Echo in the Tardis... err.. Bone. Diana Gabaldon book signing.

I am such a bad blogger. I promise, when Hell is over I shall be back to my overly verbose writing updates.

Work has been killing me. I kid you not.
I even had to take a mental health day this week. Before one of my superiors reads this and fires me, I very much felt sick and had the start of one of my poundy headaches. You know I don't call in sick if I'm not, so please don't fire me. I couldn't come into work because I was not physically capable to do so.

Speaking of work, it has gotten easier in the aspect of the actual work. Today I only had to ask for assistance twice, and it wasn't actually "what do I do" type questions, it was the "This is how I think I should code the ticket, and I do not want it bounced back, is this correct?"
I'm on the Approved Escalation List, have been for a week now. I could have been on it as of 2 weeks, now but I had chosen not to. I did not feel I was ready. Now I am, and so far nothing has come back as a feedback. My current team lead is not the kind to hold or delay "coaching" someone, so I'm pretty sure that there hasn't been one.

But yes, work is killing me. The mad rush of beginning of the school year is starting to calm a bit, but then the politics come into play, and still makes tons of work.

I've realized one of the reasons I dislike my job...
I am good at it.
What do I mean by that? I mean that I actually know what I'm doing, and how to do it. So I get through my calls rather quickly. Which means I am doing 2 to 3 times as much work as everyone else on my team (and I have the daily stats to prove it.)
This means I also burn out faster. But I cannot slow down, I cannot purposefully make calls last longer, it just is not possible.
It was just like how I started on Postal.
The thing that saved me was actually getting onto Backlogs, I was able to pace myself a bit more, and even then I still did more work than everyone else, but I didn't have the constant beep in my ear, and I was able to research the problem before I ever had to speak to the client.
It was my manager's wish here on DOE to eventually get me on "Contacts" (aka Backlogs), but there is nothing they can do to get me started on that till after September is over at the very earliest.

I digress, lets move along.
Wednesday, after a particularly bad day (back was tweaking, people were horrid... the usual.) I get an email from Mother of Mine stating that we didn't have a choice, we were going to drive to Denver for the Echo in the Bone release and book signing of Diana Gabaldon.
Mind you, all I had wanted to do was curl up in my jammies and sleep. If I closed my eyes for a moment, I would honestly fall asleep.
But, Katte had gotten us tickets for our spot in the signing line.

Mother of Mine and I drove to Denver and went to Baja Fresh for dinner before going to The Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch.
We got good seats in mad crowd of people, and as Katte so elegantly put it "Well at least I'm touching butts with girls I know" - mind you, she had the benefit of being wedged between Michelle and Myself. So every boob to elbow collision and cheek to cheek bump was nothing new for us. (Come on, we've known each other for about 10 years now) Katte was lucky sharing bum space with us, as I unfortunately had to touch a half tock with a stranger! Oh well, at least here was no boob to elbow collision with the stranger.

Diana aka 'Herself was absolutely amazing.
I learned something that I did not know.
Outlander, when it was in it's original blank pages of "What do I want to write about", was inspired in part by an old episode of Doctor Who.
"There was this image of a fine figure in a kilt. And at that point, I thought "hmm... Scotland would be nice"" (I'm paraphrasing of course, but I was rather exhausted and cannot be required to remember every word. I just don't have the mental ability. -I honestly can't wait to get the full use of my facilities again)
Diana is a talker. She loves her digressions. (and that, is her verbage)
She did a reading from Echo, which to be quite honest had all of us blushing in our seats. (Thank goodness there were no small ears in the crowd!)
I shall share a line from the reading, it's in truth the only line I can remember... well.. other than the last line.. but I'm not going to share that because... well.. I'm ebbbil.

"I haven't seen you naked in 6 months. Which means you'll be the best thing I've seen in 6 months." Jamie to Claire. (And forgive if I got any wording wrong, it's past my bedtime, and read the disclaimer above)

Oh, I bought a copy of course. I couldn't not. I have all the other books signed.... Oh shoot.. I don't. I forgot that I do not have a full collection, as I do not own a copy of Fiery Cross, nor Breath of Snow and Ashes. Those are Mother of Mine's copies. Oh well, it's not like I could afford to buy them that night as it was.

