Musings of a Blonde Muse

Sandbakkel recipe and history as I know it

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:19:41 GMT

1 lb. butter
1 egg
2 tsp almond flavoring
2 cups sugar
6 or so cups flour (until the dough is filled out crumbly)

press dough evenly into sandbakkel tins - too thick and they don't cook well, too thin and they break when you try to get them out of the tins

350 degrees at 15-20 minutes

This is more or less what I had written down, but what it doesn't tell you is where I hide the Sandbakkel tins from Christmas to Christmas, or that there's always too much dough and not enough enthusiasm for the entire batch, or that by the end of it your hands ache and your thumbs are raw from trying to gently press on the razor-sharp edges of the sandbakkel tins.

But when you sit down and eat all the broken bits of cookies that didn't make it out of the tin whole, with a steaming cup of coffee, and especially on a wintry day, well, it was all worth it. And what's better is you can sing carols and share stories while you work.

Clint needed to work on the game for tomorrow (God I hope we get to game and no more snow falls!) so he basically made the dough for me and then the girls and I made the cookies.

First I had the girls sing along to the CD soundtrack for "Hotel Bethlehem" which is the church musical the youth are putting on Monday night. I have to admit, it's a cute soundtrack, but the title makes me try to fit it into "Hotel California" in my head, which never works. B is one of 3 maids who don't have solos, but get to sing backup, Diana Ross-style. T has the part of the stable boy, a Boy Soprano, and she has two solos. I've worked with her on proper breathing and raising her eyebrows to make sure those low notes don't go flat. I've picked up a few tricks over the years, but I'm hardly the best voice coach. (Especially now, as I continue to recover from my own voice problems. Today I sang ok, but it's hit or miss and I can't figure out why I have good days and why I have bad days, voice-wise. To say it's simply frustrating is just..!)

Then we listened to a CD of choral songs and tried to sing along. The balance is all wrong on that CD - I should just chuck it.

In between I told them that I got the recipe from my mom, who got it from my Dad's mom, and who knows how far back it goes on that family tree to Sweden? I can pull out my copy of Matilda's Journey and look it up later. All I know is the tins have been passed down, and some new ones acquired at times, so some are old and spotted and some are shiny and new (and extra sharp).

One of them - I think T - asked "So that means we're part Swedish?" "Well," I replied, "Not really. You're so American that the Swedish part is less than a tenth, I think. But we can enjoy the cookies."

It was 6 inches of slushy, melting snow outside, and sweet cookie memories inside. And I really need to make sure we do this at least once a year, if for no other reason than so the girls learn the proper depth to make the sandbakkels!

Oo, Goody! Roleplaying Profile Meme!

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:14:58 GMT

Instructions

Copy and paste this into a new note and replace my answers with your own. Then tag all your gamer friends and ask them to do the same (and tag me back!). If you're new to creating notes, go to your notes, click the "Write a New Note" button in the upper right corner, copy & paste, and tag people in the right column by type your friends' names, and then click "Publish" at the bottom left of the page.

Origins of a Player

1. When and where did you first play a roleplaying game (could be a year or your age)?

Junior year in college, fall break, 1994, and I was 20 years old. Much older than the typical first-time gamer for my age! I finally convinced my fellow Lutheran Student Movement geeks - all guys, hence the reluctance I've figured. Girls don't game! - to let me play in a D&D game. My life was changed forever!

2. Which game was it?

AD&D 2nd Ed, I think.

3. Did you know what the hell you were doing?

Hell no. I mean, I watched the cartoon adventures of D&D but for some reason never clued in that it was a game you could play. I had read some of the Choose Your Own Adventures and we'd had "roleplaying" scenarios in high school with the church youth group (mainly how to say no to sex, which is hilarious in retrospect). The numbers and creating the character confused me, but I liked building the character concept. She was an Elf, of course. And I forget her name but it was something with a J. I stayed in the J phase for the first couple of years.

4. What was the first published adventure you played through?

The LSM geeks ran me through a published adventure of some kind - I remember them reading something out loud.

5. Did roleplaying capture your imagination immediately?

Oh, yeah. I keep saying if I could make a living off of designing character backstories I might have a real job out there. I love to consider what happened BEFORE to get them to that point, then let the game shape them.

6. Do you still game with some of the people from your first game?

No. But I met the core of my gaming group soon after that - within that year.

7. Did anything in particular inspire you or led you to playing RPGs?

Definitely. I realized I'd been creating characters for years as a mechanism for escapism. Prior to learning about RPGs I was pretending to be a character on a TV show (I played with several shows, Star Trek:TNG comes to mind most prominently, but I even remember doing it for Star Blazers, which means I would have been 6!) in my head alone, telling no one, to fall asleep or let the orthodontist work in my mouth for hours at a time. I still get very relaxed in dentist chairs. I'm weird like that. So when I'd hear the LSM geeks (great guys, all of them) talk about their characters, my ears pricked up like a Doberman on the hunt.

Mastering the Game

8. Have you ever been a game master (dungeon master, keeper, storyteller, etc.)? Which games?

No. Never. I'm gaming with experienced players - how on earth could I live up to those standards? Or even attempt to keep up with the MATH? Besides, I'm lucky to have so many GMs around. Even my daughter is turning into a pretty good GM. I bet her sister will be good at it, too. I'm considering a foray into GMing for the purpose of my store concept. If I want to sell the games, I need to be able to demo the games. But can't I just sing an aria to 200 people? It's a different kind of stage fright!

9. Do you currently referee, if so, which games?

no.

10. What is your favorite thing about GMing?

not a GM

11. What is your least favorite thing about GMing?

still not a GM

12. Do you prefer to be GM or a player?

player

Mechanical Resonance

13. What are your favorite gaming systems you've played?

I can't see why anyone would play anything other than Savage Worlds or Hollow Earth Expedition (Ubiquity system). We're in a Mutants and Masterminds game right now, and they keep telling me it's the better system for supers, but there's so much MATH. Before SW, our group played GURPS a great deal, and Deadlands, and Shadowrun (home rules), and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. Since discovering HEX I can tell how much easier it is for kids to play, simpler math than even SW! Now T is running Faery's tale. It's fine for a kid's game, but I like a bit more angst to my characters. I can't have angst around my kids yet, but the day is coming...

14. What are some games you would like to play, but haven't?

ANY of the games I edited I'd LOVE to play. It's hard to believe I've only played in 2 Solomon Kane scenarios, and a few HEX scenarios, and then all the products I've edited but our group hasn't found the time to run... I'd like to try the licensed products - I have Serenity but only playtested it. I love the G R R Martin setting of Song of Ice and Fire, but only played it once at a con. I'd like to try the SAGA Star Wars, Star Trek, the new Supernatural. So much source material! So many games, so little time!

15. Rules light, rules heavy, or it depends?

Definitely rules light. But honestly, it's more about the scenario. As long as the GM doesn't mind reminding me how to calculate what it is I said I wanted to do, I'll play any system once. That being said, having played 4E D&D once, I might try it one more time, but it was soooo complicated. Not really the math, but all the sections of actions per "round" made my head swim.

16. Dice or Diceless?

Eh... a few sessions of diceless schmoozing in character at a political ball is nice, but eventually I gotta kill something and for that you need the satisfaction of the dice hitting the table.

Immersion and Setting

17. To homebrew or not to homebrew?

I like the reference material in the books - it helps me to define the setting. But I've been in a ton of homebrew settings that rocked. It's just that between the games I like to peruse the book again and again for more ideas.

18. What are some of your favorite settings?

Loving the RunePunk campaign/homebrew, and the Exiles supers homebrew is great. Loved the Karameikos setting. Have plunged into dark spaces below the earth, rode off into the sunset, and soared through the galaxy as a Jedi. I guess there's not a setting I don't like! (Yes, that's a double negative on purpose)

19. What are your favorite genres?

Fantasy, Space Opera, Weird West, Modern, hmmm more I can't think of right now. Actually, Supers is not my favorite. I wasn't raised on comic books so it's hard for me to relate. I like Hawkgirl, though, from the Justice League cartoon.

20. Do you prefer pre-published adventures/modules or original/tailored campaigns?

Tailoring has to be there for it to be a successful campaign - but all my GMs do that!

Conventions, Organizations, & Societies, Oh My!

21. Are you a member of any roleplaying organizations? Which Ones?

nope.

22. Do you think RPG organizations are important to the hobby?

Yes, I guess so, I'm just so darn busy!

23. Do plan on joining any RPG organizations?

If I felt they were kindred spirits I would. RPGA has me turned off for now - all that registering and math. I hate math.

24. Have you ever attended a gaming convention, if so which ones?

Quite a few! We like to call them "family vacations." Origins, GenCon, MACE, Concarolinas, DragonCon, Conooga, Con on the Cob, and I think we went to RoundCon in South Carolina - it was in SC, at least. We go yearly to MACE and ConCarolinas, and all the others if we can. Well, we need to wait a few more years before taking the girls to DragonCon - that's a whole different brand of weird.

25. Do you think conventions are important for the hobby?

Yes.

26. Are you planning to attend any conventions in the future?

MACE in North Carolina next month. Look for my booth in the dealer's room!

27. What conventions would you like to attend, even if you can't, next year?

What is this Can't? I like to think they're all options, at least.

Play Styles

28. Serious or loose?

"Yes. I'm eclectic." - Ron Blessing. I'll also add eccentric. (For me, not Ron)

29. Soundtracks and sound FX?

Love it. Music sets the mood.

30. Adversarial referee or wish fulfiller?

A nice balance, maybe? I don't want either extreme.

31. Should GMs have PCs?

If they can handle it, yes. 'Cause I like a love interest in the game, and the GM usually has to pony up for me. Dumb ol' boys. Maybe Sharon will be my love interest in the next game!

32. Is technology welcome at your table?

Haven't really experienced it, but I can see where it would get in the way.

33. Are Terrain & Minis an advantage or a hindrance?

I like to see the display, but I get mad when Clint buys more stuff. 'Cause then I have to nag him to put it away. Really, I'm fine with the marker on the map. I'm here to use my imagination, after all!

Related Hobbies

34. Do you like to LARP, if so, which systems?

Yes, but... they take so much time at the conventions. I miss the Dark Confrontation weekends, where we could be in character, in costume, all weekend, and no distractions of seminars and parades. Never tried Vampire, but it seems ridiculous to me.

35. Do you collect/paint Miniatures?

Yes. Nothing seals the deal like painting a mini for the campaign.

36. Do you like Wargames/tactical miniature games, if so, which ones?

No. Math.

37. Do you play Collectible Card Games, if so, which ones?

No. Math. Money. Doesn't look fun to me. (But I'll sell them and host tournaments if I open the storefront!)

