Week in Review – Week of 2009 Aug 16th – Aug 22nd

Last week seemed to speed by incredibly quickly. It might have had something to do with the fact that I had the week before off for Gen Con, and then Thursday off work to go with Jero to see the Eagles play the Colts. I did get to see Mira a bit on her way back from her Chicago trip with Ke and Nivagi, so that was a pleasant bonus (not to mention getting to see Ke and Nivagi, which is always nice!).

Last Sunday was the last day of Gen Con, so Jero and I headed back to the convention center for one final day of geekiness. We didn’t have any games scheduled, so we wandered the dealer room and then went to a paint-and-take workshop that Jero has wanted to go to for years. We painted little miniatures and then went back to the dealer room so I could pick something up for B! and R@(.

When the Con ended Jero and I escaped for a quiet dinner to recharge our social batteries, and then went back to my apartment for a smaller geek get-together. A group of our friends showed up to hang out, and since it was B!’s final game night for a while (he was moving to Virginia later that week), we played a long game of Munchkin before heading to Denny’s for a last meal.

Last Monday morning I went to Ke’s to see Mira before she headed back to Evansville. She had spent the weekend in Chicago with Ke and Nivagi, and they got back late. The three of them were still asleep when I arrived, but woke up after I let myself in. I hung out with them until I had to go to work and then kissed Mira goodbye before leaving and heading into the office. Work was quiet and surprisingly failed to ruin my good mood from the weekend.

After work I went to Jero’s to MUX, but since aerosar.net was down I mostly just hung out on the couch with Jero reading TVTropes while we played on our laptops. Cawh eventually IMed me to tell me the MUX was back up, but by that point I was tired, so I just got some admin stuff done and tried to catch up my week’s month’s year’s backlog of email and journal notes. When it got too late Jero and I shut down out laptops and went to bed.

As nice as work was Monday, Tuesday more than made up for it in shittiness. Every call was crap, everyone I spoke to was an idiot, and every order I pulled down was an absolute mess that took me ages to resolve with little to no credit for my effort. Things did calm down after lunch, but by then there was no work, which made my points-per-hour rate suffer even more. They’re cutting back on e-time, so I was stuck there ‘til 10:15.

After work I hid out at home. I was originally planning to try to be productive, but Cawh had convinced me to log onto the MUX Tuesday since I wasn’t able to roleplay Monday night. When I got on, Anpe suggested a scene where the Decepticons cause trouble for G.I. Joe, so I ran a combat between Valour on one side and Ace, Slipstream, and Wisp on the other. It wound up being a lot of fun (the Joes ultimately won – barely).

Wednesday morning I stayed up until 6ish role-playing online and doing laundry, so I slept right up until the point I needed to get up and go to work. Work wasn’t as bad, although we didn’t have much to do so I spent a lot of time wishing they hadn’t started getting so stingy with e-time again (not that I can afford it if they offer it…). They want us to do busywork instead, which I’ve been resisting on principle.

Wednesday night Ke called me as I was getting off work, letting me know she was escaping also and was hungry. I’d planned to meet Nivagi at 11 anyway, so the three of us got together and went to the Red Eye Café. I was feeling a little down, so I was mostly quiet while Ke and Nivagi chatted. After we ate Ke headed home and Nivagi went up to my apartment. It was late by then and both of us were tired so we pretty much just went immediately to bed.

Thursday I took off work to go with Jero to the Colts/Eagles game. I had big plans for productivity with my morning off, but instead I slept late with Nivagi and then just relaxed and read X-Men: Messiah Complex for a while before calling Dada to wish her a happy birthday. I got to talk to Ra as well before it was time to get dressed and head to Jero’s house.

Jero had just completed her day of telework, so we went downtown and had dinner before going to the football game. Jero’s team lost, unfortunately, but I still had a great time going with her and enjoying her enthusiasm while they played. After the game we went to the top of my parking garage and took pleasure in the cool breeze and pretty view before headed back to Jero’s to collapse into exhausted sleep.

Friday Jero had to go into work early, so I went over to Ke’s for a few hours to nap before going into the office. Work absolutely sucked, and was more or less a repeat of Tuesday – stressful crap all day, and then not enough to do at night so my points-per-hour continued to descend into hell. I tried to work on the wiki, but some script from the new skin I tried was killing my computer, so I had to give up.

