The Freedom Song of the Jigsaw Girl

I've been slowly working on finishing the bookshelves I bought (they were unfinished maple, so I had to sand and add finish to all three). I went with a clear finish and no stain since I like the light color of the maple and didn't want to add any extra steps. :) I finally got the shelves finished last week, and today I finally managed to get the books, dvds, and knick-knacks sorted and loaded onto them. My living room feels a bit bigger without the boxes of books, and the whole space feels tidier and more comfortable. ( Pictures below the cut )

So this weekend was the first Springfield Vermont Steampunk Festival, and hopefully it will be held again next year. For a first time festival/convention it was very well run (at least from the guest's perspective, and from what I heard from vendors it was mostly well run on that end as well and only suffered from a few first year con hiccups). Since the festival locations were a bit spread out, and Springfield is a mountain town full of hills which makes walking that much more exhausting, they arranged to have a shuttle bus service for the entire festival. The shuttle drivers were awesome and didn't mind making stops that weren't on the official stop list (parking lots and venues). It helped that it was a small con and very laid back.

There were a lot of fun vendors, mostly local to Vermont, upstate New York, and New Hampshire. I spent entirely too much money, but I had planned for that. Between surgery and studying for the bar I'm going to be very focused for quite a few months and not spending much on anything not related to my usual monthly expenses. So this was my birthday/Christmas present to myself. :) It helps that I tend to only attend festivals and conventions once every year or two. In addition to jewelry and various other interesting knick-knacks, I also got quite a bit of tea (three different blends). Between the new stuff and the stuff I already had I can rest assured that I will not run out of tea this winter. :D

In addition to the vendors there were musicians and other activities. I missed the tea duels, and still am not entirely sure what happens at those, but I had a blast wandering the festival. My favorite bands from the weekend were Rusty Belle, The Stringfield Springers, and The Suitcase Junket. The Suitcase Junket is actually a one-man band and that man happens to be one of the members of Rusty Belle. So I wasn't too surprised to fall head-over-heals for both acts. :D

( a bunch of music videos behind the cut )

So I decided that there were definitely two things that will be vital for surgery recovery: a wedge pillow and a laptop tray for the bed. I remember needing to be propped up after my gallbladder surgery and I wedge pillow will help make that not only possible but comfortable. Since I don't own a tv, let alone have one in the bedroom, a laptop tray is vital for post surgery vegging.

I'll work with family members to figure out some easy meals that are low-yeast/low carb friendly for the first two weeks. And I have some comfy shorts, tanks and t-shirts that I can wear over those weeks.

So can folks think of other things that might be helpful or necessary to put in place before surgery?

New PCP was amazing. I think I spent a bit more than an hour with her. She was amazingly easy to talk with, listened to my complaints and issues, listened when I noted why a solution would not work for me, was willing to discuss multiple options of things. Plus she is Lyme literate and understands the protocol that I am on. She was able to explain why I've been having such issues with my cycle lately and offer a couple of solutions, including the name of a trans friendly gyno who can evaluate my candidacy for uterine ablation. She also had a great suggestion for a trans friendly counselor who deals with many of the issues I juggle on a regular basis. So I will be making calls tomorrow to see if I can set up appointments. She had some excellent suggestions on how to manage current hormonal and menstruation problems while we work on more permanent solutions. We set a follow up appointment for October (though I can go in sooner if something else arises).

I'm absolutely ecstatic and thanking my gods for such a good fit.

My sister and nephew came up yesterday afternoon and helped me go pick up my new-to-me furniture and move it into my apartment. I then treated them to dinner because if someone helps you move stuff then you ought to at least feed them. :) Plus dinner gave me more time to visit, which is always fun. Lots of lively discussion happened, and I managed to make plans to go see the new Avengers movie on Sunday with nephew and maybe sister and brother-in-law (nephew is 16 and a lot of fun to hang out with).

I will note that it's been a long time since I've driven anything larger than a small SUV, so driving the U-haul cargo van was both terrifying and fun.

Anyway, I promised some photos when I got the chance. I haven't decorated much yet, so the walls are a bit bare. Both couch and chair will be getting slip covers. A dark red cover for the chair to make it look a little less retro, and a dark tan cover for the sofa to try to protect the pretty cream sofa from inevitable stains. I also got three small wooden bar stools as they make the best portable coffee tables/laptop stands (and are the perfect height for most chairs and couches).

( pictures below the cut )

For those who haven't read Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye series, you just need to know that in it Clint Barton generally has shitty luck and makes some really awful decisions but all in all is just trying to make do. He also has this adorable habit that I tend to share, which is talking to the world around me including inanimate objects. In one scene he goes to pour his coffee and spills it, and then says "Aw, coffee, now" as if the coffee had betrayed him or something. It's always made me smile because it is just the sort of thing I would do.

