Sena's DW :: Watermelon Life

Yesterday Mom, Lee and I had Christmas with my sister, Amy, and sister-in-law, Brittny, and their family, which included Cobin, Sarah, Heather and Brit's brother whose name I CANNOT remember. Literally last night was the first time I'd met him. He seemed nice enough, though. I was anticipating it being a really uncomfortable time, especially with Heather and Sarah there, but it turned out to not be so bad. I survived.

We did our gift exchange before dinner. Amy, Brit and Cobin got me Saw X on DVD and a funny alien-cat t-shirt. Sarah decided to go with shirts for everyone this year even though she doesn't know anyone's size, so she got me a really hilarious shirt that was two sizes too small. She also got me an Angry Cat calendar that's kind of cute and some toys for the cats. But she got Mom a cat plaque that says "spoiled cats live here along with their human slaves" which like... is ZERO DEGREES of anywhere CLOSE to what Mom likes?? And she got Mom and Lee a stuffed animal for some reason, too, so when we got home I ended up with both of those as well.

Everyone seemed to like their gifts from me, which was good. It was awkward watching Heather hand over HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS worth of gifts strictly to Amy, Brit and Cobin. She took like 45 minutes just on her own. One of her gifts was literally just a picture of herself in a nice frame, like?? She was also drinking and that always makes her even more unbearable. But then basically, Heather is unbearable on the best of days, so there's that.

Dinner was really good (the gravy was AMAZING) and for dessert Mom, Lee and I brought a sweet potato pie (on Amy's request which is CRAZY because Amy doesn't even LIKE pie, but for some reason she loves the sweet potato pie I make XD;;) and a strawberry-rhubarb pie. There were also a few cookies. I had a cookie, and we ended up bringing the remainder of the strawberry-rhubarb pie home. We left the sweet potato pie for Amy, though, lol.

There were three freaking dogs there, all small and yappy and jumping all over everything and everybody and I just really wish they hadn't been there. I SO MUCH PREFER CATS you have no idea. :|

Anyway, I got a good night's sleep last night after everything and the plan was originally to do the tear down and super deep clean out of the axolotl aquarium today but I woke up not feeling very well, so it's getting pushed until tomorrow. I feel bad because the 'lotls really need their tank cleaned but... yeah. I'll do a quick clean of it tonight with the suction thing just to give me a head start before tomorrow.

A bunch of stuff came in from Amazon today. A travel/cosmetics bag, a pair of mini binoculars, gauze pads, a bowie knife, a buck knife and a knife sharpener for my Bug-Out Bag, as well as a tablecloth for Mom and some carpet deodorizer for both my room and Jessie's room and a new case for DVDs because I'm running out of room in the ones I already had. I'm trying to decide if I should be buying a canteen for my Bug-Out Bag, too, but I already have a filtering water bottle in it, so that would be superfluous, right? Yeah.

I ordered a bunch of DVDs off Amazon, now that I know what all I got for Christmas, so tomorrow Abigail, It Lives Inside, Tarot, Sting, Thanksgiving and A Quiet Place Day One are going to come in. And I ordered Countdown, but it won't be in until at least January 3rd. I also ordered Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey 2 off ebay, since Amazon didn't have it. And I ordered the book "Sawkill Girls" by Claire Legrand, which will come in on Tuesday. There's still a bunch of stuff on my list that I'll have to pick up later, but that's a good start for now, I think.

I'm DYING for a Cadbury Creme Egg right now but it is NOT the season for them so I'm SOL and it's like. Boo.

Today I actually worked on Temper Tantrums a bit. Not much but more than I have in a while, so hopefully I can get into it and get it written. For some reason I'm struggling with this one, as well as with Hunting Souls, and it's frustrating. Then again I haven't worked on TKA in a while either. My ADHD has been playing up really badly lately, it's no good, no good. Definitely gotta talk to Dr. K about it when I see her at the end of January...

Tomorrow is CHRISTMAS BAKING DAY. Literally ON Christmas day because I fucking SUCK at time management this year. I have to at least get Cobin's cookies and Amy's pie done, and then anything else I can cram in I guess I'll cram in. Hopefully at least one batch of lemon cream cheese cookies and one batch of shortbread cookies. I guess we'll see.

I'm currently gearing up to do a total tear-down of the axolotl tank in a couple of days. Take the 'lotls out and place them gently in a bucket, same with the plants. Rinse and prune the plants while I'm at it. Then take everything else out of the tank, all the hides and filters and the air stone and scrub them down and clean them out, too, before washing down the inside of the tank itself because it tends to get icky on the walls. Then siphon out all the water that I can, and start refilling it with new dechlorinated, treated water, bucket by bucket. Once the tank is full again, I can put everything back in and let it run for an hour or two (hopefully) before putting the 'lotls back in, too. And fingers crossed it all goes well.

But it's going to be SUCH a big job, and SO hard on my back, I'm just like... yeah. Not looking forward to it, no matter how much it needs to be done. :|

Anyway.

I ordered a folding buck knife/utility tool a few days ago and it came in today. It's a nice little knife and I'll add it to my Bug-Out Bag, but it's not exactly what I was looking for so I went back and ordered another non-folding buck knife and holster, which I think will be more like what I was going for. I also ordered a pocket knife sharpener.

More on my prepping in another entry. :D;;

Yesterday was Christmas with my little brother. The day started off shitty and painful, but that's how most days start for me. Mom was pissed because I hadn't unloaded the cat litter from the car the day before (because I COULDN'T because my ankle is still FUCKED and my BACK is ALWAYS fucked) so I basically had to do that in my pyjamas while she glared at me the whole time.

Anyway, once she and my brother left to do his shopping I brought up some empty cat litter boxes and the scoop and emptied half the cat litter from each new box into an empty one so that I could carry them all downstairs and cripple myself again. :|

THEN it was cookie time, and I baked approximately 8 dozen chocolate chip cookies on my brother's request (I think he wanted to take them to his family in Toronto for actual Christmas) and then I got to sit down for a few minutes while Lee made a cheesecake. I couldn't do any more cookies yesterday or today even if I wanted to because we ran out of vanilla, which sucks because I have approximately twenty dozen more cookies to make over the next day, now. Mom says we can go out for vanilla tomorrow.

