Sing You Home.

I don't know how to deal with this season. The assumption from everyone, particularly those who don't know my history, and that segment is getting larger, as it is two year now since my little brother died, is that is his a joyful season. Only it's really not, it's a season of grieving.

Grieving is the strangest emotion, because it can coexist silently with the rest of my life for months. I notice if I'm particularly sad, or particularly happy or angry, but grief just steals into the background and I don't notice until I'm ready to beat my head off of walls in desperation and fury. Because no, grief doesn't just mean tears. At least not for me. I get angry.

This would be because my default emotion whenever I don't agree with the way something is going is to get mad. As I am not the high queen of the world and things often do not follow my grand plan, I am mad frequently. Which means I don't really need more anger in my life. Particularly here- it neither helps nor honours the person I'm grieving for if I am ready to attack the world at any moment.

Only I don't know how to not be angry. It's such a fast reaction to get into, and it's so much safer than lying myself open to the rest of the world so they can trample on me. All well-meaningly, of course.

This month will be an exercise in trying to cool down. So far I've primarily failed at that, but today this song helped. And it's lovely, even if you don't have grief/anger problems.

We had a campfire today! Mommy made hamburgers on a grate on the coals, and I showed the younger ones how to make your marshmallows last for AGES by just taking off the outer shell.

Also, I wrote OVER 1667 words. *nods* It was a triumphant moment.

"It's kinda a big deal."

And with seven hours (max) of sleep, we headed for Sin Jawns! The youngsters were all going to Camp Delight for eight days, and us adults were going along to drive, and- well, um, *waves hands vaguely* see people. You know, as adults do.

All the camp people crammed into the van of excitement and hysteria, and Daddy, Slonner and I were exiled to the car. *Looks at Van crammed full of excited children* *looks at VW full of space and a working radio* *compares*

Clearly, we had the short end of the stick. It was tragic, I tell you.

Daddy and I spent the 4.5 hour drive in listening to the radio, and talking art and marketing. As one does. Then we dropped off the children at Camp, where they took the absolute minimum amount of time getting settled in. THROW the luggage from the van. LUG AT HIGH SPEED to the cabins. HUG parents. Bye now! Trapezoid especially was very efficient. I was still helping small girls carry suitcases bigger than themselves when he had finished carrying three suitcases and a bag taller than him to his cabin. Then he vanished to do arcane boy things with his cabin. I didn't ask questions.

Now, as previously mentioned in the last post, I'd bought some earrings the day before. That meant that when we actually got to town, I didn't have my usual monies to spend on books or theatres. My normal Modus Operandi would have to be ADJUSTED. Therefore, while my industrious father went to take the ferry over to an old iron mine to take pictures of an indie turkish rock band, bringing my lovely mother and energetic small brother, I stayed in the hotel and chased a sunspot along the couch.

After this long and involved exercise, and after- incidentally- my family in town were barred from their ferry and had to wait for the next one, we had chinese food and entertained a newly married couple who were slightly younger than I. The entertainment mainly consisted of talk of schools and the music industry, and coffee and timbits. Which obviously is the best of all possible conversations. :D

After we'd exsausted the coffee, I was brought out in state to help grocery pick, and be driven about town at night, and see the new apartment. The new apartment was, of course, lovely. We watched the Taking Of Pelham 123, which was significantly less lovely. Profanity can be used effectively in a story, but I really don't think professional people use one word as the noun, verb, adjective and other modifiers in one sentence. And it's all the same word? I mean, if I've met people who REALLY swear, they at least have two or three words they alternate between. This was just awkward and tiring. The only person who really pulled it off was John Travolta, who was quite believably insane. ^_^ But yeah, the story was so muddled it might have been good- but I really have no idea, I cared about a random sniper more than the MC, and the triumphant ending was- really not. SIGH. If you're going to present a conflict, people, have the goodness to resolve it! If you're dealing with layers of lies, either wink and nod when you leave, or TELL THE TRUTH, don't just wander aimlessly into the sunset. *glares at storywriters* John Travolta was the best part.

