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evannichols's mother, Gwen, and then coming home and then going to a scumptiously social cookout at ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sanguinity and grrlpup's house and seeing the Maki family as well. Sang is an accomplished griller, and H. made amazing potato salad (I still need to get that recipe!) and meeting Nicole's young men in person was a delightful experience that I'll admit I didn't expect to feel to that level. I'm not much into other people's offspring in general (even my own siblings' children), and I haven't been around teenagers in… years?? Anyway, they were articulate, not-posing, independent souls and their genuine affection for each other and their parents was actually mind-blowing the more I think about it. Yay for a family unit that's healthy and respects everyone's individuality, and is effusive in affection.emansil_12 a callgrrlpup and sanguinity. I also started out the weekend with a really uplifting conversation Friday evening with emansil_12. We don't usually talk at that time of day, but it was the perfect jumping off point for a positive and quite productive weekend. I worked Sunday but as part of that also managed to hand wash a couple of sweaters, scrubbed the bathtub, washed dishes, sewed on my owl culottes, and worked on my what I'm calling my Dreamspinner fic, but I may route it elsewhere once complete. We'll see. These days I'm feeling much more like my usual self, though yesterday I'll admit to feeling slightly manic because I felt so good physically and wanted to make up for lost time. The challenge of finding balance will probably always be with me, and that's okay. I'm still definitely in the reward phase of my life. :)winnett and pick up a free sewing machine! She's moving for the first time in 15 years and was ready to rid herself of some things she didn't use. Like this sewing machine, complete with its own case. She and I were talking at snottygrrl's birthday party last month and Winnett either asked if I wanted a free sewing machine or if I knew someone who would— and since I've been machine-less since 2010, this sounded great. I've plugged it in and it does work, though I think it would help for me to find a booklet (if possible) to figure out the proper way to thread it, and it needs a tune-up. But I'm thrilled. A hand-me-across sewing machine of similar heft and style to mine that I'd had since 1988!!! :Devannichols! It made me incredibly happy. I'm hoping to become savvy with that searching language and to use it in my own work. There's apparently a need for it and I'm perhaps the first on my team to express an active interest and excitement about including elements of that to my position.evannichols's 51st on Saturday. There was very yummy breakfast-eating at Slappy Cakes, kilt wearing (him, not me), a wander around the beautiful campus of his alma mater, Lewis & Clark College, and then being taken out to birthday sushi by sanguinity and grrlpup. And that was just Saturday!! I worked my usual shifts of 1-10 on Sunday and yesterday, but Evan was around much of yesterday so I could enjoy his company. And then my friend Jen stopped by during my break yesterday on her return trip to Eugene, so that was an additional highlight. Just a really wonderful, delight-filled set of days.evannichols was home because he'd come home sick midday Tuesday, and was still not feeling well yesterday. I took the opportunity to sleep in as much as my body needed, which was a lot: didn't wake up for a final time until 9:30. So no ballet, but I was certainly rested. I enjoyed a leisurely morning, including writing a letter to Evan's mom, then ran a couple of errands with Evan before leaving him at the apartment to rest while I went out and did my own things. First on the list was a truly lovely hour visit at my former residence on 79th. I met up with Gail and Robin, had tea, shared some of my knitting projects, and just enjoyed their company and seeing Cooper, the boxer [dog] again. What made me particularly happy about that whole scenario is that they are the first people since my Years of Struggle (approx 2005-12) whose residence I've left as a tenant under positive circumstances. They have enthusiastic roses in their side yard, and Gail sent me home with a stunning bouquet of a dozen, which are gracing a table now.emansil_12 which got me into writing, researching and re-engaged mode with a variety of writing-centric elements in my life which have been rather on the back burner. This happens a lot, in that I talk with her and get excited about writing again. So thank you, emansil_12! My aims along those lines for this week are to:evannichols and I are going to go for a walk with sanguinity and grrlpup at 11:00. :)