38. What about Board Games?

I love a good complicated board game like Monoploy or Settlers of Catan. Unfortunately, Clint and Bethany like a short quick game like Apples to Apples, Sticks and Stones, Gloom... So T and I have to convince them to play with us.

39. Do you play Video Games, what kinds?

No. I'm enjoying the Rippers Facebook App, does that count? I always had poor eye-hand coordination growing up. I can't seem to keep the car on the road when playing those racing games, can't shoot a barn in those shooter games, so forget it. I don't need more frustration in my life.

40. Any closing comments you would like to add?

(getting on soap box here)
One of the main reasons I'm considering opening the storefront is because I firmly believe that personal success can be directly tied to reading and playing games. I don't even really care if RPGs aren't your thing - play a board game with your kid. Between the calls of "Yahtzee!" and "Bingo!" you'll have the chance to learn things about your kids they wouldn't normally come right out and tell you. You'll have face to face time with the people that matter the most - your friends and family. You'll grow your relationships, and close relationships are proven sources of stress relief. And reading and playing games exercises your brain, so your personal success grows with your ability to learn. So if you want to get a better job, try playing a game and boosting your brainpower. You'll destress from the job hunt pressure too. If the thought of asking that cute and available guy to the Prom makes your knees shake, try practicing it in a roleplaying scenario with a friend. Or better yet, go slay the dragon and rescue the princess. Then balancing the family budget might not look so hard.

We, as a society, have learned so much from the recent economic recession. Family becomes more important. Saving money is "cool" again. Getting a good education looks like it's worth it, especially when you see resumes in the wastebasket simply because it's a weeding-out qualifier. No Bachelor's? Toss 'em.

Now, if you understand that playing games saves you money (FAR cheaper than taking the family to the local cineplex), reconnects you to the ones you love, AND builds your brainpower so you can learn and succeed? It's a no-brainer. Not to me. And I'm convincing people - more every week - that this might be what pulls our local areas out of the recession: improved personal success. The building blocks of a successful community are successful people. (duh)
(taking questions, kissing babies, and stepping off soap box)

Update on the Biz - Kauffman Graduate, now!

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:25:54 GMT

Today I graduated from the Fasttrac New Venture program, which was depressingly over by 2 pm. I was then interviewed by the Hickory Daily Record on my experience with the program - I can give a resounding two thumbs up! Not sure when that will run.

At this point I have most of the elements of the storefront business plan, but I still need Market Research results and I need to crunch the numbers on my startup and ongoing expenses again. Things, they keep achanging.

Ialso took stock of how far I've come. Computer, printer, laminating machine (still in the box, haven't had time to play with it), post office scale, shipping supplies, 400 sq. ft. warehouse, and of course the inventory I have yet to upload. sigh. Next week, I promise I will! Not to mention the website, hosting, email account, and I'm working on my first order to a distributor. I have a powerpoint presentation that I gave today (everyone said it was great but I think it needed a ton of work - I talked too fast and the butterflies in my stomach tried to take wing). Set it up legally, all licenses and permits filed for now, and so far I owe myself less than 1K. Pretty good, I say. Now, If I can just show a profit from this online/convention sales thing!

That is basically my first hurdle on the storefront idea. I will not allow myself to seriously consider the storefront until I can show steady profit from the online used book sales/convention game supply sales. So far I just haven't had time to commit to it. It could be argued that if I had worked on that instead of taking the 3 week entrepreneur boot camp I might be making a profit now. But the boot camp really put my business concept through its paces. I have a much better idea now of how business works, what is needed for success, and that I have a lot of work to do if I want to have all my ducks in a row. So yeah, the inventory is still sitting on my Den floor, probably about 200 books, instead of online where it could get sold. Kinda have to do that, you know!

So that's the first thing - show a profit. If I can't make some kind of decent profit with this low overhead, then I best find another business. I figure I'll check it again after Christmas to see if I've made it yet. Then I'll move to the next step to consider it - how much will it cost me to start up, and how much do I realistically think I'll be able to make doing it?

I have some ideas, but recent discussions with the great business owner at Above Board Games is making me better realize some, well, realities. I also have some other great mentors in the game biz to consult on. I need to find and develop some mentors in the used book industry, too. Only after I collect data from all that and my potential market will I feel I've done my homework on the numbers. Then I'll still need to run my projections past my mentors and see if they think it's feasible or if I've left something really obvious out. (I DO have a reputation for being clueless for a reason, after all. :0)

Then comes the next test. How much will startup cost me? Can I afford it? Can we afford it?

Then the last and most important test. Do we think I can have the time to start it? This is potentially the hardest question. I mean, Clint and the girls rely on me to do everything, and I do mean everything. Quite honestly, I'm sick of doing everything, but it's the best way our family can think of to work right now. So if I start the storefront, it means I have to drop community obligations, Clint will have to carve out more time from his work to help with the kids and house, we won't have vacations for a while, and the kids will have to say no to a lot of the fun stuff they are doing (or we get a part-time nanny or something). So yeah, huge change in how the family works. Big decision. But if the money is there, it may be an easier decision to make. That's why I crunch the numbers first.

See, my business idea hasn't been done before. Is it truly that original of an idea? Or is it so destined to fail no one has ever seriously considered it? The good news is the Fasttrac Class, about 20 newbie business brains like mine, think it's an awesome idea and can't fail. The government officials I met today think it's an awesome idea and can't fail. So I'm conservatively excited that I might have hit on something real. Maybe. :)

Sick, sad, and a little mad

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:18:38 GMT

Our local Domino's closed this week. They just couldn't recover after those idiots posted the video on YouTube. But it was probably the economy, too - we ordered a pizza last week for the first time in months. Clint went with Papa John's because they had great deals and online ordering, but I did ask why he didn't go with the Domino's when it was delivered. Oh well.

I hope the Domino's owners will be able to sue those idiots for enough money to retire on. They didn't deserve this. Owning the Domino's was all they had. And I hope the message gets out that this kind of stunt is not acceptable. I mean, I'm thinking about opening a business. What if someone posted a YouTube video showing horrible things at my store? (Note to self: add prohibition of cameras by employees in store or something. Need an IP consultant now. Maybe I'll call Doug.)

Jeez.

Hall Bath Renovations

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:08:52 GMT

As of right now, Dad is safe and sound at his own home, and my hall bath has a new toilet, new floor, new paint, new fixtures, new hardware, and has been a royal pain in the ass. Now I remember why I hate home improvement so much! But it really did need the work.

Of course my plea is to give me time for my business... which I can't do when home improvement projects need my attention. So instead of working on the biz I spend a day laying and cutting vinyl tile, and a day painting, and a day grouting and laying quarter-round, and send Clint back to the store and call him three times for three new items... geez. We even skipped church on Sunday to get it finished, expecting to spend maybe an hour on it, then enjoy a leisurely morning before gaming, but no, it just never goes easy. Poor Clint killed five nails trying to get the quarter-round to stay put behind the toilet. You know, you just can't swing a hammer behind a toilet in the corner next to the floor. Not effectively.

But I am so thankful my Dad is there to help me with projects like this. I really do. I think my grand total for this project was $500 ish, whereas it would easily be twice or three times that much if I had hired someone. Love the Dad. Hate the work. Not my cuppa tea.

Now, to get the flooring replaced in the guest room, which was what we were going to work on for this visit... sigh. I'm SO hiring someone to do that.

Market Research

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:52:11 GMT

I met with my Market Research team at my alum university, and gave an hour-long presentation on my business and demographics (as I know it) for the potential store. I stressed to them that either answer from them, yay or nay, will be a blessing, since then I'll be more confident about the decision to do, or not to do, the storefront.

I started by asking what they thought of when they heard the word "gamer." And then I pretty much didn't shut up for an hour. Half the class stayed late to keep talking, and pretty much all of them, even the two football players, agreed it sounded like a fun place for a date.

I'm psyched about working with them, and left some resource material with the professor.

The thing they were the most impressed by was the potential for being successful. They were stunned to hear that all of the professor's high school gaming buddies now have their doctorates.

It was pretty heavy on the gamer side, but then again, who doesn't grasp the concept of a used books store?

So, I'm excited. I'm pumped. And I gotta get my family looking after themselves more so I can work on this business more! (Now, to go cut up B's apple for her...) :)

What a Weird Weekend

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:28:51 GMT

This was a nice but strange weekend all around. And to cap it off, apparently I forgot my sister's birthday. Of all things! Weird. Here I harp on family being so important to me and all that... and it is! It really is! I'm just clueless sometimes and hopefully that's adorable. Sometimes? I can hope.

Friday was day one of no caffeine so I would be in good voice for the concert. I tried moving all my documents and whatnot from the old computer (circa 2004 for the tower, much older for the monitor). I spent pretty much half the day working on gathering ads for The Green Room, then the rest of the day trying to figure out how to export things like my huge contacts list and email inbox and such, not to mention the working files for all the jobs I've taken over the years. Actually, the latter was easy - I back up that stuff twice a year. But everything else was tricky. Then after dinner I went to rehearsal for the Vivaldi.

Saturday we all slept late and I continued working on the file copying. The no caffeine thing got to me that day and I kept a headache all day, some times worse than others. And then we took the the dogs for a walk and all came home and showered and took naps from the humidity. It wasn't hot, which was why we walked, but the humidity had us all covered in sweat. After nap I went and ran errands and found out that yes, the new computer really didn't come with a monitor (Jonathan, they showed me the circular. Doh!).

Which leads me to one strange occurrence - running into the only guy I ever dated twice ('cause he's that wonderful, and a FB friend too) as I walked into the Office Depot. Apparently he thought I looked familiar but it was when I said "pardon" while passing him that the voice registered. So we had a quick catchup and conversation as both were in a hurry. But of all the things! He doesn't even live here, but about 1 1/2 hours away!

After the errands I went home to get dressed and have a few bites of something before going to the concert. Then we had the concert, which was wonderful. One fellow church member came up to me afterwards and confessed the music was so beautiful that it brought tears to her eyes. I don't get that very often! But then another weird meeting took place. A church member has told me about her son-in-law and daughter being members at the church I grew up with, 1st Lutheran, and it looks like she came. She asked if I was Jodi Thies - "Black, now, but yes" - and then went on to say that she remembered being a substitute teacher for me a few times when her roommate, and my Latin teacher, Miss Laura Payne (yes, I took Latin from Miss Payne!) was out. Really? Substitute teachers remember their students after 20 some years? I barely figured out my ex-boyfriend in the Office Depot the same day! Wow, I just don't have the memory some other people have!

