General Life Update
Jul. 2nd, 2023 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
citrinedragonflyHappy July! Happy Full Moon! It's been a very busy couple of weeks for me, so here are a few highlights/key things I want to share.
Moving!!!
We no longer live in the rural part of our county! We are fully in town now, and settling in to our new home. I love it. I'd love it more if I could find my teacher planner for the upcoming year so I could fill in the important dates, but you know. We've started getting boxes out of storage, putting up shelves, etc. We had people by on Friday to mount the TV to the wall, Xfinity came on Monday to upgrade our router and fix the weak service we had (apparently the people here before us had splitters galore and misconnected cables), and we've made a few trips to the home stores to pick up things we need for the space. We have a tiered list of things to purchase/acquire: Immediate(during July), Short Term (August & September), and Long Term (October & beyond). We'll reassess at the end of July, but we're making good inroads on the "Immediate" list so far. Tuesday we're taking a trip to IKEA to check off a few more things on the list.
Celebrated the Final Day of Pride with a Bang
One of my favorite bands, the Misbehavin' Maidens, is disbanding and going their separate ways. They had their final concert at a restaurant/bar called Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA on June 30. We found out about the concert back in April, and immediately snagged table-seating tickets. Had some amazing Korean Fried Chicken at a restaurant near the venue, so we wouldn't be tempted to over-eat while there, before heading to the gig. The place was sold out - no walk-ins allowed, only ticket-holders. I signed their farewell poster and snapped a pic of the board with the "What's next for the Maidens?" info, then went over to their merch table and got a bunch of fun stuff (bought more merch after the show, too). We were given a map to get to our seats, and our seats had our names on them. We were up front, on the right side of the stage, amazing view and acoustics. I'd had no idea our seats would be so good!
The opening band was the PDX Broadsides, who came from Portland, OR, to open for the Maidens. They were a lot of fun! I enjoyed their songs, and their cover of the Maidens' own "Drinks Don't Have a Fucking Gender". Didn't pick up merch, since while I liked them, I want to hear at least one more set before I commit to things entering my house. But I laughed and hollered and clapped along, and sang along to their final number, "Nathan Fillion, Please Take Off Your Pants", which had been a finalist in a filking contest, the name of which I can't remember.
There was about a 15-20 minute break between the Broadsides and the Maidens' first set. They played 2 sets, with a break in-between, and did not disappoint. They sang several of my favorites. They sang songs off of each album, and encouraged the audience to sing along and film. I snapped a few pictures, but I was too wrapped up in the concert to really think about taking more or trying to record. Rouge stood closest to where we sat, followed by Lucky Annie, Saber, and Flint. Flint had dice in their shoes! It was super-cool. The Maidens were doing a meet-and-greet/photo-op after the show, but we didn't get done til after 11:30, and we still had to drive home, so I decided to skip that part of the overall experience. I've met them at conventions in the past, and I did buy a photo of them all giving the camera the finger, which is very on-brand for them, so I'm happy. This was my first concert at a non-convention venue, and it was so good!
Family Stuff
My sister's family is settling in to their new townhome nicely. My 2 1/2 year old nibling keeps telling my sister, "I don't want to go back to the old house" when she picks her up from daycare. My nibling has strong opinions on things, and is quite a character. I adore her. My brother just proposed to his girlfriend/baby mama, so they're doing a low-key marriage ceremony sometime soon. I'm kind of annoyed at him, since he'd told Mom last Sunday, and I talked with him both Monday and Tuesday, and he didn't say a word about it. He did tell me that at the end of this year, they're moving out to central VA and in with his girlfriend's sister and her husband in order to save up a ton of money. I know the area they're moving to, and it's really nice. It's near where I went to college. It'll be a good place for my nibling, too. I still haven't met him yet, sadly, but two weeks, we're planning a weekend away to visit them in their current locale, near where they grew up and where I went to high school. My parents are doing well. I asked Mom today if we're doing anything for Dad's birthday over this coming weekend, and she said no, because she's in the middle of renovating her craft room, and doesn't want to worry about "making the house presentable" for us all. I might at least suggest meeting halfway for lunch as the weekend gets closer, so I can give him his birthday present, and give Mom the part of hers that accidentally got packed in storage before her birthday.