In the morning I woke up. Which I put as a point of interest, seeing as I was up until 2:30+ the night before, and then up at 8, and I don't function well on less than nine hours. YOU DO THE MATH. So then we, hmmm. *thinks* We went to costco, and McDonalds, where someone named James- I love you James, learn to be observant- neglected to get my salad dressings or tell me that he had to tell someone else about out for 15 minutes. Which when you're standing by the counter of a fast food restaurant, is a LONG TIME. And then we went to Long and McQuade, where I stayed in the car and read, and then went home.  The trip back was spent looking at the views, talking Churchill, computers, income and jobs. As one also does. 

First, a picture.

Second, I have been instruted to blog- hopefully in great detail- by Third World and Moon Unit. To which I answered, "Hahahahah, as if I have a blog, hahahh- oh wait."

So here I go. Let's have some history! Which is to say, the modern history of ME- clearly the only reasonable history to look at. *preens*

I went to GF-W on Saturday! It was Exciting! I was served a donair in a pizza shop where Frauline and I were truly, deeply, strongly in the minority because we did not have visible tattoos. This experience affirmed my theorty that- no matter what Hollywood tells you- neck ink does not automatically serve to make you look badass/tough/intimidating. Weighing double a person's body weight and having an extra 12 inches on them does that. ^_^

But I am ahead of myself. SHAME on me! You see, we were in GF because Frauline was attending a watercolour workshop. I came along for reasons that will be revealed later, and also because I am a fan of road trips. She was going to be playing with brushes and hair dryers for two and a half hours, and so I thought I'd do some reading, maybe walk about, get some coffee; you know, as one does. The only problem with that is that I am very lazy and out of the walking habit. I consider my commute to work to be a walk, and I can do that in four minutes, in heels. If I was to go get coffee, I would have to cross a HIGHWAY. *stricken with exhaustion at the very idea*

So yeah, I read for two and a half hours. ^_^ It was a hard decision, but some things just have to be done. HAHAAHAHAHAH, yes, I enjoyed the reading and didn't want to stop. But then Frauline finished her art, and we looked at what we were going to do next. Because the OTHER reason we were in GF-W was to go to the theater, and watch Inception. But now it was 4:30, and the show started at 8:30.

I could tell you that I read for four hours, but that would be clearly preposterous, and untrue. I only read for three more hours, tops. But when you walk into the mall and see the blast cages rattling down, and then  go to Wal-mart and peruse it twenty minutes, your options are limited. So we went to the park and read. :D (I also got some earrings with feathers. They cause me delight and a bit of a dragon-ish hoarding instinct.)

But finally, we found the theatre- which must be sketchily accessed through a vacant lot at the back of a building built before my parents were born- and then we watched the movie! *jazz hands*

Several people have asked me what I thought of it. So, I'm gonna try to articulate my thoughts. :P There is no denying that Inception is a very effective story. It sucked me in for the entire two and a half hours, and I cared about how it ended. However, once it ended, I'm not sure that I want to watch it again. It wasn't really visually stunning, the characters didn't make me love them, there was startlingly little snappy dialogue to pour over, and I'm not terribly sure what it was saying.

Plus, that ending makes me angry. :P I WANT CLOSURE. It was good, and if suggested, I think I'd be happy to see it again- I just didn't really go away saying "Man, I Loved that!" I walked out going "I'm not quite sure what just happened, and I'm not sure if I like it."

And then we drove home. ^_^

There you have it. :D The first part of my DRAMATIC WEEKEND.

Epic blog entry of epicness

Here begineth the epic blog entry of last weekend. I'm hoping to get it all into one post without my fingers or language skills giving out- I'll see how that works out.

