Good things

Jul. 7th, 2024 11:14 pm
ceitfianna: (dreams)
The weather is at the moment far too hot and humid but life is going pretty well. I had a new mattress delivered yesterday and had my first sleep on it last night, which was nice. Its going to take a little getting used to after my very old mattress that dipped so much.

At work, I set up my first display in the Reference area and what's cool is I can see people looking at the books. Also once I explained the idea, one of the pages brought me books and dvds that work for it. I just love the feel of this library and love being more involved. I also chose a book for a romance book club I'll be reading in August, A Marvellous Light, which I loved and have already reread the entire series at least once.

Also something I love about being in Reference which is in the older part of the library is that all the tourists ask me questions. My library is a famous historical town outside of Boston. So I get to explain about the Wyeth paintings and the manuscripts downstairs and our 150th and it feels nice. It reminds me of the area I grew up in outside Philly and the year after college when I interned at a Philly museum. I'm also aware of how the signage is our library isn't great, one of the drawbacks of basically numerous renovations added onto an older building is honestly its confusing and we just don't have good signs. This is one of those things that I'm going to keep gently poking at.

Yesterday, I finally found the local Farmer's Market which was also not signed well at all. Not far from me is a gigantic high school and the market was on the complete other side of it in a covered parking area. I picked up delicious fresh veg, which I've been eating with dinner. Some berries that I think I'm going to make into granita before I head off for a bit. Apparently the bigger market happens on Tuesdays at a park not far from a busy intersection. Not sure when I'll be able to get to it. Sadly the weather was awful just so humid and I'd worn the wrong pants, but part of the day was spent reading in a nicely ACed cafe.

Another quality of life thing that I'm going to try and do before heading off to see family is switch out my old purse for the new Critical Role bag I bought. Technically I don't think its that much smaller but time for a change and I like it
ceitfianna: (four elements)
Life has been full and it finally feels like its heading towards happier things. This past week, my parents came up to visit and I got a new car. Same model as my old one but the almost newest one and oh its taken a huge load of worry off my shoulders. Now I'm not wondering what's going to break next and my car is so pretty, its a lovely dark blue so I've decided to name it Jester as I'm a Critter now. Also I think it fits, my car is fast and can do so much more than I've fully realized and its fun to drive.

Since they came up here, I'm not heading down for Thanksgiving, but my fridge is full of leftovers as we did a good bit of cooking when they visited. I made pumpkin cheesecake for the first time and oh, so delicious but next time will make farther ahead of time. We also had a great visit with my older relative and her husband which was nice and felt great after the tough one from before. Her husband has dementia and last time we had gone on a long drive and it was a lot. This time, we brought sandwiches and just stayed at their place which went better.

My Yuletide is going slowly but going, I feel like my writing has started to be happening more. I'm writing for a fandom and a ship that I've written before and I have some ideas.

Work is going okay, I found out that we'll be closed the Sunday and Mondays of the holiday weekends, which is when I normally work so don't have to waste leave days on them. There are more jobs that I need to get out to but I'll do that.

I've also finally started on a project of having a new smaller purse from an army bag that I bought at I think Arisia or Boskone years ago. After I found it, I went online and bought some neat Rogue One patches then didn't have an iron so they've just been sitting there. Well, this past week I finally iron on the patches, I'm going to add some stitches for extra security and they look so good. Next big step is clearing out and sorting my bag to use my new bag and do the same for a smaller wallet as well. The end of this year and next year is going to be about life changes that improve my life.

In might be good, might be bad, the building I live in has been put up for sale, it hasn't been sold yet so trying to not overthink it. I've learned for myself and anxiety that I tend to have moments of thinking of the worst possible outcome then reminding myself how to deal if that happens. This doesn't always work when its kind of ongoing like job things but for the apartment it works. I like this apartment but its not perfect and if I had to find another place, I could do it.

Still here

Aug. 28th, 2020 07:14 pm
ceitfianna: (Jane thoughts consume me)
I seem to have gotten into the habit of posting about once a month. I mean to do it more often but words haven't been coming that quickly. Also I'm nearing the end of a bad shark week which has sapped a lot of my energy. But the weather lately has been feeling more fall like which has helped. So I'll go with various things that are going on.

