The Dressage Ring

2024 TO DO List

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 19:04:31 GMT

I can't believe I haven't done this since before C19. 2020 just went to heck in a handbasket, didn't it? I feel like we're still climbing out of that mess. For a number of reasons, this will be a lot shorter than the last few times, mostly because I'm trying to make it achievable, hah. In between 2020 and now, my prior roommate moved out, I've done some house painting, and my old dog died, and I got a new dog. New!dog is the definition of 'impish child', lol. And now, on with the show.

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-boogieshoes, the busy

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I'm very glad the cross-stitch store pays attention to detail, but....

Mon, 28 Sep 2020 22:50:07 GMT

.... it really made me giggle to see my order of Aida cloth come in a package marked 'Do Not Bend'!

-boogie, the easily-humored

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Today's chores

Sat, 26 Sep 2020 15:17:27 GMT

Well, I finally get to play garage tetris with all the stuff we picked up for the hurricane. I'm not sure why, but garage tetris is so satisfying, lol.

Have someone coming over to put a belt on the lawnmower, so we can start mowing again.

Possibly will make a run to the big blue box for some garden dirt to see if i can plant winter squash and some veggies. I feel like i'm a little late for this, but here's hoping....

-boogie, the busy

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Sally sells sea-shells by the sea-shore....

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 22:50:00 GMT

.... and this Sally also sells power outs, downed tree limbs, and $1200 generators....

Other than being bored spitless for a few days, and less than wonderfully comfy, I'm fine, the house is fine, the roomie's fine, the dogs are fine. The generator was woefully under-utilized, and ran like a champ. I need to hunt for a box tomorrow to organize and pack cords, lanterns, extra water jugs.... While I'm doing this, I need to remember to get some fuel stabilizer and fly strips. For all that the generator is oversized, I'm very happy with it. Relatively easy to use and operate. Roomie and I are going to re-arrange the garage this weekend, so we can put the generator away neatly. I still don't understand why, in an area with few to no basements, a distinct lack of high-pitch roofs, the builders also pass on both closet space and decently sized garages. I have a 1-car, which is undersized for the house. But I feel like every house down here, because of the total lack of 'normally used for storage' areas, should have at least a 1.5 or 2 car garage. Instead, it seems like you're luck to get a 1 car, and a rediculous amount of times you end up with a car port, not even a closed-in garage area. It's.... weird.

Anyway. I'm back. And tired. And def taking a HOT shower tonight, followed by a COLD shower and cool bed.

-boogie

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2020 To-Do List

Sun, 12 Jan 2020 22:48:27 GMT

So I'm a little late this year doing this, but I had a really lazy holiday, and enjoyed most of it. As is normal, I'm taking the old list and updating it for this year, which means it won't change all that much, especially as this functions mainly as a reminder of things I need to work on.

( Household Maintenance )

( Household Updates )

( Garden Plans )

( Landscaping )

( SCA skill sets )

( Read more... )

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2019 To-Done List

Tue, 31 Dec 2019 01:39:29 GMT

So, here's my yearly round-up post. I know a lot of these To-Do/ To-Done lists tend to stay the same year-in and year out, but it's still a good idea for me to review them. This year, I said I was going to emphasize household repairs.... um.... you didn't hold me to that, right?

( Maintained the household, but not improved... )
( Household is holding... )

( Garden plans had to be adjusted on the fly )

( Some landscaping improvements happened )

( SCA skills elude me... )

( Stitching Accomplishments do not mean Stitching Finishes... )

( Fannishness... )

( I'm personally... not very organized... )

( Here's to my health! )

( I can't make furniture )

( Wishlist Fullfillment )

-boogieshoes, in review

-boogieshoes, the busy

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i'm convinced we're up for another Children's Blizzard...

Wed, 13 Nov 2019 00:13:09 GMT

So I recently, due to family interest in the event, read about the Children's Blizzard and it was an eye-opener. And also... I'm no looking at every cold front out of the north with suspicion. Of course, since it's getting down to 29F tonight in Mobile, AL, I'm not sure that's the wrong idea!

