Does anyone else remember when I only had three?

So, I did get all of my dolls together for a group shot.. as I was losing daylight. e_e;; So it's kind of a blurry sloppy mess.

I will share anyway! I'm hoping to try again tomorrow while there is plenty of daylight. If I'm feeling adventurous I may attempt to get ALL the BJDs in the house together: mine, Osaka's, and Ringo's. :]

That may be challenging from posing logistics, and also because all of Ringo's confiscated toys are in the livingroom, which is the only place there's room to spread and pose the dolls. e_e

Anyhow here we are:













Because I was in a hurry to get the last of the daylight, they're not posed as particularly as I might like. There are dolls who should be next to each other, some who should never be next to others, and some who have specific seating needs based on poseability.

Oh but this is actually EVERYBODY I own, not counting like.. parts. Innes isn't in there cause he's just an unpainted faceplate at the moment. I'm hoping to remedy that soon. Ro needs a new faceup too..

23 full dolls, 3 SDs, 7 MSD, 13 Tinies. I am counting Little Juniors and Narsha as Tinies per DOA standards, even though I consider them minis.

I need soothing music, peace, and quiet.

So Ringo has been a total jerk for three days running. He's being quiet for now, but still pretty sulky. I know part of it is, his being eleven, but that doesn't make it easier when he pokes the bear.

The last three mornings, asking him to get dressed and/or take his medicines have prompted EPIC MELTDOWN TANTRUMS. This morning it was over a Hot Cross Bun.

Yesterday and today he said some particularly hateful things, very intentionally, causing me to re-classify him as a bully.

Ringo is USUALLY a very sweet, kind, loving boy. He's a joy to spend time with, smart, funny, genuinely caring, generous with his time, attention, and affection.

Some days though he reacts poorly and it so SO hard to be a grownup and try to let things roll off my back.

This morning in particular when he repeated some choice words, and made accusations I was furious. After his tantrum yesterday morning he'd written an apology letter promising to change his behavior, apologizing, and going on to say that I was an awesome friend. I apologized to him in return for losing my temper.

His tantrum this morning, he made that apology a lie, repeated every single unkind thing he'd said, added more, including accusing me of lying, and aggressively tried to place blame on me for a legitimate misunderstanding.

I then had to leave for work. I cried. I cried alot. I turned my music up, and I did my work, but I cried all day.

I love that boy, he is like a son or a little brother to me, and I try so hard to be patient and to be loving, and understanding when he has difficulties, but he's not a baby anymore. He's not a little kid anymore. He is now a preteen bully.

He has lost privileges to TV, movies, video games, and over half his toys, all in two days. I think we might have gotten through to him this afternoon, but we (his mother and I) emphasized that we can't trust him anymore.

My feelings are still hurt, but I'm trying to let it go, and focus on helping him to correct his behavior in a supportive way.

I think I will maybe try to get my dolls together and take a group photo now that everyone is one bodies and faceupped (except Innes).

Happy Easter Everyone.

Graze Box 2

My second graze box arrived yesterday. It took longer to arrive this time. I've changed from every two weeks to every week, but that won't start until next box cycle.

This box was mostly sweet.

LOVED the pomodoro rustichella. I ate that yesterday right away. It was savory and delicious.

This afternoon I ate the other three nibbles.

Cookies and cream - sweet, balanced but definitely sweet. I didn't care for the hazelnuts, so just a like.

Toffee apple - sweet, the caramel/toffee was VERY sweet, the apples were tart and soft, especially for dried fruit. I'm not a big fan of dried apples so this was only a like.

Tutti frutti - sweet! all the dried fruits were soft and almost juicy, very tender. Loved it.


Oh it looks like I didn't give a proper review of my first box, so here it is now, as best I can recall:

Florentine - Loved, good ratio of sweet to tart, just enough flavor.

Chili and lime pistachios - LOVE!~ I could eat those all day.

Fruity mango chutney - LOVE, good spice, nice flavor, just a touch of heat, not too sweet.

