Chris bought me a new pillow. Guess we found the source of my headaches.

Gaming: LFR today. So far we have a swordmage, either 3 rangers or 2 rangers & a wizard & I have to decide whether to play my warlock (& have her reach 2nd) or play my cleric. We have an abundance of Strikers, a Defender, maybe a Controller & maybe a Leader.

Lunch @ Pizza Inn buffet. It was a little crowded but not too bad. It's the only Pizza Inn in the area now.

Manga: My bill @ FE was, not unexpectedly, high. It had been more than a month since I had picked up my manga order. We had the time, so we socialized with Rick. It had been awhile since we did that. I also qot the Stitch n' Sew magazines that his wife, Leigh, had sent for me.

Chris had to pick up a special order from Games Connection, in Knightdale. I need to add Wings of War to his birthday list, & a couple planes at least.

Sight of the day: guy who looks like typical heguy (ratty baseball cap, torn sleeve t-. & jeans) walking on side of road in quasi-rural area, carrying a bright yellow flower.

I had no alcohol, why do I feel hungover?
Answer: I'm dehydrated. Anyway, the show was great. Chuck Davis is great and they gave him a script so the show didn't run too late. But just watching Bhangra Elite wore me out. Inversion was about as bad. All the dancers were fantastic and the spoken word artists were powerful.

book: Read Real Vampires Have Curves; it's closer to chick lit than a romance novel but a neat view of vampires. I liked it. It's also the start of a series.

Decided to eat at a local Korean BBQ restaurant for lunch. I've never had that before. I had some kind of broth soup. It was sooo good. It came with half a dozen dishes of side foods; radish cubes, spinach, bean sprouts, kimchi (spelling?), a fish (yeah, looked odd but tasted fantastic), broccoli florets with spicy sauce, & some little strips of something, a meat I think. The soup had potato noodles; never had that before either & oh yum. You know it's going to be a good ethnic restaurant when you can't read the ads or the 'community' newspapers by the door. Yeah, and all the dishes were listed in English & Korean. While I hit a slow time, I was still the only person who did not obviously have some relatives (however distant) in or from Asia.

I was going to go shopping but I developed an extremely nasty headache. So I came home and took pain meds.

dream: I don't remember much, but some guy irradiated his sheep. He thought this was a good thing. He didn't get all of them & I was trying to prevent the 'glowing' ones from contaminating the others. That involved not letting some of the lambs feed and them yelling 'but it's so gooooood.' I took a lamb that had just been born and couldn't let it feed or it would be poisoned too. I took it to Cary, who raises sheep. She was at the Village & they had a new vendor entrance to use, the top.

The ladder, I use the term loosely, was this strip of metal with ridges that curved up over the dome. So here I am, towel wrapped lamb in one hand, as I scale this not-quite-ladder. By the time I got to the top, everyone else had left me behind and I was getting tired. I finally reached up and grabbed the edge of the roof? cover. I shoved the lamb ahead of my into the small opening as I finished climbing enough to get inside. The top floor had a film theater and a couple restaurants. It was a private little mall for the Village of Yesteryear vendors.

clothes: black tennies & jeans, red Hurricanes t-shirt, USS NC battleship sweatshirt, flower pendant, butterfly earrings, flower band, and loose hair.

I have a headache. I took an aleve an hour and a half ago, so it's only painful instead of excruciating.

tatting: finished the 3rd round on my way into work this morning. As I rode home last night I had the opportunity to show it to a couple people. One has seen me tatting before; the other one had never seen tatting before & had never heard of it.

books: started reading Willing, the sequel to Ready, last night. I brought a Dick Francis book to work with me but I may not have a chance to read. I'll be doing my taxes at lunch. Whee.

TV: we watched the 2nd episode of Coupling last night. I hadn't seen that one before. It's funny. Then we watched The Princess Diaries, but I went to bed before the end.

clothes: same old same old from the waist down, black Origins shirt, grey cord vest (that covers up the Origins logo), dragon jewelry (Welsh dragon pewter earrings, silver pendant & 2 rings), and braided hair. So far I don't need a bandage this morning, but if I do, I'm pulling out another fairy one.

Pain! I screwed up my knee somehow. It's been hurting all morning. I've put a cold pack on it, taken pain killers, etc. Oh, and I have a headache. Wheeeee!

