Checks and Balances
~waves~ Hello! Yes, I'm here. Flailing around and dervishing and... slightly (okay, more than slightly) panicky at the realization that I am leaving Saturday, hello, and yet there is just so much to do, and more RL stuff to do, and... ~head in hands~
Anyway, a list seemed like the way to get perspective. We shall see.
Bad things:
1) Dad evidently slipped and fell in his office, and there is a strong suspicion of a broken wrist. I have to take him to the doctor this morning to get that sorted, because the stupid man is stubborn and of course let this sit for days as it got increasingly bad. ~headdesk~ And of course this happened on his vacation. Instead of him being able to help me get ready, he needs to rely on me to ferry him around. Which I don't mind at all, but there is this ticking countdown clock in my head, endlessly reminding me of all the time I'm losing.
ETA: Yep, it's broken. He got a green cast to match his Hawaiian shirt. We had to wait forever, and somebody in the medical building really, really, really needs to get the memo about wearing deodorant when it's 100 degrees outside. The elevator was... pungent. ~wrinkles nose~
2) I screwed up my car. Not in any mechanical way, just in the "I was uncharacteristically distracted" way wherein I scraped up against something I should have had the intelligence to miss, and now my car's prettiness is marred by an unpretty mess of scratches. It's extremely superficial, and I believe I am the only person who has even noticed it thus far, but it irritates the hell out of me and makes me feel like I am a bad driver and a bad person. In the long run, it's a small and inconsequential thing, but at the moment it feels like very visible evidence that I mess up everything that I touch.
3) I woke up to find a giant puddle of cat sick on my wool oriental carpet, where an evidently full-tummied cat decided he'd eaten too much and would just offload here, thanks. ~looks pointedly at Otto, cheerful little bastard~ I don't think I need to describe how disgusting this is. And again, I really don't mind cleaning up the mess--grown-up, big-girl pants, etc.--but every little thing is feeling like a setback at the moment.
4) It's hot. It's just SO. Effing. Hot. (I know this isn't news to the rest of you in the Northeast.) I don't think we've been below the nineties since last weekend, and the last three days have crawled into the 96 (36) degree range or higher. It feels hot when you step outside, and then you hit the sunlight, and it's so intense that it's like you crawled inside an oven, and that "breeze" you feel is more like a solar wind. It's too hot to move, too hot to think, too hot to cook. It's too hot to even want to eat food; I can't muster the interest. It's even, God help me, It's better inside the house, but even with the air conditioning going full-throttle, the house turns into a freaking sauna by 4-5 PM, and it makes it impossible to sleep. It's kicking up my asthma, it's bothering my sinuses, and it's slowing my pace in getting ready to a snail's crawl. I keep forgetting to hydrate as much as I should--made myself sick on Monday, and almost did it again this morning. I have to surgically attach a water bottle to my hand, apparently.
It's also made it impossible, thus far, to even consider baking for Infinitus. This is eating me up with guilt, but the thought of what that oven heat will do to a house that already feels like an oven... ~shudders~ I promise to do my best. I will try.
ETA: As I have written this, it hit 100 degrees. Hooray.
The Good Things
1) I am thankful to have a home, an air-conditioned home at that, and to have power, and to have a refuge from this heat, imperfect as it might be. I'm all too aware that many people are not so fortunate. And as long as the power grid holds out, I really don't have much to moan about. It's keeping me safe and able to breathe and keeping my food in edible condition, so... yeah, I need to be thankful for that luxury.
2) On a more superficial but also more fun note, the last few days on the Exchange have been very, very good to my BINGO cards. ~mona lisa smile~ It's all the luck of the draw, of course, but it has been fun to get close. And beyond that, the Exchange has been a joy to watch and review. The art is STUNNING this year, and wildly creative. Quilts? Cakes? Dolls? It all makes me &hearts this corner of fandom so much.
3) I had a fantastic lunch with clairvoyant12 last Friday. There were tacos and prickly pear margaritas and sangria, and there was much discussion of things both fannish, including the Exchange, and not. So much fun! I love these lunches. &hearts ~squishes Clairvoyant~
4) Lilypalooza! The day lilies are still blooming steadily, and the Easter lilies are all open now, huge and white and stunning. They look beautiful, and they smell amazing. You don't even need to get close to appreciate them. I've taken a bunch of pictures, but I'll have to wait until I'm less hot and cranky to upload them and fix them up. Coming soon!
5) In a few days, I am embarking on the Great American Road Trip with my awesome fangirl friends, and it is going to be an absurd amount of fun. However stressed I might feel right now, I know that it will all be worth it when we're on the road. Watch out, America: the Squeevan is coming! :D
And also, just a reminder: hpcon_envy is going to be running an Infinitus Envy fest, which we're gearing up for right now, and we're now accepting prompts to be used for the Virtual Drabble Booth. If you have any interest in having drabbles written for you, according to your prompts, submit them now! We're accepting prompts up until Friday at 5 PM Eastern Time.
