cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

OOH! I could also make a belt to go under my glow cloud bustle and tie stuffed animals on strings to it! Or maybe my white glitter dot skirtcicle would be just right! And a white mask, since it's called a masquerade!

Yesterday was quite the thing.

I worked all morning and then took off at noon. I had my inaugural visit with a new psychiatrist. My old one left that practice and my insurance insisted that I start seeing one of their people. Fine, but my records didn't get transferred to my new Dr. Argh, especially since my job with the Evil Empire is to MAKE SURE THESE THINGS HAPPEN, PEOPLE!

Luckily, we live in the future, so I was able to pull out my smartphone and tell my dr what meds I'm all on and roughly when I started each. It's super cool to be able to see this in both my dr app and Walgreens app. Super helpful!

Since I didn't know how long the appointment would be, I took the afternoon off of work. This was nice, since I was able to get a PSL and head home. I watched cartoons with Alex and taped together a couple printed patterns. I got most of a dress cut out for Emi, but I need to iron my fabric and just couldn't deal with it.

I got to hang with Emi after school and hear all about her trip to Cave of the Mounds. I got to check my work email and try to not snarl at people who ask silly questions.

Then, I got ready for the show! I ended up wearing an off-white long sleeve shirt, my Peg Leg leggings (because I thought it would be cold), one of my 32yd skirts (black on top, white ruffle, and gold ruffle on bottom), and a white corset with a little black lace and black binding (couldn't find a belt that looked right). I also put on a bunch of white eyeshadow, glitter, and a pearl choker.

I had a quick dinner with the family and then headed up into town for the show!

Side note: I didn't have to psych myself up to go to this show. I didn't worry about looking ridiculous or that I'd get lost or that everything would go horribly wrong. I think my anxiety lives in Night Vale. I'm strangely okay with this.

I found parking about 4 blocks from the theater. On the way from the car to the theater, I put on my bustle and my wrap. When I came up to the theater, I turned on the lights in my bustle and wrap.

So. Many. "ALL HAIL!" It was AWESOME and made me feel loved.

I waited in the line to get in, got anxious when RH couldn't find parking, but she drove by, gave me my ticket, and sent me in to stake out seats for us.

The crowd was super fun. There were LOTS of costumes, but only two other glow clouds. And our glow cloud costumes were WAY better. There were Eternal Scouts, Old Women Josie, opera goers, pretty sure there was a John Peters (you know, the farmer), and others I couldn't identify. The demographics of the crowd were neat. There were really young kids (10-13yo), college/grad students, professionals, and grandparent types. And we all cheered super loud when Meg (Proverb Lady) came on stage.

The show was fantastic. I was NOT a fan of the musical group for the bridge and the Weather. Just...not my jam. Good, but not what I like to listen to. The story of the show was fun, being able to see the voices was super awesome, and the live background music by Disparition was great! The story was a little short, especially in light of how many songs Dessa sang before the show started, but it was fun, suspenseful, and full of all the things that make Night Vale own my soul.

I got home about 10:50. I came in, dropped my stuff, and immediately had to start cuddling Alex. He was up crying. We walked around the house and snuggled on the couch for a bit. I got him back in bed, Downwood got a new nightlight for his room, and he was getting settled when I saw the dry, super cracked skin on his wrists and feet. I put some aquaphor lotion on, but it hurt so bad that he started sobbing again. He eventually calmed down, but not until after I laid down on the floor next to his bed so that he wasn't alone.

He fell asleep. I went to bed. He woke up crying again. I went in, got him to go back to sleep. I went to bed. He started crying. Downwood went in. Sleep. Crying. Momma in. Sleep. Crying. Daddy in. Through all this, we never actually figured out what the problem was. No words means communication is hard. No words and tears mean communication is nearly impossible.

At some point, Downwood brought him into our bed to sleep. Poor dude. Neither Downwood or I got good, solid sleep as a result.

We let Alex sleep as long as we could this morning. At the absolute last minute, I woke him up enough to ask if he wanted to go to school because it's Farm Field Trip Day. He said a sleepy yes. Then there were LOTS of tears as I got him ready. Getting dressed was hard, having something to drink was hard. Getting some lotion on the bad spots was hard. He didn't cheer up until he was in his jacket and had his backpack on and some rice crackers to munch. Poor little guy.

Kids got off to school and I got myself to work...about 30 seconds before my first meeting of the day. Now, I'm going from meeting to meeting, trying to pay attention and be my usual awesome self. I'm very tired and the coffee is starting to wear off (eeeeek).

I just have to get through 8 hours of today and then I can go home. I can make Emi a new dress for Ren Faire this weekend. I can figure out something to wear for me. I can snuggle Alex and help him feel better. I can go to Walgreens and get the new meds. I can do these things.

I'm wearing my new Night Vale t-shirt and my Night Vale hoodie. I have music and podcasts. I have some very good books queued up on my Kindle. I can do this.
 

Dance - Finally done with this choreography and have a bit of a break. I'll be traveling for some of it, but still.

