67_black_impala

It's Wednesday and now the week should slow down and stop being so damn busy. I'd appreciate that.

I spent a good bit of Tuesday trying to reschedule people, because things were amess. I did not fistfight my coworker though, which was an accomplishment. We've got a lot of patients on the STAT list who need longer MRIs. Like complete spines or specialized views of extremities. So when I saw an opening for the next day for two hours, I grabbed it. As I was grabbing, a patient call dropped, and I just put a generic "Hold for add on" and my initials. I was finishing up with the patient, and Josh started calling with updates on Bethesda's STAT policy, so I took that. It was maybe 5 minutes for the pt call and 13 min for the meeting. I came back and this chick had scheduled two appts in my hold, then removed the hold so that it looked like there never had been one. The first appt, she had nominal permission from one of the other III's. But there was a lovely hour held in the morning that she could have used. I don't think the other III looked at the schedule, or she would have had her schedule then, and not in my 2 hour 3T spot. I was so pissed. My grand 2 hour appt shrunk to a useless hour in the span of 15 minutes. And the second patient she slipped in there was not a STAT at all. I was so pissed, but I only bitched about it to A.

After that, I tried to get some slots, but no one wanted to pick up their phone, so it was a futile attempt.

I do hope that I can get this one patient this morning to maybe help out another patient, even I can't clear a big spot.

I spent a fair amount of time on the phone with Oncology, trying to help them with our patients. There's one scheduler who is a total bitch to most of the team, tries to bully them into making spaces for our patients. She's fine with me, so I called her back only to find out that because she didn't schedule with the coworker and then see what we could do, information got lost, and so the spot I had wasn't good for the pt, due to metal in her body. Oh well, I added that info to her STAT request and I'll see what I can do. I did let her know that it's better to schedule to avoid stuff like that, so hopefully, she'll listen. She likes me, since I'm the one who calls with appointments.

After work, we watched another episode of the Amazing Digital Circus, which was fun. I wasn't sure after watching the first episode, but it turns out that I really enjoy it. The 2,3 & 4th episodes have a lot more emotional resonance, and they're a lot of fun. Jess has struck again on their string of getting me into new things! They weren't sure I'd like it, but they tried and I appreciate that. If you decide to try it, at least give it two or three episodes to see if you like it.

Then it was off to get my hair cut. It's nice and buzed on the sides, with only a little bit of gray hair. Then, the top it a bit longer, giving me that good Pete Wentz haircut from 2005. I like it. My hairdresser is possibly moving to the Netherlands in the future, which would make me happy for them, as they are trans, but also sad for me. I did set Jess up an appt on Tuesday to get their hair cut pre cruise.

Today should be must less annoying, though. I'm going to go in, hopefully shift a few patients, and have a nice relaxing day. I may re-dye my hair, with Jess' help after work. I'm only going to color the top part with the longer hair. I like my sides and back being gray, with the shock of purple at the top. Then I shall cook dinner. (the lobster from the Farmer's Market, and some perogies.) We got little dishes with three compartments for fondue and hot pot, and I'll use those to put a little bit of butter, a little bit of sour cream and then some sauerkraut for the peroigies. It's kind of a "Whatever is in the fridge" type of meal, but I'm sure it'll be delicious. I'm looking forward to the fresh caught lobster tail. It looks lovely. Plus it's an easy meal.

My knee (the good one) is acting up. Two days ago the other was giving me some mild discomfort, but the right one must have decided that the left wasn't giving me enough pain, because whew. It's really sore, and it took an extra relaxing peppermint to get it to chill out enough to sleep. It was not great. Today It's still sore. I did do the intelligent thing and get myself a cane for vacation, just in case I need it, which I might. Especially walking long distances.

I've got four packages coming today. One is a set of doggie stairs to make it easier for Yoda to get on our bed, and the others are things that we needed for the trip. I checked my bag with what I packed so far, and I'm at 34lbs. I've only need to pack a few more things, so I will probably make weight on the flight two, but once I start getting stuff in port, no guarantee I won't have overweight luggage on the way back, or need to get another suitcase to spread it between. We shall see how it goes. I'll definitely have room in this suitcase. It's not even 2/3 full, probably just over half. I got some more leggings in, so I'll be finishing packing those. I had already packed the fleece leggings, but I did not have enough to pack the short sleeve. Of course those are supposed to come in on Friday, so I might wait to pack until then. After that, I'll be packed for the vacation, just 22 days early.

I bought a couple of more tickets yesterday, including the Vancouver Tower, which is Vancouver's answer to the Space Needle. And I got the hop on hop off trolley tickets, so we're good on those. I think I'm going to get the BIL a ticket to see the Seattle Mariner's play on the 16th when we get off the boat. We should be getting into Seattle around 1pm, so he'd have plenty of time to make a 4pm game, and it was something he mentioned wanting to do. Ticketmaster is down at the moment, so I'll see when it comes back up.

We're at T-minus 22 days til we get up at an ungodly hour for our flight. At least on the way back our flight's at 10, so we can sleep slightly longer. I'm going to be a total border collie about things. I did book dinner for the BIL and Sister for the night we're going for Korean BBQ and seeing Mortal Kombat, so they're sorted. They're going to Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House which will hopefully life up to the reputation. I think I've mentioned before that the BIL can be a pain when it relates to food, as he's very much a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Once we get on the ship, it'll be fine. They have steak pretty much every night, so he'll be happy. Plus there's the buffet that has plenty of American staples.

