So. After three years, I have decided to return my journal to public, rather than friends only, but in a modified form. Real Life Stuff, such as my job and career path, some of my studies, my health, my family, etc. etc., will remain friends only. That said, things about Project-Cat, crafts (I spin, knit and crochet) and fandom type things (ie: my obsession with Supernatural, and my thinky-thoughts on that) will now be public.

Feel free to friend me. However, I'm super busy, so I probably won't automatically friend you back. But if you think we have stuff in common, then by all means introduce yourself! Say hi! Join the party!

Please note, as far as Supernatural goes: I am not a spoiler-phobe. HOWEVER, I think it's only fair that everyone gets to make their own informed decision as far as spoilers go, so I will always mark entries which include spoilers as such. I request that you label spoilers you might put in comments, for the sake of others. :)

( If you are looking for the Yarn!Chesters )

( If you are looking for Supernatural book/comic reviews )

SPOOOOOILER FOR SEASON FIVE. spoiler spoiler spoiler. DO NOT CLICK IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SPOILERS!!!

( SPOILER!!!!!! )

I have updated Project-Cat with the story of Dean's trip to his forever home, as well as updates on the other Former Foster Felines.

There are pictures. :)

ALSO! pentane, Dean's new daddy, has posted a video here!!

I have returned from taking Dean to his forever home. I am very pleased with how the day went, even though I already miss Dean very much. I will update more later (both here and at Project-Cat.) But for now I'm a bit brain-dead from the travel. I think my brain is fit only for Puzzle Pirates, a shower and sleep yet tonight. (Even though it's only 9pm in AZ.) Tomorrow, since I have fewer student papers to comment on than I anticipated, I will (hopefully) clean this disgusting apartment and write about today's adventures.

Le sigh. After months, Dean will finally be moving to his forever-home. Tomorrow I fly to Chicago (and back) with Dean to take him to his new Kitty-Parent.

I will miss Dean very, very much. But I'm convinced that he's going to be very well loved and cared for. And also, my Jack, Callie and Widget will be, frankly, happy to see the last of Dean. And the timing is right, since Jack will have his surgery on Monday, and it'd be good for him to be able to recuperate without having Dean trying to play with him. (He doesn't bother the girls-- he's completely submissive to them. But Jack, the biggest of the bunch, he jumps all over.)

Dean has been the cuddliest, sweetest, most playful kitten ever. He can amuse himself for ages, but he's happiest when being loved or played with.

(He's currently playing with a grape. Whenever I have grapes, he tries to steal the stem, whether there are still grapes on it or not. One of the grapes escaped, evidently, and Dean is batting it about.)

I'm quite nervous about flying with a kitten, but I think it'll be all right.

I'm inexplicably exhausted, despite having had a nap, so I'm going to bed now. A. is going to pick me and Dean up at 7:30 in the morning (the flight is at 9:30), so sleeping now is not a bad thing anyway.

As if to prove my point about the other cats being glad, Callie just appeared seemingly out of nowhere to bop Dean on the head a few times before wandering off to get a drink of water. Heh.

What I'll miss the most, I think, is how *cuddly* Dean is. He's always up for a snuggle, and often he'll curl up tucked into bed with me. Fortunately, he's this friendly with *everyone*, so i'm sure he'll adjust quickly.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER (small one, but still, a) SPOILER

( 5.03's title )

Therein ends your season 5 spoilers in this particular LJ at this particular time.

As you all successfully guessed, yesterday's Yarn!Chester scene was from season 3's "Ghostfacers."

The chair in which ami!Sam sits is actually the bobbin holder-thingie which spade and I found at the Jolly Roger Haggle Shop. (We didn't know what it was, but when msdori came by Spade's house a bit later in the weekend she was all, "Oh hey! A bobbin holder!") The hat is actually from a My Little Pony which I bought at Walmart that weekend-- Spade gave me one as a giftie, and at Walmart I found that pony's baby, so bought her. Then realized, hey! party hat! Ghostfacers! Heh. I had to tie it to his head to get it to stay-- which was made possible by the fact that what you can't see is that the hat is turned around and there are ear holes (for ponies) on the front. Heh.

