InsaneJournal continues to be down, but should be restored today. In the meantime, here are the things getting me through the mid-week slump.

1. I made a giant batch of soup last night, using this super-easy but tasty recipe. (Just a note - I find it a little too salty, so you may want to add plain water.)

2. I made a semi-impulse buy and ordered a coffee maker and coffee grinder yesterday. I don't drink coffee on a regular basis, but I have been drinking it more lately; and this way I won't have to make a trip upstairs to the coffee stand every time.

3. Work on the Warmakers 4-koma continues. It's slow-going, because I'm so not good at humorous art ... but hey, it's a new skill to develop.

4. My BPAL order arrived! I still have to go pick it up from nekokoban, but ... my BPAL order arrived! :D Also, I'm wearing Bengal today, and while it's not my one of my favorites so far, it's still quite nice.

5. ratzeo is running game on Sunday!

And in less dramatic and confidential news ...

I have now joined the ranks of DS owners. 8D

ratzeo gave me one of the shiny new "crimson and black" style last night for Christmas. And he and kyonkun furnished me with a few games to suck my life away practice with.

(He gave it to me earlier than originally intended, because I was complaining about being bored while I was sick. And a DS is manageable when your head is fuzzy, but has the benefit of being less brain-killing than extended Internet surfing. I have the best boyfriend evar.)

Now, ironically, I was actually well enough to come to work today, so I haven't gotten a chance to use it much. But I don't care, because ... well, now I'm on the road to recovery *and* have a shiny new DS. XD

( And then there was the dream. )

... guzzling tea and downing satsumas and trying to rid myself of that ominous tickle in my throat.

In an effort to stave off my am-I-or-am-I-not brooding about my maybe-sickness, I'm thinking about things that are making me happy right now:

- Guzzling tea and downing satsumas is actually a pretty good way to spend my day, actually. The bright side to the fact that I never remember to buy myself cold medicine is that I have to administer tastier food-based remedies to myself.

- I have a new winter coat, since the zipper on my old one busted last week. kyonkun gave it to me as an early Christmas present, and it's all downy and squishy. :D

- I really enjoy wrapping, packaging, and otherwise arranging Christmas presents for people. A pile of wrapped presents is slowly amassing in my room (others are still en route in the mail, or stored at ratzeo's apartment). Seeing a pile of gifts for other people makes me just as happy as seeing a pile of gifts for myself. (Well, okay ... maybe just a teeny bit less happy. XD;;)

- I really look forward to my plans for the remainder of the week, and I'm doing my level best to make sure I'm healthy for them. Can't do anything more right now.

- Since I'm relaxing and (trying to) nap today, I'll have more energy to do the bedroom and basement cleanup I've been poking at since last week. Last night I was too tired to muster the energy, and then I watched the finale of Heroes and it sucked the remainder of my will to be productive.

Edit: My Q Center meeting has been postponed. So that's one less thing to worry about!

The month arrived in typical Seattle fashion: we got snow on the first day (which by itself would be unusual), but then the temperature jumped 20 degrees over the next two days and now we're hit with heavy rain that has already flooded one building on campus. Oh, Washington. ♥

My luck being what it is, I was outside Christmas shopping when the snow started on Saturday. Since that was the last day I could dedicate to shopping before the party this Saturday, though, I soldiered on. But I got everything I needed, woo! And it wasn't so bad, really; the snow was really pretty and I was adequately bundled against the cold. ratzeo also pointed out that we were experiencing the commercially ideal scenario: spending lots of money on Christmas shopping at Pike Place Market on the first day of December in the snow. XD

The idea of going home and enjoying the snow from inside was tempting, but ratzeo and I had tickets to see The Vinyl Cafe at the Moore Theatre that night. And it takes a hell of a lot to make me miss a show. ;) The Vinyl Cafe is a traveling Canadian radio show that alternates between hilarious short stories and awesome musical guests, and we got to see Danny Michel (who was lots of fun), and Allison Russell of Po'Girl (who was just wow). A perfect introduction to Canadian culture for a heathen American like me. ;)

Sunday we had a Warmakers session, which was just awesome. And we also earned a promise of fic from irishninja, our illustrious GM. XD

Today ... Well, today is a Monday, and it feels very slow. I'm feeling paranoid that I've been infected with whatever sickness has been travelling around my office, so I'm guzzling tea and vitamin C in the hopes of fighting if off. *sigh* And my weekend was so nice ...

I got my SJC order in today. :D This one and this one arrived. This one did not, but it shipped out later in the day than the other two, so I'm hoping it'll arrive tomorrow.

Overall, I'm quite pleased. shadawyn gave me very helpful advice, by reminding me that objects on a jewelry website are smaller than they appear. Without that (and considering that the website does not list the measurements for all of their pieces), I probably would have been disappointed. As it is, I do wish the pendants were larger, but this way they're probably better for everyday wear. I love big dangly jewelry, but big dangly semi-precious gemstones would probably be overdoing it. :P And besides, for less than $10 apiece I really can't complain.

(Actually, the only thing that disappointed me was the length of the silver chain I ordered, which was entirely my fault. I don't know what possessed me to order the shortest length, but it's not really good for wearing with anything other than a turtleneck.)

Other than that not-quite-problem, my jewelry is quite satisfactory. Pretty and shiny - that's all I ask for.

A few people have asked me what I would like for my birthday or for Christmas - so, thank you for thinking of me! Here's my wishlist for anyone who's interested. If you are not interested, carry on. :)

I really like having wishlists to work with when I'm finding gifts for my friends, so I hope other people post their lists too!

( I like stuff )

It's a wonderful day today, and here's why:

1. It's Friday, duh.

2. Tonight I'm going over to watch Doctor Who with nekokoban - the last episode of season 1, and probably some of season 2.

3. Cathartic cooking! I don't know what it is, but cooking my own meal makes me feel good. Something about following the steps to get a desired result, which makes me feel both productive and fulfilled.

4. I've spent the past two days geeking with shadawyn about Warmakers stuff (irishninja's game) both over email and in-person. Fleshing out the backstory for our characters (who are twin sisters), RPing some conversations between them, and drawing fanart.

5. I've also been RPing with ratzeo over email. Since this is something like our fourth or fifth game together, we've decided to try RPing a romance between our characters. Unfortunately ... both of them have negative Charisma. XD;; ratzeo's character has both negative Charisma AND Wisdom, which is even better. And finally, both characters are teenaged. The result? Hilarity.

6. shadawyn, evil temptress that she is, just shared SilverJewelryClub.com with me, a site which offers designer jewelry essentially for free (for real). I haven't gotten anything yet, but I have stared at a lot of shiny things.

7. Tomorrow I'm going to dinner at The Melting Pot!

Edit for myself: Okay, self, you are not allowed to order any more jewelry until you actually receive one of your orders.