Once the cheesecake was done and in the fridge we exchanged gifts, which was nice, I always like watching people open the gifts I've bought them. Lee laughed at the I.O.U. for Red One because literally it doesn't come out until the end of February haha. And I didn't realize when I was wrapping my brother's dragon coaster set THAT THE BOX LITERALLY SAID "DRAGON COASTER SET" on the fffffffreaking side!! So he unwrapped it and was like "I know what's in this box" and I was just GDI. He also loved that I went to the trouble of getting all of SPN onto USB drives for him. I hope he's happy with his SPN marathon. Mom was really tickled with both of her new Christmas trees, so that was good too.

As for me, I got two Michael's gift cards and a Walmart gift card, as well as some Christmas socks, and the BEST axolotl t-shirt that Mom actually bought back when we went to the aquarium in October. I love it. And for my birthday I got two nice shirts and a chapstick, which I am NOT going to turn down. And we'll see what Amy and Brit, and Brad and Kristianna, and Sarah got for me (if anything) in the future. Also Dad because apparently 3/4 of my presents got stuck in the postal strike. :P

After gifts I got to making dinner, Chicken Picatta Casserole, and then while it was in the oven I did actually get to sit and rest my back for a while. Though, when it was time to eat my stomach started acting up and I couldn't finish what I took. It kind of sucked. But tonight I'm going to eat it as leftovers and my stomach feels fine so I can properly enjoy it (I hope.)

.....

Yesterday a few things from Amazon came in as well. Some really cute little Christmas ornaments that I'm going to make into necklaces (Star Wars, Marvel and The Nightmare Before Christmas) as well as deodorant (that I forgot to buy when Mom and I were out shopping on Friday) and cotrisone cream because I have a rash on my foot that I need to take care of and just plain moisturizers aren't helping.

Today I got more Amazon parcels; The Nightmare Before Christmas on DVD, the first three seasons of Fear The Walking Dead on DVD BECAUSE LITERALLY I CAN'T FIND A DOWNLOAD OF THAT SHOW WHERE THE AUDIO WORKS and some glass pearls I ordered a while back. It was nice to see those come in.

I convinced Mom and Lee to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas with me when it came in today but I think they didn't enjoy it as much as I did. Mom got a kick out of some parts, but overall... yeah. I should just stop recommending movies for people to watch, they never seem to work out. My tastes are too oddball, I guess.

I'm most of the way through Season 8 of my TWD marathon and I think it's starting to get to my head. Last night I had this weird dream about being a kid and going to a primary school where they had us act out our worst nightmares, and one kid's was about an invisible monster that tore people limb-from-limb, absolutely bloody and gory, and then left them to be eaten by cats. Does this mean I'm afraid of my cats eating me some day, subconsciously? I don't even know where my brain goes when it comes to dreams anymore.

I desperately need to do a complete water change in the axolotl tank, and clean up everything that's in it and everything, but I'm procrastinating over it because of my back and how much doing that will make it fall apart completely. But the internal filters need a proper clean and the plants need rinsed off, and I have a new hide for the 'lotls to add to the aquarium, too, so I mean. Yeah. I dunno, maybe tomorrow. Then again, baking was supposed to be tomorrow, so...

Either way, the 'lotls are starting to act weird and slugging and they're off their food, and I think it's because of the filters, so I need to get on it.

In a move that I should have FUCKING predicted with how many times it's happened to me in the past with various aquariums, the external filter on the axolotl aquarium overflowed last night and I woke up to half my room in soggy carpet. Again. *FACEPALM* The first time since the co-op installed the new carpet, though, so I'm not happy for various reasons (and Mom won't be happy, either.)

So, I unplugged it for the time being and I'm going to pull it off the tank and take it apart, clean it out and get it running properly again, hopefully later today because I really need the surface skimmer to be operational. -__-; I also need to refill the tank to the top with water because it's down about an in-and-a-half of water, which is a TON in a 45-gallon aquarium. Just. All over my floor.

Other than that, I finished my brother's Wiggly Foxes last night and let them sit overnight to set, then sealed them this morning and once they were dry, and wrapped them all up and now they're under the tree. I included a card that explained that, despite their attached keyrings, Wiggly Foxes don't actually make great KEYCHAINS, they prefer to be used as decorations or ornaments eg: hanging from a car rear view mirror. Just so he and the girls know. (I hope they like them. <3)

Today my Beachwood Harbor Mysteries books are coming in via Amazon, and I also ordered a NEW MOTHER FUCKING SHOWER HEAD to put under the tree as a gift to "the house" because the shower head we CURRENTLY HAVE is SHIT and I have been campaigning for a new one for years but Mom and Lee seem content in the fucking rut. SO I'M TAKING THINGS INTO MY OWN HANDS. I WILL EVEN FUCKING INSTALL THE THING IF I HAVE TO. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME.

Anyway, that's coming in today too, so I need to get it into a bag and under the tree once it arrives.

Other than the filter than needs cleaned, today I also have to write my January postcards because we're going to Shoppers/the post office tomorrow. Normally I would have until the end of the month but everything happens around the 19th/20th in December instead. The 20th is my monthly shop for January, for example, so Friday wee get to do that. Fun times this time of year. /sarcasm

Then I also need to bake like a MILLION COOKIES today and tomorrow, because Friday is out.

I'm just... so busy. So busy. It's a busy time of year.

EDIT: Also I have two things that need to be wrapped before Saturday when Mom, Lee, my brother and I have our family Christmas. One is my brother's coasters set, and the other is the shower head which just arrived THANK GOD I WILL BE INSTALLING IT ASAP after someone opens it. :|

I've been working on a semi-last-minute gift for my brother this morning. The last while he's been saying how we wants to binge SPN like WHOA (I don't think he's ever watched all of it before) but he can't because my DVDs are in storage (again, I don't think he even has a DVD player anyway) and his computer is so full he can't download it.

SO. This morning I've been downloading all of SPN and loading it onto a USB drive for him. Stupidly, I managed to fit seasons 1-->14 on one drive and that leaves just season 15 on a separate drive, so I'm also throwing in the first season of The Winchesters and all of Blood C, too, just because I can.

