And we're back to Monday! Today I have to start work early, so that I can take off at 2 for my birthday on Wednesday. I wish I could afford to take the whole day off, but I need the PTO for Alaska.

Yesterday was a lovely day up til the end. We relaxed and took the dog out for a walk. And despite the people cleaning the sidewalks, he was very good. Then we had breakfast and watched Wake Up Dead Man. It was very entertaining, and I liked it, but it's probably third out of the Knives Out for me. It doesn't hurt that the first one was pandemic-beloved, and in the second, I really love Janelle Monae and Dave Bautista. I loved its themes about religion and the difference between Christ's teachings and the current, tainted version of Christianity. Josh O'Connor was great, and Daniel Craig was his usual self.

Then, we had dinner and took the dog out. That was my wrong turn. Since I broke my tailbone, I've been very careful about icy walkways. So I was walking the dog on the grass and fretting a little bit about not being able to see. Jess offered to take him across the street, and I agreed. Then, after they left, I felt a little silly. So I followed them. And promptly ate shit in the parking lot on an icy spot. I fell mostly on my ass, though my knee is a little pissed, so I must have landed there first. Today, I'm rather achy, but no permanent harm done, but goddamn, I felt stupid.

Today will undoubtedly be insane at work. I'm going to check with ALDI and see if they have some Bratwurst to have with our perogies. They have my favorite beer brats, but yesterday they were out of it. We'll see if it's back in stock today. That's a nice, easy dinner to make.

I still haven't decided what to have for my birthday dinner. I kind of want the Irish pub that we went to, and I kind of also want the really good Sichuan place near us. On one hand shepherd's pie. On the other, soup dumplings. Tough decision. Currently, I'm leaning towards Peking Duck and soup dumplings, but we'll see.

My sister took off all week, so that'll be fun. Hopefully, she'll keep her voice down while I'm on the phone. I want her to use her PTO, but she can be a lot. It means that this hour when I get up is going to be my only quiet until I go back to sleep, all week. I won't have an hour to sit with Jess at the end of the day. I will miss that. It'll be fine, but it won't be as chill as usual.

(I'm telling myself the week on the boat will be different, because there will be new things to see and do, and we won't all be up each other's asses the whole time--and if we are, that's a thing for future me to deal with.)

And on that note, time to start getting myself together for work. Everyone have a superb Monday!

It's a snowy Sunday and my asshole body decided that I should get up before 6 on my day off. So now I'm sitting in the living room with the tree on, watching the snow. I've always like the way snow deadens sound, so it's like a great hush falls o'er the land. We're only supposed to get a few inches, so this qualifies as a pretty snow, and one I don't need to go out in.

Yesterday was pretty good. Not long after I posted, I peeked on facebook, and a woman in one of my Holland America groups posted that she was able to book reservations for specialty dinners for her cruise in May. So of course I went and looked, and lo and behold, I found that ours were open too! I immediately made the two reservations I really wanted to get. Fortunately, both were available.

So on our Glacier Viewing day, we'll have the one I wanted most, dinner at the pop up Morimoto place. The menu looks amazing and I can't wait to try it. I've wanted to eat at Morimoto forever, so I'm very excited about it. That one I got for just 3 of us, since the BIL isn't a fan of Asian food. He's decided that'll be his night to go to the Casino while we eat.

The other one I grabbed was on the last night of the cruise. It's the Alaskan Seafood boil, which will include Dungeness crabs and shrim and maybe some other stuff in a white whine garlic sauce. I'm going to fuck it up. That's for all four of us.

It was a nice little hit of serotonin to start my day.

After that, I kinda chilled until we went to get our errands started at noon. First, a quick stop to pick up my meds, then off to pick out a wreath. The nursery we go to is very nice, with a decent selection. We found a very pretty wreath with striped red and white bow and small red baubles in it. It's very pretty and lovely without being too much. It fits the door well, though it was a real bitch to put up. We have a magnetic hook on our front door that has had no problem with any of our other wreaths. This one, not so much. It took two hooks to hold it. Which were fun to coordinate. But it's finally on our door and looking pretty. I will try to get a picture today to show you tomorrow.