I personally am going to be trying new things, and stretching my palate. The nice thing about the dining room is that you can order more than one dish. So I can order two appetizers if they both appeal, or two dinners. Or two desserts. It's not like I'd do it every night, but it's nice to know that if I can't choose, there's options.

We have two nights that we'll be eating in speciality restaurants. One is the Pinnacle Grill, which is their steakhouse. The whole family will be eating there. Then, there's a pop up night where the Asian restaurant turns into Morimoto at Sea, which we'll be going to while the BIL goes to the casino.

In port, I'm looking forward to having fish and chips made with freshly caught halibut. Possibly some King Crab legs. We'll see on that one, since there's a little food truck enclave near that location, and I love me some food trucks.

We'll have plenty of time to get something in Juneau and Skagway, but I'm not sure we'll be up to eating anything after the crab feast in Ketchikan.

I really can't wait to get this moving.

First, in three days, we have the Lost Boys musical, which should be super fun. We've got a car picking us up at 9:30am, then we'll head up to Philadelphia to pick up our friend. Then onto NYC, and the play. Then dinner at Langans for dinner, then home with a brief stop in Philly to drop off our friend. We'll probably get home around 10, but since the dog is going to be at the kennel, we won't have to come sneaking in. We'll pick him up on Sunday morning and see how he made out on his two nights. Then, he goes back on April 27th to stay til May 2nd. He'll have the weekend at home, and then on 5/6, he'll be going back for an 12 night stay. Here's hoping it all goes well. I do need to go out and get some cash for tip for our driver.

Okay, time for me to hop off and do some studying. Everyone have a stellar Wednesday!

And somehow, just like that, the weekend is over. I didn't get much done at all. I still have all my schoolwork to do, because I just couldn't bring myself to crack a book. I will have to get cracking today.

I did end up going to the Farmer's Market and got some good food. I was planning to get empanadas, but about halfway through, my knee started hurting. Add to that, the bag was getting very heavy. What I did get Was some mini donuts and some pastries. Oh, and Kettle Corn! Of real food, I grabbed some yogurt and orange juice from the dairy stall. A little bit further down was the fish guy, who had Halibut and lobster tails, so I got some of both. I put the halibut in the freezer, and the lobster tails in the fridge to make tonight. They're a super easy dinner. Then, on the way out in leiu of empanadas, I got some dumplings as they were on the route out, and got a very good small dog, who didn't flunk out of daycare a couple of treats. Which he has carried around, but not eaten yet. I got home before anyone else was awake, which was kind of funny, since I left a little sign saying where I was, and no one got to see it!

Not long after I got home, it was game, so I fried up some dumplings and grabbed a couple of mini donuts for game snacks. Game was super fun. I spent it trying to keep Jess' character from dying, successfully, and holding concentration on control water, to push the waterline out to see a bit. The plan was to keep a water elemental where we could beat on it, and allow players to walk right up to it and hit it. I feel like that was a worthwhile use of a higher level spell. It kept non combatants from getting run over and pissed off the elemental. I think it may also have kept him from using some nasty bonus actions, so I was pleased.

We finally finished the game, which is sad, I so enjoyed it. But there will be a sequel once coyotegestalt finishes writing it, which is awesome. I love the character I play, and besides, Jess and my character just finally stopped flirting and had some kissing action, so that was good. This is the game where I proved that when DM's play they are the worst agents of chaos on the planet.

The dumplings were excellent by the way. I actually fried up the rest on bio break and ate them all. They were a really tasty breakfast. I got the pork and chive, and the crystal shrimp, both of which were really good.

Then, I took my sister to Greek Easter at the in-laws, making sure to tell my brother in law that he had to come in when he brought her home, because we had a surprise for him.

On the way back, I stopped at a taco truck and ordered some food. The 20 minutes they said it would be ended up being more like 40 minutes, and by the time I got done, I had to go so bad.

Food was really good though. I enjoyed my Pollo al Tajadas. It was fried plaintain slices with a fried chicken leg over it and some slaw on top of that. Very tasty, good fried chicken.

Then, I settled in and we watched two episodes of the Amazing Digital Circus on YouTube. I wasn't sure about episode one. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I'm pleased to say that the second and third episodes were much better, and I am now solidly in the "Like, maybe love" this show category. I'm looking forward to watching more of it, and going to see the final episode in the theaters.

After that, we watched a couple of videos on Seattle's Pike Place Market (which is one of the stops in Seattle on our vacation.) I'm lookins forward to trying some of the tasty things out. I may end up getting some things and putting them in my suitcase, since it appears that I'm going to have some room.

Then the sister got home, I gave the BIL his presents. One was some of the kettle corn, one was his own jar of the Hawaiian seasoning that he kept coming back to ask for more of, the Kailua Seasonings Aloha Smoke Spice, which is amazing on beef or pork.

We watched more videos about both Pike Place Market and Granville Island Market in Vancouver until it was almost time for bed. I found a few places that I'd like to try for breakfast/lunch. I'm hoping to get to Granville in time for a late breakfast or early lunch, since we only have the one day to explore.