-boogieshoes, cuddled under some blankies

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my scale read 249.0 today...

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 00:32:45 GMT

That's pounds, and it's a weight I haven't seen in years. I'm happy, because 250 lbs has been my boogiemonster limit in my attempts to lose weight, almost always seemed impossible to crack. And I'm frustrated, because every jerk who says 'oh, it's just calories in less than calories out, easy!' has NO F$CKING IDEA. I was hovering just above 250lbs for 4 *months* since I've started concentrating on weight loss efforts in May. It's never *just* calories in < calories out.

Someone on reddit asked the other day for weight-loss strategies that *worked*, and all the answer he got were CICO, it's easy! I wanted to tell him/her that the first thing he *really* needs to do is get his/her head on straight. Item number 1 in a weight loss program is figuring out why and when you put on the weight. Trying to lose the 30lbs you gained because you had 3 kids and can't figure out when to go to the gym in between everyone's sports and band activities is way different than trying to lose the 100+ pounds you put on in an effort to hide from predators because you were physically, psychologically, or sexually abused. It's not always going to be one or the other, it could be a number of things, but if you're larger because you have things that trigger emotional eating, or because the weight is your solution to some other, deeper trauma, you need to understand *that* before you'll ever get near success, let alone sustained success. Your own brain is a past master at getting you to do things you don't intend, and you have to understand and disentangle that before you'll be happy losing weight.

Item number 2 on anyone's weight loss journey should be visiting the endocrinologist, one who specializes in diabetes/ thyroid/ autoimmune disorders/ etc. I'm not saying a lot of people have thyroid disorders or what-have-you, but there are a number of salts and hormones in your body that influence weight loss and weight gain, and fighting against you're own body is a losing proposition.

The endo can probably also explain to you things like how blood types affect optimal diet, and how different metabolisms are tuned to utilizing different molecules (fat molecules vs carb molecules) best for your energy source.

Item number 3 on my list is logging, but log *what* you eat, not how much. Don't worry about counting calories at first. First thing is to start or make sure you're eating a healthy diet.

And the whole way, be gentle with yourself. Changing habits is hard. Getting in shape is hard, especially when you're worried about your knees, or when everything hurts. If you fall off the wagon, don't berate yourself. Just remember tomorrow is another opportunity to stick to your plan.

-boogie, thinky

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Well, I know Abbie is healing up...

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 23:49:59 GMT

Abbie jumped up on the bed by herself last night - my bed is on stilts, so it's higher than average, and she has to get some speed up to jump that high. And she got off of it just fine via the usual route of stepping down on the blanket chests at the end of the bed and from there to the floor. I love my dog...

-boogie

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Las Cruces remains...

Wed, 30 Oct 2019 01:18:28 GMT

... a beautiful brutal thing. I'm here on New Mexico among the mountain bones for a business trip. It's the only really 'brown' desert I've ever seen, and even so, everywhere there's plant life. and also, people life. last time i was this way, there was a good stretch of undeveloped land between El Paso and Las Cruces..... not anymore! it's kind of exploded around here, people wise.

and yet the mountain bones remain: sere, brutal, beautiful.

-boogieshoes

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thinking about the mag7.5 AU...

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 00:12:35 GMT

I was idly thinking about the Magnificent 7.5 AU i started long ago, and may even finish the first story of. Some day.

When I was a young fan-girl, and The Sentinel was still fresh and awesome and so completely fandom's little black dress, a woman named Susan created a GDP AU of the Sentinel... and I ate it up. And it was my not-so-secret fetish for a while. And then I started to pick apart the holes, because that's what I do when I'm really fascinated and in love with an idea. Basically, if I start picking it apart, you know I really like it. So the GDP AU was kind of awesome, and should have really showcased how bad a Guide's life could get in the universe set-up, but I noticed some things like... Blair was the only Guide who was ever abused, despite a governmental institution ripe for abuse that was very obviously corrupt and full of corruption. Every other Guide's relationship with their Sentinel was nearly glowingly perfect. Yet the exposition and GDP set-up made it a point that the Guides were in a very precarious position, kept imprisoned and chained to their Sentinels in law if not in physical iron. It was weird to see a system where you *know* power-hungry assholes would get off on abuse of power, and in fact, the in-universe history pretty explicitly detailed cases of it, but it was never shown on-screen except for with the GDP Guards....

