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yuletide

Yuletide 2025 gift

Happy Yuletide! I got an excellent Impromptu fic from my Mystery Writer!

la femme comme il (en) faut (3283 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Impromptu (1991), 19th Century CE RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: George Sand (1804-1876), Franz Liszt, Eugène Delacroix, Duchess Claudette d’Antan, Pauline Viardot, Gustav Courbet
Additional Tags: french romantic era, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

“That Duchess, what’s her name, is at your door,” remarked Liszt, looking down into the street. It was a nasty, windy November afternoon, with rubbish scudding down the avenues and rain threatening in the east, terrible for making calls. “The one with a thing for artists.”

“Oh, balls,” George said, and threw down her hookah pipe.

A story about hanging out with artists, highly recommended for anyone who likes hanging out with artists. Thank you so much, mystery writer!

And I wrote one story this year. I will make my usual offer of a drabble to anyone who guesses it before reveals, but this is basically me offering a drabble to everyone, because boy howdy is it obvious which story is mine.

Current Mood: excited

Entry tags:

ficathon: yuletide

Yuletide

Yuletide just went live a little while ago, and I got not one but two lovely gifts!

(And, for the record, I opened both of them immediately upon golive before things glitched, so I haven't seen the writers yet and intentionally am avoiding looking to try to keep myself surprised since I know the mods are manually going through and fixing it right now.)

First up is my main gift, the kid is the turf for Home Alone. Some amazing person took my link to to a Bluesky post from last year ("the Wet Bandits team up against another burglar duo going after Kevin because he is *their* kid") and went with it, and it's brilliant. Gen. 3,489 words.

The second fic was a gorgeous treat for Stealing Fire by Jo Graham (part of the Numinous World series) called Her Last Confession. It focuses on Thais, written in the format of her speaking to Alexander decades upon decades after his death. Gen, with background F/M and M/M. 6,796 words.

As for my own fics, I ended up writing a fair number this year. I didn't beat my record from 2023 (ten fics), but I came close.

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Yuletide 2025: A cat visits the House

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: the dishwasher on "heavy" mode

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let nothing you dismay

Ganache: made!
Cupcakes: frosted!
Bags: packed!
Garbage: taken out!
Dishwasher: running!
Me: showered, dressed, and waiting for my ride!

Whew!

It is all done and packed and only the last anxiety-inducing part - waiting for the car and schlepping everything down to the car - is left.

There were ZERO frosting explosions this year, though I did need to re-whip the strawberry buttercream, so I left it for last. There are still a bunch of stuff in the sink to be washed on Friday, but all the containers that...contained frosting are in the dishwasher, so they won't be all gross upon my return.

I did miscount and make one extra package of cupcakes, so I just addressed it to Baby Miss L - I'm sure her parents will love that. 😉 Also, the last gift I ordered for her - very late - is allegedly going to be delivered today! It's the 30 second dance party button! Which looks so fun and since I know Baby Miss L loves a dance party, it seemed like fate that I should get it for her.

I have only been skimming ye olde flist, but once I'm back home on Friday, all obligations are met and the next week is mine to do with as I will, so I will try to be more present here.

Merry Christmas to those who are celebrating! Happy Yuletide to those of you participating! And happy hump day to everyone else! See you on the flip side!

( 6-day plan, day 6 )

***

(no subject)

This morning I woke up feeling absolutely miserable, mainly because my head was aching and I was very congested, plus my ear was showing signs of developing that mysterious pain. I took some Tylenol and lay back down with the problematic ear pressed firmly into the pillow, and eventually, after close to two hours, I started to feel marginally better. At least my ear had stopped hurting. However, I decided to stay in bed today, or at least, on my bed, because I rarely stay actually in bed all day unless I'm much sicker than I am right now.

Today has so far been much quieter than yesterday. My daughter has been out doing errands (i.e. shopping) all morning, and the girls are being fairly quiet upstairs under the eye of their father. Two of their favourite people are arriving to stay over Christmas later today; first, their oldest cousin L, who is in her late 20s, and second, S's son J, who now has a tradition of coming up here for Christmas. L is going to sleep in Violet's room but I'm not sure where J will sleep. Possibly in my daughter's office, because that's been used as an overflow bedroom before.

Christmas Eve

Yesterday, Noelle and I were chatting over the puzzle when John came out and asked me to come look at his computer - he couldn't get it to turn on. I told him no, that he needs to contact IT. He did not know what IT was. I told him, it's Brandon. Brandon has been to John's many times to help him. John said he didn't know a Brandon. It was pretty sad. But, no way would I touch his computer.

