Dear Diary

A 3770-post collection

Well fuck

Good news: Friendo is back at my place from their adventures.

Bad news: I need new tyres because one of mine found a piece of wire in a parking lot. And the rest are looking a little bit suss.

Really bad news: I swear this nearly killed my Friendo.

It's okay NOW. Don't panic. It's just that when I got the news of the tyre sundering, Friendo just got right up in there and changed the darn thing in practically pit crew times.

Whilst MELTING in the Queensland summer humidity.

Meanwhile, I'm standing around feeling worse than a bump on a log, and fourteen times as useless and very occasionally offering to help in a pathetic little voice.

"No, no, no," says Friendo, whilst gathering a small tidal puddle in the parking lot. "I've got this."

And I am frankly alarmed at all of this but prevented from doing jack about it. There's really only room for one person to change a tyre. So despite my numerous offers, I was deemed pathetic and shoved to the sidelines for the duration.

...and then yelled at for being useless at a later interval 9_9

I can't win.

I've only had two opportunities to change a tyre since I started this whole driving lark [late. At age 30-something] and both times, I had enthusiastic help when I could have plausibly worked it out eventually.

I know how to change a tyre. I just... look really useless and incapable or something and people throw themselves in to help me out. I dunno.

Today's PLN involves Friendo taking advantage of our Netflix whilst we haul arse out to Eastern Tullagawupwup to celebrate the new year. And drag MeMum along for the festivities.

And now I have to schedule some Blasts from my Past and do an Instant Story real quick.

At the Closing of the Year

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I'm going to be four days behind being in sync with this year for my Year of Instants. Four double prompts should take care of that. Hint, hint, cough, cough.

If I get more than that, I'll be prepared for the next time something fucks up and prevents me from doing my thing.

The new years' resolutions are more or less the same:

  • Keep writing
  • Finish what I started

That's pretty much it. Simple

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This time for sure!

We have all the shit collected. We are GOING to get Mayhem his dang tax file number and sort out all the financials thereafter.

Deep breaths.

And then I can give Mayhem some rational reasons to have an afternoon/after-school job once the Traineeship is over with. We need more money and I need a flying hope of being able to buy my new compy sometime real soon now.

But I do have to say that this compy has gone an entire

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Progress?

It's taken me five years, but I figured out how to have an icon/avatar in AO3. All by myself. Yay.

I managed to get Mayhem to agree to getting his paperwork done for the most important digits of his entire firkin life.

I still haven't sent Adapting off to anyone else, but that's my problem and not something I can deal with in the middle of everything else.

And in other news, I am officially worried about my Friendo. They're... not

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I should get a wriggle on...

The bulk of the yuletide nonse is over. There's still a superfluity of yulemas food clogging the fridge.

I haven't put up any Patreon stuff and I should be ashamed of that. On the other hand, I have a guest I don't get to see much, so... It's a struggle. I should make the time and the effort to do these things when Friendo is having a nap or when they turn in early.

But that's for later. Now is for story.

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I'm back to business

Christmas was a success. Capt S turned up with minimal warning, but all was well because I literally make enough food to feed an army.

My first attempt at cooking duck was a mixed success. The roast needed extra time and the stuffing was horrible, but the duck itself was rather excellent.

People - stick cloves into the skins of your roast bird or white meat. It makes a lovely difference to the flavours.

The orange sauce I made... worked.

Not doing

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Tis the day before Christmas

I have wrapped all that I ever plan to wrap. I have labeled everything that I am going to label.

I still need to do the cheesecake portion of the desserts, but part of that process is loud as fuck and the rest of the house is sound asleep and I won't disturb anyone's rest.

Tonight's dinner will be cooked chook and salad. End of.

And I will probably make the stuffing the night before so I don't have to stress about

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Pre-Yulemas Rush

One of my baskets broke, I have a shitton of stuff to take to St Vinnies, there's PREP to do... and I need some things.

Because I can't find my icing bag and set to save my soul, and I need that for cheesecake.

There's method in my madness. I'll let you know what it is as soon as I figure it out.

There's wrapping to do and desserts to prep on stage one. And I will be spending even more of

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FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF...

I got a phone call from Capt S, yesterday. Right in the middle of tidying the house, so double inconvenience.

She calls me FOUR DAYS before Christmas to invite me over to someone ELSE'S Christmas party and tries to strongarm us into coming the day before.

Like. Excuse you? I made fucking PLANS. Some of those plans involve picking up half the damn feast on the day before, and prepping the other half on the same damn day.

What.

The actual.

Shit?

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Well that happened

Yesterday, all I had in the morning was a smoothie. And then I had a painful gutsache that had me out for the count for the majority of the day.

I think something I put in my smoothies is doing me a bad.

It could well be the frozen fruit. That stuff is... a bit on the awful side, but I thought it wouldn't matter because frozen. It's been in my freezer, thawing and refreezing, for the better part of a year.

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Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...

Tomorrow, there's a new episode of The Adventure Zone going up. Tomorrow is also Cleaning Day. Tomorrow's tomorrow has my Friendo coming over from Tullagawupwup to learn as many Ways of Keto as I can firkin teach.

I shall also attempt to impart my love of the aforementioned zone where adventure happens.

It might not stick. But I gotta try.

It's nice to have someone to nerd out with.

Tomorrow's tomorrow's tomorrow is the Big Push to have everything ready by Christmas.

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Fuck

Two hour focus issues, folks.

I sat down here at about six to do my blog and Instant and now it's EIGHT.

I need to do some pre-yule rattling about for bits and pieces. Make sure I have enough stuff and things. And basically cram the fridge with whatever for the day before the Big One.

I already know that I'm making festive GORP for nibbles so I can get the biz for that, no problem.

Eggs, cream, oranges, and other perishables

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Counting Down

I need to make sure I have The Stuff(tm) to make the semi-fancy desserts I have planned for the yule feast. I need to make sure I have oranges, eggs, cream, nuts, dried fruits, little containers for the aforementioned desserts. A clean firkin table...

Yarks.

And next week, it's YULE!

Thank the Powers that fortune smiled upon me enough to have my dang novel finished before the Big Rush. So now I don't have to fret about doing my five hundred

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It's beginning to look a lot like summer

While I haven't seen the obligatory dead snake, we did narrowly avoid a red-bellied black as it was crossing a road, so I'm going to count it. Deadly though they may be, I cringe at killing out shy and venomous retiring wildlife. And it's summer. There's pretty much part of Australia on fire every day.

I have the AC on in the computer room and I'm not wearing much more than my cotton nightshirt... and I'm sweltering. And it's only halfway 8AM

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A Change of PLN

I love using Sir Terry Pratchett's feegle word 'pln' for a plan that is not... the best-cemented plan on the old drawing board.

Today's pln was to go and fetch Chaos back from her stay with Capt S. Bring along KIABIL to fix some shit, eat a lunch and finally go home.

Nope.

Today's pln is now tomorrows pln and I get abandoned to my own devices [fanfic] whilst Beloved and KIABIL go to Capt S, fix some shit, eat a lunch,

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