To taking Greyhound to Furfest. I'll leave EARLY Wednesday the 16th, about 5:55 AM and I'll get back home early Tuesday morning, about 1 AM. Woot! I'm looking forward. Its a no-stop trip, and on one of the NEW buses, with the internet and power hookups. So I'll be able to futz on the computer all the way there and back.

I'm gonna try (HA!) to control my spending- as the big commission I was considering is lacking an artist (I was planning on commissioning DarkNatasha, but she can't attend), I think I'll try to get just two commissions, with the rest of my spending being food.

Also- we're about 2 weeks off my annual Halloween party! I'm doing it more potluck, so all I have to deal with is the bird, mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce. I'm farming the rest out to other people. If you were invited in past years, you're invited this year. :)

Okay. Turkey- 19.5 pounds. Check!

Ham- Big, bone-in, can't remember the weight. Check!
Pop- Coke, Orange Crush, Dr. Pepper, Shasta Black Cherry Citrus, Sprite. Check!
(plus Diet Coke from firecatmn)

Other Beverages- Fruit punch, Apple Cider: Check!

Chips, Cheese, Dinner Rolls, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Condiments: Check!
(Potato chips and the rolls courtesy of Todd C!)

Beer: Heineken, Haaker-Pshorr Oktoberfest, Paulaner Oktoberfest, Fat Tire: Check!

For the most part, I've got everything arranged now. If you wanna help out, more is always appreciated!

Cash is ALSO appreciated, but not necessary. ;)

Things that are left: the ice (for the brine and for drinks and such), a black ink cartridge for my printer, making the brine, carving pumpkins and the cleaning. Aagh. Oh, and a LOT of cooking.

See people there!

I should note a few things that I neglected to note in my post after the party- firecatmn and hubby brought cookies, which were nommed into nonexistence before we even got to the actual meal, joshuwain brought a pasta dish that I didn't have any of due to me stuffing myself with other stuff- It looked and smelled good though! It was a pasta-and-cream-sauce dish with (I think) fettuccine noodies, peas and something else. Thanks to you for bringing stuff!

As to other things, Life has been life. I've mostly managed to keep the house neat-ish so far since the party. I need to do dishes (again), and after I take the tree down (after ataramos gets home) I really ought to vacuum. What I SHOULD do is tear the damn carpet out and get new, but I'd need money for that.

I picked up Batman: The Dark Knight and Prince Caspian on my disc-swap run, though I need to try another store to replace one movie. Also, the Target I went to the other night was OUT of plain white tube socks and black work socks of the type I wanted! A run on socks! (No apology for the minor pun!)

I also used my gift certificate for the Source to get Mutants & Masterminds. I'm reading through it and learning the system- Not bad, though it IS quite a bit different from what I'm used to in a supers game. I also picked up the Wild Cards supplement for M&M. Even if I don't ever use M&M, the Wild Cards supplement is damned comprehensive.

Beyond all that, I'm at work, its my Friday and I'm looking forward to my nights off. Oh! I ordered the Mac Upgrade for City of Heroes! It was cheaper to do that to get the goodies and the month of paid time than it was to wait and buy the goodies in 2 months! Besides, I wanted the goodies. :)

I can't say how glad I am that 2008 is OVER. Of all my 43 years I think this was the worst of the bunch. But, its done, so I'm looking forward to 2009 and positive things. There were good things last year, its just the bad kinda outweighed it.

A Few Good Things
Spaz and Lady
Friends who helped when I was hurting
Learning some new recipes
A new(er) car! (despite its problems!)
The house was painted

I won't go into the bad; those who know me know the worst of that. But here's hoping for better times. Tomorrow I'll be getting the party supplies, and more than likely my new La-Z-Boy; I'm kinda hoping that Slumberland turns out to have a New Year's Sale with a 2-for-1 deal. ;)

Friday, again, is the Holiday Party. People can start showing up at 5, although early isn't a big deal. There is a chance I might not be up if its before 3 tho! The food should be ready by 7, I hope- its a LOT of chicken! Several people, firecatmn, mirrdae, joshuwain and foeclan especially are helping out with party components- so it'll be as huge a feast as in previous years.

Be EXCELLENT To One Another, and PARTY ON, DUDES!!

Today was the final run of the Vanguard campaign. We started it up just over 4 years ago, but it rounds out to be about 4 years given a 4 month break in there somewhere. I'm going to miss playing Goblin, as she's been a lot of fun to play...

I Wanna be in another Supers game. :P

So for at least 6 months I've got Saturdays open. Fooey.


In other news, I've set the date for the Xmas party- It'll be Friday, January 2, 2009. It'll start as usual at around 5 PM and go til whenever. I'm going to go potluck again- the main course is to be breaded boneless chicken thighs and mashed potatoes, with most of the rest being brought in. I'll talk to people about finding out what they want to bring, if anything, before the actual day, and I'll also send out email invites/notifications.

Also, I have almost all of the shopping done, and all but one of the gifts so far collected have been wrapped- that last is waiting for an additional component. ;)

There are several things coming in the mail, and they'll all arrive before Thursday next week. One item is going to be picked up for me (to be paid back) and one, for my mom, I have to drive out to Anoka- I'm getting her a gift certificate to the Vineyard resturant.

Tomorrow is the next installment of the Buffy Horror Campaign, which will be the 23rd I'll have written up. See the post previous to this on for writeup #22! Right now I'm at work- Bleh.

Weren't all that exciting. I had the meeting (this time he showed up RIGHT AT 9:30) on the refinance, and things look good for it to proceed. I need to get a bunch of things together for him to look over (W2's, last two paystubs, last two bank statements and I think one other thing), and from there he'll set up the assessment- apparently it has to happen due to new rules that have come out of the housing bust.

