I put together my own costume, and went to work today dressed as Abby from NCIS. I think it turned out pretty well, and I had fun doing it.

My turn to take a trip!
I'm sitting in Denver Int'l Airport for a couple hours waiting for my connection to Chicago. I would have been long gone, but the Abq-Den flight was quite delayed, so they had to put me on a later connector than the one I'd booked. Stuff happens. Good thing I packed some snacks!
I'm headed to Michiana for a friend's wedding, and will be doing some visiting while I'm there. A nice long weekend, and I have a day off when I get back, too. I brought my schoolwork, too, since I have assignments due while I'm on the road.
Anyway, now that I have the new MacBook Pro, I'll hopefully be able to get more posts up. Having to fight with the old Dell just wasn't cutting it, and now it won't power on at all. Gotta fix the power jack, I think. Having 99% of everything backed up on the external drive helped a lot with the transition to the new Mac. Having a friend who's a Mac guru didn't hurt, either!
Anyway, I'll hit Chicago tonight, spend a night with Ambr and Aidan, then South Shore it to South Bend tomorrow. I'll get a rental car for the long weekend, and go from there! Back up to Chi-town Sunday evening, then fly back to NM on Monday evening.
Other than that, life's insanely busy, between work (lots of changes, not all good) and school (just a lot to do!) and trying to have some kind of social life in the odd moments. Actually, all the moments of my social life have the potential to be odd, so let's just leave it at that, ok?

This post is for Invisible Illness Week. More Information can be found at the end.

1. The illness I live with is:
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Spina bifida occulta, scoliosis.

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year:
2007, 1987

3. But I had symptoms since:
I can remember. They just didn't figure out that there was really something wrong until I was older.  I wish the doctor had listened earlier when things might have been able to be fixed somewhat.
( The rest of the survey... )

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel:
Honored.

Find out more about National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week and the 5-day free virtual conference with 20 speakers Sept 14-18, 2009 at http://www.invisibleillness.com If you are interested in blogging a post like this one please go to: http://ow.ly/nhg

In response to an anonymous comment on an older post:
Yes, I'm still here.  Been busy as heck with school, work, other events I work on and just plain survival.  I guess the posts since then were all set "friends only" as they were a bit more personal. 
A new semester of school starts this next week, and I'll be taking 15 credits of pre-reqs for Paramedic.  Still working full-time, too.
Bubonicon's this weekend, I have plans to do MileHiCon in October, and try to do some other short trips when I can.
Anyway...that's a nutshell, and I'm the nut ;-)

Sunday afternoon, time to blog my little trip.

It was good, but fast.

 

( The condensed version... )

 

Anyway, that's my weekend.

Let's see if I can catch up.

Beltane: Totally rocked, despite the wild and woolly weather. Rain, hail, sun, we had it all! Got to see good friends, hear good music, dance and drum. Good stuff. Had a friend join us for his first Beltane, and he's already talking about the next event, so that's a good sign, I hope.
I've got plans for Summer Solstice, and I'm the coordinator for the Lughnasadh event, so that'll keep me busy and involved with the pagan community. Several of the folk in the community are also taking time to teach me the local culture and traditions, and I'm feeling quite honored by this.

School: Got a 4.0 in the Spring classes. Studying now for the state EMT test, which I'll take on June 6^th. I'm a tad nervous about it, since there's the gap between class and the test. I've already started my next set of classes, though, so that helps me get my mind back into that mode of thinking. I'm still short one book, but it'll have to wait till my scholarship check comes in. I've already had to spend more on books than I care to think about.
I have five classes for summer term, but one's only 5 weeks long, and two of them are half-term in the same time slot, so it's not as bad as it sounds. Ten credit hours, though, so I'm gonna be working hard.

Life: I have sent off my last truck payment! W00T!!!! On the downside, the gas is off, so all the baking I was doing to raise money for my little Chicago trip next week is done for now. I should be able to save up enough to get it back on late next month. Luckily, the days I have to go to Clovis for the EMT test are a pay week, so I will not have to worry about that expense yet.
Ok, the Chicago trip...For those who haven't heard, I have an appointment for a live Jeopardy! audition on May 29^th, in Chi-town. I'm flying out on Thursday, the day before, and coming back on the Saturday. I'm really excited, and a bit nervous. This audition will put me in the contestant pool for a year, and I may or may not get called to actually do the show, but this is a lot closer than I've ever been! And yeah, I already know what I'll do with my winnings. ;-)

The reason for coming back on Saturday is also important. Go check out www.brothersericksen.com and you'll see. These are my friends, and they're doing a show, one night only. I am not going to miss this! Anybody in Abq who can make it, come on out. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

 

Anyway, I'm off to a barbeque, hosted by one of my co-workers. I have my box of Boca burgers, and she said we didn't have to bring anything else, so off I go.