So, the plan was for Angelica to come out and spend the weekend with us. She was going to drive out from Sin Jawns on Thursday, and return on Sunday. Unfortunately, Thursday rolled in, and so did car troubles. Cue change of plans! (But what is a road trip without transportation issues? Seriously?) Instead, she was going to come in on the bus, on Friday. So Friday rolled in, and so did a blizzard. To make things even better, this was the last day before reading week for MUN students, so the bus stop was full of students anxious to make it home. Angelica didn't make it on the first bus.

In the charming way which DRL has of dealing with overflow passengers, they said they'd wake up the other driver and acquire another bus, come back in an hour. (Btw, the bus was supposed to leave at seven in the morning in the first place. Don't you getting out of bed in time to make it the bus stop at seven am on a saturday, in a snow storm, and being told to come back later? LOVE.) But an hour later, the next bus arrived, and Angelica embarked for the wilds of central newfoundland. It's supposed to be a six hour drive, including an hour meal break for lunch in Gander airport. (An airport so busy that it has two gates. One for departing, one for arrivals. AWESOME, no?) However, due to the snow on the roads, her bus arrived EIGHT HOURS after it left St. John's. Which is nine hours after she was supposed to leave, remember. Which was ten hours after she got up that morning. Given that this was her first bus ride, all I can say is that it gets better! Honestly! :P

But then my lovely family had cupcakes and party games as any excuse for a party to welcome her, and I got home from work in time for rock band tutorials (I really should never play again,) and to watch Up. (I heart that movie.)

Saturday I slept in.. *cough* Not for the whole morning, however! Because we went sledding. It was EPIC.

The picture of grace and dignity, that's me. And Angelica seems to be being attacked by my hair... Poor girl.

There's my mom, isn't she pretty?

After sledding we hung around for a while more, and I read, and then we went bowling! I bowled at 113, I think. Anyways, I broke one hundred, which made me happy. Even if I was the inspiration for the phrase "throwing really enthusiastic gutter balls." Sigh. Oh, and then we went to K and C's house for cake, hot dogs and Charlotte's Web! I queried people about art school and the rise of the civil rights movement. Strangely, people didn't see the connection between those two things when I started asking questions. Their minds must be so boring.. Or organized. That too.

Actually, however, my plot for Karma Police had fallen apart in my hands on Thursday, and I was trying frantically to shoe-horn it back together. Which was the basis for most of my questions, but some people didn't see that immediately. ANYWAYS.

On Sunday we went on an Explorer Girls adventure! Only this time, because we had a destination, and also there were four persons of the male persuasion in attendance, it was more of a, Expedition Persons adventure. We went out to K and C's cabin. The cabin was nice and warm, and contained hot chocolate and cookies. The trek out TO the cabin contained a great deal of slush and ice crystals, and wind off the ocean. I poked some ice pans with my toe, saw them fall gently apart and decided not to try jumping on them while they were in the water, and stomped several loose boards on the wharf back into place with my steel toed boots. Frauline was enraptured with some seaweed frozen into a block of ice that looked like swiss cheese, and the small ones climbed small cliffs. And those formalities over with, then we went inside and had lovely hot chocolate. :D

Oh, and Angelica had brought her camera, and K had brought her alter-ego Iris's wig, so we had a minor photo shoot which was lots of fun. There was only one wig, so the four of us that jumped at the chance to be in the picture had to take turns wearing it, and then Angelica had to stich it together using her arcane photo arts. See the result?

Aren't we fetching?

And then it was sunday afternoon, so Daddy and Angelica and I were going back to Town. Oh, didn't I mention that I was going too? Silly me. Yes, I had my passport, some spare rope and my credit card. So why WOULDN"T I be going? #rhetoricalquestionsftw

We drove in, which was a five hour drive ornamented with many much snow and awesome music, and then we dropped Angelica off at her house, and met up with my brother PT, (You remember PT, don't you? He fixes pianos and has a leopard gecko) at a suitably high-class establishment. So once I'd ordered my bacon cheeseburger and PT had his fries and drink, we sat down to chat. I know, you're amazed at the depth of our pocketbooks and my wild social life.