I may re-do this scene when the bobbin-chair gets here (or the one that I found at my grandparents' house and my parents are sending me.) I'm annoyed that I didn't realize that ami!Dean was in the background of this one. Also, I ought to have grabbed some yarn (it's not like I didn't have tons of it sitting right next to me at the time) and actually made it look like ami!Sam was tied to the chair. I had thought that in the episode Sam just had his arms tied behind his back, but in fact he had large ropes around him.

( Ghostfacers Scenes )

spade had a *brilliant* idea for a video of this scene, but I'm running low on time this morning, and have yet to figure out:
a. how to edit video (although probably not necessary in this case) and
b. how to post video.

(I don't really want to post it on YouTube because that seems silly for some reason...)

Poo. Anyway.

Today's is both not-a-scene (more of an homage), but also quite easy. I feel that it's appropriate after yesterday's images of the dollhouse (as we used it for a backdrop in this picture, too.)



Hee.

Poor ami!Dean-- he really needs some weaponry.

Anyway, that's it for this week. Come back on Monday for more "Guess that Yarn!Chester Scene"! (I hope you're enjoying these as much as I enjoyed making them and posting them! (And remember, special huge thanks go to spade for many of the ideas, much help and tons of inspiration!)

Some things I forgot to mention:

Jack was 17.3 pounds the last time we were at the vet. That was in May. That was a bit lower than his highest weight, around 18pounds. Today? 14.9. While clearly Jack has some weight to spare, it's a very bad sign to lose 2 pounds so quickly. My poor baby.

Jack's bald patches? I pointed them out and the vet didn't seem too concerned-- no crusty bits or evidence that Jack had been scratching. Then I asked if it could be irritation from the flea medication, and the vet said that's absolutely what it was (he'd not known that I'd used any). So that's no biggee. And there's already fur growing in.

I called the vet and it's going to cost about $350 for Jack's teef surgery. That's got to be wildly approximate because I know that the last time I saw an estimate for this it was given to me as "between $35 and $50 per tooth" so I'm not sure how they're coming to the cost of $350. Fortunately, he doesn't need all the pre-anesthesia tests this time around, since he was just under anesthesia a few months ago. While I certainly don't have $350 to spare, it's honestly a lot less than I anticipated. (Between the office visits and tests and such last time it was more just to get the teeth cleaned. I don't remember how much, but I do know that in 2 weeks I spent $1000 on my cats between Jack's teeth and Callie's X-rays.) So. On the bright side, I completely trust this vet and like him a lot, and he likes Jackjack.

The vet suggested baby food if Jack doesn't want to eat. I was pleased, since I'd already given that to Jack. Go me. (Jack's eating canned food now-- I just had to buy softer, more tempting canned food at PetSmart yesterday is all.)

So, I'll probably call tomorrow to have the surgery on Monday. I can't stand that Jack's in pain. As for how I'm going to pay fori t... that's a different question. Lizabethanqueen suggested selling cat toys, but I don't have any made (other than a few that are already slated for various people) and I don't know how quickly I can get more whipped up. I should try, though. It's just that this class I'm teaching is making me so tired. And between flying to Chicago with Kitten!Dean on Saturday, and having 17 papers to comment on by Monday, I don't anticipate finding time this weekend. Mergle.

Me and my headache are going to bed now. Well, shower first.

As most of you guessed, yesterday's Yarn!Chester Homage was to season 2's "Playthings". The hanged guy on the toy box was actually just taking a shower... but I am so glad that spade and I weren't the only ones to see that picture and think that it was somehow a lynching playset...

