the evening. Gotta love the sinus allergies, although I have no idea what it is about this time of the year that always triggers them.
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
I had a killer headache all afternoon. A two hour nap didn't even touch it, four advil didn't touch it. So I broke out the big guns. At nine o'clock at night, I made a pot of coffee, ate two spoonfuls of peanut butter and had two handfuls of dark chocolate chips. Two hours later the headache is finally gone. I'm wide awake and suspect I will remain so for a good long while, but I'm not in pain, so I think this counts as a win.

In other news, the Pens beat Montreal 3-1 and I caught probably half the game in between wanting to die from headache. Also, I finished season three of Castle. I was thinking I'd probably wait awhile before getting season four, but after the cliffhanger ending, I want to watch the next season right away. I'm going to attempt to assert discipline with my finances. We'll see how long that lasts.

The Steelers are in the midst of blowing a 15-0 lead to the Bengals in the fourth quarter. I'm not watching the game, because I hate football and football culture, but I live in a football mad city and it's a Wild Card game, so I feel like I need to at least be informed. I'm curious to see if they pull it out or complete the choke. Update: And the Steelers pulled it out with seconds to spare. I'm impressed.
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
OMG, how could no one tell me that Castle dresses up as Mal Reynolds on a halloween episode of Castle?!? Cap'n Mal sitting on the sofa with his kid, eating ice cream. So awesome!!!
auntiemeesh: (dream-sad)
I want to sleep. Tuesday night was full of nightmares and tossing and turning. I was so tired tonight that I crawled into bed at 10:30 and went straight to sleep. For two whole hours. Then commenced the tossing and turning. And now, three hours later, I feel wider awake than ever. I'd love a cup of warm milk but I forgot to buy milk. Maybe chamomile tea and a boring book will do instead?
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
Screw the long list of things to do that I posted yesterday. I've decided that today is Get Caught Up on Doctor Who day. I missed the final four episodes and I'd like to see them before watching the Christmas Special.

So. Spoilers left, right and center, as I'm sure you could guess.

Sleep No More )

Face the Raven )

Next up: Heaven Sent )

Hell Bent )
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
So far today I have accomplished:

*Make coffee
*drink coffee
*watch an episode of The Great British Bake Off
*put on bra
*find Christmas music and put some on the cd player
*scoop litter boxes
*sweep litter box areas
*drink more coffee
*go pee approximately 17 times in three hours (seriously, I have no idea how I manage to go sometimes nine or ten hours without a potty break during the week and then have to pee every twenty minutes on the weekends, while consuming the same amount of liquids, often in the same time frame)

I have a lot more to do this weekend if I want to feel any Christmas spirt this coming week:

*tidy and sweep the kitchen
*clean the bathroom
*fold/put away clean laundry
*sort dirty laundry (it's not getting washed this weekend, I'm not even gonna pretend on that front)
*tidy/vacuum living room
*tidy/vacuum bedroom
*tidy/vacuum hall
*dig out Christmas decorations
*manage to display at least a few of said decorations
*go to Target for:
--food
--cookie ingredients/cutters
--gifts
--thank you cards
*make cookies

It's a pretty sizable list and quite frankly, nothing is going to get done in the evenings after work, because I'm mostly just a lump in the evenings after work, surprised and pleased to still have enough energy to breathe. So I guess I'd best get to work.
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
Hey guys, I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for me. I need something that serves the purpose of a kitchen island, but I have almost no space in my kitchen and only a little money to spend. I'm looking at rolling carts, because part of what I need is the ability to put my crockpot on it and roll it over to the outlet. But I also need something sturdy enough to use as a counter for things like baking cookies. Any suggestions on ways to cheaply jury-rig something from things I can easily get (on foot) at local stores would be very helpful.

And by the way, I do realize this is a tall order and I'm not holding my breath on this. If nothing comes my way, it will be no greatly terrible thing.
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
Ah, that awkward moment when you're out in public and you run into a former work acquaintance that you've always been friendly with but haven't seen in a long time, she greets you by name, and you cannot. remember. her name. I hope I didn't sound insincere when talking with her, but I was distracted by trying to remember her name. I finally managed to dig up what feels like the right name, an hour later as I was walking home. God, I'm good at people. /sarcasm

In other news, the weather turned chilly over night and my sinuses exploded. The dayquil did eventually ease the headache but just now I leaned my face against my hand and it hurt. I was very glad to already have the day off work. And hey, I managed to tidy/dust/vacuum the living room, fold one load of laundry, and make a run to Target in spite of feeling like crap. I wanted to buy a comforter but didn't like what they had, so I picked a really soft but warm looking blanket instead and with the amount of money I saved, I was able to buy a set of seasonal flannel sheets and still stay well under budget. The combo of dayquil, coffee and headache hit me hard in the middle of shopping, though, so I cut things off pretty abruptly, paid and was glad to have some fresh air on my face as I walked home.

And now it might be time to take some nyquil and go to bed, before my sinuses start to really freak out again.
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
It's Wednesday evening and I don't have to go back to work until Monday. Four whole days off, three days of work next week and then another four day weekend for Thanksgiving. Sweet!

In order to celebrate my little mini-vacation I stopped at the store on the way home and bought a bottle of wine. I started home with happy visions of getting all cozy with a book and a glass of wine and having such a lovely evening. Then I remembered that I'm taking a corticosteriod for my wrist and am supposed to stay away from alcohol. Boo! Still, one more dose tonight, one tomorrow morning, and then I'm done with it, so I'll be able to enjoy a relaxing drink in a day or two.