It's just a little thing that's taken a couple of hours in-and-around watching TWD but I hope he'll be happy to get it on Saturday when our family has Christmas together. <3

My set of Warriors books by Erin Hunter came in this morning. #1-6, the complete first set. I'll see how I like them and then get into more of them later on if I do. I keep hearing about this series from various people but it's one I somehow missed out on growing up, but I figure you can start at any age, right? I also want to read the Silverwing series by Kenneth Oppal (I think that's the name), though those ones are very thin books. The Warriors ones will at least take me a day or two to read each one. *shrug*

I cooked dinner last night from a recipe from the Deadpool cookbook, and while Mom and Lee liked it okay I wasn't really a fan of it. And it wasn't even the honey that was in it, I couldn't even taste that for once! I dunno, something about it was just... meh. So Mom picked the zucchini out of it since that was the only part she and Lee didn't like and they said they'll eat it again. The thing with me is that I don't eat very many things as leftovers, as a general rule, so I just... I guess I'm picky. I dunno.

Yesterday the scabs came off my mangled finger. It still hurts, but it's good to know that it's holding together. There's a lot of scar tissue and still some numb spots but I'll survive. Sometimes it hurts to type, though, especially in the mornings, which is kind of a pain in the butt since that's when I do most of my writing.

Last night the HUGE parcel I sent to Sethi arrived and she videotaped her kids opening it and it was a minute-and-a-half of fabulous. They were SO excited. Seriously though, every time I send a parcel with pinback buttons in it Customs takes them out of their little baggie and they end up spread all across the box. It's annoying. I don't know why I bother. But that aside, I'm looking forward to reviews on everything as it gets played with/eaten/etc. The toys and stickers are already a hit. (I sent SO MANY STICKERS OMG.)

Last night I finished Halcyon Days (#29 in the post-SS one-shot series) and it turned out to be 37 pages and 17737 words long, before editing. It might end up a little shorter or longer, after editing. I think it's the longest of the post-SS one-shots so far, which is nice because it's the "last" one (before Serendipity which almost doesn't count) and an important one. It was fun to write, and sad sometimes, but in general I enjoyed it. Dean and Cas got to have a nice hotel in Halcyon Days, instead of the usual ratty motel, haha. Good times.

The filter in the axolotl tank is still acting up, GLUGing and spitting water everywhere when it does, but now that my finger is semi-functional and watertight again, I can stick my hand into the tank to try to deal with it. I'll have to do it tomorrow though, because Extended Family Christmas is today so I'm busy with travelling and Christmas-ing and that kind of stuff.

There's a chance that Grandma won't be able to make it today and I feel like a horrible person for saying it, but I'm hoping that turns out to be the case. Aside from being forgetful and stuff, she's become mean and accusatory and obstinate, and I just don't think I can handle being around her the way she is now. She's not my Grandma anymore and it tears me up inside.

I'm going to wear my "ew, people" Grinch hoodie today, the one that Amy and Brit got me for Christmas last year. I checked the other day and it still fits, just a little tighter around my belly because of all the NAFLD weight gain.

Update on Extended Family Christmas later.

A week from now is Christmas with me, Mom, Lee and my little brother, so I really need to get the Wiggly Foxes that I'm making for him finished like... in the next couple of days, so the paint has a chance to really set and I can spray seal them before I wrap them up for him. I have one 98% complete, and the other three are like 75% there, I just have to get off my duff and freaking DO IT.

I'm still waiting for some stuff to come in the mail which sucks because we're getting together with Amy, Brit, Sarah, etc. on the 22nd and it's like... what am I going to do if they don't arrive before then? I guess placeholder boxes of chocolates until their actual gifts arrive. I'm a little annoyed, though. I dunno, it's a pain.

Right now, as it stands (and will stand, this is firmly IT for the post-SS one-shots) we have the following:

1) When Lightning Strikes (complete, edited)
2) Ghost In The Machine (complete, unedited)
3) Pinfeathers (complete, unedited)
4) Teeth (complete unedited)
5) Nightingale (complete, edited, could probably use more editing though)
6) Temper Tantrums (incomplete)
7) Hunting Souls (incomplete)
8) Shrike (incomplete)
9) Echoes (incomplete)
10) Day Drinking (not started)
11) Mockingbird (not started)
12) Crawlspace (not started)
13) Kindling (incomplete)
14) The Wolf (not started)
15) What Angels Dream (incomplete)
16) Grace (incomplete)
17) Run Hide Die (not started)
18) Hollow Things (not started)
19) The Desert Tide (incomplete)
20) Sudden Cardiac Arrest (not started)
21) Stalactites (not started)
22) Dreamcatcher (not started)
23) Magpies (not started)
24) Supply And Demand (not started)
25) Coyote Country (not started)
26) Creepy Crawlies (not started)
27) Mirrors (not started)
28) Wayward Daughters (complete, unedited)
29) Halcyon Days (incomplete)
30) Serendipity (incomplete)

SO. THIRTY OF THE BLOODY THINGS BUT I HAVE FINALLY WRAPPED THE STORY UP. ...OR HAVE I?? Because there is a very high chance that after all of these and he entire shenanigans with the entire Horror High and Storm Season et al series I miiiiight be writing spin-off series of one-shots following Sam's son (Dean) and someone else who hasn't be introduced yet but will be near the end of the post-SS one-shots. :D The first one is going to be called Controlled Descent, and is followed closely by Lore and then Midnight Spirits.

I know I keep saying no one is reading HH and SS etc. but for REAL no one is going to reach these spin-offs because they involve an original character so like. Yeah. But I might write at least those three just to (hopefully) get the monkey off my back about the entire idea. I'm not going to try to keep a steady Every Thursday update schedule with them, though, I'm just going to write them as I write them and see what happens. I might write the first one and then drop the whole thing entirely. *shrug*

ANYWAY. That aside, the other day I found Run. Hide. Die. (yes I totally ripped that title off), Polaroid and The Mean One on Amazon on DVD and nicked them STRAIGHT AWAY because I loved ALL those movies, but especially The Mean One. If you try to buy The Mean One on ebay it cost straight-up $150, and I got it off Amazon for $35 SO THAT WAS AN EASY DECISION. I'm currently waiting on a bunch of Amazon stuff to come in, but it's to the point now that about half of it isn't going to arrive until after Christmas. That's fine for most of it, but if Amy/Brit, Brad/Kristianna and Sarah's gifts don't arrive in time I'm going to be annoyed. They're supposed to get here the 16th-->23rd? So that should be okay. Just. PLEASE GET HERE IN TIME. Otherwise it's placeholder boxes of chocolates and I.O.U.s I guess.