She went on to say that Miss Payne is now teaching law at Duke. wow. Talk about Latin done good! I can honestly say Miss Payne, and my other Latin teachers Herr Allen (he also taught German) and Doc Frost made lasting impressions on me, whereas I couldn't possibly tell you who my kindergarten teacher was. Mr. Allen, of course, memorialized forever in the cartoons Laura-bo and I (Jodi-bo) wrote up while not studying the Latin for the day. What a character. Well, I guess it's safe to say we are characters too, right Laura?

Anyways, so the other weird thing to happen that night was the horrid feedback we suffered while the Alto Aria (I forget the name of it) was being sung. The poor soloist was literally attacked by sound, and I almost dropped my music and had to clamp a hand over the ear closest to the speaker! I have never in all my years seen a soloist so assaulted! BUT she never stopped. Neither did the musicians, or director Cody Jones. Wow. I pulled myself together and came in when I was supposed to. But it was seriously crossing my mind that the concert was OVER. I've noticed Beth Eden to have a few feedback problems here and there - every system does - but nothing like that has ever happened before. I don't even think it was a microphone problem because as far as I could tell we weren't using any microphones. We were plenty loud enough on our own.

After the concert I stayed super late chatting with everyone and chowing down on the great reception they had laid out. I promise I only had two little plates of cheese, fruit, and cookies! The variety of cookies in particular was amazing, and they all tasted good too of course. I could have laid some real damage there if it weren't for social niceties! Thank God for social graces, as few as I have! :) Or I'd be big as a house.

Sunday we actually got up and went to church and Sunday School for probably only the second time this summer. Well, we've been busy.
Then after eating some leftovers for lunch we grabbed little Maggie, a friend Bethany's had since kindergarten, and went to buy about $65 worth of stuff for the Humane Society, and then to Udderly Delicious to pick up the cake, and then to Pop's house to set up for the party for Bethany's Birthday. We have a tradition in my little family, which is if you have the good fortune to have a big birthday party and invite all your friends, not to ask for gifts from them but to ask for gifts to a charity. Not only do my kids have more than enough toys, but the economic status of the various families that we know goes from food stamps to millionaires, and I don't want to make anyone feel bad. I'm proud of my kids for doing this with no objection, and it helps that we still let them get gifts from the family members. Not to mention I save money by not buying all the theme goodies and goodie bags and whatnot that seems to be so important for children's birthdays.

But now here's the weird thing - no one could come! Except for little Maggie, whose parents dropped her off and picked her up. We even cut back the list to about 10 families, and only those with kids Bethany's age, not just Trinity's age, to not have too huge a party. But those who did RSVP had regrets and darn good ones too. I guess it was just a busy weekend. I made a point of explaining that to B, and she wasn't worried about it, so I didn't make it an issue, but inside it was just strange. I figure I needed to have sent the invites out about a week earlier than I did (and we could have had about 30 people show up!)

It was also too thundery to swim as expected, so the girls ran all over the house and sat down to play Capitals and States Bingo for a while. They even picked green peppers out of Pop's garden to pass the time, and came out with 56 or some huge number like that! I have a bunch here now.

We ended up back home by 9, all showered, and went to bed. Bethany said she had a great party, and I reminded her that we still get to take the basket to the Humane Society, which is when she will get to play with the cats. Her birthday is actually tomorrow, so that's when we'll do it. Plus I think the Humane Society is closed Mondays or something.

And anyway I dismantled the old computer, vacuumed up all the spider eggs hiding among all the cables, and set up the new computer. Hence the really long post. Not only did I have a lot to say, but I'm trying to get used to the new keyboard. I keep having to back up and retype stuff. But I'm getting better.

Tomorrow I plan to surprise B with breakfast at McDonald's, then we'll go the Humane Society, and I'll follow up on ads, and maybe even do some laundry and input some more of the books lying around the computer. Books lying in wait for the chance to be sold on the Internet! (Which reminds me, I need to contact my friend at LR about the Market Research class - that should be starting soon). But for now I'll just sign off on this post and go do dishes.

Items Banned from Cat. Co. Landfills

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:45:18 GMT

Did you know there are items banned from the landfill? I've always been a big recycling fanatic, but I didn't know anything was banned. Sure it's a good idea to recycle aluminum cans, and not to dump appliances or antifreeze and stuff - but banned? Hooray! I'm truly glad there is such a thing, and that Cat. Co. announced today that more items will be added to the list soon, including plastic bottles. Good for them!

Thought I'd let my local peeps know. Join my eco-warrior stance!

Also, I checked into what kind of enforcement exists for the landfill ban. Well, to be sure, they won't write you up for an accidental botttle or can here and there. But they said it "may result in administrative penalties" when I asked, so at least that's something. So the next time I ask the business I'm in if they have recycling for my plastic water bottle, they better say, "Of course, m'am, right here" and not hand me the regular trash can. 'Cause now instead of saying "well, you know, it's just a good idea to recycle" I can say "you might want to consider starting a recycling program here. Did you know these items are banned from the landfill, and your business could face charges if found in your trashcan?" I'm not saying right out that I'll report them. But I might consider it.

And then put that water bottle in my purse until I can recycle at home, like I always do.

Here's the whole list, and the letter stating the penalty : http://p2pays.org/BannedMaterials/Documents/WasteMgtLetter.pdf

Bethany's audition

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:00:42 GMT

went well, of course! We finally figured out it's for a UNCW student film, but they're raising the bar on what can be called "student film." Red 1 camera and all that. The director said "She nailed it." B matches one of the actresses who is being considered for the lead role, so I think it's pretty good odds that if they go with that lady, then she'll be cast as well, playing her role as a child. The movie overall is pretty sad, but the children's parts are all lighthearted and fun, which is good.

If they choose her, they said they might want her back to read with the boy who is chosen for her friend. Then filming happens over Labor Day weekend. ugh. While I appreciate that they are scheduling the filming during a time when most people won't conflict with their work, I don't think we'll find a place to stay at this late notice in the Wilmington area! As it was, our camping spot at the KOA was a miracle for the past weekend - and the most expensive campground we've ever stayed at, $50 a night! Granted, that KOA totally rocks with tons to do right there on the site, but we really only needed the hookups. I figure our next trip down there - if we're lucky - we'll be camping in the parking lot. Good thing we can! Motorhome is self-sufficient.

We had a good time other than the audition, too. We visited the Fort Fisher Aquarium, dunked the kids in the Ocean for about an hour, and ate fried seafood at Jones Fish Camp. We even found a comic book store and Clint investigated "game store" potential - not really. We made sure the kids didn't see or hear us complain about how durn hot it was, but truthfully Clint and I were reminded again how much we dislike the beach. But I'm glad the girls got the chance to see the beach once this year, so if we don't get called back at least it happened.

While we were on the beach at Fort Fisher, some 10 year old kid drowned. I think he and his parents were caught in a rip tide. Coast guard helicoptered in, divers were able to rescue the parents fairly quickly, but it took another 2-3 hours of searching by divers to find the body of the boy. So sad. I was caught in a rip current before, and it was scary, but we stayed together as a group, swam angled towards shore but not fighting the current, and came out about 2 miles down the beach. I have to wonder how many beachgoers really know how to deal with a rip tide. And then again, sometimes it doesn't matter. You just get so exhausted trying to fight your way back to shore that you sink. We didn't tell the girls, but they saw that something was going on - you can't miss the helicopter and red flashing lights of the fire and rescue people. I even filmed the Coast guard pulling up the diver and then flying off - I guess that was when they found the boy. God be with his parents - I don't know how I could forgive myself if I survived something that my child did not. Even if there was nothing to be done.

In other news, I got another email from our agent today, letting me know T is being considered for a commercial in Charlotte - but only if she can ride a bike. I had to email her quickly and say, no, she can't ride a bike! Now I get to go upstairs and tell T, who will in all likelihood want to go out there and figure it out TODAY. She hasn't really tried seriously, and honestly it's such a chore to get the bikes out that they rarely even get the chance. But maybe now that she's missing out on an audition because she hasn't learned yet... well, that might just make bike riding a priority for that girl. We'll see. I'll try to remember to report back.

Certified Bookseller With abebooks.com!

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:16:25 GMT

Hooray! I finally got the call this afternoon at 4:30 pm while in the Conover branch library (yes, I'm planning to sell books but the library is such a useful resource, especially in these trying economic times, that I'm a big fan and always will be). My application has been approved to sell books through abebooks.com. If I don't get a steady and satisfactory flow of books through that website, I'll use their counterpart Fillz.com to relist my books on amazon and ebay. One thing at a time. Tomorrow, maybe, I'll be able to start inputting my inventory and getting them out there to sell. But I've been feeling adrift in a fog waiting for slightly more than a week for this call. Hooray! I'm making progress! I'm excited!

Update on the Biz

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:32:25 GMT

Draft Business Plan? Well, it's a rough first draft but at least it's something. Check
Brought my alma mater in to handle Market Research for expansion? Check.
All legal filings, permits, ID #s, and whatnot? Check. (But I see why people pay business brokers to set things up for them now - that was confusing as hell. Good thing I'm good at online research.)
Some inventory to start with? Check.
Website to sell from? Check.
Paid for my biz's website hosting and registered domain name? Check.
Cleaned out 400 sq. ft. of (somewhat climate-controlled) secure storage? Check.
Opened biz checking account? Check.

Ah, but here's the to-do list!
* Actually get said biz's website up so people can see it? Working on it.... (and when I do, I'll "go live")
* Uploading inventory to selling website? Ah... today I hope to accomplish this...
* Purchasing mailing supplies? Been analyzing prices of stuff every now and then... where are my notes?
* Installing QuickBooks Simple Start and figuring out how to use it, plus putting in all that I've spent so far? (I figure less than $300, all told so far - it's mostly been grunt work to this point and I'm determined not to pay someone else to do what I can figure out... eventually) At least I bought the program when it was on sale for $10.
* Finalizing Business Plan for the alma mater to work with in that Market Research class? No, not at all. Gotta get on that...
* Figuring out if I should/can afford a new computer to handle everything? On the back burner for now.
* Actually making any money from this business? Well, that is the goal!

And that doesn't expand the list to include other aspects of the business that I want to implement, such as selling directly off my own website, but one thing at a time!

Big props go to my parents for slaving away with me last week on cleaning out the "warehouse" - they replaced broken window panes, trimmed back bushes and raked leaves away from the foundation to discourage the snakes' nest from returning, and even got the old AC/heat pump to run the fan so some air is stirring in there. Seeing as how this building literally hadn't had the door opened in almost 10 years, that is huge! Not to mention they helped me hammer and screw together some shelving units, and all the scrubbing and vacuuming and all. They left to return to FL yesterday, but they were certainly industrious while they were here! Thanks Mom and Dad!