Here's a random picture of the Yarn!Chesters hanging out in the house that that bathroom playset is meant for:



I can, for some reason, no longer see that image without thinking Romeo and Juliet, but I assure you that that was not my intent upon setting up and taking the photo. (Besides, if Sam is the pretty-pretty princess, he'd be on the balcony. And also, neither Winchester is lame enough to be Romeo.) As you can see, the dollhouse is just a tiny bit too small for them. This was very disappointing as I'd considered buying some of the furniture (not the asphyxiation bathroom, but still) for photographs. Alas.

Oh! Also also, here's a shot that was also inspired by "Playthings" but which I'd forgotten about yesterday when posting. (This one was taken in Tennessee with flurije, for the curious.)



This one naturally led to me quoting, "Well, you are kind of butch. Maybe they think you're overcompensating," which confused Flurije as she's not seen the episode yet.

( The inspiration shots )

Righty-o, then. Moving on! Today's should be very easy, so I shall say nothing about it, simply present it for your approval and challenge. Sorry it's a little blurry. And pay no attention to ami!Dean lying in the background-- that was a mistake. I can't retake the shot, either, 'cause one of the pieces is still in VA (and I am back in AZ):



(Well, I'll talk more about creating it, but that's for tomorrow's post.)

(The one nice thing about teaching 5 days a week is having a set schedule, which leads to posting Yarn!Chester scenes on a schedule, too. Neat, huh?)

Today's images are closer to homages than to actual scene recreations. They are both inspired by the same episode, which is why I'm posting two, but they are not direct versions of scenes. Therefore, they may be trickier than days 1 and 2, or, as you are all brilliant, you may immediately grasp what spade and I were going for.

(Yes, there are more direct scene recreations to come, but I like to mix things up a bit.)

First, yesterday's Yarn!Chester scene and its counterpart ( beneath the cut )

Now then, today's challenge... Remember, you'll have to use your imaginations... These two homages are to the same episode.

Perhaps you have to have a twisted mind (like me and spade) to see this first one. The image on the box is not depicting what Spade and I thought it was...


And the next one:



Well, that's it for today's Yarn!Chester scenes. Today we'll see who thinks outside the box. :D

Okay, so first up, here's today's scene. While yesterday's was a straight up recreation as best as spade and I could do, today's is slightly less precise. I think you'll still be able to figure it out with little to no trouble. (And before you ask, the prop doesn’t belong to us which is why it’s in a box, but yes, we had permission to take pictures where we took this. Okay, so that's not always the case, but it was here.)



So there you go-- can you guess the scene? ::jeopardy music plays::

As caffienekitty correctly guessed, yesterday's scene was from "Bedtime Stories" (3.05). Below the cut you will see the scene as done on the actual episode. BUT! Below the cut you will ALSO see two outtakes...

( You know you want to cliiiiiick )

Alas, that’s probably all the time I can spare for silliness this morning. I teach a real class shortly. (As opposed to yesterday’s abbreviated introduction type class.) I’m hoping that I can get a bit of work on the Yarn!Chesters in this evening. It depends both on how I feel after teaching and hanging out with A., and if there’s any pillaging going on tonight.

Suddenly so tired. I ought to have been spending the last few hours prepping for tomorrow's class. Did I? Of course not!

Instead, I've been making postcards via USPS (it's neat! You can do it here!) to send to the Supernatural production offices. I have also played some Puzzle Pirates, typed up most of the basic Yarn!Chester pattern (although have run into some snags). You've already seen the uploaded Yarn!Chester picture for today, of course. But now it's after 11, and I still have to properly pla tomorrow's class. Le sigh. (On the bright side, class doesn't start 'til 11:20. And I have finished creating the assignment sheet... which only required changing some dates from when I used it back in 2006.)

My tummy feels Not Good. I can't tell if I'm nauseated because I'm hungry, or if I'm in a bit of pain because I'm dehydrated or what.

Jackjack is staring at me. His teef are clearly bothering him again, so I must needs remember to call the vet and schedule a follow-up. Jackjack will also be happier after Saturday when Kitten!Dean moves to Chicago.

Welp, this isn't getting work done...

