Speak Softly and Carry a Big Lightsaber

RonUS at Club P4!

2009-12-23T04:06:47Z

Ronus is taking the stage! Do not miss this, starting right now! Take some time and unwind from all the holiday hubub at Club P4 with this talented artist.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ecstasy%20Commerce/200/56/33

SNOW DAY

2009-12-20T03:00:28Z

Got up at a decent hour for a Saturday. Called the DMV and was told that yes, they would be holding tests today - that lasted only until the snow really started to come down in earnest. By the time Ro's test had been scheduled for, we had almost 11 inches of the white stuff on the ground and everything was closed.

She didn't seem to be too upset. Instead, she, Dem and I spent the day doing a massive cleaning of her closet and room, getting rid of a lot of junk that has just been accumulating over the years.

Then, the girls shoveled the driveway. A neighbor was a wonderful wonderful man and he took his snowblower to most of the neighborhood's sidewalks. I want to hug him for that!

Got ourselves VERY slowly to queenmidalah's house. It's around the corner, less than 1/4 mile away. It was a very slow 1/4 mile. Had a blast. She made a fantastic turkey dinner and I forgot the wine, the gravy and the bundt cake at home (yeah... FAIL). We did presents and it was so nice. queenmidalah gave me a 7088 Axial Flow Combine, complete with corn head and grain head. It is SO going on my desk at work!

Dem, if anyone on Twitter missed it, is geeking about getting Toast for Christmas from Ro!

Had to leave a lot earlier than we wanted to. Got the car clean and the girls pushed it out of the drift! Slooooow drive home. We almost didn't make it up the one hill, but slowly, we got there, giggling the whole time. Yay, snow!

Dinner at my house on Tuesday. Ro is cooking and there will be bundt cake and wine! Anubis is going to be staying with Auntie and Ro while his mom goes to Michigan for the holiday. He's gotten big enough now that I can let him sleep in my bed and not be afraid I'm going to crush the tiny thing! He answers to that now, btw - Ro calls, "Tiny thing!" and he comes running. Way too funny.

All in all, a Very Good Day was had. Tomorrow afternoon, Ro needs to go to her friend's house to work on a project and I need to make sure Dem's flight is all confirmed for Monday night, since her flight tomorrow was screwed due to snow.

Stocking stuffers

2009-12-18T05:46:59Z

This weekend, I will make myself sit and do at least a dozen different icons for stocking stuffers!

Snail mail addresses

2009-12-18T05:29:48Z

My address book, the one I bought to keep track of addresses for my wedding so long ago, has disappeared. Perhaps it was meant to be, but still - I wish I had been able to keep it long enough to get the addresses *I* wanted out of it!

I am finally sending out Christmas cards this year, too. I hope people do understand why in 2007, sending them out felt like a sham - we were separating and planning on divorce and that in 2008, the first year alone and newly divorced, I just couldn't muster the energy to do them.

So... please, please, please - addresses. I need to rebuild my address book (I will miss Escher, though!).

Comments are screened.

masteralida @ 2009-12-14T01:13:00

2009-12-14T06:13:22Z

After 1 am, but doesn't feel that late. I've watched TV, listened to Cranston sing (Roo even noted that he does awesome with Sinatra tunes) and meditated. Yet, I'm wide awake.

WTF.

I've been up since 8 am. Hit the mall, other stores, been busy all day. I should be tired!

Sunday morning meanderings

2009-12-13T14:50:05Z

Down 2.5 lbs from last week. Yay! Finally heading back in the right direction again, after going too far in the WRONG direction. I'd like to get to Media and be able to wear some of the costumes we've been planning on. Not to mention looking better in my dobok (black belt around a white marshmallow is not very pleasant).

Had a reading done. The Six of Cups came up in the Recent Past position and I thought it was very interesting:

Enact and embody those values from the past that can enrich your world today.

The card in the Recent Past position refers to events that are just departing, recently influential but now diminishing in power.

With the Six of Cups in this position, a recent experience is powerfully nostalgic. It draws your energy and attention away from current situations back to a memory that is still compelling. This inner image is strongly symbolic; it reminds you of what might have been. Although some elements of those cherished memories are worth bringing into your present life, don't spend too much time on memories.

If the experience nourishes you, then the best response is to generate more of the same kind of energy and share it with those around you. Think of those past experiences as examples of ways you can choose to be in the present. Let proven ideals and attitudes energize you now, no matter how much circumstances may have changed.

Given how nostalgic I have been feeling regarding past holidays and missing what used to be, this seems to fit very well right now.

Meeting Tom in a little bit to take him shopping for queenmidalah. I have some ideas that I think he will like. I know I had one decent idea, since queenmidalah and Roo sneaked up on me at the jewelry store while the clerk was showing me the piece! Brats!

