fox

("January 1–15" is a little optimistic, because here it is January 2 and I'll be more or less off the grid this weekend, but I'll do what I can.)

Day 1

In your own space, talk about your Happy Place—the things that give you joy, calm you, or keep you sane. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Maybe the fact that I'm thinking so hard about how to answer this question is a little bit diagnostic.

Things that give me joy: Music. Knitting. My two-year-old, 98% of the time. (When he's being a brat, especially when he's doing so deliberately, I am not joyful. It's all age-appropriate boundary testing, but man do I not like it/him/myself when that's the place we're in.)

Things that calm me: Music, sure. Knitting, sure. My two-year-old, at snuggly times. (Hugging him can make the knot in my neck let go a little bit. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that his head on my shoulder might lower my blood pressure.) Coffee; it doesn't even have to be good coffee. Wine.

Things that keep me sane: Um.

So nu, it's been a tough couple of years for me. In addition to the raging trash fire that is our current administration, which has generally been making it a tough couple of years for everyone in the world (whether they know and admit it or not), I had a baby two weeks after the last presidential election; then when he was almost 10 months old my mom had a stroke. She survived and is actually recovering very well, given the odds, but she's still not the same as she was and never will be again. So the kid is two and I've basically had a new and different mom for 15 months and counting. I probably do need some more conscious Happy Place in my life. (I did buy a 20-lb weighted blanket a couple-few months ago, and I like it very much.)

snowflake_challenge Day 3

Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them. Afterwards, leave a comment in this post with the equivalent of "I did it!"

This is hard! But I have done it! ... Maybe not today. But recently! And I'm taking credit for it retrospectively. :-)

So I ran the junior championships at my curling club, which involved being at the club from 3:30-10:30ish Wednesday, 6:30-11ish Thursday-Saturday, and 7:30-5 Sunday, but only because I had a plane to catch, because thanks to tiebreaker hell the event actually went to about 9:30 Sunday and my capable deputy handled the final match and the wrap-up.

Gentleman Caller and I went to Florida for New Year's to College Roommate L's parents' house. L, her husband, her parents, her three kids, and friend S and her husband J. It was good. A quick visit but a good one, and Himself might not have been able to handle any more togetherness, even though it's a lovely family - it's still a lot. (The kids barely let me get in the door before glomming on for hugs, and when I introduced him they glommed on to him too. Me, they remember, but him, they've obvs never met before, but they are utterly unconcerned by new people as long as the new people are not strangers to their parents. By this morning the seven-year-old was climbing up to sit on GC's lap and show him the video game she was playing on her iPad-for-kids. He was bemused but not unwilling to be Uncle Jungle Gym. When I told her we had to say goodbye because it was almost time for us to go home, she cried. ("But ... right now?" She's used to my staying longer than just two nights.)) GC has asked that after our trip home to my family for MLKmas, we can have at least a couple of months without out-of-town travel. I don't think that's at all unreasonable. Oof.

Before the curling, my mother had come down for Christmas (arriving Monday and leaving Wednesday, another quick trip), which was very nice - GC and I did a roast with Yorkshire pudding and potatoes and broccoli and it was lovely. Next year I might try to make my own Christmas pudding, if I can remember in time. Last thing before I went off to the curling, I finished up my New Year's cards, so if I have your mailing address, watch your box. Now I am back home in comfy clothes, thinking about sorting but not laundering the laundry, and knowing I'm off to work again in the morning.

Last night L's mom drove GC and me back to our hotel a little after midnight, and the moment the door to our room closed behind us, I mean the moment that 2012 was really over for good, I just burst into tears. He held me while I sobbed and sobbed, but you know, the good thing is that it will never be last year again. This morning when we woke up he held me tight and it was better. I'm counting on this year to be an improvement over the last one.

I thought I'd do snowflake_challenge. Here's the Day 1 challenge.

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Sure, I can do that.

• Fortune's Fool, which so far is always at the top of the list of things I'm proudest of. Romeo and Juliet, Romeo/Mercutio, written (in iambic pentameter!) for Yuletide 2004.
  
• No Rest, a drabble based on a Banksy picture of what may be a fallen angel, but which to me looks like an angel who has been working far too hard and needs a weekend. I may have recently read Good Omens at the time that I wrote this? I don't remember.
  
• A Very Small Number of Immortal Beings, which is about Jack Harkness and another character not named until the story is over, and which I enjoy a lot and choose to believe more people would enjoy if they only knew about it. :-)