Hunny of Mine is jealous that I got to go to the signing. Mind you, he's currently in Singapore at the Grand Prix. Jealous? Moi? Never. ;-) (He keeps sending me messages while he's in the Executive Lounge of the hotel eating sushi and drinking Gin and Tonics... the lucky bast... lucky bloke)

I politely informed Hunny of Mine, that we will of course just have to go to Scotland when Diana is in on her yearly visits. I shall of course by then have my full set again. And of course Hunny of Mine will have actually been introduced to the books properly. (I can't recall at the moment if he has actually been able to read them or not, but if he hasn't I do know he is intrigued by them.)

All in all, I had a wonderful time at the signing. For photos, and other anecdotes you can go read them at Mother of Mine's blog here.

One last note before I go. Diana has given me hope. She didn't start writing Outlander until she was 35. Mind you, she was very lucky when it came to landing an agent. In fact, she got what every author dreams of. I doubt I'll ever be that lucky, but at least I know that even at 35, one can start a persons dream. Oh, and she was amused that the last time I saw her was when Drums of Autumn was coming out, and it was in California and I was like 12 or 13.

Oh, big news involving "The Wedding", so I didn't blog about it, which I'm glad about. But with Guy coming to town in December, there had been chatter about having a handfasting while he was here. Just a small intimate thing with a few friends. Then of course as these things do.. it spiraled. No.. snowballed. Suddenly it was becoming an actual wedding.
Between the stress from a wedding I wasn't wanting to deal with and work, I snapped. I reached my breaking point. There were constant tears, fighting etc.
I finally reached a decision.
I called it off.
Back to what was Plan A.
IF there is a Handfasting, it will be at my going away party in June. It will be casual, it will not have any pomp and circumstance, and it will just be Myself and Guy getting handfasted with my family and friends.

The actual wedding will happen in October, and will be in England. I feel bad that a lot (most) people in the US won't be able to attend. But unfortunately, I'm not going to feel too guilty. I do not have the ability to pay for the plane tickets of everyone I want to be there, so I am not going to stress out over things I have no control over. If someone really wants to be there, they will make it happen. I cannot. If they cannot be there, they will be there in spirit, and will be in my thoughts.
I have a wonderful Hunny to Be, who is being wonderful and is researching places for us. He's got some favors tucked away in his sleeves, but no matter where we end up having the wedding, it will be fantastic. (Alright, just heard Christopher Ecclestons voice right there... Can this blog get anymore Whovian? Oh yes it can.. stay tuned)
I am contemplating the Doomsday song as my down the aisle song. It's beautiful, it's mostly instrumental, and it would be quirky at a wedding, just like me.
Which of course means, Song for Ten would need to be played at the reception, and if that is played, then Love Don't Roam also needs to be played. Ah, the "Ten" song trifecta.

Oh, completely random. Mother of Mine just finished watching an eerie British show from the 70's called "The Children of the Stones" which even if we hadn't just come back from a book signing of Diana's, and both are champing at the bit to start reading Echo in the Bone, would have still immediately gone "oh my gawd, this reminds us of Outlander"
Standing circle of stones.
Buzzing coming from the stones.
when you touch the stones, you hear screaming, and get flung multiple feet away.
Time being manipulated by the stones.
Some people being "sensitive" to the stones.

Honestly, thats the quickest synopsis of the show. But it screams of Outlander. And it made us wonder since we just found out that Outlander was originally partly inspired by a British show from the 70s..it made us wonder if also this little obscure show was also partly inspiring it. Or even if she knew about it at all.

Alright, I guess I'm done babbling for now.

Current book:
Fatal Journey by Kathy Reichs
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I have to admit, I really do like both covers. I'm not sure which one I like more. I know of course the US cover is the one Diana has been wanting for years.

Seriously shocking

I am still in shock.

I just had a ... wait for it...

Pleasant experience calling Customer Service!

Brian at Overstock.com... whoever you are, you were a peach.
All it took was me giving my order number. Confirming my phone number and address. Giving him a brief run down of what the heck was going on with my Zen, and voila!
Within 24 hours, I will have my printable mailing label in my email box.
I already have my Zen and all the little bits of hardware that came with it (i'm missing just the silly little bag/pouch that came with it, and one of the software cd's. the tiny lanyard, I'm just gonna not worry about as it works very well attached to my mothers camera, and I doubt they will notice thats not in the box) back into it's box, and snugged inside a box fit for mailing. All I have to do, is tape the box up, slap the label on it and drop it in the mail.

