Disjointed Tangents

Because spaceanjl is a horrible influence.

And because it amuses me.
( Read more... )

Merry Christmas, everybody! We're now home (two days at the SIL's house in MD) and I never thought I'd be so happy to see my son's crib. The little stinker sobbed for almost an hour last night because he was in a portable crib, and he didn't want to sleep in it, because it was unfamiliar. *headdesk* In any event, both he and my nieces made out like bandits with the toys, while all the adults were clutching their coffee mugs at six a.m. like they were lifelines. When did I get old, man? I used to be up at the crack of dawn, hopping from foot to foot in excitement for Christmas morning- now I need a crowbar just to drag myself out of the bed. :P

In any event, I'm very happy. I have a new house for Christmas, good family and friends (my dad is even coming down from CT this week for a visit! YAY!) and I can't complain at all. I may not be the most religious person, but I truly feel blessed with everything in my life.

I just want to wish the flist (and anybody else stopping by!) happy holidays, and I hope everything is well with you. A special thanks to rainpuddle13 and dragonsangel68 for the Christmas cards- they were lovely. *huggles you both* I'm hoping my cards got to you as well.

I'm off to bed now, but I wanted to take a minute to wish you all the best.
Love, Katie

So, as usual, I'm a day (or three) late and a dollar short. I got this meme a few days ago and never got around to posting.

Comment and I'll give you a letter, then list 10 things you love that start with that letter.

rainpuddle13 gave me the letter "V" and here is what I've come up with:



1. Vanilla: It always makes me think of my husband. The cologne he wore when we first started dating had a vanilla topnote, and I always get a smile on my face when I smell it.

2. Valentine's Day: I'm a big mush ball. And my husband gets these to-die-for petit fours for me... yum.

3. Vellum paper: The translucency and smooth texture of really expensive vellum makes me want to get out my good calligraphy pen and ink well and write beautiful, old-fashioned notes. Why? Because my grandmother spent hours with me as a child, patiently teaching me penmanship by tracing letters onto vellum.

4. Voldemort's nickname- Voldie: It's totally overused these days, but when the nickname first showed up, I giggled like a ten year-old girl.

5. Vera Wang: She makes the most gorgeous wedding gowns. I wish I had the opportunity to get married in one, but I can say that I had a unique wedding gown- Army BDU's four days before I left for Afghanistan. :)

6. My mum's vegetable and barley soup: I'm a total sucker for it. She uses at least two dozen veggies in it, half of which I hate normally, but somehow, they taste great in her soup.

7. Victoria's Secret black striped thigh-highs: They always make me feel sexy, whether I wear them with a skirt or under slacks.

8. The word 'vapid': I love it; it just sounds like an insult, doesn't it?

9. Versailles: It's one place I've always wanted to see, and it's in the top three places I want to go before I die.

10. Violin music: Something about it is so emotional, and yet soothing. A beautifully played piece still has the ability to make my eyes well up with tears.

dragonsangel68 is having a rough weekend, so there's some gift fic to help her de-stress. BTW- I interpreted 'date' in the loosest of fashions, but I'm offering a pretty little duo of ficlets to choose from. Warning: The second one is more naughty (non-explicit) than fluffy. Read, enjoy and (hopefully) laugh! *hugs*

( The First Date- Hogwarts Style )



( The First Date- The Ministry Retreat )

I am so angry that I could spit, but more than that, I'm so disappointed. My baby brother just started his first year of college, and my father received a call last night from my brother's advisor that he has attended a grand total of TWO classes this semester for his five courses. Two. That's right.

( Back Story )

So now poor Dad is having to go through the nightmare of his kid blowing off school and wasting his money (and it's not like he has a lot to throw around- he moved into a trailer to pay for Billy's school) AGAIN. I could really drive back to Connecticut and smash Billy's kneecaps in- let's see him go out partying when he can't walk- but I know Dad is hoping that this will resolve itself. I'm just so angry that Billy lied to me- to all of us- so many times when we talked about how his classes were going.

Grr. I know they say that everyone has to make their own mistakes, but for the love of God- don't make the same giant, jack-assed, jump-off-the-cliff variety of mistake that you watched your own sister do.

