Katie

Just got the call. Just got the email. Just sent the fax. Now I can talk about it.

You're now looking at the newest Business Analyst for NASA.

Oh my god.
Oh my god.
Oh my god.

This weekend we got a new living room set. Long live The Room Store!

Moving is coming along. Kitchen is mostly packed up. Boy's room is mostly packed. Living room mostly done. Clothes coming along. So far, 30 bags of stuff has been either tossed or given away. If we don't pack it, we don't have to unpack it!

So, Jake was with Leigh this weekend, and he got a hold of her camera. Since he's good with electronics, she let him tool around the house and take pictures of whatever he wanted. Some of these turned out surprisingly good. Arty, almost.

http://www.screamline.net/shutterbug.php

My faves are the teapot and the piano keys.

The boy was a bat. He told everyone he was a policeman. My mother says he was likely undercover.

Pics: http://www.screamline.net/holloween06_ss.php

He ended up not going trick-or-treating on actual Holloween, due to suddenly being scared of the dark. This didn't bug us much, as he'd gotten to go do the door to door thing last weekend, while camping.

He had a good haul, anyway... which my mother TOOK TO WORK. And then tried to feed me a South Beach bar. BUH?! Ah well, at least my co-workers have good stuff to bring in.

Oh, yeah. Forgot my art stuff.

I've been getting back into drawing. Right now, I'm trying to learn how to do inks with no prelims. I found that when I did pencil sketches, they never translated to ink. Doing ink from the get go, however, turned out nicer.
( Pick for pics )

Gallery here

Busy weekend, in which not much gets done.

Friday, Adam and I began packing. Why? Because for Christmas, mom is helping us move into a townhouse! Woot! As a result, we have to get cracking on packing/pitching. Later, I'll have a free for all party where people can come take what they want from what we're leaving behind.

Saturday, I had a field trip to the Mall to see some Indian Art. While I trailed our teacher around (and got to listen to dueling historians again! Whee!), Adam took Jake to Air and Space. I think I had the better end of the deal, as Jake was having one of his less than cooperative days, and I wasn't there to put the fear of ghu into him. Afterwards, we indulged in one of my most favorite things ever to do-- we ate food from the cart people. If you ever go to DC, find a cart person and get a hot dog. It's the only place I'll eat a hot dog. Sooooo good. Made up for the slag at Dunkin Donuts who didn't sweeten my coffee when I asked, and didn't give me packets so that I could do it myself. Fraking drive through.

Saturday night, I rediscovered Eve Online. Oh my... I'd forgotten how addicting the game can be. I tooled around for a few hours, once again in love with the stars and awesome music.

Sunday, OJ introduced me to the wonders that are Aldi and Bottom Dollar. Grocery shopping without choking! Yay! I don't know why, but I had imagined grungy little places like Global Foods at its worst, but really, both were quite neat and orderly. Came home and promptly started baking cookies for my thank you gifts. My usual offer for help tossed my way is a parcel of cookies, and trust me, it's usually worth it.

And that's about it. Had much more I was supposed to get done, but ah well.

http://www.screamline.net/seacon.php

There you go! With informative titles!

Saturday - Sunday: Lots of packing. Each cruise you go on, you both pack less, and pack faster. Our first took a month. Our second took a week. We took about eight hours this go around. Mom drops us off at a hotel near Dulles so we can get out there early for our flight without her having to get up at four.

Monday: We're on the shuttle by 6 am. We get our tickets, get on our plane, and enjoy a flight with one small lay-over in Charlotte. Get to Miami, discover they have delayed one of my bags. After much pacing and fretting, it arrives, and off we go to the boat. Only had to threaten Adam's life once. Got a fruity drink, and all was well again.

We met up with boffo9 and whytcrow, who were still getting used to the ship. Did the usual abandon ship drill stuff. Discovered the grill, where you could order a toasted bagel with cream cheese and a MOUNTAIN of salmon. Seriously. It ended up being our lunch staple for the rest of the cruise.