sanguinity! ♥evannichols!! Weekends! OMGYAY! At least a few of them, and then shortly thereafter I'll have a new schedule. I have no idea if it will resemble my prior one or not, and since my new team lead (the 3rd thus far in my 7-month tenure) was in a week-long Team Leads meeting at HQ, I haven't even begun to get to know him yet. No constant but change, as they say.grrlpup and sanguinity, and then over to Evan's sister's place yesterday to hang out with them. Evan and I had a very rare lunch out, trying out an Indian restaurant buffet close by (yummy!) and doing the obligatory Portland thing of going outside on a getting-warm, sunny spring day. I even wore spring clothes! ( Exhibit A below the cut )rainwish that hadn't initially made their way here. Now my altar is truly gorgeous, with fabric, more stones, a Lego Gimli (not from Rainwish, but he is my symbol of strength), a polished circle of stone I'd held on to from my college roommate (perhaps even given as a birthday gift while still in school), and a paper crane from a newer friend, ohthatjocelyn. There's also a colorful cornucopia Thevina/Kristi-centric collage created by emansil_12 on the shelf nearby. I'll take another picture soon. It fills me with such joy to glance over at it, much less spend quiet time there in meditation, or just sitting quietly with my morning coffee, breathing in openness and breathing out anxiety, holding my loved ones in light.grrlpup like a glove! I'm thrilled that it's with her. There's still enough yarn left (or so I hope, lol) that I'm going to make this vest for myself: 
The back is equally gorgeous.grrlpup and sanguinity joined evannichols and myself for roller skating!! It was great fun. It turns out that the Mt. Scott Community Center has a roller rink. Evan being a good sport (as, with a lingering back injury and recent back-throwing-out-incident, he does not skate), the four of us went and three of us skated. We came back to our place for pizza, red velvet cupcakes and ice cream, and the 25th anniversary edition of WarGames. Yes, the film in which I have my first remembered boycrush, Matthew Broderick. Sanguinity hadn't actually seen the film before, ever, which made the experience all the more entertaining. It was a great day that started out with phone calls to family while Evan was at the chiropractor. Yesterday featured much needed downtime, at least until my 1-10 shift.snottygrrl, altariel and my actual birthday sharer, verdenia.sanguinity and grrlpup over for dinner and a movie last night, evannichols wasn't feeling up to snuff and we've rescheduled for tonight. I'm grateful not only that their schedules weren't so packed that we had to reschedule for next month, but also that we'll hopefully get to have this dinner party at all. I've not hosted a dinner party literally in years.
sanguinity and grrlpup for their friendship. Evan and I went to their house on Saturday for a not-exactly-Thanksgiving dinner, which was not just scrumptious, but delightful to enjoy their company. As I have Wednesdays off, I'm hoping to meet with Sanguinity each week and go for a walk and/or chat and/or knit. I love that!! Having someone locally to chat with and with whom I have a fair bit in common is really great. I'll look forward to getting to know grrlpup better in the future as well.
eldritchhobbit: Tolkien brought us together, but writing and friendship and yes, social media, have made it possible and facilitated our staying together. It's difficult to put into words just how profoundly you impacted my life, how you supported me in my writing and fandom passions when they were a source of strife in my own home. Thank you for remaining a friend and confidante on our respective journeys. May those roads go ever on, and on…sanguinity is coming over around one o'clock to visit and go for a walk, which will be fun. That will mean a grand total of five people who have seen where I've lived these past 9 months. I suppose I could have taken photos. Ah well. emansil_12. At the end of our conversation on Wednesday, she suggested that since I'd missed out on signing up for Yuletide, I just might consider looking at the prompts available for the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
ron_draco_fest 2013. I said I would, and now, two days later, I've claimed a prompt and started writing on it. I'm quietly thrilled. Don't really know how the story will meander, but I have my ideas and I'm going to see where R/D will take me in this new story, unrelated to any 'verses I've created in the past. In looking at my own website, it appears that the last one-shot R/D I wrote was done in July of 2011. So not as long ago as I'd imagined. Still, yay. ::welcomes Muse with open arms::evannichols
regna