Day 298 - A Gentle Place

I didn't really plan on writing again until after the holiday, but I'm taking advantage of the quiet right now while I wait for my last pan of cornbread to cool down so that I can put it into the tupperware to be transported in the morning. It's nice to have some time to myself before bed. Not that I ever mind company, of course. :) But it's been a very "loud" day, as the day before a holiday often is.

In between cooking and hanging out with Abby and my new niece, Gigi, I worked on our new snowy land. It's not anywhere near finished, but I think it's coming along.




I still have to finish winterizing Renee's garden, and get the new Enchanted Pond with the seasons in it, and move some trees around. But it'll get there.

Oh heck. The Arcade Shopping Guide is out. I guess I'll be making my list this weekend of things that I want!

But now that my cornbread is cooled down, it's time to pack it up and then get in bed.

Day 297 - They Rise Again

A few days ago, I felt a tremor on our parcel. Faint, but it was there. I checked the calendar, and yep, right on time, the Grand Bluebonnet Mountains were rumbling under the sea. They only come out when the first snowfall is going to hit, you know. It's been like that for millions of years. When spring comes, then descend back into the ocean. They're funny like that.

Tonight after everyone went to bed, I was finishing up something when I felt the rumbling again. But it was harder! So I ran outside to our small lake house and waited. Sure enough, the mountains rose from the ocean. It was a welcome sight.




This definitely means that snow is on its way to Bluebonnet! Which, honestly, is a good thing because I was getting a little tired of all the orange and yellow outside. Plus, we watched Miracle on 34th Street tonight with our family and it definitely put me into the holiday spirit!

I hope all of my US friends have a wonderful Thanksgiving on Thursday, and please be safe if you are traveling! Eat lots of good food and enjoy yourselves! ♥

Day 296 - In The Quiet of the Evening

I started writing this last night but well, sometimes I'm really distracted by the television.

Last night we just hung out up in the "big house" on my platform. I love the house, but it's wayyyy too big for us to have down on the ground [because I'd lose my mind trying to decorate it], so I keep it up in the air and usually open boxes in it. We just sat and chatted on Skype while doing other things.




So The Arcade is coming up! I'm excited, because I like stuff. LOL! I told Aldwyn not to break out into a cold sweat JUST quite yet because I haven't seen too too much that I will die if I don't get...but then again, I haven't seen all the stuff yet either. We WILL be doing a yard sale on Bluebonnet again, so if you're more of a yard sale person during Arcade time [trust me, I do not blame you if you are!], keep us in mind when you go shop.

I really should be preparing for the snow to hit Bluebonnet. I want some new landscaping items for the snow, so I guess I should also be shopping. But... I think it's definitely lunchtime.

Day 295 - We Only Deal In Special Ingredients!

Since we'll be busy next week, my family is having our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night at Lolita and Takeo's place. This is our first Thanksgiving as a family, so it's even more special!

Abby and I know that you don't show up at Thanksgiving empty handed, and we didn't want to show up with a loaf of bread or a single can of cranberry sauce, so we set about tonight to make our Casserole Surprise!

We used ALL kinds of special ingredients.




Some of them got on us, and I may have let her eat chocolate close to bedtime... But well, I hear chocolate is good for you, and I definitely want her to be healthy.

We got our special casserole all cooked and put it in the fridge so we can warm it up tomorrow before we head to our family's house.

Just as we finished up, Aldwyn came home.




I'm pretty sure he's not going to mind cleaning this up.

Pretty sure.

Day 294 - Introspection

I haven't done one of Berry's memes in a while, and since it's late and late is when I get more introspective, it seemed like a good time to do one. :)




1. Regardless of your current number, how old do you actually feel? I'm 36, but I honestly feel like I'm still in my 20s. Sometimes even younger. It really depends on the day and what's going on. I have flashes of feeling my age - like when I need to do something for my parents or when I wake up in the mornings and my fingers are stiff, the beginnings of arthritis. But for the most part, I feel young. Very very young. It's nice, though. For a long time, I raced to be older. I thought there was some magic to be older, and that isn't true. The magic is in keeping your sense of humor, your sense of wonderment, no matter your age.

