Confessions of a One-Track Mind

Have a fabulous birthday!



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A lot of people are getting edible gifts this year---but not everyone,, which is what would've happened if my ship hadn't come in when it did.

Friday, Mb and I ran around and mostly Christmas shopped in Melbourne. It was fun.

Saturday, I had lunch and a movie scheduled with Big Red...we were supposed to meet at Panera at noon. I called her at five til and said, "I'm in the dressing room at Lane Bryant, everything in the store is half off today!" And she said, "I'll be right there!"

I got measured while I was there, and I'm now a 46DD, down from 50DD sixteen months ago. I've stayed under 300 for about a month now (slightly aided by some kind of intestinal disturbance Sunday night), so unless I start massibely retaining water, it looks like 2012 will be the year I finally kick off the year with a weight beginning with the number "2".

In stead of Panera, which was a total zoo, we ended up at Five Guys Burgers, which was sublime. The burger is thick and meaty, my kind of burger. Their fries are cracktastically delicious. Not cheap, but real value for the money.

Then we enjoyed Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which didn't particularly trouble to hide its slashiness. Victorian eye candy galore, and RDjr in extremely well-fitted long underwear. Big Red was quite thrilled.

A hand of canasta at J's, with her and sbjb and her plus one. Not a very satisfying hand, alas---plus one was unfamiliar with the game, which was an uphill battle to fill anything. It was nice to get together, though. I think that's only about the third time I've seen Sbjb this year, and one of those was Susie's funeral!

Sunday, church and a quiet afternoon at home. Started to work in the kitchen, gathered up a bag of stuff to toss, went in to my room to rest for a few minutes, and spent the next three hours getting my coupons in order.

Spent Monday quietly beccause of the intestinal disturbance overnight. Tuesday...yesterday? Yes. Mb and I went to the local big box club, and got memberships. 14 months for $20 apiece. They really do have the best gas prices, and other deals as well. Went back to her place afterward, where we discovered to our chagrin, that XSO had taken the wireless router with him when he collected his computer, so I couldn't get online on my laptop. (Thanks a lot, fucknugget.)

Came home and discoverd that my mailbox is missing. It's been propped atop the post for about a year...sometimes it would fall off during a high wind, but it's not like it was flimsy enough to blow away. It's flat-out NOT THERE. Gone. I have no way to prove the assholes next door are responsible, but, but it was a quiet wnough neighborhood before THEY showed up.

At the moment, I'm at J's, where there is wi-fi and it's (comparitively) quiet. I'm not looking forward to going home,, but am looking forward to tomorrow afternoon, when I've got a haircut scheduled.

Cool Yule, y'all!

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Here's hoping you have an excellent day and an awesome year!



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It's not supposed to rain on a SUNday morning, but there's not a lot I can do about it, save for wearing another layer to keep my church clothes dry.

What's tricky is, my passenger seat and trunk are both FULL, thanks to yesterday evening, which I spent with sbjb, and her friend the Merlin Maniac. (What?! We all know by know that Fluffy doesn't use Real Names for people!) Anyway, SBJB is clearing out some accumulation, and presented me with multiple bags o' clothes, with the proviso that I drop them at Goodwill after I go through them. My truck is so full it barely closed, and I commented after I stowed the bags that if anyone rear-ended me, they'd bounce.

The bag in the passenger seat has a pillow to raise my legs while I sleep, something I've been wanting!, and a few other prizes, including the blue bridesmaid dress SBJB wore for S's wedding. Or, as she refers to it, "the royal blue bedspread".

I tried it on, and it *does* fit. Mind you, it's rather dated---it has those poufy leg-of-mutton sleeves, fitted bodice/full skirt combo that was the rage circa 1992, all royal blue satin, though the satin is covered with blue lace on the bodice. But it had a nice neckline, deep without plunging, comes to just below the knees on me, the color is flattering, and did I mention, it fits? No clue where I'm going to wear it....

Anyway, unloading the car in the rain is a no-go, which is going to be fun later. *eyeroll* Had a good time, though---MM is fun (I've been hearing about her for years, but this is the first time we've actually hung out); we spent quite a bit of the time fangirling about SPN, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, and a few of her passions, like, um MERLIN. I may have actually found someone to play the Kevin Bacon game with, wouldn't that be fun...?

