National Sandwich Day!

Mood:

This was yesterday. Kind of a vague sounding holiday...There are so many different types of sandwiches out there. My current fave is a pretzel roll with honey smoked turkey, Colby Jack cheese, sliced pickles, and honey mustard. Sometimes I have a peanut butter and nutella sandwich on French or sourdough bread. It's good, but it has a heavy/rich flavor. Peanut butter and pickles in a sandwich is good too. That one can be surprisingly refreshing.Today's National Candy Day. Another vague one. Seems like it would have been more relevant on Halloween...

This is my wallpaper for November. It features Tsuna and his Guardians from Hitman Reborn. Tsuna's in the middle, Chrome is on the far left, Ryohei is 2nd from the left, Gokudera is on the other side of Tsuna, Yamamoto is on the far right, and Hibari is on the top far right corner. Chrome normally has a skull on her eye patch. The only other type of eye patch I've seen on her in the series was a white hospital one. She lost that eye in an accident. I looked up 忠, and it means faithful or devotion. I'm not at that level yet, so I haven't seen it before. I knew the radicals/parts 中 and 心, though. 中 means middle or center, 心 means heart or mind. So, it makes some sense. She is devoted to both Tsuna and Mukuro. Sometimes that conflicts...She sometimes turns into Mukuro while fighting. (Or, more accurately, he takes over her body while he's locked up in prison for a good chunk of the series. Ends up looking like him, too.) So, in a way she's like 2 Guardians in one. I don't see too many wallpapers with Ryohei in them, so that's cool. Makes sense to have Hibari slightly away from the group. He hates crowds, and tends to do things on his own. Tsuna's in Hyper Dying Will Mode. Otherwise, he'd probably be smiling. I like that their eyes correspond to the color of their flames. Overall, it gives off an interesting feel. Kind of a cool one for my birth month.

My Paris calendar features Marais. Marais gives off a medieval Paris feeling, having more pre-revolutionary buildings and streets intact than any other area in Paris. After the revolution, most of the area was abandoned by the rich, and the neighborhood filled up with poorer residents. The small, crooked medieval lanes have bars, restaurants, hotels, fashion boutiques, trendy shops, bread and pastry shops, wine shops, art galleries, and museums all crammed into one small area. 

My Jewish calendar's main pic's of a tapestry, unknown maker, made out of silk and cotton, Kashan (?), Persia; 1900-1950. They're not exactly sure if it was from Kashan or not. Cool to see a Jewish Persian tapestry. There are a 10 blurbs around the edges written in Hebrew. They might be the 10 commandments. (We really have 613. But, these would be like the first 10.) There's also some interesting scenes in the middle with more Hebrew scattered throughout. The 2nd pic's of a collection plate, anonymous maker, made out of silver, Dordrecht, Netherlands; 1590-1611. We don't usually have collection plates...Especially not on Shabbat. We're not supposed to handle money during that time, so it'd be really odd if they used this during Shabbat services. Maybe for other times during the week. For when people wanted to donate? (Maybe they couldn't send it in any other way?) Can't really make out the scene that's etched out in the middle, but it looks cool. Interesting to see such an old one, too. The last pic's of a Torah crown, made by Jacob Hendrik Helweg, out of silver and gilt, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 1883. This one's pretty impressive looking. It's large, has lots of holes where bells dangle from, and has an interesting pattern/design. Nice that they have another pretty old thing, that they know exactly who made it, and exactly what year it was made in. There's usually not that many specifics. Nice to see.

The month-long holidays are: National Peanut Butter Lovers Month, National Pepper Month, National Pomegranate Month, National Novel Writing Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun.

Rosie's been on the mend still since my last post. She's gotten a lot better, but is still having difficulties. I'm starting to see her eating and drinking. Finally!Her personality is coming back. That spunky sort of attitude she has. She's also exploring things again. (I like to call her a little scientist, since she has to test and see how everything works.) She's throwing up a little less each day. Since she was so sick for a while, it was hard to clean herself up once she felt better enough to do so. She had a nasty/smelly butt that I noticed during the late afternoon on Monday. I tried to help her out by using a damp paper towel and wiping her with it. Didn't do much. 