This weekend, we have the Lost Boys Musical, which should be super fun. Yoda is going to try the overnight day care. He has a petite suite, so he won't be around any dogs. It's just for two nights, to ease him in. I know they'll take good care of him.

I cannot believe that it's only 24 days until vacation. That just boggles my mind. I still have a few packages to come, but it won't be long at all. I'm nervous about the 6 hour flight, but hopefully it'll go well. Mind you, I'm worried about the long flight for Jess, because I know they're worried about TSA and the lack of boobs, and my BIL, who hasn't flown since he was in the army and is a little anxious. I've at least flown twice in the last two years, so I think I'll be okay, even though I'm a nervous flyer. The lure of seeing the pacific ocean is just too much to stop me. It is a comparatively long flight though. The furthest west I've been is Texas, so this is a big jump from that. I did do an overseas flight, but I was 20.

I just hope everything goes smoothly, and our car service is right there waiting for us when we collect our luggage. And then we can do our stops at the Space Needle and Pike Place and head to our hotel to relax until our dinner reservation at Hy's Steakhouse.

Friday is going to be for sightseeing, and then Saturday we're on the boat. Only 26 days away! And then, Alaska. Now that we've got the dog sorted out, I'm ready to progress to vacation immediately.

The dog will have two visits to the daycare. One this weekend for two nights, and then from April 26-May 3 for a five or six night stay. (That's going to suck, a whole week without a pet to bother.). Then on May 6th, he goes for 11 nights while we're in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

I've got a Google Album set up for pictures, which is right here. I'll be posting all the pictures that we take right there if you want to follow along. I'll probably upload new stuff either at night before bed or in the morning when I do my posting.

Okay, time to do some studying, since I didn't do it on the weekend. Everyone have a phenomenal Monday!

Sometimes I hate the length of the subject line in Dreamwidth. There's another short line to that lyric, and it annoys me that it won't fit. Oh well.

Today I have a little planned. At work, I'll be doing my thing and then we'll have the manager bitchfest meeting and then the rest of the day. Afterwards, we need to take Yoda to the vet to get his flu and Cytopoint shots. Hopefully, he's feeling up to going to doggie day care tomorrow. If not, I'll move it to Tuesday. Then, tonight, we have Blades in the Dark, which should be a lot of fun. Still deciding if I want to get game snacks, since we won't have any other games that qualify.

Yesterday was also busy. I took a few calls, moved a few patients and then it was my time to watch the help queue and provide answers to questions. They were pretty easy, so it wasn't a bad time. Then after lunch I had the training for our new VOIP phone system. That is two hours that I won't get back. It was dull, self explanatory and could have been an email or a training. It was just brutal. My managers were also in the class, and they were back in the Rad Leaders chat just roasting the class. "Cringe" was the big accusation leveled against it. All in all, I'm glad it's over.

After work, I headed up to see my tattoo artist. She had a very cool drawing of what the tattoo would look like. I arrived at 4:45, did paperwork and Ronie got set up. I figure we started at about 5:15pm. I was done and in the car at 6:05. It was super fast. Then again, I tend to sit like a rock, so I'm an easy person to tatoo. She had set up her tablet with a picture of Boodle, that she superimposed her drawing on, so I have Boodles actual fur pattern on her chest. I absolutely love it. It's very her.



It still has the bandage on it, but I'll be taking that off tonight when I can submerge my arm in water. It usually hurts more than the tattoo did to peel off the second skin. Tomorrow, I'l have a clearer picture of it. Then it was home to eat and sniff the BPAL smellies that came in. I liked a lot of them, which was nice. Some I'm not sure about, but I'll give them second chances. I may try wearing some for Blades, though I have absolutely no idea what. I'd been wearing Scheherazade, because storyteller, but I feel like Blades needs something with an iron note. I'll save Scheherazade for the first Marchen game next Sunday.

Tomorrow, I have a pretty quiet day. I've got a game at 11am, Too Many Draculas. After that, I may drag Jess out for a late lunch for something tasty. 11am is too early for dumplings, so I will forgo our game snacks meal. I don't think next week, we have any games that we could do game snacks for, but we'll see. I might do them for Marchen and just take a little break early in the game when they arrive.

Sunday brings an early moring (9am) game. We might finish the Life's a Beach oneshot! (So far it's been almost 10 sessions. To be fair, it was supposed to be a quick combat, but we (okay, I) messed that up by blinding a dragon and bringing the big bad who we were supposed to end up chasing, down to the ground. DM's make the most chaotic energy as players. If there is away to completely upend your plan, it's going to be the player who DMs.

To be fair, for early games, I'm also fully on my ADHD meds, so all of my chaos is on purpose. I didn't zone and have to come up with something to do on the fly. That can lead to uncontrolled chaos.

Usually, I inflict that as DM on my nighttime games.

We're down to 27 days til cruise. I'm going to pull out my suitcase this weekend and start packing some things. Nothing that I'm still using, but I do want to see how much space everything will take up. But things like my slippers and nice shoes can go in the suitcase, as well as the fleecy leggings. I may pack a few pairs of regular leggings, but we'll see. Right now I'm focusing on the long sleeve shirts, fleece leggings and shoes as well as cosmetic stuff that will go into the carry on.