I also have to give big props to my husband's family and their employees for their help, too. They gave me the "warehouse," cleaned out the snakes living beside the door in a brush pile, moved out the old things they had put into the building 10 years ago (maybe 5, who knows), and are even cleaning up and repairing some other storage things for me to use, mainly a nice desk that is missing a foot. I keep repeating, "No rush on that - I don't need it immediately - sometime in the next month or so will be fine" because they are all eager to drop everything and work for me, which is NOT part of the job description, but I think they feel obliged since I'm married to the mob that runs that joint. As I learned a long time ago, being married to the mob doesn't mean you have any say in what happens (and I like it that way!).

All told, things are moving forward, which is a good way to move. Now, back to work.

Back to Civilization, It Seems

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:51:34 GMT

I wonder how many of my loyal readers (both of you) have wondered where I am or what I've been doing. Simply put, my parents have been with me - and I with them - for a whole month now, and there's been hardly any time to check email let alone keep up my normal chatter online. I miss you guys!

They first arrived June 14th, and have left to take my RV to the mountains for a few days, but that was when I was busy with 2 VBS'es. Then we packed up and went to FL, where the internet access was prevalent but the time to use it limited. Then after 2 solid weeks there we returned home, cleaned the dog smell out and packed up T.

We dropped off T at her first stay-away camp yesterday. Click here for the link - I know she's having a blast and making lots of friends who think like her, and like reading and math like her, and maybe a gamer kid or two! Poor B last night, however, spent about an hour crying her heart out because she missed her sister. It was her first night away from T EVAR. And after Dad and I convinced her that she was the reigning Princess of the house, and that she could sleep in the guest bed (my parents decided yesterday they prefer the quiet and luxury of the RV as a guest cottage), she slept just fine.

So today the parental units have taken a day trip to Anson County to handle a few things and visit folks, and I've been running errands and trying to resume my life. Mom and Dad might take the RV to the mountains again later this week, which is fine.

I can't say that the past month with my folks around has been too hard. Trying, at times, simply because we haven't lived this long together since high school, but what can I say? They're good folks, we have in jokes now, and they like calling themselves my migrant workers because they keep finding projects to do around my house.

But all this fun has held back my business plans quite a lot. So this week I plan to dig deep and get as much done as possible. Guess I'll catch up on Facebook later!

Crazy Like Always

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:10:08 GMT

Go ahead and put that down for my grave marker. That and "I'm waiting for you!" since I feel half my life is spent waiting at the front door while my girls run around grabbing last minute items, despite repeated warnings that we are leaving.

The past couple of weeks have been busier than ever. With the kids out of school I barely have time to breathe, let alone do me-type stuff like type insanely long posts into my LJ. (The editor in me is screaming I used type twice. Oh well.)

The kids got out of school on June 10th. On the 11th they installed the new appliances in the kitchen (range and dishwasher) and removed the old appliances and the range hood. We're still working on getting the microhood installed. I won't go there. We spent all day on the 12th doing laundry and letting the kids (and myself) relax from the last few hectic days of school, plus I did the first pass on an editing job. Saturday the 13th I had a 2 hour rehearsal for the Vivaldi Gloria with horrible allergies - I couldn't even hit an F, let alone G or A. I pretty much slept and rested the rest of the day tryng to shrug it off.

Sunday the 14th we finally got to game with the locals - first time in 2 months! None of us could remember what had happened in the last few sessions and my notes were out of order so it took about an hour of game time just to bring ourselves up to speed! Still, it was fun. My character got to unload some emotional baggage. :)

Oh, and my parents called on that Sunday morning to say that they would be driving up that day and would be at my house that evening. Ack! So we flurried around getting the guest bedroom uncovered instead of going to church.

Oh, and I thought Sunday the 14th was Father's Day, so we surprised Clint with french toast, coffee, cards, a song, and whatnot, only to learn from my own father that it is, indeed, the 21st. Doh!

Sunday night mom and dad showed up with Ying, the Foreign Exchange student they have staying with them until the 4th of July - double doh! They gave Ying the guest bedroom and then we spent about an hour setting up my RV for mom and dad to use as a guest cottage. It was midnight before I got to bed. Oh, and I had promised the editing to be finished by Sunday night... I begged off and planned to complete it Monday.

Monday the 15th was the first day of Vacation Bible School for our old church, HTLC. I wanted the kids to have the chance to see their old friends so I volunteered to run the daily Newsletter for the 3rd year in a row. No big. 'Cept Monday was chock-full of technical glitches! It was delivered on time by the skin of my teeth and the sharp minds of my helpers. Then after a nice hot lunch provided by my mom I took a powernap and jumped into the editing. That evening we took the kids to Day 2 of VBS for our new church, Beth Eden. (They started VBS on Sunday night but we were gaming. Hey, first game in 2 months, we have priorities here!) After dropping off the kids I got back into the editing, and finished up around midnight. I think.
Tuesday through Thursday was pretty much the same routine, except we added in a daily nap. Two VBS's was a lot of fun, but tiring, even if after Monday I had the glitches worked out. But we have decided not to do that next year - if we have to choose we'll go with our new church, of course.
Oh, and mom, dad, and Ying left in the RV to go visit the mountains on Wednesday. They got a flat tire on Thursday but other than that I think things went smoothly. I keep hearing how they didn't stay at a place with hookups, though, and that they have "only run the generator for a few minutes," so I'm worried that it'll stink to high heaven and the batteries will be dead (PLEASE use the generator - that's what it's for!!!) but we'll see - they return tonight.
Saturday Clint worked on the game for Sunday while the girls and I did 2 hours of yard work and rested. Damn it was hot!

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day (again) with a present of a watch and a song. Unfortunately, the watch didn't fit or work. So Clint took it in today - probably to get a different one!
Willard took the girls again and Clint kicked off our new game, Mutants and Masterminds system, Exiles game. It went very well - two major combats, plus the roleplay involved in bringing us all together. My character is cold, paranoid, and stiff - it'll be fun seeing her relax and unwind a little. Maybe I'll post a character list later.
Finally, to today, I've been taking privileges away one by one while trying to get the girls focused on cleaning up their room. sigh. constant battle and all that. They don't even have toys, for crying out loud. Meanwhile I've spent three hours cleaning the kitchen from the mess that was Saturday's cooking, cleaned the fish tank, and scrubbed toilets.
So, you know, crazy like always. Crazy Like Frickin' Always.

Chimney Rock, Camping, and My Baby Runs Her First Game

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:48:34 GMT

As sad as it is, this past weekend was the first we'd had all year to go camping. I even put camping on the calendar, although we didn't decide where to go until 2 weeks ago. I think I'll try to do that again, maybe once a month or every other month or so. My parents are trying to come up sometime in the next few weeks to visit and use my RV, so that's the next trip if it works out!

We packed and left Friday, reacquainting ourselves with the processes of using the RV. Amazing how much we forgot in the 9 months it sat idle-ish (I started it up every 2 weeks and we moved it around sometimes but that was all). I had reservations at River Creek Campground in Rutherfordton, NC, with full hookups for $30/night. We stopped for groceries along the way and still arrived in daylight. Clint grilled steaks while I chopped up a head of lettuce and nuked a bad of corn. Yes, we weren't roughing it at all. Air Conditioning, Gas grill that magically hooks onto the side of the RV, and bigger microwave than I currently own in my house! The girls played at the playground a few feet away after helping me set up the slide and awning. Note to self: Next time I get Carolina Coach and Camper to pressure wash the RV (it looked so clean I wondered aloud, "Is that really our RV?") remind them to please roll out the awning and wash it too.

We all collapsed in bed right after the microwaved s'mores (A campfire is not worth it just for s'mores, although I admit that nuked smores are not the real thing), although someone's colicky baby and another kid who was apparently really tired and whiny but not put to bed fast enough kept me up a while. This was a nice campground - we've stayed at worse - but the campsites were really close together. That was really my only complaint. I bet Clint could complain that the vintage Pole Position arcade game wasn't plugged in, though!

The campground was right on the Broad River, and we could see it from our campsite on top of the river bluff. It was only a short walk down some stairs to get to the Tent sites on the river, which were actually huge tents set up on gravel so you could pitch your tent UNDER their tent - a family with five kids behind us was entertaining to watch but more on them later. It's also bordered by another little creek which we never saw. The playground had well-built wooden equipment including a little train that our girls posed on like they were robbing it. T was especially taken with the waist-high trapeze bar and wound up with dirt in her hair a lot because of it. There was also a badminton setup, horseshoes, and the game room had the row of old arcade games and a pool table which we enjoyed for a time. The game room and office also housed the bathhouse, which each side had 2 showers and 3 toilets, screened by shower curtains. The showers were nice - separate curtain for the drying-off area next to the shower enabled privacy, plus there was a bathmat to put down for after getting out of the shower. And there was a plastic chair that we used for keeping our clothes dry. And of course the other people were nice, too.

Saturday Clint got up and made us bacon and eggs, and we made it to Chimney Rock by 10:30. We first hiked the lower, easy trail called Great Woodland Adventure. It loops around with metal sculpture sites and info kiosks so the kids learned about the various animals to be seen in the park. This was not as easy as I thought it would be - it was basically uphill then downhill. So no strollers, not that easy! Really, nothing at Chimney Rock was good for stroller hiking. The highlight of this hike was the long black snake we saw on a little wooden bridge crossing our path. We backed up, then waited patiently while he looked at us, and eventually he slithered off the bridge, falling into the leaf litter below. It was a good experience to show the kids how to keep calm with potentially dangerous wildlife (not that a black snake is poisonous, but they can still bite you). By the end of it I was a little winded and worried. I was also having an allergic reaction to something and literally couldn't see, my eyes were tearing up so badly. So our next stop was the bathroom for me to wash my face.

If you go to Chimney Rock, you must see the bathrooms! Each one we saw had elaborately decorated murals with the park animals and whatnot. Beautiful park bathrooms (and I don't think I've ever said that before).

Next we grabbed our lunch stuff from the RV and took a bus ride to the top parking lot, then rode the elevator to the Sky Lounge. We sat and ate lunch looking at Chimney Rock and listening to the park musician play the hammered dulcimer. It was perfect weather, beautiful view, and terrifying for poor Clint. After lunch he waited in the gift shop while the girls and I hiked up the steps to the top of Chimney Rock.

