padawansguide

It was sticky and hot yesterday, and I had to sit in the air conditioned bedroom upon arriving home from work in order to cool down and catch my breath. Yuck. I hate the heat. I used to love it as a kid, but now it's just miserable.

A part for one of M's gun builds came in yesterday, so he was busy with assembly when I came home. He left not long after to test the new bits at the range, so I had the house to myself most of the night.

I had an intense craving for mac 'n cheese, and I managed to whip up and excellent pot of it. I attribute the success to plenty of mustard powder and the fact that I was out of milk and had to use watered down cream instead.

M came home just as I had put the baby down for bed, so of course she woke up when she heard him come in. He ended up being the one to transfer her to her crib from the pack and play and get her down so I didn't have to do it. He was very chatty and excited about his successful build, so we sat on the couch as he told me all about it. I turned in at around 9 and was asleep by 9:30, which was desperately needed.

Had a lovely storm last night, which I only witnessed because the baby woke me up at 5. Thankfully she was cooperative this time, and went back to sleep pretty much right away.

First bout of morning sickness this morning. Hooray. I sure missed that, I tell you what.

koshka_the_cat

I cut out the halter pattern the other day and found I didn't have as much muslin as I thought. I had plenty for the halter though. I cut it as Poppy played with it and messed it up. Whoops.

I ordered more muslin, normal weight instead of the heavy weight I had, and I'm going to cut it out properly tomorrow. Small goal!

m_of_disguise

Yesterday was weird. I rode a rollercoaster of food cravings all day long - Schlotzky's sandwich! Donuts! Baked fish! Tiramisu! I'm having a terrible time with food right now. I'm ravenously hungry all the time, but everything I eat makes me nauseous, so I'm perpetually hungry and sick. I hate it.

I was completely exhausted from my short night of sleep and nearly fell asleep at work. Came home, mentioned my cravings to M, and he went out and got us some Schlotzky's sandwiches for dinner.

Baby went down fairly easily for the night, and I passed out on the couch not long after. M woke me up at 10:30 and I finally went to actual bed. It would have been a fine night of catchup sleep if the baby hadn't had one of her episodes where she woke up at 4AM ready to GO. It took nearly an hour to get her back down, and I was so tired afterward that I ended up sleeping through my alarm and M had to wake me up.

I've been off the Wellbutrin for a week or so now because of the pregnancy and I'm feeling it. I'm low all the time right now. I'm hoping that my regular OB will tell me that it's fine to go back on it once I see him, because this sucks and I hate everything.

Still not sign of maintenance. Coming up on 4 weeks of this nonsense.

koshka_the_cat

I've been waiting for summer for my eye appointment so I can get a ride so I can get my eyes dilated. (There's not enough time after work.) Then I realized staff development day is a week from today. I amazingly got an appointment for an easy day to miss at work.

Within a few months of getting these glasses my eyes got worse. The previous prescription only lasted a few months too. Ugh. Stabilize, eyes!

I'm so excited for the appointment. I'm so jealous of people who can just see.

m_of_disguise

The weekend was busy busy. Friday was fairly normal until M got fed up with maintenance flaking on us, and he cashed in some of his work reward points for a Lowe's gift card and bought us some window units for the bedrooms.

I don't know why he always does these things late at night, but he came home around 10pm with the AC units and since we had to install them that night or apparently doom would befall us, we ended up working until 1AM getting them put in. It had already been past my bedtime when he came home, so I was struggling by the time we were done. Of course, things would have gone faster if we hadn't had to do a massive rearrangement of the baby's room/office to get to the needed outlet.

You see, M's game shelf that has his entire collection on it had started falling apart, and two of the shelves actually collapsed a couple of weeks ago. Instead of taking all the games off of it right then, he sort of just shuffled things around and put it off. Well, the outlet we needed was behind the dying bookcase, so a large part of getting the AC installed in that room involved unpacking the bookcase, boxing everything up, and moving furniture around. It was chaotic and messy, and took forever.

Thankfully, the AC in our bedroom took much less time to install, and I was able to go to bed right afterward and pass out. Had a short night because the baby was up at her usual time.

But, at least we slept in a cool room!