Last night, I went to hear some live music (Dianivy & Tribe), then went to see Cheech & Chong's “Up In Smoke” at the Guild with a friend. Wow. I have a social life! LOL

 

 

My dear kitty, Stormcloud Thunderpaws (Stormy) died today.  It was sudden and unexpected.
I noticed Wednesday night that he seemed to be feeling badly, listless, out of sorts, and looking like he'd lost weight.  I managed to find a vet Thursday morning (after several tries), and they put him on oxygen and fluids overnight. When they went to work with him this morning, he suddenly had a seizure and died before they could do anything to save him.
The necropsy this afternoon revealed advanced pancreatic cancer.  There's no way it could have been found earlier, and even if it had been, there's nothing that could have been done.
I suppose it's some comfort that nothing I did or didn't do caused his death.  He'd been with me for almost 7 years, since he was a kitten.
My other cat, Ghost, seems to know that he's gone.  If I can tell that the house seems emptier, I know she can.
It's gonna be a long weekend...

Whew, what a weekend!
Classes were good this week, but work was a bit of a grind.  I think we were all glad to see the end of the workweek, whenever it was!
Yesterday I got up early, and went to get my truck worked on.  There's a church out here, Sagebrush Community Church, that runs a program called Pit Stop Ministries.  I found out about them through my college.  They hold a clinic once a month to help people in need with car repairs and maintenance.  So, I got my front brakes done, with new calipers, pads and rotors, plus an oil change, for no charge!  What a blessing!  Of course, you know I'm not one to sit idly by, so I jumped in and helped, not only with my own truck, but with a couple of other cars that were getting oil changes and such.  Met some really good people, too.  Next month's clinic, I'll be able to go back and we'll do the rear brakes (which are really bad) and in between, I can get my idler arm replaced, too.  Plus, I have a coupon for 15% off the alignment I'll be needing.  Yay!  This is really a weight off my shoulders, as I've been quite worried about the truck.  I got the wheel hub fixed on my own, and between that and the brakes, I can now go down the interstates safely! 
Which leads to today...I was able to go down the interstate to get to Sunflower River for the Ostara celebration.  It was a nice simple ritual, with an Eostre Egg hunt!  The potluck was yummy, too.  There were about 30 in attendance, a good number, but of course not all of our community.  There was a later evening event planned by CUUPS, and some folk went to that one instead, I'm sure, and some managed to go to both!  I decided to just do the one event, so I stuck around for the music and drumming.  A nice relaxing day, which I really needed.  My contributions to the potluck were a carmelized onion and pinon pizza, and a carmelized onion quiche, plus a raspberry pie that I had been given.
I do have a nice toasty sunburn on my face and neck, even my ear tops!  Most of it's from yesterday, but I'm sure I put a bit more red onto it today.  The wind didn't help, either!  Guess I'm still not quite New Mexican yet, huh?  I wonder if eating more green chile will help with melanin production so I can actually have a tan someday.  Probably not ;-)  Just too much Irish in me, I suppose.
Time to head to bed, as I have class in the morning.  We're past the halfway mark now, and while I didn't do as well as I'd hoped on the midterm for EMS, I could have done worse.  It's tied in with my old conditioning, I know, where I have to be the best in order to be anything worthwhile.  I'm just hard on myself, that's all, and I'm actually doing better at not getting down on myself for being human and less that perfect.  But I still gotta show up on time!

Using ONLY SONG TITLES from ONE artist, cleverly answer these questions:

Pick a band/artist:Mother Grove

1. Are you a male or female: Boots for Maggie

2. Describe yourself: Pavlov's Free Thinking Cat

3. How do you feel about yourself: Number One

4. Describe your ex: Move On

5. Describe your current love situation: Just A Dream

6. Describe your current location: The Road

7. Describe where you want to be: Circles of Stone

8. Your best friends are: A Whiskey and a Friend

9. Your favorite color is: Oceanside

10. You know that: Shadows Fall

11. What’s the weather like: All Right

12. If your life was a television show what would it be called? As I Fall

13. What is life to you: Kiss of the Green

14. What is the best advice you have to give: Listen To Your Mother

15. If you could change your name what would you change it to: (The Ballad of) Miles O' Toole

Not that I've really had that many romantic relationships, but...