For my shark week, I bought myself a heatable pillow with lavender in it shaped like a uterus and it makes such a difference in my pain levels.

I've been sending out a good bit of my mail and my two nephews in France sent me drawings they did which are now on my fridge. One of the first big trips I'll be planning when its possible is to see them.

My cooking's going fairly well, my local Asian supermarket has had a deal on pork belly and the other time I got it, I think was smaller. This second batch is giving me lots of leftovers, which is good but a lot. So I keep trying to find ways to change it up, I also ended up with a lot more guacamole than I normally have but I think I can make a good dent in both of those tonight.

I finally was able to go back to the dentist and have this major gum cleaning thing, which feels like useful maintenance. Now I need to take that same kind of idea to my poor car that's waiting for me.

Job stuff is a lot of waiting and throwing things out into the void hoping someone answers back.

I did reconnect with the alum group from my NZ university, we actually had a video call that went pretty well. A little disconcerting to realize how many of the men on the call had MBAs and all but I like this alum group.

At the moment, I'm reading this amazing book Sharks in the Time of Saviors which is really good. I have a couple of books due on Monday so I'm planning on doing lots of reading this weekend.
ceitfianna: (gaze to tomorrow)
Today is my birthday and it feels surreal to be thinking about it and celebrating with everything going on in the world. Since March, my life has been fairly quiet as all the libraries are closed so I've been staying home. I've been donating since I've had a sore throat that comes and goes so I don't feel safe to be out more than my normal walk and errands. The song that keeps going through my head is Sixteen Tons especially the line, 'another day older and deeper in debt.' Even though I'm actually doing okay money wise since Massachusetts' unemployment is pretty generous but the song's there in my head.

In good news, I've been doing some cooking since one of my brothers sent me a package full of dried chilis and various spices. So since everything's made, tonight I can have chicken tacos with homemade guacamole and brownies and ice cream. On my walk, I think I'm going to pick up some wine. Yesterday, I had a nice Zoom call with most of my family, sadly not the brother in France as he forgot but I know I'll talk to him at some point.

I recently finished rewatching Avatar: the Last Airbender and I'd forgotten how good that show is. Also I love seeing all the meta as I wasn't really in the fandom before, but a lot of my friends were. In my reading, I've had lots of holds come in but I've been stalling out on new books and instead rereading a lot of Terry Pratchett. I started Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth but its a bit too close to real life so I'll probably give up on it until another time. My writing has also slowed down but that's how its been the past few months, it comes and goes, the ideas are there just need to get the words down.
ceitfianna: (flying in hyperspace)
-Wearing a mask means I had to learn a new way to breath as wearing one wakes my asthma up
-Also I want to get another masks that's more cheerful, my current one is blue with some white stripes on it
-Twisting my ankle hurt and while its almost better, I now have something that sets a time limit on my walks
-Frozen phyllo dough is tricky to work with but not impossible
-I miss my librarian work
-I've also missed writing characters being angry, writing this Cassian fic: Someone to punch was very satisfying
-Having a new laptop is great but laptops eat up so much memory
-I really miss browsing in stores or places that aren't pharmacies, grocery or liquor stores
-Being patient worked and I'm writing again
ceitfianna: (flying in hyperspace)
I finally got all my icons back and added a few Star Wars ones but I want to add more. This is one of my favorites because its Cassian being a pilot and hyperspace which is cool and beautiful.

After I finished my college job, I started an over two week long vacation down at my parent's place by the shore. It turned out to be just what I needed after the last academic year.

Important thing that happened was I saw my mother's dentist twice, once for x-rays and for him to go, yes, you need a root canal and then the actual root canal. So now my tooth doesn't hurt and I'm not thinking constantly about my mouth. The dentist was really nice, his office was part of a very fancy dental complex and so while the whole process was long, it went fairly well.