Then, it was off to lunch. We went to Michael's Steak and Lobster house, which was as always, SO good. I ordered their Saturday special, which is a 16oz prime rib steak with a scoop of crabmeat and imperial sauce, then broil and make a moat around the steak for the au jus. It's one of my favorite things, though I never am able to eat it all at once. It's huge, plus you get two sides. It's a very old-fashioned restaurant, complete with 70's wood paneling and a bit painting of a Baltimore Clipper ship. It's 100% a throwback, and it's just comforting. Add to that the good food, and it's an easy place to go for a nice meal.

It's not too dressy, which was good. And with my steak having the au jus, that's a good thing, as I immediately dripped it on my shirt. (I am not a dainty woman).

Then it was home to relax and watch more of Hazbin Hotel. I finished the first season and am still loving the show. Can't wait to see what's going to come next. Next season will probably be in 2027, so that's a way off, so I'm not in a huge rush to watch all of Season 2.

I also ordered a little bit of booze, as we have none, and I'd like to be able to put some spiced rum in my cocoa today.

Then we walked the dog, then did our nightly Advent calendar booze. We skipped the wine calendar (which is fine, it has not been impressing). The whiskey calendar is much better. This is technically our second calendar, as the first, the Irish Whiskey calendar was only 12 days. It was so much fun that I bought a second, so we'll have it all through the Holiday season. We should be finishing right around Epiphany. They're just little miniature bottles, so it's like a mouthful per person--not a ton of booze.

Today, we're all going to snuggle up on the couches and watch Wake Up Dead Man. We may make it a Knives Out day and watch all three movies again, just for the hell of it. We'll see what time we get started. My sister ordered pop corn from the local Cinemark and we have cocoa mix and marshmallows. It should be fun.

Maybe I'll make some breakfast first. I could kind of go for a Dutch baby pancake. For now, it's time to plug my laptop in. We're down to 32%, so it definitely needs a charge. Everyone have a safe and warm Sunday!

It's Saturday! Yesterday ended up being blugh, thanks to a little stomach bug/general gastric upset. I spent the day vaguely nauseaous and running to the bathroom frequently and generally feeling icky. I cancelled my game and went to bed early, and so far, I seem to feel better.

I don't know how many of our errands we'll get through today, but we'll see. I definitely need to go to the pharmacy. Could push the dispensary to tomorrow if need be. I'd really like to get the wreath. My sister got a cheap light up from somewhere as a placeholder, and I kind of hate it. It's just plain faux evergreen with lights strung on it. The lights won't stay lit, so it's mostly just a ring of evergreen. Not to my taste. Lunch is the most periled item on the list. It's going to depend on how my stomach does today.

Jess has started rewatching Hazbin Hotel on the TV, which means I'm watching Hazbin Hotel. I've really been enjoying it. It's been fun, and has good music. And I'm a sucker for redeeming the bad guys. It's on Amazon prime, has two seasons of very short animated shows. Seriously, they're probably 20 minutes? It's really good and worth a watch.

Keith David (who I've loved since the Disney's Gargoyles days plays a drunk cat like thing named Husk who I adore. He has big slash vibes with the four armed porn star named Angel Dust. I keep seeing things about "we must save Keith David from this horrible show" online. In the meantime, he looks gleeful in recording and has plushies of his character that he makes kiss. It also has Stephanie Beatriz! Patrick Stump in season 2!

Aside from that, we watched a couple of ship videos, though I've mostly run out of them. I can't waait to add my video of the Pinnacle Suite to the list. We're down to 145 days and I can't wait. I want to proceed directly to my vacations!

I'm a little bit worried that this vacation won't live up to expectations. I've planned every inch of this trip, from the beginning to to end, and I want it to be awesome for my people (and me). I want it to be fun and relaxing and perfect, which I know isn't rational. Nothing can be perfect. There's going to be people and crowds and we're probably not going to get to do everything that I'm thinking about, thanks to physical limitations. I probably cannot spend 8 hours in Juneau doing it all. But we'll see how much we can get done.

