tarotgal

Had a pretty crappy week, all things considered. Came down with something at the con which I'm still battling. It's ironic, given that it's the subject matter of the story I just finished, but con crud is real, and at least I had the story to take my mind off my own. I got checked out at the emergency clinic, though, as I was worried it might be strep. It wasn't, but I did have an ear infection, so they put me on antibiotics. I went to work for the first time today (worked from home but took some sick hours last week). Almost didn't make it through the morning. Mid-morning seems to be the worst for me. Hoping that passes by Thursday, when I have an interview candidate coming in at 11am.

I went over to my parents' on Friday. My sister flew in from Colorado and arrived at the house about 20 minutes later. Had a lovely night with my family eating Panera, catching up, and starting a new puzzle (well, new to them; I'd done it before a few years back during a Christmas break). We pretty well sucked at it, but we were only half paying attention. We also had my mom's potato salad to enjoy, which is THE BEST FOOD EVER.

On Saturday I went to my volunteer job. After debating for a good 15 minutes, I finally plucked up the courage to ask one of the librarians about where one might buy bindi and bangles for a costume I needed to put together for that night. Turns out there was an Indian dance program coincidentally happening that day and one of the librarians: A-had a giant box of bangles and another of bindis and B-was going home anyway, so she brought me a full outfit to wear! OMG LIBRARIANS ARE THE NICEST!!!

Saturday day and night was taken up with hosting the very adult Harry Potter Murder Mystery I helped write. It was our second time doing it (whole different group of people playing parts). Our Padma Patil dropped out, so I had to fill in for her last minute, hence the Indian outfit. The event was a lot of fun. Three people even guessed who the murderer was this time (last time no one guessed it). I had a good time trying to prompt people into giving out information, and a lot of our reveals were met with pretty hilarious reactions. Near the end of the night, I had a hard time breathing, but I managed to get it back under control thanks to my new bestie: licorice cough drops. (Cherry ones make me do that thing that starts with v).

Sunday I went to church, where the sermon was about rivers. A nice older couple was sitting next to me and caught me after service for a long talk about various things. As an extreme introvert, one of the things I like about my church community is how they can draw me out of my shell a little. I need that. By the time I got home, my decongestant had worn off and I was officially DYING. So I ended up getting more at the grocery store on the way to pick my sister up. We had lunch at my favorite vegetarian restaurant, where we ordered 4 appetizers including tofu steamed dumplings, spring rolls, fake fried chicken, and fake coconut shrimp. It was all extremely delicious. I also bought a meal to take home. I had half last night for dinner, and tonight I'll eat the other half. I was worried about what all this food would do to my body, but I was 121 when I stepped on the scale this morning (down from 123 two days before, post-bread bowl from Panera). I'll take it!

Yesterday I sat down with one of the shortest chapters in the "That One Conference" story and decided it needed more. So I wrote another 4 pages, brining its official total to 114. Not too shabby. And I really dig the new, expanded scene.

My sister and Mom came over yesterday to see my cats. Ozma girl hid in my closet. I brought her downstairs and she froze, looking from my mom to my sister. Then she ran over to get petted by both of them. After a few rounds, she went and hid downstairs under the couch. As Mom & Sis were going, she came back out and ran between them to get petted again, mewling and purring. She is a strange cat who can't make up her mind. Charlie girl, on the other hand, was completely calm the whole time, getting petted, burrowing under blankets, chasing after BB-8. You know, stuff you do when you're a cat.

Today I spent my break at work accidentally starting on a follow-up to "That One Conference." WTF? Why can't I just let this story go? I intend for this to be a SHORT story, not novel-length. But that's what I'd intended for TOC, so I guess I'll see. I'm feeling a bit... nervous writing the details of Troy's home life. I'm not sure I'm buying what the muse is dishing out. I dunno. We'll see what happens with it, I guess. I really want to write some tiny drabbles for Promptember. And there are some other stories I've been wanting to write as well as a special project I might undertake. So we'll see where I go in the future.

This weekend I'll be going to the National Book Festival (SQUEE!!!!!!!!!!!!) on Saturday to see Scott Westerfeld, Holly Black, Markus Zusak, RAINBOW ROWELL and NGOZI UKAZU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SO FREAKIN THRILLED, Y'ALL! On Sunday, I'll be hosting my Haryr Potter group's annual tea. Our theme this year is Tea in the Hufflepuff Common Room! So I've started gathering up all my Hufflepuff stuff to use as decorations.

I have Monday off, so I plan to spend it writing and cleaning and introverting as much as possible after the busy weekend.

I'm currently halfway through the last season of Orange is the New Black and hoping very much to have it done before Friday so that I may start watching The Dark Cystal: Age of Resistance. So thrilled for that. Also, I'm totally going to have to get Hulu and Disney+. Luckily, I hear there's a package for both of them (plus something called ESPN? Don't know what that is, 'cause it doesn't play hockey).

Anyway, that's my life! If I could just kick this cold and figure out what to do about my staff at work, it would be smooth sailing for me. LOL