Life Update
It's been a while since I've done a substantive life-update in long-form. As more and more people move from LJ, it's been harder to keep in the habit of writing. In short, things are pretty good.
Work: It's the busy season. I've been working up a storm. The Halloween update just went live last Friday, which is terrible timing (nobody checks the Friday before a holiday weekend), so I'm going to try to do more promo this weekend.
I need to get with the Faerie Magazine People and ask about their next order so I can plan out my timeline for Holiday stuff. Speaking of, I am IN the Autumn Faerie Magazine-- or at least some of my moss jewelry is. Woot.
NC: Annual trip to the Outer Banks came and went. It's always so nicely quiet down there in late Sept/ early Oct. Unfortunately, it always falls during my busiest season. I worked through most of the days Jason was on the beach. The bright side to this is that my temporary office space was in the crow's nest of the beach house, and the views were spectacular. It had a reclining chair, so I ate breakfast and read a book and listened to the ocean in the morning.
There were lots of delicious seafoods eaten, girlie nail-painting time with my sister in law, and hanging out on the beach at night.
Cats: Nox had a major checkup on Saturday. He's gained weight, although not as much as we thought he did (he may be trading muscle for fat, idk), and his ultrasound came back good. Waiting for the results of his blood panel over the long weekend was torture. Monday was lost in anxiety attacks. Abby came over to watch movies with me so I wouldn't be alone and at the sole mercy of the brain weasels.
The doc called mercifully early this morning-- white blood cell counts were slightly low (an expected results of his steroid use) and his platelets were also low (an expected result of his chemo pill). The vet assured me that this is "part of the process" and not a cause for panic. We're taking him off the chemo pill for three weeks, and then will re-do the bloodwork. I have been doing... ok with this. I keep reminding myself that our vet is an excellent vet and has always been very honest with us about everything. If he says it's normal/expected, then it is. Still, my little dude has cancer, and that never really gets easier for me. The last few days have been hard, and I have felt a little fragile. But he's not manifesting many symptoms of sickness, and he's still pretty happy about all of his favorite things. He's also been extra snuggly as the weather gets cold, and has been all about the hugs and kisses. I love this cat so much.
Faire: I made it to faire twice this season, huzzah. The first was the weekend of my birthday, and I had not been partaking in wine for over a month. Three glasses, and I was quite drunk. Surprised the heck out of me, my lord. So yeah, we tapped out by 4:30 because I was like "nope, I need to go be unconscious, thanks." Diana and I went this past weekend, which was a much better time. The weather was glorious and slightly crisp. We got to watch Casey's Guinness World Record Attempt (and success), we ate things on sticks, and we watched pub sing as darkness descended.
Walking around with Diana, who is incredibly attractive and also having of the fantastically-colored hair, we got a lot of photo requests. Which-- that's always something I've found odd about faire. Not odd bad, but just... odd. I mean, photographers documenting the general faire atmosphere is one thing. But for years, I've had perfect strangers ask to take pictures with me, which is just so strange to me. Why would you want a photo with a perfect stranger? And someone who is not one of the faire's actors/performers? I don't get it. Generally, I say yes, because quite frankly I find it much less bothersome than people who try to photograph me without asking / without my knowledge, but it is still something I don't think I'll ever understand.
As for costuming, for my birthday I splurged on a new corset from Moresca. My first overbust in like six or seven years! I am sad that the gold part is not more yellow (so my initial idea for costuming TOTALLY didn't work), but I raided my dance skirts collection and found two outfits that work quite nicely!
Outfit 1 with my teal Padma skirt
Outfit 2 with red velvet Ghawazee coat and yellow Jaipur skirt
Makeup + hair thinger
Jason: and I have been doing a ridiculous workout regimen, T25. I am a few days behind because of the update and the day lost to anxiety, but though the scale doesn't seem to be shifting too much, my clothes feel more comfortable. I'm having more of an issue with the restrictive diet in the season of pumpkin flavored everything. Very hard to resist all of the delicious seasonal baked goods.
This weekend is our 5 year wedding anniversary, so we're going to Gettysburg for foliage watching, historical stuff, and a ghost tour.
Hocus Pocus: I am handling this mostly on FB, but in case you are not a FB person (and also someone I know IRL), the Hocus Pocus gathering is going to be Sunday the 26th. Second movie will be Cabin In The Woods.