Today I need to go to the Dollarama and buy some more gift bags, as well as cookie tins and a shit ton of candy for my little brother's last gift. I also need to finish up the Wiggly Foxes for his SECOND-LAST gift, so I need to get back on that tonight. I've just been so tired lately all I've been wanting to do is veg and watch movies. I have made a couple of pieces of jewelry, though, so. I dunno. I started three new necklaces with some chain that I literally can't do anything else with because it's too thick for any of my tools to cut, but they're going to take a WHILE because there's EXTENSIVE beading. I had to order more jump rings to hopefully get the job done. They should be arriving some time today, along with chain that I actually CAN work with.

We were also supposed to be doing Christmas baking this year but?? No one?? Bothered to do a grocery list for the stuff?? MOM AND LEE?? So I'm sitting here like, well I can make shortbread. :| It's frustrating. Like Mom basically wants to dispense of Christmas baking entirely but it's CHRISTMAS BAKING. It's PART OF THE HOLIDAYS. But the may get her way this year just because they're both too lazy to buy the stuff we need for it. We ARE making a sweet potato pie, though, because Amy specifically requested one after the one I made back for Thanksgiving in October. Which means I'm going to be making it, basically, except I can't peel the sweet potatoes because of how jacked my hands are nowadays, so SOMEONE is going to have to help me...

Yesterday my Official Witcher Cookbook and my Unofficial Witcher Cookbook came in, and Mom and my brother immediately confiscated them to look through them before even I'd had a chance too. But they both basically read them out loud so I got the general idea anyway (there are some really good recipes in them, too!); now I'm just waiting for (A BILLION OTHER BOOKS) The Supernatural Cookbook and Cooking With A Serial Killer and I can start snickering to myself. I think I'm going to start collecting pop culture cookbooks. They amuse me. I WONDER IF THERE'S A STAR WARS ONE I COULD BUY FOR DAD! :O

Speaking of Dad, he was supposed to call me last night and never did. I guess I'll message him later and ask what happened. He probably fell asleep or something silly like that.

P.S. The bandages are off my finger and I am typing with minimal discomfort and no bleeding so THUMBS UP.

EDIT: omg the spin-off series is going to be called "Wayward Cousins et al" :D

Today I've got a busy day ahead of me. We have to pack up Mom's car with the last of my stuff for storage at Dad's tomorrow. Thank God Lee is driving in a separate car, or I think I would go insane from the UTTER SILENCE on the way down like would it kill you to have a CONVERSATION? jfc. I didn't want him to come at all, but sadly we have two carloads of stuff and I don't drive so we don't really have a choice.

The thing with my Stepdad is that I LOVE him tons, but I don't LIKE him very much, you know? LOVE and LIKE are two very different things, and if I had to be trapped in a car with him for five hours (round trip) I think I would go insane. He's a good guy, but he's LAZY and he's ABSOLUTELY USELESS and I have no use for him, really. If he died tomorrow, I would be SAD but I wouldn't be HEARTBROKEN. But don't tell anyone I told you that. =/

Anyway, today I also have to wrap Dad and Lois' Christmas gifts for tomorrow and bake a batch of shortbread cookies for them. Luckily, their gifts/cookie tin are all small, so they won't take up TOO much room in the car. I just figure since I already have everything and it's (mostly) ready to go, I might as well drop it off while we're down there and save the fufurah come December. Then Dad just has to worry about mailing my stuff and he doesn't have to drive all the way up here this yeah like he has the last few years. I know that's hard on him, at his age.

Then AT SOME POINT TODAY I have to do a deep clean on Kaida's tank in preparation for the other two axolotls on Tuesday. If I don't do it today it'll have to wait until MONDAY and I've already put it off a couple days, so the tank is getting a little gunky. Then again maybe I SHOULD just wait until Monday, so the tank is as clean as possible for the new arrivals, and just give it a cursory clean today to get it looking a little better? idk idk idk.

Oh, turns out Kaida DID eat some of his worm from the other day, just when I wasn't looking. I still think I might stick with pellets until they're big enough to eat whole worms, though, cutting up live animals just... isn't cool with me. =/

Today I really should write my 1,667 words for the NaNo, too, but I'm like four or five days ahead at this point so if I miss a couple of days, it should be okay. Tomorrow I won't be able to write anything all day because we'll be in Georgetown, but idk maybe tonight I can write at least SOMETHING to go toward my word count? I can TRY at least...

.....

Poe deleted their Insta, so I have no way of keeping track of them at all anymore, especially not if they aren't going to bother replying to my emails anymore. I understand that they're going through something with their Dad, but the way to deal with it isn't to shut everyone else out. But that's how they always deal with the hard things in life, they just... shut down. Delete all their social media. Stop answering messages. They probably still have their Etsy up and running, but I dunno, I could be wrong about that.

I feel like... we had such a great start to our friendship, right, but I think I caught them in an upswing, and I had no idea what it was going to be like dealing with them long-term. And I really AM no good for them, or that's how it seems, anyway, which is why I sent that email kind of... cutting down our friendship. But they seem to have taken it to mean we shouldn't be friends AT ALL, which wasn't my intent, and now they won't listen when I try to explain that.

Or message me back when I ask about their address, so I end up sending an expensive parcel with things in it that can't be replaced to the wrong fucking address. I asked SO MANY TIMES and they just ignored me, and I KNOW, their DAD, but they could at least check their freaking EMAIL I just don't understand it!

I'm fairly sure that Poe is bipolar on top of everything else, with the drastic ups and downs that they make all the time, and I've had a lot of experience with that so I can recognize it when I see it. But I can't TALK to them about it because they're ignoring my FSCKING emails like a child and honestly... it hurts so, so, so much, but I'm pretty sure I AM better off without them, despite what I said in that email. All they do is cause me heartache and make me cry, and I love them more than anything but that's not okay. I don't think they mean to be, because they can be SO giving sometimes, but Poe is also INCREDIBLY selfish at times, and I can't have that in my life, can I?

It's just hard because I love them with all of my wretched heart. I don't know what to do, anymore.

I haven't written anything in two days because Monday was Aquarium Day and then yesterday was Recovering From Aquarium Day Day, and I should be working on writing right now but I just... blegh. My brain feels heavy in my head and like it's full of cotton batting or something. I think it's just my ADHD kicking in really bad, because I've felt this way before, but it still sucks. I have stuff to DO, gdi.

