chase_acow

Got a postcard from dine with happy wishes, and it must have worked because despite all the reasons it could have gone sideways, I had a very pleasant Thanksgiving. Sure, it was the worst meal since the last time I had the worst meal up there, but it was edible, and we had destroyed the cheeseball I made before noon. My pie was also well received. There were just seven of us Dad, stepMom (who despite her lack of culinary success might be my favorite parent), me, my brother, uncle and his wife, and aunt.

Aunt and brother are typical trump supporters, dad is a little better educated conservative, stepMom want to be interested but she's just not, uncle and his wife are very christian not much for politics but have a slightly wicked sense of humor and like to poke the bears. Any time anything started maybe straying into politics someone would yell the most random question at Alexa, we'd all listen to the answer and then inevitable conversation would shift to whatever we just learned. Mine (via The Good Place) the largest fish, or most fries eaten in a single setting, or one spirited singing discussion that ended when we realized half of us were talking about Jim Croce's Big Bad Leroy Brown and the other half You Don't Mess Around With Jim.

The last was because when I got there on Tuesday, my dad was sulking a little because since he's gone blind he misses playing games with the family. It took a little work because he didn't want me to mess up his Alexa, but I got him to let me ask her for a game. We started playing Song Quiz where she plays a short clip and you compete to name the title and artist from a picked decade. It was like night and day with him, he got so excited and happy and we had a great time . . . probably we enjoyed the epic failures more than when we got the right answers.

Teal Deer: good time, safe drive, I didn't poison anyone with the food I made.

NaNoWriMo: I ended up with 45,000ish words, but I lost all steam with this last week's holiday and crafting box. I'm nearly finished with lots of things though, and I'm excited about how far I got. The website actually fritzed at the end and started repeatedly counting my total word count instead of just the updates. IDK, I wrote over 50,000 words of creative writing if I include a few other things I did on different platforms, so I'll take it.

in_a_peartree - digital wishlist is open until the 3rd (I think)
holiday_wishes - mix digital/physical wishlist

I'd like to do both. I've shopped around a few different Amazon wishlists that people have posted. I'm working on putting the tree up today. I'm trying to do it in stages so the animals don't get overexcited and knock everything down immediately.

holiday_wishes is open for wishlists and perusal.

I went and saw Last Christmas, it is a very adequate holiday movie and Emilia Clarke's eyebrows should win an Oscar. Yeah, fine. There were some tears, but I'm currently an easy target so your mileage may vary. If you need spoilers for any reason before you decide if you want to see it, hit me up.

Would you like a holiday card? I try to always pick seasonal non xmas ones. I'd like to send you one, anywhere you want. Comments are screened, or you can DM me. My address is here if we have mutual subscriptions or if not, I can DM or reply comment. You don't need to send a card to get a card I just wanted the option ready if anyone needed it. : )


The Bad:
I broke my NaNo mug.
The Good:
I broke the halfway point! 25,987 words!

Most of the words from the last two days are for a new fic I got plot bunnied for from Big Lots. It's a Hallmarky style holiday fic, and I am very pleased with it so far. I'm shooting for a 15k length which'll help my word count a lot. My original fic idea is languishing in I-don't-know-what-happens-next purgatory. Oh well.

and this is my favorite version by Go Radio:


I took Gray to the vet today. She'd had some bare patches on her back legs, but I'd asked Dr. Internet and between that info and no behavioral changes I kinda waited to see if me being on a day time shift would make her feel better. I opened the curtains, opened the window when it was nice enough, and I was around and awake during the day cleaning or playing or petting. However yesterday I noticed patches on her front legs too so I called and got an appointment.

She was so good. I mean super scared yes, it was our first trip to this vet, but she didn't fuss when they picked her up and manipulated her legs, though she of course wasn't a fan of the thermometer up the butt. On the plus side, no ring worm, but she must be stressed about something, and now I feel bad that I've got to pick the puppy up tomorrow. I'm very sure they'll be friends, so he might eventually be helpful, but it'll be an adjustment right off the bat.

When we got home, 13 was incredibly interested in sniffing the cat carrier, but when Gray got close, she hissed and eventually she did end up popping Gray on the head with a closed paw a couple of times. I've never seen her do that before, hiss yes when Gray would sneak up on her when she was concentrating out the window, but never physically hit her. So now I feel real awful. Why can't we all just get along?