John was dying quickly a few months ago and put into the nursing wing. He is better now and maybe not dying tomorrow (he is 89) but he's lost many of his marbles. He still sleeps in his room in the nursing wing but spends his days in his apartment with his wife, Hazel, who is blind and does not have all of her marbles either. They have a son, Keith, who lives nearby. Before, he got sick, I used to help him with his computer. But, when he got sick, his son stepped in and stepped up and took over their finances but even so Hazel tells me they have been scammed by BECU three times now. I am sure she's not got all the facts right but clearly there are some computer/financial issues there.

John was not happy that I would not help him and I'm sorry about that but no fucking way am I putting my fingerprints on that bed of quicksand!

After he left, Noelle and I discussed it and she asked me what I would have done differently with Myrna that would have saved me from the quagmire of her family. It's a great question and I did not have answer and still don't. BUT I am getting more and more clear on what I will never do again!

Then, yesterday evening, I ran into Joan who said "I was going to come find you to ask you to change my bandage." I do not know what the wound is or how she got it handled but I assured her that NFW was I going to even get close to that. "Well, Bonny does it sometimes but Bonny's not here" Wait til Bonny gets back or call a nurse or your children. I do not do wounds. Ewww.

I want to make a sign for my door - or maybe my forehead - that says help and has a red circle with a slash over the words.

But, after all that, I came back here to my own place with my own cats and watched some good TV and knitted and wallowed in the knowledge that I do not have to go anywhere or do anything or even talk to anyone for the next few days. It was a lovely evening. I finished the book I was reading and slept like a log.

I think I will probably go swim a few laps this morning. And then my dinner will be ready for pick up about 4. And that's it for plans.

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Five Things on Xmas Eve

1. Work load at dayjob has been low this week; we got out at noon yesterday, and today I can log off at 12:30 pm. We are then off through January 2 for winter break (yay, academia). I had a couple of small things I was able to resolve this morning, go me!

2. I did not send out Xmas cards this year, but I appreciate every one I received. I hope to be back to it next year.

3. I am thawing out a chuck roast to cook later this week, probably Friday. My tamarind-sauce-flavored vegetable soup from Sunday, which includes silken tofu, grape tomatoes, carrot, potato, and green beans, is very delicious, especially with a couple tablespoons of congee dumped in. Last night, I finished off my bag of post-surgery chicken nuggets and baked sliced golden potatoes at 425 degrees F with olive oil and salt.

4. I have been listening to a ton of Xmas music, so at least I am somewhat in the holiday spirit. I did not have energy to pull out my ornament tree and dress it up, but we have a smaller one downstairs so I moved it from the corner onto the dining room table--the ornaments were still on it from last year! We have some cards propped around the base, and I have more on the little desk in the guest room. I didn't use my usual space in the back room because it would block my DVD screen, which I need for the Blake's 7 watchalong and possibly even some Shakespeare.

5. I have tentative plans for Xmas afternoon with local friends. I want to get started on my fancy wooden turtle puzzle (which I have had for several years), and also to do some mending of clothing. I especially want to try needle-felting a hole in a very old black cashmere cardigan (commercially knitted); I was wearing it when I broke my elbow years ago, so couldn't wash it for weeks, and it got a moth hole under one arm before I was healed up. I am not sure if the hole is too big for felting. We shall see. I have washed it after its long storage!

Jingle Bell Shocks

Posted by The CW Team

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/jingle-bell-shocks-2025

Stockings around the Christmas tree

Look so bad that your jaw drops.

Once he got a good look at them

Santa Claus went into shock.

Who comes up with these Christmas cakes?

Have the bakers lost their minds?

Did they drink too much spiced eggnog?

Or are they legally blind?

You will see a glut of flotsam pieces as you neeear

Cakes that just won't make you jolly

Hey, d'you think that might be holly?

Shocking amounts of frosting, these

Might send you right 'round the bend

Will you hold out for better cakes

Or just buy these in the end?

BONUS CAROL OF THE SILVER BELLS:

[sing it with me, now!]

Diiiing doooong,

Diiing...

Dong.

A choir of thanks to Maryann M., Janet G., Kadmi, Megan K., Katherine D., Jackson L., Ann M., Jenna C., Ashley S., & Grainne, who all want to go Christmas caroling with Sharyn. Me, too, guys. ME, TOO.

https://www.cakewrecks.com/home/jingle-bell-shocks-2025

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Frosted grass, being a hater, sleeves

We got a cold snap last night and a few millimeters of snow. It looks like the grass is coated in powdered sugar. Downstairs is still quite warm - 17° in the kitchen at lunchtime - but after I fed the cats at 7:00 am I went back to bed with a wool sweater on and I never got hot enough to take it off.

