stgulik

Boy, the more I hear from friends and acquaintances on the internet, the more I think I must be part of the minority, because Daylight Savings has absolutely no ill effects on me. Never has. I have no idea what everyone else feels, or why it's always so hard on them. And I'm grateful! It sounds horrid.

It was a quiet weekend. Worked a little on our future guest bedroom. There are now four big boxes, filled and taped up. I borrowed a handcart from our next-door neighbor, and once the rain lets up, we'll transfer the boxes to the garage. Little by little, the job gets done. You may wonder why I don't make our daughter help with more of this project. The first reason is, she's tremendously busy with work and school; it's difficult to get her to schedule any time here. And the second reason is, she created this mess, but she's pretty useless about reversing the process. I mean, she's brilliant; she'll go far; I admire her in many ways. But whenever I put her to work on this room, she either gets depressed and can't part with things, or nostalgic and can't part with things. Progress is slow, to say the least.

And this is no job for Groom because his knees are so terrible, he could get down on the floor, but there's no guarantee he would stand up again. Please know that in the grand scheme of things, he does his share around the house, so I'm cool.

In fanfic news, I submitted prompts to the sshg_promptfest and put in a request for Draco/Hermione prompts on dramionelove. In case I didn't mention, the Dramionelove entries must be 1,000 words max, which works well for us commitmentphobes. Quite nice. Check it out!

The HP Interhouse Promptfest has begun! Prompts are open for claiming until September 7. And people, there are well over 300 prompts to choose from. Seriously. Go and have a look. I didn't contribute any prompts, but lots of them look intriguing. I'm not sure how I'll pick a favorite!

Hey, one of the prompts I submitted for the sshg_promptfest was selected and subsequently written. And wow, is it terrific! The writer, whoever s/he is, has brought forth a wonderfully clever, witty, romantic story. I've already read it three or four times today and I'm still grinning! If you haven't yet, go and read The Luck of the Draw.

As a matter of fact, I hope you're keeping up with the Promptfest already, because there are some wonderful new stories, with more sure to follow during the rest of the month.

I like it. I think Shakespeare would have invented a character named St. Gulik if I'd been around back then. In reality, I would have been his washerwoman or something, but a well-read one.

In other news, I've submitted prompts for this summer's sshg_promptfest. Have you? Deadline is tomorrow!

when they don't have a knowledgeable computer geek in the house? Back in the 90s, Groom suddenly found himself in need of a big, time-sucking hobby. So he bought a PC and learned DOS. Now he builds computers, and though my garage looks like a factory exploded, he's damn good to have around when the home router goes wonky, as it has done today. I'm having to update you at work (sh-h) until internet us up again at home.

Let's see. What else shall I write about? I have two more paragraphs to fill. Oh, well, there's always this: I'm sad to report I am going to drop out have dropped out of the sshg_promptfest. About a third of my fic is corralled on the page, but the other two thirds are nowhere to be found. I blame a jam-packed October, plus the fact I have not been able to hear the voice of my Snape, listen though I might. It's just not happening. I'm enormously disappointed.

Let me ask you something: if I can get it written after the deadline passes, would it be tacky to put it up somewhere like TPP and reference the aborted promptfest deadline attempt? And nudge the prompter as to the story's whereabouts?

Home early from the Groom's birthday party at our local Mexican restaurant. Our friends really spoiled him. I had a dish called "Tamales Divorciadas" or something, which consisted of two "irreconcilable" tamales - one beef with green sauce, the other chicken drenched in mole.

Yesterday I saw the ear specialist. She determined I do indeed have BPPV, and she performed the Epley Maneuver three or four times on me until I was ready to puke. Let's hear it again for beffeysue, who totally called it!

Now I'm supposed to keep my head upright but not look up or down for an entire week. A week! I really don't have that kind of attention span, but she recommended against wearing a neck brace as a physical reminder, so really, when you think about it, it'll be her fault when I forget. No, not really. I'm doing well enough. And to my joy, when I got up this morning I had no vertigo. It's too soon to say we're done rehashing this boring topic. I just wanted to update you.

My beta life is plugging along. The next chapter in teddyradiator's o-fic, Her Minder, will involve Bondage Lite, followed (I'm told) by a chapter of Bondage Heavy. There are a few fanfic pieces in the hopper too. And then I really do have to clear the decks and write a good deal of my Promptfest piece.

I got my assignment from the sshg_promptfest today! It wasn't my first choice, but it was a very close second, and I'm stoked.

nagandsev asked for an update after my doctor visit. I'm reluctant to bore you with details, so here are the headlines. The doc says the inner ear is still out of whack after the fall. Something about, there is sand in the tubes of your ears that helps you keep your balance. In my case, the sand shifted and hasn't shifted back yet. This condition can't be fixed. I'll just have to put up with the occasional vertigo until/unless the sand shifts back one day.

Then I saw a hearing specialist who told me my hearing is normal for someone my age, but that I have tinnitus and it can't be fixed until/unless it goes away on its own. She suggested I find ways to forget the noise is happening. Oh, okay! No problem!

Results were unsatisfying, to say the least. I'm still deciding whether to accept them with good grace. I imagine this is what middle age has in store for me - little tiny symptoms caused by little tiny problems. And doctors who say, "The body was only meant to live about forty years. Evolution has not yet caught up to the phenomenon of the HMO. So go home and take vitamins, and enjoy your borrowed time."

I'm highly surprised to find I've finished a PromptFest piece! Today I hope to finish formatting, send it to my alpha and my beta, and get it in well before the deadline.

Sadly, the reveal date is July 31st, so I can't say much more about the story, except I worked hard to strike a nice balance between funny and tender, and I hope I've achieved it.