The vet suggested we try pheromones to help before talking about anti-anxiety meds. I hope it works.

Whatever It Is by averia MCU - Tony/Bucky 1,800 words
Bucky was not really caring about the insults, even though it should have hurt him. He knew Stark would fix it and that was really all that mattered. If it also meant that Stark would be propping his arm forever, then so be it.

I've been looking around at the Bucky/Tony and this one is my favorite so far. I'd love any recs for stories y'all have enjoyed.

kind of since I work until 0400 sometimes, and I have to go back for four full nights over xmas week. But at least I am enjoying the sun today before the ice and/or snow and/or imminent death happens during this weekend's storm. I've had so much more energy and motivation. I forget that when you're in that slump you don't realize that your 'normal' used to be your actual bad days.

I am stuck on this song, and I really dig most the album Holiday Benefit, Vol. 4 2010, which is on spotify. Read about the song here



( lyrics )

T-18 days until xmas puppy pick-up! \0/

fandom_stocking which you can sign up for here It's a fun little thing, but remember, there's no telling what will end up in your stocking. Even if you don't sign up, maybe see if you can do something nice for someone else?

holiday_wishes is where you can post a wish list of 10 items or hopes so we can see what we can do for each other. I haven't posted a list yet, I don't know if I will, but it's fun to look at other people's and see what I can send them. : )

Yays:
I have bought all the xmas presents I need to! Anything else will just be small bits of icing and not anything I have to stress about.
Football season is over! At least home games, I can now enjoy as a fan for another month.
I really liked this season of The Orville. It was fun and my inner geek enjoyed it's understanding, optimism and exploration, and also the pot jokes.
I am pretty happy with my spn xmas playlist. It's called xmas in hell on spotify if anyone is interested. There's a whole plotline going on there.
The cats have not destroyed the tree.

Boos:
Yuletide fic has not yet been achieved. I really don't want to default.
Why is it still 70 degrees! I just want to wear sweaters and enjoy hot chocolate!
The cats are probably lulling me into a false sense of security ref the tree.

Is anybody anywhere making holiday icons? It's so hard to find old stuff what with the grand ghosting of photobucket. Grrr.

I'm so excited about my yuletide fic! \0/ I will rec it better once I finish it because it looks amazing.

( Read more... )

Someone over at insmallpackages asked by a playlist of holiday favorites. I can't resist something like that, so i put this list together. Some of these I've uploaded before, but some I haven't. Let me know if anything's messed up or if you want more of a particular artist and I'll see what I've got. : )

Happy Bedlam everybody!

My favorite 'traditional' type covers:

Someday at Christmas by Pearl Jam

Carol of the Bells by The Calling

My favorite peppy rock tunes:

Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You by Billy Squier

The First Noel (I Like Christmas)" by Eve 6

Christmas Love< by Billy Idol

My favorite slightly offbeat songs:

The Christmas Can Can by Straight No Chaser

Super Mario's Sleigh Ride by the OneUps

My favorite potty mouthed and/or anti-xmas picks:

Merry F#%$in' Christmas as sung by he of the shiny hair Denis Leary

Christmas Griping by REM

Christmas Time in Hell by Satan from South Park

My favorite Cthulhu inspired carol:

Silent Night, Blasphemous Night by the Dagon Tabernacle Choir

Dear Yule Goat –

Thank you for signing up to write in a fandom I requested! \0/ I'm really just thrilled to see what you're gonna cook up. Please remember that the requests are just optional, and I don't want to stifle your creativity at all. Write a story that makes you happy and excited to sit down at your keyboard and I'm probably going to love it too. : )

Um, I got kinda long-winded, but I swear I'm not picky, so feel free to pick and choose whatever bits you want to read.

( Herein find my general likes and dislikes along with some rambling about my chosen fandoms –> RPF: College Football, Saving Grace, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and Rio Bravo. )

Title: Five ways Jensen met Jared at the mall during the holiday season
Rating: Parts 1-4 are PG-13 and Part 5 is NC-17
Warnings: Extreme schmoop. I blame the idea of love at first sight.
Disclaimer: Jensen and Jared are not mine. I think they might belong to each other.
Word Count: 7,500
A/N: Thanks to domtheknight for the quick beta. : )
Summary: It doesn't matter if Jensen is homeless, ten years old, a jerk, a daddy, or an actor – he and Jared are made for each other

( Five ways Jensen met Jared at the mall during the holiday season )