Teddy Radiator

Yesterday was another day of doing not too much beyond watching films and colouring. I then received a message from a friend she would be coming over tomorrow - I'm dead excited - and I'll reveal all after tomorrow!

I was supposed to visit Mom yesterday while TheHubs™ was attending his first read-through of The Foreigner, but she was a bit under the weather, so I stayed at home and loafed. Boy, I can loaf like a professional

We received the very sad news that Lemmy died yesterday, of a very aggressive cancer. There are few people in this world who are so well-known a single name is enough, and Lemmy was one of those. I was never a rabid Motorhead fan, but I did love the Ace of Spades, and you couldn't help but like Lemmy. He was unrepentantly a hard drinking, hard drugging, hard rocking man, and singularly unapologetic about his lifestyle and his music. He was, though, also unfailingly good to his friends, and was much loved by many. As Dave Grohl, another beloved man of the rock 'n' roll, said, "Heaven just got a little louder today."

It really brought home just how many well-known and well-loved people we have lost in 2015. I guess the saddest for me was Leonard Nimoy; I truly adored him. I realise it sounds so naff, but I really felt like I'd lost a friend. I suppose that is the legacy of someone like him or Lemmy; we may not have actually known them, but such was their power and grace that they had the ability to make us feel as if we knew them.

We have another party to attend on New Years Eve, and I actually get to enjoy myself - TheHubs™ has offered to be the DD, so that I can toast in the New Year with Champers and other goodies. Saturday will see us taking down these lovely decs for another year. We bought some plastic tubs today to replace some of the ratty cardboard boxes we've been using for the past 8 years. And I'm determined to use the firepit sometime this week, so weather, you'd better buck up your ideas quick.

Much love to all who expressed concern for my welfare in yesterday's post. I have come to realise it's a bit of a dodgy 'holiday tummy'. Probably too many rich foods and too many unusual dishes being sampled in the past few days. I still feel a little yuck, but it's recognisable yuck. The twinges have all but gone, and that feeling of just a gippy tummy remain. In other words, self-inflicted. I've had a cup of tea with some sugared ginger and cinammon simple syrup, and hopefully that will settle things down. I don't feel like I"m going to be ill; it's just feels heavy and bloated.

TheHubs™ and I did a bit of Christmas shopping today, and plan to do more on Monday. The mall wasn't too bad, actually - not nearly as wild as I had anticipated. I managed to get him what I believe is a good present - but the receipt is safely tucked away in case it isn't.

While shopping I heard someone call my name, and it turned out to be a friend I hadn't seen since high school. It was nice catching up and somewhat better that we didn't resort to solely discussing 'old days'. We actually talked about life as it is now. I am only in touch with a couple of people from high school, so it was nice to be able to speak as adults, not people reliving some sort of ersatz glory days of youth.

I'm hoping the old stomach calms down - I don't really feel all that great (no fever or vomiting or anything serious), but on the other hand it's just a bad gut from too much food, so I'll just have to ride it out and drink more water. I do have lots to do between now and next Thursday, so I'd dearly love to feel like doing it instead of dragging myself around.

Good days, good days. A couple of parties, met scores of new friends, and I feel really peaceful. Work has been good, and I'm gradually getting things ready for next week. We have a pretty full plate of get-togethers, and I'm glad. It's nice to be a part of a social whirl. I know TheHubs™ is loving it. He doesn't say it, but I think he has felt left out of things here.

Tuesday we went to a local production company's Christmas open house - we've known them since our early days at the Vic. It's been several years since we've seen them, and they've moved premises into a refurbished 1920's house. It's a really nice place, and the food was top notch, but it started early and by six o'clock we were full and restless. Then we had the idea to drop by our local Aldi and grab a couple of bottles of their Gluwein, and returned to the house and fired up the firepit. Soon we had a roaring fire and steaming mugs of mulled Gluwein (steeped with oranges, cranberries and a smidge of brown sugar). It was absolutely lovely.

