One More Day in May

The everyday posting my writing progress takes the wind out of my sails for updating anything else. I need to work on that.

Back on May 10th, I finally got my hair cut. Thirteen inches off to Locks of Love, and I need to take a picture of it so I recreate the hairstyle in the future.

When we last met, I was going to my friends the new parents to host an amateur episode of Clean House and see the Avengers. That didn't happen on the Avenger's opening weekend. The long and hopefully funny version is on my LJ account. I got Mom a portable scanner for Mother's Day and my sisters will be getting collection letters this week for their unpaid portions. The weekend after that, Eric and Suzanne had more family visiting to see JIM. So the Memorial Day holiday was spent cleaning their house and FINALLY getting to see the Avengers.

I'm still processing the movie. Dad may not have a choice not to go see it for Father's Day, so I can see it again. *Grin* Though I think my favorite joke is when Steve Rogers pulls a ten dollar bill out of his wallet and hands it to Nick Fury without saying a word. Yeah, I like that even more than when Loki meets the Hulk for the first time.

But while I was paying or earning karma (or at least a big hair flower a la Nicey Nash) over this past weekend, I came home to an electrical dead computer and a dead bedroom AC unit. The electronics failure is thanks to my battery backup dying and not an inside the wall wiring problem. And the AC was something I ended up with when Chad and I broke up, and it was used when he got it. So I'm actually surprised how long it lasted, even though I'm annoyed that I have to rearrange the AC units. One would think that the living room's would blow enough cold air into my bedroom. It doesn't. :p Luckily, I have a unit to move around without having to go buy another one.

At the paying job, T'Lania came to work for us. It's half-days because we don't want to tax her too much, but all she is depending on is a cane to walk with and controlling hand tremors. This is a HUGE deal because four years ago, we didn't know if she would live or die much less walk again. She has come such a long way.

Plans: The weekend will be here before I know it. I have to pay bills, send out the collections letters, buy a new battery backup, and relocate the AC units. Beyond that, I'd love to have a front porch again (i.e. clean off the junk Mom left there while she's in Texas and tell her via phone she can't bitch about it), but heat is also a factor in that project.

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The BookWorm

Why Do I Leave So Many Tabs Open?

Lincoln High School in Walla Walla Tries a New Approach to School Discipline - Suspensions Drop by 85%: I sincerely agree that this approach needs to be moved into all schools.

Jezebel: Rock the Slut Vote If you're as tired of old, white men telling you what to do with your body as I am, you should be voting.

Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake! No matter how you feel about Stephen King's writing, he grew up poor and was a poor adult with a family to support when Carrie sold. He understands (a hell of a lot more than Mitt Romney EVER will) why people need government safety nets.

LASERs I'm providing this link so you can educate yourself what new bonehead moves the state Legislature is trying to pull. I need to find a spot of Zen and write up my coherent "I'm a taxpayer, a state worker, voter, and a reader, asshole. Don't you dare try to pull this shit!" letter to my state representatives. Zen, so I don't cuss them out. But this stance of we want government services but don't want to pay anyone to do them is bullshit. And then to tax us for the joy of working for the state government? Colbert, take over please.

Thanks.

More for me than anyone else.

The Earth is warming up. The rate of warming has increased in the past century or so. This corresponds to the time of the Industrial Revolution, when we started dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases warm the planet (hence the name) — if they didn’t we’d have an average temperature below the freezing point of water. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which is dumped into the atmosphere by humans to the tune of 30 billion tons per year, 100 times the amount from volcanoes. And finally, approximately 97% of climatologists who actually study climate agree that global warming is real, and caused by humans. -- Bad Astronomy: More Debunking of the ex-NASA 49 climate change deniers

Matthew Vines: The Gay Debate: Homosexuality and the Bible He has deconstructed the argument with the Bible and it is AWESOME.

Another moment of AWESOME Caine's Arcade. This will be a charity I'll donate to when I can because this amount of ingenuity must be encouraged for the sake of us all.

