dawnebeth: (Default)
snagged from Solosundance

The BBC estimates that most people will only read 6 books out of the 100 listed below. Reblog this and bold the titles you’ve read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - J.K.Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (well, not the complete works, but a lot of them!)
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D.Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson (I read a different book by him--does that count?)
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

48/100--nearly half, and in some cases, I'd read other books by the author. Why does the Complete works of Shakespeare count as one and Hamlet as one, since Hamlet is part of the complete works?

Bistocon

Aug. 14th, 2018 08:53 pm
dawnebeth: (Default)
Bistocon—what a blast. I live for these weekends, immersed in fannish love for Bodie and Doyle. I literally find pennies on the ground (and the occasional nickels and dimes) to save up for going to cons.

Read more... )
dawnebeth: (Default)
Lots, lots going on, much boring medical issues and a Professionals con coming up, so I am thrilled. Mostly this post is to practice doing a cut, which I never have on Dreamwidth. So here goes--

Read more... )
dawnebeth: (Default)
The series got cancelled after only 13 episodes and I am bummed. It's been a long, long time since I liked a show this much--the whole cast are great. And of course, since all dramas these days end on cliffhangers, we will never get a resolution! My brain is swirling with ideas on how to fix this and I do NOT need another fandom to write in.

**Spoilers!** So Jonathan switched places with Cameron and left him in the prison. Bad twin! Immediately I tried to think of ways to prove that's Cam, not Jon on the inside. First off, Cam was grazed by a bullet and electrocuted in ep 12, which both leave marks. That would convince Kay and the rest of FBI, right? Not to mention, if he was hurt as many times in his life as they've alluded to, he'd have healed broken bones. X-rays!

But if they were raised as one child--Cameron--there are medical records of Cameron, but not Jonathan. Hmmm.

This is so frustrating.
dawnebeth: (Default)
May 4th celebrated as Star Wars day tickles me to no end. It makes me happy to unite in the love of the Star Wars universe, especially due to a pun. Puns are everything to moi. I am wearing my Han and Chewie piloting the Millennium Falcon into hyperdrive and encountering the Tardis in front of them t-shirt.

Very busy these days, visiting mother almost daily for lunch. She is increasingly in another dimension herself, with Parkenson's induced dementia--never quite sure what day it is, whether she has taken the correct pills or even if she's eaten. My sister lives with her, and works generally from 5am to 2:30, so she comes home only a few hours after lunch, when I've gone off to work myself. This weekend, Lesley is taking a rare vacation with a friend, so I'll be going back to see mother for dinner, too. But I work Saturday and Sunday, so mom will spend a lot of time on her own. She falls frequently, which is one of the things that weighs most on my mind. We shall muddle through!

I'm reading Ready Player One, which has different scenarios than the movie did on how the characters find the three keys to unlock the game, but other than that is really fun. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long time. So many fannish mentions and fun facts about the 1980s and 2045s. Thumbs up.

Getting into The Magicians. I saw a bunch of shipper posts on FB about Quentin and Eliot, who are both very goodlooking. I'd tried this series once before, but only got to ep 4. People told me it gets better after that, which is very true, especially once they start dealing with Fillory (a Narnia type world and set of books in the series). The last episode with backstory about the author of the Fillory world was chilling (episode 10). So far, Eliot and Quentin are only marginally friends, and both have major issues to deal with, but I like them. The girls of the series, on the other hand, not so much. Since the first two seasons are on Netflix, I can just FF through any scene with whiney Julia. Margot is at least funny and sarcastic. Alice is annoying, but she's so often with Quentin that I have to endure her. Lol. Eventually, I know there will be some "Queliot" and I look forward to that!

There is no try, there is only do--in the words of the immortal Yoda.
Tags: star wars
dawnebeth: (Default)
Lately, I have this decidedly odd sensation of walking in my own footsteps.

In early March, 2017, I was diagnosed with a second round of the saliva gland cancer I'd dealt with in 2011. After probably more than a year of what I'd thought were annoying sinus headaches, the pain got worse and worse until it was far more than sinus pain and I went to the doctor. There'd been a small lump behind my ear, as well, but all symptoms were completely different than the previous occurrence.

So, in Mid-March, with the diagnosis hanging over my head and no decisions on exactly how to treat the tumor, I went off to Revelcon in Houston. Had a blast, despite the headaches. What's really weird is that the first time I'd gone to Revelcon was exactly six years earlier, before the first tumor surgery.

I did not attend Revelcon this year--I'd just been on the cruise, and am gearing up for Disneyland, so I had to do some work at the hospital! But that sensation of walking over the same days kept coming up because there were lots of emails and FB posts about Revelcon.