I have big plans for tomorrow. Laundry, vacuuming, reorganizing some stuff that's just been sitting around for months. I have to take advantage of the fact that I'm not completely exhausted from a full week of work and get stuff done. Then, a Pens game in the evening.

I have shopping to do on Friday, possibly two trips since one of the things I have to buy is kitty litter (that stuff is heavy!) I desperately need at least one new blanket as well, and maybe some wine glasses (I've been drinking my wine out of a plastic coffee cup ever since I moved).

Saturday I want to dig out the crockpot, find a place to set it, and make some stew. Maybe go for a walk in Highland Park depending on the weather. Other than that, I want to be as lazy as possible on Saturday and Sunday.

Ah, it's a delightful plan. I will probably succeed at the being lazy part. And the Pens game part. Only time will tell if any of the rest of it happens.

Tendonitis

Nov. 9th, 2015 08:58 pm
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
I have a lovely new wrist brace to wear for the next week. And a prescription for an anti-inflammatory that I've never heard of before (Medrol). And orders to follow up with an orthopedist if it still hurts in a week or two. So yay, that was a productive evening spent at Med Express. But luckily the report I'd heard of the co-pay going up by a lot was not relevant to my insurance so it was still only $15 for the visit and X-rays. And since I wasn't going to get home until more than an hour late, I treated myself to Wendy's on the way home. I'll feel gross later, but every once in a great while a little bit of fast food can feel like a treat.

Update: Jeez, I just looked Medrol up and it looks seriously nasty. I'm not sure I want any part of it. I guess I'll have to talk to the pharmacist tomorrow and get a little more relevant info than I can find by reading scary websites on the internet.
auntiemeesh: (leaves)
I stopped at Target after work today to see if I could pick up a few things to throw together to make a halloween costume. Target is very convenient for a lot of reasons, but Halloween costumes for grown-ups aren't on that list (they have a couple things if you want to be a sexy witch, and that's it).

I did get a cute little, almost steampunk-sized witch's hat, some witchy/devil make-up, and a couple of dark shroud-like decorations that I hope to turn into something. Now, of course, I only have tonight and tomorrow night to make it all come together (going to an event on Friday at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History) so I should really be psyching myself up, digging out all my crafty things and seeing what I can do. Maybe there's something appropriately seasonal on Netflix that can help me through the process? Because seriously, going to Target and then heating up some dinner took just about every ounce of energy or willpower that I possess.

Update: I put on some cheesy Xena, dragged all my costuming boxes out into the light and figured this puppy out!

This Friday is going to be jeggings, t-shirt and boots with the little witch's hat and a tattered shawl made from the shroud/decoration things, along with some make up and accessories. I'll clearly have something costume-like on, but it will be simple enough to not make me feel entirely self-conscious if there's a lot of non-costuming going on. The hat and shawl will then get re-used next Friday at work for our class halloween party. And then for the main event on Halloween itself, I'm busting out the Jabe costume (sans headpiece and heavy duty make-up). I think it works really well as some sort of Wizardess look, and fits the theme of the party well enough. Even better if I do some ghostly make up to go with it.

Oh, and as a bonus, while I was digging through all my crap, I found my missing purse, with my only tube of lipstick and my rings (including the one I made in high school metal shop which has great sentimental value to me cuz, dude, I made it myself).
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
I just honestly never know what's going to be going on next here.

Tonight it's some sort of brass band playing live music somewhere within a one or two block radius of the apartment, complete with crowd noises. Earlier this evening, [livejournal.com profile] lyda_pearl and I were driving through the neighborhood after work and we noticed a bunch of trucks outside the Seminary School, which looked like they might belong to a movie crew. Who knows if this music is related to whatever's being filmed (Ewan McGregor is supposed to be filming American Pastoral this fall somewhere in Pgh but I'm not at all dialed into the entertainment industry so I have no idea if that's what we saw or not) or just someone hiring a band for a party. Seems odd on a Monday night in the middle of a residential street but I do live in a loud and boisterous neighborhood. Either way, I'm enjoying the music.

In other news, LP came over this evening to help me weatherize the doors a bit, so that hopefully there will be no draft coming in through the back. We decided (I decided mostly) that the front door doesn't need it because it only opens onto a hall, not directly outdoors. And the windows seem to be sealed well on their own, thankfully. While she was here, we finally got a curtain rod up on the one window that doesn't have blinds (which is directly by my bed and directly opposite (one floor down) someone who has extremely bright lights on all night long. Yay blackout curtains!!!

Clouds!

Oct. 12th, 2015 08:29 pm
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
To make up for the ugly blister pic, I'm putting these up as well. I love the look of these late afternoon clouds. Sort of like looking at something through rippled glass or a couple inches of disturbed water. They also kind of look like wispy dragon wings.

IMG_1884
IMG_1883

Ouchies!

Oct. 12th, 2015 08:22 pm
auntiemeesh: (dancing rosie)
I made a very poorly thought out footwear choice this morning. I thought to myself, "I'm wearing leggings, so I should wear boots. Ah, these will do nicely. Yes, I do think I remember that they might have been wearing out a bit last time I wore them, but I'm sure I'll be able to get away with them just this once."

IMG_1885

Lesson: learned!

This, by the way, is what the 'good' foot looks like. The other blister is a lot more ugly looking. I suspect that tomorrow's walk to work will be FUN. But, I remind myself, it's only temporary pain. It will probably hurt to get to and from work tomorrow, but it's the sort of pain that stops as soon as I stop walking, so the rest of the day will be fine.

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