Later, Dad suggested that I should give Rosie a bath. I was reluctant because we didn't have their shampoo (a while back I threw out a 10 or 15-year old bottle of pet shampoo, thinking it was too old to use. I still think it was), and thought Rosie would cut me up. Unlike Tasha, she has her claws. We've never given her a bath. A little while later, I agreed to it. I filled the tub up a bit (enough for her legs to go under, but her face could be out of it), and with a little coaxing from Dad Rosie went into my bathroom. She's normally very curious about the shower/tub when I leave the door open while taking a shower. Usually as soon as I run the water, she walks away from the tub, but watches from a distance. When we put her in, surprisingly, she seemed to really like it. (Liked it so much, she became very loose and relaxed pretty quickly.) I only used the water to clean her. At least, it would help her get the main nasty stuff off, and then she can do the rest of the cleaning herself. I cleaned her butt and other areas as best I could. She acted like I was her mom licking her butt clean or something.I'm starting to notice that she really does think of me as her mom. I knew she was close to me, but wasn't sure about being a mother figure to her until now. When she felt like she had enough time exploring, and I was basically done washing her, she tried to jump out of the tub herself. Didn't work out too well. So, I grabbed her, picked her up, and set her down on the towel I had put down around there. She didn't protest. (I don't pick her up that often.) The only time during the whole ordeal she did protest was when I was in the middle of drying her off. (And, it was vocal. She didn't use her claws. Which, I think, is another sign.) She apparently wanted me to let her go and dry herself off. I let her go with some patches still being slightly wet, thinking she'll just clean/dry the rest of it herself. And, she did. Her fur looked a lot nicer, too. Kind of fluffier.Should make it easier for her to clean herself back there, anyways. She seemed happier afterwards. 

Went to our friends' anniversary/Halloween party on Halloween. It was their 40th anniversary. A big one, and definitely worthy of a celebration.They really were married on Halloween, but the ceremony (I think) was on November 1st. Halloween is one of their favorite holidays. I've known them since I was about 7 or 8. Around that time, they also started inviting us to Thanksgiving, Passover seders, and New Year's Eve parties at their place. Occasionally, they'd have a Hanukkah party. I have a lot of good memories of those dinners.I met a lot of people through them, too. There's usually quite a lot of people who go to their Passover seders. New Year's Eve usually has very few people, and Thanksgiving varies each year. They know a lot of people...And, almost everyone that they invited to this event came. Only 2 of them didn't. One was going through surgery, and I think the other's mom had something happen to her. That's understandable. I knew a good majority of the people that showed up, too. Some I haven't seen in years.

They had it at a place called the Farm Kitchen. The main building is huge. Which was perfect, considering how many people showed up. It was catered by them, too. The couple said in place of gifts, people could bring something for the Humane Society. I thought that was cool. I saw the area where they put the stuff, and there was a ton of food, blankets, and treats. 

They said costumes would be welcomed, but were optional. It felt like not many people were in costume. Many were in Halloween-themed clothes, though. Like, Jack-o-Lantern shirts, or with black and orange colors. I got a lot of compliments for my punk cat costume.And, even the wife of the couple said that it kind of went with the theme of helping the Humane Society. Yay! Someone said I should wear the cat ears year round, because they looked so nice on me. I don't know about that...Maybe for Purim? It's another holiday where people dress up in costume. They thought the fingerless gloves with silver paw pads were cute, and really made the costume, as well as my 'collar'. One of the caterers working the drinks area said I looked like a really nice cat. 

There was only one bad part of the night for me.Someone who I've known for a while, and has helped me a bit in the past, saw me towards the beginning and decided to sit with Dad and I. I thought that'd be nice since she's usually pretty friendly. Anyways, we talked for a while. We just so happened to be standing near Dad, and I was backing up towards my chair. I was getting tired of standing, and was thinking about sitting. She turned toward me and said something to the effect of: "I know your father is here, but you don't have to stand near him. I know my daughter's like you, and you feel you need to stay around a man. You need to find a man. You know, have you tried looking at okcupid?" She said a few more things, but I responded with a 'huh?' and 'I have tried okcupid'...Kind of like an automated response. It just surprised me so much.I finally sat down after that. 