Last night we visited with C & N, two fellow Spamalot alumni. C is a very well-respected hairstylist, and his lovely partner N has a company selling custom-made bowties called Dapper Sandlapper (which I think is a marvelous name). Their house was absolutely beautiful, and not only did they stuff us full of delicious food, but gave us some homemade cinnamon and mint simple syrups. The kicker was that C had been networking with friends who are dentists, and he wheedled them into taking a look at TheHubs™ chipped tooth for, if not gratis, at least a substantial discount. He also offered to give me a cut and colour for substantially less than his regular fees (the man charges huge amounts of money, but then again, he is damn good at what he does). Sweet guys, the pair of them.

I'm going to be a theatre widow for the foreseeable future, as he finishes a show on Sunday, starts rehearsal for one the first week in January for a late Feb-early March production of The Foreigner, which he has the lead role, then immediately after that he starts rehearsals for a hysterical play called The Explorer's Club in June. Thank goodness we work together or we'd never see one another next year, and I'd miss him terribly. I'm proud of him, but to be honest, even with all the writing and other stuff I have planned next year, six months virtually alone in the evenings doesn't sound all that fun, but I'd die rather than tell him that.

It's crazy warm right now - I've given up on the idea of a White Christmas. I'd be content for one with the temperatures below 60. It feels like late summer around here. My A/C is kicking on even as we speak.

Thank you all for the gorgeous Christmas cards I've received - they are proudly displayed in the kitchen, and if I ever get the place tidied up for Christmas Eve, I'll show you how nice everything looks.

I'm currently watching Victoria Wood's Dinnerladies series. It gives me this warm feeling, for some reason.

Tomorrow is going to be a lovely day. I've decreed it.

Well, where do I begin? It's been a lovely couple of days. We went to a Christmas party last night - our theatre friends T & W threw this awesome do. It was wine-themed, and their tree was the cutest tree made from wine bottles I've ever seen - it was outrageously festive and pretty. The ornaments were mini bottles and corks covered in glitter. They had wine-bottle choirs, and a miniataure sleigh and eight tiny winedeer. It was great fun - gorgeous food. T, who had seen my lament on Facebook that I can't find the old-fashioned gingerbread men with the hard icing around here anymore, made a batch of gingerbread men just for me. They were delicious.

Today TheHubs™ got the lead in a play he auditioned for, and I'm so happy for him I can't see straight. He is finally getting the recogition he deserves around here as an actor. It's a perfect role for him, and while it means I'll be spending most of my nights alone for the foreseeable future, I am incredibly proud of him.

We also found out today that my Stepson J has been making stunning grades on his college coursework and has been headhunted by another college. It's particularly thrilling because he has really wandered about for a long time, unsure of what he wanted to do, unmotivated and frustrated with himself. He started writing reviews for digital games, caught the eye of several companies who have enlisted them as their official 'blurb' guy and tester, and this college degree ties in with that. He's a very erudite and engaging writer, and I think he's impressed a lot of people. I think he's finally ready both emotionally and mentally to persue his dreams, and I couldn't be prouder of him.

It's unseasonably warm here, which I'm not crazy about - I've actually had to put on the A/C at times. Crazy. I have been baking today - choc chip cookies which were absolutely fab - I still can't quite get the right combination to keep them from spreading too much, but they taste lovely.

Tonight, we took a ride around town and looked at all the decorated houses. I love taking night drives like that. When we first got together and had no money to do much, we would sometimes just get in the car and drive around for a little while, talking and just zenning out. It was like that, with the added ooh and ahh of the lovely decorated homes we saw. Some were tasteful and understated - wreaths on windows and candlelight and spots framing the house. Others were OTT with lights of every colour on every bush, tree and eave. I love them all equally.

The last two weeks before Christmas I get really giddy about it all, and saturate myself in the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and emotions of the atmos. I start much earlier, but this is when I start to get really goofy about it. I think it's a left over from my teaching days, when everything was such a mad whirl up to the week before Christmas. Some part of my brain always kicks in about this time.

I'm working on a special game for my Christmas Eve guests - I'll tell you more about it afterward - I'm afraid to talk too much about it and jinx it.

