More emode tests...

Star Wars Test
.
Lutra, you're R2-D2

You're spunky, resourceful, and just a little deviant. It should come as no surprise that your Star Wars type is Artoo-Deetoo. Just like the diminutive droid who bailed out Luke and the gang more than a few times, you have tons of tools and tricks at your disposal. When in a bind, you are usually the first one who thinks of the solution (even if your zeal for adventure got you into trouble in the first place).

... and I did the TV mother one... came out as Roseanne. *rude noise*

*stops twiddling thumbs to type*
Dum de dum...
Xmas eve and I'm knackered. I'm trying to stay awake until the cubs are asleep and I can direct Father Xmas to the pillowcases strewn over the xmas tree. The cubs are in bed now, gamely trying to keep quiet and go to sleep...

The bright spot of today was a visit from Okapiprincess and her lovely Vikingprincess daughter. :) (I'm serious, Vp is blonde-haired, blue-eyed, almost as tall as me and 10 years old. She's going to be one of those gorgeous, willowy creatures when she grows up...) Anyway, Okapiprincess gave the cubs a small lolly stocking each - thank heavens they were small, the cubs were bouncing off the walls as it was - and I got 2 prettypretty glass fish dishes! Weeee! *happy squeak*

I've been threatening the cubs for the past week with no xmas presents if their room wasn't clean by xmas eve. Spent most of today, despite being ill, cleaining their room. And they did help, a little, complaining bitterly all the while about the Dickensian working conditions. In effect - 'we really love you, mummy, why are you treating us like this?' (ie: making them work) ... grrrr... Because I'm not your bloody servant! Is it fair that I have to clean up all your mess by myself? No, it isn't, so you're going to help me clean your room or else!
Their room's not clean, not completely, but the chaos is a little more ordered. Am I going to follow through on my threat?
*sigh* No. Mostly because I don't want to do anything that will make my babies think ill of me.
What a wuss...

Kittenkong brought in 2 baby birds today. Tiny, wee things with barely a few tufts of down between them. One was definitely dead, but the other was still alive. That one is currently tucked up warmly in a box, wrapped in one of the boys old nappies. It'll probably die, but it'll die warm at least.
That cat needs a cow bell.

Damn!
Another year and no xmas cards (actual or email) sent out.
Sorry. Maybe next year. : )

Tch, forgot to mention...
Really lovely wedding pic, Joules, and you don't look all that different now. : ) (Last time you wore a skirt, eh? I can relate to that...)
Happy solstices, everyone!!

... Soulsis, if I'm asleep when you come 'round - WAKE ME UP!! Delighted as I am to have little surprise presents waiting for me when I wake I do actually like talking to you! : )

Forgot to mention yesterday, too, that Soulsis gave Kittenkong a new collar. Lovely Angel-Delight-strawberry coloured, with little hemi-spherical studs on it. Beautiful! (There were bells on it too, but KK has already pulled those off...)

Someone I've know for ages recently went to Hong Kong: he brought me back a present. A chinese calligraphy set and a box of coloured inkstones. Just gorgeous! I'm all inspired now to learn about Chinese painting...

AYA! Both Joules and I have finished our next ACchapters...

...and tomorrow, I don't have to get the cubs off to school. : )

*humming* On the somethingth day of xmas two of my best friends gave to me-ee - !
- one wobbling flamingo
- one ceramic fish to hang on the wall
- one pretty tea-cup
- two bunches of pretend grapes
and a box full of real cool goodies! (including a wee book on feng shui, a purple disc mobile, chocolate dipped fortune cookies, more chocolates, hanging crystal, I-ching coin ball, sandalwood insence and holder, red candles and a trapped-whale paperweight ^.^)

Soulsis, Niki and I went to see 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding last night - you might have heard of it?
It was funny and sweet, but nothing I hadn't see before. I live in Melbourne, which has the 2nd largest - don't quote me - greek population outside of Greece, and there's been plenty of locally made programs/movies about Greek versus non-Greek culture.
Still, it was a fun movie and I laughed a lot, and I had a great time checking out the props used. (Lamps made from bunches of acrylic grapes!! I've seen them on ebay... *bites nails*)

I don't eat a lot of sweets any more, don't miss them really - except for fruity flavoured licorice (and turkish delight, but you know about that already). I was expecting this time of year to be a trial for me, though, cos this is when my favourite licorice is sold in pretty jars - and I'm a sucker for pretty jars too. So, since November I've been half-looking for the licorice in the shops but, alas, there was none to be found. Huzzah! - I thought - I won't have to buy any!
I found some yesterday. *sigh*
The jars are different from the ones they've been using for the past few years, but still nice. Bought a jar, naturally, and proceeded to make myself sick on 1kg of fruity licorice. The daft thing is, despite being ill from eating all that licorice and despite knowing it's going to make me ill if I do it again - I will go and get another jar before New Year, at least, and eagerly await them coming on sale afterwards...

Had a look at the new Barbie's yesterday, too.
They are very pretty. Of the three available, I like the vaguely eurasion one, Chelsea, the best - I could play with her. I think her clothes are nicer than what the other two are wearing anyway; the leather mini-skirt is just yum. Barbie herself looks like a real bimbo, very Clueless, though still quite pretty. I'd like to get Chelsea, I admit, but I - *pointed look at th' thicket* - will be able to stop at just one doll I'm sure... :)
(Onna, I'd also noticed these dolls looked a little like the Bratz ones. Okapiprincess has a theory that Mattel has been rattled by the Bratz' success and is following the trend, so to speak.)

The cubs have finished school for the year. *deep sigh*
They got their end of year reports a couple of days ago and while the results were good, they contained echoes of my own school reports... 'could do better if he concentrated more'. Bah! Who can be bothered concentrating on external stuff when what's going on in your head is so much more interesting!

Going to change my room around. The way it's set up at the moment, my bed is directly opposite the door and my computer desk is on the left as you come into the room. The computer chair effectively blocks what little walk-way there is between the bed and the desk which means the wardrobe, which is on the other side of the desk, is too hard to get to so under-utilised. So, I'm going to put the wardrobe and desk where the bed was, and the bed over by the window where the wardrobe was. The added advantage of this is that I can lie in bed and watch the stars through the window. :)
Now what I need is a different computer desk, one that goes up instead of out and I'll be able to squeeze another book-shelf in...

Woohoo! We've signed up for a cable-modem connection.
It'll be installed in the cubs' father's room sometime mid-january, but I won't be getting the benefit of it until the other computers in the house have been hooked up to a LAN. *rolls eyes*
Fine, whenever...

(nicked from Onna's blog:)

//Ai no Kusabi mailed

Watch your snailmail, Lutra! //

The mailman gets nervous when I do that... *evil smirk*
Thank you, Onna!

Oh good, nice to hear someone else likes the new Barbie, I thought I was going mad..
But I'll have a look at the actual dolls first, in the vinyl so to speak, before I decide if I really really want one enough to drop massive hints to people for my birthday... (What? Buy one myself? You've got to be joking! ^~^ )

[Talon... just how good a view of the bower do you get from the lemon tree?]

[nuzzle] You're forgiven, tenshi. It's a beautiful face - a very anime face, quite charming. Even the ningen would be tempted, and I have it on her kaasan's authority that she hated dolls, even as a child... Heh, even I can see the appeal!

Evil, temptressOkapi...

I don't like Barbie I have never liked Barbie, but Mattel have just released a new line ... They're gorgeous.
I have no idea why I like them so much but I'm scared... Is this another step down the path towards girlyness?

[*blinks*] "inhaled to the other side of the door"? What sort of thesaurus are these people using? Or is this some esoteric term for teleportation? Heh - "Inhale me up, Scotty..." Doesn't have quite the same ring to it, somehow...

The furry things with the tails are kridessa, tenshi. Courtesy of Talon. Very, very tasty. Another few months and we can start eating them... Though actually, the way they're breeding... They seem to like it here. I'll bring a couple with me for dinner - you can try one and see if you like them.

Heh - the dragonlings are coming along well, aren't they? Time to start training them. And they'll be ready to go to new homes in February, I think - any offers?

On second thoughts, re: re-writing the translation for AnK, I don't think I can! *grin*
"Mimea left the room walking quickly. After making himself sure that she had been inhaled to the other side of the door, the man sat down slowly on hte border of the bed."

Riiight...

[Just been over to the Oasis to see the dragonets - they're getting big awful quick! I see what you mean about their crisping everything in sight, 'lestrel... By the way, what are those little furry things running rampant over there?]

*languishing*
Hot. Don't like hot. Weather forecast says we have a couple more days of it, then it'll get hotter. Oh goody...

Talon, I had a look at the Ai no Kusabi site, the translation one... um... I can't read Japanese, but the japanglish is just as tricky. : ) It's bending my brain, I'm itching to re-write it! But that's a bit rude, fiddling with someone elses work...

"Flash! Don't heckle the super-villain!"
*rolling around laughing*
That was a quote from Justice League.

The cubs got handcuffs in their advent calendar yesterday. Tonight, one of them had hand-cuffed Kero (the *snort* Guardian Beast from Cardcaptor Sakura) to the bed by his neck.
I said not a word...