And now, to church....

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I got home yesterday afternoon to an unexpected parcel on my front doorstep. The return address informed me it was from a company called Woot, in Texas, and the contents were an adorable crib quilt, mostly in navy blue, appliqued with sheep. No packing slip to let me know who it was from.

Quite a mystery, as there are only a handful of people who were in on the sheep joke originally. Back when I was working 2nd shift at the answering service---about 20 years ago---I was staying over at SBJB's because my water had been turned off, and at one point, I left a note saying, "Gone to sheep." I meant sleep, but suddenly, sheep jokes abounded.

Discovered the culprit was none other than sbjb, who said she saw it on the Woot site and thought of me. (According to her, it was $8 and shipping was free---quite a deal, IMO, since it's the best made of any store-bought quilt I've seen.)

Movie night at church was great---I really enjoyed "Taking Woodstock", even though there was minimal Jeff in it. The protagonist was a sweet kid, and his parents were really well played. One scene (the tripping-in the-van scene) threw the pace off a little, but on the whole, it was excellent.

I made it home with time to spare for Supernatural. ( Thoughts and spoilers under the cut. )

Afterward, I made an impulse buy on Amazon. I had credit left over after getting my Trauma DVDs, and went to check Catch and Release, which I'd watched over at Schnauzerland. Cute little movie that reminded me A LOT of PS--I Love You, with Timothy Olyphant in the JDM role as the guy who helps the heroine find love after her fiance dies. Got it for $3 and change including shipping, and I *still* have a few bucks left. *grin*

I feel no desire to write anything for Season 6. None.

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A very happy birthday to sbjb!

Here's hoping you have a great day and a terrific year because you're made of awesome!
(Not that I'm biased or anything....)

Let me know if you decide to play hooky and want some company!




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Right now, at this particular moment in time, I'm feeling supremely contented with my life. Some of it stems from little things: I dug up a section of my front flower bed and threw down some zinnia seeds. One of the hydrangeas is boasting some fuzzy green baubles that suggest they may eventually become flowers. The tidy white rack in my hallway (as opposed to two boxes full of IDK) with the happy picture of a Victorian house on the wall above it. The octagonal stained glass shade that I've had for ten years and had a brainstorm to try on my "new" bedroom floor lamp and which looks like a colorful glass crazy quilt. Small victories.

The chat I had this afternoon with GK, wherein she placed a bid for a digital camera for me as an early 50th birthday present (with luck, I'll have it in time for the Sand Art Festival). Big honking triumph, unless she's outbid.

And...a couple weeks ago I mentioned something in the wind that I didn't want to jinx---well, it's happened, so now I can say: I HAVE A LAPTOP!!! Thanks to sbjb and her preference for all things MacIntosh, I have the indefinite loan of a dandy HP laptop* with a huge screen, tons of memory and its own happy little carrying case. This is a great, big honking triumph...now all I have to do is clear some space on my desk, and/or get a wireless router.

I have a feeling I'll be sprouting extension cords in every room. I'll finally be able to do a proper inventory of my DVDs! And I wouldn't be surprised if this accelerated the progress of transforming my office into a boudoir---no longer being tied to a desk!---although again, wireless router. Hmm, must check prices, especially on Amazon, since I still have a Christmas present from socialhermit....

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* Per her, if/when I get to where I'm solvent, we can discuss payments, otherwise, don't worry about it. Thank you, girlfriend!!!
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Not the greatest Thursday ever, but it had a few redeeming qualities, one of them being a leisurely buffet lunch with the esteemed sbjb. She picked up the check, which is only one of the reasons I esteem her: She also loaned me her shredder, and...let's just say something good is in the wind. I'm afraid I'll jinx it if I announce it prematurely.

We were chatting about this and that and picspams and I mentioned my love of sand-sculptures. This evening, she sent me info on what looks to be a really excellent sand sculpting contest going on locally next month.

Lunch and a fast pass through BigLots next door was the highlight of my day. To begin with, I woke up after three hours of sleep and couldn't get back to sleep for two hours. managed to sleep for about three more, but blerg, felt like crap on a cracker. SBJB called before I'd even got my first ration of caffeine down---I was dressed and out the door, zoom.