Oh, speaking of vacation! Last night, one of the packages that came in was my sister's Bento Bag. She really liked mine, so we ordred her one. Since I was placing the order because I had a 20% off coupon code, I saw that they had a bundle that included their fanny pack and got one of those, too.

I'm always worried when I order fanny packs, because I never know if the strap will be long enough to fit my fat ass. I opened with more than a bit of trepidation. I shouldn't have worried. The strap was fully extended, and it nearly fell to the ground when I put it on. I had to adjust the strap by about 16" for it to stay put. I loved it. I didn't feel fat for a few minutes. lol. It's also really pretty, a dark blue that will clash with the bento bag I got (which is pink).

I think we have all the stuff we need at this point. I've got my Doctor's appt on Monday, where she can order my Mounjaro, which will last for the trip. I've got one more vial of the lower dose, but I definitely want to try the higher. This just isn't doing enough.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll also cook another batch of food for Yoda. I think the next one is pork, so that'll be good. I can cut up the tenderloins I got yesterday, and maybe some oats and sweet potatoes. I found a dog-friendly pork broth that I can stew it all in. Maybe Sunday, I'll make him some goat and rice and veggies. I still have a few trays of ground goat that I can cook up to make him happy. I need to get another order of groceries from them, so that I can continue to make food for him. He won't need it at the kennel tomorrow, but next weekend when he has his long weekend stay, I'll need to provide him food.

I also have to find time to clean up in our room a bit. I have a large pile of clothes that I need to go through, so I will work on that some. The apartments want to come replace our balcony railing, sometime between today and May 19th. I'm hoping for somewhere around May 7-17th. That would be helpful. OF course, this is going to require cleaning up the living room, so that will be fun.

But for now, I need to do some studying. These articles aren't going to read themselves. Everyone have an excellent Friday!

It's Wednesday and I am tired. I woke up at about 3am, so I'm a wee bit sleepy. But on the other hand, I had delicious Greek Koulaourakia cookies for with my coffee, so it's not all bad. With Greek Easter coming up on Sunday, the BIL's Mom made her annual cookie batch, and we always get a small baggie. It's much easier now to get a taste of them. Dad tended to eat them very quickly. We would usually remember to pull a couple out of the bag for us, but he would wolf down the rest.

Today will be a busy day. I will have work, then off to the pharmacy for my pils. I may do that at lunchtime, we shall see. I need to make Yoda more food if I can get the energy up. He's only got one more packet of it, so it's time to cook some more. I really don't mind cooking for him. He's a sweet bud, and I want him to be happy and healthy.

Then, tonight we have Brindlewood Bay. I'm looking forward to getting out of my own brain for a few hours. Though possibly, playing a character who has a Jenga pile of cat ashes is not as comforting as it should be?

Yesterday was quiet. I spent a lot of times taking calls, and a bit trying to fill in some open spots. Got a few people in, filled some cardiac spots, and generally just worked and tried not to think too much. Still welled up a few times, but thankfully did not cry on patients. I spent the day lowkey anxious about the potential for WWIII. Thankfully, it did not happen. After work, I fried up some scallops and baked some King Crab Legs. The Crab legs were okay. I don't think I'd buy them again. They don't hold a candle to the Dungeness crabs we get from Alaska.

The scallops however, were delicious, even receiving a "these are really good" from the BIL who was over visiting. Next time I know he'll be over, I'll go to Sam's Club and get some of their really good lobster tails. I'll show him what lobster is supposed to taste like. Although, he and my sister have gone to Maine, so mayhe not. I need to look in the freezer to see what meats we have that I could cook tonight. Maybe another pork tenderloin. If I go to the pharmacy, I'll cut it up and make Gochujang honey chicken. If not, Jess can bake it. Either way, it'll be tasty.

After we took the dog out, we retired to our room to relax, but we left the door open so the puppers could come in. Previously, due to Yoda's tendency to be an asshole and get poky with her, we had the door latched so Boodle could get out, but Yoda couldn't get in. He came in very tentatively, but within 10 minutes, he was snuggled up begween Jess and me, living his best life. It was very sweet, and I enjoyed having his warm little body pressed against my back. He's a good boy.

I also let the petsitter know that Boodle had passed, and that we woudn't need their services for the week we're away. I may still get someone to come in and check on the apartment and pick up packages and mail once a day. I think that might be a good thing. Maybe start the car one day so the battery will be happy. I could stop the mail, but I don't know if we'll have packages coming while we're away, so I want someone to take care of that.

Tomorrow, my classes start. Here goes nothing. At some point, I still need to upload my diploma. I don't have to do it this unit, since they're foundation courses and don't count towards the degree, but once I start the degree program, I need to have it in. I also have an appointment on Thursday evening so that I can get a tattoo of a cat's paw print. I'm having it filled with tortiseshell colors, Black gold and a little white. I think it's going on my forearm. That way Boodle will always be with me. She can come to Alaska and Hawaii with us. I like that idea.

I will doubtless cry when I see it, but that's okay. Honestly as often as I tear up, it's amazing that I'm not dehydrated. Loosing Boodle is harder than losing Dad, if I'm being honest. I think I've cried once for him, and so many times for her. A lot of that probably has to do with what an asshole Dad was during the last few years and how hard it was on us. When he went, we were somewhat relieved. With Boodle, I'm relieved that we caught the cancer before she was in pain, but we very much wanted to have her with us for another 15 years.