Now there's another show at this time called Renegade.... featuring the lovely Lorenzo Lamas. And being the young fan-girl crushing on Lamas' magnificent chest (I sh*t you not, I think the first 3 episodes never showed the man in a shirt under his vest), I *of course* was thinking it'd be cool to show someone else's life being turned upside down due to the GDP rules - a Guide for Reno Raines (played by Lamas)! heh, and guess who would have an angsty Unrequited love crush but his female Guide! Who would be a variation of me, of course. Because fan-girl crushes.*

Fast forward a few years, and an older-but-hopefully-wiser fan-woman is binge-watching Renegade, grinning and giggling about how cute Lamas was back in the day. And I got to thinking... in the Mag 7.5 AU, which I've been noodling about lately, I should totally make every new Guide I introduce girl-boy-girl-boy-etc... you know, keep the cast even. Well, I've already got Chris's Guide pegged as a girl, and I had a random thought that Reno could actually be a damn good partner with an ex-military guy... which would be an interesting story in and of itself**....

But this means I have a really good excuse to drool over a younger Lorenzo Lamas again, and brush up on my Renegade... and I have ZERO problem with watching a cute man with a nice chest! :)

-boogieshoes, contentedly drooling over Lamas

*Incidentally, it's a really, really good thing I like to build in my head before this stuff ever makes it to paper. talk about drawer-fic...
**It also means that the Guide on Ryan Kelly's team, if I'm allowed to borrow them, is going to wind up being another female***
***It also means this post has gone from light and funny to more serious than it was ever meant to be. I swear, I can kill a laugh at the comedy show!

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abbie survived her first day alone better than mom did

Tue, 22 Oct 2019 00:09:01 GMT

well, abbie survived being alone while me and roomie were at work better than i did. i was worried about her all day. of course, she was fine. didn't move too much, which is to be expected, but she had gotten up enough to lumber off her bed in the living room and onto the wood floor. she wouldn't wear the cone of shame, so before he left (roomie leaves a lot later than i), i had roomie put one of my pillows over her front legs so her head could rest on it. since a lot of her licking is anxiety-based, i figured a strong smell of 'mom' would help. Roomie said it helped right away - she obviously recognized it and was happy to sleep with it.

i feel like the swelling is down in her ankle and paw, and it isn't hot to the touch, but not cool, either. the skin looks pink and healthy. her skin is naturally mottled under her hair, so it can be a little difficult to tell bruising from normal skin. but she was feeling good enough to bark at the little dogs when roomie took them out to pee. So that's good. The big issue now will be to get her to pee outside tonight - she doesn't like storms, and it's raining intermittently and her paw hurts, so she may not really want to go out. And I can't carry her, although I can help her stand up.

Overall, things going well. But I think if I hadn't bleached my hair 2 saturdays ago, it would have turned white 2 days ago anyway. >.>

-boogieshoes, overly worried dog-mom

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abbie just learned she cannot take on a truck and win

Sun, 20 Oct 2019 01:24:40 GMT

i was going to work on breaking her of the habit of chasing after cars and trucks when we're in the front yard today. unfortunately, at one point, i was concentrating on something, and she was closer to the road than i thought, and a truck came through.... and she jumped *at* it, instead of running beside it. definitely got hurt on her paw, and ankle, and a couple nicks on her head, but she'll be fine.

fortunately, the drivers stopped and helped me get the dog in the car - great dane girl weighs more than a 100 lbs! - and roomie drove us to the emergency vet clinic. i was pretty upset, because i'm the one who lets her off-leash when i work outside :(.

she is currently being held overnight for observation, and i fully expect the cone of shame tomorrow when she comes home. and maybe some serious spoiling and petting and i'm already half-way planning to sleep on the floor with her, because she's not gonna want to jump on the bed like normal....

damned dog scared the sh*t out of me.

