no one gets to tell me if I've lost or if I've won

IT IS SNOWING, YOU GUYS.

THE WORLD GAVE ME A PRESENT FOR HALLOWEEN, AND IT IS SNOW.

It's kind of hail-y snow, and only a tiny bit, but I have been wishing for snow for months, and it makes me happy that it exists.

...also, not two seconds after I turned on my zombie playlist, something thumped on the window directly behind me. I STILL DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT WAS. BUT IT WAS ALARMING AND UNPLEASANT.

And, uh, since I'm posting, I guess I should just let this post serve as an announcement that I'm disappearing from the internet for a week starting tomorrow. I need a vacation. Badly.

It's sunny out today, and I really kind of missed sunlight, so I took Ace out and clipped her to the 30ft lead we have in the field out back.

The neighbors dog was out. And standing... about... 35ft away from where the lead hooks into the stake in the ground. Ace, naturally, went running to say hi at top speed. And ended up flipping completely over when she reached the end of the lead.

Luckily, Ace wears a harness, not a collar, and she's made of Kevlar, so she wasn't even a little bit hurt, but it made me facepalm a lot. Especially after she proceeded to do the exact same thing two more times, though not quite at top speed and with less dramatic results. I'd say she doesn't learn, except that she's actually a creepily smart dog and learns very quickly when she wants to; it's more that she really doesn't care about the whole whiplash and suddenly finding herself upside down thing.

...I really wish we had a place with a yard and could afford another dog. She needs a friend so badly.

I did enjoy the sun until it started making me dizzy all of a sudden and I had to drag the dog back inside so I didn't pass out.

1. Today is incredibly gray and rainy. This actually makes me incredibly happy, except for the vague concern that Beka will crash and die on her way to work (but I have that when it snows, and when it's icy, and when it's dark, and a lot of other times, so that's not really unique to rain). Also the fact that our driveway is now a horrific mudslide waiting to happen (or... maybe I'm paranoid because I grew up in Southern California and that is not so much a concern here). BUT ASIDE FROM THOSE THINGS, the rain is lovely and makes me happy, though it was nicer when it was coming down heavier and I could have music on and hear it at the same time.

2. I HAVE A NEW PLAN FOR PRODUCTIVITY. And that plan is that I should really reconquer my desk from the cats - I haven't been using it much, because none of the outlets on that side of the house work, which is dumb and one of the many reasons I'd like to set my landlord on fire, but... anyway. The cats have claimed it as theirs in my absence and tend to get all stroppy when I try to use it. Well. Simba gets stroppy, and then sits there by my wrist and glowers. Michael just wants on my lap so he can drool on me.

Once conquest of the desk is accomplished, I will do tags on Gwen (my internet computer) for as long as her battery lasts over here. And then I get to plug her back in, bring Sarah Jane (the netbook, which is for writing) over to the desk, and write things until her battery runs out. And then... repeat the process. That may be unnecessarily complicated, but I don't care. I WILL BE VICTORIOUS.

...though productivity is a lot easier when just sitting upright doesn't make me feel exhausted. There's really not a lot I can do about that.

3. ...I really kind of miss my icons on this account. I didn't really realize it until yesterday, when I was writing a lot at comment_fic, but... I have no more angsty Doctor icons left! Or Doctor/Martha! THIS IS A TRAGEDY. (...I am okay with only having one Supernatural icon left. Because it's Jo, and she's awesome.)

I did not sleep at all well this morning, but when Beka got up, she let me have the bed and let me sleep for four more hours, so all was well and I felt much better after that (despite having a nightmare about Beka's mom trying to kill me... that was weird).

I now have Toshiko (my external hard drive, which should hopefully have everything from Gwen backed up on it now...), and Gwen has been sent off to be repaired. So in a couple weeks, I should have her back, or I can start flailing periodically at Best Buy until they fix it. I also got a tiny bag for my netbook which is just the perfect size for the netbook and a paper notebook and a book. It's awesome!

And then we got home only to turn around again and go out for awesome ice cream. They had pumpkin ice cream, and my day was made! (I eat pumpkin everything when I can find it, for the entire month of October, and most of November too. It is my favorite time of year.)

On our way back, we noticed that the stars were awesome, and demanded that Pat pull over somewhere with no lights. So we stopped in a little parking area beside the road and got out, and spent some time staring at the Milky Way and (mis)identifying constellations, until, lured by Jupiter, we wandered closer to the road and realized that we could stand on the side of the guard rail not facing the road. At that point, we decided (somehow) that the best idea was to stand there, creepily, until a car came by, and just stare at the sky. I have the feeling we either made someone's day or totally freaked them out, but it was fun.

I am now waiting for my vodka to cool off in the freezer so I can use some of it to make my back stop hurting, and about to wander off to abduct Caroline's desk long enough to transfer some stuff from Toshiko to Sarah Jane. (That's the netbook, in case you were wondering. Beka and I have a naming theme going on with all our electronics.) I can have my own music now! Well, some of it. Enough that I will not lose my mind. Huzzah!

EDIT: Okay, having gotten things off of my external, I can now officially say that Toshiko is the BEST THING EVER. OMG. *Gleefits* ...yes, I am this pleased by a little thing like an external hard drive.