Okapiprincess sent me this. : )

<.b>The Politically Correct Twelve Days... by Larry Nolte

On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my
Significant Other in a consenting adult, monogamous relationship gave to me:

TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming,

ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in
good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union
contract even though they will not be asked to play a note),

TEN melanin deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling
class system leaping,

NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression,

EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products from
enslaved Bovine-Americans,

SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wetlands,

SIX enslaved Fowl-Americans producing stolen non-human animal products,

FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic
incarceration,

(NOTE: after members of the Animal Liberation Front threatened to throw red
paint at my computer, the calling birds, French hens and partridge have been
reintroduced to their native habitat. To avoid further Animal-American
enslavement, the remaining gift package has been revised.)

FOUR hours of recorded whale songs,

THREE deconstructionist poets,

TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses
and...

ONE Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.


I've only seen 2, half episodes of 'Zoids, I do not want to rush off and collect any of the merchandise, do I?

Piro, the artist on MegaTokyo put a piece of original artwork up on ebay to help tide him over until the money from sales of merchandise kicks in. The opening price was $10 US. Just checked, and with 19 hours to go before the auction ends, the price is $1025... Now that's what I call support! : )

Hey, Onna, i really liked the Neko-girl pic. If the stripes were a bit lighter, her breasts a bit larger - and not smiling - she could be Kitty... You're right, you can draw girls - should do some more... *spork* (And did I actually say 'yes' to copies of AnK? Cos if I didn't, I'd like to say 'yes' now. I've been listening to Joules go on about it... *grin*).

Okapiprincess has just relayed to me something her son said. Aboi said he's not weird, he's socially misplaced.

And.. at the morning tea hosted at the school this morning for the volunteers (like me) i found out that the school library is staffed by one, single, volunteer. So I bounced on over to her and asked if I could help too!
I like librarys, perfect place to look busy while your mind is elsewhere...

I had a very odd dream today while I was napping away the afternoon heat. I was looking at a kids magazine, something like Disney Adventures, or Kidzone, and inside was a poster of a very pretty anime girl. Problem was, it was basically an 'up-skirt' pose and she wasn't wearing knickers. Very nice - I thought - but I don't think that's really appropriate for this sort of publication.
Any dream interpreters out there like to tackle the significance of that one?

Hee, Okapiprincess told me the other day that by typing 'eyecandy mcdrooly' into Google.com you get my pond as a match. I tried it, and my pond was the only listing. Ah, fame at last.

This was in last thursdays The Age, in the 'Odd Spot' bit, hence no byline:
An English vicar reduced young children to tears and stunned their parents after he said Santa Claus and his reindeer would burn to a crisp while delivering presents at super-sonic speed.
Um, riiiight...

I managed to go for a whole 24 hours without watching CSS.
Made up for it the next day though. Heh.

Oh dear, we missed the Carols by Candlelight thingy that was held in the park near the cubs school. What a pity, but by the time I'd prodded myself to remember *hand to forehead* it was too late. We went to last year's one only because the cubs class was perfoming in it. Mind you, that xmas thing you mentioned on your blog, Onna, looked like fun. : )


From Soulsis...

I am a A Painted Dragon!

Hey, I took the http://dragonhame.com online Inner Dragon quiz and found out I am a Painted Dragon on the inside.

In the war between good and evil, a Painted Dragon tends to walk the fine line of Neutrality....
When it comes to the powers of Chaos vs. those of Law and Order, your inner dragon is a risk taker and answers to no one....
As far as magical tendancies, a Painted Dragon's nature does not lend itself well to the ways of Magic....
During combat situations, the Painted Dragon shows a preference for the rending and slashing of Hand to Hand combat....
Painted Dragons are the gypsies of dragonkind. They move frequently and spend much time in human form, socializing and partying.'
While not truly evil, Painted Dragons have a flair for practical jokes that sometimes get out of hand. They are known far and wide for their troublemaking abilities. A dragon's idea of a good joke usually has dragon sized repercussions.'
The Painted Dragon gains it's name from it's appearance. When one is seen in dragon form, it is garishly colored by every color and hue visible to the human eye (and some that are not visible except by magical means, and to other dragons). If you could tie-dye a dragon, you would have a painted dragon.
'
This Dragons favorite elements are: Glass, Morning Glories, and Festivals

http://Dragonhame.Com

.. and this also from Soulsis. Don't forget to type in your name or identification code. : )

Ah, yes, I remember what it was now.
Took the cubs to the Golden Arches of Dooooom, for dinner, which they enjoyed - and the got a new toy to play with, but while we were there I noticed a poster (about a video) that said 'Take Ronald home today!!'
I think not.
I don't like clowns at the best of times and I especially loathe this one.

I did get round to clearing off my bed today. I had to cos otherwise the cubs would have had to have gone to the school disco in their uniforms. : ) But my bed is now clean and clear again. And I managed to finish a few more pages of my next AC chapter while the cubs were out dancing the late afternoon away.

My cub's (one of them) teacher had words with me yesterday. Apparently she's had to pull him up a couple of times on his 'language'. Oops.
OK, I'm not too bad, I tend to only say 'fuck' (in front of the cubs) when I'm really, really annoyed. More often it's 'bloody' or 'knickers' - they giggle at that one.
I could blame Billy Connolly.. they watched one of his shows...

I'm sure I had something else to say but buggered if I can remember...

Bubble-wrap is a fine thing. We call it 'stress-sheets' in our house. It's very satisfying popping the bubbles as stress relief.
Having said that, Okapiprincess found this site...

(knicked from Onna's blog)

//Will Mahrayne be there?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course, the ratsky found this, then asked me, "Don't you know someone in Australia?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20021204/od_uk_nm/oukoe_weather_australia_raindance&e=2

Oddly Enough - UK Reuters

Aussie women to bare it all for rain
Wed Dec 4,12:15 AM ET

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Hundreds of women from drought-ravaged southern Australia plan to bare it all to the heavens in a bid to make it rain.
Inspired by a Nepalese drought-breaking tradition, the women from Ouyen in the far northwest of Victoria state will carry out a naked rain dance in the barren outback in early March, just ahead of the planting season for the next crop.
"We'll invite all the families from all the communities around in the Mallee (region) who are suffering from the drought, we'll all get together and have food and entertainment all day," said organiser Lynne Healy of the Ouyen Inc community group.
"And the women will get on buses and discreetly go out to a secret location and we will do our dance or our whatever," Healy told Reuters on Wednesday.
Unexpected publicity means the rain dance will probably attract many more than the 200 women the organisers originally expected to take part -- but the media will not be invited.
"It'll be totally nude, hence no cameras," Healy said.//

Oh yes, Mahrayne will be there, with bells on *snigger* literally.
I won't though, I have, um, other things planned for that weekend.

Mmm..mmm...mmm... I *love* watermelon!

I'm procrastinating.
I should be tunnelling through the heap of stuff that's spilling from my bed over the floor in my room.
Eh, later.

I got myself another one of the 3D fish puzzles, the Butterfly fish this time. Didn't take long at all to put it together. Only one left in the series, the cow-fish. I was going to get that today but I really had to buy some food. All the fish in this puzzle series are tropical ones, which are nice, I spose, but I much prefer fresh-water fish, to eat and to look at. Except for tuna. And cod.

I finished, coded and posted a small C.I.5 - The Professionals fanfic yesterday. Been close to a year since I've written anything in that fandom, though I still love the show I really don't have that strong an urge to write it anymore. But I owe a huge debt to it and the fanfic group I fell in with - *thinks* - two and a half years ago; it was after reading stories posted there that I thought that, maybe, I could write. I'd read a lot of Pros slash fanfic, and while I thoroughly enjoyed some of it - still do - it didn't inspire me to emulate it, but the Prosfanfic site had only general fiction of a very high standard and I was tempted to try my hand. The rest - as they say - is history.
I've made some very good friends through the Pros fandom too, Joules, Sammi, Carol & Sue as well as Andi and Di and others who I'm ashamed to admit I only keep in contact with sporadically.
I don't think I'll ever completely let go of Pros fanfic, there's always one or two little things bubbling... : )

School Carol concert last night.
It didn't rain.
Damn.
Wasn't that bad, really, just over an hours worth and the cubs enjoyed themselves, just would've been better if I didn't have a headache. Didn't win any of the xmas hampers though. Oh well, there's always the Easter ones next year.

Got this site fron Onna's blog, about the vibrating Harry Potter broom *raised eyebrows* which led me to this site about a sexually suggestive lolly *rolling around laughing* and then I remembered what happened in the supermarket a few days ago...
In the toy section there's a selection of lolly-toys, things that make noises and lights flash and stuff. We don't buy any but the cubs love playing with them. One of the items on the shelf was a pen topped by a clear plastic globe that has little lollies in it.
It vibrates.
The idea is you switch it on and wait for the lollies to be shaken out of the top - what fun! - but I found myself standing there, holding one of these things, feeling the - quite strong - vibrations going down to my elbow, thinking 'hmm, replaceable battery, bit noisy though that won't be so bad when the lollies are gone, only really suitable for external use...' *blink* Uh...
I know I said my toy-box is depleted but honestly...