It's been a not-too-crazy day here at Steampunk Towers, so I've had a chance to do a little cooking, a little knitting, and a little work. The production of A Christmas Carol TheHubs™ is currently in had it's Sponsor Night tonight and it went well. Tomorrow Mom and I are going - I'm really looking forward to it. Here is a lovely 'trailer' for it. TheHubs™ can be seen as Fezziwig dancing and another character turning around and walking through a door

We have a fair amount of parties to attend this Christmas, which makes me happy because it makes TheHubs™ happy - sometimes I feel as if he doesn't have too many friends here, and yet all his theatre friends love him to bits (they just don't want ot drive the 30 miles to our house to visit - well, most of them, anyway). Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday we have Christmas parties to attend, and I'm glad. We're only going to have a small family get together this Christmas Eve here, and I feel quite isolated being at home alone so much. I realise we work together, but that's different from home down time, and we haven't shared too much of that since August, what with one play after another. It's been very gratifying seeing him doing something he loves and doing it so well, so I don't say anything.

He's already slated for another play next June, so most of spring will be taken up, and he's going to audition for a February show this Saturday. Hey, it's writing time.

I have made the amazing decision not to send out Christmas cards this year - something I haven't missed in over a decade. I don't know why, but time is really speeding by, and I just don't want to add that to my list of stuff to get anxious over. I'm already aggravated at myself for not taking my annual photos of my decorations, but there you go.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a 2-player game that I can get for TheHubs™? We like hidden objects and adventure/problem solving games. We're not into that kind of roleplaying, though, so no WOW or D&D, please. I've looked at a few, but I'd like your opinions.

I watched the Amazon series "Man In The High Castle" and was so baffled I decided to read the PK Dick novel it was based on. Talk about fanfiction! The series bore almost no real resemblance to the original story, except for the names of some of the characters. At least six of the main characters, whose storylines made up most of the series, aren't even IN the original novel! I better never hear anyone in Hollywood get up their own arses about fanfiction ever again.

I mentioned yesterday about the neurotic reader who wrote the big diatribe about how upset she was that my Severus in Father Figure wasn't living up to her idea of the 'perfect Fantasy Dom". stgulik (yes, mimimanderly, I totally agree that it would be wonderful to have our very on Jules inside our brains. Thankfully, she is pretty close) helped me compose a very user-friendly reply to her, and yes, of course, she had to write back. I almost didn't read it - usually the second message is little more than a pissing contest and I always end up regretting replying in the first place.

This time, however, Neurotic girl surprised me. Rather contritely she bowed to higher experience, and admitted that she had no real understanding of the lifestyle, and that she mostly just found anything out of the ordinary a bit scary, and therefore never really tried anything new. I reminded her that life was scary, and that she should indeed be cautious, but that didn't mean that she should avoid all risks. Sometimes, I told her, reality can blow fantasy out of the water.

I've felt a little under the weather today, but I have been delighted with the reception my grangersnape100 drabble series received today. I've also tried my hand at playing a game I've been intrigued by for ages, Bioshock Infinite. It's fascinating and nerve-wracking, but I like it.

Saw Trailer 2 of Severus Snape and the Marauders. I love the guy playing Snape. He's bang on it, IMHO. All the actors are American, but their accents are pitch perfect. Looking forward to seeing the full film:



I plan on showing some photos of the Christmas festoonities soon, as well as photos from the Steampunk Library, which is now, for all intents and purposes, done. I'll leave you with photos of our boys, courtesy of TheHubs™ and a little quality PaintShopPro time:

Mouse


Sevvy and Bosco.


No cats were humiliated in the creation of these photos.

I have found things to delight me today - A silly little tree ornament at Target, which I studied and promptly told TheHubs™ I could recreate for free - and did:

( Cut for craft dupe )

A terrific grangersnape100 drabble series I read today called A Manner of Rescue by a master of drabbling, iqeret. I adore her drabble series.

Just found out even as I was typing that TheHubs™ won a part in a play he desperately wanted to do. Looks like I'm going to be a theatre widow for a little while yet, but he's really happy and I love watching him work.

Just finished the rough edit of our Christmas Edition of the podcast, and we'll probably post it tomorrow.