Tomorrow is also Package Day. I have so many things coming tomorrow, it's kind of absurd. I got some new makeup, my sister's bag, Jess' top from Torrid, Jess' sleep mask, some underwear two sets of bed sheets and an emergency antibiotic kit that will be going on vacation with me, just in case we need them. I think that's about everything. IT's coming via three separate delivery companies, so it'll at least be a staggered arrival.

I ordered Jess a pair of Woxer boxer briefs. We'll see how they like them. I have a pair coming as well, but not til next week. They never have the extra at people clothes in easy stock. I'll be chasing after them going "try them on!" as soon as they come, of course.

We have a lot of games scheduled this weekend. We'll see if any need to be rescheduled on account of classwork. I don't think they will as it's only 1 game per day, which is only 3 hours a day, but if I do, we'll figure it out.

My Marchen game starts in less than two weeks. It's not all written, but I've got enough to start with. We did the little role play introducing two of the characters to each other, since they're both in the same prison, and that was a delight. I'm really looking forward to the first session. It'll be a lot of talking, but I'll manage it. With Crooked Moon, I did individual introductions of each character as the Ghostlight Express train came to pick them up. I'm doing a similar thing wiht this game, zooming in on each character and seeing what they're doing when we meet them, letting them role play out their character introduction. I felt like it was more organic, and less like "Who are you playing today?" or "You start in a bustling tavern." Though to be fair, one of the intros does start in a tavern.

My very sweet players told me if I needed to move it back, I could. They know we're grieving Boodle, but I'd rather play, honestly. And being that it's homebrew, I get to create new worlds for them to inhabit, and that's my favorite.

Okay, I suppose I should hop off and take a nice hot shower. I don't want to be stinky for the tattoo tomorrow. Or maybe I'll take it tomorrow. I'll see how I feel. Either way, everyone have such a good Wednesday.

It feels like a good day for some Panic! at the Disco. How is everyone doing? I woke up from a sound sleep and I'm still not fully awake, but so far I feel okay. I've been so tired the last couple of weeks, and I'm wondering if it could be the statin med that the doctor put me on. I looked it up and apparently, it's a fairly common issue for women on this med. I see my doc for a virtual appointment next week, so I'm going to stay off them as they're not vital. And if there's a difference off them then I'll talk to her about a different pill, maybe.

This is week three of Mounjaro, It's helped the sugar some, but I think I need the higher dose.

Yesterday was a quiet day. We did nothing. I ordred pastries for breakfast from Roggenart Bakery and some pastries. The quiche was very good, but I skipped the pastry. I may have a bit of the strawberry custard croissant today, but we shall see.

After that, we sat and watched a few videos. My stomach was a bit iffy yesterday, so I just stayed close to the bathroom. In the afternoon, Jess went to lay down with a headache, so chilled and surfed the internet and ate the leftover Peking Duck. It was excellent. I pulled some of the fleece legging and long sleeved shirts out of the closet and folded and rolled them for placement in the suitcase in the near future. Then I napped next to Jess for a couple of hours.

Then, I got up and watched a few more videos until dinner arrived. We got the HUNTR/X meal from McDonalds. The sweet thai chili sauce that came with the nuggets was pretty good, and not horribly spicy. The Rameyon fries were okay, but need a light had with the seasoning.

Afterwards, I got super nauseous. I tried to lay down, but it wasn't any better like that. We watched another couple of videos until it was time to sleep. I'm glad that today I have my customary two hours of peace and quiet. Getting up at the same time as my sister threw me off for the whole day. I just couldn't quite get into sink. I really rely on these two hours to center myself and for my ADHD med to kick in and make me presentable.

I'm debating switching some of my money over to Chase bank. They were super nice and pleasant when I dropped off the check, and I rather liked them. I may move my paycheck over there and put a small amount a pay into Cap One. Just enough to pay my CapOne credit cards.

Oh, I did, at Credit Karma's suggestion, get two new credit cards. They're both small amouts, but It's something. So now I have two credit cards from CapOne, and one from Full Beauty. I was ordering a couple cute tops, and there was a pop up for 30% off my order if I applied, and shock, I got it.

Today, I will probably mostly be on the phones. The kids are out of school this week, so the calls will be lighter on adults, but heavier on people who are hoping we can get their kids in while they're out of school. Next Monday will be bugfuck.

I have a less than quiet week, as on Thursday, I'll be taking on the trainees, and having them sit wiht me, while I take calls and talk about them in between. It should be interesting. Then on Friday, I have training for the new VOIP phone system we're getting. Plus of course the weekly bitchfest managers meeting. We cancelled on Friday because half the team was out.

I do know at the next one, I'm going to bring up the idea of getting CT orders before we schedule. We've had a rash of problems with orders being wrong, sometimes very very wrong. We'd talked about it before, but I think we might need to implement it. It'll slow things down, but it would be less errors. Technically the people who scan the docs in are supposed to verify them, but they're not doing a great job of it. And then patients get scheduled at the wrong time and it's just a mess.

