The Ink-Pot and the Palette

Despite having had to work for a couple of hours yesterday, I've had a lovely weekend, with lots of checkmarks in my "Time With People" goal-box on Joe's Goals. It's practically a social whirl for me: I had a mojito with my buddy Darrell from work on Friday night, then dinner last night with the ever-gracious serenity_valley and sr8tontilmornin (conversation compelling, house delightful, food excellent, as always); then coffee with my mother this morning.

I've lost just under 20 lbs--that was a nice Sunday morning treat. It's weird how avid I am to weigh myself each day, after having spent 30 years avoiding knowing that number.

Bike errands today included buying a 2.5 quart Crock-Pot (influenced by the aforementioned excellent food chez sr8tontilmornin), in which a shoulder of pork is currently slow-cooking in a Chinese style char siu sauce--whisky, honey, star anise, fennel, Sichuan pepper, cassia bark, cloves, garlic...The house smells wonderful. I've never had a Crock-Pot before. I think I'll get good use out of it.

Just finished re-recording the first three chapters of lovesrain44's Blue Skies From Rain because Audacity swallowed up some bits and I thought I could improve a lot on others. I've got chapters 1 through 10 done now, and I think I'm pleased with it. Only 19 more to go! :D

And speaking of chapters, I finally broke through the Chapter 42 barrier of Restraint. It's not done yet but it's well underway, and everything after it--the Epilogue and the Afterword--is pretty much complete. I plan to post all three pieces at once, the grand finale of a project that has occupied me for well over two years. It will be both wonderful and sad to be done with it.

And, in conclusion, chart!


(Detail from my tracking spreadsheet. It all means something--mostly "Yay!"--but I like the look of it as a design.)

I was up past midnight last night, lovingly frosting and decorating cookies for the office holiday pot luck.

( Bears and Snowflakes )

( Food and eating )

In other pleasant holiday-themed news, dine and I met for pulled pork and top-notch fandom conversation last night at Russell Street Barbecue, where she presented me with a Christmas card, depicting an extremely fine naked male torso and the admonition that he knows when I've been good or bad, so be bad, for goodness' sake. It's adorable.

There is such a difference between talking to regular people and talking to fellow fans about fannish stuff. Nearly two hours flew by, and I biked on home afterwards feeling good about myself and satisfied with my evening, instead of wondering if I seemed odd, you know?