There were so many things wrong with what she said. She emphasized 'father' and said it rather loudly. I was referring to her as parent while I was there. I'm actually starting to like that more, especially while out. Even with people we know. Even at home I don't say 'father', I say Dad. Father seems worse for some reason. Secondly, referring to her with the wrong pronoun is disturbing to me. Especially for someone we know...And, basically saying she was a man also got to me. Thirdly, I'm not your daughter. And, if you treat her like that, then I feel sorry for her.She later grabbed me and said things to me like: "She's like my daughter! I'm like her only mother figure!" That was one of the many last straws. I ripped away from her, and said in a calm manner: "No. Get off of me. Don't touch me. I don't know your daughter, and you are definitely not a mother figure to me." And, I walked away from her for a bit. Also, I do not 'need' to find a man.That was incredibly sexist to start off with. She didn't even know if I was straight, for one thing. For all she knew, I might have been lesbian or asexual. I am straight, but saying I 'need' a man is still not acceptable to me. Plus, this would also seem to hurt a guy I would be dating if he heard this too. It makes a lot of assumptions on them, as well. Basically talking about them like they're piece of meat, too. What if I hated okcupid? She didn't believe me when I told her I've tried it before. She said I should go back to it. She also tried to pressure me into going to services with her on the 14th at the synagogue she used to hate, and she knows I don't really want to go back to. It was all just too much. So, I unfriended her on facebook, and blocked her on my phone. She also told me she may be a bit tipsy. I'm sorry, but that's not an excuse.

I'm starting to get an 'I don't give a fuck' kind of attitude if people mess with me too much. I rarely swear, so my apologies...If you're nice and kind to me, I'll treat you that way. I'm always polite and nice when I meet people for the first time. I make it a point, because I tend to think positively about people until they mess with me. (You never know what that person has gone through, and being treated with respect and kindness can lift them up.) If you mess with me like the person above, I'm just going to give up on you. Just lose most contact with you, become distant, etc. Because I don't need that. No one does.It's too much energy to keep up 'appearances' when it's like that. If you pressure me too much to do something, I'm not going to care what you think and turn you down. (Just like trying to pressure me to go to someplace I'm not interested in for services...) I'm also not going to try to explain myself to someone like that anymore. I've already taken a lot of toxic people out of my life, and it feels good. I've found some amazing people in place of them since. Just realized that that actually kind of goes with the attitude of my costume. And, I kind of like punk stuff. Just haven't delved much into it.

Besides that little interaction, I had an amazing time there. And, interestingly, I didn't feel much about how she treated me (once the shock ebbed away) and just stayed away from her most of the time. I didn't feel up to talking in front of everyone in the room during the toast, so I caught up with the wife of the couple. I said what I wanted to tell her and her husband, and she was appreciative. Looked like she was about to cry, too. She gave me a big long hug, and some homemade soap. It had a scene of bats flying around a sunset. It was very sweet of her, but neither Dad or I liked it...It's the thought that counts, too. Got into some political debates about the election. We all had similar sides to it, so I guess it was more just talking about it. Met someone who had recently been diagnosed with a rare blood disease. Surprisingly, we had a lot in common with what we were going through. That was a nice talk, too. The couple's nephew also talked to me a bit. He was, I think, the closest in age to me. He's in his early 20's, though. Very nice guy. 

A couple of the women from the synagogue I like a lot more chatted with me, too. When one of them found out about my first novel being published, and the second one about to be, she was raving about it with everyone else on that side of the room. The other person was surprised and proud of me. She also asked: "So, what's your secret?" I was confused. She said that I looked amazing, and how did I lose so much weight in such a short amount of time. I told her the basics of what helped me. But, I didn't tell her that recently it's been partially because of my IBD. That wouldn't have been such a positive thing...And, I wouldn't want anyone to have this. She was one of those people that I thought never had issues with her weight, but she might have been struggling recently with it. Or, maybe she was struggling a lot with it before, but it didn't seem like it. Everyone that night kept telling me I looked amazing, and that I must have lost a lot of weight. It felt nice and weird at the same time. 

The only hors d'oeuvres I could really eat were these little coin-shaped cheese and garlic puff pastries. They were a bit odd, but good. They also had 'eye balls', which were grapes encased in some sort of cheese and covered with nuts. Something that didn't sound appealing. They also had 'mummies'. They were hot dogs in a blanket. They looked good, and I asked one of the caterers if they had pork in them. She told me she'd check, and towards the end she found out they did. Good thing I didn't have them then. The dinner part was a bit weird. They had salmon with what seemed to be tzatziki sauce with cucumbers on top. It didn't taste much like tzatziki sauce, though. There was a kale salad with bleu cheese crumbles and pecans. Sounded really good, but was kind of tough to eat. They had brisket that was slightly underdone. They had a pumpkin pudding thing that didn't look that great. Their bread sticks, and potatoes were really good.Each table had some Halloween candy, too. So, that was good. Dessert was pretty tasty. It was like a dark and white chocolate tart with raspberry sauce spooned over part of it. I think they're known for their pastries more, and it was definitely one of the best things they served. 