Lifehacker reviewed KanbanFlow and I decided to give it a try for a few reasons. Namely, I keep looking for a GTD list tool that doesn't let me oops forgot anything and actually encourages me to finish projects but also keeps the repetitive tasks that should be habits by now but aren't at the forefront. Two: KanbanFlow has limits built into it (can only have three tasks In Progress at one time), so I must chose what I'm doing and I'm aware of the choice. Three: felt like it.

It took three days to put in all my lists, but it was time well spent. First discovery: holy crap, I list a hell of a lot on my weekly to do list and rarely accomplish a third of it. Not a new revelation, but it was time to clean off the Big Rocks list and keeping my choices narrowed down to three in progress.

Second discovery: I meant to go through my writing projects and close a lot of them out. The list says I'm still writing most, when all I have left to do is publish it at the Library. Oops.

Third discovery: I wish they had included a copy 'n paste feature, but now that all the repetitive stuff is in, I don't need it as much.

Fourth discovery: I scheduled my timed stuff by 15 minute intervals, so using the Pomodoro timer doesn't mesh well, but it has a nice loud ding that's audible over the podcast I was listening to.

Writing Projects: Now I need to set aside some time to clean off the list, but it doesn't look like it will be this week. I haven't had as much free time at the paying job to concentrate on Stellar Gift of Death and been crashing hard when I get home, 7:30 pm bedtime. Why I haven't a clue. I did find a free map making program so I can make a legible map of the city for Forget the Sun, when I have the time and brain power to learn it.

This weekend is tentatively scheduled to be spent with friends and Marvel-trademarked spandex. Plans are still unformed as of today, but I do need a break from the housework and computer work I've been doing for so long. :p

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The BookWorm

What I’ve Learned

The past four days have been busy with me learning things I had no intention of learning. I hope it’s not an indication of the rest of the week.

On Friday: My Good Friday was 90% non-religious unless you count “Oh God why aren’t you open!” as a prayer, then the number changes to 60%. For starters I had to go shopping, get the oil changed in Rizzo, see about getting a haircut, and go to a great-aunt’s funeral.

Crap, learning things actually started on Thursday when I found out Paris Parker no longer give complimentary haircuts for Locks of Love donations. This is the only way I’ve cut my hair for the past ten years, so changing things now. *raspberry*

Back to Friday, Dad said the oil change place opened at 7am. I left home at 7:30am. New hair salon was closed (expected since it was the crack of dawn) but didn’t have hours posted on the door (unexpected). Headed to oil change station and they’re setting up for the day. They open at 8. Go to Tuesday Morning. They open at 10. Ross opens at 9:30. I reminded myself I needed a new extension cord that I can get at Lowe’s. Lowe’s is open because they cater to contractors.

Not only is Lowe’s open, the parking lot was full. Which makes sense, everyone in Hammond was there because nothing else was open! Extension cord procured, followed by the oil change, which took about 30 minutes. So I headed to TJMaxx, since none of the other stores on my list were open. TJMaxx opens at 9:30.

At this point, the breakfast I had at home was long gone so I retreated to McDonald’s, refueled, and waited for 9:30. Everything I needed was at TJMaxx and I made it to the funeral on time.

Lesson: I have successfully reprogrammed my bio-rhythms out of sync with my home town and if I have been up for hours, you should be too. *growls*

Saturday: I learned that Dad’s Santa Fe has a kill switch, but I don’t know how I activated it. Luckily, the car started again before someone exiting the Westbank Expressway killed me and Mom.

Sunday: I finally had time to really flea treat the house. I had already dosed Mustard with the spot treatment, so first he got shampooed and kicked out of the house while I vacuumed and sprayed the floors. I learned that one large can of the flea killing spray is only enough to cover half the house.

Monday: There will be no time for writing when over half the office is M.I.A. and there’s a payment deadline on the 15th along with the mail running on Good Friday. I ended up working an hour and forty-five minutes overtime. Which derailed my plans for after work, luckily there were adjustable.

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The BookWorm

I officially declare this week to be a wash

Or a wipeout. I'm not sure which is worse.