Other than that, Friday night was the Mana Dragons sort-of regular meet on City of Heroes/Villains. We did the Cap Au Diablo Tarikoss Strike Force; we had a total of 6 players, myself playing Wolf John (Super Strength/Invulnerability Brute). It was a lot of fun but given how rusty I was playing him I sort of felt like I was letting the others down- I died a LOT. At least 5 times. I did finally get the hang in the last two or three missions though. Wolfy is gonna get a respec, I think.

After that I Trick-Or-Treated with Capriline (Willpower/Super-Strength Tank) til I got the last of the Halloween badges, then randomly joined a team for the Citadel Task Force. It went mostly well, though the team was heavy on inexperienced players, had some drama that resulted in a player being booted from the team and had one other just randomly quit halfway through. Still, it was fun too.

Today was mostly me sleeping. I got laundry done and made a batch of chicken thighs and mashed potatoes, but I was the only one home for 'em. O well. Leftovers!

And now I'm at work. I may start writing up the Buffy run from last Sunday, and tomorrow will more than likely be... I dunno. I've some chores to do, and I need to start cleaning the house for the Halloween party on Friday- I managed to get Thursday and Sunday morning off, so I have a 4 day weekend and at least a day to get whatever's left to do, done.

So far, I'm making the turkey (14#, a little small but oh well) and mashed potatoes, and I'll get the cranberry sauce and gravy as well. foeclan is supplying a nice ham, while joshuwain is bringing some kind of beverage... I can't at the moment recall what. If you're coming and want to bring something, it'd be appreciated- if its something like chips, cheese, crackers, chips or anything that needs to be there before things get started, you can drop it off Thursday. You DON'T have to bring anything tho- but I do need to know if you are bringing stuff, so I don't go out and get it. :) I'll contact people this week too, to confirm invites and stuff. No, there weren't actual invitations- this year has been kinda tight, and I'm not as focused on things as other years.

Well, tonight was the Tea Party. I had a few people show up, but not many; without the signage there just isn't a real way to draw people to the event, despite it being a regular thing since (I think) first MFF. O well. I took a bunch of cookies and wandered til they were gone- people DO appreciate the cookies, its just the signage that slows people up. I'll throw a second make-up party on Sunday, and distribute cookies to whomever wants them. I'll be put some in the Charity Auction as well.

Right now I'm thinking food, so I'll see about what to get in that department. NOT cookies!

I went to a Lughnasadh celebration at a friend's place. Lots of fun was had, and I made chili for the potluck- that went over well, and the homebrew beer the host, Mike M. provided was fantastic. Possibly TOO good- it would have been REAL easy to blast through 6 or more bottles. ;)

As it was, I had two, plus one each of the beers I brought, Haaker Pshorr Oktoberfest and Heineken... Plus about a shot of good scotch, and a half-glass of mead. That plus two bowls of chili, a slice of blueberry pie and the toasted marshmallows was prolly a bit much. I was fine at the gathering, but got kinda queasy when I got home. Serves me right for being a pig. Ah well.

But it was fun, regardless.

So we've made it to another year. I think this is a good thing. :) In any event, this is my first post for 2007, and I'm prolly just gonna make a few random comments. First off, the Xmas party is on Saturday for those who've I've invited. It'll start at 5 PM and go til People leave or I can't take it any more. Whee! To those few who are bringing stuff to assist with the foodage, if you could get here at 5 PM it'd help- Or drop stuff off Friday.

Before then, I have to do some housecleaning, which will not be nearly as hellish as it was before the Halloween party! Just the kitchen is in need of REAL work; the carpets need to be vacuumed and general pickup is required otherwise.

The menu once again will be Spaghetti Marinera (homemade), meatballs and sundry side-components; I'm still debating the desserts that'll be available, but the following are likely possibilities: caramel rolls, peanut-butter chocolate-chip bars, ricer crispy bars and/or cookies. There'll more than likely be more than one selection.


I'll make mac-n-cheese if there are munchkins and its needed. :)

In other news, this week heralds the return of one of the two wayward roomies- khirsahdrgn gets back Thursday (I think); One of us here might be able to retrieve you from the airport if you give us a call, Khir! As to the other 'stray', ataramos gets home next week as far as I know- Ata, let us know if you're okay- we've not heard from you! I hope you had a better holiday than it started out to be...

Tonight I head back to work as usual. Its a four-day week for me, cos I'm NOT working Saturday. I have it off for the party. For now, I think that's about it. Hoppy Gnu Beer!

(hufhufhuf...)

Okay. Today I attended foeclan's little graduation party at his place. I was there for just a short bit (good food btw, joshuwain), then headed off to the Sunday Game. It was supposed to be the Werewolf run, but due to ataramos not being there and some other confusion we played the Buffy Horror campaign instead. I took NINE PAGES of notes!!

Yack. I'll try to get it and the stuff I wanna type up for vanguard_x done this week. And I just recalled I forgot to ask the other players some info to type up the FIRST Werewolf run! Scotty, Amy & Bob- I need to know why your characters came to the Open Hand; I also need why Sif came and any other important fiddly details pertaining to the character's backstory... I've got much of the actual details of the run other than that. Oh- was Traci in the first run at all, or just in the second? Lemme know. And was the formation of the Warband in the first run or the second?

Back to today. When I got home, I sat for a bit, then started wrapping Xmas gifts; Of the one's I've gotten so far, All are wrapped but one, and that gift is still a partial, needing the other bit before I can wrap it. That leaves... 9 1/2 to buy, of which there are three which I need ideas on- firecatmn? That list would be useful- Getting REAL close to the wire here... Ditto you, Bob. :)

And now I'm waiting on food. Yay! Then, eventually, BED. Yay!