There was also a live band. They started playing after the dinner stuff was cleared away. I was drawn into it by someone. She danced like crazy, and was sweating a few minutes into it. The music was super loud, and many people had a tough time talking because of it. I hadn't been to a dance like that in a long time, but even I thought it was too loud.Many people went outside to talk, or near the entrance, while this was going on. 

Had an eye exam in the late afternoon yesterday. I'm near-sighted, and even with my old contacts, the chart from far away kept blurring out of focus. I occasionally couldn't read the top line. That's usually really huge. It was frustrating.With the chart up close, I could read the smallest line rather easily. The exam lasted close to an hour and a half. She had to dilate my pupils to really check for things. First time I've had that done in a long time. It really burned at first. Got more of the solution in my left eye, so that was in the most pain. I liked her a lot more than the one I was going to have last month, and the one I had last year. She actually listened to me, and was pretty thorough. Last year, they told me that both my eyes were the same prescription. This year, they both need different and more stronger ones. She was able to give me one sample that would be the closest in prescription for my left eye. They didn't have the right one. I also have astigmatism, so it's a bit more difficult to find samples for them. So, my right eye has the old contact in it from before. I think I can see better even with just one of them close to being corrected. It doesn't feel like one is overcompensating for the other or something. No headache with it, and that's a sign that it would be. 

Afterwards, someone really stressed me out. I've been told by my gastroenterologist and read on the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation's site, that I should limit my stress. (The CCF's site was recommended to me by my gastro, so she apparently trusts them, too.) The more stress I have, the more likely my symptoms will get worse. The 'disease' itself won't, but my body's response to it will. So, it can physically hurt me. Even if I was in remission, they said it could still wreak havoc. (It's worse if I'm not, though.) Lo and behold, I've been having issues today with it. It was just the cherry on the other stressful things lately...

Since it was so late, we decided to go out to Red Robin for dinner. I got one of my faves, the Arctic Cod Sandwich. It's usually really good. Has a couple of fried fish fillets, lettuce (I think 2 different types), pickles, and tartar sauce on a sesame seed bun. I got their special garlic and parmesan steak fries. The sandwich came out very cold. I thought it was my imagination until I actually felt the bun. (It's such a big sandwich, I usually have to use a fork and knife.) It felt like it had just come out of a refrigerator.The fries were really good. I had about 1/3 of the sandwich. I told the waiter, who later told the manager, about it being cold. They suggested getting another one, but I thought that would have been too much food for me. So, they discounted it by taking $5 off. Roughly half of that meal. That's good. They said they were having issues with 2 different parts of their kitchen. The fish sandwich doesn't take too long, but the burger that Dad ordered takes longer. So, essentially mine was sitting there while the other one was being made.I took the leftovers home, thinking I could just heat it up when I have lunch or brunch the next day. So, that wasn't too bad a thing. 

My birthday is this Saturday. Yay!I was thinking of going to a local brunch place called the Oak Table. It's usually very good. We, as a family, have liked it in the past. And, most of my friends I know that have gone there love it, too. I remember their food being really big, though. I'll just have more to eat at another meal! They're rather impressive looking, too. After that, I hope to go see a movie. Just not sure what. I think the new bond movie's out, so that might be a contender. I looked a bit for local events and such online. There's a salmon run event. That seemed interesting. Most of the other things were either art galleries or 'holiday' bazaars/fairs. I say 'holiday', because they mainly have Christmas things. If there are other holiday stuff (like for Hanukkah, as an example), it's usually an afterthought. I wouldn't mind if they called it a Christmas Bazaar/Fair. That's at least telling you what it really is...Anyways, I might look at the list one more time to see if I missed anything.

I've also gotten back to being more strict about my eating this week. It's a bit easier to check how many calories I've really had with seeing it on the My Fitness Pal's app. My preferred amount of calories is 1200-1600. The lower end being the best. I've had My Fitness Pal set to 1800, and that's the most I'll allow myself. But, that's more than I prefer. The default amount of calories on is 2000, but I like that you can move that around. Most of the time it tells me, at the end of the day, that I didn't fulfill my calorie intake for the day. I think there's only been 1 or 2 days where it was at or over 1800. I'm also getting back to my sit-ups. I'm doing 20 twice a day this week. Hopefully I'll get to my walks soon, too.

Pumpkin Day!