Tomorrow, it will be 30 days to the trip. It's amazing and terrifying and I can't wait. There's still 31 days, but the weather in Alaska has been very cold and somewhat snowy the last few weeks. There was a great photo from the Juneau chamber of commerce showing the snow on the ground, saying "only 26 days til cruise season starts!" I'm waiting til a little bit closer to figure out what coat I'm taking. We'll see if they get into fleece weather, or if they're still in heavy clothes weather. I have a coat coming that has a removable fleece lining. I'm thinking that might be good. I had. a rain coat, but it had no lining, and my arms got sweaty, even if I was freezing. It was weird. Hopefully, it gets here in time. Full Beauty can be a bit slow.

I need to make Yoda more food today. Chicken this time. He'll be less than enthused, but he needs variety. My pocket book needs cheaper meat now and then. It's $3.99/lb vs $7.99 for the goat and more for hte lamb. His calcium powder has arrived, so now I will be adding that, and the salmon oil to the mix. Then, he should have all the nutrients he needs to be happy and heathy. I'll try to make some goat tomorrow. I want to use up the butternut squash before it goes bad, since he really likes that. I may add some peas and carrots or just some green beans to it as well. Then, I'll sit there with my vacuum sealer and food scale portioning out his food for freezing. I'm trying to get a bit ahead so I have a week or so without making his food. I should have done it during the weekend, but see again, overly tired an unmotivated.

I have to decide wether I want to try to make two chicken meals today. I could easily make the broth for the main meal, then use it to boil some livers and gizzards to make a third type of meal. We'll see how it goes and what kind of energy I can work up. If I do that, he's getting mostly chicken this week, and we'll stockpile the goat to tempt him while we're on vacation.

The cat goes to the vet today, and I am anxious. I can't get off to take her, so Jess will be taking her via uber. I'll pick up afterwards, since I get off at 4:30. I love the little terrorist so much, and I just want her to be okay.

Yoda goes to the vet on Thursday for his flu and Cytopoint injections, so he may feel a little punky on Friday. Hopefully, he perks up by Saturday when he has his daycare try out. We went for the "play your way" package, where he'll have 1 on 1 playtime. I hope it works. God, I want it to work. We have two more options if this fails, but this is definitely the first choice. Well, second. The first would have been someone staying here, which the little asshole torpedoed.

He's not a bad dog, just wildly unsocialized, and spoiled. He likes to get his own way. And this will not be his own way. If that doesn't work, then he'll be going to the kennel attached to a vet. If that isn't a good fit then the rescue. And if not, then the vet. We'll see which one works for him. I feel bad to leave the animals. But we deserve this vacation, amd others as well. So he's going to have to expand his horizons.

I can't believe that in 31 days at this time, we'll be at the airport, probably sitting in the lounge drinking a coffee, and relaxing before our flight. Soon. I can't wait to see Seattle and Vancouver, and Alaska.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have the very best Monday!

It's Saturday! Boodle let me sleep til almost 6 am! Since I bumped my wakeup time back to 4 in preparation for school, I it feels a little bit decadent to sleep til six. And now I'm up and I'll be the only one for a while, so it is definitely time to work on some games when I'm done here.

I'm still waffling about college. If I deferred my entrance til July, it would only push me one semester out. But on the other hand, that's still going to be a pain. I don't know, I'll think about it some more. I don't have to pay til the final exam, so if I drop early, I can retake with no problem. I would drop one class, but I'm not sure which one I'd drop. Probably the health sciences intro. I don't think it would let me cancel the introduction to online learning. I dunno. I'll give it a couple of weeks and see where I am.

Plus, I'll have a 5+ hour flight to do some schoolwork during the trip. In both directions. We'll see how it goes. Dropping a class is permissible up til 5/6. I think I'll rely on that.

Yesterday was very phone call light, but still pretty busy. I got at least six patients in, held a couple of more slots and shifted people into other slots to come in a bit sooner. I love when slots open that I can get breast MRIs in. A lot of the ones on the stat list are newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, and I feel for them. They need these for surgical planning, so I keep a close eye out fo openings. That and our Liver and kidney donors. I try to get them in super fast. I got no less than three new cancer patients in yesterday, so I feel pretty good about myself. The sad thing is that there's probably going to be another two or three by the time I get in on Monday. Still the ones I can help make me happy.

Today, we have a fairly busy day. The current plan is for me to run over Chase bank and deposit the last check from Dad's retirement account. They only have a %5000 mobie deposit, so I need to hit the bank. It's honestly right down the street, so it's not a huge deal. I had my sister write four checks for me. Two are for $10,000, one is for $5000 and one is for $1600, and they will be split between my three accounts (the $last two were broken up because Cap one also has a $5000 mobile limit, and I really don't want to drive to either of their locations as they are in less than awesome areas of town. That will be my Alaska money. I won't use all of it, but there's a few things that still aren't paid. One is the ride back from Vancouver to Seattle, the others are the two hotel stays. Everything else is paid in full. I need to start withdrawing money for tips soon. I need at least $3000 in various bills for tips. Also maybe to play a quick game in the casino. I've always wanted to play blackjack once and the tables are ony $15 for a buy in, so that could be fun.

I called the kennel, and they agreed to give Yoda a tryout nest Saturday. He'll be there from 8am-5:30PM, and we'll see how it goes. If not, there are still two other options. He won't be happy about either, but he'll deal. If all goes well, he'll spend the two weekends after being boarded for 3 and 5 days respectively. Then, it'll be time for the big stay while we're in Alaska. I need to find out who we're putting down as the emergency contact for the trip.