Last year, Easter was later, so I was literally preparing for surgery (an MRI at 6:45 am on Easter morning before church, so help me God, two days before surgery) on Easter. This year, I was knee deep in the Easter Vigil service on Saturday night: a two and a half hour service that is so complicated, it requires rehearsal! There were five priests from three different churches, five baptisms, nine readings (which does not count the priest who read the Gospel) and full choir singing--plus almost running out of bread for communion. All of which I'd planned to only attend as a worshipper but my priest Christopher claims I am his go-to person, and he'd simply assumed I was one of the participants (I am the one who schedules the altar people and my name was one the email because of that--not as he thought, because I was a participant). When I didn't attend the 10am rehearsal, he texted me to ask me to come to the 6pm rehearsal, cause we really did need to go over a few things. To which I replied, "I'm not a reader tonight." He said, "But I need you at the baptisms."

SIGH. We were at church for four hours, which did include a nice reception for the baptised ones--but I was exhausted, and there's only so much a chocolate cupcake and some carrot sticks can do at 10pm. I was told many stayed until after 11.

But Demelza and I were working the altar on Easter morning, so we went to bed. (any wonder Christopher wanted a mini vacation this week?). Easter service seemed a breeze after the night before! At least there were no headaches or early morning MRIs this year!

And now I'm getting ready to go to Disneyland again. This will literally be exactly one year later, unlike Revelcon and Easter which were on different weekends in '17 and '18. This year, I will not have to field doctors' calls in the car on the way down to the LA area (I was not driving, but did have two doctor conference calls last year during the 8 hour drive.) I feel so much lighter--free of pain, happy, and so very grateful that I have now lived a full year after the three surgeries. I still have a palsy on the right side of my face from a cut facial nerve, which I'd hoped like crazy would regrow after the surgery. The plastic surgeon even said she might be able to do a little repair on it. But you know, I don't care so much any more. I really don't want to have more surgery. I'm healthy, active, I work as a nurse and teach student nurses. I have friends and family--so I look less cute than once upon a time. I'm also 61 years old, so cute isn't all it's cracked up to be anymore.

On the one year anniversary (April 18th) of my first surgery (of three) I will have returned from Disney, all aglow of the happiest place on earth, and be taking Demelza to her horse back riding session. Alive and happy to be so.

Reading the latest Felix Francis book. He's similar to his father Dick but he ain't his father, and Pulse is not at all my favorite Francis novel. It is, however, the first ever (that I am aware of, and I've read every mystery the two men have written) with a female main character! So, I'd really like to enjoy it more, but I'm really not crazy about depressed Dr. Chris Rankin and her anorexia problems. Give me depressed Sid Halley and his love--ahem--partner, funny, lively Chico Barnes instead.

Watching new series: really like Deception about a magician who helps the FBI so they will aid him in finding the woman who caused his twin brother to be accused of murder and imprisoned. One of Cameron Black's, the magician, assistants is played by Lenora Critchlow who has been a favorite of mine since she played Annie the Ghost in Being Human.

Tried three episodes of Rise about a Pennsylvania school with an impoverished drama department putting on Spring Awakenings, which is a real Broadway production. Some interesting songs. But this ain't fun and teenage ansty like Glee with lots of covered pop songs, this is major drama with alcoholism, poverty, anger, sleeping around, and show tunes. A leetle too melodramatic for moi.

Seen one episode of Instinct with Alan Cummings. I was underwhelmed, but it was the pilot, so I will reserve judgement just yet. He's just a little too--a savant with perfect auditory recall, a professor AND a CIA agent. I did just discover, literally now when I looked him up on IMDB that we share the same birthdate--January 27--although he is eight years younger.

Scorpion has gotten too, too silly. I want to know if Happy and Toby are going to have a baby and then I may bail.

My turn at the TV now, so running off--what to watch, what to watch?
dawnebeth: (Default)
Our friend Anna has recovered from her surgery in December but her mother's health has gotten much much worse. If you can give, or just send good thoughts, we thank you!

https://www.gofundme.com/2jkmpbus
dawnebeth: (Default)
And actually to anyone who reads my stories, but those Lewis fans have knocked me down with a feather.

Exactly one year ago, I posted a story in AO3; How Much More Dear--and so far, it has 104 kudos, more than any story I've ever posted, including some much longer Starsky and Hutch.

Five days ago, I posted my latest fic in Lewis: A Lonely Lifetime and it already has 34 kudos. WOW.

My stories were never in the blockbuster fandoms like Marvel where they get hundreds of kudos, which was fine--I am grateful for each and every reader of each and every story.
So thank you for reading my fic. You make me smile.
dawnebeth: (Default)
Shudder--just watched the episode from last night, surely one of the creepiest of all eleven seasons. Mulder and Scully encounter AI with nearly dire consequences--and until the machines actually seemed to come alive, it was all so very familiar. We've all dealt with robot calls, roombas, automated payment, computer voices on the phone when trying to talk to the credit card company or bank, electronics at home that won't do what we want them to, and a site on the 'net not recognizing our passwords. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when Scully kept putting in her birthplace only to have the site tell her it was wrong. Yep, I've had that happen, except it was my mother's maiden name.