For the Fourth of July, I made blueberry boy bait from a Smitten Kitchen recipe that was delicious but far too large a recipe for the small group that came to celebrate. If you ever want an easy recipe that makes a simple and very blueberry cake, I recommend this one. Later I also made a delicious blueberry and peach crumble when my brother and his wife stopped by for a quick visit. I was able to have soft shell crabs twice which are honestly one of my favorite parts of summer down by the Delaware shore.

We also had a fun and unexpectedly good visit out to the Air Mobility Command Museum that's right outside Dover. I've always had a love for aviation and my current interest in Star Wars has only added to it. This museum was really wonderfully done with the focus on all the planes and with really good and active volunteer docents. The museum was half inside and half outside and the day we went was really bright and sunny so going from the hangar to outside was intense.

Other than that, I spent a lot of time reading, a few walks though it was really hot and humid and planning what's next. I also had a phone interview with a school that went okay, it helped me think about recrafting my resume and things like that.

One wonderful thing that happened was the dwarf sunflower kit that I bought before my sister's memorial has finally bloomed. The plant's going to live down in my parent's garden where it can get more sun.

And I watched Good Omens, which was beautifully done but didn't completely work for me. The casting and the look of it was great but a lot of the choices made it more Gaiman's story not Pratchett's; too much focus on angels and demons, much less on the actual humans. Aziraphale and Crowley were amazing but I find it really telling how most of the fandom stuff I see about them isn't actually connected to the actual plot of the Apocalypse.
ceitfianna: (Tumnus)
I'm having a wonderful and rather Star Wars' holiday with an Alliance sweater, galaxy necklace and some silly Star Wars' band aids, alongside books and socks, a Christmas staple.

I've also added a new bread recipe to my collection, a sweet filled bread from Smitten Kitchen, that I might try with other fillings.

My Yuletide gift is just what I wanted, an Ivan story about him growing up and figuring things out. Now I will enjoy the delicious fun of diving deep into the archive as its cold outside. My recipient liked their story, which always makes me happy.

Genuinely Self-Absorbed and Deeply Shallow (1575 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ivan Vorpatril, Alys Vorpatril
Summary:

Or, Three Moments in the Evolution of Ivan Vorpatril, innocent bystander and political non-combatant

ceitfianna: (a writer's life)
Today I baked delicious pecan sandies or shortbread with ground up roasted pecans in it, they turned out beautifully. Tomorrow I'm going to make some more whole wheat bread for my family before getting ready for a trip north. Plans are starting to come along for a move which is stressful but in the end will be good for me.

I love doing the Snowflake Challenge as it pushes me to be creative and remind myself of what I've accomplished.

Day 1

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.


To start with, I'm going to post my Yuletide from this year where I wrote about the Luidaeg from the October Daye books interacting with my Great Aunt in the bookstore she owned.

Two Conversations (1157 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: October Daye Series - Seanan McGuire
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: October "Toby" Daye/Tybalt
Characters: October "Toby" Daye, The Luidaeg (October Daye), Original Female Character(s), Tybalt (October Daye)
Additional Tags: Conversations, Misses Clause Challenge, Established Relationship
Summary:

Two conversations, one where the Luidaeg has the chance to be the nosy mother figure for Toby and another where a mortal woman sees more than the Luidaeg expected.

I loved your prompt and it ended up being focused more on the Luidaeg as she finds some time to herself after enjoying being the older woman figure in Toby's life. I hope you enjoy it as it was a real treat to write from the Luidaeg's point of view and this fic can be read as any point after Toby and Tybalt are officially a couple.

Thank you to Jennie and Don for betaing.



The second one, I wrote for the Narnia exchange and its about Queen Helen and King Frank and their lives in London and as they figure out Narnia.

This wild new paradise (1292 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: King Frank (Narnia)/Queen Helen (Narnia)
Characters: King Frank, Queen Helen (Narnia), Bacchus, Ceres (Greek and Roman Mythology)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Established Relationship, Domestic
Summary:

The inspiration for this fic was your wonderful letter with a request for wanting to know more about Frank and Helen, how they set up Narnia and how they interact with all the strange parts of Narnia.

For me the form that took was thinking about their domestic life, beginning in London with what Helen wished she had and then in Narnia near the end of their first year as Narnia is becoming itself around them. As I happen to love Ceres myself, she makes an appearance to help Narnia flourish.