Moving!!!
We no longer live in the rural part of our county! We are fully in town now, and settling in to our new home. I love it. I'd love it more if I could find my teacher planner for the upcoming year so I could fill in the important dates, but you know. We've started getting boxes out of storage, putting up shelves, etc. We had people by on Friday to mount the TV to the wall, Xfinity came on Monday to upgrade our router and fix the weak service we had (apparently the people here before us had splitters galore and misconnected cables), and we've made a few trips to the home stores to pick up things we need for the space. We have a tiered list of things to purchase/acquire: Immediate(during July), Short Term (August & September), and Long Term (October & beyond). We'll reassess at the end of July, but we're making good inroads on the "Immediate" list so far. Tuesday we're taking a trip to IKEA to check off a few more things on the list.
Celebrated the Final Day of Pride with a Bang
One of my favorite bands, the Misbehavin' Maidens, is disbanding and going their separate ways. They had their final concert at a restaurant/bar called Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA on June 30. We found out about the concert back in April, and immediately snagged table-seating tickets. Had some amazing Korean Fried Chicken at a restaurant near the venue, so we wouldn't be tempted to over-eat while there, before heading to the gig. The place was sold out - no walk-ins allowed, only ticket-holders. I signed their farewell poster and snapped a pic of the board with the "What's next for the Maidens?" info, then went over to their merch table and got a bunch of fun stuff (bought more merch after the show, too). We were given a map to get to our seats, and our seats had our names on them. We were up front, on the right side of the stage, amazing view and acoustics. I'd had no idea our seats would be so good!
The opening band was the PDX Broadsides, who came from Portland, OR, to open for the Maidens. They were a lot of fun! I enjoyed their songs, and their cover of the Maidens' own "Drinks Don't Have a Fucking Gender". Didn't pick up merch, since while I liked them, I want to hear at least one more set before I commit to things entering my house. But I laughed and hollered and clapped along, and sang along to their final number, "Nathan Fillion, Please Take Off Your Pants", which had been a finalist in a filking contest, the name of which I can't remember.
There was about a 15-20 minute break between the Broadsides and the Maidens' first set. They played 2 sets, with a break in-between, and did not disappoint. They sang several of my favorites. They sang songs off of each album, and encouraged the audience to sing along and film. I snapped a few pictures, but I was too wrapped up in the concert to really think about taking more or trying to record. Rouge stood closest to where we sat, followed by Lucky Annie, Saber, and Flint. Flint had dice in their shoes! It was super-cool. The Maidens were doing a meet-and-greet/photo-op after the show, but we didn't get done til after 11:30, and we still had to drive home, so I decided to skip that part of the overall experience. I've met them at conventions in the past, and I did buy a photo of them all giving the camera the finger, which is very on-brand for them, so I'm happy. This was my first concert at a non-convention venue, and it was so good!
Family Stuff
My sister's family is settling in to their new townhome nicely. My 2 1/2 year old nibling keeps telling my sister, "I don't want to go back to the old house" when she picks her up from daycare. My nibling has strong opinions on things, and is quite a character. I adore her. My brother just proposed to his girlfriend/baby mama, so they're doing a low-key marriage ceremony sometime soon. I'm kind of annoyed at him, since he'd told Mom last Sunday, and I talked with him both Monday and Tuesday, and he didn't say a word about it. He did tell me that at the end of this year, they're moving out to central VA and in with his girlfriend's sister and her husband in order to save up a ton of money. I know the area they're moving to, and it's really nice. It's near where I went to college. It'll be a good place for my nibling, too. I still haven't met him yet, sadly, but two weeks, we're planning a weekend away to visit them in their current locale, near where they grew up and where I went to high school. My parents are doing well. I asked Mom today if we're doing anything for Dad's birthday over this coming weekend, and she said no, because she's in the middle of renovating her craft room, and doesn't want to worry about "making the house presentable" for us all. I might at least suggest meeting halfway for lunch as the weekend gets closer, so I can give him his birthday present, and give Mom the part of hers that accidentally got packed in storage before her birthday.