Both girls complained about being scared of heights too, but once I got them on the Rock it was hard to keep them in one place. And after I got my bearings, sitting on the rock looking at the view, I was ok too. I even went up to the edge of the fence and looked over. Yep, high up. But apparently others were more okay with the heights than I was. That family of 7 tent camping below us? They were up there, and the Dad had the youngest, a boy of about 1 year old, on his shoulders. Now, I'm not so sure that was a smart idea, carrying your son like that while on top of the mountain, but I for darn sure would not have leaned over the edge with son my shoulders! I about had a heart attack! He wasn't even holding onto his son's legs! I get all fluttery thinking about it! I snapped some pics with my cell phone and then us ladies walked back down the steps. Then we decided to climb the steps to the formation known as The Opera Box, which is only a few more steps higher than Chimney Rock. And since the steps were carved out of the rock it wasn't nearly as scary as the wooden stairs (where you can see just how far up you are between the steps - yeah, I'm a little scared of heights too!) Unfortunately, by the time we walked back down the steps, my knees were shaking with unaccustomed exertion. How embarrassing - I thought my legs would give out at any moment and I'd go tumbling down the rocks!

After the little hike I needed a break, and we had promised the girls ice cream, so we sat in the Sky Lounge and each had a scoop. I think we rested for at least half an hour, and I told Clint I would probably not be able to make it on the Hickory Nut Falls trail, which we had planned to do next. I really had my doubts, especially since the Hickory Nut Falls trail starts and ends with over 100 steps on a wooden staircase.

But I guess I'm glad I pushed on. Yes, after climbing down into the moonshiner's cave and back up again I decided to give it a shot. It was hard going, but I never needed the inhaler, which means the Advair must be working for me even if my legs are so out of shape! This trail was 1.5 miles round trip, but it was all uphill to get there! And the waterfall was spectacular, but there wasn't any good vantage point to just sit and admire it for long. We did sit at a tilted picnic table and scarfed down some trail mix and baby carrots (our water supplies were less than adequate!) but eventually it was just time to move on, despite being so worn out. I tend to walk slowly downhill anyways, but it was really slow going on the way back down the trail. But, like I said, it was all downhill so it was a different kind of hurt. Then at the end, 100 steps up to the gift shop. At less than 10 steps from the top I thought I was going to keel over. But T shouting at me got me going again and I made it. We marched over to the gift shop and paid $2 each for bottled water and drank it quickly, then just as quickly rode the bus back down to the RV, turned back on the AC, grabbed some Gatorades out of the fridge, and sat in the shade for 20 minutes to let the RV cool down.

We made our way back to the campsite, we nuked corndogs and ate potato chips for our dinner (we figured we wouldn't want to cook anything for real and we were right). Then we took turns showering off and braiding hair, then I crashed for a half hour's nap while Clint had the girls work up characters for a short Faery's Tale adventure. After I woke up and made a quick character, Clint ran us a game for about 45 minutes, where we helped Jack escape from the giant's castle at the top of the beanstalk. The girls loved it! In fact, they were as apt to LARP it as to role-play it, jumping up and down and running around - nope, all that hiking didn't slow them down any! After that it was bedtime and we all crashed again, this time to a quiet campground.

Sunday Clint made pancakes and bacon, then we walked down to the river to explore a little. We saw yet another snake, this time a green one with a small pattern on his sides and a solid green stripe down his back. Not sure what that was, but we again waited patiently until he slithered beneath the wooden bridge before moving on. Lesson reinforced! We climbed out on some rocks into the Broad River and looked at all the fish - there was one trout over a foot long! Oh, if only we had a fishing license! Finally we walked back to the RV, cleaned up and pulled out. We left right at 11:30, stopped for lunch and refueling at the magic Love's in Marion, and made it home at 2:30.

T was in a bad mood all morning because she had a story idea she wanted to run for us in Faery's Tale. And she wanted us to play the game before we left for home. We weren't sure we could get out by the noon check-out time (and we were right) so after we got home, showered and took another powernap, she ran it for us here in the Den.

B's character is Saferia, an animal-loving Sprite who is fierce! She was all about using her little bow and arrows to shoot things. T's character of Lavender, a flying Pixie, sat out her own game (I didn't even suggest the concept of the GNPC for her first time GMing). I had chosen a Brownie who named herself Helgina after her mistress Helga, and made sure she was the scaredy-cat. Clint's Pooka Wimblidug (and he used a cute voice, which T loved, and if he dropped it she reminded him to use it!) loved to play with Saferia's animals and changed himself into a mole, a butterfly, a bumblebee, and a Peregrine Falcon during the game.

T told us that the animals had been taken by goblins, and we hid ourselves among the animals until we reached the Troll's castle. Since there were 6 goblin guards and the Troll leader, we decided Saferia would need to convince the Troll to let the animals go. She rode Wimblidug's bumblebee to the Troll's face and rolled a total of 7 successes (with his help) to intimidate the Troll into letting the animals go! It was so cute to see B take a warrior stance, fist uplifted, and say in her little-girl voice, "If you don't let all the animals go, I'll bring the whole Pixie army on you!" The Troll ran over to his guards and said, "Get them!"

I looked for a rock to throw, and got 5 successes, so T (our Narrator) said I found the keystone to the entire castle! I pulled it out, called Wimblidug, and we flew out in the nick of time as the castle came down - but it wasn't enough for T just to collapse a castle on top of the Troll. Oh, no, she described how he fell into the moat, where the electric crocodiles zapped him - zzzztt!! - and then he disintegrated in the water. Then the goblins fell in and disintegrated, too. Then Saferia had to tell the animals to go home, and there was such a stampede that we were all spun around.

In all, it was another 45-minute game, and when T brought out the electric crocodiles Clint and I looked at each other in surprise - we weren't expecting that! - and died laughing! I get all misty-eyed thinking about it. My baby ran her first game. It's only a small step from Faery's Tale to Hollow Earth! Or Savage Worlds!

After that we went upstairs, had soup, put kids to bed, then Clint and I drank a bottle of wine and resolved to eat better and get more exercise starting, um, today. I'm happy to report that yes, he walked a half hour on the treadmill today, and I'm about to as well, now that my little girls' moment has been forever enshrined in blogdom. I'll need to put it in the baby book later on today. I'm so proud of my little gamer!

Amusing Road Signs from our Camping Trip

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:15:54 GMT

When we go off the beaten path we seem to encounter many quaint signs and places that just beg to be put into a Pinebox adventure! This past weekend we drove to Lake Lure/Rutherfordton and hiked Chimney Rock all day Saturday. Here are the signs I just had to write down for sharing - more on the trip next post.

Welcome Home Baptist Church
Rhoads Road
Mast Enterprises Logging Equipment
Mountain Creek Baptist Church
Roper Loop Rd. (there were 3 of these, I guess crossing the main highway twice)
Gold Hill Missionary Baptist Church
Scoggins Seafood and Steakhouse, Inc. (across the street from Rutherfordton Veterinary Hospital and doing brisk business, too!)
Revelations Motorcycle Repair
Tent Revival!
Crawford Hollow Lane
Full Gospel Revival Church (I guess the rest of us are using only half of the gospels)
Temple of Jesus Church
Point of View Restaurant
Redemption Blood Secured (written on a cross so the Redemption was on the arms and Blood was above and Secured below, kind of scary really)
We passed a fruit stand offering Mountain Oranges - is that a euphemism?
Kritter's Restaurant
Church of the Brethen
(on a subdivision sign) Thermal Valley (As in they wear a lot of thermal underwear, or the hawks coast on the thermals, or what?)

How we love rural NC!

Hope this works

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:25:55 GMT

Concarolinas and Dance Recital Mayhem!

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:55:30 GMT

Yes, this was the craziest of the crazy weekends, and when I confessed to Clint Sunday night that perhaps we should have chosen one or the other, rather than do both half-assed, his sage reply was "We did the best we could with a difficult situation."

First of all, we had booked the hotel room and planned to attend Concarolinas, so please don't think we just didn't check the calendar until too late! As far as we knew, we were going to enjoy the con as much as last year, perhaps even more so for staying in a real hotel room and not the RV. (Now that I've crunched the numbers, we spent $300 more on food and hotel than it would have cost for us to stay in the RV and eat out once a day. Ouch. Perhaps we'll revisit the RV idea again. More on that later.)

Then B's dance teacher posted the dance recital date for the exact same weekend. Yikes! How on earth do you tell your baby she can't perform her first dance solo because you wanna game? So then we had to figure out that situation.

The last straw, the one we really HAD to say no to, was the film premiere. The film Milites Christi, where my girls were pagan slave children and actually got some real screen time and real credits, was premiered that Friday afternoon at the NC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem (1 hour east of home). Red carpet, guest list, all that. And we just could not go. Whine! I really, really wanted to see my babies on the big screen!

So here's what we ended up doing.

Friday Clint was supposed to get off work by 2 pm so we could be packed in his car to pick up the girls at 3 from school. Of course Clint was talking to the Newton Police Department at 2 pm (these things do happen when you're the only one who knows how to work the security camera software), so I picked up the kids, we packed his car at 3:15, and hit the road at 3:30, scrambling to get to Lenoir (45 minutes NW of home) by 4 pm. Of course the dance recital rehearsal was running behind, so we waited until 5:15 before we saw B practice her dances and we could get back on the road toward Charlotte for the con. (Just in case you're keeping track, Charlotte is also 45 minutes from our house, and about 1 1/2 hours from Lenoir). We were starving so we stopped for dinner, eating quickly (all meals this weekend were quick as possible). We arrived at the con at about 8 pm. Too late for Clint to sit on any panels, which bothered him greatly. He tried, but it just wasn't going to happen! We dumped out stuff in the hotel room and ran downstairs to check in, get badges, and walk quickly through the dealer's room. At 9 I took the girls up to bed, while Clint went to visit folks. I think he came to bed about midnight.

Saturday we ate breakfast at the con suite from 7-7:45, then went to the meet and greet with other Savages from 8-9. Heard a HI-larious monologue from OtherDoc, who channeled the Reverend of Caffeine. If you ever get to hear it, you just can't pass this up! (I'm considering having T memorize it this summer) I signed B into the Kids programming at 9 on the dot, then beat a hasty path to the gaming, so T and I could play in Pepster's Savage Kids game. It was so much fun revisiting the characters from last year, playing 11 and 12 year olds (T played a 10 year old) solving a mystery. Unfortunately the group simply couldn't get together so the babysitter ended up facing the 16 or so gargoyles alone! But it was fun. I had to leave at the stroke of 1 pm, though, to pick up B, so I kind of had to make the game end sooner than it would have, and I hate that. B had a great time doing science experiments in the kids programming, and the teacher raved about her natural scientific ability (I claim that! I'm the one with the Biology degree!) We ran over to a local restaurant for lunch with Stu, Mark and Eric, and compared game notes. Clint joined us for the end of the meal, but the girls and I had to run (again) to the room to pick up the dance recital stuff and hit the road. We arrived at home at 4:00 with half an hour planned to do B's hair and clean the tadpole tank. My neighbor, the lawn angel, was just starting to mow our yard for us and I would have liked to visit with him, as is the only proper thing to do when someone does you a great kindness like that! But I had no time. As it was, it took 45 minutes to put B's long locks into a double french braid pulled into a bun (her bun was as big as her head, she has so much hair!), and I cleaned the tadpole tank in record time. Meanwhile T visited with our neighbor for me (she came in to ask if it was ok for him to trim our trees since the branches hung so low he couldn't drive the lawnmower under them to which I replied via T that he was welcome to, but please don't feel he has to, because we really will get to it sometime soon... sigh). Then T packed us some snacks in a cooler and two large plastic bags and got the dance costumes in the car. She was so helpful! I need to give her an extra dollar in her allowance this week!