I screwed up my sleep schedule and that has screwed up getting anything done in the morning because I'm waking up with just enough time to get dressed and go to work. Night has been a rebellious la-la-la-I'm-ignoring-my-responsibilities and then going to bed too late.

Good news: this fallow week has jogged stuff loose for the Triangulation entry story. No narration yet, but a clearer sense of what the characters are doing and how they go about it. I already had a good grasp on the why. It will be a 5000-word exercise in maintaining an alien POV that is still sympathetic to the readers, but that will still be a fun ride.

I'm also taking a mini-holiday this weekend. Spening the night with friends in Lafayette, coming back on Saturday. I'd like to do something Sunday with my nephew, but I haven't made any promises since it depends on money and weather. have a great weekend, everybody!

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The BookWorm

November Already?

So NPI is over (I got longest run without using a reprieve and most reprieves left at the end WOOT!), Halloween is over, family drama is not over, and I need to have friends over before holiday crazies start. I do better when I actually have goals and deadlines, so what are my goals for November?

1. Submitting "Covenant of the Restless." *Pause to kick the reflexive anxiety away.* Needs to happen. Also mean I have writing left to do. I have a game plan after having a chat with the Fear Monger monster that was stirring up my anxiety. Now it's just a matter of ignoring that anxiety and follow the game plan. This is a finish-able goal since I need to submit before Nov. 18th.
2. Finishing Stellar Gift of Death's first draft by Dec. 31st. I have to write over 600 words a day now. EEP! This is a goal that will be plodding along in the background while I continue through my days.
3. Focus on finances. I've gotten no where fast on money issues this year. My head's barely above water, which I wish didn't feel as familiar as it does. I need to stay on budget and save up for a laptop and other equipment to apply for a virtual call center job. If I get the budget focusing down cold for November and December, I think I can start saving for the laptop goal in January.
4. Lose weight. My health demands it. Primal eating helps, but I cheated with too many carbs last month. And I don't exercise enough, so I have to do more of that.
5. Post all fanfiction I have written. This is just some housekeeping so I can start next year with fresh projects.
6. Keep a clean house and have a party. I haven't decided if this party is a glorified DVD and boardgame sleepover or extra help on remodeling the bathroom. Probbaly the first since I have no money for the second. Keeping the house clean is an ongoing goal. My schedule for when to do what is good; I just don't follow it. So I'm making an effort to cross off items on the to-do list.
7. I should have a number 7 just to make it even and powerful and holy (according to numerologists). Sewing! I still have the Tin Man!Adora uniform to finish and my coworkers got really excited over a Steampunk Batgirl from Project Rooftop. Regardless, I have to start on them soon.

Okay, let's go ahead and declare this is the goal list for the rest of the year. Some items are finish-able; other more continuous. It's a starting point at least.

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The BookWorm

Wedding pictures!

What has consumed my life for so many months, making this outfit:


Best shot I have of the flower girl and ring bearer:


The happy couple:


Maid of honor, me, and the second best man, Chris:


The sewing odyssey will eventually go up at the Garb Closet; I just have no idea when.

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The BookWorm

The wedding is done

Suzanne and Eric are off, finally. I'm home. I left only my pillow and the Byetta pen in New Orleans. *headdesk*

I'm going to bed. You may here more from me tomorrow or Monday.

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The BookWorm

Spontaneous combustion of hair

Let's establish what we know about the subject moi. I am not a first adopter of anything. While I'm not an Luddite, I don't see any hurry to jump on what everyone else wants to do. Usually because by the time I do, everyone has jumped off to something else. But when I do latch onto something I like, I go overboard and can't leave it alone. I have three blogs, enough said. I'm bitched at work for constantly being on the Internet. My focus SUCKS when trying to ignore updates and pings, and reading what everyone else is doing and I don't write. (Probably a huge contributing factor as to why I feel I get more done with a longhand first draft.)

I think Twitter is a stupid waste of time unless you are organizing a revolution or a protest like Iran did last year. I don't care about what you are doing every five seconds. And I will strangle anyone who says I need that.