I was enthusing to Penny (a friend of mine - her daughter is in the same class as one of my cubs) how much I liked the idea of having a skittle lane, but of course, first I'd need to get some skittles. Penny's a very practicle, can-do sort of person - she suggested I take a wood-turning course and make my own.
What a brilliant idea!
So now I've added wood-turning to my list of stuff I want to learn, along with furniture upholstery/restoration, leadlight, ceramics, basic wood-work, basic car maintenance and photography. (Not actually, photography, per se, I'm not too shabby at that, but I'd like to have dark-room access again.)

I'm helping out at the school today with PMP (the Perceptual Motor Program) for the last time. Ever. Only the preps and Grade 1's do PMP. Mwahahahahahahahahah!
Though this means I'll probly have to volunteer for something else next year. Eh, deal with it when I have to.

*snigger* This How Evil are You quiz from Soulsis.

Check it out, man! How evil are you?
My friend, I'm sorry. There's no way in hell that you will ever be evil. You're as soft as the fur on your belly. You love everything. You're a friggin baby unicorn! I mean, sure, when you're grown-up, you're elegant and such, but.... you're pudgy and.. ugh. If you ever killed someone, it was most likely because you were too adorable.

This also, from the evil wench...

[smirks and ruffles flashing bunny ears] I think we'll start with a... massage... tenshi... And you can dig out the studded tail rings.... handful of the silk scarves... some of that chocolate hazelnut spread... Oh, and I need a couple of your feathers too... Heh, yes, that'll do - to start with...


The fluffy bunny ears are from Carol... That was the second parcel though - what the hell's happened to the first one? It was posted surface on 25^th of October...

I'm sitting here wearing pink and white fluffy rabbit ears. I can see the little flashing lights on them reflected in the monitor.
[It's very uke-bunny, I feel as if I should be kneeling at someone's feet, wide-eyed and breathlessly expectant, awaiting instructions... *looks around, frowning, hands on hips* Tch, where's that hybrid when you need her?]

I got a parcel from England today! *happy squeak*
The chocolate bar (a Whispa, kind of like an Aero bar, only made by Cadbury's so infinitely better) got eaten for breakfast while I pawed through the rest of the gorgeous stuff.
As well as the bunny ears there was a bottle stopper that had a xmas tree snowdome on it (looking for appropriately pretty bottle to stick it in so it can go on display with the rest of my snowdomes :), some rose incense which is covered in pink glitter (weeee! too nice to burn, well, maybe one or two, the rest will be artfully arranged somehow no doubt), and some pink and purple ribbony hair accesories that have rhinestones on them! I was going to cut my hair short, but I'm not going to now so I can use the hair ties.
Andandand, there's a CD as well, chockers full of interesting stuff (Dido's 'Take my Hand' is destined to be one of those songs that gets played when the sooky romantic is stirring restlessly in her cage... And CSS... *swallow* Definitely not one for when the cubs are around.)
But best of all was the card - beautiful, beautiful gold fishes on a black background! The card's going into a frame, and I'm tempted to knick, er copy, the fishes as a basis for a tattoo, they're exactly what I've been looking for!
Thank you, Joules! *GLOMP* (and Carol? Some of the presents were from you?)

I've said it before, but I love presents!
*grin* Between Soulsis and Joules it's a wonder that certain portions of my anatomy aren't exploding with delight...! ^~^

(knicked from Onna's blog)
//Of course, I still have Mahrayne in a flowing gown waiting to be put to paper with a pencil.//

*happy squeak* I can be patient, yes I can...

I didn't think Battlefield Earth would be much chop, Joules, I only got a couple of chapters into the book before I abandoned it, just couldn't bring myself to read any more of it's unique brand of crap.

Heh, after months of waiting, and several changes in programming, Cartoon Network has DBZ playing again at a time I can watch it (9.30pm) and the story's finally gotten back around to almost where it left off before it was - to my disgust - repeated. We're currently at the start of the World Tournament before our heroes go off and deal with BippityBoppityBoo. Finally. Hopefully this time the barstid programmers will let us see the rest of the eps. Grrrr....

Feeling a bit - dislocated at the moment. My own fault, I spent a few hours this afternoon reading Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale (compulsive, disturbing) and I got sucked in to the world-frame. It happens a lot if I spend more than half an hour reading something, and then RL can sometimes be difficult to get back to. Years ago, I read the entire set of Elf Quest graphic novels in about 4 hours - it was days before I completely shook myself free of it, reality was just so... bland in comparison. This disassociation wasn't so much of a problem before I had the cubs, but I can't really afford to let it happen now, I need to be in the same continuum as my children.

Heh - the ningen says that's on Xmas Eve morning in the UK, and the bratling has never seen it. Guess we'll be watching it too... (She says thanks, by the way. Apparently Kai already has admirers amongst the girls in his year...)

The cubs and I curled up on the couch tonight to watch A Muppet Christmas Carol. I like the Muppets.
There was a beautiful, perfect line of dialogue in the movie too. Rizzo the Rat was scoffing at Gonzo - who was Charles Dickens :) - saying that he couldn't know what Scrooge was doing, they couldn't see into his window, to which Gonzo replied - "Writers are omniscient. I know everything!" *rolling around laughing* Well, in the universes I have some control over, maybe.

Odd sort of day, the cubs didn't get out of their pyjamas (though I did put them in clean pjs after their bath) and I spent most of the day asleep. Hn, must've needed a do-nothing day...

Hungry now. Want chocolate.
Maybe I'll have a peach instead? The reason being that I do have peaches in the house, whereas I don't have any chocolate - and I don't want chocolate so much that I'd consider walking to the supermarket at night to get it.

Only 10 more days of school to go before the end of the year. Let's see how much writing I can pack in before I have the cubs at home with me for 6 weeks. Wonder if I can get their father to look after them for a few days here and there...?

Awwwww!


What sort of Dragon watches over you?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Regal Silver Dragon is your protector and guide. Benevolent and kind, Aid is always available to you when it is truely needed. You and those you love are always protected.

I did something the other day I hadn't done for a long time, I went into our local Lush shop. UK bods will probly know this company, don't know if there's any Lush stores in the US. They make the most wonderful toiletries and skin-care products. It's not often I can afford to buy anything from there but it's lovely to just go in and inhale. Afterwards my hands smelt wonderful now from where I'd been carressing, fondling the soaps and massage bars and fizzy bath-bombs... :)

I'm not good with puzzles, well not the ones dealing with spatial relations - you know, jigsaw puzzles, 3 dimensionals, those stupid ones made up of shiftable tiles that you have to get in order, *rolls eyes* Rubik's cubes - but the other day I found a series of really cute, fish shaped 3D puzzles that were tempting enough for me to try. And bonus, they were packaged in quite pretty, plastic nautilus shells. What the hell, I thought, and rummaged through to see which types were available. I settled on a puffer fish (blow fish, ball fish etc) cos, hey, they're freaky enough to be interesting!
Of the series, the puffer fish had the most (22) pieces. It took me an hour to put the bloody thing together, and I was bored within 15 minutes but I made myself finish it. Dead chuffed when I was done though. :)
I bought another one of the series, the clown fish, it has 11 pieces and it took me 10 minutes. I'd say that was an improvement...

I shouldn't complain, should I?
The other day I wasn't feeling the brightest so the cubs' father did the washing up for me. Lovely gesture, however, when I went to do the next load I found the washing-up liquid was all gone. Now, according to my calculations, with frugal use (ie: the amount I normally use) there was enough in the bottle to see us through 'til the next payday.
Not only had the cubs' father emptied the bottle, he'd also rinsed it out to get every last usable scrap of detergent. And then he put the bottle back in it's spot, empty.
*sigh* And I was all out of bubble-bath too.

I think I'm going to call my next house Chez Otter.

A page of quizzes from Soulsis. Not startlingly indepth - except for the Alien Abduction one - but still fun.
Here's some results I prepared earlier...


You are WAY too aggressive at times
You are almost always hungry
You seem to work best in a school of piranhas.



Which "Natural Wonder" are you?





Find out what kind of driver you are!
You are among the most intelligent and best mannered among all drivers. When you are in a hurry, you may push it a little, but you never race. When you are relaxed, you don't impede others by driving like a turtle. You are mindful of others and occasionally downright nice, but mostly you keep your wits and keel.


Which Computer Component Are you?

SQUEAK!!
Just found out that plushies for MegaTokyo are in the works!
I wanna Boo! I wanna Boo!
... and the 1st graphic novel is due for release in the next couple of days. Aaaargh! No money! *paniced panting* Hope there's some left after xmas...

Did you know I can hypnotise my cat by scratching the top of her head?

Heh, the cake stall and sausage sizzle on election day raised close to $1000 (Aus) for the school. Not a bad effort.

'Line Rage' - the irrational anger you feel when you can't get online because another member of the household is hogging the effing connection! Grrrr... Line Rage makes you attack-dial the server until you force the line clear. (Heh heh heh)

This is a very interesting site sent to me by Penny. Go play Feed the Model. *smirk*

Woohoo! Next chapter of AC is almost finished.

(I forgot to mention - the 'Misfit talent' quiz was unearthed by Soulsis...)

Interesting...