So today I had gotten my grocery shopping done and put away, grabbed a shower and put on my pjs, made a couple of different types of iced tea for the next few days, done some dishes, and warmed up leftovers for dinner. Was all set to sit down with my dinner and watch this weeks episode of Agents of SHIELD. Go to scoot my chair closer to the table and there is the god awful crack, I feel the chair start to give and I'm up and moving away from the falling chair. The back left leg of the chair has come off and since it was a solid long piece holding part of the back in place the rest of the back rest has come apart too. I look from the chair to the table where my nice warm plate of food is sitting and sigh, muttering some equivalent of "aw, chair, no." I pick up the pieces of the chair. Look again from the chair to my dinner. Sigh over the fact that I have not gotten any other chairs yet. Test the stability of the chair resting on the three remaining legs, note that it is remarkably stable and should remain upright if I turn it backwards so that the empty spot is not bearing any weight and sit on it very, very carefully without leaning at all. I finish my dinner, carefully get up from the broken chair, and then move the remains of the chair out of the way to await a determination on whether the chair is fixable (it came apart in pretty solid pieces).

So I sigh again, go put back on clothes that are not pajamas, and head to first goodwill to see if they have any stray kitchen chairs (they don't), and then to Wal-Mart to purchase a folding chair for temporary seating. I have not yet bought couch or any other furniture so the options would be "eat on bed" or "eat on floor" neither of which were agreeable to me. So I got a folding chair and a camping chair for sitting outside and enjoying the weather now that it's warming up. By this point I'm fairly achy and did not want to go anywhere else, which is why I ended up settling on the folding chair solution. Turns out the camping chair with enough pillows piled on it is a more comfortable solution so that was a happy find. If I have the spoons I will go out in search of additional furniture tomorrow.

My heart-sister in Virginia was amazingly sweet (though she will deny it to her dying breath) and loaded my car for me Saturday morning. It is packed to the brim, but we were able to fit almost everything in it. Three small boxes of clothes and shoes will need to be mailed. After the car was stuffed with things I pointed it north and started driving. Stopped overnight in Binghamton, NY at a decent hotel that even had a Japanese restaurant in house. So that was happy making. Had dinner, showered, and crashed early. Then got up, grabbed coffee and breakfast and got on the road. Had a lovely drive and am safely ensconced at my heart-sister's in Vermont. I am exhausted but happy. Tuesday evening I will go up and meet with the landlords to do a walk-through and get the keys. Wednesday I will move in. Internet is scheduled to be installed on Thursday. There is still loads to be done, but it is nice to be back in Vermont.

I will probably only be online in brief surges this week. Much love to everyone!

My trip to Vermont went well and I have made some big decisions. I have safely returned to Virginia despite the lingering winter and wanted to post a brief update before I crashed.

The biggest announcement is that I have decided to move back to Vermont. Being closer to my Lyme doctor will make continuing treatment so much easier and much less frustrating, and while I love my heart-sister, niece, and numerous friends in the DC area, I long to be back in Vermont. I wasn't even thrown by the brutally cold temps and tremendous amount of snow, but rather glad to have my little dragon car and delighted that it handled the weather superbly despite having only all-weather tires rather than snow tires. The universe apparently approves of this decision, because not only did I find a good apartment in the Burlington area but I also secured the lease for said apartment. The only drawback is that I will be moving in a month, which is both sad and happy making.

There is a lot to do in the next month, but I will also be making sure I have time to see friends before I go. There are a lot of people I am going to miss like crazy. Thankfully the internet makes staying in touch so much easier. :)

Tonight I'm going to rest, and tomorrow as well. If the roads are good enough I may go to the bank to get a few things done there. Otherwise it will be laundry and resting.

( Discussions of doctors, frustrations with doctors, and having a controversial illness/treatment )

We had an absolute house full over the holidays, and it was very nice to see everyone. We had several games of Cards Against Humanity, which is like a much more twisted version of Apples to Apples. It was wickedly fun. We saw "The Hobbit" on Christmas day, and several of us went to see "Into the Woods" on Saturday. Both were enjoyable, though I was a bit frustrated with the editing/storytelling choices for "Into the Woods." I would like to see "The Hobbit" again as I'm sure I missed a whole bunch of details. I'm not exactly in a critical mood regarding my entertainment right now, so if you want a thoughtful critique of either film I'm probably not the best to ask.

Everyone left for their own homes on Sunday, and so things are slowly returning to routine around here. It is strange to have such a quiet house after so much activity, but nice as well. I used the Amazon gift card I got for Christmas to finally buy the complete Cowboy Bebop series on DVD as well as the movie. I've been eyeballing both for a very long time. I already have most of the soundtrack. :)