I thought this was funny: At the hospital, we change some of our IV tubing every 96 hours--and are required to put a little label with the correct dates on the tubing. Last weekend, when I went to check the label, the previous evening nurse had written 2/25 to 2/29. Hmmm, it's not leap year, so 2/29 won't be for two years. Seems a trifle longer than hospital protocol. I changed the date to 3/1, humming the tune from Pirates of Penzance "A Paradox" under my breath since it deals with that maddening problem of February 29th with such amusing zest.

Other things I am watching: Waco is so good, about David Koresh and the Branch Davidians pitted against the ATF and FBI. It really shows all the people on both sides as both human and a bit crazed. Such a waste.

MindHunter is really good too, although Waco has drawn me away from it and lately I've had very little time to watch TV. This explores two FBI agents, one progressive, one more old fashioned, coming into the new world of serial killers (or sequence killers as they call them) in the 70s and how the FBI had to learn to change. The first agent, Holden, is on his way to being a profiler--his conversations with this one very erudite rapist/murderer are fascinating, and the actor playing that criminal is amazing.

Huh--just noticed all the series I've mentioned are about the FBI. I do watch other stuff, too...like my hero Trevor Noah on the Daily Show.

I really meant to post more after the wonderful cruise, but we came back to a really busy week. Arrived home after six on Saturday the third, and the fourth, after two loads of laundry, packed an overnight bag to stay at my sister and mother's for the night. I got up before dawn (haha) to drive my sister to a surgical center for an elective procedure, hit my house briefly to feed the cats, went back to mother's to get Demelza up and take her to her day program, then went home to sleep before working 3-11:30. Ack. Luckily, it was a really busy assignment that day because I was still on Florida time. Basically, all of February was that busy--I'm having hopes of a quiet March. I had time to write today--yay!

How about you?
dawnebeth: (Default)
Last night on board--waaah!

For dinner on Thursday, Star Wars day, all the food had silly Star Wars themed names. I have to admit--it did cause me to dismiss clam chowder I probably would have enjoyed because it was named after Jarjar Binks (shudder.) So I had Padme Amidala cheese souffle which was very tasty! After that, I had a flatbread/pizza kind of thing, really good--with warm brie, spinach, pears, peaches and nuts on top. Then a macaron for desset. Yum. Demelz had mini ham sandwiches and pasta (of course) with scallops.

We talked some more with the same sex couple we share the table with. They are foodies and instead of celebrating Star Wars, they had a brunch in the fancy restaurant, a champagne tasting and then a special dessert tasting. They weren't very hungry when they got to dinner! They also are going on a second cruise next week--staying in the same room, and everything. Wow, I didn't even know you could do that! Then, in April, they're going on a third Disney cruise (that will be, if my count is correct--number eleven for them in the last few years.) Nice if you can manage it--they do have jobs!

Today we were on Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. Lovely, really hot and relaxing. neither Demelza or I are swimmers and the ocean was actually cool (I did go wading) so we lounged in lounge chairs until our glass bottom boat ride. We got to feed the fish oatmeal which made them jump out of the water. The ocean is so clear, you can easily see the fish over the side of the boat. Met a family similar to ours--caucasian parents, darling brown daughter and son. The little girl was sooooo cute.

After barbecue lunch on the island (with a far better hamburger than I had in one of the restaurants on board) we moseyed back to the ship, stopping for a dance party with Minnie and Goofy--Demelza was thrilled to dance right with them.

The musical theatre show tonight was fantastic--merging several familiar Disney songs into a story about a man learning to believe in magic. The actor who plays Genie in the Aladden show earlier this week and tonight is fantastic. There was a number from Princess and the Frog which made me want to jump up and dance too.

Dinner next and then we'll be getting ready for bed. sniff--the cruise ends at 6am tomorrow.
Tags: disney
dawnebeth: (Default)
Ah, what a day for a fangirl--the whole ship is on Star Wars mode. So many guests and crew members in costume, so many Star Wars themed activies--and even the food!

Our dinner last night at Palo was very elegant. I'd forgotten that it was a set price of thirty dollars each because the service, food and ambiance was so lovely I suspect we would have paid far more in a California restaurant. The hostess even changed the white napkins to black ones because we both had on black leggings! We started with antipasto the waiter just served up--no ordering. The pizza bread with parmesaen cheese was awesome. Then Demelza had her second plate of fried calamari for the day. (the first was at a restaurant on St. Thomas, but Palo's was fresher and less rubbery.) I had buffalo mozzerella cheese and tomatoes--tasty cheese, the tomatoes a little too hot house flavourless. (Demelza and I once visited the only farm in California that makes actual cheese from water buffalo.) There was even a teeny serving of lemon sorbet for a palate cleanser! Her main course was lobster on pasta, and I had grilled mushroom on spinach and polenta. Excellent, but we were both full by then! I did eat a bit more than she did for once. We'd both ordered chocolate souffle which was tasty although--for moi, I could use less of the multi-flavour thing so popular lately. Just the souffle was great, it didn't really need chocolate sauce, vanilla sauce and vanilla gelato. They gave us a lemon cordial thing at the end which was really sour, so we didn't drink much. Staggered to our stateroom, stuffed to the gills.