Got back to a mess of emails, and my computer was raising my BP massively, I'm sure. Crawling, not doing what I told it to do, crashing---and when I ran Spybot, it took FIVE HOURS to scan my C-drive. It's improved somewhat; at least it's only a few keystrokes behind when I type, not whole lines.

Conspicuous by its absense: Anything accomplished around the house. Left two voice messages for BC, one to say anything we did would have to be late in the day, the other to say it would have to be tomorrow. At the moment, it looks like the weather should be okay, fingers are crossed that it stays that way.

Oh, wait, there *was* some slight accomplishment: I moved my cedar chest to get to the grouded outlet behind it so I could plug in the wet/dry vac to suck up the leakage on the bathroom floor, and found the bag of costume jewelery I got from Kat when we sorted through it last fall. Biggest, most obvious item in the bag: a green shamrock pin. Timing....
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I did finally crawl into bed and snooze for about 3 hours---until the trailer trash over my back fence had a fight about something.

Dream (featuring sbjb: I was on a cruise with SBJB, and we were lounging by the pool...big sunglasses, umbrella drinks, monster tray o' nachos, the works. I had on an over-sized tee that I've owned IRL for about 20 years. It's blue with a seahorse, shells and seaweed outlined in white. And white shorts, which I've never worn in my life, although they were modest knee-length bermudas, nothing risque. You, my dear SBJB, had on similar green shorts that matched your over-sized tee. Printed across your bossom in white it said: "No, no! I said bring me a virgin AND a margarita!" We were talking about the books we were reading, but I don't recall the books or the dialog, alas.
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This is liable to be Postzilla, since I've had a busy couple of days. After that shower I mentioned I was headed for, I sat down and wrote a short fic as a coda to SPN 5.1---answering reviews has kept me busy since Saturday evening. Add to that a crack_van rec on my Watchmen story, "Finish", and you have a very happy Fluffy.

Lunch with sbjb was excellent. We both got there early---me from Macys, where I found a dear pink and brown top trimmed with brown wooden beads for under $12. And we saw the damnedest thing---I'm so glad I have a witness!



That, in case you can't tell, is an "old-fashioned" Cadillac limo (from back in the day when a limo meant a backseat and a jumpseat and the vehicle was less than a half-block long)...and it's jacked up as a 4x4. Gotta love redneck ingenuity!

Apparently since my last visit, Outback has started flying their New Zealand lamb over coach instead of first class: It was under $20. And SBJB magnanimously told me to get what I liked, she'd cover whatever my GC didn't. Thank you, darlin'---let's make that Chocolate Thunder From Down Under with two spoons, mate!

She also presented me with a book that's all kinds of awesome: It's about how to make beaded chain-mail jewelry. I have been online at Fire Mountain Gems all evening, contemplating.

We had a good long chat about fandom, fanon vs. canon, shows and websites and the longevity of leftovers and mutual friends and the sort of trivia that friends of 20 years' standing can come up with. It's so GOOD to have Saturdays free again!

Sunday...we had a visiting guest speaker at church. As we're a smallish congregation, we don't have a regular minister; we get an ordained UU minister maybe 4-6 times a year, because they charge to speak, and again, we're a small congregation. But he was a good speaker: Dry wit, articulate, and got along well with our dynamic. It's popularly said to new visitors that we're like the proverbial box of chocolates---you never know if you'll get a sermon or group therapy. (Yesterday was rather like the group therapy, as one of our long-time members, who's a scant few years older than I, lost his father. Blessed be.)

The Lush trip was postponed, supposedly for this coming Friday. SUPPER club met downstairs instead of up, and I have resolved that if that's suggested again, I'M NOT GOING. Because of the VERY NARROW space they shoe-horned us into, I ended up sequestered at the far end of the table from my amigos, next to a family with a small, hyperactive child. By the end of the evening, I was ready to threaten to feed her to the trolls under the bridge.