Tuesday: Key West! We didn't have much time on shore, so we basically went shopping for our stay there. Key West has an amazing number of head shops. My key find? A nice new knife for me and a Buddhist placard for some spot on my wall. The contradiction didn't hit me until we were back on the boat.

Wednesday: Cozumel! At the last minute, Adam and I decided to join boffo9 in biking and snorkelling, and we were so glad we did. It really was amazing, and I'm not saying that because the tour guide kept calling me beautiful. We biked about 3-4 miles out to Chankanab National Park, then snorkelled for about an hour, then biked back. Our tour stickers were worth one free beer at Carlos and Charlies, so we did our Dos Equis toast on someone else's dime. I had wanted to go shopping, but we were bushed after that, so back to the boat we went.

Thursday: Day at Sea! These are my favorite days, sometimes. I got to relax, sit by the pool, and get some color. Adam got to relax, sit by the pool, and get roasted. Note: when sunbathing on deck, lotion gets dried and carried away. Reapply CONSTANTLY.

Friday: Back home. Literally, we waited until they were kicking us off the boat by pitching us over the side. Flight home went okay, though we panicked for a second when we thought there was going to be a 3 hour layover. They got us a new plane, though, and we got home right about when we were supposed to. Had dinner with Mom, Chris, and Jake, and learned we were missed, oh, about Thursday.

Saturday: Why yes! We went on ANOTHER vacation! This one was a family get-away, and we do mean family. The whole clan went down to a campground that had little cabins that came with a living room area, a kitchen, a full bath, and a porch with picnic and grilling area. All told, there were 14 of us whooping it up, grilling marshmallows and dogs and other things (after 10, we go creative) until fairly late.

Sunday: Checked out, went to Williamsburg Pottery Factory, then home. Set up our new X-Box (vanilla), then collapsed.

This morning, on the way in, I was listening to NPR like I usually do. Usually, the Calf ignores it. This morning, though, he found it hilarious for some reason. 'Why is some guy talking about England's economy funny?' So I asked him. "He's a big rabbit!" Apparently, Jake thinks that all British males are Wallace.

Jake got his first sad note home yesterday.

For those not familiar with the system, Kindergarteners have a behavior chart that goes home with them. Green means wunderkid. Yellow means there were some issues, but they were sorted. Red means Cybil is back, and that there's a note explaining the red mark.

It wasn't anything earth shattering, like hitting another child or biting or starting a terrorist cell. He wouldn't sit when he was supposed to, and didn't want to attend to the task at hand.

I turned to Jacob after reading the note. "Why is there a sad face in your notebook...?"

This look of ABJECT HORROR spread across his face. "Oh... no!" God, it reminded me so much of me as a kid when I got in trouble that I had to work hard not to laugh.

In the end, he was very sorry he got a red mark, and I think got a good lesson that teachers are not so easy to manipulate as his day care providors or grandmas. That, and mommy can read his notebook.

Okay... I missed a whole bunch of West sessions. See, this is what happens when my life gets too busy! Ah, well. Better this than boring.

Things that have happened:
* A dashing battle in the middle of the plains against her uncle's ship.
* An odd dream sequence that involved Maria's maternal family.
* A succubus came to town, which can be read about here.
* A Kitsune moved into town.

So, at the opening of these past two episodes, Maria was living with Sally Cumberland, who had been possessed by a succubus, and now had nowhere to go. Worse than that, she wouldn't go near any men, or even leave the house. The fact that she sees Maria's manic house as less scary than a trip to the store says something.

Maria took to having a companion after being alone so long, even one that was a worse hermit than her. She was even getting comfortable with having someone around all the time... Maybe too comfortable. One night, after a scare, Sally asked to share the bed with Maria, an innocent enough request. The next morning found them spooned together, with hormones beginning to rile. Maria jetted, feeling uncertain about herself for the first time she could remember.

She headed into town, and decided to call on the doctor. He was a nice, understanding man of a scientific persuasion. He would understand. She caught him as he was looking over his supplies. She struck up a conversation about the importance of sceintific experimentation and controlled trials and scientists sometimes putting themselves on the line in experiments... He warily agreed to everything she was saying.