1. Refusing to allow me to pursue my interests, or discouraging me from having interests of my own.  Of course, I expect that my partner will have his own interests, and that we will have common interests and activities that we can do together.  Hell, I'd love to have someone to do things *with*!  But don't cling, either. 

2. Passive-aggressive behavior.  Heck, that bugs me from anyone, but especially from a partner.  We *are* both grownups here, aren't we?  Talk to me, don't expect me to read your mind all the time.

3. Not pulling your weight.  I don't care if it's housework, money earning, whatever... I know we each have our strengths and skills, just don't expect me to do it all!  Do what you can to contribute to the relationship and the household.  I can do flexible amounts of work, and we'll take turns, but don't sit on your ass all day while I work and then have to take care of everything else as well.

There are other less important things, but those deal more with individual personality or attractiveness traits. 
No, not bitter....just lacking in positive history.

Okay, let me catch you all up on progress so far.
I am getting A's in both my classes, EMT and Algebra, though it's not a cruising A.  I'm working for it, and while the math is not too hard, I get tired and do silly mistakes if I'm not careful. EMT stuff is harder, of course, and makes for a lot of memorization in brain as well as hands.  But I'm confident that I'll do well.
I've filled out my FAFSA for next school year, and we'll see if I can qualify for some financial aid.  If it's enough, I would consider going to school full-time for the paramedic courses.
Work has been "meh".  It's work, and the good calls and bad calls average out on most days.  It's the ones that come in at the last second and keep me way past my scheduled time that honk me off.  That, and the ones transferred from another center in particular; no info gathered that the rep should have gotten, nothing done at all, and sometimes they don't even tell the customer that they'll be getting transferred.  Grrrr!
I have been getting out and about a bit, though not as much as I'd like.  Ryan and I did get together last night for margaritas and Buffy DVDs, and it was worth skipping the margarita night with my co-workers.  I should stay away from tequila, though, because that's the one booze that ever gave me a hangover.  Granted, that was over 20 years ago, but I don't care to go through that ever again!  Just gotta remember to eat, and drink water.
Laundry today, while I catch up on the blog and my surfing.  I'll study more tomorrow, as we have a quiz Monday morning.  Memorizing drug doses and rules is very important, so it's good that we're getting another quiz on it.
The weather has started to get nice, and the sunshine makes it feel warmer than the thermometer says it is.  I'm just looking forward to getting out on my bicycle again.  Next weekend, when I'm helping with the Medieval conference (MAP 2009) at UNM, I'm just going to leave the truck at home and do the bus/bike thing.  Saves on parking fees, too.  As a bonus, the more I can walk/bike, the better my success with losing weight! I splurged on a couple of pairs of jeans at the thrift store, and ended up going with the pairs that I thought would be too small when I pulled them from the rack!  Nice feeling, that.  Pretty soon, I hope to be freecycling some of my clothes that have gotten too big. 
I'm working on getting the needed repairs done on my truck.  I have gotten hooked up with a local charity called Pit Stop Ministry that helps folks fix up and maintain cars.  They will help me with my brakes!  I need to get the front right hub bearing replaced first (about $300) and as much of the rest of the front end as I can manage, then front brakes will be done in March, rear at the April clinic, and then I can get the tires and alignment.  The truck will be paid off in May or June, and then things should improve greatly.  My EMT test will be in June, and we'll go on from there!
Other than that, Ostara's coming, and that's gonna be a nice celebration.  On top of St. Paddy's Day earlier that week, I'm gonna get my share of socializing, I'm sure!  Work hard, play hard. Sounds like a plan.

Meh.

It's a day.  Nothing special.  I think that if there's someone special in your life, it shouldn't take the combined might of the economic machine to get you to show them how much you appreciate and cherish them. 
So, don't show love or affection just because you feel obligated, but do it because it's the right thing to do, any day of the year.  And on the flip side, don't be disappointed if you don't get some extravagant gesture on a certain day mandated by the calendar.  If you have someone special in your life, don't put inordinate pressure on them, okay?  If you're unattached, then be your own "Valentine", and don't pressure yourself, either!!

Off to try and practice what I'm preaching....doesn't always help with the lonelies, but I'm trying.

