InsaneJournal

Current mood:	over-worked
Current music:	SGA :: Infection
Entry tags:	babble, cats, fandom, lso, state of me

my life as a hermit crab :: I'm hangin' in there (see below); how are y'all doin'?!
So, brief personal update time, way overdue, compliments of an IM poke by the amazing celli.

BOUDICA - my computer, that is, is getting older. She stopped working suddenly a couple weeks ago and I had a brief melt-down. At the local 'puter store the next day, I special-ordered a new battery (because, yeah, that's what was wrong) and was advised to try running her on her power cord but with the (bad) battery removed. Which worked - yay! - so, I haven't been without computer during that time. The battery came in earlier this week, I picked it up, and today I went looking for it to install it. And then I spent about three hours *looking* for the (of course, lost) battery before giving up and starting to sit down ... and my eyes wandered across the room as I sat and spotted the battery in its shipping box sticking out of a basket. *rolls those eyes* At least I got some housecleaning (aka organizing/decluttering) done during those three hours of searching. And Boudica's keyboard is *still* haunted - or maybe insane. Hail Eris, Hail Discordia...

Household stuff - the housecleaning (aka organizing/decluttering) mentioned above is an on-going project, actually a continuation of my oft-thwarted Spring Cleaning '98 that was interrupted multiple times by my cascading domino effect of variously debilitating illnesses. (Yes, last month was the 10th anniversary of my first getting sick. Messes with yr head, that does.) My friend K has been coming over on Saturdays for the past couple months to help me clean/organize - sometimes just to help my ADD self stay on track with the work. When the organizing is over (including much tossing of stuff - over 30 garbage bags so far), there will be a massive housecleaning-type thing (carpet shampoo-ing and scrubbing of corners and dust-busting of walls, etc). And then (hopefully) KITTIES!!! Because the place was (and currently still is) just too messy and stacked with boxes of books and catalogs and magazines and papers and other stuff... where was I? oh! ... too messy to inflict on new kitties.

New kitties - I've taken in a cat abandoned by neighbors who moved ... I've accepted a kitten from a friend's (aunt's) cat's litter ... I've kept kittens from my own cat's litter ... I've taken in abandoned/stray kitties ... and I even inherited one cat as the result of a broken marriage. But I've never gone out and deliberately picked and chosen between available kitties. Even though there's still a bit of time before it'll happen, I find myself intimidated by the notion. I mean - there are bunches of homeless kitties around you, how can you choose just one (or, actually, two in my case)?! Can I just tell 'em I'll take 'em all? Can I???

Family - auntie Helen is still in hopsital. She's having a hard time. Even at 89, she's always been stupendously active, but several weeks of being confined to bed (and getting an infection, probably from some hospital source) have really debilitated her. I'm an expert on that whole inactivity leads to debilitation thing, btw, since my myriad illnesses have knocked me off my feet more than anything else during the past 10 years. I'm still trying to rebuild stamina and muscle-tone from the last 2-3 times it happened. Anyway, we're still dealing with day-to-day changes in auntie Helen's status, we're not sure exactly when she'll be released from hospital, or how long she'll be in the nursing home facility, or even if she'll ever be able to move back to her independent living apartment or be staying at the nursing home. It's very ... freaky and disconcerting. Especially for LSO.

Family, continued - LSO is rather creaky and arthritic-feeling. She's also having a resurgence of her sciatica *and* a lot of pain in her hands/arms from using a cane. I'm not sure if she and I are more freaked out by auntie Helen or by her own debilitation. Sadly, we're used to me being all pathetic and inactive. Anyway, as a child of the Depression (or at least of Depression era parents), LSO has always been rather neurotic about money, so on top of her physical ailments, she's totally freaked out by the current state of the economy. If I could figure out a way to keep her from checking out the state of the stock market, I so would. But since she's in her apartment upstairs and I'm down here most of the time, I don't have a chance of it. All I can do is try to stay calm and talk reasonably about options - and occasionally irritate her with my mantra of take a deep, calming breath ... now another ... there, doesn't that feel better? If only she'd really *take* a few deep calming breaths from time to time, she'd be in much better shape. And speaking of things that send LSO 'round the bend...

