February 2010 Archives

As the title says, I have an emergency mask project commissioned by a tweet peep who is also a fellow SCA-dian. 

She needs it by the 6th.

She's in Kansas.

For anyone else, this could be a one way trip to Crazy Town.  Fortunately for me, I have season passes.

So, the beginning has been slow.  We had to put up shelves in my room so that I actually had space to work, which we did and it's wonderful.  Of course, it took me two hours to actually get things put on the shelves because just when I'd get a shelf arranged, I'd decide that maybe it would be better if that stuff was on that shelf over there...  Yeah, two hours of being OCD doesn't get things done. 

So does being sucked in on a video game.  Yeah, I lost a helluva a lot of time there.  I apologize, Zoe, but fear not, things are right on track.

Except, of course, as I've been warned, nothing is drying.  The humidity is sucking something fierce right now.  So, for now, I have said mask base sitting in front of a space heater, which is also taking some of that dampness out of my room.  I've got two layers on the base.  I'm hoping that will be enough.  If not, the next layer will dry in the oven.  I just didn't want the base to dry so fast that it shrank, but I think that's mostly a paper pulp issue, which is why I started with a base of paper strips.  Definitely less shrinkage.

This has also caused me to mentally write a letter to myself in my head:

Dear Me,

So, remember when you stated that you were going to make a bunch of mask blanks to make moments like these a little easier?  Yeah.  I hate you, too.

Love,
Me

I had several days off last week for the weather, which is both good and bad because not getting paid sucks but days off don't suck.  After that, I worked from Thursday through Saturday with Sunday off and then worked my normal week.  I've thought it was Wednesday all day.  Yesterday, I nearly wished a client a happy weekend.  My days are a little off.

Random is as random does:

• There is that joke that details one of the reasons men are scared of women is because anything that bleeds for a week out of a month and doesn't die is frightening.  Personally, I subscribe to all the PMS jokes.  Yeah, yeah, feminists everywhere want to yell at me, but considering that three days out of this week I was hurting and cranky enough to chew on chains, only to be placated by my hubby giving me a pile of painkillers, wasabi peas, and a token made in the silk painting class, then it's safe to say that I was definitely a beast that had been soothed.  Political Correctness is for wimps.
  
• My hubby is awesome, by the way.  Just sayin'.
• Wasabi peas are the best until the wasabi gets into your sinuses.  Then again, it's the danger that keeps dragging me back.
• I am the only one in the state of Arkansas not ready for the heat of summer. 
  
• I am seriously wanting some boiled crawfish.
• The insomnia is back.  Woo.
• Anyone else have this incredible urge to go to a strip club?
• So, I did a spa party for seven six-year-old girls.  It wasn't horrible.  It was very loud and the girls were cute.  However, I could've done without the two hours of Myley Cyrus on repeat.  Two.  Hours.  The only reason I didn't rip out my uterus that night and set it on fire in the front yard is because Super Husband wouldn't let me have a pair of pliers.
• Super husband bought me sushi, tea, a back scratcher, and wasabi peas for Valentine's.  Again, he is made of awesome.
• I have had two cups of Jasmine tea and am officially hooked.  Crack, that stuff is.
• Man Candy: (noun) That guy in that movie with those looks and that hubba-hubba that could make you unfaithful for at least one night even if you know it means nothing to you or him, but you gotta try anyway.  Everyone has The List.  The List of people who if approached you out of the fantastical blue to say they would do you for one night, you'd turn to your beloved and say, "You are the light of my life, my heartbeat, and my dying breath, but I'll be right back..."

Okay, so it's a short random list this week, but while this week was weird in the strange line-up of working days, it wasn't that weird altogether.  Well, Monday was strange in the little things that went wrong, but I blame my period.  It's easier.




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Before anyone asks, Antonio Banderas is at the top.  Have special place for Vin Diesel because he's a gamer and only if he doesn't speak.  Love the guy, but when he talks he sounds like a moron. 

So, yeah, the Saints (Woo! Who Dat sayin' dey gonna beat dem Saints?) win the Superbowl, and while the jokes about ol' Boudreaux needin' snow boots in hell were a flyin', wouldn't you know by midnight that night we were given a snow storm?

Who knew that ol' Boudreaux was kind enough to share?

Sit by a fireside for this one:

• It looked like 5 - 6 inches of snow to me, but I'm not sure.  All I know is that yesterday was the first day I went back to work since last Friday.
• On the bright side, I had lots of massages to make up for the drought.
  
• Before all of you damn yanks start laughing at us, remember that we might have, I don't know, two snowplows in the state of Arkansas.  The only roads that get cleared are the major roads, but since we have a propensity for ice instead of snow, nine times out of ten it doesn't do a damn bit of good.  We aren't prepared for the Snowpocalypse here, although, yes, I understand why you laugh.
• Did I mention the Saints won the Superbowl?  Just checking.
• Apparently, there was much discussion between the Problem Therapist and the Spa Owner today.  It sounded pretty serious over the walls of my massage room, but I know nothing distinctive.
• So last night the southern part of Arkansas was supposed to get snow like we were given on Sunday, but since they actually tried to predict that one, mostly there was a slight breeze and the distant laughter of Mother Nature.
  
