Today’s moral is, look for the handmade option first.
My daughter had been asking for an old-fashioned sleeping cap for quite a while. Not only was this handmade cap less expensive than the mass-produced “made in China” ones at the larger sites, it looks a lot more stylish. It actually looks better in person than the picture shows, and is quite soft and comfortable. I… um… might have tried it on. Ahem. Anyway, the seamstress got it in the mail immediately and it was here within a few days ordering it. Excellent service! Many thanks to Pam at sewwoman.etsy.com!
Add to this an adorable “Cinderella” nightgown made specifically to Emily’s size by It’sHandmadeByMelanie and you’ve got a very happy little girl. It’s satiny on the outside but flannel-soft on the inside, and the tulle apron is removable to make it more comfy to sleep in. Melanie always does great work. We’ve got a Snow White nightgown that she made for Em in February that shows very little wear considering how much use it gets. I’m absolutely sure that she’ll outgrow it before it wears out, so I had her make the Cinderella gown a little big. Just as well too – Em’s had a growth spurt so it fits great. If you’re looking for a cute little gift for a cute little girl, I highly recommend It’sHandmadeByMelanie. Order well in advance – it looks like she’s gotten so popular she’s had to cut back to only doing custom orders.
Now if only it weren’t 98 degrees outside. Long nightgown, nightcap… this kid’s going to bake like a ham tonight. Well, that’s the price of fashion!
We took Em to Carowinds today. She’s been asking to ride a roller coaster. Don’t be fooled by the picture. While I am genuinely terrified, Em is thrilled. I think she’s a bit of a thrillseeker like her father.
In the past, Em hasn’t wanted to do new things, but this year, she has really branched out. She may only want to stay for a few minutes (although we were at Carowinds for five hours) but she wants to try everything. It’s like she was scared of the water, but this year she wants to put a toe in.
We’ve roller skated (both box skates and inline skates), ice skated, learned to ride a bike, and ridden a roller coaster. She’s enjoyed everything she’s tried.
It’s not just limited to new activities, she’s been wanting to try new foods too, in very small amounts. She’s discovered that she likes brie, cherries, and several other things she’s tried. She’s even asked for tofu.
I love this new phase in her development. She’s really blooming. I think back to the preschooler who had to constantly wear the same outfit and if she couldn’t, there would be an entire day of meltdowns. It’s a great reminder of how far she’s come and how far she still can go.
After the incident with the sphinxes and the owlbears and the special sauce, we rise to the mine level which has the resurrection shrine. Val is in the lead.
GM Vaschon: Your party continues 40′ NE and arrives at an intersection. You can travel E, S, or N.
GM Vaschon rolled 1 20-sided die: 19
GM Vaschon rolled 1 100-sided die: 77
Val: >N
Aleanghi: (Quick, run faster than nick can roll!)
We can’t outrun fate, though!
There’s been a mini-fest going on in Dragonrealms over the last couple of days. It’s a nice little event in a really cool new wedding area. Because of this, I’ve been playing more, just as a regular player. In fact, I even had the joy of dying because the network connection from my laptop to our wireless isn’t working properly. In knew in advance that the connection was shaky, so it’s totally my fault. That’ll teach me to hunt above my level. Well, it’s been a long time since I died, so it was probably something I needed to have happen again, just to keep in touch with the total playing experience. I lost a LOT of field experience, but I got back all my stuff, so I suppose all’s well that ends well.
It’s been really fun to explore new places and connect with new people. We’ve got some talented GMs, and seeing what they’ve done has made me want to get into it a bit more. I identified a few tiny little things I can do, and have sent queries off to the appropriate people to see if they mind me mucking around with their stuff. Everybody who’s responded so far has been enthusiastic. There’s not a lot of territoriality behind the scenes. We’re lucky to have a good staff who recognize that we’re all on the same team.
My husband is on furlough this week, which is an unpaid leave which his business is using to cut costs. Everybody’s having to do them; it’s not a special thing for which he’s been singled out. This marks the first time in 15 years that he hasn’t been tethered to his work by an internet connection. He’s using his time off to go camping and spend some time with his father. Em expressed today how much she misses him. It’s unusual for her to verbalize something like that, so he was able to go off on his adventure today feeling very loved. He won’t be gone long, and then we’ll have him all to ourselves for the rest of the week. His daughter is delighted by that.
As much as I’d like to work on Dragonrealms stuff right now, I have Jayne hat business to attend to first. I’ll be stamping up boxes and shipping things out while my daughter is at dance camp this morning. It’s a very busy time here, with convention season upon us.
I’ll try to get a D&D writeup out in the next few days. Until then, gentle readers!