Summer berry flapjack - Meh. I don't hate them but I don't like them. Crumbly, kind of soft. I'm not gonna trash them, cause they're not terrible, but I'd rather have something else.

Not a bad mix. Most of my items in the first box were savory, this box mostly sweet. It'll be interesting to see what I get next.

Shenanigans

I've had a couple of not so fun days back to back at work. I'm someone who really tries to find the silver lining even in the worst of situations but some things really get under my skin. One of those is unexpected change, another is violation of privacy. I've had both!

Yesterday I had go to Customer Service training outside of the store. I traveled with coworker and that was mostly fine. It was mostly common sense stuff, and emphasizing store policy without actually using those words, when dealing with customers. Some of that really doesn't apply to Amazon sales, but plenty is still relevant to online sales.

So I went to that, and then came back to the store for the rest of my shift.. to my office door ajar. For Loss Prevention reasons, my office is to remain locked if I am not IN the office. No one is supposed to go into the office except for myself and Management.

I can't go into the specific details, but upon checking the security camera, it was verified that at least one person removed items from the room, and there were multiple entries of people into the office while I was not there, by non-management staff. 

I have noticed several things over the last few weeks, items out of place on my desk, the restroom door (private only accessible to my office) open, toilet seat left up, to name a few. None of which should be happening since no one is supposed to come in or out of the office except to turn on and off the lights. The light switch in my office turns on the last set of lights for the whole building. The closing or opening manager is supposed to enter and turn on or off those lights as part of the closing tasks.

The store manager and I reviewed the security cameras for the last several days and saw who entered, who messed around with my desk, and we suspect the person who left the office open yesterday, has been abusing key privileges for some time.

In addition to work shenanigans, I had another huge change to my schedule yesterday evening, in running Ringo to doctor's appointment. It wouldn't have been a bad thing on it's own, but combined with work shenanigans, I was pretty stressed out by the time we went.

It went smoothly because Osaka wrote down a list of questions and comments for me to read to the Dr, and he listened and helped, but since I've never been back there with her, or Ringo I felt a bit awkward. I've never spoken with his Doctor before and being around Psychiatrists* always puts me on edge.

*I've been in and out of therapy since I was very young, and I always feel like I'm under the microscope when I enter a Therapist's office, regardless of whether they are a Psychiatrist or Psychologist.

That said, I am doing well NOW. Osaka made tacos for dinner and it was great. It feels like I spend all week waiting for the weekend, and then it's over so fast. This week has been both fast and painfully slow, and I just want it to be over.

I "ran" in an 8k! Also completed my first doll mod.

Yesterday I ran the 8k. There are pictures all over facebook, but for those of you who aren't over there, here are the before and after group shots.




Before we even started, I fell and skinned my knees. I didn't fall again throughout the 8k, so I guess I was just getting it out of the way.

I did finish just barely in the 2 hours allotted, but my time was closer to 1:45. We were queuing to run 15 minutes into the started clock, and they had us in the last corral. I walked for the majority of it, ran maybe a full mile, not all at once.

My co-workers ran for most of it, or walked at a much quicker pace. I kept pace with them for 3/4 of a mile before I fell back, needing my inhaler. When I reached the 2 mile point I ran for a half mile or so, to catch up with the nearest group of people, and kept pace with a couple of them until the finish line.

At mile 3 or so it started raining in earnest, and the temperature dropped about 5 degrees. At the finish line I was soaked, the wind was blowing pretty hard, and there was a cross breeze off the ocean. I wanted desperately to get somewhere warm and dry, but that didn't happen until we left about an hour after. One of my co-workers had her son running in the Operation Smile Final Mile, and we had to wait for him to finish before we all left.

Today I am sore, but I feel really good. My knees are tight and tender, but it's the bruising and the muscles rather than the abrasions. My ankles and thighs are also stiff and tight. I stretched really well before the 8k but it's still way more walking/running than I do in an average day.

And in doll news, I sat down and did the eye opening on the Fairyland Littlefee Vampire Rolly faceplate I purchased. I want to say this was an event faceplate but I'm not sure when exactly it was made.