I'm 18 pages and 8,068 words into Ghost In The Machine and I think it's going to be a longer one-shot because I haven't even gotten to any of the Investigating or Hunting parts yet, it's all just background and character interactions (and smut because what HH et al fic would be complete without that?) So It might be more like 40 or 45ish pages instead of the 35 or 35ish that the others have been so far. *shrug* I guess we'll see.

If I can't focus on writing today, I might try to do some painting. I have several painting projects on the go right now that I should be working on. I'm almost done my next batch of Wiggly Foxes, not that it matters because no one's buying them anyway. And I have a plastic goat skull that I'm repainting in the pansexual pride flag colors to hang on my wall. And a pan pride cabbage dog... though that one might have to be a nonbinary cabbage dog, since the one I originally made for Poe was in that parcel that is possibly lost now.

Anyway, after I'm done with the four Wiggly Foxes that I'm working on now I need to finish my Rainbow Dash one and my Starry Void one, and I'm also going to pull out three more to start, too, since I have five pegs to hang them on so I might as well. Not 100% sure what I'm going to do with the new ones, but I'm taking a kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach to the Wiggly Foxes; no two are the same and I'm just making them up as I go. I might see if I have any that I can paint up like pokemon, though.

I need to take more photos for my Wiggly Fox ads because apparently listings with less than 2 pics don't show up in search results anymore, SO. I think I'm going to take them out to Mom's car and take pics of them hanging from the rear view mirror, because I think they would be happy as mirror danglers. Happier there than as actual keychains, anyway. Their little legs are kind of delicate for use as actual keychains. :P So I have to dig out the five I already have listed and take them out to take photos in the car, then add them to the listing. Then I can just do that right off the bat with the new ones as I finish them.

I wish I had that lantern hook that I held onto for so long, it would have been PERFECT for taking Wiggly Fox pics...

Last night I printed out like six pages of photos (4 photos per page) of the pics I took at the aquarium, just the really good ones that I particularly love. I got three pages in and ran out of blue in which, not a HUGE surprise since I was printing WATER pics, but still. Boo. Luckily I had a spare color cartridge in my Misc Bin, so I popped that in and was good to go, except now I have to order more color ink again. I'm going through ink hand over fist lately, it seems...

This morning when my alarm went off and I got up, Kaida was out and so I dropped her breakfast into the tank straight away and actually got to see her SNAP! at the little pellets as they floated down, it was really neat. I'm looking forward to when she's even bigger and I can see her more than I can now; she's still so small that she hides away in the nooks and crannies most of the time and it's like WHERE'S KAIDA?? WHERE'S KAIDA?? but with no THERE SHE IS!! in the end.

Today I have to vacuum her tank out (I do it ever second day), it's getting a little grungy, but mostly it's leftover food that's got to be scooped up because I am definitely over-feeding her. Still figuring out exactly the right number of pellets to give her each day, and it's constantly changing because she's growing so fast, but I'll get it down. At least the bloodworms at easy. I do need to get to the Dollarama to buy a pair of cheap scissors so I can start giving her proper wormy bits too, though, now that my huge tweezers have arrived in the mail... I've been into the Dollarama SO MANY TIMES since they arrived and I keep forgetting scissors like. *FACEPALM* But I don't want to use my good scissors for cutting up worms, so. Yeah.

If I can convince Mom to drive me to Elmvale in the beginning of November again to pick up one of Kaida's siblings, I think I'm going to name them "Haku", after the river spirit dragon from Spirited Away. My plush axolotl from the aquarium is called "Draco" haha. But this is all a pretty BIG "if" because Mom's already told me once she's not driving me back there, so it'll definitely take some smooth talking.

Yesterday I took Cas out of the aquarium. He just wasn't doing well there, he was very slowly dying off, his leaves were all rotting, so I pulled him, and bought some potting soil and a pot for him and yesterday afternoon I potted him in soil again. Hopefully he'll make it. Also I renamed him "Gabriel" so I can name whatever new plant I get for the tank "Castiel" to go with Dean (who is still THRIVING in the aquarium jfc Dean be a little happier why don't you.) I'm thinking about ordering a monstera off of etsy and giving that a shot. I've never tried a monstera before.

So, Poe emailed me to be like "I haven't been checking my emails. What address did you ship to? I live in _____ now." And I was like *KEYSMASH*, right, but I emailed them back and asked if their FAMILY still lived there and could forward the parcel to them and if I could please get their new address for shipping their werewolf when it finally arrives, and it's now been three days and... so fucking reply. They infuriate me sometimes with their inability to communicate like... just fucking email me back please I need to know what's going on with this parcel, if they can get it from their family or if it's totally lost and I just wasted $125 and all the stuff that was in it?? Like just. Please get back to me.

Next month I have to start buying stuff for people for Christmas and I have no idea what everyone is getting, really. I have Dad finished, but he's always the easy one. I know what I'm getting for Trunks (dragon coaster and a bag of treats), and what I'm getting for Mom (Dune movies and a new tablecloth), and I THINK what I'm getting for Lee (chocolates and a gift certificate to the music store.) I think Lois is just getting a Walmart gift card this year. And Cobin will get cookies and cash, same as every year. Oh, and I already have books for Grandma, But everyone else... idk. Maybe I'll do weird socks again, I just have to order them like ASAP in the beginning of November which means I have to go on AliExpress and pick them out NOW. =/

I hate shopping for Christmas on such a shoestring budget. It takes the fun out of it. At least I can mail Poe's card/coins/book in January for Birthmas. Assuming I have their new address by then. Like. I understand that their Dad isn't doing really well right now, but that's no reason to stop answering emails/messages entirely. Except that's what Poe does when bad things happen, they just... block out the whole world. Which I can understand, to an extent, but you can't just pretend that nothing else exists FOREVER, you have to check your fucking email at some point... 's frustrating, that's all. =/

Anyway. Still hoping to sell Ishana and nab another $100 from that, but at this point it's been long enough since I posted the ad that I'm starting to doubt it'll happen. At least I managed to sell Flora and Fauna (or whatever their names are now; I'm sure their new owner has changed them) and I would LOVE to sell Sofi but she's cobbled together from different doll parts and has all the discoloration on her from when she was wearing that horrible sweater, so. I can't really do much with her, despite wanting to.