Primary Ability: Healer Healers are gentle people, gifted with the ability to heal others with the strength of their own minds. They can examine a person's body and aura, helping them to recover from injury or sickness. Healers never put themselves first, and can be generous to a fault.
Secondary Ability: Farseeker Farseekers posses the ability to communicate over great distances via telepathy. They are great friends who know when they're needed, and seem to be able to detect others thoughts.
What is your Misfit Talent?

Ooooh! *bouncehappysqueak* One of the smallish independent cinemas down here will be showing Singin' in the Rain and An American in Paris as a double early next year! The cubs' father has already volunteered to babysit, so now all I have to do is round up my girlfriends, and Aaron (well, he counts as a girlfriend anyway) and go indulge my Gene Kelly fetish!

... and speaking of cute cubs, Joules, Kai's gorgeous! His hair looks so lovely and silky, and he has your eyes : ) I think you can expect the fans to start lining up before he's much older... *grin* (Sorry, I meant to comment days ago but I got caught up in everything else.)

The xmas tree generally goes up on December the 1st in our house, for no other reason really, than it's an easy date for me to remember. Otherwise I'd be saying all through the month - 'tch, really must get round to putting the tree up' but never doing it.
The cubs and I put the xmas tree up today after school - a couple of days past schedule. Had to dig the old plastic one out of the garage seeing as the cubs refused to wait for us to buy a new, living tree at the end of the week. I'm sure the lower branches of the tree are missing, I'm sure it was taller than that, but we have the top bit, and the trunk/base part, that's all we really need.
As soon as the tree was up the cubs decorated it.
Not really being creatures of the 'less is more' school of thought, they've smothered the thing in decorations - if it didn't have a metal frame it would be sagging beneath the weight. :)

Earlier this year I saw a xmas tree made out of purple tinsel! How cool is that?! I'm going to go back and see if I can find another one, keep it for next year when I might have a place of my own...

One of the cubs has been devising his own fast food restaurant. It's called McThomas and it's signature dish is a 'funnel-chuff meal'. As well as free sunscreen, you get toys with this meal - there's four to collect.
There's a Thomas, that has a button to push and he makes a chuffing sound and there's a wind up Percy who runs around in circles. The Toby toy makes bubbles, and Mavis whistles 'Humpty Dumpty' when you push her button.
*grin* If you're not familiar with Thomas the Tank Engine that probably didn't make a whole lot of sense.

*phew* 5 pages of the next AC chapter done, not before time.

And now for some more Holiday Blog...


Friday 15th November.

My sleep was a bit patchy, not surprisingly. For the past 2 (more?) years I've been sleeping on a mattress on the floor, at Caroline's I've got a real bed, with a base. I was 2 and a half feet off the ground. I got vertigo if I looked over the side...

It was a bit misty today, so no point in going to any of the look-outs, wouldn't have seen anything (though I still would have liked to go). So we trooped off to Katoomba instead to do some shopping and track down the house where an old friend of mum's used to live. (Found it, and the park that was named after the friend's father. Mum dutifully took pictures of it all for her.)
Katoomba's claim to fame is that it's the best place to view the Three Sisters rock formations. Consequently, it's a complete tourist trap, but it's really not a very pretty place though as tourist traps go it's quite cheap. To me it felt a lot like Taralgon, in Victoria, only hilly. (note: Taralgon has been described as a 'shallow end of the gene pool' town. Very country, very local. No offense to anyone living there of course.)
Got some postcards and some food and a really cute pair of pink/white hair ties (that will be used on a future project, details to follow as they become available) and generally puttered around until we went home for lunch. Was very tired in the afternoon so I crashed out for a few hours, waking up just in time for dinner. Fancy that. And I didn't have to cook it. :)
Rang the cubs after dinner to be told how much I was missed *sooky smile* one of them even hugged the phone cos he couldn't hug me...

Saturday 16th November.

First stop today was a clothing factory in Katoomba that was having a garage sale. Mum and Caroline - who are both well into handcrafts, especially patchwork, gleefully descended on the mountains of material, gathering up great armfuls of the stuff. I was a little bit more restrained; I got 2 metres of a lovely sage green cotton (not sure what I'll do with that yet), a small piece of bright blue and red tartan (which I do know what I'm going to do with - it's related to the hair ties) and a lot of pale green silk cord (33 metres as it turned out) which I was very happy to get cos I haven't been able to find anything close in Melbourne, and I need it for one, very specific purpose.
Then we went to Leura which is a very pretty, well-maintained little town. Leura styles itself the 'heart of the Blue Mountains' and it's an up-market tourist trap with prices to match. Every second shoppe sold antiques or 'Country Crafts' *rolls eyes*. We visited the patchwork place there - what a surprise - 'Picklemouse Cottage'. I bought a tiny piece of purple pansy material because it was soooo prety. 'Picklemouse Cottage' didn't just have patchwork supplies though, it had lots of other stuff - pretty, shiny stuff and I was a: very glad I didn't have a credit card, and b: very glad that lay-by wasn't really practical for me.
All of the shops in Leura had xmas decorations for sale and we went in and had a look through a couple of stores. Loads of things, some very clever, some pretty cheesy - it got to the stage where I was going to take a cricket bat to the next singing, jiggling Santa I saw as well as breaking the fingers of the person who activated it. Why does all the singing xmas crap have American accents, by the way?
In one shop I saw a decoration made out of large neko bells, wired together to look like bunches of grapes! Cool! And guess what, I've just bought a whole pile of purple neko bells that I was wondering what to do with!
Didn't buy any xmas decorations but I did get a little trinket box shaped like a bunch of grapes. I like grapes.
Crashed out again that afternoon before dinner, just so tired.

A quick word about my back-pack...

... which is purple, as you know, and amongst other things, has 2 of the purple neko bells and a 'baaing' sheep called Winston (thank you, Carol!) dangling from the front of it.
I cannot sneak anywhere while I'm wearing the pack; the bells bounce around, jingling madly, and Winston 'baas' as he's bounced against the bag. I was getting some very strange looks from people, wondering what the noise was and where the heck was it coming from? :)

... to be continued...

[sigh....] see, tenshi, told you that would happen. Damn ningen's sulking now....

Heh - nice, isn't it tenshi? Warm, cosy - who needs a sleeping fur?




Leaves maazi bemused, but what the hell, what's one more body on the sleeping platform... [smirks and dives in too...]

They are cute, aren't they? : ) This photo is a couple of months old. Their hair is much shorter now (curse their father!) and there's - collectively - 5 more baby teeth gone.
And today their 'surprise' was a Goku pen and some small scribbler pads...

Lutra's cubs - aren't they cute?

The cubs woke me up early today so they could get their 'surprise' from the advent calenders... aaarrgh...
In the number 2 bags were small chocolate treats (a Caramello Koala and a Freddo Frog, respectively) and a small squishy doll sort of thing covered in softish spikes. These were well received, though one of the cubs managed to lose his at school *rolls eyes*.
No doubt they'll happily wake me up early tomorrow and every day until xmas... aarrgh...

At the museum, in the childrens' area, is a playground full of good, old-fashioned sorts of games like stilts, and quoits, and checkers (played on a huge board) and noughts-and-crosses (ditto) and skittles. I've decided I want a skittle lane, shouldn't be hard to set up at the side of the house : ) Of course, I'll need a set of proper wooden skittles and ball... I remember there was a woodworker in Tasmania who made them. Heh, well I've been wanting to get back down there for years, this sounds like a perfect excuse. And I'd like a croquet set (was quite disappointed that no-one gave the cubs' father and I this traditional wedding present when we got married *grin*) and a bocci set. Now that's a fun game even when playing with boys who can throw the jack much, much further than I could ever hope to throw the balls. : )

I have a secret vice.
I like to watch the fashion channel on pay tv. It's always good for a laugh. "What are they wearing??"
Tonight I caught some of the male fashions (or 'pour homme' as the segment was tastefully labelled). Some of the clothes modelled were really quite nice, though the models did nothing for me (not unusual), but the visual affects (effects? eh...) were quite amusing. The picture was focused through a large circular area and there where thinnish horizontal strips popping up randomly across the screen. The strips slightly magnified the area they were over and - *titter* - they seemed to be mostly centred over the models crotches, as the pretty boys strode purposefully towards the camera, and on their arses as they strode just as purposefully away.
I giggled.

It was hot today. I don't like hot - neither does the car. Drove up to Soulsis's and had to stop for half an hour so the car could cool down. Tch.
Kittenkong doesn't like the hot either, but that's not surprising seeing as she can't remove her fur coat to cool down.

[Eew! You're quite right, 'lestrel, girly just looks silly on me. : )
Though I will still get my ears pierced... ]

[stares in horror, then wraps tail tightly around waist - trapping wings - and drags tenshi firmly away from girlyness....] Oh no you don't!