Then, last night, we played Vecna: Eve of Ruin. IT was mostly a combat night, as the party fought multiple creatures that hit hard. But no one died! Not even a little bit. So that was good. I had a lot of fun, and discovered that I had forgotten to give a vital bit of knowlegde to the players about a game mechanic. So I corrected that, and we had a good game.

Today, we'll see what we want to do. Do we go to the Asian in a Bite festival and deal with parking, or do I satisfy my dumpling craving another way. I'm planning on getting snacks, which will probably include dumplings from Lao Sze Chuang or <href="https://www.nihaobaltimore.com/menu/">NiHao, so it might be a bit of overkill if we also do the food festival. Then again, can you ever really have too many dumplings?

At some point in there, I also need to get my pills. Then, it's time for Yoda's grooming. Once we get back, I shall make some chicken for his food. He won't like it as much as the lamb, but that's okay. He needs a variety of foods to be healthy. The lamb shank with butternut squash and rice has been a big hit. Definitely one of his favorites. I do still want to get some calcium powder to add still. I should add that to the Amazon cart now if they have it...which they do. Between that and the salmon oil for his omega3's, he should be well supported.

He's been a bit perkier in addition to his digestive tract being a bit more regular, so that's nice to see. And I think he's lost a pound or so. the reality is that while we haven't tested, he probably has Cushing's Disease. He just has too many symptoms of it, plus the out of whack labs. That means we probably have another 2-3 years with him. I can cook for him for that long. I wish I had a kitchen that meant I could cook more than 3-5 days of food at a time, but we'll get there.

I may ask the person who's coming to check on Boodle if for an extra fee, she would take more food up to the kennels, as I don't know, even with the vacuum sealer if they'll be able to store 10 days worth of food. I'll ask when we take him next week. If not, I'm sure someone else will.

Tonight is Monster of the Week, which will definitely call for something special both food and drink wise, as it's the end of an era. Unless the mystery runs 2 sessions. That is possible. Maybe while we're out, I'll pick up a bottle of Asti and put it in the fridge til gametime. I was going to try to also run up the local shelter and pick up the stuff I won, but I don't know if we'll have time with everything else packed in there. Depends on how long energy holds out. It's possible we could go to the Tapas place in that area instead of the dumpling festival. That runs every month this summer, so we could still get down there for it in June if we don't do it today.

I also meed to make dinner, as the dumplings will be strictly snackies. I've got some lovely t-bone steaks and waffle fries to make. I'm definitely using the Hawaiian smoked salt for those. It just has the best flavor.

Tomorrow, my sister is going to the BIL's family's easter party so we'll be home with the doggo all day. Then next Sunday is Greek Easter, so she'll be coming back from that with some treats, I hope.

We added another potential outing to our list. Jess has gotten into a new show, the Amazing Digital Circus, and there's a possibility that they're going to play the last two episodes in the theater sometime in early June in limited theaters. If that is the case, we'll be going to that. If we need to go to DC or Philly for that, we shall. Chances are, if it's DC, it'll be at some of the surrounding areas like Silver Spring or Bethesda, and we can definitely do that.

We're down to thirty three days til we leave. It's utterly bonkers. I want to run around in cirlces and start packing now. And once Yoda has a successful stay, I may well do that. I just want to progress to the vacation. The last 15 days are going to be difficult to sit quietly through. And I figure that last few days of work are going to be interminable. Especially the Wednesday before we leave. I'm going to be useless that day. We're going to go to bed around 6pm to get absolutely any sleep before the 3am pickup time. It was going to be 4:30, but then all the airport shenanigans started, and I got nervous. I bought tickets to the BWI lounge, so that'll give us somewhere to relax while we wait the 3.5 hours til our flight. Then, it's off to Seattle. I'm going to buy tickets to the Space Needle, since I figure we'll do that first. Then Pike's Place Market for lunch, then out of the city and to Vancouver in time for our reservation at Hy's Steakhouse.

I'm really excited about seeing the Pacific NW and Vancouver. First up, Rocky Mountains! I'm looking forward to flying over them. Then the Pacific Ocean!

I ordered another headset for work. Since we're playing a game on the ship, I'll need a headset, but I don't want to risk not having one when I come home, so I'm getting a backup.

I have downloaded a bunch of books onto my kindle, which I need to remember to take. I may just charge it up and then pack it now, since the battery holds a charge forever. I may also be able to pack Jess' Switch, so they have something to play if they so desire. I think I can consolidate some more cords into the tech bag, so that'll free up more space in my already not full carryon. My sister's bag is shipping as I type, so she can also enjoy the joy of organization. This bag is an ADHD person's dream, I swear. Everything has a place, and it's awesome. My hard shell case for my Mounjaro fits right in one of the pockets for Liquids or tech. Tech may be relegated to the inside of the suitcase, which would be fine. I don't expect to have many liquids. I'm just going to take up my CC cream and concealer. I'll probably add eyeliner and maybe eyeshadow and lipgloss to it, but those won't go in the liquid bag. Maybe some combination blush/lip cream. I don't put on makeup often, but for the vow renewal, I'd like to look presentable. I need to also redye my hair. I'm kind of digging the grey on the sides, and purple on top look, so I may stick with that. I will need to make an appt to get things trimmed up between now and then, just to get the undercut freshened up. I also eed to make an appt for Jess. I did not do a great job with their last cut, plus it's already getting longer again. I'd like to have a professional tidy it up so that I can maintain it easier.