I took before, during, and complete photos.






I liked the look before I opened them further, but I couldn't get ANY pair of eyes to set the way I wanted them to, so I opened them just a bit more. I was trying to get a shape similar to what Starshine has, so I used him for reference, since his lower lid was already the same shape.

I've never done any mods an any of my dolls before so I was a bit nervous, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. This faceplate will become my little water dragon Innes. I now need a normal-skin Littlefee body for him. He will also be getting some horns and such, but I haven't pinned down exactly how I want to do those yet.

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend!

Not quite settled on a name.

It appears that Avery(?), my Souldoll Lune is a nudist. He refuses to sit or pose properly while clothed but can hold any pose like a dream while nude, and the clothing is not tight or binding, so I don't think it's reducing actual mobility.

Right now I have him in a loose stretchy t-shirt and pajama pants and he looks like he's trying to pull them both off:


I had pulled off his shirt to try the automail arm I bought on him. It fits but the poseability is not as good as his proper arm. Then his pants came untied (cause they are drawstring, not elastic) and all of a sudden he was posing easier, and standing better. e_e;;

I'm loving this gorgeous muscled body. It's so pretty, and it stands and sits really well. I have to have him slouching a bit or he wants to throw himself backwards. He's tossed his wig at least a half-dozen times this evening, but I think that's cause it's a 9/10, and he needs an 8/9.

That'll happen later, while I figure out what clothes I can realistically get him to wear. Anything he won't I can have on hand for future big boys. He's the first who's looked comfortable in the bright green pajamas.

In non-doll stuff, I have my 8k run in the morning. I'm hoping to finish in the two hours allotted. The walk to Landstown Commons (the shopping center I frequent) is about 2 miles, and I can walk that in between 35 and 45 minutes depending on fatigue, the shoes I'm wearing, etc. So my hope is that I will be able to walk the 5 miles in the 2 hours allotted, fairly comfortably.

I'll be wearing athletic shoes, athletic shorts, and two shirts (one longsleeved) cause it'll be chilly in the morning but I won't want a jacket for it. I will ask someone to take a picture of me with the co-workers also walking/running it. :]

They've given us a longsleeved shirt, a small lightweight drawstring backpack, and a map (that is also a 2013 calendar) for the run. I will also have my inhaler, my phone, and my waterproof camera. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, starting from about when the race is due to finish.

Please forgive feet, pajamas etc in the following photos. @_@;;

I got my Souldoll Lune head back in April or May of 2008. I don't think I ever actually announced buying him or anything. @_@ I know I had him before Robbie, but it was like, within a month or two. I don't even remember who I bought him from now, and they didn't leave me feedback on my thread on Den of Angels so.. It is a mystery!

Anyhow when FunnyLori put up her Souldoll Asiter I pounced.. Well not pounced so much as fretted and asked if she could hold him about two weeks till I got paid again. e_e She kindly agreed, and so I now have BOTH of my first SD dolls complete with bodies.


I stared at that beautiful "korean" writing for a minute before I realized I had the box turned the wrong way...


I can't tell you how excited I was to see an original Souldoll box. They are so pretty!


The pillows are blue with beautiful doily looking flowers on them! XD



(BEST FACE MASK EVER! XD)


Hey there! You're a pretty thing on a big beefy body. <3 br="">
It took me several minutes to fight the s-hook out of the Asiter head before I could get the Lune head on the body. I can tell he was re-strung strung recently as the elastic is nice and tight but gives to pressure.


I was amazed at how that pinhead fits on that big beefy body and still looks pretty natural.


I've had that green outfit and red wig since 2007 when I was hoping to buy a Chiwoo. :B The outfit was from a swap made specifically for the Chiwoo I was saving for. I think the money I set aside ended up going to bills or something, since that was way back when I was married to Nick. The bluegreen eyes I'd bought ended up in Rowan.

I got the box opened, and the doll mummy JUST free of the bubblewrap, when Osaka announced that she needed to go to the Urgent Care Clinic. BFF's health trumps box opening. It was about 4pm when we left the apartment, and about 7pm when we got back.