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying? Oh, definitely never trying is worse! Failures teach you what to do next, or what not to do again. It's why I don't agree with the current trend of "Everyone is special, everyone gets a trophy just for showing up" that I see some of my friends' kids going through in school. No. Not everyone gets a trophy. You EARN trophies by being good enough to get one. If you don't get one, that means you either did something wrong, or you just weren't as good as someone else. And it's okay! You learn from that and you work harder and when you do get that trophy, it means something.

3. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently? That's kind of hard to say. I don't really regret much that I've done that has gotten me to this point in my life. But I don't know...if you told me that I'd die at 40, which is only in 4 more years, I'd probably...eat more cake without guilt, make sure I laugh even more than I do now [which seems impossible because I smile and laugh so much these days], travel to meet many of my friends, and spend as much time as possible with those who love me.

4. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things? I can be a bit of a perfectionist with some things, and it tends to overwhelm me because I want it done RIGHT. And I want it done right the first time, which contradicts #2 in so many ways. :) But I also want to do the right things. I fail at that sometimes, but, again, it teaches me what not to do in the future and that's worth it. I didn't really answer this question very well, did I?

5. Would you rather be a worried genius or a joyful simpleton? Joyful simpleton, all the way! :) I worry so much, even behind all the happiness and laughter. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder over 15 years ago, and it gets worse each year as different things change. It's probably why I sleep so badly - my thoughts race all night! Being a joyful simpleton sounds like a nice change of pace for a while.

6. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend? In some ways, yes. I love my friends. I will listen to them complain about the same things for a year if that's what it takes. But do I reach out to them often? No, not really. I don't want to be a bother, which if I had a friend like me, I'd think that my silence meant that I was upset or busy or not willing to talk. And it's not true. I'm just extremely bad at starting a conversation about nothing with most people. I feel like I have to be entertaining and it's hard for me to do that. So would I want me as a friend? Yeah. But it would be a slow growing friendship because I'm a bad conversationalist and need someone to chatter until I'm comfortable.

7. Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it really matter now? Well, 5 years ago in November, my dad was sick and my mom was nuts. He's not actually sick now [although my mom is still kinda nuts] but I see how frail he is. So did the sickness matter then? Yes. Does it matter now? Not that particular bout of the flu. And in between my worrying about my parents like crazy, I had some SL stuff going on which REALLY doesn't matter now in the least bit. LOL!

8. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive? Wow. Umm... I really can't think of a time. And it's not that I'm not happy and excited about things daily. It's just that when I felt the most passionate and alive, I was performing. And I don't really perform now, unless you count SL DJing, which is a pale substitute for the rush of taking the field in front of hundreds or standing in a room alone with 3 judges, but still makes me really happy when I do it. I don't really get to do a lot of things these days. My life doesn't allow for me to travel or anything. When I had a personal trainer at the gym, I will say I felt really amazing after completing a weight lifting session and I was quite passionate about that for a while. It's harder for me without a trainer and I have some issues now that don't allow me to do what I was doing before, but hopefully one day I can do it again.

9. If you just won a million dollars, would you quit your job? I don't currently have a job. :) But if I won a million dollars, I'd pay for my parents' house to be renovated and then if there was any money left over, I'd buy myself a good computer since I really really need one.

10. If you knew that everyone you know was going to die tomorrow, who would you visit today? I'd gather my parents, my boyfriend, and my bestie and her family together in a room and we'd eat lots of delicious food and tell stories and laugh and just hold each other until the end.

11. What do you feel is the difference between being alive and truly living? Being alive is just existing. You don't contribute anything to anyone. Truly living means you are leaving your mark on peoples' lives. You help them. You receive love. You laugh and smile and appreciate the teeny tiny things in life, like the scent of your hand soap or the blue of the autumn sky. You don't have to have big grand gestures. You don't have to skydive and collect a million friends. You are truly living when you appreciate life.

12. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake? Because we won't get our trophy! LOL!

13. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? I think I'd say more of what I think. I talk on plurk, I talk on my blog, but there is quite a lot that I hold back from saying. We are judged by our words. But then again, even if I weren't judged, I still might not say things because I don't believe that people need to know your every opinion, especially if it is needlessly hurtful. So I think...I'd be a dancer. I'd just dance like crazy.

14. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be? Take care of your body. It's the only one you'll ever get and you're going to be in it for a long time.



Whew. This was a LONG one! 10 points to you if you actually read everything!! ♥

Day 293 - Maybe They Need Dancers In The Bannered Mare?

I still play Skyrim. Not every day, and not every week, but I still love the game a whole lot and get into phases where I want to play a lot. The modders for the game are insane, and they add new quests and new areas and it's just amazing to me that they can do that! I mean, they make whole new areas and characters and it's awesome! A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a specific Skyrim series on YouTube [by the GroBroPros, if you're interested.] and found another one with someone playing as just a regular person - not the Dragonborn. I've seen things like this before and thought it was cool, but I wasn't into playing like that. I wanted to be the Dragonborn, the thane of every area possible, and cheating like CRAZYPANTS because games to me are wayyyy more fun if I don't die. LOL! But watching the videos [Skyrim: Rags To Riches, if you want to see.] I started thinking. What if I played like that? What if I didn't immediately get started in the war?

So my new girl went to Helgen. She saw the dragon attack. She was saved by Ralof and he taught her a little on how to shoot a bow. [This is VERY different for me because I'm usually more of a warrior and prefer to run into stuff and hack at them with a sword.] But as soon as they were out of the cave, she ran off on her own. She's learning to sneak really well, and her archery skills are improving. She's a bit of a thief but so far uninterested in the Thieves Guild. Eventually she married [mostly for somewhere to stay and for the store money], and then managed to get well known enough to be able to buy property and build Lakeview Manor. After that, she ran back to Windhelm to adopt the cutest little girl.

Some of my rules for playing this character is that I don't use God Mode 95% of the time and I don't fast travel. I can run and I can take carriages, but no fast travel. I didn't realize how much I have missed in this game before!! Although I've been playing for a little over year now, I have stumbled into places I've never seen before and into quests I've never done before. It's so fun! Now, eventually, my character WILL join the war, and she will find out she is the Dragonborn, but until then, she'll just keep shooting that bow and stealing circlets.




Of course, I had to pop into SL tonight to spend some time with my guy. But LOOK. He's playing Skyrim!!! That's okay, though. I can totally make my own fun.

He says I distracted him. I don't see how that could have happened.

Day 292 - There's No Time To Cry

So I made it through the 15th. If you're on my plurk, you know what the day was. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know November is not the best month for me. In fact, fall/winter are usually pretty hard on me for many reasons.

But it wasn't that bad. It really wasn't. My RL bestie and I went to dinner and to shop for craft stuff. [We're on a wreath making kick.] When we're together, we just laugh and laugh about the dumbest things. It's a non-stop gigglefest. Even when we're having serious talks, we always manage to make each other laugh and feel better.

After I got home, I hopped in world and my Abby was home and ready to party. We went to a birthday party for a couple of her friends, which was very nice because I haven't had the chance to meet a lot of her friends yet.

We stayed at the party for a little while and got cake, which had uh...surprises...packed into it, and then headed home to get ready for a skating party that Lolita and Takeo found out about. The party was at an adult club, but they were very nice to us and let us come with our little ones. Abby and Raven aren't the crazy baby talking kids that a lot of people think of when they think of kid avs, but we did ask the host before we came in to make sure would be okay because we know not all adult parties want kids around and we like to be considerate.

The party was really fun and we had a blast skating around! But after a bit, we headed to the sidelines to dance and watch others skate. My sister has better pictures on her plurk if you have her there, but I was able to grab one before crashing for the 4279th time.




It was just so much fun and reminded me of all the parties we had in my old party ball. I really want to have a party soon. Maybe our own skating party that is more family friendly, or a disco. Heck, maybe both.

As hour 3 of the party started, we thanked everyone for a great time and headed back to Lolita and Takeo's place for a game of Pentadee [SL's version of Yahtzee]. Abby kicked all of our butts! We had played on Thursday night, so we were more familiar with the game this time around. We all got more achievements to add to our collection. Well... almost all of us. *snickers* Takeo seems to have bad Pentadee luck. Pretty sure he should get an achievement for that.

So, on a day where I could have sat around, wallowing, and being sad, there was no time to cry. I laughed and laughed for hours. It's good, you know? It's really good.