Mood:

This was yesterday. I used to hate any dish that had to do with pumpkins. I would even steer clear of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. For some reason, I slowly started to like it over time. I seem to have changing tastes as I age. Used to love mushrooms, now I can't stand their texture. (The flavor's still fine.) I also used to hate cheesecake, until I tried some at summer camp. Anyways, maybe I finally had a good slice of pumpkin pie or something.Now, it's the only squash I'll eat. Who knows, maybe that'll change in the future. I find some of that pumpkin spice stuff (especially the Starbucks latte) kind of fake. Doesn't taste as 'authentic' as the real thing. Although, I found a nice pumpkin spice tea that's made with actual pumpkin in it. It's a heavy flavor, but good. (Kind of like drinking pumpkin pie, only without the calories...) It was also Pretzel Day and Mincemeat Pie Day. I've always liked pretzels and mincemeat pie. I was perplexed by the name of the pie before I tried it. I've heard other people hate it with a passion, and people warned me that it's an 'acquired' taste. I don't see why.It's a fruity/buttery/spice mix of things in pie form, essentially. What's wrong with that? The original pie, I've read, did have meat in it. But, the modern version doesn't. Today's National Potato Day. I absolutely love potatoes!Could probably eat them with every meal. 

Good news! I'm back on my insurance plan. Yay!Found out on Friday. So, knowing I still had to get a blood draw this month, yesterday I went to the lab to have it done. Apparently, they didn't have the order in from my gastroenterologist. She put it in at the end of last month, like she did the previous month. They didn't even have her name in my records. This was a little unsettling...They did have my primary's name, but that was it. They called my gastro's office about it all, and told me to come back tomorrow to try it again. Interestingly, there were 2 lab techs there, instead of the usual one. Maybe one of them was in training? 

While I was there, both Dad and I decided to get our flu shots. We checked-in with the front desk, filled out some paperwork, and waited for the nurse to come get us. We saw the people at the front desk clear out and close their booths. So, after waiting a little longer with no one coming to get us, I saw a sign about the flu shots and when they were being done. We had checked-in at about 4:45pm. The sign said they stop doing them at 5pm. By the time I looked at that sign it was already 5:02. So, I went back to the lab to see what we should do. They said to keep the forms, and get that done tomorrow, as well. So weird, though. They shouldn't have checked us in and given us paperwork to fill out, if no one was there to administer them...It's a waste of time that way. 

I also sent an email to my gastro about it all last night. Just as another heads up. I thought even if just her team gets it, it should be good. She was pretty quick at responding. Last time I tried to email her, I got one of her nurses. But, this went directly to her. I like when it's a direct thing. The go-between can mess things up by accident, or not know much about my records.She said she just put in a new order, and I can get it done within the next few days. Hopefully, that includes today. She apologized for the inconvenience, and said she was glad I'm covered again. I don't know why, but I keep thinking she's going to respond to my emails/calls in a negative way. She never has. In fact, her response is usually very nice and warm. 

My IBD might be 'flaring' up again. It's not nearly as bad as it was a couple of months ago, at least. It's still worse than it's been for the last month or so. (Also, seem to be dropping things more often. Not sure if that's related or what, though.) It scares me a bit. So, it's the perfect time to run that blood work. Maybe the azathioprine isn't working as well, even after upping the dosage? Maybe going down to a smaller dose for the balsalazide wasn't a good idea? (I'm so sick of this one, though!They're huge plastic capsules, and 3 at a time. At least with azathioprine it's one tiny tablet each time.) I don't know. The tests will help to see what's going on now. Hopefully, the sed rate is still going down. It measures inflammation, and can be an indicator to see if the disease is in remission. It was still really high last time, but it was slowly going down from what it started with. I still find it fascinating to see the results. Even when they're 'normal'. 

Saturday night I went to a fun Halloween party. I won one of the games, wore a costume, had snacks (Dad and I brought potato chips. 2 kinds: garlic, and BBQ), other people had alcohol (I can't drink alcohol because of my meds mainly), watched some weird and interesting youtube videos, and chatted. It was a bit sad that the person who invited me on facebook was sick and couldn't really attend. There weren't that many people there, but that can be nice in its own way, too.

During that day, Dad and I went to go get costumes at 2 local stores. I wanted to be a unicorn, but nothing seemed to work with it. One place had a weird light-up unicorn horn, and the closest the other place had were My Little Pony things. Not really enough.Dad wanted to be a pirate wench, but nothing seemed to fit. Kind of threw us both off. I looked around to get some more ideas for a costume at the last place, and landed in the cat section. 