She was right to be concerned. She has worked herself into a terrible state of dehydration, which we thought was just exhaustion. She needed IV fluids, and they gave her the max amount they can safely give for a short visit, before cautioning care and fluids and the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet for the next couple of days.

She is okay NOW. Resting, re-hydrating, and with strict orders to watch her fluid intake. She's the sort of person who always has something she's drinking when she's at home or out and about, but because she's doing daycare, she can't always have a mug of tea, or a glass of water on hand like she does at home.

Ringo was a champ and looked after the dogs while Osaka and I took taxi's back and forth to the clinic and then pharmacy. He was afraid he'd made her sick, cause he had a bug earlier this week. :(

And back to doll stuff, after seeing Asiter in person, I think I will probably give the head to Osaka. It's a lovely sculpt, but more her style than mine. And she always needs more heads in Headquarters. :P

The only dolls of mine that need bodies now, are the Littlefee faceplate I picked up to become Innis (my water dragon, connected with Doran, Starshine, and Moonbeam), and possibly the unicorn Shale head. Neither is a huge priority yet.

And as for Souldoll Lune, I'm not sure exactly who he is yet, but I look forward to finding out. :] I now have three SD dolls complete, and clothing for one. e_e I had better get sewing. I'll need to figure out what kind of shoes Lune will want/need. I have ALL the sewing to do. I haven't properly sewn for any of the dolls I've purchased since I started working to buy them. =_=;;

By the way, it's worth noting that of all the doll transactions I've had in the last month, this was by far the smoothest, tying perhaps with the girl I purchased my SD10 body from. Well packed, great communication, desirable extras(!) just an overall great transaction. <3>

Graze boxes

So my first Graze box arrived yesterday. I was only home for about an hour to shower after my haircut before heading back out to watch Golden Girls (for the first time) with friends and co-workers.

I went and grabbed the mail today and found the box. :] So I guess I should expect it every other Saturday. It looks like it actually ships from the UK maybe? It has a Royal Mail post sticker on it, but no customs stickers or tags. I don't know.

Anyway I've eaten the "flapjacks" which were surprisingly filling. They are more appealing than the average granola bar, kind of soft and chewy and crumbly.

I'm excited about the mango chutney, and the pistachios. I will keep an open mind about the pumpkin seeds. I prefer my pumpkin seeds fresh roasted and salted. I do love dark chocolate and cranberries so we'll see how it goes. :]

Tagged for meme.

The rules; you answer 10 questions, then you make up 10 questions of your own and tag 10 people to answer them.

I was tagged bymyriai .

1] What's your favorite color? Any particular reason? Is it something you wear or is it just something you like around you?

My favorite color tends to change with time. At the moment it's "Starshine" blue. Something about this particular shade is both soothing and energizing.



2] If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?

There are many places I would like to live. I'd like to live in East Tennessee in the mountains because it's beautiful and much of it is untouched and wild. I'd like to live in the UK and truly absorb the culture and explore the entirety of it.


3] Do you do sweets? If so, what's your favorite?

I do like sweets, but only intermittenly. I prefer dark chocolate with fruits, but my favorite dessert is tiramisu. My favorite candy is haribo raspberries.


4] Summer's coming, do you have any grand plans?

I plan to turn 30 in epic party style with friends and some family. I'm planning to have Faythe out for a visit for this.


5] Do you have pets? If so, what kind of pets and what's their name? (Post pictures if you've got 'em)

I don't have my own pets, but I do live with two dogs. :] Bitsy is the Brindle, half pug half french bulldog. Sadie is the older girl, half pug half boston terrier.

6] If you could do one job for the rest of your life and know that it would pay for all your bills, etc. what would it be?

I've been asking myself that for awhile. I'd prefer to be a therapist or HR specialist.


7] Do you prefer sunsets or sunrises? Why?

I prefer sunrises in Virginia Beach, and sunsets in Texas. They are more beautiful in those respective locations.


8] Do you collect anything, if so what kind of things do you collect?

