Chaos Managed

I have one. Josh and are ave ecstatic to announce that just before Halloween there will be a new Smith. The little cannibal (Seriously at times I feel like I'm being eaten from the inside out, it's really weird)is about 8 weeks along and doing fine. I'm not showing yet but nausea like you won't believe and ZOMG sleep. I am sleeping about 11 hours a night plus a couple of naps during the day. We had an early ultrasound today and all was well. He/She is just under an inch and a quarter with a strongly beating heart. It's still kinda unreal (except the puking part) but I have a little photo and there he/she is! I can't believe I am making someone inside of me!

This last weekend was my last Vargus game as plot. There was one particular thing that didn't get completed and so I will make an appearance to play that part, complete that plot. I don't think it will take more then a few hours. There were moments of beauty, horror was a theme of the event and I believe we scared and creeped out many of the players. There was sadness. There was some of the illustration of why I left. We had NPC's, miraculously. Scott was half non com due to breaking fingers, Josh's back was acting up again, and I strained my wrist in the second major combat of the night. It was tender the rest of the event although I did keep fighting.
I do think my favorite moment was just sneaking about the sleeping people and leaving the fake spiders, rats, severed ears and other creepy bits on people's pillows with out them waking up. Ninja 'Nise.

This weekend Josh and I are having a real date, lunch at my favorite restaurant and then the Transiberian orchestra. I need to get the house back together, finish up the garden and take out a few hedges in preparation for spring. There are boxes to haul back to the attic. I've packed up most of my costumes but I need to get another tote for the last of them. Hopefully once things are out of the way I can finish a serious clean up of the kitchen. I won't have time to pull the wall paper down before Thanksgiving but I am hoping to paint the stripes on the dining room walls and pull up the carpets. Then there is painting in the hall.... I might try to squeeze that in before the holiday. We are hosting again. The invite (please RSVP though so we have enough food) for anyone who needs a safe place to celebrate is still open. Right now we are sitting at about 10-12 people coming out. In between then and now I have a kinda date (we'll see what happens) with a friend down south. I've got a Christmas party, a shopping day with some of my girlfriends, my birthday and our first annual Beucler/Smith new years blow out, complete with home brewed ciders and meads, his amazing cooking, my amazing sugary treats and geeky goodness. January is blissfully empty right now. I think I will keep it that way. There is a lot of things to get done if we are going to try and start a family.

I guess summation: A lot of relief that it is over. Some sadness for the bits that I loved, some anger still... all that shall fade in time. And my next few months will full. This is a new chapter in my life. I am going to embrace it.

http://news.livejournal.com/117957.html

Take a look at your last entry just to be sure. I had something embedded on my page that shouldn't have been. It's been fixed now.

The juniper needles in my palms, the backaches from pulling out the stumps, the red bush thorns... every minute of it worth it. I harvested from the garden today. Now we've been pulling the odd tomato, lettuce leaf, and sugar pea out for weeks, but today I hauled a mess of green beans, peas, cucumbers, carrots and a couple of stalks of lettuce. I have to add some potatoes and onions but most of my stew for supper is coming from my garden! The pumpkins are taking over rapidly and the broccoli never really did head for us, but for a first ever garden I am pleased.
Tonight I make salad and stew!
Things I will do differently next year:
Start earlier (Though I won't have to clear the area I want to plant next year)
Start seedlings for my flowers (other then my marigolds all my flower seeds failed spectacularly)
Buy a hoe (weeding by hand all the crab grass is a back ache and a half and I ended up miserably behind)
Plant the pumpkins and cucumbers on the other side of the yard (I've trimmed the pumpkin back a dozen times, it keeps trying to grow across the driveway)
Pole beans instead of bush beans (I think I'll get more yield)
Trellis and fence bits for the beans and peas to grow up (my improvisation with dowels and twine was only partially effective)
Asparagus and strawberry roots put in this fall (can't wait!)
Put the lettuce and spinach in porch baskets
Buy a narrow table or cabinet for the back porch for grilling and gardening equipment
Try the tipsy pot arrangement for kitchen herbs
multiple hanging baskets....
Morning glories and moonflowers in the front
More daylilies
Two red climbing roses to either side of the yellow clove rose
Take out more of the front brush