After looking in that section for a while, I decided to be a punk-like cat.Found some black cat ears that had a lot of different studs on the inside part of the ears. On a corner of one of the ears there are small chains hanging off of it. A pair of black fuzzy fingerless gloves, as well. They have silvery paw pads in the palm area. Although, they seem to be slightly off-center. They're nice and cozy. A black choker with silver studs/spikes around the band, and a silver heart that hangs from it. So, it's like a collar. I was surprised it fit. In fact, I could have it on the tightest part and it'll probably still be fine. A black 'fancy' cat tail that has a glittery pom-pom at the end. It has some sort of joint inside, so you can move it around. So, you can show more emotion with it. It's nice and long, too. Kind of bounces as I walk. And, finally a small black eye mask, that apparently didn't fit. Or, more accurately, the elastic band was placed so oddly, I can't figure out how to really unravel it enough to put it over my head. Although, I don't know if it's supposed to be double banded...That would be for an awfully small head.I'll check it out again for Halloween. I kind of like it without the mask now, too. But, if I can figure the mask out and it actually fits, I can use it for future costumes. It's the only thing that didn't 'fit'. 

I wore those accessories with my black short sleeved v-neck sweater. It's the longest sleeved black shirt I have. The sleeves are actually now close to halfway down my arms. They used to be (before I lost so much weight) half as long, the rest of it used to be smaller on me, too. It looks the most fur-like, too. Also, wore my black pants. They've gotten rather baggy on me, too. The sweater and pants are actually 2 different shades of black. The sweater being slightly lighter. But, cats can have different shades/colors in their fur, so it still goes with it. I wore my black tights under that. I'm really not used to wearing tights anymore. These were actually slightly big on me. I wore my black flats for the shoes. They kind of have a nice ruche pattern. Dad had found a witch's dress (I think) we had at home to wear. It might be different on Halloween though. Don't know. 

I think I might wear nail polish with that outfit on Halloween. I have a duo nail polish thing where one side is a very dark purple (almost black) color, and the other side has confetti. The confetti has some bigger pieces than the glitter stuff. It's called Nail Art: Moon Candy. It'll be like I have shiny claws. Last time I did this nail polish, I didn't wait long enough for the dark purple part to dry before I put the confetti stuff on. It was kind of a mess.So, we'll see how that turns out this time.

We've been invited to friends of the family's wedding anniversary party on Halloween. I think it's a costume party, but can't seem to find the paper version of the invitation to double check.The email didn't say much. I just know that they needed to know how many people were coming beforehand, because it's going to be catered. Sounds fancier than what I originally thought, but it is a big thing. At the very least for celebrating their anniversary. I'm not even sure if it'll actually be at their place. We usually go to their place for Thanksgiving, occasionally a night of Hanukkah, New Year's Eve, and a Passover seder. I guess I'll find out more later. I'll try to take or have someone take pics of me in costume. Most of the time, I'm cool with having my pic taken if I'm in a costume I like on Halloween. It's different the rest of the year. Also, a week after that is my birthday!Yay!

I've gotten back to my sit-ups for the last couple of weeks. This week I'm doing 20 of them twice a day. Hope to get back to my walks, too. It'd be great if I can do the 3 2-mile walks a day. But, I'd be fine with getting my usual 2 in. 

Finished watching Rurouni Kenshin. The last episode was kind of a waste.They kept teasing the fans throughout it. They put real life pics in the background occasionally. That looked a bit bizarre. The last story arc was a bit disappointing, too. Someone commented that there's an OVA that is truly the ending. Like I mentioned last time, I'll go through all the movies and OVAs, as well. The live-action movies should be very interesting. I've heard all 3 of them are considered some of the best anime/manga to live-action movies. It can be difficult to pull off.

I colored in the skull and candle drawing I did for my cover art in Photoshop. Also, figured out a background color and effect. I still want to color the drawing manually with colored pencils. Just to compare the Photoshop version with it. I might make 2 different cover arts for it. One with the colored pencils, and the other with the Photoshop one. Also, to compare to see which is best. I have somewhat of an idea for the title's font and its color. Hopefully, it'll be as clear and as neat possible. So, people can be drawn to it. 

Hopefully, I'll get to posting here more often again.I translated more of part of a You Maga article recently. It's about info for Japanese families that are living in the US. Many have questions about the school system, health care, etc. It's been interesting so far. Sounded better than I expected when I played my clarinet recently. Studied some kanji and quizzed myself on JapaneseClass' recently, as well. 