Oh, and my peridot and amethyst chip beads came in yesterday, so now I'm just waiting on citrine, moonstone, tiger eye, fluorite and smoky quarts! Getting there!

Okay, maybe writing every single day is too much to hope for. So every few days is my new goal for now. XD;;

ANYWAY.

Today I went with Lee to visit my brother and his girlfriend and swap gifts with them. It was really nice. I love seeing B and E, and don't get a chance to visit with them more than maybe, MAYBE once a year. So chatting with them and going to lunch with them was super great. ♥

Other than that, I didn't do much else today. Between the drive there and back and visiting and whatnot, it took up most of my day.

I did go to the pet store to get fish for Gen and crickets for Muffet, though. That took a whole half hour lol. xD;; Tomorrow I have tons to do, though. Grocery shopping and some Christmas shopping, and I need to go to another pet shop for hoppers and reptibark and whatnot.

Also more baking. I've made shortbread cookies and date squares already, but I still have to do macaroons and (fake) peanut butter dainties. But I love baking, so that's something I'm looking forward to. I'd've done it sooner, but I need some things from the grocery store to finish up. :3

I hope everyone out there had a great Christmas! ^_^

My Christmas was good, I'm happy to say. All of December had been really stressful and depressing and I've been having a lot of trouble, so I wasn't really looking forward to Christmas because the 24/25/26th are always the most busy days for our family. But I was actually able to relax and enjoy things, which was nice.

On the 24th I did very little, just hung out around the house and cleaned, played with the cats and finished last-minute gift stuff.

That day a package from Maddie and Chloe came in the mail, which made me really happy. ♥ It had Cheesy Enchilada Hamburger Helper (♥!!), some lotion that I wanted for Lois and my Christmas gift in it; some pretty beads, and a bracelet with matching earrings that Maddie made-- they are gorgeous, and I LOVE them, and they even matched my Christmas outfit perfectly, so I wore them to the family get together on the 26th, where I got lots of compliments on them. :3

The next morning Mom picked me up around 11 and took me and all my gifts for everyone over to her place, and we finished up the last bits of cooking/baking for the family gathering. Then Grandma got there around 1pm, and we all exchanged gifts.

I gave Grandma her souvenirs from my trip to the US in the summer (finally lol) and her Christmas present was a glass vase with decorative butterflies and a candle. I got Lee a wall clock shaped like a guitar (a Gibson, which is the one he uses most out of his actual guitars), and some blank VHS tapes because the ones he's using right now are old and wearing out. Then I got Mom a decorative 3D wolf plate, two scented oil infusers, and copies of The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons on DVD. I also got two gifts that were for both of them; a wall sign ("Pomeranian Crossing" haha) and a bag of goodies (chocolates, cookies, etc.). And I got my brother three couch pillows (I got them at Matsuricon from the wonderful and insanely talented NeonDragon) and a copy of Gwenhwyfar by Mercedes Lackey. ♥

As for me, I got a whole set of new bakeware (two cookie sheets, two round cake tins, a loaf pan, a rectangular cake pan, a muffin pan and a pizza pan!!), an electric mixer (eee!! ♥♥), a DVD copy of Independence Day (to replace my worn-out VHS one), a zombie movie DVD set (Last of the Living; Grave Mistakes; Awaken The Dead and I Am Omega; my brother tells me I'm supposed to tell you all "HEAD NOMMING GOODNESS!"), money from Grandma, and a notebook that is my favourite thing I got this year. It's completely handmade including the paper, and free-trade. It's cover is etched leather with intricate designs and a pentagram on the front. X3!! It's going to be my recipe book, but Imma call it my spell/potion book lol.

And my brother got me the first season of Xena: Warrior Princess, but I already had it, so it's got to be exchanged for something else. Ah well~

Then we had dinner and everyone else played cards for a while. I, meanwhile, dyed my hair back to my natural colour so it would look nice for the family gathering, and also because I was sick of having the huge dark stripe down the middle of my head lol. XD

I went to bed pretty early that night because I had to get up early-ish the next morning to make the dip for the get-together (it took an hour in the slow cooker.) Then we all got dressed and ready and packed everything up, and headed out around 11am.

Now, a couple days earlier I had been surfing Kijiji, looking for a new terrarium for Aya because he's starting to outgrow his current one. I found one for $45 (as compared to $250 for a brand-new one), but it was in Barrie. But we were driving right through Barrie to get to my Uncle and Aunt's place for Christmas, so I asked if we could just stop to pick it up on the way past.

So I got it and brought it home last night after everything... and then kind of thought about it and it's kind of tall and thin, which is much better for an aquarium for fish than a snake terrarium. So I decided to set it up as an aquarium (I miss having fishies anyway) and found another terrarium that's more suitable for Aya's needs. It's being delivered tonight. :)

Anyway!

We got to the get-together around 1-ish and set up all the snacks and appetizers and everything, and then sat around and visited and just generally caught up with everyone until it was dinner time.

THEN THERE WAS TURKEY. ASDGH YUMMY!! X3 ♥♥♥

lol and after dinner we set out the desserts (there was a TON of delicious stuff!) and started the gift exchange (we all bring an anonymous gift, then we draw numbers and each of us can either open a new gift or steal someone else's.) There was a lot of good stuff this year; a couple nice blankets, a box of chocolates, a tea set, a set of glass bakeware and etc. I ended up with the glass bakeware (which I do kind of need for doing casseroles and that kind of thing, but Lee had ended up with a set of china popcorn bowls that he would never use (and neither would Mom or my bro) so I traded them. The bowls are actually good sizes; the big one can be used as a mixing bowl, and the smaller ones for a variety of things. Plus I can always borrow the glassware if I need to. XD;;

It was fun and very enjoyable. The only semi-bad part was that I had a run-in with a peanut butter cookie. =/

Aunt Clare had brought a tray of desserts, and most of them she had made but she included a few that a friend of hers had made too, and some of them turned out to have peanut butter in them. It was my fault too, because I'm so used to not having to worry about peanuts at family functions (because they all know about my allergy), I wasn't as careful as I normally am. But as soon as I bit into it I knew there was peanut butter in it, and spat it out without actually swallowing. Then I rinsed my mouth out. A LOT.