The entire phone call took less than 10 minutes, honestly it took me longer to gather all the bits and pieces and do a half assed search for the software cd.

It sucks that my Zen died, but I'm glad that I had spent the 10$ for the 2 year warranty on it. Of course, that warranty will expire this up coming Nov, but I think I can renew it. I'll have to look into that. I just need my zen to last me 18 months. Yes, I say 18 months, because if it dies in 17 months, and I'm stuck on the plane to the UK (18 hour flight minimum) with no music, or having to deal with the old school of CD's. I'll most likely kill someone. So, in 18 months, after I've had a chance to settle into the UK, it can die. I'll get a new one. Because at that time, I should be able to afford the nice like... oh 40 gig one instead of the puny little 4 gig one I have now.

I don't care if they just fix mine, or replace it or give me credit for a new one. I honestly don't care, either way I'll have a new zen soon. If they just give me credit for a new one, I don't think they even have the 4gig ones on the website anymore, so I'd just spend a bit more and get one of the newer models. With more space on it.

But all in all, within the next 2 weeks, I'll have my music back. Woohoo.

I don't think there was any music on my music player that I can't replace.. I think I was smart and either have it all on cd or I've still got it zipped on my computer. It'll just require me to unzip the files again. I think I've even got my playlist for the "A Hard Day's Bite" Inspiration list.
Though, I don't think the version of the playlist I have on my laptop is up to date. Either way, thats no biggie.

Today I am home from work. Stupid Presidents day. Most likely there won't be any posts from me later this week, simply because I'll be working 10 hour days. Yup. Even friday. (Though, since I never do take lunch, I'll most likely still be able to leave after 8 hours instead of 10 hours on Friday...)

Reading update:
Just finished reading "Wolfsbane and Mistletoe" Which was a collection of werewolf novels, obviously set at Christmas. I only read it for the Charlaine Harris story of "Gift Wrap" (Sookie Stackhouse). None of the other stories grabbed my interest at all to even bother reading them, and I was more interested in getting back to my knitting. So eventually I'll own the book and go back and read all the other stories.

I also finished reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which I can't recall if I spoke about at all or not. I loved the book.

I also finished reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon. Which I have to say, I enjoyed this one so much more than i've enjoyed any of the others in the series that are set in the "Americas". I am actually looking forward to the next one.

Couch book: How to Live on Mars by Robert Zubrin (haven't actually started it yet)
Bed book: Tale of Desperaux
Purse book: as always, it is still The Peshawar Lancers

Knitting update:
I am about halfway done with my project of Entrelac. It looks rather pretty.. I love it. Due to the colors, it is becoming a project for Guy, which I'm sure he will use. After all, the UK has been rather cold right now.

And on a completely random note... I just watched Labyrinth for the first time in a long time. Sigh. I love that movie. I giggle at all the goblins.

Another month bites the dust. (Really long. Sorry)

Today was most bored at work. I mulled my way through it though, doing enough work so that no one can say I didn't. Yes, I could have done more. But to be honest.. I'll still have done more than anyone else, so why should they be complaining??
I left work early at 12, which is normal.
I for some odd reason went over to the mall. GASP.
Yes, less than a week before Christmas and I went to the mall.
There were a few reasons for this. I wanted to find a calendar for us. Nope still didn't find one. But i have a better idea of what i want. That was at Borders. Which apparently was having a 40% off one item sale. As I had walked in the store, I came across two printed off coupons for it that someone must have dropped.
Well, I used one and I handed the other to the girl standing in line behind me. I did buy something, but I can't talk about it as Mother of Mine happens to follow my blog now, to quote her (said with a smile) "it's none of your(her) damn business!"
Then I wondered over to Old Navy in hopes of possibly finding a pair of jeans on the clearance rack that fit me. The jeans I have right now.. both jeans that i currently use most in my jean circulation both hit me odd at the ankle and it drives me crazy. I detest my socks being so visible when I sit down. Now these jeans are fine during the summer when I am wearing sandals. But for winter when i wear socks... no... i can't stand it.
No, I did not find anything. They actually had like no jeans on the clearance rack. And I am not about to pay full Old Navy price for a pair of jeans right now.
I did find on their 5$ tables a few shirts I wanted. Simple, long sleeved, light weight shirts, and one tank top that will do me in the summer. it's amazing how quickly those 5$ add up.
I also looked at the mens coats. honestly, my GAP coat that i have had since 2002 is really sad and pathetic, and you can see more of the guts of it from the outside than you should or is decent. I loath the idea of buying a new coat, but with how much I wear mine.. I should do something. Both my main winter coats, are dying. A slow and painful death. Both of them are at least 5 to 10 years old, (honestly my black bomber might even be 15 at this point as I bought it BEFORE moving to Colorado), and they have been worn hard and almost every day.
The only men's coat that was appealing to me, was not too bad looking, but the inside felt like.. well... felt. Which meant all my clothing will catch and I'll also always be miss static shock! I'm already electric people, I don't need another coat to add to it!
I didn't get a coat. But I did buy a men's thermal type shirt to replace my GAP one, which most certainly is about 10 years old, and is literally falling to pieces. Yes, I'm finally retiring it. Considering, I only spent 10$ on the new one, thats not bad. (I think my GAP one, I might have spent 30$ on. Ahh.. youth... with a bank account.. no cares... sheesh. Though, even if I did spend 30$ on it, that was nearly 10 years ago.. I think I got my money's worth!)