The title comes from In Kerry, by J. M. Synge.

Thank you to Jennie for betaing.



For a last fic, this year for the first time, I wrote a Newsies fic which is mixture of missing moment and what if. I'm so happy about how it turned out.

Glimpses (409 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Newsies (1992)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Characters: David Jacobs, Jack Kelly
Additional Tags: Surprise Kissing, Prompt Fic, Missing Scene
Summary:

Written for Porn Battle Prompt Stack and the prompt: Newsies, Jack/David, union, night, city.


Before Once and For All, David and Jack have an honest and surprising conversation in an alley.

ceitfianna: (running towards a happy ending)
I normally love the holiday season but with worrying about my sister and everything that's part of that. It truly took until a few days ago to go, okay, we're all here as a family and there are reasons to celebrate.

I found it helped too when I decided that it was alright if cards and presents went off after Christmas, the thought matters and then there isn't this horrible stress of oh god, will it get there in time attached. With that in mind, if you would like a holiday card, the ones I have aren't particular to any holiday, then message me your address. If I have your address, then I'll try and send out a card to you.

Since my family lives in two places, we do two celebrations which I love. A smaller one that's me and my parents before tomorrow going up for the bigger one with everyone else. Part of today is going to involve baking, which has been one of the true bright spots of this year for me. Also I have a library part time job after the holidays which will help me build up money for my move. Boston area, folks, I'm going to be up there in January and February as I plan my move next year.

Have a happy holiday everyone and I hope that you're around those you love. I'm glad to know you.

ETA: I forgot to crosspost this somehow as I think LJ was acting up.
ceitfianna: (paper butterfly)
I've been doing a lot of baking lately, trying out new recipes that have turned out really well. On Sunday night, I made naan which turned out delicious and I've recently found this whole wheat sandwich bread that's easy and lasts. My writing is going slowly as my creative energy seems to be channeled into cooking.

For me though this is a time of year when I love creating for others and would love to send out cards to anyone who would like them. Comments will be screened on this post and you can also message me to let me know that you would like one and your address or even to say that your address hasn't changed.

My December meme is here and open for topics to write about or fic prompts.
ceitfianna: (breaking each other)
Tomorrow I'm going to the memorial of a woman who was basically an adopted aunt. I have all these words I want to say about her and I don't know where to start. I keep looking back at my life and seeing her thumbprints in terms of being thoughtful, loving and teaching.

Today my mom and I made a huge amount of cookies for the reception after her memorial, a potluck because she always loved potlucks. Food made to be shared and with love matters.

She died a week ago and I don't know if I'm ready to not have her somewhere. She's been failing and hurting and she passed in her sleep, but I miss her.
ceitfianna: (running towards a happy ending)
I've waited on this [community profile] snowflake_challenge because I've had a couple of pretty awful days. I found out that I didn't get a job, didn't get to the next round on another, lots of sick going around my house and my allergies made my new contacts not act properly. It left me grumpy and I don't like doing something like [community profile] snowflake_challenge when I'm feeling in such a low place and I love the idea of the last challenge. Today has been better, I have more allergy meds, family is feeling healthier, I have Hexwood to reread and the weather's not as dire. Also last night, I made this amazing roast chicken from my Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, which so far has been one of my favorite Christmas presents.

Day 15

In your own space, create your own challenge. What’s something you want to see more people doing in fandom? Is there something fun you’ve tried that you think other people would enjoy if they gave it a go? Dare your friends to try it out, and have fun with it.


My challenge is to post a song or a poem that speaks to you. A friend of mine has been posting poetry and in April everyone posts poetry and I love it, but sometimes its songs that do it. Post these words that speak that to you and see who else they speak to. I'll start with one of my favorite artists, Jakob Dylan.