Well, I got the cubs' advent calendars done in an hour and a half. Not bad. I reuse the little cloth bags every year so that saves a lot of time. And the cubs were delighted with their 'surprises'. Today they got a blue and red sparkly xmas decoration - that will go on the xmas tree when I a/ buy a new, potted one (seeing as our other one died from neglect : ( or b/ dig out the old, plastic one from garage. They also got a large, gummi Tweety-bird each. Loathe that character, it was very satisfying watching the cubs gnawing on him *smirk*

Took the cubs to the museum today. Didn't have a timetable for the bus so we left the house when we were ready and hoped for the best. Tch. Turned out we just missed it - and the buses run every hour and ten minutes on a sunday. Ack. Long wait.
And then there was the train into the city, then a tram to the museum...
How was the museum?
Hmm... It was good, but it didn't seem to have as much stuff as I remember the old one having. It probably does, but there's so much space between the exhibits, unlike the old museum where everything was crammed in together. Still, there was some interesting things, and the cubs enjoyed themselves making paper wind-socks and 'dubba-dubba's' (what they call propellors. Think about it, it's the sound helicopter rotars make.) But they were more than ready to come home after a few hours. Fortunately the journey home didn't take as long as the journey out...
I'd like to go back to the museum on my own (and I can cos I've got a membership *smarm smarm*) so I can have a proper look around without being ordered to come and look at something else. *rolls eyes*

Tch. Trying to get my next AC chapter started - amongst other things - just haven't been able to find the time/energy. I guess it is the end of the year, after all, and things start winding down...

Watched Fantasia 2000 on the Holy Rodent Empire channel this evening. I like the flamingos with the yoyos and if I was a whale I'd want to fly too, but my fav piece is the last one, with the spring spirit.. it's very appropriate that she is woken by a stag... wonder if the company realised what they were doing?

Omigod, I'm turning into a girl!
I'm thinking about wearing skirts and getting my ears re-pierced (lobes, not even cartlidge!).
Ack! What's happening to me?

I'm sitting here, filling in time online while I wait for the cubs to fall asleep cos only then can I sneak around and make up their advent calenders. *sigh* It would be so much easier for myself if I simply bought them one of those ready-made ones with the chocolates inside, but I don't, I make them from scratch. Little numbered bags of goodies and lollies - this will be the fourth (?) year I've done it, I think. Should have made them up last night, thus cleverly avoiding the rush tonight, but I was too tired. Eh.

Election day today in Victoria and the smell of barbecued sausages and onions hangs over the state...
Election days must be a boon for schools and churches cos they inevitabley have a sausage sizzle or a cake stall going at the same time the polling booths are open. Great time for raising money, few people can resist a sausage sizzle after doing their democratic duty. I spent a couple of hours this morning on the cake stall at the cubs stall, slowly being driven crazy by the smell of the sausages : ) which I couldn't really afford.
Yes, I voted. After 15 years of being a conscientious objector (voting is compulsory in Aus) by deliberately letting myself drop off the register - not hard to do, I moved house 8 times in 10 years - last year I re-registered in time for the federal election. I think it's important to have a say about how things are run. Sure, my single vote doesn't count for a whole lot, especially as the party I vote for is fairly minor, but when this minor party gets a reasonable number of votes, it can shake up the complacent, major parties, make them realise that they don't have things all their own way.
I have no idea if that made any sense, sorry *grin*, political theory is not my forte.

Ahah.. sounds like the cubs are asleep... time to make the calenders. Just hope I get them finished at a reasonable time, we're sposed to be going to the museum tomorrow (finally got our 'Friends of the Museum' card!) and I need to get at least some sleep. Doesn't matter, I can always go to bed early tomorrow. : )

[...*thinks - smirks* ... I could fancy some more of that skooshy chocolate flavoured cream...]

Wouldn't you rather have some more of that skooshy chocolate flavoured swirly cream - and some strawberries? [smirk]

Roast cauliflower is absolutely delicious, the fluffy bits of the florets takes up the oil and go brown and crispy. Yum!

(knicked from Onna's blog:)

//Thinking about drawing *gasp!* Mahrayne and Kelapa or a Tane and Dari pretty soon, since I can draw girls!//

*chibi eyes* 'rayne and Kel? *happy squeak*

... and ...

//Okay, if you sat back to back with Radi, wrapped in his hair, just where would your wings go so you could have as much nice warm back contact as possible? hee... And wouldn't your wings get tangled in all that hair?//

Not back to back, nonono. Snuggled in front to back, peeking out from underneath the mane while great hanks of it cascade down around my wings... *dreamy sigh*...
(Gorgeous pic of Mij and Sage, btw, you do great hair. : )

Ye gods it's almost the end of the school year! The cubs will be in grade 2! My babies... *sniff*

Aaargh. I'm knackered...
I stupidly volunteered to go on the school excursion today. We went to a farm. A very nice farm, as farms go, lots of loverly aminals - sheeps, cows, 'orses, donkeys, goats, deer, pigs, rabbits, piggles, chickens (there was a pink one! I swear! Pink and fluffy. Looked like a silky, very, very pretty!) but as I was wandering about I couldn't help getting hungry... all this delicious food there for the hunting... I looked at one of the deer and it backed away from me, ears twitching. Heh heh heh.
I'm also sunburnt.
Yes, it was coolish and overcast, but I still should have taken my hat. Tch. Bloody idiot, how long have I been living in Australia?
We got back to school half an hour before the final bell so I was allowed to take the cubs home early, and when I got home I found the Present Fairy had been to visit! Sitting snuggly amid the chaos which is my bed were two little flamingos on sticks (to put in pot plants. I'll need to get another pot plant though, my Madonna lilly is currently overwhelmed with pin-wheel fishie things *grin*). There was also a PowerPuff girl money box, a clear, pink plastic lobster - with sparkles in it! - massager thing, and a tape talking book of Martin Shaw reading 'Tess of the Durbervilles'. (Mr Shaw has the nummiest, bestest voice...) Heh, I like getting presents, always guaranteed to cheer me up. Thank you, Soulsis!! *HUGS*
The cubs were tired out from all the excitement today, one of them took himself off to bed about 7pm, poor kitten. : ) and fun as it was, I don't think I'll be volunteering for another school excursion in a hurry.

I've been pondering the best way to describe my holiday. Hmm, might just transcribe the entries from the pseudo-diary I kept - maybe fiddle with the tense... eh, we'll see how it goes.
Having said that, here's (at least) some of my holiday blog...

Thursday 14th November.

Woohoo! Holidays!
Got up at 6am *shudder* to be ready to leave as soon as my mum and my brother came round to pick me up. I'd packed the night before so there wasn't much to do except get myself dressed and fling the last few things (the list was written on the back of my hand) into my bag, then - ta dah! - done! Damn, I love it when I'm organised.
Christopher, my brother, drove Mum and I into the city to the train station but didn't hang around to see us off - parking is a cow down there - just gave us both a hug then zoomed off before he could get into trouble for parking in a 'tow-away' zone.

The journey from Melbourne to Sydney takes 11 hours by train.
I love trains, really I do, I especially like long train journeys. I like travelling, the feeling of going somewhere (and I've always found the motion of the train mildly arousing - but that's something else ^_^;; ). I also enjoy travelling through country New South Wales, there's parts of the land there which is hilly, the ground rising up in smooth curves and swells, with folds and clefts and dips.. It's a beautiful, subtly erotic landscape and one of these days I'm going to make the journey with someone I can snuggle with...

The train journey was uneventful, the food was OK, didn't spill anything on myself on the trips to and from the buffet car. Napped a little, read a little, spent a lot of time looking out the window at the dry, dusty brown countryside and the emaciated cattle. Australia's caught in a drought and it shows. The only patches of green we saw were the occasional irrigated field, and the shallow strips edging the few creeks and dams that carried water. It was quite sad to see, especially as the last time we made this trip (four years ago) there was flooding. This time there's been bushfires. Fortunately we didn't come close to any, but we travelled through the smoke from one - that was an eerie ten minutes.

I don't spend a lot of time with my mum, and I forget what she's like to be around. Jeez, she can't 'alf talk!
I'm used to a certain amount of quiet in my life - the only time Mum didn't talk (and this goes for the whole holiday) was when she was asleep. I love her dearly, but honestly...

Mum and I got off the train at Moss Vale, where we were picked up by Caroline and Ted.
Caroline is an old friend of the family, we made her acquaintance when we emigrated from England. She was one of the teachers who volunteered to hold classes for the kids on the ship - (yours truly remembers those classes, vaguely, colouring in pictures of kangaroos and the Australian flag, and learning some Rolf Harris songs *rolls eyes*. I was so prepared for life in Aus).
C & T live in Wentworth Falls, in the Blue Mountains, and it took about an hour and a half to drive there from Moss Vale - an hour and a half of The best of Kenny Rogers...

It was dark by the time we got home, so to speak, and Mum and I were both knackered. C & T have a german shepherd dog, called Rajah, big, old, sooky thing they're both completely wet about (child substitute) and he was very glad to have visitors, he kept presenting us with his blue rubber ring toy in the hopes that we'd play with him. Not likely, Mum and I are both cat persons. : )
Needless to say, being so tired, we trotted off to bed fairly early. The last time we visited C & T, we had seperate rooms; on the way up, Mum said something about us having to share a room this time cos Caroline was renovating, or something.
Damn! - I thought to myself - that puts an end to any plans for dragging someone back for screaming animal sex. *derisive snort* As if...
But, it turned out we had seperate rooms anyway - not that that made the idea of SAS any more likely...

to be continued...

Right, not a proper update as yet, but I'll get some stuff out of the way...