I tried to go meet Anitra yesterday to go to the Bead Show at the state fairgrounds. Unfortunately the highway to get there was one lane & my sense of direction is not good enough to figure out another route. Soooo, I came back home & called Anitra so she wouldn't worry when I didn't show.

Chris & I did some shopping in town. We finally found some of those stretchable book covers at Michael's. We weren't sure if they'd fit, so we bought one (on sale, $.50) and learned that yes it does.

Mike called yesterday & we talked for a little about the upcoming Greyhawk Ruins. He's a little worried because his group is a little short on the artillery side (no heavy duty archer & the sorcerer might not be a boom-type).

books: I re-read Second Sight, All Night Long, and the first book in the Immortals Series, Wild Magic. Chris loaned me Furies of Calderon & I stayed up late to finish it.

clothes: yesterday it was pink & burgundy spaghetti strap tank printed with elephants under open weave knit shirt, black jeans & belt, black socks & tennis shoes, hematite ring, black elastic holding a ponytail, triskele earrings & pendant, & Celtic knot ring.

Today it's navy loafers, blue jeans, dappled blue shirt printed with a wolf head, hematite ring, flower band, ~rope band, moonstone & quartz charms necklace, rainbow moonstone earrings & plaited hair.

Weather: Yesterday it was 81F & sunny. Today, it's 47F and raining. Just to add the loveliness, the sudden change in pressure gave me a massive headache (woke up at 2 am to take meds).

dream: I was a vampire (how that happened I don't remember) and as I was out stalking my prey, I found a gang of youths that looked perfect. Except that they were zombies & they were hunting me, not knowing that I was a vampire. The only living creature was someone who made Quasimodo look like a GQ posterboy. So we went looking for meals (blood for me, brains? for the zombies & flesh for the ghouls). We ended up at a high school & things went fine as we munched down on football jocks & cheerleaders (after school, it was night, duh). Then we found some elementary school kids on one of the rooms (age 8ish); they were watching some film or other as a kind of sleepover thing - school related. I couldn't let the zombies & ghouls eat kids, so I fought them off & barricaded the door. I took steps to prevent them from getting in (painting warding symbols on the doors, windows, walls, ceiling & floor). Somehow there were kittens involved but that may simply have been imagery symbolizing the innocence of youth. By that time I had thoroughly infuriated the lead zombie (& the one that I almost ate) and he was determined to munch on those kids. About that time my headache woke me up & I took some heavy painkillers.

After that, I dreamed that I was at some boarding school; one that was very odd. It turned out that it was for 'talented' kids (magic?). There was an incident involving a ghost or spirit of some sort and we ended up accidentally burning down part of the school. Me & the two kids with me (we may have been siblings) were being sent to another school; one that was also set up to handle people with our talents.

Stuff: To add to my fun, as I was disembarking the bus (& wishing the driver a good & safe day), I slipped. I slid/slipped down the bus steps until I was seated on the last one, with my feet out the door. My backside is bruised but everything else seems to have escaped injury.

This evening I'm not going home, I'm meeting Chris, Rosemary & others for David's birthday supper. Since I don't have a car, I'm taking the bus to that part of town & waiting for someone to get me from there.

book: Finished the book I brought with me yesterday and started The Service of the Sword (Worlds of Honor #4). I also brought along another book, A Fine Passion (one of the Bastion Club series) because I have a long bus ride this afternoon.

clothes: tall, black boots, brown velour broomstick skirt, navy turtleneck, navy cord vest embroidered with flowers, paui shell pendant & ring, flower band, fem-power band, and blue bead & silver heart dangly earrings. My hair is up in a ponytail & braided because it got so very tangled yesterday in the ponytail, I decided not to go through that today.

Movie! TCM showed After the Thin Man last night, and then My Man Godfrey. It was almost painful to switch to Veronica Mars (but I do know how Godfrey ends & it was a new episode of Veronica).

I stayed up way too late last night. I saw a commercial for Dead Silence as I was about to head to bed & that did it. I couldn't go to bed until the images had had a chance to fade; too nightmare-worthy.

I burned a little too much incense last night. I don't know if that or lack of caffeine gave me a headache last night.