• It did, however, snow in Louisiana. Yeah, ol' Boudreaux was thinkin' of home.
• It is also the first time it snowed in all fifty states - yes, including Hawaii.  This has lead to an amazing amount of religious apocalypse theories.  Look, guys, just because we throw around names like "snowpocalypse" and "snowmageddon" doesn't mean we really believe it.  Calm down.  It's just frozen water.
• Kind of reminds me of the time the Baptist church burnt down in Lafayette, LA.  They were one of those churches that did mass on TV on Sunday.  Flipping through the channels, some friends of mine and I happened upon it and the preacher was preaching from behind the alter that managed to survive the flames.  He proceeded to name seven reasons why it was all a sign from God.  Now, being a smartass Cajun at heart, I mustered up my best Cajun accent and claimed, "I don' know 'bout dat.  If God burnt mah church down, I'd be wonderin' what I dun to piss 'im off!"  (Yes, I'm a heathen.  Deal.  You also have to understand that Baptists are the minority down there.  Catholics look at them with a lot amusement and tend to pat them on the heads, especially when they start petitioning to get rid of things like festivals and fais do-dos.  I am not Catholic, but it was my upbringing so they are still foreigners to me even if I am now in the Land of the Baptists.  Also, Cajun Catholics are a different breed.  Trust me.)
• The snow reminded me of New Mexico and Colorado.  I was really missing those places this week, and really enjoying the snow.  I'm kind of sad it's melting, but happy if it will make people drive normally again, i.e make them drive with the normal amount of suicidal craziness and not full-on homicidal stupidity.
• So, like, weight loss: there hasn't been any.  Oh, well.
• Did you hear about the Saints winning the Superbowl?  I mean, really, what rock were you under?

So, there you have it, folks!  Another Totally Random Thursday (on the wrong day)!  Drink responsibly!  Drive home safe!  Tip your waitress!




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I say again for those who question how I can be so loyal right now when I really hate Louisiana.  Ya'll, my grandmother was full-on Cajun.  Couldn't speak a word of English when she was a kid.  Could out-cook any chef in the world and gave me cafe au'lait and veggies she grew from her own garden.  I am proud of my heritage.  Just because I reject the stupid politics, the horrendous heat, the massive mosquito clouds, and the massive trauma experienced at the hands of certain members of my bloodline doesn't mean I hate being Cajun.  Most non-Cajun peeps don't understand us ex-pats, but other Cajuns do.  And, ya'll seriously don't get our relationship with the Saints.  I Hate Football, but by the gods, I love my Saints.  I don't care if ya'll don't get it.  You don't have to.  Who dat!

I only have one thing to say, my babies.

Firstly, the comments are finally working!  Woo!

Anyway, I've gone from an incredibly busy couple of weeks to everyone - and I do mean everyone - canceling on me this week.  Them's the breaks, I guess, but damn if it isn't frustrating.

I'm trying to be constructive by doing things like cleaning this filthy house, doing some of the creative things I've been neglecting, and trying really hard to not be depressed by the general state of affairs.

But, you know, it's amazing how someone you love doing something completely random and sweet can bring a week up a few notches.

So, I'm was sitting in front of the computer yesterday feeling sorry for myself because I was home way too early because yet another client canceled and the phone just was not ringing when in walks Super Husband.  I was actually a little concerned he would be about as depressed as me seeing how as I've had very little money to contribute to the household this week, a week where all the big bills are due.  Instead, he was smiling. 

It was a good smile and not the kind where I wonder if he's rigged something to explode, which is always comforting.

He hands me a bag and launches into a story about how the temp worker in his office declared that dammit, she wanted sushi and someone was going to have sushi with her!  Taking pity, he went with her. 

Funnily, I would normally be upset if he had sushi without me, but I was too focused on the bag in my hands.  I opened it as he mentioned he felt bad about having sushi without me, so he stopped in the little store downstairs from the restaurant and picked me up a couple of things.

He didn't get the last few words out before I started squeeeing.

In the bag was a huge cannister of wasabi peas and a bag of something with a lot of Japanese writing on it.

Seeing my confusion, he explained that while the temp had spent time studying in Japan, she had learned that there was a particular brand of instant miso soup that everyone ate.  It was the best brand on the market, and lo and behold, the store had it!

So, yes, he bought me wasabi peas and this:



Yep, the directions are all written in Japanese.  Now, granted, it's instant soup, which I think "just add water" is pretty much universally understood, but I wasn't sure.  It could've said "just add vodka" for all I know.  (They have vending machines that dispense "used" schoolgirl panties, so you never know with these folks.  And, no, I'm not linking to it, you can look that up yourself, you perv.)

I had a hell of a time getting into the package, but finally managed to figure out the "helpful" little pictures on the upper left of the bag.  Each bowl of miso comes from two small packets, one filled with an actual miso paste and one that has the dried bits of green onions, tofu, and etc.  (This is a full step up from the instant soup here in the states that's usually a powder.)  Preparation was as expected, but what shocked me was the dried bits.  See, they didn't look much beyond basil with some white bits, but after a few minutes of letting everything cool and dissolve I discovered rather large leaves of seaweed floating in my bowl.  It was like magic!

Yes, I'm easily amused, and yes, it was delicious.

I know it seems silly to focus on something like a bowl of miso soup, but you know, it was a thoughtful gift of something I love from someone I love and that has infused it with the power to lift my spirits on days like this.  I'm good with that. 

Enough with the sappy stuff.  There's more cleaning to do.




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Screw flowers!  The way to a woman's heart is through random little gifts of things she loves and cleaning your own toilet.