For Star Wars day, Demelza wore her stormtrooper costume. For those who don't know, she bears a striking resemblance to the actor who plays Finn--particularly in costume. One of the waiters even called her Finn! We had fun seeing all the costumes and t-shirts from tiny baby Yodas to adult Leias and Hans. Lots and lots of costumes. I felt proud that my t-shirt of Han and Chewie piloting the Millenium Falcon toward the Tardis was the only one on board. Although many had unusual t-shirts, just as many had bought the Star Wars Day at Sea shirt sold in the gift shop here.

We had our pictures taken with C3PO and R2D2, attended a fun history of Star Wars (which actually had a few facts I didn't know), met a family who had never seen any Star Wars movies. (quelle horrors!) and I ate a brownie with Darth vader in chocolate. My chai latte had the Rebel symbol on the foam in cinnamon.

We're going to see The Last Jedi again in about an hour.
dawnebeth: (Default)
Last night was Pirate night--and I was amazed how many people had elaborate pirate costumes. The cruise line did provide pirate bandanas which we wore to the restaurant. Arrgh!

I had a salad with lovely, tasty candied pecans and then another salad with pita and chicken. I'd assumed that chicken pita salad meant like what you have for lunch, chicken mixed with mayo. The chicken was overly spiced but I enjoyed the tomatoes, spinach and cucumbers with the pita. Afters--a wonderful chocolate sundae mixed with cookies. Demelza had shrimp and pasta--she's predictable.

We had quite the excitement just as we were nodding off to sleep--the intercom came on "Bright star, bright star, stateroom 7531" I dimly thought that must be one or two doors from us, and then recalled hearing a panicked voice a short while earlier. This place is well soundproofed, it was the first time I'd heard voices in the corridor. Then there was bumping and hushed, hurried voices, plus a rattling as if someone were trying to open our door. I'd already sussed out that Bright Star might mean the same thing as a code blue in the hospital and peered out the door. Staff and medical people were trying to manuvere a stretcher out of the room directly across the hall. A man looked quite ill--and and AED or automated difibrillator was at work, the first time I have ever seen one in action. And I've done my required drill on an AED every year at work for ages!

This morning, we were docked in St. Thomas. I saw two women come out of 7531, and asked the housekeeper how the man was doing. She said he was still alive, Thank God.

We went out to Charlotte Aimlie, St. Thomas midmorning and wandered around, finally taking a taxi into the main shopping area. All very sunny, hot and pretty, but far too touristy with 900 shops selling diamonds and Rolex watches. How can the economy support so many jewelry shops? We had lunch and then went back to the t-shirt shop so Demelza could get an iguana shirt like the iguanas she saw in St. Maarten.

Later, on board, we went to the Irish Pub to play a TV tunes trivia game. I got 7 out of 15 correct but only because Demelza recognized the theme to Duck Tales. I didn't!

Tonight we have the adults only fancy restaurant, a switch from the dinner included with the cruise price at the three restaurants we are usually assigned to. Bon appetite!

Land ho!

Jan. 30th, 2018 07:00 pm
dawnebeth: (Default)
We arrived on St. Maarten today--before we awoke, and yes, I did notice the ship wasn't moving when I got up.

We met Chewbacca! Yes, I wuved being hugged by him--he's quite tall and furry. I might have to give into my mental Han/Chewie stories.

Yesterday, took a half hour yoga class in the spa--more difficult than usual when the ship is pitching back and forth. About 45 minutes later, we had our pedicures looking out at the sunset over the sea. It was beautiful, and only the second time I have ever had a pedicure. I got purple toenails. Demelza got red nails on her right foot and mauve on her left. My one problem with the people at the spa are that they constantly try to get you to buy products. Both the yoga teacher did, and the nail ladies. The nail ladies were nice and fun to chat with until they brought out lotions and scrubs to sell. I said no with firm resolve.

We escaped with our beautious toes. We went to a restaurant that featured the fish, and turtles, from Finding Nemo. Crush the turtle would appear in the video screens near each table and talk to select people at the tables. Demelza was enchanted. She had a salad with apple slices and pasta bolonase--her favorite. I have a fantastic tomato-goat cheese tart, with much better crust than the mushroom-bacon tart on Saturday. Then a panko crusted pork chop. Honestly, I'm not much of a meat eater, so I mostly at a couple bites of pork and all the crust off the top. Tell my mom--she will never believe this--I ate almost all my asperagus! Then, the piece de resistance--a chocolate chip cookie sundae. That was awesome.