We hit the road at 4:45 to be at the dance recital by 5:30, and again they were running late so the program began at 7, not 6. (Can you feel my frustration?!) I was also chagrined to find out that the eyelash fairy had been by, giving everyone in B's class eyeliner and glued on diamonds, for everyone except B. I was at my wit's end keeping T happy watching our seats - seats are a hard thing to come by at this dance recital, and you simply must have someone present to hold your seat while you are running backstage to help with costume changes. At one point I asked a fellow mom to get B's eyes done if that eyelash fairy came by again, since I was the only one there for B and T. The lady looked at me in amazement, and I wanted to slap her out of sheer frustration! You see, apparently MOST families turn out down to the second cousin and great-grandparents to see their little darlings on the dance recital stage, be they 4 or 14. I had noticed this in prior dance recital years, and well, that's just not going to be our family anytime soon. We didn't even bother inviting anyone to the dance recital this year, since they don't even bother to see the girls on stage for theatre (which is WAY more entertaining) (and by THEY I don't mean everyone, of course, sometimes my FIL and his girlfriend make it to Green Room productions, but yes, we always have way more comp tickets than we need, which is greatly appreciated by those families who have 14 cousins who want free tickets) (but I digress)

Where was I? Oh yes, the dance recital. B danced beautifully, and she enjoyed seeing the competition teams dance. She told me yesterday they were GOOD, and so she doesn't want to try out for the competition teams now. I asked her if it was because she thought she wasn't good enough, and she didn't answer, so I think that is the case. I'm torn between my life being simpler and her having the confidence to try out for the team now! We finished with the awards and everything and hit the road back to Charlotte at 11. I was so tired! I stopped by the Arby's drivethru and got the girls a chocolate milkshake and myself a roast beef combo meal. Sipping on the sweet tea and singing along to the radio, I managed to keep my eyes open. We got to the hotel at 12:15, and Clint got the girls upstairs while I parked, then he went back to the game while I put the girls to bed. Normally we would insist on them having a shower to remove the hairspray and makeup, but we settled with a face wash and taking out the ridiculous bun. We crashed, and set the alarm for 8 the next day so I could make my game at 9.

Sunday when we woke up we realized that we would need to get everything packed and out of the room by 9. So somehow we managed to get myself and Clint showered and scarfed down some poptarts T had packed the day before and stuff into the car by 9:15. So I was only a little late for Mark's (Marcos) Rippers game. Clint took the girls to the Kids Programming, got me coffee, and checked out so he made the panels he was sitting on at 10 and 11. I enjoyed playing a rather unconventional (for Jodi) character - hindrance of Obese. No girl wants to play an Obese character, it just hits too close to girlie phobias even if you're a size 4! But I raked in the bennies by describing how she ate as often as possible, was concerned about climbing down a ladder before the others (just in case she broke it) and no one actually saw her eat, the food simply disappeared! It was more fun than I thought it would be (playing the Obese character - I knew I'd love Mark's game!).

After the game, I found my family, we spent money in the dealer's room until they closed, and we said goodbye to people as they left. We ended with a very late lunch with Joel and Louis, who we knew almost 15 years ago from playing Dark Confrontation weekends and who are working with Studio 2 now. We had a great time catching up. Finally we hit the road for home about 4 pm. We had to pull over in Huntersville to get iced coffees from McDonalds just to stay awake, and rehashed some of the details of the con to each other.

That evening I got the kids showered while Clint got groceries, and we were all in bed by 9. Unfortunately, B woke us up at 1 am because she threw up in her bed. Aren't kids fun? She'd had a bad cough all week and weekend from allergies, so we figure she just had a bad coughing fit - Clint does the same thing, especially after prolonged exposure to cats. Yuck. So she stayed home with me yesterday to make sure it wasn't a stomach bug. She and I slept in until 10:30 am ( I was up from 6:30 - 7:30 getting T out the door) and both of us felt much better. She organized all of her clothes, she felt so well.

So that is all the nitty gritty details of the weekend. Here's more on the con itself (Ron, if you made it this far reading here's your critique)!

This was the first time at this location and I know it was a huge improvement on the room offered, square footage wise. I heard there were over 1000 people at this con, so not Origins or DragonCon, but pretty big! The problem is that all that square footage seemed more crowded than ever because of the walls. I felt I had to go around at least one wall to get to whatever I was trying to find. It was very confusing layout! And the hallways were so crowded, especially on Saturday. Between the tables lining both sides of the hallway, and the people standing in front of the tables one deep, there was only room for a single-file parade of folks to walk past. During the parade of people in armor, I actually went outside and around just to get to the bathrooms! (Which were closed, by the way. Argh.)

I did like the flat screen tvs showing the schedule of current and upcoming events. They were everywhere! It made it easy to figure out what was going on that I couldn't go to! :) There were signs everywhere reminding people this was a family-friendly con and the costumes needed to be appropriate, which I also really appreciate. And I really appreciated the wonderful kids' program. They got to do messy science and art, play on the playground, and have snacks. The only thing I could think to improve the kids programming is offering gaming for kids in the same area, so parental supervision wouldn't be necessary. They do that at Origins. Of course, it takes volunteers to offer the games, and you didn't see me stepping up to run any, so I'm not complaining. I think the noise level was down in the grown-up gaming room too. Not by much, but even a little helps. Still, when Pepster ran the Savage Kids game we went to his room to play, which was nice and quiet. And it was the Presidential Suite!

We stayed in a King hotel room, and fudged on the fact that we had kids sleeping on the floor. Technically we were not allowed to do that, which is ridiculous. We were supposed to take a room with 2 doubles instead, which we have learned from previous experience does not work for our family. 2 Queens, yes. Clint and I can share a Queen and let the kids share a Queen. But 2 doubles only somewhat worked last time with each of us taking a kid. I ended up sleeping wrapped up in the comforter on the floor after T slapped me in the face 4 times, and B ended up sleeping on the floor too because of her daddy's snoring. Or maybe because she tends to sleep turned 90 degrees from where the pillow is and she fell off. We vowed never to try that arrangement again. Or maybe we will after Clint and I each lose 50 pounds. But that's not happening anytime soon! The hotel room was nice but we barely spent any time in there. Hotel food prices were ridiculous - $2 for a cup of coffee from the restaurant. I suspect that a lot of others paid for the coffee only once for the whole weekend and just took the free refills, but we decided to be good and paid for the coffee for both of us, both days. We would have appreciated the con suite coffee, but apparently someone got first degree burns when the coffeemaker died, so I won't complain - these things happen! The long and short of it, though, is that if we had stayed in the RV at the Lowes Motor Speedway for $30 a night, we could've saved money on the hotel room, coffee, breakfast, lunch, still eaten out for dinner, and probably have spent only $150 tops. And we wouldn't have had to make the kids sleep on the hotel room floor, but on a proper mattress, which would've been more restful. Even if we drove both the RV and the car, to make parking (and that daytrip to Lenoir) more feasible, we would've been better off financially. Oh well. The price of convenience!

The worst thing about this con was the parking, which seems ridiculous to me. It also says this was a great con if parking is the worst thing I can talk about! When we arrived Friday night Clint joined the throngs of cars circling the parking lot like sharks looking for an opening. Well, at least now I know why they wouldn't let us park the RV there - it would've taken up 4 spaces! The thing that gets me is that a lot of the shoppes around the lake were closed all weekend long. So all these cars were just for the con? I guess so. Imagine next year, when hopefully the economy improves, and those shoppes are thriving? It will be murder AND mayhem. So I have to say I'm just not that big a fan of the location for the layout of the meeting rooms and the parking, but the programming was excellent. I just wish we could've enjoyed it more. As it is, Clint won't soon be living down the fact that he went and had dinner (and left MY books at the restaurant for over 24 hours) when he was supposed to be bidding on the tickets to Evil Dead: The Musical. But we just couldn't do everything.

Leaving Mustard Yellow Behind!

Thu, 28 May 2009 13:37:07 GMT

Well, we finally did it. We upgraded the kitchen.

When we moved in, the kitchen was dark wood cabinetry, with yellow faded and scratched countertops, yucky yellow linoleum, and the coup de resistance, the mustard yellow dishwasher, range, hood, and refrigerator. Oh, baby! I've hated yellow all my life. It just doesn't look good on me. It doesn't look good in my kitchen either.

First things first - we painted the cabinets white before we even moved our crap into the kitchen. That took about 6 months if I recall correctly. (That's when I learned my husband needs to be nagged occasionally) We lived by eating out and using the bar sink and microwave in the basement Den. We also had that refrigerator moved to the garage and took my FIL's old garage fridge (white 80s-look) and put it in the kitchen. Yup, that was 12 years ago.

About 4 years after that, while T was still a baby, we decided to pull up the linoleum and the carpet in the dining area and tiled the whole thing to make it into one big kitchen. Who has carpet in the dining room? Oh, wait, I had carpet in the dining room growing up. Well, I'm just not a fan of carpets in general.

It has taken us 12 years, but the rest of the appliances are being upgraded after our purchase last night! We bought a brand-new Whirlpool dishwasher and microhood (Made in the USA!) and a Maytag double-oven range (which might have been assembled, at least, in the USA, but the real reason is that Whirlpool isn't making double ovens for ranges yet). All are in white, instead of that stainless look that is so popular today, simply because it was cheaper. I also think putting appliances that nice in my dated-looking kitchen would be tacky. At some point, if I leave my kitchen alone, it'll be retro, right?

The only reason we are doing it now is because the dishwasher is making these horrible grinding noises at startup and winddown. I'm visualizing a dramatic end to the probably 39-year old appliance, complete with suds across the floor and down the stairs, and water damage to the ceiling in the den below, and maybe something will catch on fire. And if you replace one mustard-yellow appliance and not the rest of them, well, it just looks stupid. Besides, the range has only had 2 out of the 4 burners to work properly in all that time, and the oven light died and could not be revived, and it bakes unevenly. But we're used to that.