The last time I did anything with MySpace, I found it to be written to give morons access to a website and since I know HTML and code my own, I got irritated beyond belief trying to use it.

Yeah, I hear the stammering "buts." No, I DON'T see a difference with Facebook. I have email, I have blogs, I have websites. I am a person who exists with plenty to say. Until I have a published book to promote it will not help me on the job (in fact will probably negatively affect my job since I MUST play with the new thingy I found). And a vast majority of the time, I don't want to be found by people who are only interested in pestering me for more fanfiction faster, which was the reason I stopped using IM.

And despite explaining this very succinctly to people, I am flooded with multiple requests to "join Facebook." Including the latest email today, which was probably an innocent query, but my hair burst into flames.

So rather than go screaming out of my workplace and wait for the nice men in white coats to show up, I put up a poll. You have two weeks to convince me I should a) drink the Koolaid and join the damn thing that I will NEVER update (seriously if I can turn on email alerts and forget it I so fucking will) b) and joining it will not interfere with my life (but it will and I'll never get any more fiction wrote again).

Two weeks. That's it. After that point I will start using the three strikes in response to the pesters. Strike one: assuming that person does not know that I don't want to do that and politely refuse. Strike two: when brought up again, give a lowball reason as to why the answer is still no. Strike three: Get graphic because they asked for it.

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The BookWorm

Last Week, Last Month

Thirty-three years old. Time management is still a work-in-progress, so is scheduling. And communication.

Friday: my birthday overall was good. My coworkers took me to lunch, but then I had to work overtime for an hour and got stuck in traffic for two. Got home to no Suzanne yet. Call Mom. She wanted to take me to supper when Dad's available, and no Lipizzaner Stallions tickets because I made plans with Suzanne. I couldn't afford the show, so no flying, leaping horses. :( Hopefully I'll catch them about twenty years from now when they come through again. And there's my communication and scheduling issues example.

Saturday and Sunday: all my groceries take too much time to cook so we ended up eating out more than I had planned on. I knew we wouldn't get as much sewing done as we would like to, but I thought there would be enough time for cooking and sewing. And that would be time management issue example.

Progress on sewing: I have my bridesmaid dress material, and we got the second mock-up of Suzanne's chemise made. We decided on throwing out her bought corset because it does not fit properly. Victorian style may need help to adjust (make a few inches squish somewhere else temporarily) but one person should be able to get it on thanks to the closure in the front without lacing the thing every time. And I gave her a boost about slowing her mother down. There's no point to starting a mock-up for her wedding gown if the foundation garments aren't ready. Measurements change--especially with a corset.

I didn't keep up with marking off the to-do list during the week. I maintained what progress I had made, but nothing got ahead by leaps and bounds. Today wasn't the best start to a fresh start; I spent an hour hitting snooze. *Shakes head*

So now I'm at work and would rather be home with my energized self working on the home list. Since I'm at work, I have to gear up for the work list. It's not that I don't want to do that stuff; I just don't want to do it first. :p *shakes head again* Time to suck it up though.

Well, all my whining "i don't want to do it' is for naught. The mail finally came ten minutes before noon and we have been swamped ever since. March 1st is a deadline for taxes and company licensing paperwork, but it looks like this will be a day I never get to leave work.

Sadly, I wish that was a joke. It's already 3:30 and I'm just starting on my first batch. I usually leave at 4. But not tonight. And so much for my plans for cooking when I do get home. I'll be lucky to get there before I fall asleep behind the wheel.

5pm and still at work. Luckily, I think the end of the tunnel of mail is in sight. (Translation: 5:30 should have me looking for dinner and waiting for the traffic to clear.) Birthday dinner with parents is getting pushed back another day. *sigh* I shouldn't have thought of that, now Hungry is kicking in.

5:30 was overly optimistic. 5:20 and I have another twenty-five checks to do. And possibly another batch after that since I don't know what people have stacked on their desks. I'm not a batch stacked, so if it comes up that no one has grabbed the last batch in the bin, I'll have to do it. I'm hoping someone else gets to it first.