Did I have a good holiday?
Yes, thank you.
Am I glad to be back?
Kinda sorta. The problems I had when I left haven't miraculously sorted themselves out but the cubs missed me, and I them, and they're delighted I'm back. Being away did give me the opportunity to have a think about things, though, and I have a clearer idea of what I want/need, but more importantly, I think I've got some strategies worked out now on how to get what I want. Time will tell.

Now, let's see... quizzes...


Fair enough, I don't go seme very often, but the description seems accurate...



How seme are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


Ooookaaay...



What's your sexual appeal?
brought to you by Quizilla


Did a whole bunch of emode quizzes...


Lutra, when you reveal your true colors in love, you're a Caring Partner

You value the special bond love can create and are likely to seek out someone who cherishes that deep connection too. Whether single or in a relationship, you're a compassionate person who cares about others. This strong people-sense makes you more skilled than most at understanding individuals' differences and reading others' moods. Above all, you're looking for a steadfast, loyal partner who you can trust to stand by you in good times and bad.

Did you know?

Caring partners often care about aesthetics and often strive to keep the things around them attractive and clean.


Hmm, not sure about this one though, it's half right, but the bit about 'the scene' is bollocks ...

Lutra, when you're head over heels, you are a Prized Partner

You appreciate the finer things in life and tend to seek out others who share your refined tastes. High fashion, gourmet meals, luxurious getaways — these are the kinds of things that you enjoy. If you can experience them with a worldly, stylish mate, all the better. You are drawn to people who know how to take care of themselves and are hooked in socially. Whether you're out at a club or a restaurant opening, it's important to you to be part of the scene.

Love does change you. Whether it simply enhances who you already are, or makes you a completely different person, finding someone whose love personality compliments your own makes for the longest, happiest relationships.

Did you know?

Prized Partners tend to have higher ambition than most people do, and typically work hard to meet their goals. Because this type of person can be a perfectionist at times, they can sometimes be tough on themselves.


This was from the inkblot test - very interesting, but took a long time.

Lutra, your unconscious mind is driven most by Love

Everyone has a desire to love. But your desire is rooted very deeply in your unconscious and affects many of the decisions you make in life — whether you are aware of it or not.
You have an energy about you that inspires people to experience their true feelings of love and act kindly towards others. In this way, you and your drive for loving relationships start a chain reaction of positive experiences.
The reason you are driven by love, may be because your unconscious is trying to avoid the opposite of love — hate. You, more than others, may be afraid of experiencing severe discord with others. That may, in turn, heavily influence your choices about relationships and the way you communicate your ideas, wants, and desires to others.
With such a strong orientation towards loving others, your relationships hold a very special place in your life. Your capacity to love may be greater than those around you, and therefore you may have more to give in relationships than your romantic partner does. Remember that this is a gift you have and one most others don't possess.
Though your unconscious mind is driven most strongly by Love, there is much more to who you are at your core.

Did you know?

People who have unconscious minds driven by love tend to be nurturing types who are good at taking care of those around them. They may also shy away from spending too much time alone.


This was an emode Goddess inspiration quiz thing (tch, can't remember the title).
I laughed.


Lutra, you're an Angel!

Just like the haloed and winged guardians of good, you truly have a heart of gold, sweet Angel. Whenever there's a chance to pitch in, save the day or just make life easier for the people around you, you're the one for the job.
You don't just jump in without planning — you use your angelic head to figure out how to do things right the first time, like only the most dependable goddesses can. Whether brainstorming a new solution to a problem, planning a surprise party for your parents, or lending your friends a wing to cry on, you've got the right instincts, so follow them whenever you can. As natural as it is for you to take care of the people around you, don't forget to treat yourself right, too. The best friendships, and loves, of a lifetime tend to blossom when you become your own guardian angel.

So don't listen to those who say nice girls finish last. People have always seen you as a goddess of thoughtfulness and good intentions, and it hasn't slowed you down a bit. All in all, Angel, you've got it made with your glowing attitude and ability to see from on high. So get out there and change the world!



And finally, Soulsis sent me this link. Beautiful, beautiful things - I wish I could justify the price...

[surfaces, dishevelled mane full of petals and the odd feather, smirking down at rumpled, grinning, lei-bedecked angel: pours sparkling rosé into crystal flutes, hands one to Lutra and raises other in toast] Welcome home, tenshi-ran...

[*glances around admiringly*... Holy moley... will you look at this place? Oooh! Lookit the trees! Pretty!

I am so chuffed! Thanks, guys!

*eyes widen at sight of bower/food/hybrid*

Um, I'll update later I think... just need to talk to 'lestrel about the dragonets... *unsubtle scurry and pounce...* ]

[relaxes back on fragrant white petals, arms behind head, watching the melodious sparkling trees... nothing now to do but wait...]

[wades out, shaking mane] Hn - better...Yes, OK, so I was a bit more than 10 minutes... So I indulged... Now, anything else I need to do?...


[wince] I'd forgotten how much the studded tail rings pinch...

Knew I'd forgotten something! Candles and music...

[lopes back with a night-time song-bird on each wrist and mane, plait and shoulders covered with glitterbugs - which all fly up and disport themselves about the willows] Heh - better.

OK - two large haunches now keeping warm in the hot-box, slices of shoulder marinading in wine and herbs, miniscule salad sitting in the coolbox along with tubs of chocolate mousse... Time for a swim...

[returns from planting reidou and letting kridessa loose in the gulley at the Oasis - heh, lively little beastlies aren't they? - and halts, blinking...]

Oh, pretty! (Now how did I miss that earlier? Too excited by the kridessa, perhaps?) And the lemony things smell wonderful. Highly appropriate too. [smirk *see, machii'n, told you so - there are such things as tactful Saiya-jin...*]

All much appreciated - Lutra will love it!

[gazes round] Not much more to do. Slaughter the whatever-the-thing-is we're eating and marinade some of it, pick the strawberries, make sure there's enough cream... [smirk] Then just get myself ready. Well that'll take all of ten minutes - dunk under the waterfall, quick thorough scrub with river sand and I'm done. [thinks] I'm sure I've forgotten something...

Right.

Petals renewed; fresh sleeping furs folded; bottles chilling in the shallow bit of the pool; turkish delight to hand. Dinner animal selected and marked for easy despatch, nets over the strawberry patch to protect the new fruits.

Everything else I can do tomorrow. Now I'm going for a swim...

Reindou sounds just fine: I'll plant it up as soon as it arrives. Thanks.


T-1 and counting...

T-2 and counting...

[flops back on petals with a tired sigh] Never let anyone try to tell you dragon-sitting is easy...

Still, they're back with mum now for a while - sorry Talon, she's protective at the moment and won't let anyone near but me. And possibly Lutra: we'll have to see. But I'll be looking for homes for them all in about three months, if you still want one. Please say you still want one... Onna - no teal or purple dragonlings, I'm afraid, just what you see. And the hatchings were fine, no problems whatsoever. Ryonan took off and left me to keep an eye on things: by the time she came back (with some kind of quadruped in her claws, to feed the hatchlings with) everything was over. [shrug] Very laid-back, that dragon.

I think I have just the place for breeding kridessa, over at the Oasis - a cool, quiet gully half-way up a mountain, shaded and overhung by trees and with lots of small caves in the sides. They can establish a colony there, and I can cull them as required. So whenever you're ready...

[sits up, cross-legged, and gazes round] Now, what else is there to do...?


T-3 and counting...

"That'll keep you busy." she said...

Heh...

So here you have (from the top down and right to left): -

Hoshiran
Koritsuki
Natsumori
Hiinami
Uchumoya

...I need an extra pair of hands... Or another tail or two...


T-4 and counting...

[smirks up into lemon tree, hovering at a slight distance] Heh - as long as you all keep the promises I won't hurt you. (Much...) Just remember it's Lutra's pond, and I want it perfect for her when she gets back. The bower is off-limits (and anyone bothering the Okapi will answer to me.)

But I may not be around for a little while: Ryonan's eggs look and sound as though they're about to hatch, and I should be there to greet the wee beasties, and make sure there are no problems - it is her first clutch, after all.

[inclines head, frowning thoughtfully] As for the offer of a "distraction"... Hn. Thanks, but I think I can manage ten days without. Besides, I have plans for when tenshi returns, and the more... uh, restrained I am now the more fun we can have then... [smirk]

[ki-carves a platter out of a wide bough and places piles of fresh grass, waterweed, lemon leaves, rose petals and mixed herbs at intervals along it: places within reach of the Okapi's thicket and withdraws to a safe distance, hands behind back, to watch... eyes widen as an amazingly extensive tongue reaches out to sample the offered greenstuff...] Ye gods - and I thought my tongue was long...

[Grins up at lemon tree...] Heh - the kridessa were - interesting. Very tasty, if a bit wriggly. I enjoyed them, thanks. Can you get me a breeding pair? And onna - the picture is great. Papa and maazi will be very impressed...

Join you in the lemon tree? Are you sure you want to risk it...?

[Sits cross-legged on rose petals, glowering...]
OK.... I've hunted down and eaten the vermin (well, all those Ghryff hadn't already dealt with), ki-pruned the trees/shrubs/grass, checked the pond (and culled the strange life-forms that snuck in in the last few days)... What can I do now?

