Jen FitzGerald's Blog, page 95

Jen's Grand Adventure

As you may or may not remember, I attended my first fan con(vention) this past weekend. I traveled to Atlanta on my own to attend 221B Con.

Let me just say--BEST TIME EVER!

I found my tribe. :) But more about that later...let's start at the beginning.

It started at about 4am last Friday morning. DH and had discussed when to leave for the airport and due to various factors decided that 4:30 was best. I dragged myself out of bed, ate breakfast, drank reheated leftover tea (even though I really wanted fresh), and made and drank my arthritis elixir (cinnamon and honey). I packed the last few items like deodorant and toothpaste and was ready to go. The drive was fine, though there was more traffic than one expects at that time of day. But it flowed fast and fine all the way to the airport.

Arriving that early was definitely a good thing. The line to check baggage (no curb-side check-in for Spirit Airlines) was long and it took about 45 minutes to finally get through. The security check on the other hand was quick and painless. I chose the good line and sent my purse and jacket through the X-ray machine and walked through the people screening machine. I didn't even have to take my shoes off. Woot!

After that I hunted down a restroom, some water for my water bottle, and some hot water in that order, and sat down to wait for my flight. I people watched a bit and then it was time to board. The flight was only an hour and a half or so and I spent the time with my eyes closed listening to the deep baritone of Benedict Cumberbatch reading Sherlock Holmes to me. :)

Navigating Hartsfield-Jackson Airport wasn't terribly difficult, but it took me half an hour to walk from the gate to the baggage claim. It really did. Don't get me wrong, it was a lovely walk as the corridor was filled with all manner of lovely art and historic information. I could have taken the tram, but I wasn't sure about it and opted for the exercise instead.


Once my suitcase was in hand, it was time to tackle the MARTA, Atlanta's rail system. I found the station and was on my way across Atlanta without further issue. I loved seeing all the wisteria growing like weeds along the way.

It's hard to see 'cause I was in a moving MARTA carriage! But all that purply stuff is it. 
It took a little orienting to find the hotel from the MARTA station, but only because there was a taller building between me and the hotel and I didn't immediately see it. But once I located it, off I went. I reached the hotel without incident despite construction and checked into my 9th floor room.



I had a westerly view and was able to enjoy the late afternoon sun and the sunset.

Anyway, I navigated myself all the way there and back (DFW to Atlanta and back) on my own. :) Quite a feat for me.

Con details and a few pictures on Friday, although I didn't take many.

TTFN!

Quarterly Goal Roundup

It's that time to revisit the goals and see how I'm doing... I'll just go down the list (which can be found along the left hand side of the blog..)

1) be a better website person--YES! I've stayed on top of updates and have even done some reviewing for broken links and the like. I'm almost caught up everything.

2) be a better treasurer--YES! I'm pretty much caught up and have instituted some positive changes to the job.

3) get physically healthy and well--I'm feeling good.

4) walk the dog/walk to the post office--No and yes... I was walking the dog, but she's not very well trained anymore so I was having a hard time keeping her under control when we came across other dogs. I had to give up on that for now. I'm going to see about getting a chest-harness thingy to see if that will help. But I do walk to the post office every day that I work at the office, which is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And most days it's too short a walk. I might have to find a longer route there and back!

5) reach 120lbs.--I'm making great progress. Only ten pounds to go.

6) get the house clean(er)--I've done some stuff. Not as much as I want to, but it's happening, which is actually progress.

7) keep crafting--I'm still cross stitching even though the epic birth sampler of love is now complete. I haven't branched out yet as there's nothing that's caught my attention to try. I may go back to rubber stamping. Goodness knows I have plenty of stamps and paper and ink to play around with.

8) create podfic--I've played around with this a bit but haven't done or posted anything official. I've just been too busy to take the time a project needs. Hopefully, the second quarter will allow me some give in the schedule.

9) read and re-read--Yes, of course. I haven't re-read much from last year yet, but as you can see on the right, reading in March picked up a bit.

10) write 10K to 15K word book for a Christmas box set--YES! I wrote 17K words in February. The book is currently out with the other box set writers. It needs a bit of revision, of course it does, but I did it. I've continued working on the epic highlander Sherlock fic and have also returned my attention to a book I wrote last year. After the Christmas book, we've got a Valentine cruise book planned, so I'm going to have to come up with an idea for that soon.

Doing better this year than I have in years past at the 1st quarter mark. Now if I can just keep up all the momentum.

How about you?

A respite...

Things are finally calming down! Despite my upcoming trip.