*cough* At any rate, we got a lovely phone call from our cousin announcing that she was engaged, which surprised no one but pleased us all, and then Daddy had to go calling, and PT and I decided to check out the theatre. Once we got there, there was a slight disagreement between myself and my brother as to which movie we wanted to see. He was strongly on the side of Shutter Island, and myself and my hyper imagination was just as firmly on the side of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. We decided the only way to choose fairly between them was Rock, Paper, Scissors. Yes, in the theatre lobby, in front of all the cool city teenagers who looked aslant at the baymen. Part of the joy of being as weird as I am is having minimal shame. :D

So, we watched Percy Jackson. *Celebratory Rock Paper Scissors dance* And the movie. Hmmm...

I am a hearty fan of the books. I had just read Last Olympian, which is the last volume in a five-book set, and I loved it. I loved all the details and the use of Greek Mythology, and the excellent way it's all crafted. Oh, and the great characters help too! The movie, well. In the words of my friend Rose after seeing it. "It's an amusing fanfic."Unfortunately, I'd spent much of the day working out and fixing plot issues with my story. So when I was trying to fall asleep (and falling off of) a couch later, I ended up spending much of the night working out and fixing plot issues with the movie. I'm pretty sure I fixed it all and it was marvellous! Too bad I can't remember anything now...

Then in the morning, blessed morning, Daddy and I went to Cora's for breakfast. I am still baffled by the purpose of ground cherries. But they put on a good show, and sometimes that's all you need from your food. After food, we went to the Janeway, which was brutal and heartbreaking as always. I want to write a book there, but I'm afraid of getting it wrong, and crying too much. I have nothing more to say on that subject right now.

At this point it was lunch time, or close enough for Government work. I was dropped off at the mall while Daddy went to make Important Business Connections. I was a good girl and bought work shoes first. And then I was magnetically drawn towards the bookstores.

Last time I was in reach of a bookstore I bought fifteen books. This time I bought twenty. However, because this time I was savvy enough to browse the paperback section instead of the hardbacks, it cost me 30% less. See my spoils? *presents them proudly*

I know it doesn't look like it, but this is honestly broadening my reading horizons, and with books that I think I'll actually READ. Unlike when I pick up Brothers K and say "Oh, I'm gonna read this next." Lies, I read the cheesy things I get from the library before I ready heavy russian things. Ahem.

Also I may or may not have climbed over a fence to get to Chapters. Silly unexpected rivers. Silly barbed wire. Sillest of all mud.

And then we drove home, with a brief stop for dance class. Here endeth the epic weekend.

Sock sorting explained!

I was going to talk about sock sorting!

*looks around vaguely*

Wasn't I? Yes, I was.

I even put in the title of my last blog post. And then instead I apologized to everyone in the world. Which, you know, is definitely the best use of my time and life, etc. Who wants to hear about socks when you can GROVEL?

Oh, you say you do?

*Chuckle*

Fancy that. Well, I shall attempt to talk about- socks.

BTW, if if you don't want a look inside my head at the moment, you should START READING HERE. It'll be better for your sanity.

Now, *cough* there are several people in my family. In fact, we usually have to use three of those "family packs" that you get a regular grocery stores. And I'm not even going to go over "family vacations" for five people. I laugh in their general direction. My family laughs with me. Ha ha ha. Ha hah. *cough*

As a result, when we do laundry, it's a rather- intensive- undertaking. Our laundry machine was out of commission for a few weeks in the summer, and we'd have to go to the Laundromat. When we did so, we would regularly take over the entire Laundromat for hours at a time. ~Oh, it's that family again- I'll come back tomorrow.~ You could just see that thought go through people's heads when they walked into the building.

