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 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!

I had a lovely visit with 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!

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.

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.

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!!!

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 )

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.

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.

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).

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.