I collect ABJDs, mostly boys. I also collect Lego sets, and small figures if a series strikes my fancy.


9] Is there a particular song that you want everyone to hear? If so, why do you want people to hear it?

Nah I tend to keep my music to myself, unless someone specifically shows interest in a band or musician that I love.


10] What's one random thing that you tell people about yourself just to see their reaction? (If there is one)

I tell them that I'm awesome. It's a great way to gauge sense of humor, and their people reading skills. It's particularly amusing for me if they don't look like they agree with my assessment.


As for tagging people I tagdragonmouse ,misguidance ,darthneko ,myriai (you don't HAVE to, but I want to see your answers),fyredancer , Faythe, Mom, Jenni, Bonnie, and Mel.

1) What color are your eyes? Do you like them, or did/do you wish they were a different color?
2) If you could live in any time period of your choice for a week, when and where would you choose?
3) What is your favorite flavor? Sweet, savory, spicy, any or all of the above.
4) Do you make New Years Resolutions? If so, do you tend to stick to them? If you don't make resolutions, why not?
5) What is your main hobby? How long have you actively participated in this hobby?
6) Do you prefer City or Country living? Why?
7) Would you rather take a scenic route (assuming time and fuel are not an issue) or the most direct route?
8) How old were you when you first remember being photographed? Was it a school photo, or something else?
9) Do you think consider yourself a confident person?
10) How do you think you would react if someone you respect or admire took the time to compliment a skill of yours?

Introducing Finn and Amelia

I ended up getting two Volks minis with my Tax return, and they've arrived within a few days of each other.

First Finn, my Volks Enn, arrived on Saturday March 2nd:


And today Amelia, my Volks Manabu girl arrived all the way from Poland. I took box opening photos for her. :]

I think I want a strawberry blonde wig for Amelia, but I've got her in the default Hewitt eyes, and one of Ichigo's wigs and I'm pretty happy with that look too. I need to sew for her, she's borrowing Ichigo's wardrobe from the hoodie down to the boots. I'm not sure exactly what kind of clothing she likes yet, but I'm hoping I can put her in some baby lolita without much fuss. I want Dollheart for her. @w@

I am incredibly pleased with how Amelia arrived, in contrast to Finn. Finn came in his Enn box without so much as brown paper to protect the box. He was well packed inside but the box is super dinged up now. Amelia, arrived with brown paper around her box, with a layer of thick bubblewrap between the paper and box. No visible damage to the doll box. She sat in customs for about 5 days but that's not something you can really control.

At any rate I'm happy to have them both home safe. :]

I'm getting contacts.. and walking in a marathon.

So this morning I went and had my eye exam. I was about a month overdue. I have this nasty habit of not having health insurance. :P But since I've got good insurance now, I'm doing all the things I'm supposed to do.

I did all my overdue bloodwork a couple weeks back, I'm doing my glasses/contacts stuff now, and once all that is sorted proper, I'll do my maintenancey dental stuff.

So today as I said, I had my eye exam. I've been wanting to try contacts for a couple of years but I hate touching my eyes. The exam went well, I don't have any eye pressure problems or other health concerns. I do have a mild astigmatism in my right eye but not bad enough to be ineligible for contacts.

I was given a trial pair, and shown how to put them in and take them out. I was also given instructions to were them for 4 hours today, 6 hours tomorrow, and 10 hours Monday, and then I can wear them as long as I need.

I have a follow up appointment for next Friday morning to voice any concerns and then decide whether I want contacts for sure, or glasses, or both.

In only vaguely related news, I was really proud of myself this morning. The shopping complex that the eyeglass place is in, is one of our favorites, and it used to take me about an hour to walk there comfortably. It took 35 minutes to walk there this morning, and about 25 minutes to walk back.

I'm pretty thrilled about that, as I was signed up for an 8k run this month to represent work, and I've been concerned about my ability to complete it in the time alloted.

This is the marathon. http://www.shamrockmarathon.com/

I will be WALKING with three of my co-workers (who may choose to run) to show community support. I don't run.