I'm still having a bit of trouble sleeping. I manage to fall asleep and then wake up in the middle of the night. Luckily, I do go back to sleep but I get totally sleepy midafternoon.

We went on a bus tour of St. Maarten, which was really interesting to hear about a small island with two sides. One side is primarily French speaking, the other is Dutch speaking. There are two of everything: police, electric company, schools, etc. The sad thing is that Hurricane Irma really damaged a lot of the place. Almost all the hotels on the French side are uninhabitable, and many, many houses. There are carcasses of cars and yachts half sunk in the ocean. I got sad, and then I could barely stay awake. We didn't buy anything except some sodas, and drank coconut water out of a real coconut.

Tomorrow is St. Thomas.
dawnebeth: (Default)
Another day at sea before we get to islands tomorrow. Demelza felt better by lunch time yesterday, and I've figured out the lights in the stateroom.

You can turn the lights off and on without removing the key card from the slot--plus, there is a "porthole" since our room is entirely interior. It's a round window with a little video of the sea. Every once in a while, a Disney character flies or swims past including the pegasus horses from Fantasia and the house from Up aloft on balloons.

Highlights of Sunday--we were going down to see the Aladdin show, dressed in our finery for formal night and who gets on the elevator with us? Princess Tiana! So we got a private meeting with her. Demelza was so thrilled. The Aladdin show was fantastic, and we've seen it any number of times at Disneyland.

Demelza had a hour and a half massage with hot rocks alone while I relaxed with a book, a brownie, and chai latte. Very nice!

For dinner, we were in the Royal Court restaurant with tile mosaics of royal princesses on the walls. Demelza indulged in her favorites: Lobster and shrimp, both in the appetizer and the main course, lobster pasta. What was funny was that one of our table mates had exactly the same thing. The other two are a nice couple, D and C. I had to laugh because When I noticed that we'd arrived at the table before they did, Demelza asked "the two brothers?" I said, "Honey, they are husbands." She knows at least three friends who have same sex parents, so it's not exactly a new concept to her. D, in particular, is quite chatty and we talked a lot of the dinner.

I had yummy, yummy fried brie and a bowl of sauted veggies with seared ahi. The vegetables were tasty but seared ahi isn't my favorite. Ah well, live and learn. Two desserts, since I ordered an apple tart, and also got a chocolate thing (not sure what, it wasn't cake) when the waiters sang Happy Birthday to me.

This morning, we got big (and I mean BIG) hugs from Chewbacca! And I went in the hot tub while Demelza watched Lion King on a huge screen. She will watch any Disney movie over and over again, quite happy.
dawnebeth: (Default)
This is day three of our big adventure. Friday, Demelza and I flew out of San Francisco and winged across the continental US to Florida, landing in Orlando.

There's a Hyatt hotel right inside the airport! You don't even have to take a shuttle, just walk through the airport to a very nice hotel and check in. We arrived 9:30 Florida time, which is only 6:30 to our brains, but we were sleepy and went to bed by 10:30. Except, as usual, I had hotel-sleepitis, where I don't sleep well or at all the first night. Even with Benedryl, it took a long time to drop off, which is so strange for me lately because ever since the surgery in April, I can sleep at the drop of a hat! But eventually, I did--and woke up moments before the timer on my phone played Morning Glow from Pippin.

I had a free Chai latte for my birthday from Starbucks, plus a chocolate croissant. Yum. Then we found the Disney bus connection, also at the airport. Very convenient. Since we were going on the cruise, we didn't even have to carry our luggage. Just tagged it with the special Disney luggage tags and left it in our hotel room. They sent the suitcases on a truck to the boat!

After about an hour bus ride, and another hour in the waiting room at the cruise line, we got on the Disney Fantasy about noon. Wow, what an enormous ship, and very beautiful with lots of elegant designs on the walls, chandeliers and floors, hidden Mickeys and fun things to see. Ate lunch on the 11th deck while waiting for our room to be ready. I had salmon and salad, Demelza ate chicken strips, shrimp and pizza, which I thought was too much but turns to be basically what she had for the whole day, in the end.

We saw Mickey, Cinderella and Belle right away, so Demelza was over the moon, while I enjoyed a tiny chocolate cupcake. It was my birthday, after all, and national chocolate cake day. Then into our room. It's tiny. My bedroom at home is probably bigger. At first, I thought we'd have to sleep in the same double bed for a week (comparing to the gigantic King size in the Hyatt, which we did sleep together in but never even got near one another.) However, whew, the couch does turn into a bed. Disney also has an innovative but slightly irritating advancement on the room key--it also powers the lights and heater. So once you come in, you slide your key card into a slot and the lights come on. Except, as far as I can tell, you can't just have one light on by the bed to read or anything. It's either the main overhead light on or nothin'. The lamps turn on and off but only if the main one is powered.