Achievement Unlocked! - At the end of class, teacher M had us run through the choreography with a veil. We ditch it after about 2 minutes and keep going with the song. The choreography ends with a bow, then you come up, wave to the audience, and float offstage with the last couple measures of the song. We did this. All of us in the class took a lap of the "stage", said goodbye to the audience, and snapped up our veils on the way out. Teacher M was delighted. It was her Proud Dance Mama moment of the night, since she hadn't specified this - we just did it because that's what we're supposed to do.

Books - I'm listening to "The Martian" and it's wonderful. I'm reading "Other Worlds Than These" and am a mite disappointed - some of the stories in this anthology just aren't doing it for me, unfortunately.

Sewing - I have a couple more pant patterns to try out. I need to see what flatters this weird tummy of mine. Also, I'm terribly tempted by this pattern. Emi would love it.  https://www.etsy.com/listing/240378497/the-princess-power-suit-one-piece?ref=shop_home_feat_4

Werk - Stress. Anxiety. Triumph. Frustration. Success.

Weird - Night Vale tickets have been confirmed. I'm discovering other Night Vale citizens and rejoicing to see who else will be there. One will be my team lead who is now thoroughly addicted. Mwahahaha!

Adulting - I'm tired of being an adult. Adulting is hard. Why did I want to grow up, anyway?

OMGOMGOMGOMG! Welcome to Night Vale will be at the Barrymore on OCTOBER 8!! It's a Thursday and I'm out of vacation (after sabbatical) so the Friday will suck, but OMGOMGOMG

Welcome to Night Vale - Homecoming. I actually figured out who the guest voice was before the Proverb Lady told us. Also, I love the idea behind this episode. So sweet, sad, and, yes, creepy.

Dance - Though my costuming isn't done (need to do some sewing and tying), I'm excited for our rehearsal on Sunday. I need me some silly. I also offered Studio AJ a resurrection of a silly piece if she still needs to fill out the roster a bit more.

Kids - Got hugs from both kiddos this morning. Got to tuck in both kiddos last night. Both their teachers said that they LOVE having them as students. They're awesome. Trouble, frustrating, loving, awesome.

Sleep - I got to sleep in my bed for two nights IN A ROW! This is nearly miraculous.

Werk - Still far too much to do, but took time this morning to organize my receipts for these last two trips and get them submitted to Accounting. This eases my mind a bit.

Now to do some work so that I can leave at a reasonable hour to go to JoAnn's before going home. I have some things I want to pick up.

So they released Ingress for iPhone. I'm on the Resistance. Unsurprisingly, there are a TON of hotspots on the Evil Empire campus. Several thousand well-connected, hip, young geeks and a mobile gaming platform? Unsurprising.

I gave up on Jane Austen's "Emma". The protagonist is REALLY DAMN ANNOYING. So I put it back on my virtual shelf and switched to "Persuasion". I want to make clothes. This, too, is unsurprising.

A new Night Vale episode is out. My wireless was being flaky at lunch, so I don't know if I got it all downloaded or not. Need more story!

I'm scheduled in meetings from 11:30-5 today. This sucks. At least I get to talk to my favorite people at the end of it. I also get to tell them that their bosses recanted and I get to come visit them in August! I get to go back to the shiny store! Whee!

Ox didn't want to go to sleep last night. Therefore, when I went in to give him a hug before going to work, he burrowed his head further under the pillows. Sleepy boy. I'm looking forward to getting some hugs and playing in this evening with him. And calling Emi to check on her Grandma vacation.

I impulse purchased Sally Hansen's new Color Foil nail polish. It's purple chrome, so super shiny, but any flaw in a nail or in application is very, very visible. But it's shiny and it's purple and it was cheap. So I don't really regret it yet.

We ran through the drum solo last night. There were a couple of measures where everything fell apart, but overall it went together well. It was an interesting thing, but I'm not the dancer that was designed for. The current choreo has the cheesiest music this side of nachos, but it's fun. It feels way better on my body, anyway.

Yes, I'm making lists of good things so I don't freak out and break shit. Trying to remain calm and not under an anxiety attack.

Thursday was the first meeting of our improv group at work. I'm not nearly so funny or thin or good at acting or anything as my compatriots. But it was fun and I think we'll do okay.

Friday I got up and started a whirlwind of packing. Then I whisked myself up to Verona to get the filling on my front tooth replaced. I broke the tooth when I was 8 and get the bonding replaced every 7-10 years. The next time will probably have to be a crown, but I'd rather put off that expense as long as I can.

Then I came home, threw the last couple of things into the car, threw us into the car, and drove to Des Moines for our summer vacation. We ate "fancy" dinner (Applebee's) and went swimming with my sister, brother-in-law, and their little boy. Bash was Not A Fan of the hotel pool, which was on the cold side, but he enjoyed splashing in the hot tub.

It took a long time to settle down the kids Friday night, but settle down they eventually did. It took even longer for Downwood and me to fall asleep, since we're not used to going to bed so early and having to be so quiet when we do.

Saturday was a long day. We got up, got breakfast, and went over to my sister's house. We chatted and played with the baby until our folks showed up. Mom is phobic of sitting still, so we walked down to the neighborhood park. Then we all got into our cars and headed up to Boone.