Been cleaning house today, trying to get the living room in order so I can have guests over sometime. Nothing planned yet, but I want the option!
I've been getting some energy from watching Kitchen Nightmares episodes on hulu.com. Now that I have a better desktop PC hooked up to the telly/monitor, I can has streaming video! Internet's cheaper than cable, and there's always something on as long as I want to take the time to look for it.
I've got a small pot of coffee on, the local stuff with pinon roasted in it. Makes for a smoother cup, and it's not as obvious as chicory coffee. I don't usually drink the stuff, but school's getting me back to needing something, and coffee at least can be sugarless.
Classes are going well so far, and we'll have our first EMT quiz on Monday, so I'll be studying at some point today. The algebra's been fairly easy so far, but I'm glad I'm taking the refresher course. Learning to work with a calculator is interesting, too. The long hours are a bit rough, but most of that's due to trying to plan meals and pack food & drink. Another thing to do on the weekend, now that I have one.
I did get to go see My Majestic Mind play last night, which was fun. Hoping to sell my bike this afternoon, and catch Labyrinth on the big screen at the Guild Theater tonight.
Back to work!

Much thanks to ioseph_locksley

At last, a chance to blog. It's been a busy week, with school starting, changes in my work schedule because of it, and even some social activities.
School is good so far, despite the adjustment to getting up very early. I'm up at 6:30 a.m., with classes starting at 8:00 on Monday and Wednesday, or 8:30 on Friday. Add to that my work, which goes till 9:30 at least, and it makes for a long day. I'm glad to be able to recover on the other days! I have homework already, of course, and I needed to replace my printer. Darn thing starts off fine, then fades out halfway through the page. The ink is full, so I can't figure out what's going on. I think it's just worn out, as it was a cheap one to begin with. Luckily, I found another one that uses the same cartridges. Our EMT lectures have powerpoint slides, and we need to print out copies to make notes with.
I'm grateful to my friend Ryan for giving me a calculator to use for my algebra class. The prof prefers that we use them, which is very unusual to me. I can see his point, though, as the process of doing the algebra is far more important to learn, and we should all know math by now, so why waste time on doing it all by hand. I still do some of it in my head, though!
We don't have class tomorrow, for the MLK, Jr. holiday, but that just gives me a chance to catch up for Wednesday's class. There's a lot to learn, and I'm glad that I have a whole semester to do it in. I'm not sure which class will be hardest, so I'm trying to take it a bit at a time. There are many changes in the whole classroom setting, especially the online part. Yeah....last time I was in college for any length of time, there was no such thing! Now, my textbooks come with DVDs and online materials that are required for quizzes and tests. Very strange.
I have also had to break down and get a coffeemaker. It's a 4-cup, freecycled, but it's enough to get me through a morning. Finally found a use for the travel mug I got at the Woodwind/Brasswind! I'm not a big coffee drinker, honestly, but I may turn into one at this rate. I got myself some good coffee, too. All I need are some filters, and I'm running some weak vinegar water through it to make sure it's clean.
I also managed to come up with a better desktop computer over the weekend, on the extreme cheap, and have been putting it together. I'm missing some of my disks, so it was trial and error getting it going. Had to reformat and do a fresh install on the HD, and all I had available was XP Home. I much prefer Pro, and now that I've got the thing set up and online, I think I'll be upgrading at least that far soon. I'm tempted to try out Windows 7 Beta, and there's always Ubuntu, if I can ever manage to get it downloaded.
As for the socializing, one of my co-workers hosted a RockBand party at a local gaming center. I've never played it before, and was happy to find out that there's even a way to play by singing! Don't know how it compares to Guitar Hero, which I've also not played, but I really had a fun time with the crew from work. That was Saturday, and Friday was the ASFS meeting (which I missed 95% of, naturally) so I got to have some weekend fun. Coming up this Friday, a band containing two other co-workers is playing at a local bar, so I'll be going to that, I think.
All work and no play makes Harriet a raving stress-bomb, so hopefully I'll get to keep balancing the two.