Got my window open wide
I got my window open wide
Got a good woman by my side
Got a good woman by my side

Now this kind of day has no night
Yeah, this kind of day has no night
And I ain't got much on my mind
I ain't got much on my mind

'Cause I know
Something good this way comes

Now watching the streets filling up
Watching the streets filling up
In the shade of the summer sun
In the shade of the summer sun

Got sweet apple pie on the stove
Got sweet apple pie on the stove
The birds they're all flyin' low
The birds they're all flyin' low

'Cause they know
Something good this way comes
Yeah, something good this way comes

The trouble doll, is not moving mountains
But digging the ground that you're on
If it's true that good fortune gives no change
We got just what it takes

Collar up on my coat
Yeah, collar up on my coat
Trucks are pullin' in for the show
Trucks are pullin' in for the show

Grasshopper jump in the road
Grasshopper jump in the road
Kids, they're all running home
The kids they're all running home

'Cause they know
Something good this way comes
Yeah, something good this way comes

The trouble doll, is not moving mountains
But digging the ground that you're on
If it's true that good fortune gives no change
We got just what it takes

I got my window open wide
I got my window open wide
I got a good woman by my side
I got a good woman by my side

'Cause I know
Something good this way comes
Yeah, something good this way comes
Yeah, something good this way comes

Jakob Dylan - Something Good This Way Comes Lyrics



I hope the video works, its being odd for me. If it doesn't, I recommend exploring his videos, I love his words and his voice. A lot of my fics have titles from his songs.
ceitfianna: (lost in a library)
The question for today's [community profile] snowflake_challenge fits in well with what I'm doing for dinner. For Christmas, I was given the Smitten Kitchen cookbook and the pizza dough recipe from it is currently rising in the oven to be my dinner.

Day 11

In your own space, post a rec for fannish and/or creative resources.


This is probably a perfect question for me since I'm a librarian and I love resources of all types and as I've been doing fact-checking as a part-time job, I've found even more.

A few that I've used and loved:

Walt Whitman archive, all of his poetry including scans of his manuscripts to see how the words changed.

Poetry Foundation, which has free poetry including poems being read aloud, poet's biographies and interviews.

Library of Congress, so many fantastic resources from images to documents.

Metrolyrics and other sites like it. I tend to find my fic titles from songs and sites like this are great for finding the right one.

Stanford's Dime Novel collection, this was part of the inspiration for my Yuletide this year, its also been a resource for RP.

I could happily list even more since I love finding the right resource to answer a question and then learning unexpected elements. This is why I adore reading nonfiction too, I'm always learning and the internet has great resources and a lot of my friends are researchers too. So we tend to be sharing questions and places that we've found answers.

Actually the last three major fics I wrote have a meta element that comes from my being a librarian and historian. I think a big part of the inspiration was that a large part of my fact-checking involved looking at who are the sources for which parts of history and who's missing.

The Outlaw Wade or A Young Lawyer's Journey, my Yuletide that looked at in world dime novels about Ben Wade from 3:10 to Yuma.

Finest Job, my [community profile] narniaexchange fic where I thought about what elements of King Frank and Queen Helen's rank would survive to the Pevensies.

Got the Details Right, my Marvel Cinematic Universe fic for [community profile] ineedmyfics where Sam Wilson and Natasha Romanoff watch in universe films about Captain America, which was inspired by another fic.
ceitfianna: (Charles/Erik-remake the world)
Yesterday was fun, I spent the morning helping kids make shaking noisemakers out of plastic eggs, spoons and lots of duct tape then the evening cooking black-eyed peas and watching Reign. That show works for me, I think part of it is the music and the acting, also I treat it like history fanfiction. There were some moments when I looked at the outfits and situations and went, really, but its fun and pretty.

Last night, I slept for so long, it was wonderful. I woke up after having a great dream too that I'm going to hold onto. I dreamed that I was with my parents at a museum or some big city and there was this woman that had a stall selling all sorts of things. We got to talking with here and we each found various things then my parents went on ahead. I stood with her a while and we shared a glass of bourbon. Since I've been up, I've been thinking about that dream and how she wasn't in one slot, but she was happy. The way I end up moving forward might not be with one full time job, I might end up with a number of options that I enjoy.