Poor Clare felt so bad about it, but it wasn't her fault. And I was fine (with the exception of a headache from it later; my peanut allergy actually gives me migraines) so it wasn't a big deal. I just took some aspirin and that was that. :)

Soooo... we all visited some more, and then around 8pm we decided it was time to start heading home. We packed up (I took some desserts home with me because I'm baaaad lol), and on the way out the door Uncle Alec and Aunt Brenda gave me a couple of Cat Cubes for my kitties to play in. THE CATS ARE IN LOVE WITH THEM LMAO.

Once we got back to Orillia, we went to Mom and Lee's place and unpacked what we had to, then packed up the rest of my things and Lee drove me home, where my cats were waiting to AMBUSH me because it was after their dinner time and they were STARVING TO DEATH.

So I fed them and put some things away... then decided screw it and just shoved everything into a corner so it was all out of the way and went to bed. I was exhausted, and besides that my head still hurt from the Peanut Encounter (tm). I slept really well, though 'Dion spent all night insisting on being cuddled up under my chin. He has separation issues. >>;

Then today I went downtown to pick up some more reptile bark (for Aya's new terrarium) and a bunch of river rocks for the aquarium. I also got a fish net and a larger hide for Aya since he's outgrown his old one.

After that I spent a couple hours cleaning the apartment and setting the aquarium up. I also called and talked to my brother for a few minutes, and we ended up deciding he was going to come over and hang out for the day. So he showed up a while later and we watched the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still and now we're watching 2012. And I made lasagna and garlic toast for dinner. Yay! :D

And that's about it.

Oh, except that the landlord for the apartment I'm moving to sent me the address today, so I looked it up on Google Earth. It's in a really nice neighbourhood, only two blocks from a grocery store, and only a couple blocks from the park/lake. X3 It's so awesome!!

I still need to go and actually look at the place, but what the hell, it can't be worse than where I am now, right? I'm 99% sure I'm going to take it. ♥

I do need to call Mom and coordinate with her a day we can go and look at it, though... hopefully in a couple days. Hmm.

EDIT: New Terrarium has been delivered, and Aya is all set up! ♥ His new home is much bigger and perfect for him, and will be for the rest of his hopefully long life. :)

And the pet store I got him from has already ordered my new Kenyan Sand Boa, which I will be picking up in February. Her name will be Nyoka (an African name meaning "snake"), and she will be moving into Aya's old terrarium. Since she won't get as big as Aya will, it'll be fine for her and I won't have to worry about upgrading~

Been forever since I last posted. Oops. I fail. But whatever, December is a busy time so I can't help it! DX! I do plan to post a nice looooong entry here tomorrow or the next day though, so yay for that? lmao.

Spending tonight over at Mom's place, as Dad is coming up tomorrow (assuming we don't get a random huge snowstorm or anything) to exchange gifts with my brother and I. And just because Trunks and I are both huge dorks, I brought over most of my Disney and Dreamworks movies and we're having an animated movie marathon. XD <3

Anyway~

Right, well, I've done basically nothing the last couple of days. *facepalm*

On Saturday night Mom and my brother came over for dinner (which reminds me; Maddie darling, I need you to send me like ten more boxes of the Cheesy Enchilada Hamburger Helper. All three of us loved it. XD;;), which was nice. Lee had band practice so I invited them over. ♥

Then yesterday I wandered downtown for a little while (around 4pm which meant it was after dark when I was coming home) and got some things to mail to people with Christmas cards and a second bottle of cider from Mariposa Market, as I'm pretty sure just the one I got before won't be enough when it comes time for the family get together.

Then I spent about four hours last night beading and cursing my right index finger; that's the one Loki almost bit in half (literally; I came very close to just losing the tip of my finger all together), as I still don't have feeling in the tip of it and that seems to make the more intricate beading a lot harder. =/ But oh well. Not much I can do about it.

Aaaand other than that I've basically spent 90% of the last couple days watching movies. Last night I was up until almost 9am movie-marathoning on Squall. Which of course meant that when I did get to sleep, I slept until dinner time. *facepalm* Now I'm all flipped around. Bah.

Oh, and I've also been chatting/rping with Michi (which is always tons of fun ♥♥), and last night I did have a nice conversation with Matt (one of my high school friends that I've gotten back in touch with via FB) about websites and stuff, since he runs a hosting business and does html professionally and I SUCK at it, but I'm looking at getting House of Yum and Esprit Studios sites up and running in the new year.

The last couple days I've been feeling kind of icky. Not sick, just... off. Bah.

So I haven't really been doing much of anything aside from watching movies and some rping with Michi. lol we're still rping in KH-zombie!verse. It's been over a year and a half now with the same rp. Then again, we're planning to piece it together into a fic, so the length and detail makes sense given that. And I can actually start doing that now that I have Squall and can load Microsoft Word. Yayz! ♥

Anyhoo, yesterday was groceries and this time I just needed a handful of things. Canned cat food, litter, kleenex, milk and etc. Then at Walmart I got a couple more packs of mini-ornaments because Walmart has a TON of pendant-worthy ones this year. On Saturday (when I have more monies) I plan to go back again as well. I also want to look for some Christmas gift stuff for Lois and Lee.

I'm actually mostly finished my Christmas shopping already. But I don't have anything for Lee yet (I know what I'm getting him, I just have to actually buy it come the end of this month) and I only have half of Lois' gift ready. I might pick up something else for Mom as well, if I can find something small-ish.

I also need more Christmas cards. I only bought a pack of 12 to begin with, and it turns out I need more like 20. xD;;

Aaaaaand then tonight I watched the new episode of Criminal Minds from yesterday, then the movie Dinosaur (an oldie but a goodie!) and now I'm watching Darkness Falls (another older one that I ♥ to bits~)

Tomorrow I'm going over to Mom's place to do laundry and talk to her about Christmas baking, as it's getting close to time for me to get started on it. As usual I'm making chocolate macaroons, no-bake fruitcake (for Mom; no one else eats it :P) and shortbread. I'm also making lemon cream cheese cookies again because they are ASDGH DELICIOUS. But I'm not sure what else. I think I want to try some new recipes this year. Maybe I'll try making some kind of biscotti! 8D

Alrighty! Today was grocery day, as is every Wednesday. Woo-hoo. /sarcasm lol.

I didn't have much to get for actual groceries, but I did have to get cat food at the vet's (prescription weight management/urinary tract care food that Neko and Loki are on) and there were Sena-prescriptions I had to pick up too.