Saturday was lunch with Liz since she was in town, which was lovely if brief. We went to a nearby Cracker Barrel, which was middling, and then we went to the antique mall up the street, which was fun to poke around in. I was completely exhausted, so we only spent about an hour in the mall before we headed back to the apartment. We spent some time chatting on the couch before her husband came to pick her up. The baby loved Liz and spent most of the time crawling all over her, so it was less me and Liz chatting and more Liz entertaining the baby.

Sunday was a very chill day. We had storms the night before, so we had gloriously cool weather. I set the fan in the open living room window to pull in some of the cool air, and took the opportunity to do some cooking for the day before it got too warm.

The baby was in an excellent mood and more than happy to keep herself entertained while I cooked. She went down for her nap easily, was super snuggly all day long, and was just in fine spirits. She hardly fought me at bedtime, too.

Of course, after she was in bed and I was ready to wind down for the day, M decided it was time to Do Work, so he finally got around to moving the boxes in the office back into the closet. It only took an hour or so to get done, but dammit, why do we have to do these things in the middle of the night?! AUGH.

Showered, went to bed, M wanted to chat, so I got to sleep way, way too late, and am on the verge of collapse myself today.

I just need rest. For the love of Zod.

koshka_the_cat

I cut out the halter pattern for the 30s seahorse. I really wanted to start this weekend, but I'm totally wiped. I have almost a month, and the old me always worked on things more after work anyway.

And I turned off the auto stop/start in my car today. I need to get muscle memory turning it off each time. It was nice not having it jerk to a start and sound like it's stalling when I stopped.

I just woke up from a nap. Hopefully next week is just normal exhausting.

koshka_the_cat

Another day in 2025, another protest.

koshka_the_cat

Random boring car observations after driving to the California border to get lottery tickets.

1. I have to turn off the feature where it locks your wheel and turns off at a light. The start up noise is unsettling and I don't like having no control of the wheel.

2. Things that are harder than a stick shift, keeping an even speed. You can't just get to the speed you want and it stays. It slows down. Smoothly taking tight corners. I'll learn, but the the clutch smooths it out. Stopping. Braking is fine, but I haven't mastered the actual stop without a little whiplash.

2. Easier. So far just stopped freeway traffic, but that still really sucked. I missed the exit I wanted, so went past the Strip and a huge construction project. I'm glad I did because it helped get the feel of the car.

3. The same. Everything else. Shifting is second nature and I like it, so normal traffic is essentially the same.

4. Much worse. Mileage. It's supposed to be 27/37 city/highway, but most of the time on the highway it was in the 17-25 range. Maybe it's breaking in? The average mileage since I've gotten it has been 25.5 mpg. The Fiat was usually 40+mpg on the highway. I've driven about 100 miles and used almost half a tank of gas, so unless something changes, it won't get me to LA.

5. Watching it shift is bizarre. The rpms are all over the place. This thing has to have 30 gears. It was weird watching the mileage go up and down with it too.

6. It's a very nice car, and I don't have any real complaints, except that I had to get it. And I wish it was a stick. I don't think of myself as a car person, but in a way I might be more of one than I thought because I never realized how much I felt the car driving. It's very weird.

I also got Android Auto set up. I already figured out how to use Bluetooth like in my Fiat, so it was low stress when I couldn't get it to work. It uses an outdated usb c to usb a cable. I tried the probably ten year old one I had, and got a connect phone meas. I tried a random one that probably came with something. It charged, and I got the connect phone message. I figured it was the cable, but looked it up and found something in the developer options needed to be changed. I changed it. Nothing. Then I went to Best Buy and got a cord. It thankfully worked.

I miss simple cars!

trailer_spot

The Roses    HD720p 35MB
Trailer for this British-flavoured remake of the dark divorce comedy The War of the Roses. Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch), successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing – as Theo’s career nosedives while Ivy’s own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites. Allison Janney, Andy Samberg, Ncuti Gatwa, Kate McKinnon, Sunita Mani and Zoë Chao are also part of the cast. Directed by Jay Roach (Bombshell, Meet the Parents, Austin Powers).

Hallow Road    HD720p 11MB
Tense thriller drama that predominantly takes place in real time in a car about two parents (Rosamund Pike, Matthew Rhys) who receive a distressing late-night call from their teenage daughter, who has just accidentally hit a pedestrian. They jump in their car, racing to get there before anyone else stumbles across the scene. As they head deeper into the night, disturbing revelations threaten to tear the family apart as they soon realize they might not be the only ones driving down Hallow Road.