There was a sail away party as the ship left port, with an alcoholic strawberry smoothie for me and a virgin for Demelza. We danced around to some of our favorite tunes and then toured the spa. The lady kept pressuring me to buy more packages when I'd already booked a massage and pedicures. Nope, expensive enough. The food on the ship is mostly included in the cruise price, but other stuff such as the spa, are not.

We saw a fun musical show in the theatre about a family on their first cruise--the daughter and day enthusiastic, the mom just wanting alone time and the son grumpy. Of course, they all succumbed to Disney charm. One thing I really liked about the family was that the parents were caucasian but the daughter was black. Just like us. There was also a really funny magician act--just a taste of his full length show. I want to see his whole routine, now!

We have late seating, so had to wait until after 8 to get into the restaurant. Demelza was drooping but I thought she was just tired and hungry. I'd taken a long nap after lunch, but she had not. It was a far fancier place than we usually eat, with huge portions. I chose a small wedge of romaine with tomato slices and a nice little mushroom/bacon tart. Demelza was beginning to look sickish, but I crossed my fingers that she was just exhausted. Nope. She managed to eat some of the largest piece of prime rib I've ever seen before bolting for the bathroom. She came back and gamely tried a bit of her potato but we finally had to say our goodbyes to the nice guys who share our table, and return to our room. Demelza gave back her dinner (as we nurses like to say) and fell into bed. Free dramamine from the front desk. I did watch a little of my new show, Good Karma Hospital with the help of my new DVD drive. I love it! Plugs into the computer for my viewing pleasure.

I had high hopes that Demelza would feel better this morning, but she vomited even before breakfast. She did eat some toast and OJ, and is back asleep from the dramamine. She didn't have this problem the last cruise we went on eleven years ago!

Well, I'd hoped for a quiet, relaxing cruise with some time to write, which I may get now. lol. Demelza has a fancy-schmantzy massage complete with hot rocks booked for this afternoon. Maybe that will help.

Or more dramamine.
dawnebeth: (Default)
This is a longish story to make everyone smile--

Back in September, I volunteered at a golf charity tournament, as I have done for at least the last six or more years, which benefits special needs kids in the local school district. One of my jobs is often to help set up the silent auction table. So I get first look at all the items. I generally put my name on three or four items--the first bid-- partially because I'd like to win them, but more to encourage the golfers to bid higher. The tournament is near George Lucas', and the late Charles Schultz' homes, so there is always a Star Wars basket and a Peanuts basket. Often lots of wine, beautiful wood bowls, golf packages to Big Sur, and then assorted other stuff. I put bids on a gift certificate for some gorgeous cupcakes that looked exactly like flowers made of icing and a bowl full of Thai food items, which included a gift certificate for a local Thai place (that I had never been to). And forgot about it totally.

Over a week after the tournament, my friend, who is on the board of the charity, called to tell me I'd won the Thai basket. Well, cool, cause in 6 years, I'd never won anything on the silent auction. I picked it up at her house and was surprised to discover that my $100 went for not only the lovely ceramic bowl and assorted Thai food items to use in some future recipe, but that the gift certificate alone was worth $100. I knew immediately what I was giving to my Gluten intolerant, Thai loving sister for Christmas.

So today, Mom, my sister and I went out to dinner at the restaurant--which is Michelin rated, as it turns out. The food was excellent; we had chicken satai and mango/carrot salad for starters. I ordered chicken Panang curry over rice--to die for--my sister got green curry & rice, which I didn't try because she said it was really spicy, and Mom got pineapple/chicken fried rice which I will eat leftover tomorrow for dinner at work. We were all very happy. Mom and my sister had glasses of wine and I had yummy Thai iced tea. As the waitress came over with the check, my sister started to ask if she would be able to get credit if the gift certificate was more than the bill, when she looked down at the amount. $100.97! We didn't even plan ahead by adding the prices of our dinners or anything. I was astonished how perfectly that came out. My sister added a twenty for a tip and we took home our doggy bags, very well fed.

One other funny thing was that it was really loud in the restaurant, so you had to shout--particularly to my mother who is a bit hard of hearing. Of course that meant that every once in a while you heard someone at another table's comments. At the table beside us were five women. One was saying--"And his name was Rice: R-I-C-E, in the old country, but when he came from Ireland, it sounded like Royce in his accent, so our family name is Royce." My sister and I looked wide-eyed at each other because, of course, our family name is Rice. We didn't meet the other group, but I kind of wanted to!
dawnebeth: (Default)
I plan what to say in my head and then don't have time to sit down to compose the post cause my days are so busy.

Lately, I go visit my mom for lunch nearly every day. After she broke her hip in November, she's very unsteady and forgetful. So I help make her lunch, make sure she takes meds, etc. But it sure cuts into my writing time! A story I had planned to write for Christmas still isn't finished. Plus, I have a story for the Lewis fandom due by Jan. 28th, which is when I am on a cruise, so MUST be done before the 26th.