It's so nice to see Wax enjoying her fandom so much. She's had two objectively bad TV shows that she was super fannish about since the last time I had a fandom. I do like IWTV enough to get that excited about, but it still wouldn't be like her fandoms (911 and Roswell before that) because I can't get that into reading it (I have read some, but I didn't settle in) and wouldn't be able to write it.

The last fandom I was able to get into reading was Stranger Things 4 Steve/Eddie a couple of years ago, but that was also not quite the full fannish experience, because I wasn't as into the canon. I look over at her and see her chatting with people and reading furiously, and I remember that, and feel happy for her... but sad for myself.

She's even excited about Heated Rivalry - and I am too! But not nearly as much. I guess it feels more like I'm enjoying it as a member of slash fandom, and I'm keeping abreast of what's happening and getting the references, but, as I said once before... I am enjoying the show, which is good and well made, without really liking the characters very much, or the plot.

I was talking to Wax about this, and the absence of uncritical joy that I used to engage with in my 20s, and she diagnosed that I need to "open up my hating heart". I'm hating a lot more than I did when I was younger, it's true. The thing is that I don't know how to do that.

Anyway... I'm working on the second of the three triplet sweaters now, after Wax knitted most of the body of it. I finished the first sweater, after having to knit the first sleeve entirely twice - or rather knitting to the cuff beffore starting over - and now the same thing has happened with the second sweater. It's boring stockinette though, unlike the first sweater, and with very black yarn, so in order to count stitches and decreases I have to have a lamp pointing at it. Sigh.

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books

Reading Wednesday

Just finished: Nothing.

Currently reading: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. Well, we're a third of the way in! After coughing up blood repeatedly for the last half a dozen chapters and blaming it on acclimatization to the altitude, our feckless hero has finally seen a doctor (at the TB sanatorium!) and gotten himself formally diagnosed. So now he's stuck up the mountain indefinitely. He's very chill about it though, as the lifestyle—five meals a day, cheap accommodations, lectures, and interesting conversations—is way more fun than going to work. Also he has fallen for another patient, Madame Clavdia Chauchat (great cat name if you have a new adoptee in your life), who despite being Russian, married, uncouth, and outside of his social class, reminds him of a boy he had a crush on as a kid. Our bisexual king Hans Castorp!

Of course I can't help but read modern interpretations into this, and the parallels to the disability community online, the relief of diagnosis after you've experienced mysterious weird symptoms and then connecting with other people who are quietly suffering. Hans Castorp would have loved the internet.

Can a book be both boring and engrossing? Yes.

Entry tags:

brian,
money

Payment Overdue

Invoice still has not been paid.

Client has responded to my tactful emails by saying (a) accountant has received the invoice and (b) things are slow due to the holiday season and most of the staff are off.

Do I believe them?

No.

I think they are having cash flow issues.

I am trying not to see this as a referendum on my worth as a human being on Planet Earth, but I gotta say it's difficult: Their cash flow situation has now become my cash flow situation! The interconnectness of all human beings is not always a blessing (cf. bubonic plague & corona virus epidemics.)

Resilience! I counsel myself. 80% to 90% of all freelance invoices get paid—eventually. (I made that number up.)

Resilience is a hard sell, though. I've always had such a hard time with uncertainty that often, I find myself sabotaging situations because a negative outcome feels better than an uncertain outcome.

It's a good thing I took that tax position with Soul-Sucking Company.

I was hoping it was going to supplement my freelance income, but this morning I am thinking it will have to replace my freelance income: Assuming the invoice does get paid (which is still the most likely outcome), I don't think I can deal with the post-invoicing anxiety anymore. When I lived in Dutchess County, my living expenses were a lot lower, and I had a small savings account that gave me some peace of mind in situations like this. Now, I don't.

###

Anyway, I must figure out a way to offset the anxiety because I have about 500 pages of the U.S. tax code to memorize—well nigh Talmudic in its abstruseness—& then I will be toddling off to the gym, and thence, to NYC for Flushing Chinese and Hamnet with Flavia & Betsy. Chinese food & movies are the traditional Jewish Xmas celebration.

I really, really miss Brian. He is the one person I could talk to about this. He would enfold me in his warm and magnetic personality and give me wise counsel. Instead I am writing it here & picturing invisible people shaking their heads: Gawd! She's such a trainwreck.