Monday...Morning consisted of Kat and banking. Afternoon consisted of taking a letter from unemployment down to JobLink (who told me quite pointedly that they are NOT unemployment) for translation. Basically it says that I was not discharged for misconduct---so I ought to start getting benefits. Soon, I hope. I went through the whole rigamarole to claim online, but have no idea how long it takes to actually generate a check.

I called GK this evening to give her details of how things went---not good. Kat's gotten prickly about being "managed"---which is understandable, she's always been independant---but if she's left to her own resources, she mismedicates, loses things, forgets details. Today didn't go well at all; she was very defensive and while I tried very hard to be light about what was going on, she was just short of hostile, and that's not like her. :(

Coming home to the rec was good, though. And GK made a contribution, and tomorrow I'm going to turn in a mega-batch of cans.

I've probably forgotten things. Like I forgot to wish a very happy birthday to ang5fam---I'm SO sorry! (But very happy to hear about your new job!)

If there's anything else, it can wait until tomorrow.

This afternoon at 3, I meet sbjb for lunch at Outback. I've had that gift card squirreled away in my wallet for a full two months and I'm looking forward to some high-quality protein! Too bad the online menu doesn't include prices or I'd be that much closer to making a decision.

Meanwhile, I need to wash my hair, and I want to hit the WalMart on the Island to see if they have any leggings in my size. The brown ones I wore to the concert last weekend were excellent, and the local WM up the road is out of them in black and light heather grey. I've still got enough left on Red's gift card to get that and some AA batteries. Yesterday I went and stocked up on necessarily, like enough bathroom tissue to act as a personal floatation device in case of flood.

Tomorrow after church AI and I visit Lush, and then when we get back, there's SUPPER club. I'll need to be frugal between now and then, because I'd hate to have to skip it. I can always get an appetizer and a beverage, but I need at least $10. I deposited that check, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Some time this week, I need to clean out at least the front seat of my car, because BC will be taking Kat's van up to GK's next week, and she won't have a replacement by the following Monday. I'm going to try to borrow it on Tuesday to haul my cans over to recycling. I've got about 100 gallons worth; no way is that going to fit in my car!

Must get a move on, my hair is NOT going to wash itself!

Sing hosannas and shout her praises to the stars! sbjb has got me Fluevogs!

I got back to the C's to discover an email titled, "Posting on LiveJournal can be lucrative". Opening it, I found a confirmation for one pair of Friends: Ruby, size 11.5, color black. In short, THESE:


I was momentarily alarmed by the thought that I might be here and miss their delivery, until I read the email more closely and found that they'll ship from a store and it can take up to two weeks. (They ship from stores? How bizarre, says my etail-trained mind where everything comes from "The Warehouse".) But at least I don't have to worry about missing it, and that'll be one time when I'll be perfectly happy to answer the door at whatever ungodly hour they arrive at. (To be followed by Fluffy dancing around the living room. Yay!)

This afternoon's peregrinations covered Hancock Fabrick, where I found some black sequinned rick-rack that'll look just gorgeous at the bottom of my bodice. (For a whole $3, because it was on 60% off clearance.) Ross, in the same plaza, was less successful. Found a red and black dress I'd've 86'ed the black and silver one for in a heartbeat, but alas, it was 3 sizes too small. Damn shame. Saw a couple things I liked, but nothing I *loved*---and I kept thinking of them in terms of "That and $20 would get you some Fluevogs...". Spent $7 on a boatneck blue blouse in a tie-dyed print. It looked good on and will go nicely with jeans.

By the time I got out of Ross, I was fading. I hadn't had much in the way of brunch, because I kept thinking I'd hear back from Kat, so I grabbed a quick bite from Long John Silvers and headed over to Fashion Bug. Their big deal was "buy one clearance item, get the second clearance item item for $5"---but their plus clearance was disappointing. The one dress and jacket combo I fancied would've run about $40...Hmm. Gonna hafta sleep on it.

Thanks to the wonderful sbjb, I've gotten my car towed to a shop. Not my usual CarGuy---still no response from his phone---but to a guy I used to use. The only reason I haven't availed myself of his services lately was, CarGuy is about 500% closer. But 2nd Choice knows me and has worked on this car before and I trust him.

