It's okay, I've done it before.

Hi all,

I've got to get up at stupid o'clock to catch my flight and I've got eleventy-billion things to do between now and then, so I'm posting this now.

Firstly -



I hope you have a wonderful day with softly_sweetly next Saturday, and you'll get the rest of your presents after I get back, since for some strange reason, the post office isn't open on bank holidays... You are a wonderful friend and I'm so sorry I won't be here for your big day. (That's a lie - I wish you could be with us in FL for it!)


Secondly - I'll see you at JFK tomorrow, lotus_lizzy! *jumps up and down in anticipation*


Thirdly - YAY for Opening Day! Am going to try to catch the Marlins live next Sunday!!!


Now, for an improtant public service warning message to my flist - cassie_black12 is playing around with my layout, so if you see any posts from this account between now and the 16th, it's unlikely to be ME! (I'll no doubt come back to a load of Hugo/James and gay!Neville icons...)

Cheerio everyone and Happy Easter and Passover!!! *waves*

Hoping (crosses fingers) to be at the Oxford King's doubleheader tomorrow, so won't have too much time to post and also BT's southern coverage area was down all day and had no internet connection for 12 hours. *Curses MOD for not letting anyone have cable modems!*

Husband home from tour of France in broken helicopter. Said- and I quote- whole operation was yet another RAF clusterfuck- end quote. Oh well, your tax £££ spent well. Again.

Interesting reading on some of my H/D flist's posts about the whole n0ob/established writer relationship (I don't use the term Big Name Fan, as that's purely a relative description). Here's my take: I read everything depending on my mood and if I like the pairing and the sound of the premise. There is NO author I avoid reading. If I like the fic a lot, I gush. If I don't, I'll still thank the author for sharing it. (I usually find something in a fic I thought was inspiring). I do have my favourite TYPE of fic, rating and kinks, but I won't exclusively look for them. And I don't read something just because I've liked the author's work before- I read it because- well, I've explained above.

I JUST LOVE FIC. I'm so lucky that people with more time and talent than I have post wonderful stories. I beta, cause I don't have the time I need to write (and brother, do I need a lot of time...) and I personally feel it's a nice way of saying thank you.

Yes, I do feel let down when I get few comments on my own work- I'm a shy writer and need a lot of *squishes* as well as a ton of concrit. I'm not going to pretend I don't like the attention. I have a good-sized flist and for the most part, I do get a lot of feedback, but yes, sometimes it does feel like pulling teeth. But that's mostly my own fault for not blowing my own horn loudly enough! So, I am now going to be the cross-posting queen and hope to enter more fests so I can stop moaning and actually DO something about what annoys me about fandom (and this is in NO way limited to H/D, btw. This isn't the only fandom I play in but it IS the most vocal:)

And for the record, on the whole, I've felt very supported by well-established authors. I rely on them for my fic fix, so I'm not about to say that they don't support the fandom. Without them there wouldn't be one, huh? I'd've never even thought of posting a fic if they hadn't inspired me.

In other, and more important news, I was doing some infection control training for the nursing staff here yesterday. And they asked me to join bank staff! (For those of you who don't know, "bank" means people they can call to fill in or work the odd shift.) They'd like the staff to be an RGN (me), have training/certificate in massage therapy (me) and have a background in health promotion (me). It doesn't pay as well as the day job, but the hours are good- will probably do the odd Sunday shift or night- and the patients--- er- HAWT! And a lot easier to look after than some places I've worked bank on. And seeing as my hubby has expressed an interest in joining the police force when he comes out of the RAF, I think this is soooo cool! *does happy dance*

Okay, all for now. Can play now that internet is up and running- I got so much done today when I wasn't on-line! What a surpise. Am off all next week, so I'll be around. So long as BT doesn't fuck themselves up again.

Gonna go *censored* my husband now.

Grrrrrrr!

*Baseball not on Channel 5 anymore- must get ESPN on Setanta and I can't afford to get a whole package of sports that I'll never watch.

*USB lead not working on phone- that might be why pictures never download. Have ordered another one. Memory card on camera ALSO buggered.

*So-called friend who said she'd give me DVD of last BSG episode has told me she can't now, so GOD ONLY KNOWS when I'm going to see it. Someone might as well tell me what happens. I daresay I'll see it eventually, but can't beta very effectively without knowing.

*Asthma STILL not sorted- tried 3 different strengths of inhaled steroid and back to GP tomorrow. But at least it's better controlled than it was and I was able to get to the gym tonight, even if only for 30 mins.

*Bloody chlostridium difficile briefing needs to be done tomorrow and I've still got a bit to do on it, plus got GP appointment in the AM. I've asked everyone I follow on Twitter for help with it. I can't imagine why no one's piped up.

*Can't find my P60 so I have absolutely no clue how much money I made in total last year, so I'm just going to guess based on a couple of old payslips. Luckily the IRS doesn't need anything more from ex-pats with no domestic income, but I still have to file two bloody forms. You don't need to tell the IRS I said any of that, btw.

*Voice still gone from coughing and shouting all weekend, but that was mostly self-inflicted. I'm going to bitch about it anyway.

Please, please rec me your favourite fics to read as comfort tonight (after I've filed my 1040EZ and 2555, of course). Whatever your favourite is- any fandom, any pairing, it can be one of yours or someone else's. If you're not into fic, I'd love to see whatever your favourite piece of fan art is. Again, it can be any fandom.

I'm up for anything- I'd even re-read that terrible Marauder fic kilter MST3K'ed.

Well, maybe not.

Have a great day whether you're a mum or not! I can't believe my husband bought me chocolate (which the twins have already eaten) and they gave me the cutest, cutest cards they made at school!

And just for a treat, I'm driving out to Swindon to look at houses. Next week, evidently, as I've got to go to RAF Brize Norton, anyway.

Today it's all about sitting back and watching old BSG episodes on Bravo- god, wasn't Hatch a hottie- and reading starry_diadem's fic!

Oh, and I've got a plot for my hp_sas fic. Now all I have to do is actually write the thing.

And finally, FORMULA ONE starts back next week! Go Hamilton!!! And baseball season is just around the corner! I am a happy camper!