(no subject)

I forgot to mention-- Last week, we tested me on cashews and pistachios. Neither made my mouth itch. It's appearing more likely that I'm like my mother and only have trouble with walnuts (and peanuts, but that's a separate allergy). At any rate, getting cashews and pistachios back means I can have some baklava as made by the local Syrian bakery.

We'll be testing other nuts, one type at a time. I certainly react to some nuts, and stuff that makes my lips, tongue, etc. itch is something I want to be cautious about. I won't be risking peanuts at all.

(no subject)

The guys replacing the doors are here now. They're doing the back door first. I'm hanging out in the living room with a sweater and a blanket. I have the bedroom doors shut in hopes of retaining some heat there. I'll definitely move into the bedroom when it comes time to do the front door. I expect that to make the living room considerably colder than the back door being wide open has (and the back door is making the living room pretty darn cold!).

After much waffling, I'm having the guys doing the doors install the new locks. I wanted to get extra keys made before the locks went in, but there's no way to do that, and I don't want Scott to have to figure out how to install the locks in the middle of November. I'll just make him get the keys done as soon as possible. Scott bought one regular lock set and one set for keyless entry. I'm going to have to figure out how to program the combination for the keyless entry.

It'll be nice to have locks that work properly again. The deadbolt in front right now, for example, can't be opened from the outside. The key simply won't turn. It can be locked and unlocked from the inside, and it can be locked from the outside. It just can't be unlocked.

(no subject)

We have achieved doors. They close properly and have good seals (the old ones hung crooked and let in drafts). The locks are a mess. Scott bought new locks, but he wanted me to keep the old locks so as to minimize my stress over the whole process. He figured he'd install the new ones himself. Well, the old locks don't fit the new doors. The openings for the deadbolts on the new doors are bigger than the old hardware. That meant using the new locks and led to the next complication-- Scott wanted keyless entry for one door. He thought it would be useful in case of forgotten keys (I do sometimes lock myself out when I take Delia to school). Unfortunately, the keyless locks are configured such that you can't fit both a keyless knob and a keyless deadbolt on the same door. As a result, the back door has a keyless knob and a keyed deadbolt while the front door has a keyed knob and a keyless deadbolt. This means I'm going to have to figure out the keyless stuff this evening so that I can lock the door properly tomorrow morning when we leave for soccer.

(no subject)

I've got my Yuletide assignment. It's a fandom I'm sure I can write. My recipient doesn't have hir dear author letter completed yet (there's a placeholder), so I'm waiting on that. I'm a little confused by the prompt. I think it has a word or two missing because it doesn't make sense as it stands. I may just figure that optional details are optional. I suppose I'll wait and see what the letter says. That'll give me some time to ponder canon, review it a bit and think about the requested characters.

I do, pretty much, know what fandom I'm getting this year. Only one of my fandoms had any offers the last time I checked, so that's pretty much got to be it. I doubt anyone's going to buy a seven volume (out of print!) manga series or a six episode OAV just to write a story for me (even if the OAV is only about $20 on Amazon). I knew when I made my requests that this was how it was likely to work out. I may have to give up hope of getting Planet Ladder and ask for something else next year.

I do have two fandoms in mind to nominate next year. I may have to pick just one of them if I keep Planet Ladder and Shamanic Princess (though how likely is it that someone will offer them next year? I'm not sure anybody did last year). I like the idea of fic for Drujienna's Harp by Ellen Kindt McKenzie or for Brandon Sanderson's Alcatraz series. The Alcatraz series is particularly tempting because we may not get the end of the official series any time soon. Scholastic only bought four volumes, and volume four ends with one heck of a cliffhanger. I'd like to see what might happen next.