This morning, I had a small meltdown trying to figure out HOW I was going to get all this done. Kat no longer has towing coverage. S does, but I really don't want to owe her any favors. Possibly the C's do, but I'm wary about making them my automatic Go-To source. Oh, and did I mention I called a local towing company and got a quote of $125?! I pulled up my phone list and was staring at it, and had an OH YEAH moment. sbjb has coverage (as I know from back in the day when she helped me get my late, lamented Buick Leroy back from Ormond Beach).

We spent about 2 hours waiting for the tow truck, talking about Palm, fan-fic (she reads and archives, but doesn't write), and ended up with her knitting and me reading aloud to her (Louis L'Amour, Ride the River).

After following the tow truck up US1 to 2nd Choice, we went to the Chinese Buffet at Byrd Plaza---my treat---where there was more talk about fan-fic. We cruised Big Lots---I got a bunch of Pop Tarts and munchies and thought of pwcorgigirl's theory that you know times are tough when people do major food shopping at Big Lots.

I've arranged a ride to church tomorrow, and feel a sense of relief that tomorrow, there's nothing I have to do, account for, follow up on, it's all off my head til Monday, at least. At which point, I need to get with 2nd Choice. Tuesday---I'm truly afraid of what might happen if I don't make it to Melbourne by that point. I know, rationally, that the storm wasn't my fault, the car trouble wasn't my fault, (but if I was still working from home, it wouldn't be a $#%&ing issue!) however, since my faith in my corporate masters is nil, there is still a feeling of queasiness, dread and impending DOOM.

Anyway, that's what's been going on. If I'm lucky, 2nd Choice will tell me it's something simple---a loose connection, maybe---and I won't be any more out of pocket than I already am (my next paycheck is going to be wretched).

Fingers crossed....

Today has been one of the best days in a long time! Had lunch with sbjb---haven't seen her in an age!---and we spent a couple hours at Cracker Barrel noshing and schmoozing. (pwcorgigirl will laugh, but I-swear-to-God the guy at the table behind her looked like Bobby at 30. No lie. Same general coloring, beard, and to really drive it home, he was wearing jeans, a camo printed shirt and cap. *rereads that last sentence and realizes what it sounds like* Ooops, my hormones are showing. Alas, he was wearing a ring on THAT finger and sharing said table with a little bit of a femme one-third my size. Damn.) That aside, SBJB had a lot to say about fan-fic conventions...I've never been to one, but she's encouraging me to check out NecronomiCon in Tampa. sbjb isn't a writer herself, and sadly, she isn't into any of my fandoms, but we both craft, like some of the same authors, and go back almost 20 years. (And compared to S, she's very low-maintainence!)

After we parted company, I wandered over to Lane Bryant, and browsed for a bit---they only go up to 26/28, and they run small compared to what I think of as a 26/28. And they're freaking expensive, so I ended up not getting anything.

Instead, I'd taken the precaution of finding out showtimes for Live Free, Die Hard out at the theaters there at the Avenues---first time I've been there---and caught the 3:35 show. OMG! OMG! I will be the first to confess a love for action movies. I don't do chick flicks, most so-called "date movies" make me GAG---but goddamn, give me something with car chases and explosions and a soundtrack that could defillibrate roadkill---and I am a happy, happy woman. This was LOVE.** It was two and a half hours of testosterone-ramped fantasia, and I want to see it again, and I WANT the DVD, NOW!

Then, I paid a visit to B and A, to meet their new addition---B has been wanting a second dog to keep RJ company, and she got one last week: an adorable, very friendly Sheltie. And I didn't realize until afterward that I'd completely forgotten to ask to see the new tatts she got for her birthday---my bad! They're having some neighbors-complaining-about-their-lawn problem too, and I recounted my tale of woe. Why can't people either either a) approach the neighbor like a civilized human being and discuss the problem, b) do something constructive like offer to help, or c) mind their own freaking business?

Anyway, it's been a really nice day. Now I need to get my ass to work on writing some pr0n.

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**Although one plot point snarked me: this was alledgedly happening on July 4th, Independence Day---hello, that's a federal holiday! Wall Street is gonna be a ghost town, and even the government bureaus are going to be running skeleton crews. I have the feeling that the date was added as an afterthought to tie in with the release date, because honestly, that should be a no-brainer.