"Ah, good. We are on the same page. Close your eyes."
"Um..."
"Just do it!"

He did, and she stepped in with a kiss. It was supposed to be a quick peck to see if it riled up anything like what she felt that morning with Sally. It did, and Maria learned the hard way that once those hormones start to talk, its diffcult to get them to shup up. Several minutes passed, until they were running dangerously low on air. Stunned, they stared at each other for a moment, until Maria choked out a thanks for helping her in her experiment, and then fled.

Wonderful. Now she was more confused than ever.

She went to talk to Leroy, who helped vague it up even more by not giving her the moral answer she wanted. "Don't get hurt." And he called himself a preacher?!

At this point, thankfully, they were interrupted by plot, which allowed her to push Sally, the Doctor, and that tingly feeling out of her head.

Sadly, as all plot bits must, the plotty bit ended, leaving Maria once more to ponder what she had before left well enough alone. Things around Sally were uncomfortable. The doctor had been acting like their encounter hadn't happened. Leroy had been turned into a vampire (more about that later). Things were growing more and more complicated in The Town, and Maria was wishing more and more she could just go back to being the odd woman on the edge of town. She went to the doctor's to talk about a way of saving Leroy.

The brandy came out. Maria started ruminating on whether she could be saved from totally being taken over by War. The ruminating lead to scientific rambling, during which the doctor had grown more and more quiet. She paused to take a breath, and he broke her train of thought with a kiss. The alcohol had set in nicely, so nature, and not reason, took its course.

The night was still young, so later, Irvine stopped by to chat with the Doc, everyone else having gone missing. As he went to knock on the door, he heard the sounds of, well, sounds that indicated he shouldn't be disturbing the Doc anytime soon. Amused, he wondered who he could have picked up in a town this small... and then he saw Maria's leathers. With this bit of blackmail tucked behind his ear, he wandered back to fleece some more locals.

That morning, Maria woke up, and the good Catholic guilt set in. She disentangled herself, tossed on the only thing handy to get dressed in (the Doc's shirt), and pulled out his bible. And she read. And fretted. And read some more.

At one point, someone knocked downstairs, and she about dove under the bed. She waited, then heard someone go around the back. She peeked out the window and saw a morose Gunnar riding Freya away. At this point, she turned around and woke the Doctor up with a sharp crack on the head with the bible.

"Ow!"
"Get up! We have to see a preacher!"

They got dressed, and on the street met up with Irvine. He trailed behind as Maria rushed into the general store and started ordering things. This was nothing new, but what she was ordering was strange. "I need a dress... and do you sell wedding rings here?" Irvine lost any composure he might have had and fell out laughing. No, roaring. And it only got worse as the conversation turned to babies (yes, thank you Irvine, for making an already comfortable subject even worse for Maria).

So, the wedding is set for next session-- supposedly. We shall see ;\

And plotty bits tomorrow!

I, too, have started school again after a long summer break. Three classes. I thought I was being clever by picking two easy classes and one tough one.

Arts of India was supposed to be looking at pretty pieces of art and discussing them, something I can do standing on my head. I was right on that account, but we're also having to read primary sources like you would in a history class. Bad zeroxes make me want to kill puppies. The teacher makes up for the dry readings, though.

Communicating Across the Media was supposed to be some writing and light reading. The syllabus, however, didn't list 80% of the assignments. We're supposed to get used to writing under a deadline, so it's impossible to tell how much work there'll be from week to week. Also, weekly quiz on current events is either my glory or my hell each week. Thank ghu I listen to NPR. Need to start reading the paper.

Physiological Biology is breaking my brain. HALP! HALP!

Jake is now officially a kindergartener. A hurdle has been jumped, and we're off!

He's in school all day, which was something I was delighted we got. Mornings, he's with a regular kindergarten class with eighteen other children and two teachers. Afternoons, he's in an autism class with five other children and three teachers. FIVE TEACHERS. He's just two short of what high school kids get.

