nishatalitha

A while ago I lost all my bookmarks in firefox - something that's happened before and they were able to be reinserted, so I wasn't too concerned. However, it appears I've left it a wee bit long to get them back and so I am now in the frustrating and unenviable position of needing to rebuild my bookmarks folder from scratch, when I can't even remember most of what I had in there!

Back is doing much better. I'm back to work on Monday and am quite looking forward to it. My ergonomic chair at work should be much more comfortable than any of the chairs at home or sitting in the bus. Didn't ask the physio about going to the gym, but given I was instructed to do plenty of walking, I can't see why cardio at the gym would be a problem. However, as my cold seems to be coming back, I'll see how I feel tomorrow about frisbee practice. Even better, ACC accepted the claim, which is awesome, so I'm not going to owe anyone money for my treatment.

Spent some money today - bought myself two pairs of jeans from Jeans West for $99 (same style, one light, one dark) and a purple merino skivvy from Glassons for $15. Jeans are comfortable and skivvy is a royal purple and no doubt I will wear it under things.

Finally got around to reading Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik, and was pleasantly surprised by it - for the most part, not what I was expecting plotwise at all. Not as good as Temarie, but I liked it more than the middle two.

Met up with house_monkey for lunch today and then joined some of my ex-workmates from Baldwins at Stanley Road. One of the worst lunches I've ever had there. I had the beef nachoes and if they'd seen the inside of a can of tomatos I would be very surprised and my companions all had the pumpkin soup which was very thin and flavourless. None of us finished our meals and we won't be going back there again.

I think I shall finish cataloguing my books, reshelve and then do some crossstitch, which I have sorely missed this last week.

I have had a lovely weekend down in Christchurch. Spent much of Sunday sewing, and saw my brother on Monday afternoon. He has a new girlfriend, a girl whom he flatted with for the last couple of years. They're in different flats now, but obviously know each other quite well. I had actually met her before (he took me to meet her again) and so have our parents. He was actually in Nelson staying with her and her parents for much of the weekend.

The amusing thing is, they sort-of-but-not-officially got together about three weeks ago, which would put it when Mum and Dad were overseas... Except for my sister's wedding and engagement, every time something changes in one of my siblings or my love lives, it's while my parents are overseas. Doesn't happen everytime my parents go overseas, but everytime there's a change in our love lives (emotional or official), it's while they're not in the country.

The tips of my forefinger and middle finger on my right hand are quite sore from all the hand sewing I've been doing. I have finished sewing the topmost binding on this corset, and one of the halves has had the cane inserted about a quarter of the way across. It'd be more, but I need to get the cane. The plan is to have it ready to wear on Friday. If I get the cane and lacings from Goldings on Marion St at morning tea, then I can thread the cane and maybe start the binding on the bottom at lunch, finish the bindings and be laced into it in the evening. Plenty of time. :)

thesane who does crazy amounts of handsewing and is the one who instructed me on how to make this thinks I'm mad. She's probably right.

There was an amusing incident in the lift at work at morning tea today. I was taking one half of the corset down with me to stitch the binding while chatting. Said conversation ensued:

Workmate S: Is that your blankie you're holding?
Me: No, it's half of a sixteenth century corset.

*stunned silence*
*guys peer over my shoulder to see*

Workmate S: Are you making it then?

Was asked multiple times why I was making it and what was it for. I tried explaining - once - that I'd started a costume from a book, changed my mind and was finishing the corset anyway, and would do another costume from a different time period, but gave up and just said it was for a costume. Which then prompted the question of would I actually wear it.

No, I'm just making it for the hell of it.

thesane said that's why she ususally does simple crossstitch at work.

I suppose I should really work out what I'm going to wear tomorrow and pack it into my gym bag. I probably shouldn't wear sandals, but I'm not certain I have any decent shoes that I want to wear in wet weather. I need to get my boots fixed.

Due to the fact that I start my new job in a couple of weeks (yay!), I went shopping this afternoon with maudlinrose and our flatmate C., and with their able assistance (read: orders), walked away with a variety of clothes.

First find, and already a favourite is a gorgeous pair of orangey pants (they're really nice) in a wool blend on special from Annah S. Since pants shopping was expected to be the hardest part of the day, this early success was promising. After going through Soho, where C. bought a top, Glassons, Fin, Max, Farmers and Shanton, I am now the proud owner of four new tops, one a white shirt, and three of them in shades of purple! Even though I'd deliberately worn things that were easy to take on and off, I was still pretty tired by the end of the day, and the first order of business when we got home was to lie down and have a nap! Or in my case, turn on the computer, chat to thesane for a bit, and then lie down and read a book.

C. was wonderful and checked the Wellington Public Library stacks for the Lorna Hill ballet books - we discovered last weekend that we'd all read and enjoyed them as children. There are now fourteen books by Lorna Hill in the house, all library owned, and we've been working our way through them slowly.

We bought salmon at our last grocery shop, kinda on impulse, and kinda because we thought it was going to be a cheap shop, and a treat like that would be fantastic. And it was. Salmon on a bed of kumara and potato mash with wilted spinach and leek. Mmmm. It was good.

To follow up all this effort, tonight I caught up on most of my mending. I sewed on three buttons and tacked up two hems. Unfortunately, the main things that need mending - the lining on a couple of my coats - I don't actually know how to mend. I shall ask the Bujold mailing list; someone there is bound to know.

Right now I'm just putting off the inevitablity of going to bed. I am rather tired and do want to go to bed to sleep; I just don't want to go now. Lace & Steel tomorrow night, and Earthdawn on Tuesday. Isthian and Maree have been fairly quiet this week. Earthdawn was cancelled last time due to GM illness, and Isthian is pretty much out of her depth. Very fond of the girl, but it's a real challenge playing someone with that type of limitation, since I'd rather try and fail, and it doesn't even occur to Isthian to try.

mashugenah and house_monkey think it's weird that my characters occupy a space in the back of my head where they tell their own stories. I shall muse on this further at some stage, but I think it's probably got something to do with the fact that I was a storyteller (in the writing sense of the word) first, and am accustomed to my characters (what some would call muses, I guess) occupying part of my head, and automatically expected my roleplaying characters to do the same thing, and so they did. Now, if only Miryam would make up her mind whether she wants to teach or assess teaching, and settle on either Japanese or Liaden manners (for a Christian Jew in Harry Potterverse), I would be a lot happier. As it is, she's annoying, and she might end up somewhere else, because I like her concept too much to lose her.

Many thanks to maudlinrose and C. who made the days shopping expedition much more organised, fun, and productive than it would have been alone. I'd've given up a couple of hours in by myself. Thanks, guys!