[grumble] no-one in the lemon tree to play with... Oi! Thought Lutra told you to feed/amuse me while she was gone!

Could always go get some fresh petals, I suppose... Nah, bit early yet.

Heh, but the ningens have been buying things for Lutra. Soft and fluffy and shiny and sparkly things. She'll like them. Not sure I do...

[sigh] Well, better go check Ryonan's nest I suppose...

T-7 and counting...

[*glower*] It's too quiet here...

T-10 and counting...

This'll probly be my last post before I head off - unless I can't sleep from excitement *rolls eyes*
Oh and if I could ask people not to email me anything until I come back that'd be neat, thanks : )

Just got this in an email from Pete. ^.^

One day a mom was cleaning junior's room and in the closet she found a bondage S&M magazine. This was highly upsetting for her. She hid the magazine until his father got home and showed it to him. He looked at it and handed it back to her without a word. She finally asked him, "Well what should we do about this?"
Dad looked at her and said, "Well I don't think you should spank him."

Heh, almost done getting ready, just have to make my lunch, pack my toiletries, phone and charger, and write the luggage tags.
Woohoo!
My backpack is be-belled and jingles beautifully. I'm waiting for my mother to see my backpack with all it's pretty shiny danglys and roll her eyes, saying 'why? You're not 12 anymore!' *smirk* I'm not? Why didn't someone tell me!

We went - en famille - to Smorgy's for dinner tonight. I'm really not impressed with the place but when I asked the cubs where'd they like to go for dinner the night before I went away, they chose Smorgy's. Oh well. Their father paid for the meal, however, so it wasn't all bad. *smirk* And the cubs have been so cuddly the past week, it's very gratifying, I think they're going to miss me. : )

OK, going to go and get some sleep now. Bye y'all!
Be good 'lestrel! *smirk*

The Cubs Current Career Ambitions...

One wants to be a rock star, the other a magician *head in hands*...

Can't remember what I wanted to be when I was their age, but at sometime during primary school I had vague ideas of being a nurse and working with children.. until I had a look at a nursing text book my mum had left lying around (she was studying to be a nurse educator at the time) and found the pics of cadavers. Ick. In my early teens I dabbled with the fantasy of being a pop star, though that didn't last long, and my career ideas after that circled pretty freely between artist/photographer/writer/actress. Not that I did anything about pursuing any of these. Heh, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do. I didn't get the marks I need in Year 12 to get into the courses I wanted to do (Architecture and Graphic Arts) which was probably just as well as I was luke warm on those anyway. So I worked, dead-end, mindless clerical jobs, and later I studied part-time (Library technician) until I got married and had the cubs. I still don't have a clear idea of a 'career' for myself, though I would like to be able to support myself with writing. We'll see how we go.

Right, haven't done a lot of what was on my list of 'things to do'.
Did finish an AC chapter, and I did clean up the cubs' room enough so that their father can get to their clothes, but for the rest? Eh.
I bought a couple of small things to go into the cubs' advent calendars, xmas decos and animal key-chains that 'poo' when you squeeze them. Ah, I can hear the gales of high-pitched, hysterical laughter now...
I bought myself a box of 32 shiny purple ball-type bells, the sort of bells you find on neko collars only bigger.
No, I don't know what I'm going to do with them either, but they're purple *happy squeak*. Oooh! I can put some of them on my backpack...

*tired, yet satisfied smirk*
My next AC chapter is done, and Joules next chapter is almost done. They'll probly be posted together, tomorrow-ish - UK time.

The good thing about being without net access for 10 days is that when I get back, I'll have a backlog of Boy meets Boy and GlamourLust to catch up on. : )

How long am I on holidays for?
10 days... from thursday 14th november to sunday 24th of november. (2 of those days will be spent travelling on a train. Yay! I love trains! My dream is to have leisure/money enough to 'do' train journeys all over the world - except India, they don't look all that fun : ) 10 days without a computer *shudder*, but also no cubs, or their father and the particular stresses that go along with that relationship. *happy sigh*...

These little snippets of news came from Sue via Joules.
Wet myself laughing!

Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van, because they cannot issue a description. It's a special branch vehicle and they don't want the public to know what it looks like.
(The Guardian)

Commenting on a complaint from a Mr. Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West Gas said "We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It's possible that Mr. Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that blew his house to pieces.
(Bangkok Post)

Mrs Irene Graham of Thorpe Avenue, Boscombe, delighted the audience with her reminiscence of the German prisoner of war who was sent each week to do her garden. He was repatriated at the end of 1945, she recalled.
"He'd always seemed a nice friendly chap, but when the crocuses came up in the middle of our lawn in February 1946, they spelt out "Heil Hitler".
(Bournemouth Evening Echo)

After being charged £20 for a £10 overdraft, 30 year old Michael Howard of Leeds changed his name by deed poll to Yorkshire Bank PLC are Fascist Ba*tards. The bank has now asked him to close his account,and Mr.Ba*tards has asked them to repay the 69p balance by cheque made out in his new name.
(The Guardian)

'Would the congregation please note that the bowl at the back of the church labelled "for the sick" is for monetary donations only.'
(Churchtown Parish Magazine)

At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coastguard on the spot and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied that he was sorry, but he didn't have a gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Landrover off the cliff.
(Aberdeen Evening Express)

A young girl who was blown out to sea on a set of inflatable teeth was rescued by a man on an inflatable lobster. A coastguard spokesman commented, "this sort of thing is all too common".
(The Times)

I'm currently ankle deep in anatomical drawings of the teletubbies... the cubs have been busy. (Though I should point out that the drawings are all theoretical, it's not like the teletubbies were vivisected or anything. We don't approve of such things in this house : )

This might be of interest if you're familiar with Ghastly's Ghastly Comic...







which Ghastly character are you?


this quiz was made by Zaedite


Have I mentioned I've got a soft spot for tentacle porn? *smirk*

I really dislike clothes shopping, it's the one activity guaranteed to put me in a down-spin. All I wanted was to get some t-shirts, maybe a pair of cotton trousers... No t-shirts, no trousers, but I did manage to get some underwear (heh, forgot I needed those) and a really lovely coral-coloured linen shirt with a frayed, fringey hem sort of effect. I'm a sucker for fringes - I probly would have bought it even if it wasn't marked down.
Need some new shoes too. Shoe shopping is almost as icky as clothes shopping - I have 'special needs' feet (hey, I'm a pisces, what do you expect?) which means there's no point in me even looking at 98% of the shoes available... and I used to have such a cool collection of boots... *sigh* But I did see a quite nice pair of slip-ons that had me thinking I might possibly be able to wear them with - *gasp* - a skirt. Though then I'd have to buy a skirt...

Wandered into our local Body Shop today too. Had a sniff of the 'Japanese Musk' Joules was raving about. Smells like cheap talc to me, teehee. : ) The 'Oceanus' scent, however was a definite winner. Light and sweet, with a sort of citrusy lift that kicks in at the end of the sniff, very nice.

2 days til I'm on hols and I've done sod all about my 'to do' list : ) ... except for the next AC chapter, that's almost finished.

Oh, and this art photography site from Soulsis. Some lovely pics, but I can't help wondering what is uppermost in the photographers mind as she rambles about looking for photo ops..

I am so clever. : )
The cubs needed nappies for their telletubbies dolls (don't ask) and I thought, 'heh, bet I could remember how to fold nappies. I mean, how many of the sodding things did I fold before the cubs were toilet trained?' (average 5 per child per day for almost 3 years...)
I did remember - eventually. I could 'see' the finished product in my mind but I just couldn't work out how to get there, until I started thinking along origami lines, and then it all fell into place. Funny the things that make you happy.

OkapiPrincess, Soulsis, Niki (tch, you need a nickname here) and I went to see The Importance of Being Earnest. Good cast (Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench), well acted, very funny in places, but I couldn't quite get past the whole Victorian thing. I loathe that period, almost as much as I loathe elves... I'm sure there's a connection.

Niki gave me an old computer chair of hers. It's sooo comfortable, I can sit for an hour and not have the circulation in my legs cut off. And at a fete on the weekend (really ought to get some gear so I can get 'gothed up' when I go to church fetes : ) Soulsis and I got a new cage for my guinea-pigs. It's great, it's like an outdoor aquarium, you can sit and watch the piggles for hours very soothing.. except when you're laughing at KittenKong trying to monster them.. the piggles are so worried about her - not. ^.^
I also got 2 lovely little Japanese Maples for $1 each - they're currently residing at Aunty Niki's until I get back from holidays.

Heh, next chapter of AC is half-done, hopefully have it finished before I leave...

Ok, that's not the smartest thing I've done in recent times...
Found a deli that sells turkish delight by the kilo, quite cheaply too, so I got some today, 10 pieces, around 300g. 'I won't eat this all at once,' I confidently told myself.
*rude noise* I did eat it all at once (no willpower when it comes to sweets, that's why I generally don't buy any anymore), and now I feel ill, but at least it's cured my craving for turkish delight for the moment.
On a brighter note, the grape-shaped glass bowl was still in the op shop when I checked today, so now I have that in my clutches...

Aww, shucks, Onna includes me in her list of muses...
(Sweet pic by the way, Onna : ) Would they mind if I snuggled in there with them?)