The teachers are hyper communicative, with the kindergarten teacher sending home tons of paper and reports, and the autism teacher keeping a notebook for detailed information on therepies, tasks, and what she'd like us to work on.

And how has he taken to it? He loves it. He loves school beyond words. His behavior has been top notch, his attention to tasks excellent, and his enthusiasm terrific. The first two weeks, however, his excitement seemed to center around just the school bus, so we could get little out of him.

GFB: What did you do at school today?
J: I went on a bus!
GFB: And after the bus?
J: I got off the bus.
GFB: ... And after that?
J: I went to school... then got on a bus AGAIN!

Now he's starting to share more about what he does, thanks to us using the reports to lead the conversation. He's become more verbal almost overnight, with more spontenaity mixed in. I think he's going to do great.

You can't cancel your WoW account if it's maintenence day.

I had been cutting down recently, but last night, after a ZG run, I realized it was just time to pull the plug.

1. Grinding. I don't mind grinding to get to 60. That's expected, and it's still interesting to me. I'm picking up skills along the way, so it's productive. But grinding to get cash to pay for repairs? Grinding for mats so you can raid? Grinding faction so you can even enter new instances? It's getting more and more out of hand with each new instance installed, and it doesn't look like they're backing down on the grind mentality.

2. Raiding. I love raiding. I hate that raids are so late. My brain starts shutting off around 10, but I know I can't leave until 11-12. By the time we down the last boss, my forehead is touching the keyboard.

3. Guildness. I love our guild, but I hate dealing with guild drama. Any guild large enough to raid is going to have guild drama.

4. Time. Just not enough of it. If I could just raid, then I would be fine, but the game requires so much more time than that, so that it's just not feasible anymore.

At least a good number of my guildies are going to play in Warhammer Online, which looks to be our next MMO. Sad that I'm missing out on Naxx, though. :(

Friday kicked off the weekend with Adam's birthday present, tickets to go so Play! at Wolf-Trap. I worried that it might be overly corny, or that it might rain, or that something would happen so that we wouldn't enjoy ourselves. It looks like I wasted energy worrying, though, because we had a blast.

Play! is a tour that plays video game music using a full orchestra. This one is a few months old, but already a huge hit on the gaming scene. Wolf-Trap was packed by the time it got dark, even in the box seats, which usually don't sell out.

They played Final Fantasy and ChronoCross songs that I, of course, geeked out over, but my favorite song by far was the Super Mario Bros medely. Overhead, they were playing gameply captures, and it was hilarious to listen to the crowd react when Mario missed a mushroom, or pulled off some feat we had spent hours perfecting in our youth.

Play! (or something like it) will no doubt be returning to the DC area. When it does, go see it.

Saturday, we had dinner with the Fikuses at the China King Buffet. It was indeed, a buffet, which harbors all the oddities that buffets often do. The food was terrific, and the company was wonderful, so in the end it was a great evening. Also, it didn't destroy Adam's stomach, so all the better.

Sunday, we got to meet Adam's aunt and uncle, which went well enough. He wasn't keen on going at first, but with some prodding he agreed he might want to see his family more than once every ten years. It turns out the uncle and aunt he was cool with: it was his mother that he wanted to slay.

Ah, well. What can you do? At least we live in Woodbridge, the place that people from DC will not visit.

That evening, we returned home and downloaded a game foogirl had told us about: Second Life. Our first reaction was that we didn't want another MMO, but then she gave us some more details on it.

1. One server, something I'm growing to love more and more.
2. Free! Well, sort of...
3. You can either buy money from the game's owner, make it in game through services, or get a monthly account which gives you a bonus, and then a monthly stipend.
4. Based off of Snowcrash. Yeah, that Snowcrash. She told me that, and it was sold!
5. It is a completely user generated world. You can program world objects, clothes, avatars, actions, houses, anything.

So if you're on, look up Keddren and Miriam Kita. ;)