Okay, time for me to go forth and maybe take a shower, so I don't stink the people at Chase out. Everyone have a lovely Saturday!

It's Thursday, and a long slide towards the weekend!

This morning, I didn't really want to get up with my alarm. I was up a little bit later than normal and I can tell. I was fucking around on YouTube and it threw up a video of Jeremy Jordan (Lucifer in Hazbin Hotel) singing Let it Go. And that just took me down the rabbit hole. Here he is belting out some Celine Dion.



I really enjoy his voice. He also has a band called Age of Madness, who does and excellet version of Seven Nation Army.



So anyway, I was up late, and this morning came way too early. I'm getting up at 4am now in preparation for school which starts in 1 week! God, that came up quickly. We'll see how it goes!

Hopefully I'm able to keep up.

I've got a lot of stuff scheduled for April and May, so that could be a challenge. I thought about delaying my classes until the next semester, but honestly, that's probably no better, as that would be in June, right before we go to the Rocky Horror. Though I suppose that's and end of July with Weird Al are the only things I'd have, as opposed to a giant 10 day trip to Alaska. I don't know, I will think on it. On one hand, that might make more sense. On the other, I really hate to push it back.

When I look out at the sheer number of things we have coming up, I'm so happy and excited. First up, on 4/18, we have the Lost Boys musical. Then, Alaska, leaving in early-mid May. Then we get back and in June we have the Rocky Horror. July brings a Weird Al concert. Then we have a break until October, when we have CONfab, and in November the Undertale symphony.

I got my new bag yesterday. I had planned for it to be my personal item on the plane, but it may well be my carryon. I got a Bento Bag from Nomad Lane. It cost as much as I make in two days of overtime, but it's so nice. Plus with all the aforementioned travel, I think it'll be worth the high price point. It's got pockets galore, and it just feels quality. It's got some structure, and I think it's going to easily fit everything I need it to. Best of all, it fits in the seat in front of me for easy access. I got it in Sangria, which is a very pretty pink. At some point, I'm going to try packing it, just to see what I can get in there, and if I need anything else. It can fit a 16" laptop, so I may have to reconsider taking the big laptop with us.


A very pretty abd efficient bag.

I think of all the things I had coming, this is what I was most excited about. It makes up for the somewhat disappointing backpack I had gotten previously. It was rather small, and not well set up.

So I think I'll be taking this and either my Beis purse or possibly my old black one. The Beis is bright orange, so that will clash with the pink. But on the other hand, it's small, comfortable, and will hold everything I need for walking around on the ship or in Alaska. I don't want to be hauling my normal enormous purse with me. This is just big enough for wallet, pill case, phone, inhaler and epi pens. The black one is a little bit bigger, but is very unobtrusive. I will think upon it.

I did find a company that lets you buy antibiotics for travel, just in case, so I ordered that. It should cover us if anyone needs something while on the ship. I'd like to avoid the expensie Med Bay if possible.

I also got my long-awaited Derpy cat Squishmallow yesterday.



It wasn't supposed to ship til May, but it came early! It's so cute and soft, and I love it.

I went an picked up a ton of meat yesterday. SO much goat for Yoda plus some tasty Masala marinated chicken legs. We've had them before, and they are amazing. I might have gone overboard on what I got, but he eats two 7oz packets of food a day. We'll probably go through it pretty quickly. Today I'm going to be cooking a lamb shank. I think I'll add in some butternut squash as well. And of course some brown rice to keep him regular. I got a whole lamb shank, which is 4lbs, so hopefully that will render enough meat to make at least a few days worth of his food. He really likes the goat, so I'm hoping the lamb will go over well, too. I need to get a pork shank or something to make him, as he's a big fan of pork. I'd use a butt, but they're way too fatty for his little tummy.

I may use chicken broth and cook a pork loin. I wish they sold that with a bone so I could make pork broth for flavor. I need to go to a butcher, since obviously, the Halal butcher does not do pork.

When I went to pick up the groceries, this sweet older man insisted on carrying my groceries to the car and told me to make my husband bring them in. Jess was kind enough to bring in the bags, so I guess he was half right?

I carried the bag with dinner in it from a place I used to get from when I worked at IKEA. The food was pretty good. I wasn't horribly hungry thanks to Mounjaro. I ate too much at lunch and was paying for it. I'm looking forward to eating it today though.

Today should be a bit quieter at work. It wasn't bad yesterday, I was mostly off the phone making switches happen and calling patients back. And, I found out that the friend I had referred to our dept is getting the job, so that's cool. Another $1000 that should hit right around the holidays. I will share it with her, of course. She, after all, is the reason I'm getting it.

On Monday, I'm going to be on the phone most of the day, as I will be modeling good behavior for the two trainees. That should be just thrilling. Then, on Thursday, I have my training for the new phone system. Which I still believe is going to be a disaster. We're changing over at the end or April, so I need to figure out how I'm going to run the ethernet cord that they swear we're going to need.

Okay, time for me to hop off and maybe work on Marchen for a bit. Everyone have an astounding Thursday!