Friday night, though, I started celebrating my one-year anniversary weekend with Nivagi. She made dinner for Ke and me, although Ke didn’t each much since she wasn’t feeling well. The salad and tortellini with vodka sauce Nivagi prepared was incredibly good, however, so Nivagi and I more than made up for what Ke didn’t eat. The three of us hung out in the living room for a little while before going to bed to cuddle and sleep.

Saturday Nivagi had to work, so I slept in and snuggled with Ke until hunger drove us from the bed. Ke and I went to the Paragon Restaurant, which I hadn’t tried before. The food was very good, and I definitely intend to go back. Eventually Ke had to leave for her job, too. I hopped onto the MUX quickly to approve two new Players before heading home to meet Nivagi.

Nivagi and I went upstairs to snuggle and nap for a while, enjoying the rare chance to hang out before 11 PM. We then ventured out to get food, stuffing ourselves with yummy noodles. Once full, we headed back to my apartment to cuddle and watch Dexter. It was a slow, lazy day, and an excellent way to cap off and celebrate our first year together. I’m very much looking forward to the next one together.

Private the Penguin: “Skipper... don't you think we should tell them that the boat's out of gas?”
Skipper the Penguin: “Naah... just smile and wave, boys; smile and wave.”
-- Madagascar

Week in Review – Week Ending 2009.04.25

This has been a very nice week. The weather’s improving, I’m still working, and I’ve had a lot of time to spend with people whose company I enjoy. Next week I work from 2 AM to 10:30 AM, so this might be the last time I’ll be able to function coherently for several days while I adjust to a radically different sleep schedule. Of course, once I do – it’s back to 1:30 PM to 10 PM! *headdesk*

Sunday Jero had to leave early to go down to Bloomington for a roller derby promotional event, so I stayed at her house and at three PM signed us up for Gen Con events when registration opened. I was hoping to see Mika that night, but she was sick so had to cancel. Instead, I hung out at Jero’s for a while and then went out to dinner with Asca. After dinner we hung out and snuggled until she had to head home.

Monday morning before I went to sleep I brought Ke ice-cream and stayed there to snuggle. In the afternoon I got up and had lunch with Jero before going into work. After work I’d planned to go home, but Jero said I could come back over, so I wound up going to her place where I logged onto the MUX and got to role-play with Spike as Buster before Jero and I headed to bed.

Tuesday night after work I picked up Nivagi from her apartment and we grabbed Jimmy Johns before returning to my place. Nivagi had wanted to show me some Star Trek songs by Voltaire, so that of course started an all-filk evening of Voltaire, The Great Luke Ski, and Jonathan Coulton. Before we knew it it was 2AM, and Nivagi had to be at work at 8:50 AM. I set my laptop aside at last, and we went to bed to sleep as long as possible.

Wednesday morning I drove Nivagi to work and then went to Jero’s to pick up my flash drive, which I’d left there Tuesday morning. I hung out at Jero’s until work, and then after work went to Ke’s, bringing her food and ice-cream. We hung out and watched The Colbert Report and other shows (as well as listening to the Voltaire Star Trek songs) until Ke lured me to off the laptop and into bed for cuddles and sleep.

Thursday morning Ke got up and showered early enough to grab brunch at Qdoba’s. That night I went to Jero’s and we snuggled while I caught up on Dollhouse. Jero was sleepy but I wasn’t, so I let her doze while I stayed up and watched The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. When I was drowsy enough I snuggled her up and joined her in sleep.

Yesterday work was busy since it was the last Friday of the month and they let everyone else go home early with E-time, but the phones finally quieted down at the end of the night long enough for me to relax a bit before the day ended. When I got home Jero joined me and we went downstairs to hot tub. After we showered we watched an episode of Transformers and Jero went to sleep while I laptopped.

Today ERRO is coming over so Jero can tutor her in statistics. Mira is coming up from Evansville to spend the weekend, and tonight I’m hosting a small game night in the piano room of my apartment building. B!, Chpa, Jogr, Ke, and Nivagi are going to join us for the game night, so that should be fun. Tomorrow Ke and Mira plan to sit on me and make me sleep so I can go into work at 2 AM. Oy.