Back in February, I'd decided that we were going to do something fun for Father's Day. So I bought us all tickets to ride the Boone Scenic Railroad. I got the first class tickets, so we got to ride in the bi-level cabin. It's a 2 hour ride, just going out and back through the Des Moines River Valley. On the way out, we rode up top in the coach. On the way back, we rode on the bottom. It was beautiful and relaxing and the kids LOVED it. 

After the train ride, we raided the gift shop and headed back to Sister's. We ordered in pizza for dinner and then all went swimming again. Bash was a little happier about it and my parents had a ball with their grandkids.

Since Saturday was such a long day, everyone fell asleep a little easier. We didn't stay asleep, however, as there were territory disputes in the kids' bed that needed mediation. 

Sunday was another rush of a day. We got up, packed up the room, and put everything in the car. More breakfast and we were at my sister's house again. We played with the baby, used the clippers to give Ox a haircut (finally), and waited for CostCo to open. The girls (me, Mom, Sister, Emi) made a CostCo run for samples and bulk purchases. The guys stayed home, though my stepdad walked with Ox up to the park so he (Ox) could run around and feel special.

Around noon, we said our goodbyes and started for home. On the way, we stopped in at my grandparents' house. Grandpa is home, but we don't know for how long. The cancer's spreading and getting worse. We were surprised to find my youngest aunt, uncle, and their three kids there, but it was nice to see them. The kids played, we talked, and eventually, I pried us all out of the house.

We got home pretty late, since we stayed so long in Newton. The kids were in RARE form on the way home. Ox dumped apple juice all over himself, so he got put into Emergency Tshirt and Emi's skirt (she had on both skirt and shorts). We called it a kilt and he was SO PROUD of his ruffles. Little dude has mad style, yo.

Today is the last day of my vacation. I have mixed feelings about this. I feel just as tired and worn through as Thursday, if not more so. I spent the weekend trying to make everyone else happy and didn't really get much happiness out of it. My favorite part was snuggling the baby, which really isn't a surprise, but still.

I got to sleep in until Emi crawled in with me. I made cinnamon rolls for us and blueberry pancakes for the kids. I went to the salon and got a manicure. My nails are now a beautiful purple and my hands are moisturized. I listened to the new Welcome to Night Vale and OH MY GOD THE PLOT THICKENS AND WHY IS THIS PART A AND PART B ISN'T COMING OUT UNTIL JULY?!

Now I'm doing laundry and trying to psych myself up for dance. I just...have no fucks left to give about anything. I'm tired and sick at heart. I was supposed to have fun, but seem to have forgotten about that. I looked at some of the pictures from the train ride and, though I thought my green eShakti dress was cute and flattering, what the pictures showed was anything but. 

Emi's playing with her Lego, Downwood's mowing the lawn, and Ox is theoretically taking a nap in the tv room. I should be content with this and enjoy that I have the job flexibility to not be at work today.

Blah. Should. Whatever.

Ah, April 1. The day to believe NOTHING of what you read on the internet. As for me, I'm still speaking truths as I see them.

Truth the First - OMG!Ow. I think I need to get K to fix me. There's something very wrong with my legs and neck. Probably two problems, unrelated to each other, and both exacerbated by getting loose and warm and working and then having to drive 45 minutes in a cold car to get home. Every Monday night I end up hobbling up the garage steps, begging Downwood to get me Advil and a heating pad so I can get rid of some pain before bed.

Truth the Second - I am DEEPLY pissed off at the government today. I work in medical IT (not news) and one of the big governmental regulatory changes is to move from ICD-9 as a diagnosis database to ICD-10. You know, the same switch the rest of the world made many years ago? The one that many millions of dollars have already been spent in preparing software and medical staff to make the switch? The one that was scheduled for 10/1 of this year? The one that's EATING MY BRAIN?!  Yeah. Both the House and Senate approved a bill that will delay it to 10/1 of next year at the earliest with potential delays to go out even farther.

Fuck. This means that my sabbatical request for the end of September/beginning of October next year will likely be denied. And then I'll have to talk to my sister to decide if we want to go to Germany just because or if we want to wait until 2016 so that we can go to Oktoberfest.

Truth the Third - Welcome to Night Vale continues to delight me. I'm emotionally involved with these fictional characters. I wish I could go to one of their live shows, but that requires both money and travel and dealing with other people. Still, these podcasts make me happy.

Truth the Fouth - Okay, so ThinkGeek's annual April 1 email is kind of interesting. Not sure that I really want to buy any of the products, should they go forward with them, but it's amusing.

Truth the Fifth - I will not beat myself up over getting a fancy coffee this morning. Tuesday mornings are always rough, since I get home so very late on Monday night. I had to be at work early this morning, too, to shepherd my customer through a transition morning, so morale demanded fancy coffee and extra caffeine. Also, caffeine is my mistress and I obey.

I think that's all. I'm going to continue babysitting my customers and probably apply my Planets nail wraps today. Good times.