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just one thing

Just One Thing (24 December 2025)

It's challenge time!

Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.

Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!

Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.

Go!

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Wednesday Reading Meme

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The Odyssey [2026]

The Odyssey (2026)
[ official trailer ]

[ here @

axisandallies ]

Current Mood: depressed
Current Music: American Monster

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Don't wear your motorcycle colors in here

Disappointing Birthdays not mine, Mom's. She needs to learn to say no to people (namely the couple I dislike who invited themselves to dinner and volunteered mom and her car to go pick up her BFF, the aunt to the woman of the couple) She was barely home and I had to go to dinner with them.

Where did we go? To Harrigan's a bar/restaurant with the subject line sign on the door. It does however have really good food and gives you a lot of it for low cost. At least there was that and I FINALLY got my blood thinners approved so I left dinner early to get them and my insulin.

Finally edited and posted my last Hazbin story to

fandomtrees so there's that.

I've been sulking most of the day so there's that too.

I have a holiday special for fannish 50

Betty sent me This delight : Watch ILM Recreate the Death Star Trench Run Out of Virtual Gingerbread

I'm sure I've mentioned Hazbin Hotel is a musical (I KNOW. I don't like them much so I have no explanation for this) Sam Haft (the composer) and Blake Roman (voice actor of Angel Dust and the egg bois) jokingly said if the sound track made the Billboard Top 100 Sam would come up with music and Blake would sing Christmas songs as Frank the egg boi. Well It hit the top 100 and Blake's Losing Streak went to #14. So have two songs

And the first one has Alex Brightman (who sings Beetlejuice on Broadway and voices Sir Pentious (who is first in the song) joining Blake.

Watch on YouTube

And here, have the song that enabled the above

Watch on YouTube

And Star Rect has another one out

Watch on YouTube

and the original

Watch on YouTube

Day 23's tea - Creme Brulee Black Tea: black teas, crème brulee flavoring, and marigold petals. It's not bad. I've bought this one previously. It's less caramelized sugar and cream and more amaretto

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Cruise - 4 Days: Chicago

Got up at 7 AM.

On the bus to Chicago. Backtracking, I dropped the dogs off with no issues. The dogs seemed happy to be in a place with other dogs. Dropped the cats off. I forgot Lily’s ear meds, but they’re going to examine her and prescribe. I had had a strong feeling that something was going to go wrong, but it looks like I’m going on this trip! I need to have more faith in my own competence. I need to talk to my therapist about that.

Now I'm in the hotel across the street (literally) from the airport. Apparently my reservation for tonight didn't come through, but a very helpful and patient desk clerk got me registered and made the room connect with my reservation for tomorrow (which did go through). She kept on wanting to give me water, so I finally took some, and she gave me a free toothbrush! They had a grab-and-go coffee and light food place, which I headed for because I didn't really want a restaurant meal and I figured that it would be cheaper. The choices were a salad or a salad, so I picked up a Caesar salad and ate it all! The person there was very helpful too. (As well they should be for the price that I'm paying :)) The food was more expensive than DoorDash, but it was a lot more convenient. My room has a view of a runway, but it doesn't seem to be a runway that they're using right now. I saw where to catch the L tomorrow on the way to the room.

I'm not sure what to do now. I need to assemble the cane-with-a-seat, but I'm too tired to deal with it now. I think that I'll read a little while and then go to bed.

( O'Hare Pictures )

Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: Ranges vs Caps on tv

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adventures in cooking

find a way to get the next one

I just cleaned off the kitchen counter and put the last bowl/spatulas in the sink to soak (the dishwasher is already running, and all the cupcakes are cooked and 4 out of 5 frostings are made (I just finished the strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream) - tomorrow I will make the ganache and possibly also a whipped ganache (I've never done it with butter in it - does that make it more buttercream-ish?) just to change things up a bit.

Today, I baked the strawberry (doubled to make 80), apple cider (60), and funfetti (doubled to make 80) cupcakes - there could have been more funfetti, but not enough to fill a whole pan, so I didn't bother. I added cinnamon bits from King Arthur to the apple cider ones and dipped them in maple cinnamon sugar, which is a change, one that hopefully people will like.

I also discovered that the cupcake carriers I've had sitting in a box under a chair in my living room for a few months are the wrong size (they are for standard-sized cupcakes) so I only have 10 mini ones and I need 13, so I will use the some foil lasagna pans for my brother and sister and one of the kids - they'll get a few more cupcakes out of it, since the carriers hold 2 dozen but the 9 x 13" tray fits about 30. *hands* I'm just glad I still have a pack of them left to use; otherwise, I'd have been up a creek.