I was highly disappointed in the tree selection at SKH last night. And it was getting cold and Roo and I were beat, so we left. We did decide on a nice little 4 - 5" tree for the basement. It'll be cute and not overwhelming, but still Christmasy. Upstairs, I'll do a 6' tree. I haven't done two trees in a while now, I'm kind of excited!

I go back and forth between looking forward to Christmas and dreading it, just wanting it to be over. It's only been a little over a year since the divorce and, last year, JT did spend Christmas morning here. He'll be in Brazil this year and won't be back until after the new year. We may do something small when he's back, so he can spend some time with our daughter, but I'm not counting on it.

This coming Saturday, queenmidalah is having an early Christmas at her place, before she heads to visit gotbunns and Dem heads home to Texas for a few weeks. I need to get some gifts wrapped and tagged before then!

New Year's Eve will be at my house, with noshes and a Star Wars marathon. This works for us! I'll probably be inworld for a bit, too.

And that's where things are this rainy, cold Sunday morning. My coffee cup is empty and must be refilled. And my address book still hasn't shown up!

Stew on a cold night

2009-12-13T01:24:05Z

Got home from shopping with Roo and queenmidalah. It's cold out and I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer before Roo and I had left the house.

Okay, so what to do for dinner on a chilly almost-winter night?

Leftover beef in the fridge, from a pot roast earlier this week.

Three potatoes remaining in the bag.

Some baby carrots.

So, I sauteed up some minced garlic, sliced the carrots and some celery, added the beef with some of the mushrooms it had cooked in. Tossed in 2 cans of diced tomatoes and some beef broth and voila! Winter stew! And it was good!

Open Mic Night at P4

2009-12-10T01:07:41Z

Come to P4 for tonight's lineup!

5:00 QUINTON WHITMAN
5:30 MARKSEERY MELODIE
6:00 MUSICMAN APPLETOR
6:30 IAHN XELTENTAT

Come listen to some of Second Life's talented live artists! Going on NOW, from 5 - 7 SLT

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ecstasy%20Commerce/225/15/23

Paring down some more

2009-12-08T01:49:17Z

For only two women, my daughter and I have a bit of an overabundance of weapons, both edged weapons and firearms. Especially when you consider that in a year, she'll be off at college, and she certainly won't be able to take anything there!

So, I'm planning on selling my Remington 11-87 Premiere .20 ga shotgun, since I rarely use it and the rifles and handgun are enough for the two of us. However.. I have no idea where to list it! Craigslist and eBay are out, they do not accept those kinds of listings. Anyone have any ideas?

RP stirrings

2009-12-06T23:55:37Z

Have been talking with queenmidalah about RP in a place we haven't played in in a while and wondering how that would go over.

1/4 Sim for sale

2009-12-06T23:55:31Z

This is 1/4 of a full-prim sim. 16,384 sq. m, 3750 prims located on an established island-themed class V sim. The parcel is located at the north-west corner of the sim. You do not need to be a premium member to own land at Chicahuac.

Terraforming withing reason (keep to the island theme, please) and complete control of the media stream and access list.

Perfect for a large home, shopping area or whatever you can think of, the land is for sale at L$ 1. Tier is L$ 5575 per week, payable at the Welcome Center.

No clubs are allowed on this 1/4 sim parcel. Sapphire Moon, a club and discussion group, is located on the opposite corner of the sim.

Any questions, please IM Alida Tomsen or Rand Alderson inworld.

Chicahuac Islands is a mixed use sim.

Live where you work, love where you live!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chicahuac/156/151/22

Awake before the roosters

2009-12-06T10:34:43Z

Just can't sleep. The sleep I did get was full of busy dreams, which I hate! Oh, well.

Then, I woke up, tossed and turned and worried about finances and how I'm going to try to get out of debt before alimony runs out, especially considering I only have until the end of Ro's senior year to receive child support, also. Just trying to get out from under our bills, generated over the course of a long marriage, is not fun. I think by the end of 2013, I will have to sell the house, though, unless I get a huge raise at work or find a higher paying job.

Speaking of selling - I'm going to be revamping Chicahuac again. I'm going to shift some things around and sell a 1/4 sim. Sapphire Moon will be moved to next to the Welcome Center and the shops are going to go poof for now. Last month, the sim cost me $250.00 in fees. I'm not a land baron, obviously, so it's harder when things go downhill for a bit. A few of my residents left recently due to either SL divorces or RL job losses.

Waiting for coffee, then going to get ready to go. queenmidalah should be here in an hour. The four of us are heading to Arcadia University for their open house today so Roo can get an idea of whether or not she likes the campus.