-boogieshoes

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Feeling drained lately...

Mon, 14 Oct 2019 22:35:56 GMT

I've been completely plotzed the last few days, which really sucks, actually. The weather has finally shifted from 'inside the sun' to 'seasonally appropriate (ie, fall)' temperatures and it's perfect to go out and *do* stuff.... except i'm feeling too zonked. I can't even stay in and stitch.

I'm not sure this is completely related to low thyroid levels, but it might be. Labs from my primary care doc came back showing low levels, so my dose went up. This is normal for hypothyroid folks.... the 'roid slows down production and tapers off, so the hormone dose goes up. It does make sense I'm feeling tired if my thyroid hormone is low.... and also if i'm having an adrenaline let-down over something, or low iron, or....

Mostly, though, it's frustrating. But because of that, I'm kind of thinking of taking a 3 week vacay for Christmas this year. To stay home and *do* stuff, because I just need to takes some time and do it.

In other news, I'm gearing up for my first big HAED. Heaven and Earth Designs specializes in LARGE, COMPLICATED patterns. Big as in, thinking about doing it on 14ct, which means it's end up 3ft by 2ft and a bit. I'm thinking about trying out different threads for various parts, in order to get different textural feels. It's going to be the Black Stallion cover painting by Ruth Sanderson. Currently thinking Perle Cotton #5 for the horse, regular thread for the sky and rock the horse is standing on. I might try to go further with the changes and try tapestry wools on the rock, but that may be taking things a bit too far. In any case, if this is the route I go, I definitely need to find a substitute for 032-colored kreinik braid #4.... which is a metallic pearl white. I've got a couple ideas, but we'll see. I do know that the #4 braid simply won't work when I scale it up like that.

-boogie, noodling

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is it fall already?!

Thu, 03 Oct 2019 00:53:33 GMT

according to the calendar it is! and that's... hard to believe. I have, however, decided on a theme for this year's Mag7 prompt fest - zombies.... which may be a repeat, but i hope not.

in other news, i've moved out of my old computer and upgraded to a tablet... which has a smaller screen, but more capability. unfortunately, i've somehow lost 1 important file in the transfer.... and 2 others seemed to have disappeared due to random M$ windows f*ckery.

the file that got lost can be rebuilt. the other 2 files are Heaven and Earth Design patterns, which I got so darned long ago i doubt they even have records back that far. So I'm going to re-buy them.... and 2 more for shopping therapy. :) the one pattern i was planning on starting this fall - i wanted to tackle my first HAED, so. But looking at my schedule, I may have to delay that; i hope not, but...

i've also got bifocals this year. i'm actually excited because i'll be able to see to thread the needle again without *removing* my glasses - which i then have to put back on to read the pattern, lol.

I'm trying to more actively tackle household things and etc... the list does not seem to end, but hopefully, soon... there'll be a break-point where i can just chill and stitch for a while.

i finally found the key to autumn garden this year! it's 'dig out the top half of the container, refill with fresh dirt and potting mix, and miracle-grow the heck outta that sh*t', lol. but I've got 4 varieties of squash - butternut, buttercup, acorn, and seminole - growing, and beets growing. only one small carrot though. I'm interested how this will play out.

that's all for now.

don't be a boog(i)er, and back up your files appropriately...

-bs

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I'm celebrating, in my quiet way...

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 21:20:22 GMT

For those of you who follow me, and have been wondering how I'm doing -

1) I'm sorry I don't post very much ever.

2) I'm officially in remission - on monitoring for at least a while. Close at first, of course. Mom and I celebrated by going to see Captain Marvel. Good movie.

3)Thanks to everyone who's kept me in their prayers, rituals, or just the occasional thought. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it - but it's a heck of a whole lot.

-boogieshoes

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2019 To-Do List

Mon, 21 Jan 2019 18:44:55 GMT

And here's the To-Do List for 2019. Major goal this year is to start making serious efforts to replace things that need replacing.