Day 291 - Squishes

Some afternoons, you just need some squishes. :)




Monday night, I almost divorced Aldwyn. Do you want to know why? It's pretty huge. He told me... he said... He said he had NEVER SEEN THE HUNGER GAMES.

*sobs*

So right now we're over at my sister's house with some of the family watching the movie. I've seen it like 10,000 times, so I don't have to pay a lot of attention, but of course I'm listening even though I could probably quote this movie word for word.

They're about to go to the arena, so I better get back to the movie.

Day 290 - Don't Forget Jakey!

The other night we had a fireside story time and my sister started telling us a story about a guy named John who was just having a regular day and then... ZOMBIE VIRUS! His wife got the virus because she worked at the hospital, so it's up to John to take his baby, Jakey, and try to get them to safety. We heard part one on Thursday. Tonight she's telling us more of the story.




But some of us think Jakey is just holding John back and should be given to the zombies because John is always just about to leave and he always has to remember Jakey.

Freakin' Jakey.

Day 289 - Random Family Night

We didn't have anything planned tonight, so it was just a random family night, hanging out in our not even half decorated dining room, and chatting about stuff.




There was a big "discussion" on plurk last night and today that I planned on writing a big blog post about. But then I thought...you know what? It doesn't matter. If one misguided, ignorant person thinks that everyone who participates in something that they know very very little about are a bunch of deviants, that's more about them than anyone else. If they think that everyone who doesn't agree with their asshat way of thinking are bullying them, that's on them.

As for me, I've never been happier in SL. I love our life and I love that the people in it are wonderful. I know others who are the same. If one person thinks that what is happening is actually completely opposite of what actually happens and outright refuses to listen to reason... that is completely on them, not on the people that tried to educate them about what they think they hate. :)

My sister and I are starting to plan for the winter. We want to go on a family vacation to a snowy sim and stay in cabins! Kind of like what Aldwyn and I did during the summer, but just not as long. I think it will be super fun!

But for now, it's bedtime.

Day 288 - If You Wanna Take A Ride With Me

Abby and I were goofing around tonight and digging things out of our inventories. We discovered we both had noobs to ride!




We rode all around our parcel and down to the beach where we hung out for a bit and had a nice chat. This girl...I swear, she puts the biggest smile on my face. :)

Day 287 - Popcorn and Pickles

Another fun movie night with the family! :) It was just the adults this time since all our littles went to bed early. Although we do have fun when it's just us, we do miss our little ones! But it was still a good movie, and my sister and I discovered we both love to eat pickles with our popcorn. Must be a family thing!

Before I headed over to Lolita and Takeo's house for the movie, I was trying to decide what to wear. While I was searching through my inventory, I looked at myself in RL. I am allllll about comfort in my clothing when I'm at home. Yeah, when I go out I will suffer with tight things just to look cute. But at home? Nope! And I'm usually very cold in my house at night, but I don't like to be overly warm either. So I will wear comfy shorts, a t-shirt, a sweater, fun socks, and sometimes my knock-off Ugg boots that I would never wear out of the house in a billion years but totally wear at home.

SO [good God, can I drag out a story.], I figured that since it's been almost 3 months that we've been family, it was time to unleash the full force of my bad fashion sense on them and dressed myself similar to what I was wearing in the RL.




Luckily for me, they think I'm pretty cute no matter what I wear.

But of course, they are kind of biased. :)

This time change is throwing me all kinds of off, and it was a super long day, so it's definitely time for bed.

Day 286 - It Doesn't Cost A Thing To Smile

Quiet night for us tonight, which is just as wonderful as our big family nights. It was just Abby and me tonight, sitting in her bed, chatting about all kinds of things. This girl never fails to make me smile.




I'll have to take a better picture of her room at some point, if she doesn't mind. :) I had asked her when she moved in if she wanted to set up her room herself even though I already had a few things in there for her. She said that she likes my decorating, so I set up a little more for her, and she's added her own personal touches. I love going in there to see what little things she has added over the past week.

I'm cuddling with Aldwyn right now while I type this and he's being an ass, so I have to go and put him back in his place. *grins*

[I'm totally kidding, btw. We know who wears the pants in this family.]

[Well, yeah, it's me. But whatever.]

[I'm glad he doesn't always read my blog.]