I wondered around a few other shops. I stopped at "It's Your Move" and spoke with dear Monsieur Weasley! You'll not know of him on this blog. But it was back from the Deathly Hallows release party at the mall I attended (the Borders)with my last roommate. He was the perfect Bill Weasley. He had the hair. The body type. The boots.. the earring. Yup. He was perfect. We flirted with him. Dot had a crush on him. Hell.. if I was single, I would have had a crush on him. And between you and meself.. if it had come down to a contest between me and Dot, I would have won hands down. Amanda (room mate before Dot, and ex roommate of Dot as well)learned that one quickly. The blokes always went after me if there was the option. Comes down to the fact that I have a flirty nature and most importantly confidence. Okay, I'm done tooting my own horn. But back to Monsieur Weasley. Whos name I just now remembered is Cody. We had run into each other enough over the last year and a half that he does remember me. He informed me that he has put in his notice, and that the end of the month is his last working there. He is moving back to New England. Ah well, I don't blame him one bit. Colorado Springs does not have many options for living. Unless you have a security clearance that is.

Moving along, I managed to resist the temptation of buying some Pretzel bites, even though they were smelling delish! And nothing in any of the stores that I frequent were appealing to me. I saw a shirt in Hot Topic that Mother of Mine mentioned she saw a girl wearing. it was "I (heart) boys who sparkle" Yes, it was in fact a Twilight reference. Sigh. I hate fangirls.
I looked for a pair of shoes, as the ones I currently am wearing for winter, are bothering me. I paid 7$ for them on my birthday, so I've gotten my money's worth out of them. But still, the are just a shade too small so my poor big thumb toes slightly hurt by the end of the day. (Wow.. that was a reference that took me back to my youth. Yes, I did in fact used to call my big toe the "big thumb toe")
I skiddaddled on home, only having been at the mall for an hour and a half. Not too bad all in all.
I have to say the crowds were not as bad as I imagined they would be. It actually reminded me of shopping in my youth at the Thousand Oaks mall. Yeah.. thats it. It was a normal day at the T.O mall was how crowded it was here for christmas. So it could have been a lot worse.

Mother of Mine is apparently not feeling well, so I have been chilling talking to my hunny and watching The Da Vinci Code this afternoon.

Today is the anniversary of meself and himself.
As of today, we only have 1.63 years left to go. That also breaks down to still being 17.5 months away.
Today, I also received my care package from himself.
The one that had all my pressies pretty much for the last year.
Our Yearly anniversary (which is different than today's anniversary, same date, different month), Valentines Day, My birthday.. and the Solstice. Or Christmas. Whatev.

I was told to open the box, as my Solstice presises were wrapped up. The others weren't. So it was safe.

I sat there with tears running down my face, bawling like a little girl as I looked at all the wonderful, and most importantly thoughtful things that my sweetie gathered for me.

I received two James Bond books:
Quantum of Solace
and Devil May Care

The irony is that I just finished reading Casino Royale this morning while I was at work. So the timing was perfect.