My dad does the laundry now, because it is -frankly- a task that requires military precision. But as you may have had occasion to notice at some point, if you've ever done laundry, socks all look alike. And it's not considered socially wise to go about staring at people's socks, to figure out who those striped socks with the red and the green belong too. (Putting aside the issue of white socks, which are HARD.) So we have an epic family sock-sorting every week or so, after breakfast.

Yes, I just used "epic" and "sock" in the same sentence. My family is just that awesome, okay? If we start into something, it just gets more special.

Hmmm, I was going to describe the sorting, but it's the kind of thing that only really can be communicated in person. Come and visit, and we'll sort. ^_^

A REAL Post.

Ahem.

As you may have noticed by my previous post, or perhaps by the lack of posting in the past, hmmm, several months, I have not been greatly inspired to blog lately.

What, what's that? You say you didn't notice? Hush, I'm busy deluding myself, which is- after all- the main point of blogging. Ahem.

BUT! *orator hands* I do have an excuse! Yes I do. And I'm going to bring it out now, and WAVE it at you. In your very FACE.

My hands hurt.

There you have it. Wasn't that a wonderful excuse? No, you say? Well, well, um, uh, *trails off uselessly* But the majority of sarcasm aside, (I can't put it all aside, that just is a personal impossibility,) I have indeed had sore hands. Apparently counting money for seven hours a day, five days a week, and then coming home and writing fiction - e.g. internet chatting while ignoring a blank word processor- for several more hours, has an effect! Who knew?

And, um, I'm lame. *cheesy grin* But anyways!

It was my birthday on Sunday! I turned 21! I spent it, in true Snazel-fashion, sleeping, browsing pictures on facebook, and playing Duck Duck Goose. :D Also there was cheesecake. Oh my, there was cheesecake. Mmmmm. I deeply love Cheesecake, and especially this one. Yum. Thank you, Mommy!

Fraulien gave me a lovely shirt that covers my abdomen and my smaller siblings gave me chocolate and itunes, and mommy and daddy gave me BOOKS in the form of a Chapters card, and it was generally very jolly. :D Oh, and because I watch Jeopardy like it's a competition- what do you mean Alex can't hear me? I shouted loud enough!- we played a trivia game. I ran my team into the red immediately and then masterfully kept them there with my fast reaction times and stunning guess skills. :D It was a fun birthday, indeed!

Okay, my brain is now gone. Byes.

For those who say there are no omens....

On the day I was born, the number one song in the US was Sweet Child O' Mine, by Guns and Roses, and in the UK it was A Groovy Kind Of Love by Phil Collins.

...

Yes. No further comment on that one....

Also, according to this picture, my Dad and I have the same facial expressions. The world is just lucky I choose to stay inside most of the time. That's all I'm saying. ^_^

I'm the Queen of the May!

Today I went over the back hill with Slonner and we picked flowers. I wore them home. No, you may not have pictures. Not yet, at any rate.

I've been enjoying my time in New Bruswick, but things have been mercifully short of blogging material. I have not stabbed myself in the foot, (that was last week), I made all my bus connections and got off at the right stops, (unlike last year), all my luggage is with me, (curse you, Air Canada), and I haven't stepped on any slugs.

Oh wait, I did.

I stepped on a slug, and I wasn't wearing shoes.

I know, you're all scarred now. ^_^

Anyhow, I'll hit the high points.

