If you had invoked me before you began this journey,

Really, I think everyone has them, at least to some extent or another.

For me, it's The Body Shop and Villainess. (Well, among many other things - like coffee, for example. But they're not the subject of this post, and so don't matter.

I've been using the former's shampoo for years, and even though their tendency to stop making certain kinds just as I become very fond of them is annoying, they haven't done me much wrong. Over the years, I've sworn by their hemp lotion line (the stuff is industrial-strength, and prevented cracked hands for several years running), tea tree oil (how I loved it in high school, and still do), and seaweed (just need to remember to use the stuff now, really). In short, they've done me well.

I used to get their body wash as well, until more recently, I discovered Villainess, which is a company out of Waverly, TN that makes awesome soaps. And lotions. And other glorious personal-care things. I confess, the names on their products drew me in, as well as the descriptions. I'm finding for the price, they're pretty worth it to my mind. Smell nice, feel good, and tend to make me happy. I like smelling good, but I sort of dislike perfume (which explains why I haven't jumped on the BPAL bandwagon yet, not for lack of desire, though...). This seems to be a perfect match.

With names like Mall Santa (The pervasive scent of cinnamon buns and cream cheese frosting, underscored with cheap whiskey, tobacco stains, toffee candies and delicious filthy lucre), Pyromania, Killer Beez, Mudslide (A positively filthy mix of day-old coffee grounds and vetyver, blackened hazelnut, sweet graham, and rich cream), and so forth, there's a very nice variety to choose from.

Plus, I'm convinced they have a good sense of humor, which is always nice. For example, the following was from one of their newsletters:

Also returning, the Killer Treez soap, The bleeding sap of a thousand fallen conifers covered in maple syrup. I think our original commentary was to the effect that "it smells like you slaughtered an x-mas tree in a cedar closet and then polished off a short stack covered in maple syrup."

Is there such a thing as a zen of hemming?

I think I'm there, at any rate...

I like my Christmas to be quiet.

Don't get me wrong, I like seeing family and friends, and I like hanging out with them and everything, but I also very much like just being with those who I care about. In short, if I can spend the day curled up on the couch playing WoW, I am just as happy.

And that's what I did. Well, dad came over for dinner, presents were exchanged, and we had an early dinner consisting of a lamb shoulder, rice, and peas. This was quite perfect in my mind, as it also meant discussion related to food - a favorite topic with dad.

I did get some very good presents. Ryan gave me a signed Mr. Punch poster (McKean *and* Gaiman signed it), a necklace with a heart made of tentacles, a copy of Inception, and some other very fun small things. Dad gave me a copy of The Whole Beast, by Fergus Henderson. There are recipes for lamb that look divine.

Then bought myself a few books as a Christmas present to myself.


Really, I don't have much in terms of plans for the next few days. Clean up the kitchen and such, as well as do a bit more baking. Namely, cinnamon rolls for a few people to go along with their other gifts. I've got a cheesecake planned out for chocolate decadence tomorrow night, so we'll see how that is. I also really need to look at prices for fur for a project I'm undertaking (and have about a month to finish), as it requires things I do not have on hand.

Hrmmm...

Well, at least things are looking pretty good right now.

Any presents that are being shipped to the East Coast (my family and Ryan's) went out today. All presents for those here are also taken care of (for me, still, primarily family, as I saw no reason to buy everyone I've ever met something). Just wrapping is left, and I intend on getting most of it done tomorrow.

Ryan made jambalaya for dinner, with enough leftovers to take to work for a pot-luck tomorrow. Of course, we started eating it and realized it's made for our spice tolerance... Which isn't everyone else's. Meh. So be it.

Otherwise, things are quiet. I've just made nearly 3 dozen cinnamon rolls and had that most lovely of realizations - the one that comes and I continually forget until it does once more - that if it involves dough it does utterly wonderful things for my mood. Even if I"m not kneading it myself (in this case I used the dough hook on the stand mixer), just watching seems to help. This doesn't seem to be the case as much with cookies, but dough, oh how I love it. Just the action of kneading, of watching things as they turn from raw ingredients to dough is incredibly relaxing.

Of course, it also means that I'm debating buying my flour in 25 lbs bags...

It was quiet, and life was good.

Pretty much I got out of work early on Wednesday, came home, and typed away to my heart's content in order to finish a project that was due. (Actually, that was the sound of my life for the first half of last week. That and wondering how in all hells some of the LIBI stuff got to be in a shape as lousy as it was, considering the contents and such...)

So, we really didn't bother doing anything for the holiday. Well, except goof off. Dad had to work, so he came over after he was finished, and then we just relaxed and chatted. I refused to cook a turkey (though we have one in the freezer), but instead did twice-cooked pork belly, chicken in vinegar, dry-fried green beans, and a mix of mushrooms. Prep-time took maybe an hour, and the actual cooking was maybe half an hour. We all agreed it was incredibly good - particularly the pork belly - and everything went wonderfully. The quiet day was something that all of us sort of needed, and I think we were grateful.

Friday and Saturday were, well, incredibly lazy. I swung by Ianuk and Ivan's on Friday so that a new piece for my spinning wheel could be made. It looks quite good, and I just need to put more linseed on it, as well as my wheel. (This would also be a much easier task if the canister of the oil sitting on my table was able to be *opened*. Seriously, the damned thing refuses to open...) On Saturday, we also mostly relaxed, though dad came over and he and Ryan put the beer into the carboy. An added bonus to that visit was the fact that we ended up going over to his place for dinner (jambalaya!) and movies (The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main Street and Buckaroo Banzai).

