Wedding Zines - We're Not Melons

(I'm getting a lot of mileage out of the cantaloupe joke)

Our wedding and honeymoon are both in Portland next month. We researched the restaurants we want to try, and squeezed as many as we could into the three and a half days we'll be in town. In an attempt to keep everything organized and clear, I made wedding programs in a "zine" style for everyone to match Portland.

(Me as a Selkie riding Greg as a cow)

They also feature pictures from the advent calendar Greg made for me last Christmas.

(Selkie me, and Cow Greg)

Flare-ups, Episodes, and Crashes

Chronic fatigue tends to go in cycles. You get "better" for a while, try to live normally, maybe forget you're sick for a little while, push yourself too hard, maybe catch a cold, something stressful happens, annnnnd.... you're back to bed for months. It's different for everyone I'm sure.
  I tend to get worse when the weather changes, either too hot or too little sunshine and I hit the deck. When I'm sick I know what to do, drink lots of fluids, drastically cut my sugar intake, queue up new shows on netflix. But when I'm "better"? No idea. I know that if I push myself too far too fast I'll be right back in bed, but I'm so dang ansty. I want to go hiking. I want to rummage at the flee markets. I want to WORK. I'm done watching tv all day and playing video games when I have the mental energy to focus. I want to go OUT.

Right now I'm on my last few days of an extended medical leave. I haven't been able to work consistently since December. The hardest part for me is the guessing. "Am I better enough to go back to work?" "Should I stay home and rest?" It's always a gamble. If I guess wrong and try to push through I could end up making myself worse, and having to stay home for another week.

Random Moments On Medical Leave

Watching Fringe "Aw, they had Lincoln Prime in this episode but no Alternate Lincoln.  I wonder if Seth Gabel was too busy. Wait..." (Seth Gabel plays both roles >.< )

"I can't find the post I'm looking for on that blog, I'll google it. Wait, there's a whole site dedicated to snarking about people's blogs? People talking on the internet about people who talk about themselves on the internet... And there's pages upon pages dedicated to my favorites? Oh my." *hours later*
"I've gone too far."

"When was the last time I showered? I should ask Greg. No, he'll come over and smell me. That's a bad idea. I should just assume I need a shower. At some point. Tomorrow."

Gaming - Lego Minis

Greg and I host a Pathfinder game every other Saturday. We use Lego minis for our tabletop minis. They're fun, easy to customize, and the perfect size. Whenever someone makes a new character they get to dig through the bag of Lego body parts and accessories to put together their own little dude/dudette.

 Greg's - Formaggio Puzzolente "Stinky Cheese"

 His sister's barbarian 

We even have a few for the monsters.

 A banshee 

A cyclops

Other options for custom minis are usually expensive, and once they're made that's it. You can't take them apart and make them into something else. These guys can be turned into completely new monstrosities:

Cycshee + Banclops?

So, White Sunglasses Are A "Thing"

Today, while shopping for Greg's mom's easter basket goodies, I found some cute sunglasses. I tried them on while Greg was looking at something else, and I loved them. I asked him what he thought and he exclaimed "But honey! They're WHITE sunglasses."

I agreed with him, they were white sunglasses, and they looked great. "What's weird about white sunglasses?" I asked, confused. "If you like them you should get them." He said, avoiding my question. "I do like them, and I am going to get them, but seriously, what's the deal with white sunglasses?" Eventually he told me that white sunglasses "Are associated with 'douchebags' who think they're really cool." I rolled my eyes at this, I'd never heard it before. I thought it was just a "Greg thing"

Later I started watching "You're The Worst" and a few episodes in, this guy showed up

I had to pause it so Greg could come in and see it. "I love the glasses, and I'm not returning them, but I had to tell you that you were right, it IS a THING."

It even has it's own Urban Dictionary entry

"Sunglasses that tend to be worn by complete douchebags who think they possess what is called "swag"."

The show is great btw, good enough that I splurged on a month's worth of Hulu Plus. I really like Edgar. 

Macarons, however I can

Kitty-shaped macaron at Seattle Meowtropolitan

I love macarons. Of course by their very nature they're full of sugar. Even the comfort food cookbook we bought full of "Paleo Inspired" goodies has a normal, processed sugar recipe for macarons. Because as the author says "They're finicky and won't work without regular sugar. And I couldn't write a cookbook that didn't include them. Macarons are a part of me." Which made Greg quip "Then we're eating her every time we eat those cookies." We tried making them with Swerve, the sugar replacement blend, but it didn't work. At all.

So Greg tried making them according to the recipe, and they were delicious. Amazingly chewy and sweet. Because of the EPIC sugar content. Sigh. I can eat one or two before getting a migraine somedays, other days even half of one is enough to set them off.

Greg's vanilla macarons 

So in a compromise of sorts, I bought this little pill containers that look just like the real thing. They even have "feet", the ridges on the bottom of each half. I fill them all at once and keep them in my purse. Each one hold most of my daily pills. Leaving out three in the morning, and the super smelly valerian pills I take at night for sleep. (Omg, they are SO smelly. Like manure and dirt. The smell sticks to my hands, and oh god the burps. Poor Greg.) Anyway, this little guys are awesome.

Bandwagon! - Detailed Coloring Books

I love the process of filling in the fine details in these books. While I'm not a huge fan of the nature versions I see everywhere, these are more interesting to me.

http://amzn.com/1492977055

http://amzn.com/1517376912

http://amzn.com/039917527X

http://amzn.com/1452149577

I like the bright colors of markers better than colored pencils, but they bleed through the paper if you're not careful. Most of these books only print on one side of each page so you don't have to worry about ruining the next picture. Don't forget to put a piece of paper between the pages to keep the ink where it belongs.  In my opinion gel pens work the best for staying on their page, and fine point markers are best for super detailed pictures.

http://amzn.com/B000S161FO

http://amzn.com/B00ATBRJRC