• On Monday Slonner and I made it safely to Grammy and Grampy's house, and then we chiefly slept.
• Tuesday we mall-ratted, as I believe I mentioned, and I didn't buy any books! My canvas shoes were tan when I bought them. Then we went to Value Village, where I did buy books.
• Wednesday we walked along the walking trail on the waterfront, and across the old train bridge. I brought my camera but was sorely remiss in taking pictures. The tan shoes became more dusty coloured.
• Thursday Slonner and I took the bus across town to the mall again. There we met up with Historian and his lovely wife, we discussed smuggling methods, and then we watched UP in the theater. The meeting, the discussion and the movie were all lovely. ^_^
• Friday we went up country and clamored around a waterfall. The shoes became more and more brown, with green streaks. Moss is treacherous, did you know that? Also, dogs enjoy drying themselves on your legs, it seems. We had dinner in the EIO and came home, and then we watched Yours, Mine and Ours, and had banana splits. A very good evening. :D
• Saturday, I walked over the back hill in my bare feet, and met slugs. So when I came back for round two of the ramble, shoes were involved. Said shoes are now really brown, and green, and speckled, and wet, and well broken in. I also wore through a blister on the back of my heel, (red patch!) and met my Cousin's husband for the first time with a bouquet of flowers woven in my hair. I'm so awesome. :D Then we had a family dinner, and I listened avidly while inhaling marvelous food. Salads, sandwiches, good bread, and chocolate mousse for dessert. Mmmmmm.

And tomorrow I go home on eht bus with Slonner! So I should get off of my aunt's internet and go pack. *waves*

"And if anything about this flight or the service doesn't meet your standards, please feel free to lower those standards!"

I went to Moon Unit's church on Sunday! She attends a Reform Presbyterian church. This was the first time I'd attended that particular denomination, and it was quite interesting. I realized the bulk of my church attendance, that I remember, at least, has been either Highly liturgical, fairly Charismatic, or home churching. And this was none of the above. :D *thinks* There's stained glass, and no organ or piano? How do I cope?!? 

However, I liked it. There wasn't the mega-church effect that inspires panic attacks in me, I agreed with the theology I heard, and the people seemed genuinely friendly, without stalking the new people. Also, there was coffee after the service, and then potluck. *big grin* Free food? I'm there! 

Then we had to go back home, get my luggage together, check for things left behind, and go to the airport. *cut to Moon Unit and I remaining determinedly up-beat the whole way, despite shakiness* We got caught in a small amount of traffic on the way. Not much, but just enough to make getting checked in and through security more URGENT than usual. 

So I checked in, in a matter of less then ten minutes- God Bless West Jet- and hurried down through security. Zaktrik had come to see me off as well, which was nice of him. At that point of panic about missing my flight, however, I waved, said good-bye, and dashed off through security with a minimum of protracted farewells to anyone. And I made my flight with minute to spare, which I am sure is a tribute to the power of prayer. 

However, once we got to Toronto, it chanced that only one of the runways was open. So we circled the city for some time. 

While we were circling, I realized, with a shocking lack of panic, that I had 35 minutes to make my connection. Before I started being delayed. Mmmmm. Well, if I got stuck in Toronto, I know people to call! And there's free internet, I could go to the Lush store, and it would make a great blog entry! Yes, that is the way I think, in actuality. However, we landed only a few minutes late, and I started walking quickly through the airport. Speed walk... And while speed walking, I hear the final boarding call for my flight come over the intercom. That is a marvelously motivational thing to hear. You find that your speed walking in heels can indeed accelerate even faster. 

Fast enough to see two other women closing in on your gate just ahead of you, and the door still open! Yay! We scurried down the tunnel onto the plane, the door closing behind me, and hurried to our respective seats. Whereupon we then sat on the tarmac for ten extra minutes, while the one usable runway was opened up. Air travel is so logical, timeline wise... 

Then I got into St. Johns, yadda yadda yadda, got my baggage, blah blah blah, took a taxi to Ms. B's house, yabbla yabbla yabbla, went to ring her to let her know I was there- and she doesn't have her apartment set up with a bell. Okay, I seem to remember something like this in the planning session. I am just gonna call her cell phone. Only I don't have a cell phone. Right. Okay, I'll ring the other people in the building who I know. They don't answer. No need to panic, no need to panic, I'll just log onto the internet- I have the password from when I stayed here before- and msn her that I'm here. A quick check later, I can't see her internet router. Maybe panic is a good idea... No, wait! I can just sleep here on the bench in the lobby until someone comes in, and get them to let me into the building! Only, I seem to remember that it's almost 1 o-clock, and I've heard complaining rumors about people coming in loaded drunk after midnight to this building, making all kinds of noise... So, uh, uh, uh, I'll go out and throw rocks at her window! Sadly, (and yes I am saddened by this, at this hour), I can't identify which one is her window. It's a three story building, and even shouting in my best WHERE-ARE-THE-NEFARIOUS-TRAITORS-WHO-HAVE-COMMITTED-THIS-TERRIBLE-TRESPASS voice does not provoke a magical turning on of lights or head at the door. 