For Yuletide, I wrote:

The Outlaw Wade or A Young Lawyer's Journey (1177 words) by FiKate
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ben Wade, Original Male Character(s)
Additional Tags: dime novel, Post-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, stagecoach robbery, in world fiction
Summary:

This story was written for DesertScribe who was interested in Ben Wade and gave me many ideas to work with. I ended up wondering about that dime novel of William's and how Ben is perceived through that lens. As Ben rides the train towards Yuma, he reads a dime novel written about himself before he finds an opportunity to escape.



My recipient DesertScribe was easy to write for as they gave me lots and lots of ideas and I only had to pick one. I decided to focus on Ben directly after canon and then I had this thought about dime novels and trying something a little meta. I'm happy with how it turned out and they enjoyed it.

Along with my wonderful Carmilla fic, I also got a great Yuletide Treat called A Promise set post canon of Scorpio Races, a short and potent fic.

I've been reading through reveals and I loved so many of your fics. May this New Year be full of joy for everyone!
ceitfianna: (holiday kittens)
Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days and holidays of the year, due to how my family is spread out, Christmas Eve has ended up being for my parents and me. We make a delicious dinner, get dressed up and over the course of the evening open our presents. We used to just open one on Christmas Eve and save the rest for Christmas Day but since the day has become more for my brother's family in New Jersey, we do ours on the Eve. Then around midnight, there's Yuletide to read, this year there are two stories waiting for me. I've never had that happen before and I'm so curious to see which fandoms they're in as I requested a lot this year as well as offering the max. I'm happy with how my story turned out, its one in a fandom I've never written before and that I only really discovered this year.

The weather decided to behave like winter which I appreciate, its cold and crisp today which feels perfect. Also I had a great night's sleep after enjoying going to a party of some of my parents' friends who specially invited me. I talked about libraries, school libraries and had a great time, it was a nice reminder that people down here are thinking of me. Then today we walked into town and it was hilarious, we saw a guy dressed as Santa riding a beautiful old fashioned red motorcyle with a sidecare. I wish I could have grabbed a picture but he went by too fast.

Christmas day and Boxing day I'll be up in New Jersey with my brother and his family so won't be tagging as I usually leave my laptop behind. I'll be going some tagging today and probably tomorrow morning but everything else will be slowed.

Be well, my friends, I feel blessed to know all of you.

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas has a wonderful time and for everyone who is doing their best to ignore it, I hope you are happy. I feel blessed
ceitfianna: (Inception-look sideways)
Since my last post, there's a lot to catch up on. I spent most of Friday walking around New York City, getting lost around Little Italy, losing wonderful amounts of time at The Strand's cheap book racks and then getting to go to the New Zealand mission to the UN. Also there was lunch with [personal profile] skygiants and more hanging out with [profile] arushindoll. I love being close enough that I can actually go and visit New York City again, because whenever I go, I end up feeling revitalized by how alive and active the city is. My feet weren't happy with me because I ended up truly footsore but I have good sandals so few blisters.

The alum reception for Victoria University was charming, it was very New Zealand; not too formal, great food and wine and an interesting lecture on climate change. It reminded me how lucky I am to have connections to New Zealand and that someday, I will get myself back there. I also have found a good way to get to NY and other points north from Lewes as with my car, I can drive to stations that have direct routes instead of navigating multiple transit systems. I plan on having more trips to New York and DC and Philly in the near future, some hopefully for interviews but mainly to see people.

Then Saturday I traveled back to have a nice dinner with my parents, older brother and nieces as we all prepared for my father's birthday on Sunday. The party went really well. I made a huge batch of my chickpea salad recipe and had lots of great conversations of people going what are you up to and how are you doing? There was only one talk that made me wince about libraries since there's someone who works with Johns Hopkins and they're removing all books from their library. The wince wasn't the person I was having the conversation with just knowing that such a large organization has made that choice to go fully online as medical journals as so expensive, that they're worth more than books. Its a tough turn of events and it worries me that such an institution has gone so completely to the only instead of looking for a place in between.

Monday was restful, I started the day by going to the local library to help with shelving books and talking to the youth director who's a mentor of mine. This Sunday is the first meeting of their LEGO robotics team so I'm going to go help her. Robotics is something I want to know about and it will be great to get experience with it.