“Sometimes I wonder what it's like to have political discussions with sane people. Envy.”
-- Bob Harris, http://www.bobharris.com/

Last Week and Half of This One – March.15 – March.25

My emotional state continues to be up and down. I’m surrounded by wonderful people, but a ton of crap is going on in others’ lives that I have no control over and for which I can provide little help. Things have settled in my relationships, but not exactly where I’d like them to, so the process of acceptance is a depressing one. I’m trying to be there for people when I can, and to enjoy the good times, but whenever I get a chance to think too much my mood crashes.

Last Sunday I slept until 3 and then woke up to breakfast with Ke and Mira. We had a lazy day of hanging out playing on our laptops and then Ke and Mira made a yummy dinner of chicken and asparagus. Ke worked on a memorial website for her grandmother while I caught up with friends and lovers about their weekend. Ke and I were feeling a little down by the end of the night, and Mira wasn’t exactly feeling very amorous either, but the three of us managed to pull each other out of our respective funks and have a good evening nonetheless.

Last Monday morning Ke, Mira, and I went out for breakfast and then Ke went into to work and Mira headed back to Evansville. I went to Jero’s and took a nap with her before driving up to meet Mika for dinner. Dinner with Mika was pleasant, and although we still have no idea when we’ll hang out while I’m on the night schedule, I’m hoping we’ll figure something out. After dinner I went back to Jero’s and we snuggled and watched Castle (a new guilty pleasure) and Dollhouse (which I love already).

Last Tuesday was St. Patrick’s Day, so I was worried about being late for work because of the damned parade (I work downtown). I left myself extra time, but besides having to run over some revelers, I managed to get in early. I waited 15 minutes to clock in at 1:45, only to realize later that they moved me back to the 1:30 shift this week (*facepalm*). Luckily I’d mentioned to my boss when I got there that I was “early” so she knew I was actually there. After work I had no plans so I went home to MUX.

Last Wednesday morning I went to bed way too late, so when one of my managers called and offered e-time I accepted it and went into work a little late but much more rested. After work I met Ke at Brbe and Erro’s where they were hosting a game night. Ke and I hung out there, playing Apples to Apples and watching YouTube videos and Onion News. When it got late Ke and I left, picking up food and heading back to my apartment for The Daily Show and sleep.

Thursday morning Ke and I got up and had Le Peep for breakfast before she went to class and I went into work. At work they were giving away E-time like candy, so I had the rare opportunity to leave work early. I picked up Nivagi and drove her to her apartment so she could see her boyfriend and pack for her Friday night date. After that Nivagi and I then went to Denny’s for a late-night dinner. By the time we got back to my apartment it was late enough though that we were OK with just going to bed.

Friday night after work I hurried home so I could watch the third-to-last episode of BSG before going over to Jero’s to watch the two-hour finale. I got off too late to watch the finale the first time it played, but luckily Sci Fi played it again later in the evening so I still got to watch it that night. They decided to focus a lot of the ending on character instead of action, so I can see how some people might find it a little slow, but I’m generally satisfied with how they wrapped everything up.

Saturday night Jero and I went to a roller derby bout between Indianapolis and St. Louis. The Naptown Roller Girls played the Arch Rivals Roller Girls and it was a pretty exciting game to watch. The ARRG were ahead 12 points by half-time, and were able to win 93 to 60. After the bout Jero and I went back to my apartment to clean, and wound up arranging my living room and organizing things in such a way that with luck I’ll be able to someday make some order out of the chaos.

Sunday morning Jero and I didn’t get to bed until almost dawn, so Jero slept until 2 PM and I slept until four. When I woke up Jero was going through paperwork in my living room, helping me organize and get rid of things I no longer need. I joined in to help her clean, until finally we got hungry and went out to Olive Garden. We’d intended to go back to her house after dinner, but wound up back at my place for more cleaning.

Monday was Jero’s birthday, so we went out for breakfast before I had to go into work. At work I was depressed – too much going on in my life and in the lives of people important to be that I can’t control. After work I went back to Jero’s, where she’d made us yummy chicken burgers. We were going to play SingStar, but I’d left my PlayStation controller at home, so we wound up cuddling and watching Bones instead.