At the grocery store I mostly picked up some dumplings and wontons (they have these frozen ones that you steam and they come out DELICIOUS and taste JUST LIKE RESTAURANT GYOUZA/WONTONS ASDGH! X3), canned cat food for Tri and fresh cranberries for making home made cranberry sauce. ♥ I also actually found some eye-of-round steaks that were 90% fat free. Finding steaks with a low enough fat content that I'm willing to eat them is rare, and they were ON SALE OMG so I got a pack of two. :3 I might cook one tomorrow night!

And since Lee was driving and I wouldn't have to actually try hauling them home, I got another set of shelves at Walmart to complete my movie wall in the living room. 8D I spent an hour tonight putting them together and reorganizing everything and now they look awesome and I looooove it. X3!! Haha, I have room next to them for a small cabinet too, so I might pick one up at some point. Right now I have a stand there that I built out of DIY cubes.

At Walmart we also stopped to have dinner at McD's, and ran into Sarah and her fiancé, so we sat with them while we ate and had a nice conversation. The more time I spend with Arthur the more I like him... he has a very grounding effect on Sarah, and her complete bullshit has gone down a lot since she ended up with him. Just for that I approve of him, though he's also a really nice guy. :)

Oh, and this afternoon (before we ran into them) I got a message from Sarah about the wedding; her mother found out I was doing the bridal jewelry and wanted to know if I could design a piece for her as well, to match a set of earrings she wants to wear. I told Sarah I could probably manage it, but I couldn't say for sure either way until I had a look at the earrings. Basically, her Mom wants a large snowflake broach, which I think I can manage. I even have a basic idea in my head using fire-polished crackle beads and swarovski crystals, but like I said I won't know 100% until I see what I'm trying to match. And Sarah's Mom is like rich, so she's offered to "generously compensate" me for doing the project. I LOVE MONEYS. \o/

What else...

Well, yesterday I was out and about and picking up a few things. I needed rats for Aya-- my baby has graduated from fuzzies to pups!-- and a couple of other items.

I got some cookie cutters from Mariposa Market, as well as a bottle of sparkling cider to take to the Christmas get together in like a month and a half. I'm way the hell ahead of myself. xD;; And while I was there I taste-tested some eggnog-fudge which was just ahguisldfghuiadfgarngvu *DROOL* *A* I am so getting some of it to take to the get together as well. :3

And while I was out I got Lee a gift card to the music equipment store downtown, since his birthday is Friday. ♥

Anyhoo! I started working on some new recipes for dog and kitty treats for Christmas presents, and right now I'm in the middle of a decent maple-and-brown-sugar one. Just a little tiny bit of sugar and mostly maple extract for flavouring. They're pretty tasty. I still want to do one more, I think maybe liver flavour and bacon bits for "sprinkles". We'll see.

Oh, and today other than Squall arriving I also got the books I ordered the other day; two of them are for Dad for Christmas (Dragongirl by Todd McCaffrey and Legends of Shannara: Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks) and the other one was a discount book I stumbled upon, Beyond The Body Farm by Dr. Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson. It's by the same people who did Death's Acre, which is one of my favourite anthropology/criminology books of all time. Which I lent to C.A. way the hell back in 2004 and still haven't gotten back from her. *facepalm* She's horrible about remembering stuff like that. I might just break down and buy another copy and let her keep the first one lol. So I'm really looking forward to reading the new one~!

I also got a little package from Maddie and Chloe today! Or, rather, from "Rufus and Reno Shinra"! To "Roxas". I LOLED SO HARD WHEN I SAW THAT. It was epically awesome. ILU GUYS, DID YOU KNOW THAT? It had a couple of buttons and some cute stickers in it. And caramels! And a pretty glass star pendant which I put on right away and am still wearing now. =3 Hehe.

And I guess the only other thing is the cats.

First; 'Dion scared the SHIT out of me today. This morning he was sleeping under the desk in the back room, which he does all the time because it's right in front of the baseboard heater. I went to sit down to check something on the computer, and reached down to move him... and he kind of flopped around and looked at me like he was half out of it, but not in a sleepy!kitty sort of way. His fur was also puffed up, which cats tend to do if they're not feeling well. This concerned me, and I took him back to the living room and laid down to cuddle up with him some-- which was when I noticed he was shivering. Not in an "I'm cold" kind of way, but in an "I'm in pain" kind of way. I cuddled him close and fretted over him and tried really hard not to panic while I decided if I should rush him to the vet or not.

Finally, he fell asleep and so did I. A couple hours later when I woke up he wasn't there, and when I went looking for him I found him playing and looking as if nothing was wrong. I don't know what the problem was, but DAMN, 'DION. PLEASE DON'T PULL THAT KIND OF STUFF. YOU NEARLY SCARED YOUR MOM TO DEATH. D8

I'm going to keep an eye on him for the next couple of days, just in case. But now he's acting completely fine, so...

Second; Got a call from the Barrie SPCA today, finally! Way back when I first brought Tia home, I called them and got on the wait list for having her spayed and Juna neutered. They were still too young at the time, but the wait list was about four months long so by the time they got around to me they'd be the right age. Sounded like a plan to me!

So on Friday I'm taking Juna and Tia to Barrie to be fixed, for $50 per cat. Let me say that again; $50 PER CAT. Instead of the $350/cat it would cost me to take them to the vet in town and have it done. They also say they can give them all their vaccines and etc. at the same time. I AM HAPPY WITH THIS PLAN AND THE COST INVOLVED. ^___^

I couldn't book 'Dion at the same time since he's still too young, but tomorrow I can call and get him on the wait list and in a few months when they get to me again he'll be old enough.

I'm really, really hoping that having Juna neutered will calm Neko down a bit; Neko is NOT Juna's biggest fan right now and keeps kissing and spitting and snarling at him, which I keep trying to dissuade of course, but it's not working. Neko seems to think that Juna is vying for Top Cat in the pride, which Juna really isn't. He just avoids Neko and defers to him, acts submissive, but Neko doesn't take that for what it is and beats the hell out of him whenever they cross paths. Luckily no real injuries have happened, just one or two tiny scratches and a lot of flying fur. Still. Hopefully once Juna is neutered things will settle down...

And now I think I'm done rambling. For now. And I have the munchies. So Imma go find something to eat. OMNOMNOM and all that.

*salute*