( Maintaining the household maintenance )

( Updating the house is a never-ending project... )

( I want a garden of candy canes! )

( LANDSCAPING )

( SCA skills )

( Stitching Fever! )

( Fannish Endeavors )

( Personal Administration )

( Health Maintenance )

( Furniture Projects )

( Wishlist )

So, we got some new stuff, and got rid of some old stuff, which is about the way it's supposed to be.

-boogieshoes, the busy

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2018 To-Done List

Mon, 21 Jan 2019 17:27:41 GMT

Well, it's that time of year where I see how things have gone last year.... note that for most of the text below, the black text is actually coded black, not 'automatic' - some weird thing about the html means when i highlight and hit 'automatic', the color isn't changing... so just an fyi.
( I feel like I did more this year... )

-boogieshoes, the busy

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I thought this would be easier....

Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:00:39 GMT

So, I cleared my 'to do' list so I could concentrate on writing fanfic for the Mag7 Christmas stockings... and I'm having a hard time getting motivated. I'm actually having a hard time getting motivated to stitch, too, either on the machine or hand embroidery... it's kind of annoying, because it's the perfect time to do stuff, and I feel like I'm moping. Oi.

The only good thing is... I've been getting back into Misty Lackey's Valdemar-verse again lately, trying to get into the Mags saga.... And I say this is a good thing not because I'm reading, but because I feel like she's jumped the shark a bit... and that urge to complain and set out my argument might push me into getting excited about this stuff again and dreaming and thinking 'what would happen if?' I don't know if this is chemo-brain or not, this feeling that i just can't get into anything creative, can't focus. But I'm going to start laying out my argument anyway, in an attempt to jump-start some brainwaves.

So, Lackey's formula for Heralds of Valdemar has an abused youngster miraculously saved by a Companion (intelligent, telepathic, white horse), who goes on to serve the Kingdom of Valdemar in capacity as a Herald, who is basically a combination law-giver, first responder, and dirty trickster-on-the-side-of-light. She introduced us to this world with Talia (Arrows of the Queen) and pretty solidified it with Vanyel (The Last Herald-Mage). I loved those works and still think those characters are very deep and well-rounded, with a good, solid set of motivations. I kind of got disgusted with Lavan Firestorm and Brightly Burning, and couldn't quite make myself read Takes a Thief, Skif's story, on the chance that she'd screwed up with him, too, and Skif is an awesome character. And for a while, I stayed away from the universe because of other pretties that were written better, I felt. Then came my current issues, and I started re-reading some Valdemar-verse fanfic (The Grass is Greener Series is amazing... and hilarious, and on AO3), and I got all excited again, and decided to pick up the pro books. And that's where Mags comes in.

Lackey stuck to her best formula for Mags's back-story - he's a orphan that a mine-owner picked up with other orphans to and put to work chipping gems. Because the mine owner is an a$$hole, he barely gives the kids enough to live on, barely enough to keep them warm, etc etc. One day, a Companion comes to the mine looking to Choose. The mine-owner chases him off, only to have a full Herald come back with his own Companion and the original. Mags, of course, is the Choosee. Mags is a strong personality, and the saving Herald Jakyr, is a complicated individual. When the two finally get back to the Palace, Jakyr tells Mags that a new Trainee system is going into affect with his class. That is, they're building a new Heraldic Collegium in addition to rebuilding Healer's and Bardic's. Previously, all the Heralds learned on an apprentice system, basically, and the full Herald who first found the Trainee took up the new Herald for mentoring. It is pointed out that there are over 60 Herald Trainees, and that the Heralds are basically going from an organization where everyone knows everyone else to one where there's about to be too many Heralds for personal relationships.