I got a little more writing done on the Duchess story. I should check to see how many pages I've done (5? 6?). I also listened to 2 of Carry's podcasts; gradually I'm approaching the current ones.

books: I finally finished Buso Renkin & I read the 10th volume of Musashi #9. I dipped into re-reading Lord Harry but only bits & pieces. I've also started re-reading Dragon's Kin. I'd forgotten that I'd already read it.

clothes: black jeans, loafers, & socks; white mini-cape blouse (collar goes out to my shoulders), plaited hair & dragon jewelry (pendant, earrings, & 3 rings).

Uhhhhh What a start to the day! I had an incredibly painful headache as soon as I woke up this morning. Even with the painkillers, I have a faint twinge of it left. It's not a migraine, just a really sharp headache.

I had to change the batteries in my Palm this morning. That meant that I had to synch it; change batteries & synch it again to restore the lost data. Note: that takes about 15 minutes. I got to the bus stop just as the bus was rounding the curve. Good timing!

Today's outfit: remember the faded black slacks & embroidered top combo? I'm wearing again, this time with the sequined flats & no socks (it's supposed to ~80F today). For jewelry, it's the labdourite pendant (so it doesn't fight with the shirt decorations), onyx earring, black stone ring & flower band. My hair's loose, basically because of the headache.

I'm glad that I used the last of that conditioner, it does nothing to prevent tangles. I had to spray de-tangler this morning. And the wood bristle brush I picked up at the dollar store? Ick. It has knobs on the end of the bristles; which catches my hair. Yesterday, I literally caught the brush in my hair & had to free it, like a snared rabbit.

The fair was fun, but Chris wasn't feeling very well so we left about 7 pm. That means that I didn't play a single game on the Midway (I usually play one) or test any Guesser. We did get some cider and I spent 3 hours in the Village. I think there are about half-dozen crafters that I didn't exchange a least a couple words. I also fanned them as I passed, it seemed only kind.

I thrilled Carry, I let her know that I listened to her podcast. She is good & very funny. She did a wonderful thing for me. She gave me her old watch. It's just the kind that I like; plain, silver pocket watch. It needs a new battery but that's all. whoohoo!

Unexpectedly, I ran into Liz & her parents. That was great. They also had my little namesake, aka Squirrel. It's her first fair & she loves it. She told me all about it, the bracelet, the ferris wheel & the big slide. Are all three-year olds that articulate?

I saw the pieces that beat mine in competition. I don't think much of 1st place but I'm sure that it's technically quite good. I prefer the 2nd place piece; a pair of silver & gem earrings. Looking at my entry I suddenly realized; I won third, in professional jewelry! Wow!

Chris liked the 1st place quilt aka the white horse blanket. Note: it's a white on white quilt & trapunto piece with a horsehead & 3 styles of quilt stitch; stipple, what looked like wooden boards (what do you call that?), & a third one around the horse itself. It's a fabulous piece.

The emu steak for lunch was disappointing. It was tough & tasteless. I'm willing to ascribe that to the cooking method rather than the food itself, though. Breakfast was good; a sausage & egg biscuit & a jam biscuit at the United Methodist 'restaurant'. Rosemary worked there as a kid & her mom worked there until her arthritis got too bad. The money benefits 2 United Methodist Churches, one in Cary & one in Angier.

I got my maple & my honey cotton candy & I've finished off the former. I also bought some honey sticks. There's a new loose tea shop, or new to me. They have a shop on Six Forks in Raleigh; I bought some tea & some filters (for the Rooibios) from their fair booth. I also bought some wax based hand.....bar (it's not a cream, it's a solid) from the honey folks.

One popular item was a fan from the Ava Gardner Museum. The county commissioner booth was handing them out. I'm glad that I took one. What a blessing it was.

books: I'm reading the 2nd Grantville Gazette.