So, that's it. It's a mixed bag. I'm stressed. I could use more hugs. But there are good things happening, too.
Work: It's the busy season. I've been working up a storm. The Halloween update just went live last Friday, which is terrible timing (nobody checks the Friday before a holiday weekend), so I'm going to try to do more promo this weekend.
I need to get with the Faerie Magazine People and ask about their next order so I can plan out my timeline for Holiday stuff. Speaking of, I am IN the Autumn Faerie Magazine-- or at least some of my moss jewelry is. Woot.
NC: Annual trip to the Outer Banks came and went. It's always so nicely quiet down there in late Sept/ early Oct. Unfortunately, it always falls during my busiest season. I worked through most of the days Jason was on the beach. The bright side to this is that my temporary office space was in the crow's nest of the beach house, and the views were spectacular. It had a reclining chair, so I ate breakfast and read a book and listened to the ocean in the morning.
There were lots of delicious seafoods eaten, girlie nail-painting time with my sister in law, and hanging out on the beach at night.
Cats: Nox had a major checkup on Saturday. He's gained weight, although not as much as we thought he did (he may be trading muscle for fat, idk), and his ultrasound came back good. Waiting for the results of his blood panel over the long weekend was torture. Monday was lost in anxiety attacks. Abby came over to watch movies with me so I wouldn't be alone and at the sole mercy of the brain weasels.
The doc called mercifully early this morning-- white blood cell counts were slightly low (an expected results of his steroid use) and his platelets were also low (an expected result of his chemo pill). The vet assured me that this is "part of the process" and not a cause for panic. We're taking him off the chemo pill for three weeks, and then will re-do the bloodwork. I have been doing... ok with this. I keep reminding myself that our vet is an excellent vet and has always been very honest with us about everything. If he says it's normal/expected, then it is. Still, my little dude has cancer, and that never really gets easier for me. The last few days have been hard, and I have felt a little fragile. But he's not manifesting many symptoms of sickness, and he's still pretty happy about all of his favorite things. He's also been extra snuggly as the weather gets cold, and has been all about the hugs and kisses. I love this cat so much.
Faire: I made it to faire twice this season, huzzah. The first was the weekend of my birthday, and I had not been partaking in wine for over a month. Three glasses, and I was quite drunk. Surprised the heck out of me, my lord. So yeah, we tapped out by 4:30 because I was like "nope, I need to go be unconscious, thanks." Diana and I went this past weekend, which was a much better time. The weather was glorious and slightly crisp. We got to watch Casey's Guinness World Record Attempt (and success), we ate things on sticks, and we watched pub sing as darkness descended.
Walking around with Diana, who is incredibly attractive and also having of the fantastically-colored hair, we got a lot of photo requests. Which-- that's always something I've found odd about faire. Not odd bad, but just... odd. I mean, photographers documenting the general faire atmosphere is one thing. But for years, I've had perfect strangers ask to take pictures with me, which is just so strange to me. Why would you want a photo with a perfect stranger? And someone who is not one of the faire's actors/performers? I don't get it. Generally, I say yes, because quite frankly I find it much less bothersome than people who try to photograph me without asking / without my knowledge, but it is still something I don't think I'll ever understand.
As for costuming, for my birthday I splurged on a new corset from Moresca. My first overbust in like six or seven years! I am sad that the gold part is not more yellow (so my initial idea for costuming TOTALLY didn't work), but I raided my dance skirts collection and found two outfits that work quite nicely!
Outfit 1 with my teal Padma skirt
Outfit 2 with red velvet Ghawazee coat and yellow Jaipur skirt
Makeup + hair thinger
Jason: and I have been doing a ridiculous workout regimen, T25. I am a few days behind because of the update and the day lost to anxiety, but though the scale doesn't seem to be shifting too much, my clothes feel more comfortable. I'm having more of an issue with the restrictive diet in the season of pumpkin flavored everything. Very hard to resist all of the delicious seasonal baked goods.
This weekend is our 5 year wedding anniversary, so we're going to Gettysburg for foliage watching, historical stuff, and a ghost tour.
Hocus Pocus: I am handling this mostly on FB, but in case you are not a FB person (and also someone I know IRL), the Hocus Pocus gathering is going to be Sunday the 26th. Second movie will be Cabin In The Woods.
So, that's it. It's a mixed bag. I'm stressed. I could use more hugs. But there are good things happening, too.