Paraphrasing from Alton Brown, it won't be the Ultimate, or the Best Ever trip, but it will be my trip, and that's what I need to focus on.

Yesterday, I paid off said trip! We are 100% paid off. I think the only thing we have left to pay is the car back to Seattle and the hotel in Seattle. Other than that, everything was prepaid. I know there will be a hold on the card for the cruise, in case we buy booze or something like that, but otherwise, we're good. Pastries on the balcony are go!

Jess' present has landed in the US from Kiev! It's in Minnesota, with a scheduled delivery date of 12/16. My sister's is definitely not coming before Christmas, so I'll get her a little something else, though I have no idea what. Time to do some trawling on Amazon to find something good.

Okay, time for me to go forth and wake up. Everyone have an awesome Saturday!

It's (finally) Friday! Work hasn't been terrible this week, but it's definitely kept me busy. I don't know if my counterpart is off or if it's just been busy, but I've been getting a lot of emails with patients to call. I enjoy it, because it usually means I have a solution for their problem. Unfortunately, it's not always an optimal solution, so sometimes they aren't thrilled, but most will take it. Sometimes they don't accept, and that's frustrating. Especially the ones who initally say they'll go anywhere. Then you get them an appt at a site 20 min out of their way, and they say no. That just annoys me. We worked to get you a spot, and you don't value your health enough to use an extra hour of your day to go to it? These are all STAT orders!

I did ask my boss if I could come in 30 min early on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, so that I can leave 2 hours early on my birthday. This will allow me to go procure my cupcakes without dealing with dark and traffic. It's not that my sister wouldn't go for me, it's just that I like to go to choose my flavors. I'll probably end up defaulting to a snickerdoodle cupcake, but you never know. There might be something fun.

I've ordered the rib roast for Christmas. It's going to come next Thursday, which will give me a week to let it dry a bit, per Alton Brown. I'm going to try his recipe to see how it turns out. It looked pretty good on his TikTok. Add to that some nice garlic mashed potatoes and a Yorkshire pudding, and some other vegetable and we'll be good. I do need to get the kind of meat thermometer that you leave in the meat while it cooks, just for temperature control. And a turkey baster, which is apparently excellent for the Yorkshire pudding, since you need to retrieve a bit of pan drippings to add to the batter. Otherwise, it's basically a Dutch Baby without the egg, which I know how to make.

Today, we have work, then we shall go forth and have D&D. I'm up super early, so that's going to be a struggle, but I will manage.

For December, we've been opening Advent calendars. The Hallmark Wine advent has been pretty lackluster, but Master of Malt's Irish Whiskey advent calendar has been great. It's not full sized bottles, mind you. The wine is about two servings, split to three, and the whiskey is basically a shot, split to three little tastings. Sadly the Whiskey was only the 12 days of Christmas (we started early), so we've finished that last night. However, I ordered another type. 24 days of glorious booze. As my sister said, it's good that we don't have doctors appts soon for the "How oftern do you drink?" "Nightly!" Yesterday, we also opened the Pink Catawba wine from Mt. Hope Winery. I really have disliked the last two nights of Hallmark, so I needed a palate cleanser. That is wine I can get behind. Sweet and crisp and wonderful. The Catawba may be my favorite of their wines, and possibly my favorite white in general. No more whiskey til Tuesday, though. *sad face*

Tomorrow, I think we're going to go get my prescription, then get our wreath, then lunch. It's not supposed to snow until late, so that's good.

Maybe we'll drive up to Mt Hope next weekend, when I'm not still recovering from a Con. Get some Catawba, Niagra and some spirits. Their liquor is awesome, especially the coconut rum cream. SO freaking good! I would pour myself a shotglass and sip it during game.

Sunday, I have nothing planned. Just a quiet day. And I'm looking forward to that. Last weekend was awesome. I had so much fun at the con, it was great, but it was busy, so no real day of rest. Friday, we drove up. Saturday, we were at the Con, which was very physically demanding, and then Sunday, some con time, then driving home. The drive was about 4 hours each way. At least the drive home was in daylight. That made it a bit easier. Driving up, we hit twilight about 1.5 hours out, and I hated that. Especially since we kept seeing deer by the road. I was worried as hell about hitting one. But things went smoothly, so that was good.