Oh I am an idiot! *headdesk* I bought a whole box of granola bars on impulse this morning at WalMart. Did I bring them up with me to snack on? Nope, still in the trunk. *headdesk*

At least the rain has passed through. Oh good, 6pm is cut-off time and we can go home!

6:30 - stopped at Raising Cane's for supper and to let the traffic go away. Left there at 7. Made it home through sluggish but moving traffic around 7:45. No Castle so I tried to start on my computer/website work. No connection to the Internet. I tried every trick I know to get the connection back, no luck.

Call AT&T DSL tech support. Did not time how long it took to get to a person, but once I did it took us about an hour to get me registered again so the connection would work.

When I saw no Castle, I thought I'd have an early bedtime. I ended up going to bed the same time I would have if Castle had aired and I watched it. :p

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The BookWorm

My Life According Nickleback

via erinm_4600

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. You can't use the band I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)"

Are you a male or female: Someday
Describe yourself: Should've Listened
How do you feel: Feelin' Way Too Damn Good
Describe where you currently live: Believe It or Not
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: See You At the Show
Your favorite form of transportation: Flat on the Floor
Your best friend is: Another Hole in the Head
You and your best friends are: Yanking Out My Heart
What's the weather like: Breathe
If your life was a TV show, what would it be called: Deep
What is life to you: Old Enough
Your last relationship: Diggin' This
Your current relationship: Leader of Men
Your fear: Cowboy Hat
What is the best advice you have to give: Hold Out Your Hand
Thought for the Day: One Last Run
Your soul's present condition: Worthy To Say
Your motto: Not Leavin' Yet

*Giggle* That was fun!

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The BookWorm

Oops I got tagged

Well, in other news, I moved Merrilee's blog in Bloglines where I won't skip reading it for days on end.

The problem I have with memes and answering memes is they make me so self-conscious. I don't hide much, how can it possibly be interesting, I've complained about everything to everyone who reads the blog or as a blog post--what don't they know? Sometimes they just feel way too close to the chain emails to list all your favorites. I really avoid those. But I'm going to make a valiant effort to list seven unknown things about me, frankly because I felt guilty about missing it for so long.

1. I just tried to kill myself with the numerator stamp falling from the shelf above my head. All because time change has messed with my sleep and I get clumsy when I want a nap.

2. I have played so many tabletop RPGs I normally think of goofs like that in terms of "I failed my dexterity roll."

3. I'm writing this post instead of my paper that my Master's depends on. My only defense: I tried to write at work and my coworkers are distracting. They are not nearly as distracting for the fiction, so my conclusion is that I want to write the fiction and I am able to concentrate more on blocking them out. Instead of spending all my energy battling the ennui of that writing project. I like my intro so far, the idea feels pretty solid, I don't know if I will find outside sources, I just don't care about passing the damn thing.

4. I started doing fanmixes! Give me some comments on those, nobody else has seemed to notice them.

5. I went back to school because I had a fit of the grasses is greener on the other side. Now I wish I had at least picked a subject that wasn't so subjective. Accounting would've been a good choice, and work would have paid for some of it.

6. I made a word count goal for myself this year that I have yet to tally up any words for it. I have tallies, elsewhere, but I haven't filled out that big one for all the fiction I have wrote.

7. I had to start writing that paper in committee. Yes, I actually wrote down what the other voices inside my head were saying as I tried to make sense of the project. Now I feel like I have earned a pic badge I saw on someone's LiveJournal: "Writing: socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." I'll worry about the development if the voices tell me to go kill people or commit blood sacrifices.

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The BookWorm

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Too bad I can't celebrate. I have to go to the bank today.

T'Lania is on her way to recovery! She's breathing on her own and responding to questions with hand squeezes. All the doctors are waiting for now is for her to open her eyes.

Now, I have to cut this update short because while I have been meeting all the daily word counts for the ethnography, hell exceeding it most days, I'm no where close to the end of it. So how did my word count estimation get so badly off?