I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that my little girl is almost old enough for college! ;)

Interesting

2009-12-01T04:38:34Z

Not really all that surprised at the top ranking commenters :)

Top Commenters on masteralida's LiveJournal
(Self and anonymous comments excluded from rankings)

1	phawkwood	771
2	marm	620
3	chevronsha	594
4	queenmidalah	492
5	gimmelgirl	381
6	vretallin	365
7	tempest_chan	357
8	rsmit212	323
9	easter	322
10	banazir	260
11	kaladhwen	228
12	deire	210
13	mysteena	194
14	annaonthemoon	191
15	burkhardt	147
16	titaniumdiva	145
17	ldymlissa	143
18	terrylj	141
19	kashma	132
20	deborahs_corner	130
21	gotbunns	128
22	tlatoani	124
23	_bella_luna	123
24	mishamish	118
25	cpl_hicks	95
26	momof2girls	95
27	1_2_suckerpunch	84
28	sorcycat	84
29	miajesbar	82
30	tinyflamingo	77
31	beachdog	74
32	jediwonderboy	71
33	risingpheenix	70
34	penfold_x	65
35	gweneth_syeira	61
36	titania7	59
37	krysira	52
38	silent_ic_river	49
39	octaviakrysk	48
40	findthephoenix	46
41	wiliqueen	43
42	beepboop	41
43	gizelnort	37
44	huckingfell	36
45	blackie_fox	33
46	pinkpolarity	29
47	silencebreaking	27
48	darana	26
49	monkeypunk	25
50	helenangel	25
51	wwing	24
52	rh_andi	24
53	kerrileigh	23
54	polydad	22
55	jasmine_leilani	22
56	themagestorm	22
57	nyssacrman	22
58	kimaginethis	21
59	la_vamp	21
60	chose	20
61	nocows0	19
62	tehpenoffluffy	18
63	rainfallsautumn	14
64	artoni	13
65	princesskraehe	12
66	msladee	11
67	nd_jc_mom	9
68	badkarma_one	8
69	deanandsam	7
70	triestine	7
71	lordmathem	7
72	wendynat	6
73	ericcoleman	6
74	leilana_cuspa	6
75	galois	6
76	borealis_belle	5
77	healdhj	5
78	vampry	5
79	pablowapsi	5
80	tara_li	4
81	fic_of_elise	4
82	hakuhatsu	4
83	seelessofme	4
84	laheara	4
85	wiccabuffy	3
86	barghest1031	3
87	ritamalone	3
88	t_jay	3
89	darkdragoness93	3
90	meowmeowbutt	3
91	aoii_jedi	3
92	britestar	3
93	trinityva	3
94	enragedcontent	3
95	aricadavidson	3
96	jerry_seinfeld	3
97	mistressviper	3
98	daisemiin	2
99	newsenseofself	2
100	darksoulvv	2

Total Commenters: 165 (65 not shown)
Total Comments: 11863
Report generated 11/30/2009 11:37:53 PM by scrapdog's LJ Comment Stats Wizard 1.7

Bye, bye, XStreet

2009-11-29T04:47:33Z

Except for the Midalah apartments, I have left XStreetSL. I've only kept one item up so I can participate in the oh-so-quiet Merchants Roundtable that few knew about until recently.

Tomorrow, I list on http://www.slapt.me Screw XStreet.

Question time

2009-11-29T04:44:43Z

Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."

* I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
* Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
* Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

1. If you were granted three wishes without any catch what would wish for?

1. Financial security
2. A solid, loving, respectful relationship
3. A good life for my daughter

2. For reasons that cannot be explained, cats can suddenly read at a twelfth-grade level. They can't talk and they can't write, but they can read silently and understand the text. Many cats love this new skill, because they now have something to do all day while they lay around the house; however, a few cats become depressed, because reading forces them to realize the limitations of their existence (not to mention the utter frustration of being unable to express themselves).

This being the case, do you think the average cat would enjoy Garfield, or would cats find this cartoon to be an insulting caricature?

Like humans, I think it would depend upon the cat. I've enjoyed things (like, um, Bridezilla *blush*) where others have said, rather forcefully, how stupid they think that is. I enjoy it. Others enjoy things I find to be far from what I enjoy. Why would cats be any different?

3. At a movie theater which arm rest is yours?

The one with the cup holder.

4. Do believe that people are inherently good or bad?

I wish I could say I believed they were inherently good, but life has shown me that on the whole, people are inherently neutral. They are out for what is good for them. That doesn't make them good, nor does it make them bad.

5. If you could only see black and white except for one color, what color would you choose to see?

Red. Bright splashes of color are good!

Tiiiiiired!

2009-11-29T02:20:47Z

Lots of walking around DC yesterday - and Ro and I forgot our cameras!

More walking this afternoon while running holiday errands.

Will catch up on FB and LJ tomorrow. Tonight, I veg!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-27T06:06:08Z

Present:

Mom
Dad
Me :)
Roo
queenmidalah
Dem
gotbunns
Tom
Mom-Mom
Mark
Elena
April
Butch
Bryan
Jeff
Alex
Michelle
Ro
Mary
Brittney

Dinner!