Today has been somewhat bizarre. Beka and I went to go see if there was anything Best Buy could do about my computer, and Jae came along so she could get some food with us. And... turned out we'd have to send the laptop out to get it fixed, and Jae, hearing that, decided to call and see if there was anything Tim could do to at least get some stuff off my hard drive before the laptop got sent away. Tim being... Tamora Pierce's spouse-creature.

So we abruptly decided to take a trip to Syracuse. There was a trip to the Best Buy up there, as Tim tried to see what he could work out, and there wasn't really anything to be done there either, but I at least got loaned a spare laptop to use until Gwen returns. And I got to meet Tammy's amazing herd of cats, and we watched Dr. Horrible with her and sang along and wow, today has been interesting.

The drive up to Syracuse was awesome, because there was the sunset and awesome storm clouds the color of a battleship and mountains and autumn and everything and it was just gorgeous. I kind of thought we might die on the way back, but (obviously) we did not.

I just may have to crash very soon, because I am exhausted. In a good way, though. Tomorrow, we acquire a storage unit so we can get rid of the trailer until we know where we're living - we may actually be looking for a place to stay in Syracuse temporarily until the college students in Ithaca move out for the semester and GIVE US SOMEWHERE TO LIVE.

...but there's ridiculous anime on and I don't want to go to sleep yet. Damn it.

Beka and I had lunch with darthsemicolon today, and she was awesome!

Despite this being the shortest leg of the trip so far, I am randomly exhausted, and probably about to fall asleep as soon as I finish this post. We saw turkeys by the side of the road after lunch, just... hanging out. Watchin' the cars. It was interesting. And then we spent all day driving through Illinois.

I had the most awesome pumpkin pancakes at IHOP. THEY TASTE LIKE OCTOBER. Of course, that may be just because I was starving and threatening to eat the state of Illinois by the time we stopped, but it was still delicious.

...yeah. Bed now. I was so hoping to be productive for a little longer today, but god, I'm tired. GOODNIGHT, INTERNETS.

Still alive.

In Texas now. Texas is very flat. And brown. And has lots of cows. I bet you never could have guessed. We spent most of the day driving into some rather menacing-looking clouds, but thankfully did not get rained on. (Normally, I do not fear rainstorms. I do fear wind and slippery roads and the trailer tipping over and us crashing and dying. ...yeah.)

My brain is dead, which is somewhat annoying. (Also, I'm still slightly adlkfjdldkfjssfs over Turn Coat, which I just finished reading a few hours ago. GAH.) But we got into the hotel earlier than usual, so I'm hoping that after I've had a bath and food and flopped on the bed for a while, I'll be able to concentrate on stuff and maybe come and visit chat.

I MISS YOU, CHAT. I REALLY DO. ...I just fear chatarchy and having no idea what is going on. ♥?

In a hotel - still in Tempe, but out of the damn apartment. Only on for a little bit before collapsing into bed, because dear god, I am exhausted and unable to focus on my laptop screen.

We shall be leaving tomorrow, just as soon as I get the massage Beka has been promising me for a week to make up for all the packing. OMG ROADTRIP. SO CLOSE. Yes, I am this excited about sitting in the front seat of a car for hours and hours a day. It's awesome.

This is your official notice of me not being around for the next couple of weeks. I mean, I'll be around, but only at night when we're in hotels. If anyone needs me for anything dire, emails are definitely the way to go.

I've been up for the past... at least 36 hours, at this point. There was a two-hour nap in there, but I had a mug of coffee and was no longer tired at all. And still haven't crashed, though I may be edging that direction. ...I'm considering seeing what another mug of coffee does. I deny the need for sleep.

I survived the first round of writerinadrawer - not in the top three, but I got some really nice feedback, and even the negative feedback had more to do with the pairing and premise than anything in the writing. Awesome. Still don't have the actual voting feedback yet, so I can't tell you how many votes I got up or down, but I'm still pleased (and looking forward to my feedback).

The drabble is posted here on my fic journal, if anyone is interested (warning: spoilers for Children of Earth). Now I have to get to work on round 3.02. By which I mean, find an idea for round 3.02. Blargh.

Those parts of today that weren't spent spazzing over WIAD were mostly spent RPing a thread that turned unexpectedly epic, in which the Doctor can't stay out of his friend's heads even though he knows better, and Ruvin almost unwrites reality, and then the Doctor and the Vesmier have a scene of break... in which the Doctor is accidentally a ferret. Yeah. Seriously. I love my game.

It's been a long time since I played a thread like this that wasn't plotted out in advance. It's wonderfully cathartic, and I actually feel much better than I did before... even if the Doctor did make me cry.

So last night, I watched the last twenty minutes or so of the US Life on Mars. I had never actually watched any of the show before that, but having heard about the ending, I just had to see for myself. I am never going to get those twenty minutes of my life back. On the other hand, I can't stop laughing every time I think of it (seriously - CACKLING over here), so maybe it evens out? It was the best combination of bad writing, bad acting and large quantities of drugs EVER.

Well, if anyone was still in doubt as to the superiority of the British version... I can't imagine they are anymore.

Also also also you guys! This summer, we are getting a magi! And a house! *Gleebounceflail* This is the best news. A house. With people. And hopefully a yard for our crazy puppy. Hah! My mood icon pretty much sums up my feelings here.

Some of the emotional spaz of the last week or so has begun to fade, thankfully. Still only edging back toward productivity, which is annoying, but at least now I am not a ball of spaz and hat on Jaqui's lap, which was kind of the state of affairs for a couple days there.

I like today. Can I have more days like this?