Submit your prompts right here, and leave as many as you like. Sky's the limit!
Anyway, a list seemed like the way to get perspective. We shall see.
Bad things:
1) Dad evidently slipped and fell in his office, and there is a strong suspicion of a broken wrist. I have to take him to the doctor this morning to get that sorted, because the stupid man is stubborn and of course let this sit for days as it got increasingly bad. ~headdesk~ And of course this happened on his vacation. Instead of him being able to help me get ready, he needs to rely on me to ferry him around. Which I don't mind at all, but there is this ticking countdown clock in my head, endlessly reminding me of all the time I'm losing.
ETA: Yep, it's broken. He got a green cast to match his Hawaiian shirt. We had to wait forever, and somebody in the medical building really, really, really needs to get the memo about wearing deodorant when it's 100 degrees outside. The elevator was... pungent. ~wrinkles nose~
2) I screwed up my car. Not in any mechanical way, just in the "I was uncharacteristically distracted" way wherein I scraped up against something I should have had the intelligence to miss, and now my car's prettiness is marred by an unpretty mess of scratches. It's extremely superficial, and I believe I am the only person who has even noticed it thus far, but it irritates the hell out of me and makes me feel like I am a bad driver and a bad person. In the long run, it's a small and inconsequential thing, but at the moment it feels like very visible evidence that I mess up everything that I touch.
3) I woke up to find a giant puddle of cat sick on my wool oriental carpet, where an evidently full-tummied cat decided he'd eaten too much and would just offload here, thanks. ~looks pointedly at Otto, cheerful little bastard~ I don't think I need to describe how disgusting this is. And again, I really don't mind cleaning up the mess--grown-up, big-girl pants, etc.--but every little thing is feeling like a setback at the moment.
4) It's hot. It's just SO. Effing. Hot. (I know this isn't news to the rest of you in the Northeast.) I don't think we've been below the nineties since last weekend, and the last three days have crawled into the 96 (36) degree range or higher. It feels hot when you step outside, and then you hit the sunlight, and it's so intense that it's like you crawled inside an oven, and that "breeze" you feel is more like a solar wind. It's too hot to move, too hot to think, too hot to cook. It's too hot to even want to eat food; I can't muster the interest. It's even, God help me, It's better inside the house, but even with the air conditioning going full-throttle, the house turns into a freaking sauna by 4-5 PM, and it makes it impossible to sleep. It's kicking up my asthma, it's bothering my sinuses, and it's slowing my pace in getting ready to a snail's crawl. I keep forgetting to hydrate as much as I should--made myself sick on Monday, and almost did it again this morning. I have to surgically attach a water bottle to my hand, apparently.
It's also made it impossible, thus far, to even consider baking for Infinitus. This is eating me up with guilt, but the thought of what that oven heat will do to a house that already feels like an oven... ~shudders~ I promise to do my best. I will try.
ETA: As I have written this, it hit 100 degrees. Hooray.
The Good Things
1) I am thankful to have a home, an air-conditioned home at that, and to have power, and to have a refuge from this heat, imperfect as it might be. I'm all too aware that many people are not so fortunate. And as long as the power grid holds out, I really don't have much to moan about. It's keeping me safe and able to breathe and keeping my food in edible condition, so... yeah, I need to be thankful for that luxury.
2) On a more superficial but also more fun note, the last few days on the Exchange have been very, very good to my BINGO cards. ~mona lisa smile~ It's all the luck of the draw, of course, but it has been fun to get close. And beyond that, the Exchange has been a joy to watch and review. The art is STUNNING this year, and wildly creative. Quilts? Cakes? Dolls? It all makes me &hearts this corner of fandom so much.
3) I had a fantastic lunch with clairvoyant12 last Friday. There were tacos and prickly pear margaritas and sangria, and there was much discussion of things both fannish, including the Exchange, and not. So much fun! I love these lunches. &hearts ~squishes Clairvoyant~
4) Lilypalooza! The day lilies are still blooming steadily, and the Easter lilies are all open now, huge and white and stunning. They look beautiful, and they smell amazing. You don't even need to get close to appreciate them. I've taken a bunch of pictures, but I'll have to wait until I'm less hot and cranky to upload them and fix them up. Coming soon!
5) In a few days, I am embarking on the Great American Road Trip with my awesome fangirl friends, and it is going to be an absurd amount of fun. However stressed I might feel right now, I know that it will all be worth it when we're on the road. Watch out, America: the Squeevan is coming! :D
And also, just a reminder: hpcon_envy is going to be running an Infinitus Envy fest, which we're gearing up for right now, and we're now accepting prompts to be used for the Virtual Drabble Booth. If you have any interest in having drabbles written for you, according to your prompts, submit them now! We're accepting prompts up until Friday at 5 PM Eastern Time.
Submit your prompts right here, and leave as many as you like. Sky's the limit!