While traveling, especially while hanging out with spade, the Yarn!Chesters got photographed. A lot. Sometimes we took pictures of them out and about doing what Yarn!Chesters do... whatever that is. We also created an entire picture and video adventure for them, which will be posted at some future date.

However, we also recreated scenes or created homages to episodes of Supernatural. I'll be posting one every day (or so), because I think SPN fans will find them amusing. (The day after I post them, I will also post a still from the episode in question, if it's a recreated scene or appropriate homage.) Some of these will be really easy to guess (I hope!) and some will take some imagination... Remember, too, that the Yarn!Chesters don't really change their outfits, so sometimes they ought to be in suits or something, but aren't in the picture, 'cause ... yeah. :D

Anyway, here's the first:



I think this one should be pretty easy, but I guess we'll see. :D First person to guess wins Interwebz Fame and Fortune... only probably not really.

I so need to be prepping for tomorrow's class, alas.

Okay, so. I want to start creating the patterns for the Yarn!Chesters. To do so, however, requires a great deal of help from a knowledgeable crocheter. What I want is someone who would be willing to go beyond the usual tester job, you see. I will write the patterns as best as I am able, but I'd like to be able to work piecemeal. (Like, "Here's the pattern for the head, does it work?") so that I can incorporate suggestions into the next body part/etc. Also, said Tester must be willing to help make the pattern go from intuitive to, y'know, a pattern, suggesting changes, etc. This would be a process, rather than a "Here's a pattern, please test it" you see. I'd start by creating a basic "person" pattern, I think, rather than a specific Yarn!Chester, and we'd work from there.

Anyone willing and able? :)

I canceled my doctor's appointment this morning. On one level this was bad because I need to talk to billing, and I need to see the doctor. Also, said doctor is leaving town shortly. On the other hand, I'm friggin' exhausted and I need to be teaching in a few hours and I feel under-prepared. So.

I didn't sleep well-- kept waking up worried that I'd overslept (which was a real possibility had things gone the other way.)

I don't want to teach today (and I have 5 weeks of this, whee!) What I want is to sleep some more. Then work on some of the ideas I've had over the past two weeks of travel (ideas which involve, independent of each other, mostly, yarn, sculpey, postcards, meta, pins and more.) Instead, I really need to get ready and leave and find breakfast (there's no food here) and feel more prepared for teaching. On the way home I need to stop for food for me and the cats. This afternoon I need to call campus health to reschedule (if possible), and prepare for tomorrow's (and the rest of the week's) classes. (The syllabus is written, don't get me wrong. I just need to ... I dunno... work out details, I guess.) Also, I should continue to work on figuring out why my apartment smells less than good. (The large bag of garbage that A. left under the kitchen table might be part of it, and I have already moved the offending article to the outside, where it will shortly be tossed into a dumpster before I head to campus.)

Also this week, I really need to find an appropriate air-travel sized carrier for kitten!Dean. Whee.

Hopefully this evening will see the first of the Yarn!Chester travel photos up and about. Um, so to speak. Not, like, meandering around, just posted online. :) [Oh! And finally ordering a battery for my computer now that I've gotten some of my scholarship funds! And probably playing Puzzle Pirates with flurije and A.]

I wish I was back in VA with spade and 1flying_wonder. Or at home in PA with my parents (but with less running around necessary.) Oh well. It appears I must settle for in AZ, teaching 101, and figuring out what the bloody hell I need to do with my reading list so that I can get to, y'know, reading, and preparing for my comps.

Home. Got home about an hour ago. Heather and Dan picked me up and there was no trouble getting luggage and stuff.

Foster-Kitten!Dean is thrilled to see me. Jackjack wants love. Callie won't come near me until I've had a shower. Widget is... under the bed being Widget. Dean is driving me nuts.

My apartment smells yucky, but I don't know why. (I can't trace the source because I don't smell the yuckiness after a minute inside, but it struck me upon getting here.)