I blame lordmookie
The song is "Beer! Beer!" by Korpiklaani

Finally feeling up to a bit of blogging tonight. It's been a rough week. My broken tooth started acting up again, and developed an abcess infection. Not good, especially for someone who talks for a living! Luckily, my dental insurance kicked in on New Year's Day, and I was able to go to a dental clinic on Friday morning before work. Yay!
For now, the dentist was able to clean out some of the decayed tooth, pack medicine into it, drain some of the infection and put a temporary patch on the tooth. No more broken edge for a while, the swelling is going down, and the pain is subsiding. I have pain pills and antibiotics, and an appointment for Thursday to go back for an exam. Now the long-term work starts, to get my mouth healthy again. I'm just glad that I can eat and sleep. Granted, today started with me feeling like someone had punched me in the face! The only time I'm ever accused of having a small mouth is when I'm getting dental work, and my muscles are a bit sore. On the plus side, it looks like they'll be able to save the bad molar without too much trouble, and eventually straighten my front teeth.
Work was really busy this week, almost too hectic. I guess a lot of people got new computers or aircards for Christmas! It's rough when there's no time between calls to gather your thoughts or reset your brain, and most of our tech support calls are fairly long. Lunchtimes and breaks are often delayed till you can finish a call. At least my customers can't hear my stomach growl!
I'm looking forward to starting classes on the 12th. I've gotten one of my books in the mail already, and the others should be arriving soon. I'll have to pick the last one up at the bookstore when they open up again, since it's only available there. I think I've got the rest of what I need, though I might have to get a calculator if I can't find mine. I'm sure I'll find out more once I get to class.
For New Year's, I did go over to a friend's house after work that night, but left shortly after midnight due to my toothache. Had to work New Year's Day anyway, so didn't want to be out too late, especially that night.
I did go out on Monday night, though, to see a local band, My Majestic Mind. Two of the guys in the band are co-workers of mine. Good stuff, very talented group, and it was fun. Gonna hit their next show in a few weeks, too. They have a MySpace if you want to check them out.
Other than that, I've been working on a few projects. I'm still baking what I can, have some sewing to do, and am writing my latest bit of fiction. I've also got some non-fiction writing planned that will be shared online. More on that when it's ready to go.
Hopes and goals for 2009? Sure, I've got 'em. I'm optimistic, overall, as far as the material things I want to accomplish. The personal stuff, well, what I can control, I will. What I can't control, I will let the universe take care of. That's the harder part, for me, honestly. We'll see how that works out!

Now that's my idea of a holiday special!




But my real Xmas wish is this one:

Well, working on it kicked my butt, too....
A preliminary pic of the Gingerbread Yurt.  Apologies for the not-so-great camera, better pics may follow.

This was the entry in the Gingerbread House competition for the Midwinter event in the Barony of al-Barran, Outlands.  It was a group effort by the local bros and watchees: Rhianwen, Ealasaid, Morgan, Tiou, Rurik and myself, with additional help from Brian (Tiou's bf), Trey/Tenkai (Rurik's buddy) and Tanley (friend of mine w/gingerbread experience).  It took 4 days of work, with final assembly done on site.  Omar did the label placards, "Peaceful Pastoral Nomads".
We have the yurt on a cardboard cart, with oxen, brothers, and even a leashed Scot (complete with kilt).  The decorations are done in icing, licorice, peppermint sticks, and pretzels, and if I can get a good close-up picture, there are even tiny date bits for "ox plops" that are being collected behind the cart.  Other than the cart and the ground board, the rest is edible and even tasty!
I was honestly hoping for more competition.  There were two really cute entries in the children's division, and a very nice gothic castle with gummy fish in the moat for the other adult entry.  We gave the castle a Mongol guard after the judging, with the owner's permission, to guard the fish in the moat.
I think we came in second for the table-setting competition, but the winners did a complete traditional Japanese setup, and even brought their own tables!  Very nicely done, indeed.  The codpiece competition was a bit of a bust, unfortunately, for lack of entries.  The spiffy garb was nice to see, and I forget the fellow who won it, but he looked sharp.
More pics to come eventually, but I'll probably put them in the flickr and just post a link.  I will cross-post this entry to the lj groups, as well.

Geez, I'd already cut back as far as I could!  There's nothing left.  This is the economy I know, nothing's changed. 
I haven't been able to do laundry in almost 2 months.  I just lost what fresh food I had because the refrigerator wasn't getting cold enough (fixed with a thorough defrost).  I dropped cable months ago, I still need major work on my truck, I haven't been out for recreational purposes in ages.  Last time I did go, someone else bought my dinner so I *could* go with the group.
As far as Yule, I don't send cards, I rarely buy gifts for anyone, especially outside the immediate family (they'll get homemade if anything), and I sure won't be going out or traveling anywhere.  I'm splurging on going to the local SCA Midwinter event and the local Yule celebration, and praying that it won't completely break my budget.
Screw the Big Three, where's my frelling bailout?