This is about where I sat down on my luggage in the wet grass and reassessed my situation. It was after midnight. I was tired. I had no phone. I had no cash. I apparently had no place to stay. I was in the student ghetto. It was dark (but not raining!) 

What to do? I could go to the mall, which I could see, only they close at night. And so does the Tim's in the mall, obviously. And so does the University library, oddly enough. But there, there's the hospital! I can see it! Open 24 hours! And I know people there, I know the cafeteria, I even know where there are vacant couches! Plus, I only have to get on the bus in 6 hours, now. I can stay awake for six hours, if needed. Right? Right. Cue me standing up and getting ready to progress down the street. But then one little niggling bit of social graces in the back of my head mentioned that it'd be hard to explain why I didn't show up at Ms. B's apartment, after making all those arrangements. Plus I might need to explain to my parents.... I decided to try the other doors in the fire escape and such. Just in case. So I could say I really couldn't get in- oh look this one opens i don't have to sleep on the side of the hallway!

And I got inside, had a lovely time chatting and not sleeping with Ms. B, slept on the bus, and made it home without further drama. I even had a welcoming committee. 

The committee had put up a banner for me. :D

Family Carnival!

I'm overcoming my lack of interest in text-blogging with some photo-blogging! Hurrah for me! Ahem. Anyhow, here are some pictures. Enjoy. (Yes, that is an imperative. *angelic smile* Why do you ask?)

EDIT: Oh, wait, it seems you might need some explanations. We were running a Carnival, with Booths, in the Living Room. (See? You get to see my Living Room!) Proceeds went to the Family beneficent fund, which this year goes towards feeding PT. Just so as you know, last year it went towards getting me home from College. :D

Lizzy ran the Blocks Booth, where for a ticket you could build a tower.

Sammy was the main frequenter of that booth, at least in the beginning.

Notice the purse? Yes, that is Sammy's, and it contains many pennies and tickets. Just ask him, he'll tell you.

Geo ran the hair styling booth. She was very well prepared.

Slonner poses with the make-up...

Geo works her art on Little Sister.

Little Sister has her eyes done!

Slonner supervising, again. :D

Beauty is serious business!

The sign was starting to be tired, but we propped it up none the less.

The Block Table experiences a resurge of popularity.

Sammy finds a hiding space...

... in a box full of bears and Slonner.

Still Life With Apples And Jugs.

Slonner gets done over.

Geo waits her turn.

It's Fraulein! Isn't she pretty?

And there's my MOM, who is just lovely on every level. :D

And... my little brother, who decides to lug around the long-suffering cat.

Fraulein- an action shot.

Lizzy's strike.

"Is this my thing?" "Sam, put down the poker!"

Let's see, what's going on? Let me think... Oh! Yes. Mommy and Daddy and Fraulien have gone into town for the weekend, so I'm in charge of the house. *chortles* The small ones are all being farmed out to family friends this evening, so it will be just the Walrus and I tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday morning. Should be interesting, no?

I will admit to being primarily frightened by the prospect of keeping the fires going, and managing the circulators for the radiant heating, but I made it through one night, and I can make it through two more, no? Yes, to anyone I was freaking out at on the internet last night, we did all survive, with absolutely no frostbite. 

Reno(vation) Pics!

End of Day One

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End of Day Two

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The stress seems to be having an effect at this point. Notice Slonner's charming nose decoration.

End of Day Three

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End of Day Four

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End of Day Five!