This... has the potential to be a good story. And if Lackey had set it about 2-300 years after founding, I'd think it would be well placed. Unfortunately, it's not. It's explicitly stated that this is about 75-100 years after the last herald-mage. In between Vanyel and Talia, the size of the kingdom has doubled, expanding to the north and the west. But even at Vanyel's time, it takes him a week on horseback at normal horse-pace to get to Forst Reach (his birth home) to the west of the capital. Figure this is about 200 miles or there-abouts. And the border is even further - witness his hectic ride to Highjorune in Magic's Pride. So at Vanyel's time, Valdemar is a rough square about 460 miles wide and maybe 500 miles high. In this setting, there are at least:

1) The Monarch, Heir, and Monarch's Own Herald
2) The Seneschal's Herald and the Lord Martial's Herald
3) The 4 Guardians of the Web, which were not any of the Herald's we knew in the first LHM book.
4) The courts of Haven - it's been established that Haven has several local courts which include attention from Heralds stationed at Haven just for that purpose as needed.
5) The Weaponsmaster always seems to be a Herald, and at least some of the regular teachers are Heralds.

So if we assume there are 4 courts in Haven with Heralds in attendance every day, then there's always at least 10 Heralds assigned to Haven proper. We can assume at least half-dozen more for teachers. 16.

In addition, there is:
6) Regular Courier Heralds, assume 2 per major road, or 8 total.
7) Regular Circuit Heralds, and we're never sure exactly how many circuit locations Valdemar has. But, if a circuit is a 200 x 100 mile swatch, then in Vanyel's time, there were 10 circuit Heralds as a consistency.... (I'm making a guess, here, because it's difficult to estimate distances with a guide of 18 month circuit, every place hit twice. I'm probably wrong... but I'm also probably wrong about how big Valdemar is, too.)
8) Ambassadorial Heralds, which may not be usual, but do occur. Say 3 random/ roaming Heralds.
9) An on-going war with Karse. Vanyel replaces 5 Herald-Mages by himself at one point, and it is clear that this is in addition to all the other Heralds out there. I'm sure those Heralds weren't the only ones fighting.

Ok, at this point, with a complete non-understanding of how big Valdemar is, we have at least 42 Heralds in Valdemar at the time of Vanyel... this is not including Vanyel himself, or his Aunt Sayvil.

It's pointed out in Mags's book that there are 60 new Trainees, and one character exclaims that's enough that every single Herald, including the King's Own, would have to take 4 apprentices if that were the case. Um... 60 divided by 4 is 25. Assuming the actual numbers didn't change in 100 years, there's plenty of heralds on tap for that. Not that I'd suggest it, but 42 Heralds (plus Van and Sayvil, minus the Crowns) could easily divide up 60 trainees into 2 per with room left over.

The other side is how many people does it take before you're not on a first name basis with everyone in your organization? It'll be different for everyone. But, frex, my real-work office has about 200 people in it, and I can ID by site, although not name, about 80%. Some people know all the names, some people know all the faces. But 200 in a time when memorization is a handy skill is not that much.

There's another thing - at one point, Vanyel mentions the palace servants are used to Heralds talking to thin air - that wouldn't happen unless Heralds are pretty pervasive, to the point of being commonplace. Also, Heralds are common in Haven, and in the towns closest to the city, who are used to courier riders and the like.

What it comes down to, to my mind, is that it just doesn't jibe. Either at Vanyel's time there's a lot more Heralds out there, or there can't be that many Trainees, and thus the time-setting is all wrong. I get that Valdemar is about to undergo a major expansion, but like I said, it just feels like this should have happened way earlier in the country's timeline. Like the *first* major expansion. Remember that the Companions live an average of 10 years before Choosing, and that they have to have a herd large enough to generate future Companions, and make up for losses. So they're not just having kids at replacement rate - they're growing in numbers to ensure a growth of chosen. So 10 years ago, no one noticed a crop of 60 fillies and colts when there's a grand total of 40 Companions, half of whom can't bear children, and half of the ones that can are out on circuit?

Now that I think about it, no one's ever explained the inner workings of the Companion's Herd. Someone should talk to those guys.

In any case, if this were the first major expansion of Valdemar, where the people have begun to spill over the defensive city walls and scatter about the outlying countryside - I could totally be there. But the Heraldic Collegium being new *after* Vanyel's time just doesn't work for me, and I'll probably retcon the timing of it in my personal canon, and assume any references to Vanyel were accidentally copied in by an over-enthusiastic bard.

-boogieshoes

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1st chemo appt done...

