real life

A 3620-post collection

So close...

You would be surprised how few avenues there are for making one's own costume, out there. Generic, cheaply-made dress-ups are all you can find.

I purchased an allegedly 'adult' costume for Mayhem that barely fits him. And it has massive static cling issues. Which just re-enforces the idea that I need to learn how to sew. Costuming from pret-a-porter is not what it used to be.

I have to solve Chaos' Gem issue, fix my hat, repair my heart, and find some boots to finish off her costume.

Mayhem's happy with what he's got, thank goodness. I'm not, but that's beside the point.

Meanwhile, Mount Laundry is going down. I'm up to blankets and pillows, now. Line space will be at a premium for that nonse, and the pillows are going straight into the dryer.

Doonas are the worst. They're huge, they're heavy, and they take up loads of space, no matter what you do to them. They're a load apiece, so I'm getting them the hell out of my way as fast as I can manage it. From there, they'll probably sit in a holding area until I can minimise that lot.

My little darlings are getting used to the way of things. Slowly. Mayhem is the worst at do-as-you're-told while Chaos is the most literal with instructions. I told her to wash all the dishes in the sink, and she did exactly that. She left the cutlery and a plastic container behind.

Cute, miss, but that just means I'm going to be more pedantic about stuff from now on.

Meanwhile, all the work I'm doing is invisible because (a) it's spaced out, and (b) most of it is maintaining the status quo.

Entropy is a hard task mistress.

Sideways!

It doesn't matter which order things are done in, only that they are done. Therefore, it's no surprise that my little darlings have adapted to the 'get up and do it' routine whilst my Beloved still drags their heels.

Mayhem has taken to sorting the laundry as part of his morning routine. Chaos still needs a lot of reminding, but she is getting used to the way things are meant to go.

Beloved... is working late because Melbourne Cup. Their work gets

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S-L-O-W-L-Y

If there's anything more irritating to live with than a case of the Slo-Mo's, I can't think of it right now.

I couldn't get to sleep until Beloved came home. Well, not properly. I managed to cat-nap until that time. And then I woke at four in the morning. Too tired to sleep.

Which is a bitch if there ever was one.

Since Beloved was home late, I gave up on the morning walk and dived straight into getting the kids organised.

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Yoiks and Awaaaaaay...

Once again, I got rejected. Once again, I do this nonse:

[Shown: Daffy Duck repeatedly swinging into a tree]

I figured this was going to take some time. When I run out of likely candidates in one agency, I will try another. Until I run down to the bottom of my 30-person list.

Only then will I put up Kung Fu Zombies on Amazon and Smashwords.

But in the meantime, there's a new short story for free. It's currently only available in

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I'm 44

...and everything's gone to shit. I got rejected by yet another agent, the birthday card from MeMum hasn't arrived yet (three raspberries for the Aussie postal service), and the careful timing of this morning did not account for Beloved dragging their feet until such time that I have to do my blogging on the road. Huzzah.

Thank providence for laptops, mobile hotspots, and USB car charger ports. Otherwise, I would be supremely miffed at my Beloved.

All going well, I will achieve

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Swag Day!

Celebrations are done and I have yet to scoop up the wrapping paper. But this year was a decent haul.

Beloved gift-wrapped the meds I sent them to get and the pegs I asked for. Sneaky sod. But I also got some sweet tech out of the deal.

  • A shower speaker that I can blue-tooth link to my phone and blast Steam Powered Giraffe whilst I lather up.
  • A bluetooth radio deelie that I can also link with my phone and have
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...party?

My birthday is this Tuesday, so we're having a little mini-party today. Cake, family, and presents. Nothing huge, hugely expensive, or extravagant.

I still count that trip to Tucson in March as a late-Christmas/early-birthday present combo. That was a budgetary blowout of epic proportions. Therefore anything extra today is a blessing.

Beloved has promised me something I will enjoy but they will probably regret. I have to confess to being interested in seeing what the heck it is. And then try

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Merry October

It's the first of October and I've yet to isolate anything for Chaos' costume, this year. She wants to be her gemsona, sweet child.

That means a wee bit of running around for things. Including the figuring out of how to do the gem on the cheap. Green leggings and arm things. The more skin I cover with fabric, the less I have to cover with makeup. Even when I know where to get some good stuff on the cheap? It's just

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Achievement Unlocked

The plastics cupboard has had all its non-essential and extra-cluttering items removed! Hooray. Now, if we should ever need more than three large or medium Systema sealing articles, we can toddle up to the shed and fetch them. I mean, we have HUGE amounts of plastic containers.

Now, we need no more.

Still on the agenda is the pots cupboard and the gizmos cupboard. The least-use doohickeys will head shed-wards, but the other stuff for pots and pans might be an issue

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Slow starts, low batteries, and recreated inconvenience

Yes, I've stopped using Steam Powered Giraffe lyrics. Well spotted, you.

SPG has helped me cope with a lot of things, and now 'grief' can join that number. I'll try to tone it down from now on. I can be... kind of annoying on the topic of my favourite band.

As you might expect, grief comes with a seemingly endless patch of personal recharge issues. Low batteries, in this case, are mine. Few spoons to drag myself through the day.

And since

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Why'd you have to go?

There is a shady patch underneath a banksia plant. There, a cat lies at peace. She used to hang out there when she was alive, trying to hypnotise the birds down so she could 'play' with them. It's the best place for her to rest, now.

Beloved and Mayhem were kind enough to squirrel away the feline accessories so I wouldn't have to. And I thank them for that mercy.

I'm still sad about it. I expect to be randomly crying about

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'Twas nice to know you

She gave us a scare, yesterday. Life with a cat wouldn't be life with a cat if they didn't give you the absolute horrors for their continued well-being at least once a week. After a month of generally sitting around and not doing very much, Shellebelle decided to wander off for a majority of the day.

Naturally, I feared that I'd never find her again. Mayhem and I took to wandering around the house and yard, trying to spot her. Trying to

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Hello, Goodbye...

Of all the unfair things that this world gives us, it's the fact that our pets don't live as long as we do.

I spent my bedtime last night crying and shaking because I know that my cat has to die. She is not the happiest of campers and spends too much time just staying very still. She'll eat chicken hearts with gusto, but that seems to be all the gusto that she has left.

She can't clean herself. She's taken to

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Maintaining progress

I have my little darlings coming back today. We've successfully minimised all the kitchen drawers, as well as the crockery and glass cupboards. We still have to move all the spare glasses to an OOSOOM1 location.

In my list: minimising the gadgets cupboard, minimising the plastics cupboard, and minimising the pots cupboard. All whilst keeping the floors swept, the remaining dishes clean, and general debris from returning to the household.

NOT helped by the fact that we keep getting Lootcrates, and

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Your fave is human

There's been some... noise... on Tumblr lately, concerning my favourite band and... well. It's not good noise.

Steve Negrete, the band's sound engineer, made some regrettable choices in regards to how he treated a few younger fans. As far as touching them goes, he kissed one or more fans who were on the very cusp of the age of consent, without getting their permission. I know not where the kisses went.

This has been magnified into rumours of Mr Negrete being a

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