Tuesday was my sister's birthday and we went to a pretty nature center and watched the birds. I took a lot of pictures then we had a quiet evening. This morning my mother had cataract surgery which seems to have gone well and I'm trying to get myself a looking for jobs routine.

Connecting

Jul. 13th, 2013 07:13 pm
ceitfianna: (muffins)
Last night when I went to my book club, I was reminded how in this strange year, I have made some unexpected and good connections. When I told the people at my club that I would be leaving, they were sad and hoped I could come before I left. Since the weather was beautiful, we sat in the backyard of one of the main couples, which was nice. This is a small book club and pretty much the same people have attended so there has been continuity. There was one of those metal fire pits so we ended up making s'mores at the end of the night. It a was a great reminder that while this year hasn't been perfect, its had good in it.

The run up to it was kind of fun as well since I got the time wrong, so I rushed about making delicious cherry cornbread muffins. I need to make them again since they're some of the best muffins I've had in a while with the cornbread texture but very moist. So I made them, thinking I was going to be late, got to the house and there was no one there. The meeting was at 8 but I think meet up still had it listed as 7 so I had my time's wrong. As I was waiting, I went to a favorite cafe where I found a lot of teenagers and their cars hanging out. Now this isn't a huge parking lot but according to the woman in the cafe, this is what kids do. Some of the cars looked like they belonged in The Fast and the Furious, while there were also some beautiful classic cars. Later I noticed that in other parking lots along Woodward, there were more cards. According to my friends at the book club, this is a definite thing in the area and there's a day in August when Woodward itself is shut down just so people can go cruising. Moments like this remind me how much of a car town this is. Next time I spot them, I need to take pictures as there were some gorgeous cars.

Tomorrow I'm going to go see a matinee of Pacific Rim and probably see it again with Rick. I'm in the mood for a good action movie and love del Toro. I need to get to work prepping for moving, get a date from the movers and then give that date to apartment company, who sound like they'll be able to release it pretty quickly. Then I hope to have some time in the east coast to travel, settle and look for a job. I never got that before moving out here, this year has been strange with few moments to go, oh, I feel safe and comfortable where I am.

My writing is going slowly, my Narnia story is started but I need to do even more with it to make it work, but I do have a little time.

FicFriday was pretty quiet this week, I filled a few on my journal and then three on Twitter. All Teen Wolf ones because I love the families on that show.

For @afullmargin

Oooh, always up for family shenanigans!

Allison's family saw the world through trust. Trust to survive, trust to tell, trust to lie to the right people. She made trust.

Stiles learned every police code once his father realized he wanted to know to understand. That way, no matter, he would know.

For @animalmysoul

Something Teen Wolf for #ficfriday?

Stiles knew he should sleep but his father was running late. If he got up then he could hear the scanner, then he would know.

Apparently I have a lot of feelings about Stiles and his dad, I just love their relationship and how Teen Wolf deals with families.
ceitfianna: (lost in a library)
My meeting earlier has left me shaken but I feel more hopeful. One thing I love about this school is how even though all the complicated aspects of being part of the community as a librarian are tricky, I know I am.

Also I keep forgetting that I do sort of have a mentor or maybe just a great ally, either way I just had a good talk with a teacher about homerooms. This is the first teacher that contacted me about coming into her class and it feels like she's trying to keep an eye on me. She got where I was coming from that this is a key part of the school and I'm not sure how best to connect to it as a librarian. I got some good ideas about possibly pairing with homerooms for half the year since there are a range of homerooms. The issue for me is the library's for everyone, placing myself with just one homeroom feels odd to me. I'll find a solution.

She told me that the library feels more like a work space too and that its clear the kids respect me, I needed to hear that. Its good to know that is coming through, because one of the hardest parts of this job is getting across how the feel of the library has changed. I sometimes just want to invite teachers to come work in the library. Since I can write about periodicals and rules on gaming, but the fact that the kids see me as someone to ask for help is the change I'm proudest of.

The meeting this morning was rough but it got me going and to do some things I've been meaning to do. I will keep making things work with, but its okay to say this is hard as they haven't had a full time librarian for a while. This is new territory for everyone. My body is being weird as well because I got the hiccups, my eyes keep watering but sometimes I think they're tears, its hard to tell. Both of them have added to feeling a little out of it today.