Not to ambitious.... of course not. :-/

but I still haven't gotten about to writing down about the event. You can shoot me later or just IM me if you are dying to know. :-D
Yesterday I had a brand new experience. I swam in waterfalls. I learned to swim about kindergarten age at the local pool, about half a mile from out house. I've never been a form swimmer per say. I know how to do it but I tend to toss it out the window and just move, Especially if I'm swimming in lakes or the like.
Yesterday on phase two of the 'Nise is in NC plan we went off to see some waterfalls. Trent drove us about for an hour through tunnels and up mountains, (We sang in the tunnels out the window while driving to hear the acoustics) with a picnic lunch in tow. I saw so many mountains... then he plunged off the main roads on this gravel track up one mountain where rocks were falling onto the road and over creek fjords. Trent fed our anxiety about running out of gas (he was on E when we pulled up and stopped) then we piled out of the car and down a trail through the Hawthorns and blackberry brambles. Nearly there but still mostly out of site I could hear the roar and smell the water. Trent kept insisting Hannah and I not look just yet. Then we climbed downward over a bridge and down a set of steep steep stair. The fall was breathtaking. Wedged between two pinky red rocks carpeted with verdant moss was a silver white shimmer of water. The pool underneath was deep, colored blue green. There was another couple picnicking by the side so we shed sandals and plunged ankle, then knee deep into icy water. There was a lovely wedge shaped rock slightly warmed by the sun that we sat on. I climbed down below it, slipping a few times on the rocks, and sat fascinated by smooth pools that were carved out of the rock and the foamy froth the rapids turned up.
After we ate we took pictures and Hannah and I climbed over to the rock ledge near the base of the falls. My capris were rolled up over my knees but the hem was still soaked. We scrambled up and stood with frozen toes with the spray behind us. Trent came over and teased about throwing Hannah in. Then we climbed down and slid back into the water to get to shore. Trent laughed when I slipped and we broke out in a brief and frigid splashing war. Slightly soaked we all climbed back up to the car and Trent found a gas station off the beaten path. Thus refueled we went onwards.
He pulled off the side of the road eventually and with much giggling dire threats we changed into bathing suits and headed to the falls. The first place we went was called Cathedral rock. It was lovely and according to Trent has wonderful natural waterslides. There in became a problem. I’m blind when I swim. My eyes are nearing legal blindness with out my glasses and I rarely wear contacts. I was quite apprehensive about blindly (literally) jumping into one of these slides with out knowing where I would end up going. After some back and forth over it we decided to head up stream to another fall with a milder slide. Walking was interesting, slippery rocks you can only kind of see… but when we got to the pool it was fed by two falls. I waded in to my hips then a bit higher. The water was warmer then at Sumey Cove but not by much. We splashed around and made Trent get in the water. After all of the teasing before now he decided it was too cold. Since Hannah and I had already gone in that wasn’t going to fly. It was lovely, freezing and glorious. The sun just hung over the falls and there was a tiny island of mud, grass, and strawberries that we took our pictures on.
Afterwards we tracked back up to the car and Trent lead us off again. We saw his Great grandmothers house, the graveyard where many of his kin were buried, and the cabin that one of his ancestors had built. Then he took us back to Brevard to purchase lasagna fixings and Hannah and I came back and cooked. (She cooked I made the garlic bread.)
There are grand schemes now to get out some gorgeous dresses and some pioneer style clothing and do a photo shoot at the falls and at the cabin. We scheme. Lovely and so very tiring.

Had a full few days.... but today I got fresh mussels in garlic butter and strawberries in chocolate. Win. Tonight... sleep. It was a bad idea to stay up till 2mumble AM reading before babysitting. Bed calls.

I guess there was confusion yesterday but I actually did not post a April Fools joke. It explains the sudden increase in caffeine and headache meds.

Honestly though... so excited.

So recently the cats have been fighting a lot, and we figured out that one of the reasons was that Blair, being the greedy gut that he is, was eating all of Max's share of the food. This would not do. So I started feeding Max separately, but Blair would mosey over and eat at Max's food bowl too. Max won't eat all at once, he likes to browse, so we couldn't shut him away while eating. I was at wits end and the boys were at each others throats. Then I hit on the idea of sticking the food in Max's laundry basket. That cat loves just lying in empty laundry baskets. This one had been in our dining room for a while. Max hopped right in and started eating. Blair looked forlornly through the side and pawed at the slats. Max hopped out and went on his way. Now Blair can physically jump into this basket. But somehow he hasn't figured that out yet. And I am not going to tell him!

Today Ian came over to print some forms off and he brought Lucille. While he was tinkering about on the computer I got Luci all to myself! Glee! She was hungry so I got her situated upstairs with a jar of oatmeal and pear puree. The cats were fascinated. Both of them crouched at the kitchen door while I sat of the floor and fed the baby. Blair came in first all whiny and emo. "Mom, your pay attention to something other then me. You still love ME right?" Max finally overcame enough fear to come in the door but he wouldn't get close to Luci. He followed us around though up and down the stairs. They are both now vaguely reassured that the strange alien creeping thing is gone.

might not be online as much for a bit. My computer is having issues again. If you really need me try the cell.