Yesterday was very Monday. 1) A lot, to all, of Woodcroft lost power sometime early in the morning. So no alarm clock, get dressed by candlelight (yeah, it is black & not navy), dare not open the fridge 'just in case' so can't pack a lunch, and get to work only a little late, with no coherent idea what kind of weather to expect for the day.
2) Jammed the 'supply' drawer where I keep the stamps & the mail key. 3) Broke my necklace while trying to open it. 4) Overate at lunch (all you can eat, Top of Lenoir). 5) endured a nasty headache all afternoon - bordering on migraine as I drove home
On the bright side: drank @6 glasses of water, walked for 15 minutes, finished catching up on Queen of Wands and there was power when I got home. We cancelled gaming, just in case. Chris made hamburgers (outdoor grill or indoor stove depending in conditions).

The weekend was great. Saturday, the weather was beautiful and I played 2 RPGA Living Greyhawk games on Saturday, walked Rosemary's dogs & had a great lunch & supper w/ Chris & Rosemary & other gamers. Lunch was with Lyman G., Joe J, & Mike M. Supper we had with people whose names I don't know really well. Lyman is a ova-lacto vegetarian (ethical-based) on the Atkins diet. He eats lots of vegetables he says. Greek food for lunch & Japanese food for supper. Yum. Earl was very nice to me, partially because I gave up my seat in the second slot to let a complete newcomer play. I admit, it was nice of me, but someone at some point has done something similar for me. Just because I don't remember it, doesn't mean that I shouldn't repay that debt to someone else.

Sunday I ran Diane Y, Steve F., Chris, Rosemary & Doug W in the LG game "When Orcs Attack", or as Steve called it 'When Orcs Get Sodomized." The big bad foes in the game were Diane's character's favored enemy; Keelin's a ranger. So she wiped them from the board before they even managed to close to melee range. Everyone had fun & did some great roleplaying.

Yesterday's outfit: black slacks, black half-boots, black bateau neck summer sweater, Celtic knot pendant on long chain (now broken, literally split 2 links), knot ring & knot earrings, plus bronze rose hair clip (the larger one) holding my hair in a knot. I also wore my black leather UNC baseball cap & the tan trenchcoat that mom gave me.

Today's outift: plum slacks, black loafers, white shawl collar blouse (collar drapes over my shoulders), tri-moon rainbow moonstone pendant, rainbow moonstone earrings, moonstone ring, 'M' spoon ring, silver flower band, Fem power ring, & the same hair clip holding my hair in a fall. Lately I've been wearing the pocket watch that I ordered from publishers clearing house. It's a watch that my skin will not eat the chrome backing.

I admit it. I'm sorry that we did not have inclement weather last night or this morning. I just didn't want to come to work today. I stayed up to watch CSI: Miami last night so I didn't head to bed until 11 pm. I cooked chicken last night, plus peas & mashed potatoes. Simple meal, but filling.

Diana cancelled gaming last night because she's still recovering from the illness that laid her low this weekend. John did not get the message so he showed up at 7:30. As a result I did not get to see the last 10 minutes of the Pretender episode that I had taped because he talks over tv shows. We sort of watched the Stargate: SG1 episodes on Sci Fi channel instead. He & Chris talked about Chris's D&D game. John hasn't done his 'shopping' yet. I watched those last 10 minutes this morning & then taped over it with today's episode of Pretender on TNT.

I've had some soda & I'm drinking another one right now but this headache is not going away. I also took an aleve & that hasn't kicked in yet. Luckily my HRIS training isn't until next week. If I tried to do it this week, it would not be pretty.

I finished one book last night, started another one & finished it this morning plus finished yet another one. Although that last one was a re-read, so parts of it I just skimmed.

I have had an immense headache all afternoon. I managed to get within 3 newspapers of being caught up, despite that.

I had a great time at the Renaissance Festival on Saturday. I will type in full details tomorrow, when hopefully my head won't hurt so much.

It's been a loooong day. But even though I was 15 minutes late to work I managed to take a short lunch & deposit my friend's check (her half of another friend's b'day present).

And my friend John's mother also likes Nora Roberts & she loaned me the hardcopy book Remember When. It's by Nora Roberts & J.D. Robb. There is a picture of them on the back of the jacket w/ the blurb saying "..share a house in Maryland, a husband & a website..". For those who don't know, J.D. Robb is a nom de plume for Nora Roberts.

I've been reading that at lunch (while walking) & on the bus & so on & so forth...

They've been working next door today & the chemicals (or something) are making my head hurt. I'm going home now, curl up around some caffeinaed beverage & maybe some chocolate.