However, the main cause for this post is that I had to float to another unit last night at work. You know on TV shows, how some nurses seem to work on every floor, in every department? That's not reality. Yes, there are some full time float nurses, who work in several different departments, but most of us basically hate floating.

As an intensive care nursery nurse, I know babies up to about one year--not at all used to patients who can talk, for instance. We use only about five antibiotics, only four painkillers, etc. because so few have been tested on babies. We have a large unit where everyone is nearby, not individual rooms.

Friday, I floated to the Pediatric ICU--which, if I have to float, is definitely my chosen department. It's the most like our unit--most being the operative word here. I even got (to the satisfaction of my manager who keeps her eye on appropriate assignments) a one year old and a three month old, similar to what I've have had in the NICU.

Except everything is different--everything, and it's only down the hall from my unit. The charting is different, the equipment is in a different place. The meds are even somewhat different. I could do the work, but feel so stupid having to ask for something every five minutes. Luckily, one the nurses next to me is a lovely guy named David who often floats to our unit and is really helpful. In fact, everyone was so nice, but two babies in isolation--put on gown, glove and mask--take vitals, poke the pacifier in mouth. Take off iso garb, wash hands, put on iso garb--go change one year old's diaper, wash hands, take his vitals. Take off iso garb, wash hands, put on iso garb, start three month old's feeding pump, wash hands, take off iso garb--sit down at computer to chart, and of course, the mom needs me for something. Put back on the iso garb... got over 11,500 steps on my iphone by the end of the night! whew, but I was tired today.

I'll try to post more in 2018! on the cruise, we have three days at sea, that will give me free time, right?
dawnebeth: (Default)
It's been a while! Hmm, the last time I posted was October 11! Wow.

Anyhoo, today was lots of fun. Started the day singing in the folk choir at church, always a good time, even when the choir director is lately enamored of these odd songs from late 18th century which have the male tenor singing the melody which puts the sopranos in odd harmony. I protest! Dawn is not used to singing harmony. This is the third month in a row with these old hymns. We don't sing in December (the larger choir gets to sing the traditional Christmas carols) and I'll be out of town for our gig in January so here's hoping Mike finds something different to sing in February. I keep encouraging a Sunday with all songs from Biblecentric Broadway musicals but he resists.

This afternoon Demelza and I went to see Trevor Noah (from the Daily Show). Really funny--he covered many topics from stuff about 45 I'd heard on the air, to his childhood in Africa and the differences between American and South African English. Two thumbs up--Demelza fell asleep halfway through. Also, three cheers that I didn't get lost (I am fairly good at driving in San Francisco after having lived there for 25 years) and no stalling on vertical hills. YAY. We had dinner at Mel's Diner afterwards, and I ate my fave: biscuits in gravy.

Now the not so good. Three weeks ago, my mother broke her hip. I had literally talked on the phone with her three times that morning, planning to take her to church the next day because there was going to be a dedication of the new garden which is named for our former priest, and good friend.

At 12:30 that day, I lay down for a short cat nap before leaving for work. At one pm, Mom's neighbor called to say she had fallen and was hurt. I immediately called work to say I could not come and raced over. (roughly 15 min drive) Mom was in the front, sitting in the neighbor's chair in their driveway. She looked very pale and said her hip hurt. She could move her leg and wiggle her toes, so I thought--no broken hip. I'm not a very good diagnostition. I manouvered her into the car and drove to the ER. She had no memory of falling--I suspect that she simply took a step and went down because she had severe spinal stenosis and neuropathy in her feet, none of which she ever quite understood and always insisted her balance was fine, no walker necessary. Groan.
Long story short, surgery the next morning. These days, patients are up with a walker a day or so later and by Wednesday evening she was transferred to a nice rehab place where she stayed for 10 days. I ended up called off work two weeks after the fall to drive her home--coincidentally arriving at her place exactly the time we'd left 14 days earlier.

I only missed one day of visitation during the hospital stay and maybe only one day since then, now that she is at home. My sister Lesley lives with mom, and quite luckily, Lesley works at Safeway from 5am-2pm and I work evening shift, so we can be there with mom regularly. I don't usually stay for hours, but make sure she eats, takes meds, etc. Very amazingly, she has not had a single bit of the severe back and leg pain she was having previously. Did the broken hip fix the spinal stenosis? She walks with the walker now far, far better than she did before!

We all had Thanksgiving on Saturday with my sister's son the doctor and his new girlfriend. My sister outdid herself, cooking for two days. I clean up--that's my job. ;-)

However, yesterday night after leaving there, Demelza and I got home and I asked her to put her stuff in the lobby of our building to help me get all the Christmas shopping and leftovers out of the car. When we got back to the stairs--at most three minutes later--her bag was gone! Someone took a bag full of library books and DVDs, a coloring book, a graphic novel and an old ipad. Of course, she is broken up about the ipad. I put an erase on it through find my ipad. com (or whatever it is called) and promised if it wasn't found, we would get a new one Tuesday. This afternoon, two of the library books were sitting exactly where she had left the bag. Hmmm. Our building manager is on the case, like Sherlock Holmes, and we both suspect two particular women, both have caused much problems around here before. One is actually not allowed on the premises (although I saw her later than evening) and the other is being evicted on Thursday.