Tuesday night I was allowed to leave work a little early again so I grabbed some food for Ke and me and went to her house to MUX while she did homework and studied for a test Friday. On the MUX I was able to get in on the end of a Decepticon raid TP run my Hemy. Since Jero had Snoop on, I logged on Browning, and we had a fun time being unhelpful non-combatants on the sidelines while Nighthawk and Skywarp beat each other to paint.

Tonight I’m getting together with Nivagi, and it should be fun as long as I can stay awake – my alarm went off at 7 AM and I had a hard time getting back to sleep. This weekend I’m going down to Evansville to see Mira, and my mom for her birthday. With luck Ke will get to come with me so the two of us can hang out with Mira and her friends. My mom is also depressed and doesn’t really want company, but I’m hoping if I’m right there in town I’ll be able to persuade her to at least venture out for dinner.

"The future will be better tomorrow."
- former Vice-President Dan Quayle

Week in Review March.14

This week continued the trend of suck plaguing my month year. Some overhanging things got resolved for better or worse, and overall life got better towards the week, but there is still a lot going on that I’m just going to have to hunker down, weather, and hope will eventually improve. I did get to see Jeso for the first time since 2002 and Mira for her birthday, so my week has definitely had its bright points. I’m hoping next week will be better overall. I could do with less drama and change.

Last Sunday morning Ke’s dad called her and told her that her grandmother, who Ke was very close to, was doing very badly health-wise and might not make it through the day. I cancelled my plans with Jeso and went over to spend the day with Ke to keep her company. She took a long nap and then we went out to have dinner with Jero. Ke called her parents and found out her grandmother had died, so we called Mira and I held Ke while she cried.

Monday night is usually my MUX night, but I got to Jero’s so late that by the time I logged on only R_55 was on, and he wasn’t very talkative (although he did pass along news that D3@ was doing well). R_55 said he was just popping in to see how we were doing, which confirmed my feeling that he isn’t really around anymore. I need to ask Cawh to have him turn over passwords, etc, for things if he’s not going to be an active admin. After logging off the MUX, Jero and I lay down to snuggle and watch Bones.

Tuesday I had a rough day at work, compounded by finding out that what I thought was a discussion of possibilities with Amsc the weekend before was actual a break-up and I didn’t realize it. Besides feeling like an idiot, it was better in some ways to have things officially end instead of hanging over me, which was stressing me out. After work I went over to Ke’s to take care of her, but she wound up taking care of me instead. I still couldn’t sleep, so I wound up lay awake depressed until dawn before finally passing out.

Wednesday I was still feeling emotionally crappy, so Ke came over to keep me company while got my notes together for Saturday’s D&D game. I was sad about breaking up with Amsc, but having some resolution was at least helping me start to adjust to the new paradigm. My ongoing troubles with Mika are causing me more actual stress, since she and I haven’t had a chance to work on things since our last talk and with the mandatory overtime she’s had at work, this week didn’t work out either.

Thursday I was feeling a little better. I scheduled dinner with Mika for Monday, and knowing when I’d see her again helped my mood considerably. I hadn’t plans after work, so I told Jero she could come over and hang out. I installed tax software she lent me and then Jero snuggled me while we played Kingdom of Loathing until three in the morning. Jero helped me catch up on quests on which I was behind, and it was a magnificently relaxing and silly way to spend the evening.

Friday after work I finally met up with Jeso and we went over to Marsh’s for a late-evening game night. B! and Jobe joined us, and they played Guitar Hero before we moved to the dining room to play Infernal Contraption and Fluxx. I was worried about dragging someone to game night I haven’t seen in seven years, but it actually turned out to be a lot of fun. We hung out until about 2 AM and then headed back to my apartment to sleep.

Saturday Jeso and I hung out and had breakfast while waiting for Mira to arrive from Evansville. When Mira arrived, Jero and Ke joined us and we got ready to role-play. When B!, Jogr, Marsh and Jobe arrived we had a fun game of D&D. We lost some players to a conflicting Ides of March party, but I had a great time nonetheless. After the game a few of us went to Denny’s and then Mira, Ke and I went back to Ke’s to snuggle and sleep.