LIST OF THINGS TO DO BEFORE I GO ON HOLIDAYS.

- tidy the cubs room. Very necessary or their father won't be able to find anything and he'll get stressed.
'Let him!' you say? No, I'm thinking of future escapes here, he'll be more inclined to be cooperative if it's not stressful.

- clean my room. Not completely necessary, but it's nice to come home to a clean room, and knowing that the cubs will play in there while I'm gone, I'll be happier knowing all the breakable stuff is out of the way.

- Make sure there's plenty of sachets of cat food. Not tins, sachets, cos the wussy males - cubs' father and housemate - get sick at the smell of tinned cat food.

- Make sure there's plenty of piggle food, and get a new water bottle for the guinea-pigs. The weather's getting hotter now, and the grass is drying out.

- Next AC chapter? That other yaoi thing? Hn, see how I go...

- Ack - get more clothes. *grumble* Hate clothes shopping...

There's more, no doubt, but that'll do for a start.

Fingers crossed, Joules, for Ken's health (and your sanity - being forced to become a morning person? I feel your pain...), and for you, Talon, hope the employment hassles work out all right - and you do well in the Institute's challenge. : )

My favourite bit of 'The Saga Begins...'

And in the end some Gungans died
Some ships blew up and some pilots fried
A lot of folks were croakin'
The battle droids were broken
And the Jedi I admire most
Met up with Darth Maul and now he's toast
Well, I'm still here and he's a ghost
I guess I'll train this boy

I think Weird Al is a flippin' genius! The first parody of his I saw was 'Eat it' and I was stunned, and delighted, at how close to the original clip he'd got, he'd used the same dancers and locations and everything! 'Like a Surgeon' cracks me up everytime, and I always sing along with 'Yoda', but my fav is still 'Smells Like Nirvana' *howling with laughter* that is so clever : ) I play that version far more often than the original...
Did you know that the artist formerly known as Prince (or has he gone back to Prince again?) has never given Weird Al permission to parody his work - wanker! But, in 'Amish Paradise', there's a sneaking reference to the Prince of Ponce (or 'Dave' as he's known in aus - long story) - 'We're going to party like it's 1899'

Gods I could go some salami right now... or a pork pie... mmmm....

*happy squeak* Carol sent me a present! It's a keyring, a little sheep that 'baaas' at you when you squeeze him.
I have called him Winston and he is now dangling happily from my backpack. ^~^
And in an op shop today I saw a lovely glass bowl in the shape of a bunch of grapes. Couldn't get it, unfortunately - 2 days before pay day - but hopefully it'll still be there later in the week. I like grapes, about as much as I like fish, have I told you about my plastic grape collection?

This time next week I'll be frantically packing my bag, wondering what it'll be that I've inevitably forgotten...

'course, what Lutra doesn't tell you is all the little comments in between the serious ICQ discussions - and the blink-worthy things the ningen comes out with while she's copy/pasting bits of story... like...

[munching on a salami sandwich - all this talk of erections has made me hungry....]

[smirks] Every now and then my ningen does me proud...

(Reading Joules' blog about her bratling putting a 'men's' sign on the bathroom door...) Kai is about the age when children begin differentiating between the sexes. My cubs have started that, and I too, recently got a sign on the bathroom door. This one was a classic 'no girls' (picture of a 'girl' in a circle with a big line through it) but underneath one of them had written 'except mummy'! *beaming grin* I love my cubs, they know who to keep sweet with. : )

AYA!
My lobster shaped salt & pepper shakers have finally arrived! Only took ten weeks...
Joules had a cool idea though, about putting my lobster and various fish s&p shakers into a glass wok! 'Culinary aquarium' was the term, isn't that neat? *puzzled frown* Though she might have been joking... Eh, don't care, I think it's a cool idea.

And and and *flapping hands* she's been dangling bits of the seventh Transpositions chapter - the much anticipated Sulu/Radittz one - in front of my nose as she writes them! Phwoooarr!


Tch, I can't resist quizzes involving sex...

What Kind of Sexy Are You?


Lutra, you're Sweet 'n' Sexy

You're not overt about your sexuality, but you're not purposely hiding it either — two traits that naturally draw people to you. You possess an understated zest for life, and a way of approaching the day with a can-do attitude that draws people to you. As a teenager, were you maybe a little on the quiet side? Even if you weren't, it's clear that underneath your occasionally understated statements, you have an undeniable sweetness that attracts people who see that special something burning from within.
Is it the way you carry yourself? That quiet sparkle in your eye? Those who know you intimately can't wait to uncover your sweetness. What's hiding behind that innocent smile? A little devil perhaps? A tattoo in a seductive spot saved only for your lover? Possibly, but you're so good, you'll never tell. Or will you?

Eeeeeeek!! *bites nails*
Just got a preview of the nextAC chapter.

Is it a sign of getting too close, do you think, to have anxiety attacks over a work of fiction?

I swear the cubs have uncanny 'know-when-mummy-is-trying-to-do-something-she-enjoys' powers. They don't come near me when I'm washing up, or cleaning, but as soon as I sit down to write...

Despite being poorly *hand to forehead in a dramatic fashion* I managed to do a little gardening this weekend. A very little gardening, basically pulling out a few weeds in the courtyard outside our kitchen window, putting down a tiny bit of mulch and repositioning my luverly terra-cotta fish statue-planter thing - after I'd cleaned it, which was an amusing exercise all on it's own - so you can now gaze upon the graceful curve of it's back, instead of the graceful curve of it's belly. The challenge with cleaning the fish was to get rid of the bird pooh while at the same time trying to leave the interesting green algae moss stuff that was growing there.
Eh, doesn't matter, the moss will grow back. : )

Curriculum day tomorrow, another day off school. (And there was much rejoicing *rolls eyes*) I'm taking the cubs to see Lilo & Stitch - again.
Heh, and this evening, in the manic half-hour before I finally managed to get the cubs into bed, they were making up dances to show me. One of the cubs performed a series of 'Vegeta' dances... A 'fighting Vegeta' dance (lots of very fast flailing of limbs), a 'training Vegeta' dance (somewhat more controlled), and a 'sneaky Vegeta' dance (creeping around with his hands held tucked up by his chest like a cartoon mouse). *smirk* OK, I admit I had something to do with that last one...

[Knicked from Talon's blog :

//Lutra-sama, you know Alestrel-sama is going to be impossible to live with while you're on hols, don't you? I mean, I know you need a vacation and all, but maybe you ought to consider taking her with you? *sidles towards the lemon tree*//

I would love to take 'lestrel to the Blue Mountains, it is one of the finest places on earth to go flying. You can launch yourself off of one of the plateaus and out over the deep, heavily forested valleys... then you can hang there, hovering, and become one with the wind... *happy sigh*...

A suggestion re: the 'Care and Feeding of Alestrel' while I'm away. Lots of small furry things to snack on and the occasional bishie for amusement and everything will be fine. : )

Gonna miss you too, tokage, but I'll be back before you know it and then you can show me how much you've missed me, eh? And aren't there dragon hatchlings arriving soon? That'll keep you busy. ^.^]

[pout] I'm going to miss you, tenshi...

... and OkapiNitpickerPrincess tells me that in my last post it should have been 'pigeons', not 'pidgeons'. Pidgeons is a surname apparently, and OkapiPrincess was having mental visions of Walter Pidgeon having sex on her deck... OP has a vivid imagination : )

Gods, Hanna Barberra produced some crap. Richie Rich, for one. The cubs are watching it, it's just stupid, like so much of their stuff before Cartoon Network. (Remember the 'The Hair Bear Bunch'? I do. *shudder*)

One of the cubs told me today he wants a real tail - a 'school-invisible' one. I assume that's so he doesn't get teased by the less imaginative of his classmates...

Wow, thursday week and I'm away. Hn, better work out what I want to get finished before I go. The people I'm staying with don't have a computer, let alone internet access. *gasp* How will I cope?

OkapiPrincess has just told me there's pidgeons having sex on her deck. Cheeky mongrels!

Thanks for the comments, Onna : ) Yes, more caves... maybe it's an unconscious desire to hibernate?

Well the cubs are feeling better but I'm not :(. Blah. I just love low grade fevers.

Dragged myself out of the house to go and pay the rent (had to be done today or there'd be trooble at mill...) and rewarded myself by putting a xmas present for myself on lay-by. It's a beautiful, framed, 12" square hand-painted tile of 3 koi in a pond that I've been gazing wistfully at it for months now and today I went into the shop to find out a/ how much it was, and b/ if I could put it on lay-by. The tile was cheaper than I expected - $65 instead of the $80 I'd anticipated - and it could be lay-by'ed so I happily forked over the minimum deposit. :)

Only 14 more days 'til I'm on holidays...

This is a site for all of us writers to pay attention to. : ) (another find from Okapiprincess)

Interesting developement on the Megatokyo site - Piro one of the creators of the strip has been laid off work and instead of being sensible and finding another job he's taking the opportunity presented to him by the Universe to do something he's wanted to do for a long time, and that is be a full-time manga-ka. AYA, Piro! ... and I will definitely be getting a copy of the Megatokyo graphic novel when it's released. : )