I'm sleeeeepy, but know that I won't be able to sleep very well tonight. I have to be up too early, and I have to teach tomorrow. :(

The flights were more turbulent than I'd like, but overall fine. The only downside is that I was in the last seat, last row for the longer flight, so couldn't recline. Couldn't really sleep, so I finished reading Preston and Child's Riptide (verdict: somewhat disappointing due to under-developed characters, a "romance" that came out of nowhere, and an answer to the mystery which I had figured out long before the main character did.) Upon failing to nap, I made notes for a SPN meta, and drafted the first quarter of it. (These are not thing which normally require drafting, nor writing by hand, but my laptop still hasn't got a new battery. Notes, in this case, it did require because it involves a lot of episodes.) I started reading Coal (a book I bought at the canal boat ride/technology exhibit), then slept for the last hour or so. I was startled into wakefulness at Phoenix.

I ought to have gone straight to bed, of course, but instead I waded through 600+ entries on my Google reading list. (I did not read them all-- many blogs got a "mark all as read" click.) My syllabus is printed out, along with my roster (18 students?! In summer?! WTF? And also, fuuuuck. That's going ot make weekends rough, reading all those first drafts. Maybe some will drop. As long as I have 9 and therefore get paid fully.) Now, a shower, and choosing clothes for tomorrow. Tomorrow, doctor way the fuck too early (WHAT WAS I THINKING?) and finding some food, then getting my mind in the game for, y'know, teaching. Then, teaching from 11:20-1, although tomorrow's class is unlikely to run that long. (I figure it'll be going over the syllabus, in detail because it's that kind of class, and Introductions of Students and self, and blah blah blah, now go home and read this article and this chapter and write something, and I'll see you tomorrow.) After teaching, I suspect there will be lunch and/or falling over.

Oh crap... there's no canned cat food here it looks like... Well, given how much the cats got over the weekend (my fault-- I didn't leave notes, and they got overfed) that's probably okay, but it'll confuse the hell out of the kitties in the morning.

Right. Bed. Now. (Ish.)

I'm all pouty because my trip is over. I'm sitting in the LVI airport, and have found an outlet for my computer in my terminal, so that's good. (There's a whole area set up for laptops, but it's halfway down the terminal. Mind you, the terminal consists entirely of 10 gates, so it's not like I'd be far, but I prefer to be really close to the gates to be aware of any updates. Which in retrospect is dumb because gates 10, 11 and 12 share one desk, which I am now behind. Drat. Oh well. I'm comfy now, and connected to both interwebz and 'lectricity, so I shan't be moving. ) But I am sad because my mom was sad all day (Because of my leaving town) so between that, and being very tired (from travel and such) and the knowledge that tomorrow begins a whole new (and busy) routine, I'm feeling kind of down.

Mind you, the Lehigh Valley Zoo was pretty awesome. It is small (although the game preserve in which it sits is large), and we covered pretty much everything in under 2 hours, but was awesome. In particular, for $1 you could get a little cup of nectar and go into a lorikeet area and feed them. I got to feed a bunch of them, and one of them stole the cup away and flung it about before i could retrieve it. I then had to wash a bunch of nectar off of me, but that was fine. They were very cute. Apparently the time my parents went, my dad even had one land on him to take nectar from the cup. (This time there were quite a number of small screechy children and the lorikeets not flying about were staying safely out of the range of the smallest people-puppies.) I also bought feed to give treats to some very round sheep, and some BABY GOATS. I love goats, so cute! You could go into the enclosure to brush them (I did not-- I figured that I was a bit old for this) or stay outside and feed them; I did the latter. The mama-goat kept butting in on the babies to demand food, so of course I fed her too. But the babies were so cute with their tiny little muzzles!!

Also, I took many pictures of the zoo's brand new (African) penguins. And of their river otters (they're next to newest exhibit.) The otters were so cute. they have three, and they were wrestling and playing. I took video, which I'll post eventually along with pictures.