We went to see the Disney movies of Frozen Christmas and Coco. Both delightful, and Coco leaves you thinking of family and loved ones very much.

Worked a 12 hour shift on Monday last and felt like shouting "I'm back!" because although I restarted work on September 1st, this was the first time I did overtime. I was tired, sure, but did great and was proud. Oh--I precept or supervise a nursing student nearly every semester for two to three months to steer them in the ways of neonatal nursing, which isn't taught in school. I always have the most awesome, intelligent students--this semester's is so wonderful, I hope she gets hired. I'm working alongside my former student Corinna, from a year ago, and she continues to amaze me. Demelza's age but an old soul with so much poise, grace and smarts. I think there are 4 or 5 nurses in our unit that I helped teach. So I got an email from a former student nurse who got hired at Stanford's children's hospital. Her precepter in that ICN was my student in 2004! Blows my mind.

Reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Halfway through 500 pages and still not quite sure I like this book or not.

Love, love, love Stranger things. I watched the entire thing and have a sweatshirt with Dustin, Lucas and Mike on the front. I took the cat to the vet and she admired my sweatshirt, pointing to a bruise/scab on her lip. She'd watched the final two eps the night before and bit her lip so hard she hurt herself! Who thinks Hopper and Joyce belong together?
dawnebeth: (Default)
Why is it--no matter where the cat vomits, I step directly into it? I was in stocking feet, (very pretty socks, too, blue with roses) about to put my shoes on to leave the house when I step into cat vomit. ICK.

I did go to see a "grown up" movie today, one Demelza would not have liked. Both my sisters, my mom, and I went to see Victoria and Adbul. I loved it--sweet and warm with beautiful costumes and scenery. The guy playing Abdul was gorgeous. And Dame Judy is always awesome.

Reading The Lost Book of Moses by Chanan Tigay, a fascinating real life saga about a man in the 1880s who may have had some of the first of the dead sea scrolls, but was accused of fraud and forgery. Since it was impossible to carbon date or assure authenticity in the Victorian time, the possible earliest version of Deuteronomy was lost to history, probably burned in a house fire. Chanan Tigay is a current professor at SF State who has devoted many years to uncovering what happened to the scrolls.

Working on not one, not two, not even three stories--I think it's six right now... in three different fandoms.

The air is quite smokey every day, but the Northern California fires are an hour or more away from where I live. The local fairgrounds have been turned into an evacuation center as more and more cities are evacuated in and around the wine country. So very, very sad. People dead. Whole neighbourhoods gone. A school for autistic children, where my friend's daughter went, burned to the ground. There was a call out for medical staff to go help at some of the evacuation centers an hour away, but I confess, I am a coward. I wouldn't want to get caught in the traffic, nor the fire and be cut off from getting home to Demelza. I did donate money--twice already. Give to the Red Cross or a local charity, if you can.
dawnebeth: (Default)
I've been listening to an 80s station lately, and while I don't actually recall the song in the subject line from back then, it's fun and runs through my head all the time.

Particularly the other day when I was in the bathroom, doing what one needs to do and I felt this presence...my daughter has a Star Wars towel, which was hanging on the rod to my right. Rey's dark eyes were staring directly at me, intently, menacingly. I had to fold the towel and then had Finn watching me. He didn't seem quite as intent, though. lol.

Happys--let's see. Nice, busy night last night at work. Not so busy that I felt like I was drowning, and I had the help of the relief nurse, which was a relief. I hung five sets of IV tubing, and had two more to go when she can along and volunteered. Yay! I was able to take a short break and feed a baby while she did that.

After worrying that the purse I'd bought was lost in transit, it arrived on the day I emailed the company to ask where it was. YAY! It's bigger than I imagined and doesn't have enough pockets, but I love the picture on the front. Since I seem unable to post photos anymore--it's a Disney version of a painting of a number of beautiful women in lovely dresses lounging in a forest, except all are the Disney princesses, Tiana in a green off the shoulder gown in the forefront.

Now enjoying Endeavour. I broke down and bought season one. Am just about finished with the last ep, and then got season two from the library. Morse does have sweet, huge eyes, and always seems slightly befuddled, even when he's the one who has cracked the case. I also like Inspector Thursday, a kind, older detective.

Oh--and I have vacation next week! I know, only worked one month, and on vacation, you say? The hospital requires us to schedule our vacations for the whole year in advance, so this has been on the books since before my med leave. Both my middle sister and mom have birthdays next week and my younger sister is flying in to visit us all.

Peace out.
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