Shrimp
Deviled eggs
Chips
Turkey
Ham
Broccoli raab
Vegetable medley
Corn
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Stuffed mushrooms
Baked ziti
Biscuits

I know I'm missing food items from this.

Dessert:
Too many! I think there were 10 or 11 desserts, plus the fruit and nuts that went out in between courses!

Last day!

2009-11-27T04:45:36Z

This ends at midnight on Friday! Everything in my XStreetSL store is 50% off!

https://xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=54246

At midnight, it goes poof!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T01:36:38Z

What a wonderful day this has been!

This morning saw me cooking like mad. I was responsible for the deviled eggs, ham, broccoli raab, cranberry relish and baked ziti. Started out with two cups of coffee and a bite to eat. Figured I'd be safe!

queenmidalah, gotbunns and Tom got here at 12:30 and we loaded up the food into the car and took off for my parents. We helped Mom finish setting up, sat around snacking on shrimp and deviled eggs and chips while waiting for the rest of the family to arrive.

Lots of food and laughing around the table. LOTS of food. Afterwards, some of us went for walks and then chilled out again at the house, until my cousin set up the Wii. Hysterical! We ended up leaving nearly two hours later than we'd originally planned.

(L-R) That's queenmidalah, Roo, Dem, my aunt, my brother and my cousin.

I'm still not sure about half of what we were trying to do, but I do think I need to buy Roo a Wii eventually! Way too much fun and none of it involved dumping her mother out of a warthog!

Home now. Roo and Dem gave Anubis a bath and now he's curled up with them in the room. Orion is down here with me. Tomorrow, the whole lot of us are heading down to DC for the day, with dinner in Baltimore on the way home. Looking forward to it!

Happy GPA and looking forward to the holidays

2009-11-26T06:00:04Z

First, Roo got her current GPA: 4.0. YAY! This will certainly help with getting scholarships, especially since she's been in all Honors classes!

Now, the holidays...

The last couple of holidays have been hard for me. 2007 - marriage falling apart. 2008 - first holidays after the divorce. 2009 - can only go up from here, right? (Why yes, I did knock on wood!)

Thanksgiving tomorrow. Should be nice. 21 people at my parents, including, me Roo, Dem, queenmidalah, her boyfriend and gotbunns. I need to remember the candlesticks and to make sure all the food I'm bringing gets put into the car!

Christmas is still iffy for me. Not really sure how I'm going to handle this year. queenmidalah is heading home (even if I keep forgetting that and keep telling her about things we need to do on Christmas Eve for dinner!). My ex-husband will be in Brazil again for work. Dem should be going home. It will be just me, Roo, Orion and Anubis this year. And somehow, I don't think Orion and Anubis are going to be all that interested in breakfast... wait... maybe they will be! Those two are four-legged Hoovers!

I am trying to make sure Roo has a good holiday. Hopefully, I'll be able to pull it off for her. We'll do a breakfast casserole and the sour cream coffee cake and fruit salad, as we have done for years. There will be coffee and Christmas music and, maybe, a mimosa or two. Then off to my parents' house for dinner before coming home again.

Christmas was always my favorite holiday and I'd like for it to be that again. Right now, I'm still kind of eh on the whole thing, but less eh than I have been!

Cleaning out my closet

2009-11-22T20:09:58Z

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chicahuac/65/87/903

Yard sale time! Everything is at least half off!

Everything half-off for the next week!

2009-11-22T16:30:14Z

Since XStreetSL is undergoing some changes that will not benefit small merchants like me, I'm going to put everything on sale there for half off for this week, before pulling my items off of the listings.

https://xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=54246

I'm investigating other avenues for sales, too. Oh, how I miss the old SLX and On-Rez!

Sticker Shock

2009-11-22T07:43:29Z

Time to start the college tours... scary, that!

Scarier... the colleges Roo is looking at? Around $40K a year.

That's for the undergrad program.

Gah!

Today's Tweets

2009-11-22T03:50:11Z

Bits from the day gone by.

06:05 Your key planet Venus is stuck between a rock and a hard place... More for Libra twittascope.com/twittascope/?sign=7 #
20:10 Time for Tylenol. Really, this is getting old! #
21:07 @EchoLegacy Ready for pickup? #
22:01 Should have grabbed a coat #
22:07 Echolegacy Here #

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Meditation tonight at Kannonji

2009-11-21T05:04:24Z

Do you know how to let the
mountain stream cleanse your mind?
Every thought is pulled out along the smooth,
polished stones, disappearing
downstream in the frothy current.
The mind keeps on making more thoughts
until it sees that they are
all being carried away downstream;
until it realizes that they
are all vanishing,
dissolving into an unseen point.
Then it won't bother for awhile.
- Ji Aoi Isshi