So where was I in describing my week (backwards)? I skimmed through Friday evening, but I feel there was something on Friday which I have now forgotten. Poo. Thursday was... um... well, I remember going to my (paternal)grandparents' house to do yardwork and look around at my the paint job my parents have been doing. I wasn't really dressed for yardwork, but I raked a lot nonetheless. Also, the visit rekindled my desire to live in the upstairs portion of the house and rent out the bottom. Whether this will ever happen, I do not know.

Also, I was suckered by the neighbor. Apparently my grandparents and their neighbors, who had always been friends as far as I knew, had a falling out before my grandparents moved to assisted living. The woman (we'll call her "C") hates spruce trees. This seems like an awfully specific thing to hate, but whatever. My mom says she remembers C, who had a terribly bad back, going out late at night and putting salt around all the spruce trees in her own backyard so they'd die and her husband would get rid of them. Somehow they eventually convinced my grandparents to get rid of their spruce tree as well (I think there was something slightly more nefarious, something about bringing people in to look at it, even though it wasn't theirs and such.) Anyway, my grandmother is the Queen of Holding a Grudge, and she never forgave C or her husband. (Evidently C sent flowers, but my grandmother refused them, heh.) It's a shame since apparently they were quite close because both my grandmother and C kept late hours and would send notes between their houses and such. But whatever.

Anyway, the neighbor has 3 greyhounds. Not knowing about the falling out between my family and theirs, and certainly not having guessed that my parents had not spoken to the neighbors in all the times that they'd been working at my grandparents' house, I went over to say hi to the puppies. I am a sucker. Out comes the husband (I can't remember his real name, but we'll call him "B".) "Are you [Eilonwy]?!" he asked, doing the whole "My how time flies" schtick. I said yes, and he came over to talk. I wanted to know about his dogs, but he immediately asked if my parents had decided what to do with my grandparents' house yet. I said that they weren't sure yet, but they were thinking about buying it and renting it out (which they are thinking about doing, but they haven't decided.) He made some (very) small talk then excused himself. I thought it was a bit odd but nice that he wanted to chat and went back to my parents who immediately wanted to know what I'd said about the question B had asked. They had realized, as I went to pet the puppies, that no one had told me about the feud. Sigh. So I gave away more information than I ought to have, but not too much I guess. What pisses me off is that B didn't even so much as ask after my grandparents. Grrrr.

Then we went to my maternal grandparents' house but they were not home, which is odd. We found out on Friday, though, that this was because they were visiting my cousin Sie who had ended up in the hospital the night before, having been hit in the head with a baseball. (She plays softball, but had stayed after her own game to watch the boys' game.) Until Friday they thought she'd broken her collarbone and her neck, as well as having a hell of a concussion. By Friday afternoon, thankfully, they'd decided that she just had a concussion (and she came home on Saturday.) On Wednesday she had memory loss (she knew she had a sister, but not her sister's name and didn't recognize her picture) that continued through Thursday (she didn't recognize my grandmother) and by Saturday she still had not regained her peripheral vision. Scary. But she'll be wearing a collar for 2 weeks then seeing a specialist to be looked at again and hopefully will be okay after that. ::fingers crossed::)

Thursday evening my parents dropped me off at the Japanese steak house to meet with moobie for sooooooshi. I didn't eat that much because I'd had pizza with my parents in Wport (so much food this trip!) but I enjoyed it greatly. More importantly, the company rocked, of course. Moob and I caught up a bit then went to my house where we watched "The Devil and Peter Tork". Twice. (The second time with commentary) while I took notes for the article I'm (hopefully) writing with Heather. Then we played several games of pool (Moobie is unfairly trained, however, due to several boyfriends who played pool.) Moob left around midnight. Fortunately she did not have to work the next day, but I knew I had to be awake(ish) for visiting my grandparents.