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 01:50:26 GMT

And my theory for stitching while waiting for the drip has... dripped away. Part of the pre-med cocktail to help you tolerate the chemo drugs is benedryl. The OTC version knocks me out pretty good... the dose they gave me knocked me kinda flat for 3 hours, and i wasn't in a brain-space to focus on embroidery when i woke up. Fortunately, I brought a book and read. But I was laughing at myself, because once again, plans did not survive the first contact with the 'enemy'. Hadn't counted on the benedryl, hah. I'll just have to embroider the couple days after chemo.

In other news, I *finally* finished doing one of my old laptops for roomie. This project was kind of a bear for a number of reasons, but since it is complete, officially, i'm happy to have it off my chest. Roomie was very sweet, and gave my dog a rawhide bone to work on while both of us were gone all day today. Abbie loved this last night, and pounced on it this morning.... and completely ignored it today while I was gone... I love my dog, but she's a bit of a goof, hah.

My mother will pull out my sewing machine for me tomorrow and put it on the table. I want to do more sewing on my cousin's pillow that can be done at the machine. I think I figured out a pleasing lace arrangement. The more I can do on the machine, the better. Getting the machine out isn't as easy to avoid as it sounds... I'm still not supposed to drag heavy things around with the shoulder my port's in - my right shoulder, and i'm right-handed, and so i tend to reach for things with the right hand first. Oi. While i do like my port, because it saves rooting around looking for a vein, it also felt like a horse kicked me for the two days after the procedure. Speaking of ports, it is really weird to *taste* saline when it is emptied into the *port*. I never knew anything other than DMSO had that sort of effect.

One of my 'duties' this week is going through my old e-files and getting ready to write something/ finish something I've started in order to fill the Mag7 fandom stocking. I'll try to start the writing next week. We shall see.

teal deer - not dead yet, handling actual chemo drugs fine, closely monitoring myself the next few days to see how I handle the normal side affects. I'm working on mag7 fandom stuff.

-boogieshoes, chemo'd in good faith

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5 things make a post

Tue, 27 Nov 2018 03:50:01 GMT

i think it'll be 5, but i'm going to bullet-point this anyway ;)

* My dog's new nickname is 'Blanket-Stealer' - somehow, despite the fact that she sleeps on top of the covers, and i have an extra blanky under the covers on my side of the bed, i woke up this morning cold, mostly *un*-covered, and worse, unable to scoot covers out from under the dog...

* My dog is an ass... roomie did a great job cleaning the house today, so Abbie decided she needed to BOUND through the mud, first thing this afternoon when I came home....

* A broke furnace isn't so bad, even in the middle of winter, when you're having hot flashes.

* I haz an awake... i'd much rather have an asleep

* I should remember that my stomach does not like vinegary salad dressings.... make me queasy.

* Due to recent fanfic adventures, I'm getting excited about Heralds of Valdemar again... I'm seriously thinking about picking up the Collegium Chronicles Quintet for myself for Christmas. Except the quick check of her official timeline shows the CC taking place about 100yrs after the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy.... except I'm pretty sure there are references to the Collegia *in* the LHM, which means serious ret-conning on ML's part.... I'm still pondering - has anyone picked up the Collegium Chronicles? Any comments?

* I am totally going to start living in my office, soon, which means *i'm* going to be trying to produce fanfic... Hopefully, fanfic for christmas stockings...

-boogieshoes

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Post-op appt was yesterday

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 17:33:49 GMT

So, I had my post-op appointment yesterday, and unfortunately, the final pathology wasn't good. Stage 3 cancer, grade 1.

The good news is that since they took the uterus and everything, there's not likely to be any more cancer cells in the body. The bad news is, i get to go through chemo and radiation. Whoop. E.

Not really looking forward to that, but it is what it is. First round of chemo on Dec 12. Doc tells me I'm pretty certain to lose my hair, so I will probably shave it and invest in some colorful head-scarves. And maybe some giant clip-on earring so I can look like a pirate all day....