Honestly, I really couldn't have spent a better few days.

Today we saw the new Harry Potter film - and enjoyed it, at least apart from the running commentary from the family behind us. It quieted down once the previews were over, but neither of us were entirely pleased with it. Seriously people, keep quiet during the movie, or at least use your inside voices... Anyway, once we got home, I headed off to Bentley's to finish another project, as well as meet with a classmate about the last little bit of group work. I'll be glad when the projects are over, and I can certainly argue about the uselessness of some things in the grand scheme of my degree. does remind me i need to finish up at least one piece of writing for said degree)...


Now, it's back to work tomorrow. I've had a lovely weekend, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't wishing it lasted another few days. This week I need to finish up the two projects that are due, and also plan a few things. Cleaning should probably also be done, and it's likely going to get at least partially worked on. For example, there's a laundry hydra that needs to be slain...

I realized as I was driving into work today why the news that Deathly Hallows opened this weekend completely passed me by, as well as the fact that it wasn't on my list of films that I'm looking forward to. (And now that i think about it, why Dawn Treader has passed me by as well. Of course, that was never one of my favorites in the series...)

Anyway, it's because I'm tired of the dreck that's being produced. I like my movies to be, well, interesting. And ones that provide something at least a little different. New, original. This means that even if it's a contemporary piece, I'm tired of adaptations of other media. Seems like that is what's new and interesting to studios, and so it's what they pick up.

Please note - I'm looking forward to seeing (in no particular order): Black Swan, The Tempest, Tron: Legacy, and True Grit. All these come out in December, and I intend to enjoy them for different and various reasons. I am aware that, in some way, three of these four movies violate the original content theory, but bear with me.

Black Swan - I love Aronofsky's stuff, and I know that I can count on him to provide me with something that leaves me thinking.

The Tempest - If you've seen Titus, you'll know why I'm looking forward to this. Not to mention I love Mirren, and having her as Prospero intrigues me.

Tron: Legacy - It's been what, 25 years since Tron? I think we can get something at least a little new here, and the trailers look like great fun.

True Grit - The Cohens. Say no more. I know that it's an adaptation of something from I think the 50s, but it should be good.


Seriously, I know that I had more to say, but for some reason, it's almost 9 and I'm already crashing hard. Watched Forbidden Planet earlier, and also had dinner (sushi! and being as it's a small group, I'm better learning what I like) with friends.

This weekend shall mostly be schoolwork, but for now, I'm content.

So, I decided to take today off of work. Namely because I had a decent amount of school stuff I wanted to get caught up on, and with Southern next week, I figured it should be ASAP. It helps that I was at a decent point in my work stuff, and so I could take the time off.

Anyway, I finished everything up within a few hours. And then, because I am unable to sit still and just relax when I'm at home, I did things.

Laundry, cutting out fabric, and baking. As a result, I feel very pleased with myself at the moment. I'll have a new underdress for Southern, and the boy's going to have a pair of tunics. Sure, I'll need to embroider them or something later, but for now, they're *new*, and that's all that I care about.

We also had landscapers over today. Ryan and I decided it was high time we did something about the yards, and it was beyond us. Time to suck it up and call a professional. So we did, a guy who is a friend of one of Ryan's coworkers, and his guys came and dealt with everything. Seriously, if you've seen our place, you'll know the mess it was in. Well, that's not the case anymore. It's totally cleaned up. Quite frankly, I'm impressed. They did better than I could have expected.

This morning started out quite well, actually. I dragged myself out of bed, did a few things, and then hit a movie with dad. We saw Secretariat, which was better than either of us expected.

Dad then came over, and we spent a few hours goofing off while he did his laundry. Of course, the dishwasher and the laundry machine were both also running, and as it turns out, one of them caused a few drains to overflow. Now, the shower was having issues the other day, so we used a plunger and poured lots of liquid plumber down it.

Took awhile, but it worked. At least for a time.

Consequently, it was deemed time to call the plumber. Which, mercifully, didn't end up being a complete hassle and, in fact, went quite well. We had a large hunk of roots in the pipe that were clogging it up. So, they hacked them up and pulled them out, and all was right with the world.


Tomorrow's plans are simple - laundry, clean fridge, and do homework. Probably clean the bathrooms as well, but I'm not going to go insane over them.

So, this weekend was lovely. I had a good time with friends - chatting, hanging out, watching, and just generally relaxing. I even got a few nice pieces of jewelry at the silent auction on Saturday night made by someone whose work I have long admired. Took some photos, but probably not enough. *shrug*


This morning, I rolled out of bed (still tired) and did all the normal morning stuff. Dropped Ryan off at work, and then headed in to WACC. Now, it's a Federal holiday today, but as not everyone's a Federal employee, that means that not all of us have it off.

No problem, right?

Well, it turned out it was. Because the workroom that I'm in is not something my code wants to disarm. Neither does the coworker of mine. So just after I got in, she set off the alarm, and we spent half an hour with the security company on the phone, our building manager, and *him* on the phone with one of the Federal employees.

Result Coworker and I went home early. Both kind of annoyed because we *should* have access to it, but didn't. I wandered up to dad's and hung out for about an hour there, before coming home. Still tired, but I"m now sprawled on the couch and watching Top Gear, because Ryan's harddrive is at home.

I've got schoolwork I should probably do, but I'm not feeling quite like it right now. At least I'm caught up, so that's something.