Read a lot more of Day of Atonement by Faye Kellerman. It's been interesting so far. I have a feeling that the killer or the people he's mentoring are about to kill a little kid that went missing. I don't want that to happen, but it's looking like that. Also, Peter found out that his mother is a friend of Rina's ex-husband's family. It's the first time he's seen her. He was adopted at birth, and he searched for her for years, but gave up. He thought she hated him, and apparently she thought he hated her. So, both of them thought it was a lost cause. She was only 15 when she had him, and she said her true love was his father. But, her father didn't like their relationship, and gave her an ultimatum. So, she left him behind. He later died. When he died, all his religious books and most of his belongings were sent to Peter. He hadn't met him yet, but was about to. When his mother first saw him, she passed out. Peter dropped the plate of food he had and just froze staring at her. He now knows he has half-siblings. That part has been very interesting. 

Youtube:
A Fairy Tail amv based on the current arc (which has been pretty epic):

Another hilarious Gintama amv:

A cool Kekkai Sensen amv:

2 more Gintama amvs (the last one shows the serious side of the show):

Sixth Day of Hanukkah!

Mood:

Wow! It's almost over!Didn't feel entirely like Hanukkah until last Friday and Saturday, though.The first night started at the same time our support group meets, so I thought I'd try Shari's Potato Pancakes. We usually go there after it. They didn't even resemble latkes to me...I know latkes tend to be translated as 'German potato pancakes', but this was different. Although, they didn't have 'German' in the name. This didn't have onions, was pureed so much it resembled mashed potatoes (the waitress even started describing it this way...), no garlic in it, and wasn't crispy. What's more, they sprinkled some scallions on top of it.I suppose that's one way to get the onion part. But, it's not cooked into it!I thought it was cool that it'd come with a side of 'apples'. I was thinking that meant something close to applesauce. It was really huge chunks of apple in a cinnamon-y/caramel sauce on the side. They were good, but didn't go with the 'pancakes', and didn't really stick to them like applesauce would have.It's like they weren't even trying anymore...If I thought of them as something totally different, they were ok. At least I thought I was getting something similar to latkes to start off the holiday.

For Shabbat (Friday night's) dinner, I made latkes from a mix. Wasn't as good as from scratch, but that's a bit more of a to do. As it was, these took a while to cook. Turned out pretty good, though.(Messed up 2 or 3 of them in the first batch, but the rest came out like they should.) Of course, we had applesauce with it. Had lemon-filled powdered jelly donuts and some gelt (chocolate coins) for dessert. It was all so good!Really felt like it was Hanukkah this time.

Saturday night, there was a Hanukkah party at one of the local synagogues. (The one that's been really nice to us.) We brought our menorah, candles, matches, and a drip tray (to catch extra wax from falling off the menorah). Last time we went to theirs there wasn't enough matches for everyone, and no one thought to have something under their family's menorah. So, it was a mess and a bit dangerous.This time was different. Although, I was one of the few with a tray. I helped 2 other people with their individual menorahs, since they didn't bring matches. But, it wasn't as crazy. 

We all lit our menorahs, sang the blessings and some songs. It was really pretty looking around the tables and seeing them lit up. Each family had brought at least one, and there were a lot of people. It was nice and warm, too. 

After that, we had a potluck dinner. We brought some tabouli for it. There was so much food! There were like 10 different kinds of homemade latkes. I think there may have been some homemade applesauce, as well. Lots of different types of salads (pasta, greens, etc.), some kugels (in fact, someone was calling one of them a latke casserole which looked a lot like a creamy potato kugel), crackers, cheese, etc. For dessert there was a chocolate babka, muffins, fruit, a spice cake, and more. Gelt was scattered all over the tables, and we made dreidels out of a chocolate kiss, marshmallow, and pretzel stick. There was supposed to be a make your own sufganiyot or jelly donut station. But, the deep fryers that were set out on the table next to the regular desserts, weren't working.So, instead of making our own, they made them in the kitchen and had us be able to roll them in a cinnamon and sugar mix or powdered sugar. Either way, they ended up being really good. (Although, I'm slightly disappointed I didn't get a chance to learn how to actually make them.) I had one of each. They weren't really true sufganiyot, because there didn't seem to be any jelly, but they still were good and gooey in the middle. They were somewhat small, too. Bigger than donut holes, but smaller than a full fledged donut. Perfect size, to me. 

After that there was a paper cutting activity. The woman leading it snapped at a girl that asked her a question and was trying to follow her instructions. She said something like: 'this is for the grown-ups I don't expect you to be able to follow.' It was incredibly rude, and I know she apologized later to her, and she was nervous at the time, but that's no reason to snap.Just close your eyes for a second, take a deep breath, and help. It was something similar to when we made paper snowflakes in elementary school, so it certainly wasn't too 'adult'. Plus, some of the adults were having a harder time with it.They ended up making paper Magen Davids, or Star of Davids. Once they finished making them, she gave tips on how to make them with intricate patterns. I wasn't interested in making them, but watching it was interesting. 