Today I slept until 3, and then Ke and Mira woke me up with breakfast. We’re having a fun lazy day playing on our laptops, which is a great way to spend a Sunday. They made a yummy dinner of chicken and asparagus, and we might head back to bed soon to watch The Big Bang Theory. Some underlying issues were threatening to ruin my good mood earlier, but I’m trying hard to work through them and stay positive and enjoy Mira’s presence while we have her here. As Jero pointed out, I had a great weekend surrounded by wonderful people, and I need to appreciate what I have instead of worrying about everything else.

"We have a firm commitment to NATO. We are part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are part of Europe."

- former Vice-President Dan Quayle

Last Week

Last week was stressful and left me feeling down a lot of the time. However, it did have some very nice parts with people I love, and so even though I’m feeling Bleh today I’m still happy overall. A weekend hanging out with Laat, who I haven’t seen in ages, certainly helped improve my mood. I’m hoping since Laat only lives two hours away now we might be able to hang out a little more often than the maybe once or twice a year we have been.

Last Sunday I got to sleep in wonderfully late with Ke. When hunger finally drove us from her bed, we went to get Thai food, continuing my experimentation with how well I’ve recovered from my radiation treatments. The food was yummy, and after hanging out a bit with Jero while Ke ran to work, I spent the evening with Ke, journaling while she did her nursing school homework.

Last Monday after work I went over to Jero’s to MUX. We ate and I got on the MUX for a TinyPlot meeting that Hemy was running. Everyone had good ideas, and I was happy to be able to actually get on and contribute for a change. After the meeting I got to role-play with Hemy and others as Cobra Commander, which is always a lot of fun.

Tuesday I went to the dentist to get a crown re-adhered. The weekend before Thanksgiving one of my crowns came off while I was eating. Because it was the weekend, I called and left a message with my dentist that I needed to make an appointment to put it back on. Since I had a root canal in that tooth, there was no pain, so I figured it was no emergency. The dentist called me back the Monday before Thanksgiving and asked if I could come in that day to have it re-attached, but since it was my first day back at work I didn’t want to leave immediately. Since it was a holiday week, I couldn’t get an appointment until the next Tuesday, and my that time my rootless tooth had moved too much – so now I have to buy a whole new crown. D’oh!

Tuesday night after work I went over to Mika’s. I tore her away from Mobsters long enough to take her out for Chinese food, and then when we got home I got on her computer to send out a notice to Indiana_RP about a game night Thursday. Unfortunately Mika passed out while I was on the computer, so it wound up being a very early night.

I had to burn off from Paid Personal Time before the end of the year, and last Wednesday was one of the only days available. So, I took the day off and hid out while everyone else was at school or work. That night I got together with Ke. We had yummy Cuban food and then watched A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All. Heartwarming! B)

Thursday night Mika and I hosted a game night in my apartment building’s community room. A@, B! and Erro joined us for most of the night, and Brbe popped in as well when he got off work. I kicked ass at Apples to Apples and Run for Your Life, Candyman!, but Erro triumphed at Munchkin. It was a lot of fun, especially for a last minute thing.

Friday I got together with Jero. We went out to dinner and ate way too much. After stuffing ourselves we went back to her house and spent a lot of time playing on our laptops while trying to decide what to do with the evening. Eventually we settled on snuggling and watching Bones, so I finally got to start watching the second season.

This weekend was fun. I went down to Louisville to see my friend Laat from college. I’ve seen her on and off depending on where in the country she is living, but hadn’t had a chance to see her since she recently moved to Louisville, which is only 2 hours from Indy. This weekend she had a fundraiser for the Girl Scouts, so that made a god excuse to go down to see her and her new apartment. The weekend was cold but very fun.

Today I’m back at work, and it’s annoying the fuck out of me. We combined with another department so now the phones ring off the hook. Plus, they keep moving everything to one server, and then of course every time something crashes *everything* goes offline and makes our jobs almost impossible. I hate working here, although I do appreciate still having a job and insurance, especially after seeing the $16,000 bill for my radiation treatments. So I guess I’ll suck it up. ;)

“You create the reason/ for your own existence.”
– Forest for the Trees