They should be delivered and installed on June 11th. The total cost of the appliances is $1400 - what a great deal! Thank you, Sunrise Appliance of Hickory! I compared their prices to Best Buy, Sears, Home Depot, Lowe's, and hhgregg, and that would not have even paid for the double-oven range! We still need to pay for the install, which will be about 2 hours they figure, and they pro-rated the labor at $50 per half hour just in case the install takes less than 2 hours. Even if it takes 5 hours that's less expensive than the other big box stores too.

Call me satisfied.

After the install, I will finally be able to ditch the ancient microwave I took with me to college 16 years ago, which is remarkably still working (things do take longer to cook than the packages say it will).

Someday, maybe, we can get new countertops and do some cabinetry work, not to mention a new refrigerator. I looked at the refrigerators, but our space is so small (those behemoths they make nowadays would not let me into the pantry) that the options are very limited. And we aren't so financially secure that a $10,000 complete remodel was in line. We set aside 40% of the tax refund money for projects like this, and we don't want to blow our wad. We might get the house painted, too.

I know some people will read this and wonder why on earth did it take so long? Well, to put it mildly, I hate to cook. Clint loves to cook, but he really only gets to do so on the weekends (sometimes). I spend as little time as humanly possible in the kitchen - I do the dishes from the previous 24 hours while I cook dinner each night, to limit my time to the bare minimum of half an hour on a good day!

Worst. Homeowners. Evar.

Gandhi at Midnight

Sun, 24 May 2009 12:59:51 GMT

Yesterday we organized a fishing expedition for 14 or so 4Hers and their parents, which was fun but exhausting. We also ended up with 11 tadpoles who needed a terrarium STAT. So by the time dinner was over and the showers completed, braids finished, and kids in bed, I collapsed at 9 and could not persuade myself even to read for half an hour.
I don't usually get up in the middle of the night, but at 11:30 I was wide awake and bushytailed from my nap, so I wandered downstairs to watch some TV. Not five minutes later T joined me.
She's been sleepwalking a lot recently, but she was talking a mile a minute so I could tell she'd had a good "nap" too. Oh well, time for some mother-daughter bonding. Thankfully I hadn't turned off the parental controls on the tv yet so she didn't see any salacious titles. But it certainly limits the viewing! We finally settled into watching Gandhi.
I forgot how long that movie was! It was 3 am before we saw credits and went back to bed. But here's the cool part - we talked during the whole thing. About what makes a good leader. About how you know when things are right and wrong. About the caste system in India and the Untouchables. About how they were embracing a Made in India movement just like how our family is embracing the Made in USA thing (although we haven't started burning things made in China, maybe we should.) About how revolutionary his ideas were. About the fighting between Hindu and Muslim and why. About how his example led to the civil rights movement here with Martin Luther King, Jr. And T was the one to point out both men died by assassination for their ideals.
Wow. I slept pretty good after that. And I'm thinking, What a great experience this has been. What an awesome kid. I just had to share!

Goodbye to Molly

Tue, 19 May 2009 20:04:08 GMT

I don't know if I've ever met Molly, but I'm saying goodbye to her. This is the last day she'll be on this earth.

Molly is the last dog of my brother and sister-in-law here in town. Their other dog was put to sleep a few months ago, so having this event so close to the other one has got to be especially trying.

When Gary called me this morning, I had planned to work hard on my business. I had run a lot of errands for the business all day yesterday, so today was going to be computer time. For one thing, I still haven't gone back to the problem of uploading the website. I don't know if I'll need help yet, and today I was going to tackle that, among other things. But when he explained the circumstances, well, there was no option to say I would NOT keep my nephew for them today. I was GLAD to. It's the least I could do.

Poor pup. Poor Monica, who loves said pup. In the innocence of a 5-yr-old, I asked my nephew if he was going to miss Molly. He said no. Apparently he never petted the dog because she always licked him and he'd run off. So thankfully I think this will miss him for the most part.

But of course it takes you back, doesn't it? To other days when you had to put an animal to sleep. You remember what you went through. I gave my current dogs a good belly rub today in memory of Molly and all the other dogs that have ever been put to sleep for one reason or another.

So today, instead of tying myself to the computer, I took my nephew to the gas station, the Post Office (no mail for the new business, of course, but it felt good to check!), the Library (which was closed until noon so we planned to go back later), several other stores, and the old church we used to belong to as of December, so I could sign my kids up for vacation bible school. I put an application in his backpack so he could go too and I hope they will let him go. Then we came home, had a milk-free lunch (he has a severe allergy), took a hour and a half long nap (I don't think he really needs a nap but his parents request he have one - I laid in bed beside him and read my Sunshine book), then I let him watch tv and I worked on a few little projects on the computer until the girls got home.

Now that they are home I'll take a shower so I can look more professional this evening for a small business class. Last time he was treated to a private show when I got out of the shower, which shocked me more than him. So my girls will keep him occupied this time!

And if we can swing it, we'll take a quick trip to that library. And it'll be a good day. I've helped by giving a fellow doggymom time to grieve for her loss. The business can wait a day - for now.

Business on the Brain

Fri, 15 May 2009 13:55:11 GMT

Well, I've been hard at work with a new business idea for several months now, and yesterday I took the leap.

I mailed off the "Application to Reserve a Business Entity Name" to the Secretary of the State of NC.

I opened a P.O. Box at the one closest to my house.

I registered a domain name with godaddy.com, got it registered, certified, and hosted. I'm still trying to figure out what that means, but figured I'd be better off getting it.

I set up a sample first page of the website so there would be something to look at there.

I set up an email account from that business so there would be a way for people to contact me.

I also made the last half of copies of the newsletter at school, and met with a wonderful man who is going to do some amazing stuff on my behalf for this business and treated him to lunch. And I swept up the piles of dog hair, picked up the kids from school, and had a real date with my husband (first one in over 6 months) to have dinner and see Star Trek. It was great.

After Star Trek I used Microsoft Publisher to design the first real page of my website - any thoughts on this program? I didn't really even know it could do that, but apparently it has several web design templates and seemed pretty easy to use. I don't need a very complicated website, at least not yet. So I'm happy I didn't shell out the monthly fee to use godaddy.com's web design template. I just figured a monthly fee for something I'd update only every now and then would cost too much in the long run. I even figured out how to embed links on the page to redirect folks back to that email. I've been using Publisher for years, so it HAS to be easier to use this than try to learn Microsoft Frontpage, which was what I was going to purchase.

It was a good day, if I do say so myself. It's not every day you learn how to do new things and this was a day of learning a LOT of new skills.

As for what exactly this business is, well, until I get the paper back saying the name is mine, I'm keeping that to myself, so don't bother asking. Don't worry - I'll shout it to the mountaintops when I'm ready!

Too Much Fun

Mon, 04 May 2009 14:56:00 GMT

Time to say no to stuff again. I'm feeling just a tad overwhelmed, but it'll pass. It usually does. I just go through phases where I over-commit and work like a dog, then regret it and back off, and then let things creep up to a frenzy again. Oh well. I honestly can't say that anything I've done in the past 2 weeks was too much - it was just all on top of each other!

Two weekends ago I had a busy calendar of travel. Friday was to the Asheboro zoo with B's class. I chaperoned B and two other kids, and we walked all over the park and saw as much as we could. It was a hot, sweaty day, and I was totally not rocking any fashion with my Pinocchio t-shirt and Greater Hickory Classic golf hat. Hats really don't look good on me, but it kept the sun off my face and the obligatory sun headache away for most of the day. That night I collapsed into bed at 8 and didn't get up until 7 the next day.

Saturday Clint had to go to Furniture Market, so I had the girls all day. After a good night's sleep and plenty of exercise the day before, I kind of thought about staying home and relaxing, but my shoulder was aching. Hmm... mop the kitchen floor? That would hurt. Mow the yard? Well, it's a pull start on the right side and makes my whole body hurt on a good day, so no. Pretty much any activity at home would mean trouble for the shoulder, so I got the paper and marveled at all the cool stuff to do. We ended up taking the dogs to Bark in the Park in Newton, then went to my FIL's to get eggs out of the chickenhouse (since he was at Market for the whole week and we love eggs). On the way there we saw some friends out selling lemonade, so after getting the eggs we ended up with another little girl and her dog in the car. And we went into Hickory to the Earth Day celebration. We got back to the friend's house earlier than expected, so we sat around outside until her parents got home, then sat inside cooling off for a few minutes before dragging ourselves home at about the same time as Clint got home, looking for dinner. I ordered a Pizza.

Sunday we were requested at the Furniture Market to show off the next generation of furniture manufacturers (although I stress that is only one of their options, and right now they want to be an actress and a veterinarian). So I dressed my children in beautiful dresses, hair ribbons, high heel shoes, and even wore heels myself. The word of the day, I told my girls, is "Charming." They were to be charming all day and there was no other option. They did well - I had to remind them a few times to stop jumping on the furniture and be "charming" but they really did well. When they got tired of being on display they curled up in a chair and a chaise and read for an hour, with people walking past commenting on what a great marketing gimmick that was. T cracked me up though. She walked past Linda and grumbled "Business is slow." With wide eyes and innocent expression Linda asked, "What do you think we should do about that?" T looked at the buffet and said, "Let's go out into the hall and see if anyone would like some coffee or something to eat, and invite them in. Maybe they'll stay and buy furniture." I'm so proud of my natural-born saleswoman. Linda got a good laugh out of it too! We stopped for dinner at Red Lobster in Statesville simply because there was a coupon in the Sunday paper. And we were too tired to consider going home and cooking.

Then the past week was filled with one day of a bad cold (I was worried I was getting that swine flu but never had a fever. Soooo tired. I slept all day), getting donations of furniture, attending Aladdin, Jr. rehearsals with the girls, running a Marketing meeting for the theatre, reading at the school, attending a volunteer thank-you breakfast, cussing out the nursing home in a meeting there, getting a last-minute sponsor for the magician and booking him at the last minute, and oh yeah! I had a request for editing that was a "do it now" situation so I got that done by Friday.

Saturday was the Spring Fling fundraiser at the school, where my family showed up at 8:45 with the box truck of furniture. We set up the Silent Auction just in the nick of time, with 42 items, most of which were packages of two or three things together - my spreadsheet lists 89 donations! I managed the tables and sent Clint off on a two-hour tour with the magician when he showed up (we had a severe lack of volunteers that I plan to address as soon as all the appropriate thanking is finished). Bids closed at 1:30 and we scrambled to get the people to pick up the items before they left the festival at 2. I still have 2 items in my garage while I track down the winners. We got home at 4, only to find that Clint's back had gone out - he really worked hard at the Fling - so the girls and I unloaded the box truck before hitting the showers. We ordered Pizza and sat in front of the TV wondering when we would feel capable of walking again.