After that, they were supposed to have 2 dreidel contests downstairs. So, they quickly cleaned up everything in the main room. Apparently, others thought that this meant it was the end of the party, and left.Not many stayed for it, including us. I hope the people that stayed still had at least one decent game of it. There were supposed to be 2 prizes given away to the 2 winners of those contests. (Besides the gelt, obviously.) I haven't actually played a game of dreidel in a very long time. While we were finishing our donuts one of the people across the table from us wanted to know how to play the game. I went through the motions of it, and he followed with a paper that had instructions for it. They apparently play a little 'nicer' than what we usually would do. (Like, when landing on a 'shin' putting one into the main pot, instead of half of what you have from your own pot into it.) He really seemed happy that I was able to explain it to him. The only thing I didn't tell him was how someone loses or wins.Like, when you run out of your 'pot', you lose. Once someone wins all of the main 'pot', and no one has anything to put in, then that person wins. But, I'm sure if he stayed after he'd be told that, too. 

So, it seemed like a pretty active party. Ended up talking to a lot of people, too. Felt like I did 'something' for it.Also, on the 8th night I'll take a pic of my menorah fully lit. 

I had planned to do a drawing project during the holiday. But, I haven't gotten too far on it.I dreamed about some of the drawings, and thought it'd be cool to do. At least something related to Hanukkah. They all involved my oc's (original characters) from Alliance. Anyways, my first drawing idea is of Shadow (the main character) watching the menorah's candles. Kind of like he's mesmerized by them. Kind of similar to a pic of me when I was younger. The menorah part went through a lot of different 'phases'. I wasn't sure how I wanted it.Then, I again, had problems with his hair. Oddly, not too bad on his perspective. I just need to shade and color it. It's nighttime, so obviously it's going to look a bit dark except for the areas that the lit candles light up. So, I guess with the finished product, you won't see that much of his hair. Just mostly the front. I'm thinking of using my colored pencils, shading pencils, and markers for this one. I already used one of my 'manga' fine-pointed pens to outline a lot of it, and the fine pencil from that pack to sketch it. Should be interesting to see what'll happen with it.

Another idea was having the 4 main characters playing dreidel, and Junko winning. Each character might have a different expression with it. Another one was a good chunk of the main and side characters eating latkes together around a table. Of course, Sin would be the one that cooks everything...It'd be kind of a fun and light one. Another was some of the characters singing. There were others, but these are the ones that came to mind the most. I could probably still do them, even if it's after the holiday.I was surprised I did as much as I did in one sitting for the first drawing. Also, finished coloring the outfits/accessories for my oc's. Another 'project' that I started a while ago, but just finished. (It was to give me more of a 'feel' for my oc's.) Just need to edit it a bit in Photoshop and submit it to dA. I really like how some of my characters' outfits turned out. The rest were pretty good too, but not as cool looking. 

A couple of Fridays ago, it was pouring down rain and very windy. The power went out at around really late the night before. Except for it coming on during my usual lunch time for 45 minutes, it stayed out for about 15 hours.I made/had breakfast in the dark. Luckily we have a gas stove top, so I could still make tea, and cook some sausage. (I also had some challah, but I don't really need to heat it.) Our camping lantern worked well for this too. I could actually see what I was doing. I was happy that the power came on just as I wanted to make lunch, and stayed on until a little bit after I ate. 

Then, I finished cleaning the china cabinet in the sunlight that was coming in. It was just enough to see what I was doing, too. Tried using the silver polish for the first time, and I think it's gotten so old, that it doesn't do much.Had to pour the stuff continually on things. After finishing the cabinet, I vacuumed the carpet in that room. It was pretty bad in there beforehand. Ended up looking really nice after. Luckily, the power was on by the time dinner rolled around. I was pretty cold most of the day until the power came back on, though.

Last Friday, for my 'cleaning' day, I did part of my room. Vacuumed all the ceiling stuff (there were quite a lot of thick strands of webbing), some of the walls, all of the window stuff (again thick black stuff was lifted from them when I used the windex. Scary...), and dusted the corner of my room near my door. Vacuumed a little bit behind my nightstand, and the carpet under it, as well. It was pretty bad back there. Next time I hope to dust the rest of the room, take down things I don't want from my walls, and vacuum the floor. In the future, when I get back to my room, I'll go through my closet. Then, under my bed. Those are going to be crazy to go through themselves.But, I'm glad I'm getting to these things.