Wednesday was the canal. My parents and I got to Easton just in time to see the 1pm boat pull away from the dock, but in retrospect that worked out okay as it was full of small people puppies. So we walked around the wee technology exhibits for a while (lots of information on Bethelehem Steel and the Dixie factory) as well as looking around outside. The boat ride itself was awesome. We saw how the mules got hitched up, how they start the boat, how they turn it around and such. We didn't go through a lock, but we did float (sail? get pulled?) as far as the Glen-something lock and saw its lockhouse before turning around. We also got a thorough history of the canal and its workings, so when we didn't make it to the canal museum, that was okay. Also, while we were on the water, the Sojourners (canoe and kayakers who start in Mauk Chunk/Jim Thorpe and boat/camp their way to Easton over 5 days) pull in, and the (local) news was there and such. Also, the captain of our boat was very attractive. Alas, a canal boat's captain is in the *rear*. Poo. Had a nice chat, though, with the interpreter (not the captain) after the ride, too. (Asked about how this area's canal bit is treated differently than Walnutport's, for example. W'port is also a canal town, you see.)

After the canal, we drove up to the Crossings, a series of outlet stores, because my mom had broken her Bass sandals and wanted new ones. It was a bit silly going that far, but the price was right. She got two pairs, I got one, and dad got shoes, too, which he'd been seeking (nonchalantly) for months, evidently. I also got a floofy skirt at the Coldwater Creek outlet.

Then it was back down the road to Bethlehem Steel, which is now the Sands casino, to meet up with Deebs for dinner. I played slots for the first time-- $.02 ones. I won $30 from playing (my dad's) $5, so that's cool. It goes towards Vancouver. I also lost a second $5, so that sucked, but at least it wasn't much. Sis Steph won $44 on a $5 (she was up to $55, but went down again.) We had dinner in the St James' Gate pub. Unfortunately, the service sucked and the food, while good, wasn't good enough to make up for the sucky service. Grrr. When we came home that night it was pouring down buckets and storming, so I just went to bed.

There, now you have the whole PA experience and we are all caught up. The flight before mine has arrived and landed, so we'll probably start boarding before too long, so I shall post this and turn off le laptop. Also, all this typing, while tiring out my hands, has made me feel a wee bit better. And I plan on sleeping on the plane. I probably shan't post tonight, but I'm sure I'll be back into the regular posting routine (and I'll start with the Bone Key reviews) quite soon.

Don't break the interwebz 'til I gets back. Also, please think happy Keep The Plane in the Air thoughts for me. :)

I fly back to Phoenix this afternoon/evening (getting in at 9:30, which I didn't think bad 'til I realized that that's 12:30Eastern, and that's how it'll feel. And I have a doctor's appointment at 8am tomorrow, before teaching my first 101 of the summer. Ugh, and oops.)

Everything is packed except my computer (and iPod which is charging), but while I still have 3+ hours before needing to get to the airport we're heading out asap. We're going to go to the zoo (at least that's the plan, but time keeps slipping away.) The Lehigh Valley Zoo, to which I've not been, used to to be the Trexler Game Preserve (to which I had been when I was a child.) Mom says they're turning it into a nice little zoo, mostly for children, I guess. But there are penguins and otters and wolves, so if we make it, it should be pretty awesome.