Sunday Clint and T sat around the house, nursing his back. I had received a call from the NC School of the Arts on Wednesday wanting to know if B could be in a music video on Sunday, so... yeah, I packed up my daughter and hit the road to Winston-Salem by 8:15. We got there just in the nick of time, and then were ferried by van to Pilot Mountain. B played on the playground for the whole day while I sat on a waffled bench in the picnic shelter and slowly grew a waffle-butt. I wrote thank-you notes and read some more of my Jane Austen's Emma, and chatted and networked with the other Film Moms. So now I'm helping with an Indie production in Newton in May, and the NCSA teacher might be calling me to provide a horror film location and with grantwriting. We were there until 6, and poor B was so tired that at one point she had an accident and almost didn't make it to the bathroom - she has a master bladder and can hold it longer than any person I know, so I can tell she was just plain tuckered out. (Of course I had a few changes of clothes so it wasn't horrible) But she had a great time filming the music video and making friends. Again, though, the food was made of Fail on the set. Thankfully I had packed the leftover pizza and some snacks. You just can't feed kids lunch at 3 pm, and have it be 3" sub sandwiches! Well, this is a school and I hope they are learning something. At one point I had a great 20 minute conversation with the Producer, Cameron, about all the geekiness you can pack into that amount of time, covering the score to Batman, various other cartoon characters, I defended Hawkgirl, discussed Jan Austen, and told him he was a great Viking. The real problem with the film set is that not much is required of me other than to be there with my kid. And I think you can tell now that I like to keep busy! We packed up the set at 6, ferried back to Winston-Salem, where I got in my car, went to Taco Bell for some serious protein, and then drove home, getting there about 8:15 pm. 12 hour days in the film world, dontchaknow! I collapsed into bed at 8:45 and didn't get up until 6:30 am, to get the kids to school for yet another hectic week.

Because we aren't done yet! No, this is hell week for Aladdin, Jr., performed at South Newton Elementary with the High School Drama Club and a few kids including mine. Tuesday is the dress rehearsal, Wednesday they perform at 1 for the kids at the school, then there will be public performances on Thursday, Friday, and twice on Saturday. Sunday we have gaming here at the house, and poor Clint's back hurt too bad to get the game ready yet, so he will likely work on that while I clean up the Den to prepare for our guests. Well, thankfully it will be fun! I think we could use a little stress relief!

Weekend after this we're going to Danville, VA to visit my best friend and her family, and partake of the VA BBQ Festival. So that will be fun, too.

I think my problem is I have too much fun! I mean, it's fun to help with the school fundraiser, fun to edit, fun to do day-long filming, and fun to do shows on stage. So, my real problem is not that I'm too busy to hold a real job. It's that maybe, if I had a real job, I might enjoy the fun things more and do less of them. Oh well, the jobs I've interviewed for have fallen through, and at this point I'm better off not looking until the kids are back in school after the summer. So I'll keep busy. Even when I don't feel like it, apparently!

What's in a word?

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:28:44 GMT

Marriage... It's what bwings us togetha...

I've been thinking about this whole marriage is between a man and a woman thing, and I kinda have to agree.

Now, before you skip to the end and post a comment, hear me out. I have a few friends of alternative lifestyle, not as many as I had while growing up in Greensboro, but there nonetheless. I think God made them that way. They certainly didn't just think it was a cool idea, although I kinda think Lindsay Lohan might be of the "it's cool for now" persuasion. I think they should allowed to have committed relationships that give them all the due process and legal considerations of marriage (and all the heartache and trouble of divorce if they make that decision.)

So, really, "marriage" is just a word. Everything will be there except for the marriage part. And I've struggled with why. But the pure and basic fact of it is, I really want my kids to grow up, get married (to a man) and have kids the old-fashioned way. Someday. Ever since my work with the Council on Adolescents, when I learned that the best way to prevent early pregnancy is to begin having "talks" at age 8, and not just one big talk when it's too late, I've done just that. 8 is too young, but I agree that it's better to inform them before they need it. I don't think the introduction to gay society is the same way. If you are born gay, it's there no matter how it's presented. Now, I'm certainly not going to say gay=evil or anything, but I am beginning with the talks based solely on biological functions. And because I know children are better off with two parents, the things I discuss happen "after you get married." Because things do happen in ways other than that, but I think everyone will agree that it's still the easiest way emotionally, financially, and socially, not to mention biologically.

See, that's why it's a problem to use the word marriage with gay relationships. Have you ever tried to explain something like the Pauli Exclusion Principle to kids? That two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time? Well, that's still exponentially easier than saying "Marriage is when two people love each other and want to live together for the rest of their lives and raise children together, but if the couple is gay they need a little help in the kid-having process because their biology doesn't allow for that." You lose them after the first clause - even my above-average reader.

Frankly, I don't even want to try, so I don't know for sure, but I do know she already tunes me out after more than a few words, so I have to limit my communications unless she's looking me in the eye.

Our society is one of the few in this world that does not emphasize child-rearing as a necessary part of life. And while that freedom allows people of income and intelligence to enjoy their adult lives more, indulging in whatever tickles their fancy, it means that our culture does not focus on how the message is coming across to children, regardless of what the message is. Have you seen the Reese's chocolate bunny ad on tv, where the chocolate bunny kisses the jar of peanut butter while the Barry White music is playing? I admit, it made me chuckle, but of course my kids had to have it explained to them. So I lie, just a little. They're 7 and 9! They're not ready to hear that it's making fun of a chocolate bunny and a jar of peanut butter having sex and pumping out peanut butter-filled chocolate bunnies for us to consume at Easter! No, it's easier just to say, "It's funny to imagine that the peanut butter filled bunny came from a jar of peanut butter Mommy and a chocolate bunny Daddy, and the music tells you they are in love." Even that is not an easy answer, but it worked well enough. And they give me that look that says they know I'm leaving something out for some reason.

T has had the first talk, and since then we have touched on the topic every now and then especially as it pertains to her getting her period. She's read enough books to wonder about the actuality of the process, even though if she is truly built like me she has at least 5 years to wait before it starts. The fact that she focuses more on that and not at all on the part where the man's penis puts the sperm in the vagina is a blessing to me. B gets her talk this year on her birthday. She's dressed up like Beth from Little Women today. Is that who you want to explain about gay relationships to?

We know a male couple that are "roommates" to my girls. The girls are very satisfied with that answer and I'm glad that they have the chance to know these wonderful guys, who act just like an old married couple. When they are older, and ask me what it means to be gay, I have a ready example to show them of a good committed relationship. I thought for sure that they would have some difficult questions after seeing the Gay Pride parade in Columbus last year, but thankfully they just attributed that to con craziness. Whew. I don't want their view of gay to be the people riding naked in the back of the truck, or the guy who was gyrating on a pole on top of a truck or the lady with the whip and the guy chained spreadeagled in a chair with lots of leather. Those are aberrant to committed gay people, but which do you think the kids will focus on? Most kids, I mean, not mine who are used to crazy costumes at a con. If they saw that sort of thing in Newton there'd be questions.

I already face uncomfortable moments while watching tv with my children because of the sexual enhancement commercials. Same sex couples make out on daytime commercials for programs that would come on after Prime Time. My kids surf the net. They hear kids at school calling each other names and deal with bullies. They are trying to figure out who their BFF is and why there are cliques at school. They're trying to figure out how to catch a football and what they want to read next. They hear a lot about the economy and ask lots of questions about it. They wonder why people are so caught up on the President's dog. I'm bombarded with coming up with answers when I'm not sure how to handle the economy, or bullies, or sexually explicit commercials myself. I'm just not ready to add gay relationships to the mix, and as long as I don't have to I will avoid it. So that's the reason I don't want my children to hear that the two guys in a committed relationship are "getting married" (not sure they would if they had the option, just never asked them). I think my kids would laugh inappropriately at the idea of two men getting married for real. They might think it was a joke. But use the word "civil union" and there's no joke about it. It just makes sense then.

So it's a word. That's all. I'm sorry for the gay people it hurts to be excluded like that. But I'm protecting my children. And avoiding a touchy talk in a season of touchy talks. Sorry.

Playing Catch-Up

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:14:18 GMT

This past weekend we welcomed Charles (sans Krista and the pups, which was a shame, but I understand) into the guest room for Old Hick Con, which is when we bring together the "old gaming group" to game all weekend. We've tried it various ways over the past year, and it seems having two games, one each on Saturday and Sunday, is best. This past time we also added in a board game for Friday night. We meet at Clint's business and use the huge conference table, ample restrooms, and industrial coffee maker. We game from 10-2, break for a huge meal, then game from about 4-10 (at least on Saturday, Sunday we wrapped at about 7).
I really needed that stress relief! I feel much better able to tackle the assorted things I'm behind on. So, what would that be?
Well, for starters, the house is a wreck. There are piles of dog hair against the floorboards, my bedroom stinks to high heaven because of the dog hair ground into the carpet and dog beds in their crates, and the kitchen floor needs to be mopped.
Laundry is piled up all over the Den floor - and I was almost done until the girls enjoyed their stay at Pop's this past weekend while we gamed. They played in the creek and didn't bathe, they wore 2 nice dresses on Saturday, and apparently the barometric pressure changed, sending smoke throughout the house and making every single textile they own reek of smoke. So now I have 5 more loads to do.
Taxes. d'oh and dammit.
I got another chapter to edit. This is good news and I'm so excited about it! I just need to hear back about the contract...
And I have a telephone interview this week for one job and an in-person interview in two weeks for another one. Yay!
And I have a PTO meeting tomorrow, a meeting at LR (a fellow gamer is helping me with a project), and my Jobseekers meeting, so won't get any housework done.
And Wednesday I have 2 meetings in the afternoon for the campaign. So I'll need to skip the church dinner. sigh.
Not to mention this weekend is Easter, which means I need to brave the attic and find the baskets, plus some shopping.

So... if i haven't posted in a while, it's because I'm so darn busy!

At least next week I should have the help from the girls to clean, and maybe some time for fun, too. We can hope!

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:02:33 GMT

Maybe. I found two good jobs to apply for today, which doubles the total number of "good" jobs I've found this year. That means I have 4 applications outstanding right now. ("Good" meaning stuff actually in my field and/or something I might actually enjoy doing.)

Not that I'm giving up on that business idea... moving forward with a fellow PTO mom to check out potential commerical properties as part of this business plan I'm writing. It's a lot like a grant, actually! But I'm following my Career Counselor's advice and only spending a few hours a week on it so I can get everything else done that needs doing. Like taxes. Ergh. Like laundry. Double ergh. At least the crappy weather this weekend means I'll be stuck inside anyway so I might get it done. That's the idea, anyway.