28 Years Later    HD720p 30MB
A second trailer for the third, intense zombie movie set in the same world as 28 Days Later. It’s been almost 30 years since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, and now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist alongside the infected. One group of survivors lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single causeway. However, when one of them leaves on a mission, he discovers secrets that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors too. Cast members include Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell and Ralph Fiennes.
Reunites from the first film director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Sunshine, The Beach) and screenwriter Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Civil War). A short featurette in which the two talk about the film: HD720p 32MB.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps    HD720p 36MB
Full trailer for another superhero franchise reboot. Marvel's First Family (Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach) face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). Also part of the cast are John Malkovich, Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, Mark Gatiss and Sarah Niles. Directed by Matt Shakman ("WandaVision", "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia").
Still reminds me of the The Incredibles.

Another Simple Favor    HD720p 34MB
Trailer for the sequel. Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman. Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square. Andrew Rannells, Elizabeth Perkins, Henry Golding and Allison Janney are also part of the cast. Again directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Jackpot!, Spy).
Will start streaming on Amazon Prime May 1st. An earlier teaser: HD720p 22MB.

koshka_the_cat

I won the dispute for the stove!!! I just checked my credit card and there were no open disputes and they decided in my favor!!!

Eeeeeeeee!!!

m_of_disguise

Well, we had AC for about half a day yesterday. The maintenance man finally paid us a visit, and they were able to get it working so well that the AC was blowing at 48 degrees when cranked all the way down, which was amazing! But over the course of the day it started getting warmer and warmer, and by bedtime it was back to blowing warm. -_- We put in another call today, and this time they said they're replacing the entire compressor assembly, which...who knows how long it will take them to do that.

Before the AC went out again, we actually had a cooked dinner. M wanted breakfast for dinner, so it was bacon, sausage, eggs, and hash browns. I grazed while I cooked so didn't actually end up eating a formal dinner. A few hours later I had a baked potato.

Doctor's appointment on Tuesday went about as expected. Confirmed presence of bun in oven, set up appointment with OB, told me to get off all medications except my thyroid meds.

Slept miserably last night because I was roasting. Tomorrow is a holiday, so we have a three-day weekend, and I can't wait to sleep in. Lunch with Liz on Saturday. Going to attempt some sewing sometime this weekend. We'll see how it goes.

koshka_the_cat

We have a three day weekend

So. Needed.

koshka_the_cat

I successfully drove my car to and from work today. Typically, it rained this morning, so I really felt like I was driving on ice. I've always felt like automatics didn't really grip the road. Typical that it would rain and I couldn't even enjoy it. I usually like driving in the rain. It never rains here.

We started testing at work today. I hate testing.

The feeling that the world is crumbling makes every annoyance so much worse.

It's good that I got the car though. The salesman said they were expecting them to go up at least $5000

m_of_disguise

M drove the car around last night, but of course it wouldn't make the sound or anything once he was behind the wheel. He tried again later that night and still nothing, so who knows what my little misadventure was. Maybe I was dragging something and it dislodged itself just as I got home.

Picked up a couple of rotisserie chickens from Sam's on the way home, and we ate one of them with some baked potatoes left over from work. A decent meal, and no heat involved in the making of. Plenty of leftovers for tonight, too.

It was brutally hot yesterday in the house, and no relief until after the sun went down, a cool front came in, and we could finally open the windows. M and I both called the office and nothing came of it.

I was exhausted, so I went to bed at 9 and was asleep by 9:30. Unfortunately, the baby had one of her bad nights. I suspect it's because her room is the hottest in the house. It was 78 degrees in there overnight, which is insane when the outside temp was in the low 60s, but we can't open her window because it's the only window in the house without a screen on it. We cool it as best we can, but it's a losing battle.

Anyway, she was up at 11:30, and then again at 1AM, where she had full meltdown for a good hour before she exhausted herself back to sleep. She wouldn't go to sleep in the pack-n-play in our much cooler bedroom, either, so we were left wrestling with her until she finally gave up. She was back up again at 6:30. That time it only took 20 minutes to get her back to sleep, because I took her into the much cooler living room and let her rest on my chest while she cooled and calmed down. Of course, then it was time for me to get ready for work, so no more sleep for me.

Today's going to be rough.

koshka_the_cat

New car acquired. Dark blue Subaru Impreza.