My exhaust system, which I freely acknowledge that I have been putting off repairing, has bit the dust. Or perhaps I shouls say rust- as in the rust that is all that remains of one hanger and the couplings around the flex pipe. What does that mean, you ask? That means $350 gone and 3 hours at a garage with a cranky baby today. Why yes, the day did officially suck.

On the bright side, I found a notebook in the car and wrote the rest of the new chapter of 'Downfall' and a good chunk of another chapter while I waited. Let's here it for moderate productivity. All that remains is to to type up what I wrote and get the next chapter of 'Diversionary Tactics' going tomorrow.

In much better news, I found our new house! Yay! My husband's being moved by the Army back to Virginia, so I found the cutest little place in Lorton. I'm so excited to get there and be close to my family again (well, relatively speaking, as my family's all still in Connecticut; but still, the six hours to Virginia is much better than the darn near 2,000 miles to Colorado). Even better than that, I'll be able to start riding again, as there is a totally fabulous equestrian center nearby in Woodbridge. *rubs hands together in anticipation*

Both 'Diversionary Tactics' and 'Downfall' have been updated over at FIA

On the home front,  I have to drive up to The Children's Hospital in Denver again on Thursday for another appointment for my son. I know that I should be happy he's being seen by the best doctors in the state, and I am. I would much rather he go there, where the doctors actually care about diagnosing and treating what's wrong with him, than continue to listen to the pediatrician sidestep my concerns. But do they have to schedule EVERY appointment so that we have to leave three and a half hours early to get there because of the distance and rush hour? Gah. </whine>

Well, after much hand-wringing and weeks of worrying, it seems that my baby has gotten a clean bill of health. He's always been very small for his age, but he's had an awful cough for the last month and had begun vomiting almost daily. I was so worried. Anyway, my pediatrician sent us up to the Children's Hospital in Denver to see the specialists. They say he's okay and we've gotten a special diet arranged to hopefully help him put some weight back on.

In other news, I finished my last classes this week and have completed my A.A with a perfect 4.0 (my inner nerd is squeeing in delight!). Now I only have two more years to go. Hooray! I somehow got sidetracked from 'Diversionary Tactics' and 'Downfall' with finals and the baby, and yet I had a crazy plot bunny attack that I wrote when I should have been sleeping. Now the problem is that I'm all excited about this new story and not so enthused to go finish the new chapters for the other two. Meh. I'm waffling over whether to go with the inspiration tomorrow or crack down and finish the 'Diversionary Tactics' and 'Downfall' chapters. We'll see.

SQUEE!!!

I just found out I won first place in rainpuddle13's D/G fic contest! I'm so excited; I've entered a few other contests, but this is my first win. The story is called 'Diversionary Tactics', and it's posted at ginnylovesdraco. I'll probably flesh the story back out to the original dimensions I had planned and start posting it over at FIA as I get time. Hopefully, I'll get the first chapter submitted this weekend.

The other stories submitted are fantastic so far (privately, I think two of them are better than my submission), but I still have two of the longer entries to read. So many good D/G fics at once = total gorging on my part.

Well, I suppose that I should finally get cracking and make an actual post in this journal. I created the journal originally so I could enter D/G fic contests, and somehow I just never got around to doing anything with it.

It feels a bit like talking to myself, since no one is really reading this, but I suppose everyone's journal starts like that.

Well, in case anyone stumbles onto this page, I'll be using this journal primarily for D/G fic purposes. A brief warning- I write fic like a madwoman for months, and then go through droughts where there's nothing.

I've promised myself that I'd stop being so lazy and get back to writing Downfall, which people seemed to like when I was writing it. It was my very first attempt at fanfiction, and I'm pretty sure that I started it with a fuzzy endpoint to achieve, but no actual plot. It just meandered along, providing a venue for Draco and Ginny to clash in. Oh well. I'll have to reread it and get started on a new chapter this weekend. If I'm feeling particularly productive, I'll write for She's Plotting, as well. If the baby allows me the time, I'll even be super industrious and post some oneshot fic contest entries I did at FIA and ff.net.

So there you have it. I've officially put it on the list of things to do to get my ass in gear with fic.