The Weather, she is taunting us - cold. So veryvery cold. OMG cold. And snow. On top of ice. I'm verging on being frozen into the garage (and unable to roam about) *already* and it's still only mid-December. Talk about looking "forward" to a long cold winter. ::major frown-y face:: In close second place to $ in the freak-out-LSO list is definitely The Weather. And, geez, it's still only mid-December. ::repeats frown-y face::

Miscellany 1 - auntie Helen went into the hospital; the next morning, the amazing Jungian Judith (my shrink) called to let me know she'd be out of town on a family emergency. Her mum was in hospital after a stroke and not expected to survive. So, it's been two weeks since I've had my head shrunk and I'm holding up surprisingly well - but only because I know she'll be back soon. In fact, I need to return her phone call from t'other day when I was out and she'd gotten back in town and wants to confirm my appointment for Monday.

Miscellany 2 - am still looking for ideas of what to be when I grow up - send clues.

Miscellany 3 - there *was* a Miscellany 3, but now I can't remember it. I seriously want a nice crab dinner. Or maybe lobster. And a horse. Not to eat. I've fallen in love with the Gypsy Vanner (see icon). Oh! and a puppy. And a nice big colorful aquarium. And a housekeeper. And a swimming pool - or at least an exercise pool. And a personal trainer. And a few million dollars. And a big ol' house (or school or inn or something) to use alternately as a Pagan Community Center and a Fandom Mecca. And the structure to put my library in - every book with its own place on a shelf. And... I should stop before I totally demoralize myself.

Pagan life - very quiet. My friend K, she of the house project, is a fellow solitary eclectic but also acquainted with much of Chicago area pagandom. That's my pagan socializing these days. Maybe, if the weather stabilizes, I'll try going out and meeting people again. It's been long enough since the last time I did that that most of the pagan Chicago scene has had a major turnover. And right now I'm kinda involved with working in the house. Apartment. Whatever. But once that's done, omg, I may be able to actually have company again. Oooh, maybe a dinner party or something? (Note: the bit about socializing is also applicable to Fandom life.)

Fandom life 1 - fannish socializing - see Pagan life above. I've been *very* out of touch with lj and the flist lately. Stress makes me read fanfic (it's my teddy-blanket) and things have been rather stressful lately. Plus, I keep trying to trim or at least organize the flist - and end up, every time I try that, adding more friends. *shakes head sadly* I have no trouble *keeping* things - and way too much trouble letting things go. There may be a life lesson there.

Fandom life 2 - omg, those bastards cancelled my show! *WAILS* I'm incredibly upset about the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis - haven't been this upset since they canceled Buffy. And Firefly. And Brisco County Jr. And My So-Called Life. And Joan of Arcadia. And Highlander. And Cleopatra 2525 (I loved that show - don't you dare judge me, all you reality show watchers you!). And ... no, seriously, I find the cancellation of SGA to be incredibly upsetting, near or at the top of the list. At least I can console myself with Burn Notice and Criminal Minds and Psych and Bones and ... well, and so on and so forth.

Fandom life 3 - omg - Christian Bale as John Connor. Be still, my heart. OMG. ::hyperventilates::

Last minute thoughts - Tomorrow K will be back for Project Household. Maybe Sunday as well. So it'll be a few days before I get back on the computer again. But, um, I'm gonna stop now. I wanna read some fanfic before my work weekend starts. And SGA is on. Only three more eps after tonight. *sob* Now, Sanctuary is okay, I especially like all the long hair a certain SG1 actress has been reveling in and am riveted by the lovely Christopher Heyerdahl doing the psycho thing. I'm liking his crazy self a little bit too much.

Meme-ish offer - ask me a question and I'll try my best to answer. Or at least do something to try and distract you from my *not* answering.

[ cross-posted to Djinanna @ CJ, DJ, IJ, JF, & LJ via Semagic - woohoo! ]