Friday, I wouldn't have expected Monday to be like this. And automatics are weird.

m_of_disguise

Went home during lunch like usual. M said he didn't have any work today, so instead of watching the baby I did a whirlwind of chores, changing the baby, cleaning the cat boxes, taking out the kitchen trash, and making the baby lunch. I actually got out of the house on time for once.

Not that it mattered, because just down the street as I was heading back, there was a loud POP from the car, like a balloon popping, and suddenly the car sounded like it was dragging something. I was so close to home that I just turned around and headed back. There wasn't anything hanging underneath the car, so the scraping sound must have been something internal. Hooray.

Feel like I just can't win this year.

m_of_disguise

Called the apartment office's as soon as they opened on Friday in hopes of getting first dibs on the maintenance guy, and finally, finally, he showed up! Unfortunately, his repair did fuck all, and it was still warm in the house when I got home. The AC was also making this whirring noise every couple of minutes that sounded like a lawnmower trying to start. I walked over to the office and plonked myself down there until they called the maintenance guy to the office, and he went back to the apartment with me to recheck the unit. Turns out that all he did that morning was recharge the freon, he didn't actually repair anything.

This time he took off something and replaced something else. The whirring continued, but cool (not cold) air was blowing, so we crossed our fingers and hoped the house just needed time to cool down.

By the next morning it was clear the AC was once again borked. It was now blowing room temp air and the whirring had stopped. M thinks the sound was some part trying to come on that ultimately failed. So now they need to replace even more parts. We left maintenance messages on the emergency line and never heard from them.

Saturday I woke early and got a little bit of work done on the red bodies. I managed to get half the boning put in before the baby woke up, so there was some decent progress. In the afternoon I went to a late lunch with my sister. It was good to catch up, and we both had drama to catch each other up on.

Because it was too hot to cook, we picked up some fast food for dinner. Caught part of The 10 Commandments, which made me happy because it's one of my favorite movies. The sets! The costumes! The chewing of scenery! Everything is so lavish!

The night was stupidly warm and I barely slept. The baby was up at the crack of dawn, so I was a zombie the entirety of Sunday, pretty much planting myself on the couch in front of the fan and trying not to melt. I napped while the baby napped.

M went out with friends to go see a movie in the evening. Baby and I ate cheese and fruit for dinner, and then I put her down in her pack-n-play in our bedroom since it was cooler than her own room. The rest of the evening I just watched TV and tried not to sweat. M came home just as I was getting ready to shower and turn in.

Called the office again this morning so hopefully we'll see maintenance come by sometime today. So tired of this.

Doctor's appointment tomorrow. M had a minor freakout last night about having a second kid, not because of finances but because of how much more time two kids would need. There are still a lot of unknowns, so we're still talking things through.

koshka_the_cat

Dealerships were closed today, but we went and looked at a car anyway. I hate how few manuals are available now and it looks like I'm going to go with an automatic. Sigh.

And last night, around 2, a car came screeching down the street and there was a loud crash. Today I looked for what it hit--it took out a garage at the end of the street. Yikes. I hope no one was too badly hurt.

art2love

I think expressing your emotions through watercolor, is sort of like keeping a journal. Instead of writing in words, you paint in pictures.

I painted these two in the last couple of days. Tired of winter and hoping for spring? Maybe it's just been a hard couple of days, since I'm having another hip replacement surgery in a few days. Maybe it's just not that simple.

Current Mood: contemplative

koshka_the_cat

I took my car for service yesterday. A big milestone one. I approved the regular stuff for 40,000 miles. They did it, and then looked for other stuff and found two axels and three engine mounts that need to be replaced. That's more than the car is worth, so I said no. But, since they did the service first, standard procedure, I had to pay for that. I may as well have set $1400 on fire.

You know they do it that way because people would decline the service if the other repairs were too expensive. I'm always going to ask for the inspection first, and then approve whatever.

And because of the effing tariffs, I have to figure everything out basically yesterday.

It is nine years old, which is longer than most people keep cars, but I had my last one for almost 16 years. I keep stuff. Sigh.

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So...

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Eyes

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Progress!

No kings

Car stuff

The Roses, Hallow Road, 28 Years Later, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Another Simple Favor

Eeeeeeee!!!

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Thursday Friday

Things

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thud

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Part 2

Expressing your emotions...

Sigh

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December 2017

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