The birthday girl loved her birth sampler of love, so that is all history now. Phew.



I've finished both series bibles, so for now, I'm done. One of the series has at least two more books coming, but they're not quite ready for me. A breather a few weeks.

Someone stepped up to be membership chair for my chapter, so keeping up with/setting up new members is no longer my responsibility (aside from processing dues payments and send confirmations). Yay!

The contest has slowed way down which is a good thing. There's still another month, maybe two of tasks, but the frantic pace is behind me. Thanks goodness for small favors.

Of course, there were two classes having to do with Scotland happening in April. Since I'm writing the epic highlander fic and hope to a) convert it to a publishable book and b) write more highland based tales, I wanted to take them both. Just not in April right after my con. I contacted one instructor and asked if she was giving it later in the year. She said she wasn't, but she'd give it to me one-on-one. How about that? And for cheaper than the original class. We're scheduled for August. I couldn't find contact info for the other instructor but, the class is gonna be more about the basics of life during the middle ages, so I've signed up and will more than likely just file away the information. I may or may not participate depending on how I feel and the clarity of the information.

So how's your spring going so far??

Movie Monday

So I finally saw Spectre, the most recent James Bond movie. I had originally thought to see it in the theater and never did and so I had to wait for it to come out on DVD.


The short plot write-up is this: The story sees Bond pitted against the global criminal organization Spectre as he attempts to thwart their plan to hijack a global surveillance network.

I watched this film more for Daniel Craig as Bond than for the actual story line. I'd heard it garnered mixed reviews and I'll admit that I didn't enjoy it as much I enjoyed (Craig's) Casino Royale or Skyfall. It was too long and too slow in places.

I also wanted to see Andrew Scott. His BBC Sherlock Moriarty has brought him some larger, juicier roles--and this was one of them. Andrew plays creepy really well, and I have a hard time evaluating his work because I hate creepy. So I guess he's good. Anyway, he plays a bad guy in Spectre and does a good job, although I was a bit put off by his age in regards to the job he held in the movie. I just felt that someone holding that position should have been a bit older.

Are you a Bond fan? Who's your favorite Bond?

Happy Birthday to my Darling Daughter!

Today, more years ago than I like to think, I gave birth to the other most beautiful girl in the whole wide world...

Hospital photo!! Maybe hours old...
Two years old or so and affectionately called Curly Sue on occasion.
First grade school picture.
Coloring with her much younger cousins, Christmas 2009.
Very recent...

She'll be coming over Sunday for b-day lunch, cake, and presents! I'll let you know how the epic birth sampler of love and the mushy card was received.


(forgive the photo quality--I had to take picture of the pictures except for the last one because my scanner isn't working)

I seem to have a bit of theme going...

But, Friday will have a real post, 'cause I'm going to write it right now. :)

Yep, it's Monday...

It's been a helluva week, so a little eye candy is in order...

...since real candy is not the best idea right now, lest I eat ALL OF IT.


Have a great weekend.

Spring is springing...

The grass is growing, trees are budding and much to my delighted surprise, my Chinese wisteria is blooming like mad. I say that, but looking at it, it's rather pathetic. Compared to previous years, however--yes; yes, it is blooming like mad! Look! And it smells wonderful. If only I could bottle the scent.


Are things blooming in your neck of the woods?

What's next...?

So I finished the epic birth sampler of love--whew--and got it to Micheal's this past weekend for framing. It's scheduled to ready the day before her birthday, but I doubt I'd see her until the weekend following anyhow, so all's well.


It's funny that as soon as I'd finished it, I missed having a project waiting on the table for me to sit and work at, whether for a few minutes or for as long as the notion took me, so I took some time this weekend to see which of my other projects I wanted to tackle.

I've had this thing floating around for years--since the Brown-Eyed Girl was a baby...


It had been unfinished for many many of the intervening years, but sometime in the last couple I must have taken the time. I just need to finish the wooden house frame that came with it and then frame it and then hang it somewhere.

After looking at my various projects, I decided to work on my Harry Potter Spells sampler... Remember, a couple of years ago, I made this for my CP for her birthday:


Well, I want one for myself although I don't want to turn it into a scrolled parchment looking project. I want it to match my Sherlock sampler in looks so I can hang it close by and have them appear similar. I spent the weekend modifying the pattern for my needs/wants. I'm not quite done yet, but another evening or two of tweaking and I should be ready to prep my cloth and start stitching.

Along with my pattern making, I spent Sunday watching hockey and NASCAR (another photo finish!) So a pleasant weekend of relaxing for me... Hope you had a lovely weekend as well.