We're at 146 days til the cruise and I'm starting to get excited again now that it's under 150 days. Everyone has their passports and the BIL's suitcase is arriving today, which is the last one to arrive. Camera is ready and we have extra batteries and SD cards. I need to order more socks, but I think I'm okay otherwise on clothes. We've got a ton of outlets, so that'll be fine.

I was thinking about the Neptune lounge and how we have a concierge for the Neptune and Pinnacle suites. I think I'll put in a standing order for a pot of coffee and some pastries every morning. And our free mimosa. Can't forget that. And then afternoon tea, of course. We'll want that.

Our suite has free bottled water and sodas as well as a coffee machine, but a pot would be easier. Plus, then I can get milk and sugar. We've got a dining room that seats 6, plus a balcony with four seats and a hot tub. I plan to take my coffee and pastry out there most mornings and watch the scenery go by. I'm already planning how spoiled I'll be when we get back, but it's all good.

First, we have a Philly weekend trip, though. We're going to go to the Zoo, and then come back at night for their holiday lights. We're meeting up with friends at some point, but I don't know when, judging from games. Maybe Friday night or Saturday after the Zoo.

Then, we have a little break, until April, which is a NYC trip to see the Lost Boys Musical with a friend. Then, the big one in May, and possibly a con later that month.

Okay, time to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have a stellar Friday!

First up, hey congrats, you survived Monday!

My monday was considerably more boring than the weekend. I pretty much only did work. Which was fine, busy, but not unpleasantly slow. I spent a good chunk of the day grabbing open slots and finding candidates for them. It's been a challenge, with lots of MRIs and no slots. I got two diagnostic mammos plus a kiddo in yesterday, which was nice.

My order arruved yesterday. I liked Yoda's portrait so much that I had ordered one for Boodle. It turned out adorable.



I immediately put her up and now she and Yoda bookend the TV. I love them.

I have a mystery package coming from China. I'm thinking it's my necklace, but it's coming from a technology company, so I have no clue. That's supposed to be here tomorrow.

I looked at my usual apps and discovered that we are at 149 days until the cruise! I know that's still 5 months, but it's creeping up.

I'm continuing to do research on our hotels. Or post-research, since I booked them before I really did in depth research. I'm watching videos of them and seeing how people's stays went. I'm actually excited about staying at both of them, but especially the one before the cruise. I look at our excursions and I just cant believe that this trip is real. It seems like such a fairy tale cruise. First class flight from Baltimore to Seattle. Pickup from airport in a luxury SUV and tour Seattle for 4 hours. Then, a lovely drive to Vancouver, and to the five star (boggle) hotel for two nights. 5 star? I felt out of place in a 4 star, the one time we did it! I don't know what a 5 star is like! We have a lovely day of exploring Vancouver, then the next morning we hop on the ship.

I really hope I like cruising after all this build up. I'm looking forward to sitting back in the chair and just watching the scenery unfold.

It's early in the season for too much wildlife, so probably no bears, too far south for moose. Hopefully we'll find some whales and maybe some seals and definitely bald eagles.

I just want everything to run smoothly. I think I've accounted for all the probabilities. My sister's passport has been approved, and should be here soon. Jess and I are good. I think the BIL has his in processing. It's starting to feel like it might happen.

I hope that I and everyone have a good time. I want things that I schedule to be good for people. Normally that's just Jess that I worry about. But this is going to be two more people! If it's like Disney, that lasted until we walked through the gates of Epcot on the first day. After that, I let it go. But for pre-planning, I'm awesome. This trip is my special interest, and I will make sure that everyone enjoys it.

My only real concern is how the sofa bed will be for my sister and BIL. I just want that to be okay for them, and the rest is good. I just want things to be fun.

Okay, time to get myself together and maybe shower. We'll see. I hope everyone has an amazing Tuesday!