Yesterday we celebrated the fourth with a picnic. Deebs and my maternal grandparents came down. There were So! Many! Clams! Good god, I don't need to see another clam 'til next year, that's for sure. There was also corn on the cob and my mother/paternal-grandmother's potato salad and deviled eggs and all sorts of nummy picnic food, all done the way I like best, 'cause mom did it. Chris brought his Wii, and Deeb brought a projector (from work), so we hung a sheet up on the side of the house (Dad grabbed some wood and fashioned a frame, hanging from the rain-gutter, and balanced on the deck's bar). As it got dark, we played with the Wii (some of us for the first time) and then when it was properly dark we watched Eagle Eye which wasn't bad. I also worked on ami!Bobby, but I haven't yet looked to see how well/poorly I did in working by what amounted to the projector and an oil lamp's worth of light. (I sat at a table where there were two oil-filled lamp-thingies meant to keep away bugs.) It was a really nice picnic, except for one of our neighbors (not next door, like we originally thought but a bit farther up the road, ironically near where the constable used to live) setting of huge, professional grade fireworks. These were the kind you'd normally pay money to join a thousand of your closest friends to go see in a stadium-- serious grade. Frankly, it was scary-- not the explosions themselves, but the fact that we live in a rural-ish, residential area filled with trees. Thankfully it's been a wet summer so the fire hazard wasn't as high as it could have been. The explosions scared the bejeezus out of our dogs (Murphy was running around (indoors) panting and Katie went and hid under my parents' bed all evening) but it was the potential for fire that had me quite scared. My parents debated calling the police (we don't have any locals, so it'd have had to have been the State Troopers), but finally went across the street to confront who we thought was doing it. It wasn't him, and the explosions seemed to cease, so we didn't do anything about it. (In retrospect we ought to have called the cops when they started. But it's a difficult choice because do you really want to make trouble with your neighbors?)

I had planned on helping my mom with the food prep, at least a little, but was distracted. I went out for coffee (well, tea) in order to meet up with sinnerforhire who drove all the way out here (she lives partway across the state from where my parents are.) I figured we'd chat for an hour or so. She's really lovely, and lots of fun. Because we're both huge SPN dorks, there was much chatting about the show, and about fandom-- about which she is best qualified to speak because she studies fandom! She showed me her pictures and autographs of the SPN stars, over which I drooled (no worries, the pictures were protected by plastic) and squeed. I showed her the Yarn!Chesters, and she took their pictures with the actor pictures, hee! (ami!Dean is even dressed the same as Dean in her autographed picture!) We hit it off really well. So well, in fact, that I had no idea what time it was. I got a "happy independence day!" random text message, which caused me to look at my phone for the time. I was shocked to discover that it was 1:30 (I had thought it to be about 12:30, and therefore time to wrap things up and get home.) I panicked (holy carp!) and we took our leave. I felt bad at the hurried exit, but I had completely lost an hour of time! Eek! :) So I called my mom to apologize, picked up the items I'd promised to grab on the way home, and zipped back to the homestead, where my grandparents already awaited. Oops. :)

Friday was a bit more calm. My parents and I had lunch with my paternal-grandparents at their assisted living place. What was great about this (beyond seeing my grandparents and showing them the Yarn!Chesters because my grandmother wanted to see them) was to see how well my grandfather is doing. He was put on a medicine for dementia-- meant to slow it down, etc. I saw a commercial for it recently, showing it to be marketed towards Alzheimer's patients, of which my grandfather is not one, but apparently it's for any kind of dementia. Anyway, my point is it seems to be working as my grandfather was brighter and sharper than before.

Eek. Looks like we're ready to go, so time to shut down ye olde computer. Anyway, Friday evening was prepping for the picnic, and games of pool in the basement. :)

Thursday and earlier will have to wait. But Thursday was cool 'cause I got to see moobie. And watch The Monkees as research!

(Hee. Appropriate music. Thank you iTunes Oracle. Heh, followed by "Ramblin' Man"!)

Should probably mention that sinnerforhire is not a homicidal maniac-- or if she is, she hid any violent tendencies remarkably well. My parents did start to get worried that I'd been kidnapped as it was 3 hours before I came home (and they'd thought I'd be away for 1) but it was only because we had such a good conversation and time got away from us. I will write more about that (and the past few days) later (perhaps tonight), but now we have guests and my grandparents are about to leave so I must needs go say goodbye.

Also, Deeb, upon finding out that my grandfather does, in fact, have a heart condition, asked him if he can still have sex. The ensuing conversation, about my grandparents and about Deeb, have scarred me. And no one has brain-bleach available.

I'm 99.9% sure that sinnerforhire is not some kind of evil homicidal maniac. But in case I'm wrong, now you'll know what happened to me if I don't return to posting. :D (She has offered to drive a long way to meet up. It should be very cool.)