I also got a Torchwood book. "Another Life" (the first one)
A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates by Captain Charles Johnson (which I believe Mother of Mine will most likely steal.)
Chobits volume One

A beautiful bracelet from India, made of enameled copper and bronze tones (on copper- i think that it is copper), it looks like it depicts the sun and the moon, but I could be wrong. I don't know if it is something I would have chosen for myself, but I love it. (I think the reason I wouldn't have chosen it is the actual bracelet part is colors I don't think I would choose, light tanish brown tones, where i'm more darker tones when it comes to my browns) But I do love it. I will have to coat all the metal bits in clear nail polish, so that I can wear it. And I will take a photo of it sometime in the near future.

I also got some buttons, a grouping of Beatles buttons, Vampire buttons, and a little button that shows a flying witch, and says "Neighborhood Witch". It's cute. I like it a lot.
I got a Geek tag that says "wicked" on it, I'll have to change the chain on it, so that I can wear it with other things, as I like the tag.

I got a set of DVD's, Life on Mars being most prevalent on it. WIth a few other movies also burned. (Wall.e and Highlander (snerk.. like i don't already own that), and The Secret of NIMH - squeeeeeee I love that movie)
I finally had a chance to test my region hack for my dvd player.
Which appears to have worked... but... I still couldn't play the dvd's as the format was set to AVI... oh well, sweetie forgot to change that, or it didn't take when he changed it. It's alright. It plays on my laptop. And, I have him hunting down a cable that would work to hook my laptop up to my ANCIENT telly. (Seriously.. who still uses AV RYW cables??? Yeah. I do. And my telly is such crap, that it's just the Yellow White cables, not even the red cable. *sniff* that poor red cable just hangs limply down from the front of my telly looking all forlorn and unloved.)
Can I just say I cannot wait till I have a new Telly? I'm sick of the streaking I have down the top 3 inches of my telly, and the fact that it's so ancient to begin with. I doubt I'd be able to hook up a PS3 to it. (Sweetie and I will have a sweeeet setup to snuggle in front of. Not right away. It'll depend on the budget. But there will be HD. There will be Bluray. Oh yes, there will be a computer hard drive hooked up and set aside specifically for the telly.)

Meep Rambling. Sorry. Moving along, I also got a framed Doctor Who image thingie. It's got my Doctor (10.. technically 9 was the first Doctor I fell in love with, but I'm more than happy to claim 10 as my Doctor as well. I'm a bi doctor kind of girl.), an image of the Tardis, and a Dalek. There will be jealousy running rampant of all my friends. Oh yes, very much so.
Speaking of Doctor Who, and this blog being called "Journal of Impossible Things", those in charge, have decided to release as a toy.. John Smith (aka The Doctor)'s very own Journal of Impossible things.. SQUEEEE.


Sorry for the large picture size, but it's the little book thingie on the left side.
Sweetie of Mine has promised me that some day I will have it. Yay! It's just a toy, an in expensive toy at that, and I actually want to make one. Which I will some day. But having a little one like that means the future little Child of Mine will get to run around with a prop.

Hmmmm.. That almost gives me an idea. Mayhaps Alex (main character in novel- A Hard Day's Bite) should have a Journal of Impossible things for her ever changing world.

Or.. maybe I should leave that for my Steampunk world? Mayhaps it would fit better there... hmmm I'll have to ponder it.

Speaking of the novel (A Hard Day's Bite), I actually have a little research project for Mother of Mine, as she is the go to girl for the Scottish stuff, and for anything relating to Diana Gabaldon's world. Something in "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" stuck with me, and I want to know if it's actual myth or something Diana created. It's sad, a few years ago.. I would have been the go to person for the answer to this, but thats what happens when you break away from that world for so long.

Moving along (sheesh this is a long entry.. sorry peoples, I'm in a chatty mood)... I have been sucked in to Ravelry. It's a knitting ... BLACKHOLE. It sucks you in. I've joined many groups on it, and all of this is in hopes of getting my knitting skillz up. After all, I won't be able to run to Mother of Mine and ask her to make me things. I do need to learn for meself. Hmmm.. I wonder if mayhaps I'll mention some really cool knitted item in my novel and get my own group on Ravelry. That'd be neat. Hell, even if I don't mention something knitted in my novel, I could possibly end up with a group, as there are groups for everything and everyone. That'd be neat.

Okay, I guess I'm done rambling now. Later people