Tomorrow is Pipe-a-palooza 7: The Pipening! (yeah, it's kind of shocking to me I've been doing cupcakes for 7 years now - I started in 2019 - but I like it more than the chocolates [and it's also less time-consuming than the chocolates were] and I can't do ice creams anymore due to logistics, though they remain my all-time favorite of the homemade Christmas gifts I've done over the years.) Wish me luck! It's always the hardest part for me. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures to share afterwards.

Whoops, I started this entry an hour ago and got distracted by stuff like packing my overnight bag and refilling my water bottle etc. so I'm just gonna hit post now and work up the energy to go wash my hair.

***

( 6-day plan, day 5 )

***

(no subject)

It was snowing lightly when we got up this morning, and around 6:30 am the school alerted parents that school would be cancelled today because heavy snow was forecast to start mid morning. The girls were overjoyed. Unfortunately, the heavy snow never happened; there was light snow during the morning but by the middle of the day it had turned to light rain, so the weather is just miserable. And cancelling school turned out to be unnecessary.

Although I love my granddaughters, it's hard when they're at home all the time because there is constant noise and movement and girls wanting my attention for something and by the end of the day I'm exhausted. They're better at occupying themselves some of the time than they were a few years ago, but this introvert still finds it hard. Also my daughter is an extreme extrovert who has to have a TV show or music going all the time when she isn't working, so the whole house just feels loud and overwhelming sometimes. I come down to the basement for some peace and quiet and guess what? One or more of the girls follows me. (When my daughter is working she is mostly in her office with the door closed so even if she is in a meeting or watching a video the sound is muffled, and inaudible to me if I'm in the basement.)

Eden is having a birthday party this afternoon. She and a small group of friends will be painting little ceramic cottages and/or shops, but right now they're not doing that because I have just heard a bunch of feet thundering up the stairs to the top floor (bedrooms).

I slept better last night than I had for the three or four previous nights but I'm still catching up with my sleep deficit and I feel tired and headachey today. Eden's party is giving me a respite which I'm appreciating even though I can still hear the party noise.

I've done barely any crocheting and no knitting since I moved here, partly because I've been feeling somewhat unsettled and partly because I don't have any good place to lay out crafts or sewing and because I packed up the project of multi coloured crochet squares I was working on for much of he year and sent it to storage and so now have no access to that. Today I decided to start a different granny square project with some softer yarn I brought with me and which I can replenish online. (Amazon of course.) I didn't particularly like the yarn I was using for the first project but I still want to finish it, eventually.

365 Questions 2025

19. Now that it’s behind you, what did you do last week that was memorable? I can't think of a single thing.

20. Where do you spend most of your time while you’re awake? Either in my basement room or in the upstairs living room. I prefer being upstairs for the light (and the sun when it's a sunny day) but I prefer the basement because it's my own space, although subject to invasion by the granddaughters whenever they feel like it.

21, What makes someone a hero? Willinlgness to do something difficult or dangerous to help someone else.

22. When in your life have you been a victim of stereotyping? I can't remember many specific examples, but one does stand out; I was at some kind of social gathering with my (then) husband. Another guest (a man) asked me what I did (the stereotypical small talk opening) and when I said I was a housewife (this was sometime in the 1980s - I wouldn't say that in the same situation now) and I instantly felt any interest he might have had in making conversation with me disappear.

Merry Christmas to me

They just put up the Christmas Eve dinner for ordering. In the app, you select what you want and then when you want to pick it up. It's a pretty good system. And, as usual, I have spare money in my meal allowance so I ordered up two dinners! Beef Wellington and Turkey with trimmings. Plus starters and dessert. To be picked up at 4 on Wednesday. Now that's just luxury. Full on banquet with leftovers and no people to have to entertain or at least not insult. Merry Christmas to me!

Christmas day is a buffet which is fine. I'll probably eat leftovers!

No volleyball on Thursday which is also fine. I've got a real anti people attitude going on and I need some time to get over it.

Julio has not thrown up again since Sunday and seems to be fine. Maybe he just didn't like that Hills food. Both are now on the Purina prescription stuff which they do not hate. I have enough in the cupboard to get us through til the Chewy delivery arrives. And Biggie's pee is looking way better. We could be truly on the road to recovery.

The laundry is laundrying and my app says it will be done at 11. Lunch is ordered for pickup at 11:30. The Housecleaner comes at 1:30. Busy busy day!!