Maybe tonight I'll go home and make sweet potato soup, that involves mashing lots of potatoes which is a good stress reliever. Then I'll have really tasty leftovers as well. I just have to get through the staff meeting first, they usually aren't too stressful.
ceitfianna: (lost in a library)
Last night I returned to Michigan to find a snow drift in front of my patio, all the snow from two drives in my complex has been pushed in front of it. This was not what I was hoping for as I had some cumbersome things to bring in and I was hoping to just put them on the porch and get them through my patio door, I ended up doing that but had to go around and do more hauling than I wanted. Though it reminded me how much I like where I've ended up living since someone said hello and told me that the other resident who lived here had complained as well. I've had lots of these small interactions since I moved in and its great, because it makes me feel like I've found a place where people care and watch out for each other. I left a message about it with the complex's office and one good thing came out of it, they finally fixed my loose oven door handle, but I have no idea if anything will change with the snow. My parent's surmise is probably right that they hire someone who just does what's easiest, I live on the corner so plow the snow there.

Today was also a good day as I returned to school and felt comfortable and as if I was coming back to a place that worked. I was able to figure out an issue with the computers, a teacher talked to me about her students doing research for exam week in the library and lots of wonderful little conversations. There are frustrations and issues to sort out, but it all makes me hopeful.

I'm going to try and do my best to take care of myself as well, which means waking up in enough time to make and bring my own tea. Last night I bought some granola bars when I did my brief grocery shop and I'll take some of them with me to eat during the day. I plan on doing leftovers and even frozen meals later on, but small steps that involve eating better are my focus. I'm trying to keep with a general eating, cooking mantra of eat better food, so more cooking, dishes that I can make on the weekend or on my earlier days to have at other times. My big basket of food goodies and equipment from my brother and sister-in-law will help with that, lots of sauces, salts and various tastes to test out. I'm going to do a big stock up at Trader Joe's this week and enjoy making food.

Weirdly or maybe not, I just felt more like I was truly being a professional today with my new jacket and gloves that kept me warm as I went to work. I plan on putting stuff up on my walls and just doing what I need to so that my apartment keeps feeling like mine.

This FicFriday was a nice one and I'm steadily working my way through my gift fics. Here I'm posting the Friday fics so I don't lose track of them.

TwitterFics )
ceitfianna: (Yuletide Tumnus)
Today has been a quiet and lovely day for me and its not over yet. This morning I woke up to find an incredibly effusive comment from the person I wrote my Yuletide story for telling me how they loved it. Then I went and read my story which made me so happy. Its the Magid universe with Nick, Roddy, fairy tales, Romanov being grumpy and Maxwell Hyde taking charge, it has what I love of the world and makes me beam.

A Fairy Tale Romance (With Two Kisses). (5084 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Magids Series - Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nick Mallory, Roddy Hyde, Romanov (Magids Series)
Summary:

The problem with Sixteenth Birthdays, as Nick Mallory finds out, is that they are often the heralds for Great Adventure.

Unfortunately, the adventure wasn't for him, but to find him.



I haven't had time yet to dig into other fics as we had friends over for brunch and didn't open presents until a little later. My presents made me happy; two beautiful sweaters, iridescent earrings, bourbon, New Zealand wine, a bowl my father made, a piece of family china, an antique book of Voltaire from my grandfather's collection and some mad money to spend however I wish.

At the moment the house is quiet as my parents and sister are out taking a walk while I catch up on the world. One of the ways we do the holidays is lots of cooking so at a certain point there are enough leftovers to last days. The night I arrived we had duck, last night my father butterflied a turkey which was good and tonight leg of lamb.

I'm going to put up a holiday EP from Tumnus at some point this week, since my father's reading the Narnia books and Christmas and Narnia just fit. My sister heads off tomorrow and on Friday, there will be family celebration with my brother and his family, which means I have a few days to plunge into Yuletide fics, write gift fics and just be.

Merry Christmas! Happy holidays! I hope that you're surrounded by those you love!

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