Later: Thanks to having to stay late at work and road construction, I missed my credit union's hours. have to go tomorrow.

However the time in the car is time to think what went wrong with my word count. It didn't, I underestimated the needed verbiage. Roughly estimating, what I should turn in should be at least 25 pages times 250 words a page equals 6250 words total divided by the number of days to work on it equaled 375 words a day. the problem is I'm up to over 4000 words total and still haven't covered the shitstorm that was March. It's not a problem running out of material, I may run out of time. And for once, not because of my procrastination streak. I've been good!

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The BookWorm

Change my genre, STAT!

After today, I have decided my life is either a sitcom or one of those Mexican soap operas (I forget what they are called exactly, but they at least have a conclusion unlike their American counterparts). I don't like being the comedy relief. I am petitioning to be moved to a supernatural thriller. Shooting monsters I can handle. Or possible a cozy mystery. I could so totally handle Jessica Fletcher's job. But nothing too graphic, I don't handle gore well.

Flippant tone translation: Nothing went as planned. NOTHING! My brave stance of seizing the situation and dealing with it turned into a farce. Even the secondary mission to Lafayette went astray. The only good things was finally finding raspberry cider and Pan's Labyrinth only cost me $9.99.

And I don't want to discuss it. So I'm sorry for skipping out on online stuff tonight, but I need to rehydrate and veg-out. So I'm going to trade out the non-working DVD player for one I borrowed from my parents, put on TMNT, drink Powerade until my headache goes away. If I feel up to it after the movie I might be back tonight, but overall how I feel I doubt it.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Damn almost two weeks

Since my last update. No wonder I'm getting emails. ;)

Actually up to the eyeballs in reading assignments. ENGL-646 "Teaching Creative Writing" is actually turning out to be a good, useful class--even if it's bogging me down with the reading right now. ENGL-650 "African-American Drama" is not, and I'm ready to disengage. Unfortunately, I can't withdraw and have to pay back the financial aid I've already spent. Current plan is to suck it up until March, when it will be too late for Financial Aid department to demand it back.

Writing has gotten distracted by a Doctor Who fest. I've been bad. But I surprised myself actually. I was one of the Americans introduced by Tom Baker via PBS, but when I actually caught an episode (they aired it insanely late in those days) I loved to watch it but always felt that I was never in the know. I wanted to be sucked in. I was a sci-fi fan and demanded to be sucked in, but it never clicked. The Eighth Doctor's TV movie floored me, but nothing ever happened with it, and I moved on. Fell in love with "Doctorin' the Tardis" during college days. Vaguely, heard about a new series and Ninth and now Tenth Doctor, and "oh well, I'll get around to it eventually."

Then Andrew Sullivan posted a fanvid blending Delak from the new series with the French soldier's dialogue from Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail. It's on YouTube, go looking for French Delak. Then I went clicking on other YouTube fanvids. And found this one.



Friday I bought the 2005 season on DVD and had to reason with myself not to buy 2006 because of funds.

Now having finished those episodes I'm so very thankful for British eight-year-olds. The producers aimed the very intelligent show at them and knowing that all they would know (if anything) would be Doctor is an alien and time travels in a blue box. There's still the mystery and the wonder and the excitement that I picked up on as a kid, but no longer the sense of missing something.

Okay, and it doesn't hurt that I wouldn't mind jumping Nine or Ten's bones. Sorry, Four, you just don't ooze sexy.

Ahem, also spending more time in Lafayette. I was there yesterday, and got a reprieve for today because of the massive piles of reading. We're having to do massive amounts of cleaning to the wooded area, but it will be worth it. I will post our work-in-progress pictures when I get some.

And my friends Billy amd Misty have successfully reproduced. Kay Lily born February 9th weighing 9 and half pounds. I'm going to have to get some time to travel to Florida, but I also have time to make the trip, since I'm perfectly willing to let Misty's family go first. Though I feel bad about not being there as backup to send them back to Louisiana.

Drat, have laundry to deal with and then I need to go to bed and get my schedul back on schedule.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/