I can tell I'm feeling somewhat dispirited at this point, even though the chemo and radiation are more an issue of good preventive measures right now. It's just that I wanted to come home yesterday and through away the green folder that has held all my medical appt information and stuff yesterday as a sign Things Were Over. Instead, things are not over, and I get to look forward to a treatment that tends to make people feel almost as bad as the thing it's a treatment *for*. And also, given that pretty much every step of this journey, my doctors have been saying 'the indicators look fine', followed by the next step revealing something more serious... let's just say I'm a little paranoid at this point. Until I've got that 100% cancer free number, I'm not going to be 'sure everything will be ok'.

I will fight to the bitter end, or the triumphant ending, but right now... feeling less happy and more growly over the whole thing.

I am determined, however - I will not let this win, nor will it define my life.

On the gripping hand, cookies may well be in order.... and maybe a footrub from Buck. Speaking of which, I am determined to take part of my time right now and write something for the general fandom Christmas stocking. Not necessarily something Christ-massy, I'm not sure I have *that* in me, but something that I've been trying to get back to on my WIP pile. And hopefully, that promise to my fandom will help me get over my current funk.

I appreciate all my fandom friends and hugs to you all. Sorry for the sad news?

-boogieshoes

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for those as invested in michael beihn as i am...

Fri, 09 Nov 2018 20:56:35 GMT

.... i just watched most of American Dragons (I'm pretty sure I missed the first half-hour or so). I didn't know ~~Chris~~ could speak Korean!

Hehe. There are some fairly yummy scenes of Beihn shirtless... Beihn rolling around in the mud.... alas, not at the same time.

I'm just saying I thank the Gods of Recovery for this opportunity, hee.

-boogie, in a good mood

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achievement unlocked: alien baby delivery

Sat, 03 Nov 2018 21:28:32 GMT

So... Thursday at way-too-early in the morning I went in to have my cyst, ovary, and fallopian tube removed. The doctor took the option to buy more. They ended up taking both ovaries and the uturus and cervix. I knew this was a possibility, of course, so i'm still in that 50-50 stage over it.

You know, 50% is like 'yay, no periods!' and 50% is like 'wait, no more protective hormones...' I'll be on HRT, so hopefully, surgical menopause won't be that bad, and I won't lose too much bone mass, etc. And for sure, I'd rather they take the whole shebang than worry about something left behind that didn't need to be.

Because the cyst turned out to be 'gnarlier' (doc's words, no lie) than they expected, and had also developed some supporting structures connecting it to my bowel. It looked borderline at the staging, so.... out came the whole shebang. Not my preferred option, but as I said, I'd rather they be safe than sorry, too. We're going to have a biopsy follow-up in a couple weeks, and I'm going to make sure I follow the logical decision chain, not because i'm critical of doc, but because I like to know/ understand things like that.

Unfortunately, they didn't get pictures, or measurements, or weights! silly doctors!

In general, I'm doing very well - surprisingly, they only had to make 5 small cuts on my abdomen. Totally laproscopic. Much better for recovery. I'm still a bit sore, and I'm sleeping in my recliner for a couple days because when Abbie does press on me - it does irritate it a bit. So I know when I move to the bed and Abbie gets as close as she can, it'll hurt. Managed to pick up a slight cough, probably because of the tube during surgery. That hurts enough I'm not looking forward to a sneeze!

The biggest surprise about the 5 small cuts is that I thought the uturus and whatnot would be too big to take out that way - makes me think those anatomy pics in high school biology were not to scale, heh.

As i said, doing well. Occassionally sleepy, as to be expected. Mom's in the house, and I'm glad I've got the physical and emotional support, and glad all my fandom-friends are here for me, too. *hugs to all*

-boogieshoes, the slightly sore

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surgery tomorrow

Thu, 01 Nov 2018 00:28:58 GMT

what it says on the tin. I'll post an update monday-ish. not expecting any issues except after-surgery soreness, standard, 1 ea. try not to worry guys.

i've been thinking of nanowrimo this year.... probably can't do the whole month, but maybe i can put some time in on projects i've been wanting to write on... here's hoping.

-boogieshoes, ready for alien baby delivery

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