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My different packing styles

In the last month and a half, I have packed for four different places that weren’t my own bed (and were all sadly lacking in cats): a local convention, a brief work trip to Tennesee, a conference for work in Boston padded with an extra night to see friends, and a Caribbean cruise. As I packed and unpacked yet again, I reflected on the differences inherent in packing for very different trips, both in the duration and the nature of the trips.

For three of the four trips, I packed my Temperature Tree embroidery project; I didn’t take it on the 2-night work trip, and by the trip to Boston, I had moved it into a smaller bag that fits in my carry-on. At Capricon, I worked on it during my Friday morning Stitch & Bitch, then didn’t touch it for the rest of the trip; in Boston, I kept up on it until the morning I was packing out. (Yes, I had enough time at the airport after the conference to catch up if I had felt so inclined. I was busy reading.)

Capricon was the only driving trip, which gave me a lot of leeway in how many bags I packed and the possibility of loose items. (Not to mention boxes to build a Box Fort.) On the shorter work trip, I checked what’s effectively a carry-on bag (not to be confused with my actual carry-on, a backpack that includes my laptop) with some space to spare. Heading to Boston, I knew I was spending an afternoon “book and yarn shopping” with friends, so I gave myself the extra space of a larger suitcase, and I did in fact use it. (Among other things, I found a used copy of Elphie: A Wicked Childhood, a recent prequel to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Score!)

For our longer trips over the last couple years – to the UK, Canary Islands, or even to Portland (which was only a week) – I’ve packed knowing I’d want to wash laundry during the trip. In Glasgow a couple years ago, it was easier to find a laundry service than time to use a laundromat. Similarly, on a longer cruise, there isn’t a really good laundry option… handwash everything in the tiny bathroom, pack an extra suitcase and have to store it in the equally tiny room, or pay for the laundry service per bag. I lean towards a mix of those, handwashing smaller items, and paying to wash larger items, so I can pack for half the duration of the trip and reuse items. Of course, part of that is because some delicate items like bras really shouldn’t run through the dryer if you can help it. On our cruise, that plan lasted until we realized how small the laundry service bags are; then we decided to use some of our promotional credit to pay for ongoing laundry service instead of on a per bag basis. As it turns out, coming home with only a couple days of dirty laundry from a long trip is a fabulous experience.

For everything except the cruise (for both Customs and profitability reasons, they don’t want you bringing your own), I packed some nicer teas, though I was so tired one morning at Capricon that I completely forgot I had and asked housekeeping for some spare tea. (My roommate slept in the first morning, so our room wasn’t reset.) For Capricon, we packed a couple meals, knowing that we’d have a fridge in the room, and for my trip to Tennessee, I packed some snack foods, mainly because I didn’t know what time the included breakfast would be available compared to when my work day needed to start.

Overall, it’s an interesting study of what becomes important for each trip, including the never-ending dilemma of “can I fit another craft project?”

Do you Zip?

I realize, without context, there are a lot of options for the word “zip,” not the least are “zipper” or “zipline”. In this case, Zip is the name of a daily puzzle game available on LinkedIn. It’s one of a handful of puzzles I like starting my day with, along with Wordle, Waffle, and Connections.

Zip is a spatial rather than word puzzle, where you need to connect all of the numbers in order while also passing through each space only once. The quantity of numbers varies, so you never know until you click into that day’s puzzle how many you’re trying to connect and what the layout looks like. The grid pictured in the first image above had no obstacles; sometimes there are borders to work around.

The second image is the completed puzzle for that day, and the third image shows how my time compared to other players’. That was a particularly good day for me, completing the puzzle in 15 seconds when the average was 26. The “flawless” text at the top of the third image means I didn’t undo any of my path while completing the puzzle. That is certainly not always the case, some puzzles trip me up in different ways, hitting a mental block that sometimes prompts me to close the window (pausing the timer) or use a hint.

What does your daily puzzle routine look like?

Did you “spring forward” last Sunday?

Or did you, like me, reluctantly hobble forward in this seemingly pointless semiannual ritual where we change the clocks and hope our circadian rhythm catches up to the change quickly?

I was oddly lucky this morning in not realizing the change had hit when I woke up to feed the cats. Had the clock in my bedroom automatically changed, I might have wondered at the cats letting me sleep in; they do not partake of time changes lightly. In fact, I didn’t remember about it until nearly an hour later, after they had been fed and I had showered, which is when I felt like I had lost an hour of my day, preparing and eating breakfast at a time – according to the clock – when I have normally finished those and moved onto either chores or work.

There have, on multiple occasions, been bills put forth in the US Congress to end the time change. In recent years, it seems one will pass either the House or Senate, and then get ignored by the other body until the resurgence of complaints – now or in November – brings the issue to light again.

I am aware that the issue is not as simple as “stop doing it.” Back in 2007, with about two years warning, the start date changed, extending daylight savings by four or five weeks. From an IT perspective, this was a borderline disaster for the bank I was working at: PCs ended up on one time and servers on another, due to a mismatch in software updates. I see a bit of that now, as I have co-workers in other countries who don’t change their clocks, which means recurring meetings will shift for someone… which way depends on who originally scheduled it.

I do hope we do away with the time change, like so many other countries have, at some point in the near future.

You’ve got dice!

If you read Cassandra’s blog, you may have seen her post a few months ago about entering sweepstakes. When she finds a sweepstakes that may also be of interest to me, she shares the link. While the odds are better than winning the lottery, I never really expect to win something. So it was a pleasant surprise about a month ago to open an email saying I was a potential winner for one of the sweepstakes I had entered.

To be clear, legitimate “you won something” messages are entirely different from spam versions. The sweepstakes I had entered and the specific prize were mentioned in the email, along with detailed instructions for claiming the prize and the deadline for doing so. Presumably because there was a minimum age for entering the sweepstakes, a copy of my ID was required along with an affidavit.

A set of liquid core RPG dice (the usual: d4, d6, d8, d10 standard, d10 percentile, d12, and d20). Essentially translucent dice with a dark red center and gold letters.

Given the title of this post, you can guess what part of the prize was… dice! These are described as a “branded set of 7 liquid core RPG dice”… pretty cool looking, aren’t they? So far, the d20 has been rolling pretty well for me on this year’s Quest Calendar.

A wine stopper with a fancy dragon claw top

But that’s not all! The prize package also included a “branded dragon claw shaped wine stopper” and a (not pictured, cause I couldn’t get a good photo) “branded wine tote”.

How’s that for a random prize package that’s totally appropriate for me?

Thyroid: the Stabbening

When I had my MRI in November, other than the arthritis, the results turned up something odd about my thyroid. After a discussion with my primary doctor in December, I scheduled a thyroid ultrasound, which confirmed that I have “nodules” on and around my thyroid. This resulted in a specialist visit to see an otolaryngologist, also known as an ENT (Ears Nose Throat).

After an initial meet & greet – which I question the need for when the ultrasound results recommended an “FNA” – Fine Needle Aspiration – I scheduled the FNA, or thyroid biopsy, to pull some tissue from the nodules. Alas, our medical system is weighed down by bureaucracy.

The base of my neck with slight scabbing from the Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) for my thyroid

Bureaucracy aside, the doctor’s bedside manner was good, talking me through the process before starting and throughout. I was warned that the local numbing agent would burn going in – it did. After that, I only felt pressure as each needle went in, and then got poked around a few times. I’m not sure the poking around part was really mentioned, though I suppose it still just counts as pressure. It reminded me a little of a root canal, when the dentist is poking into the tooth repeatedly to make sure they got all of the root and you only feel the pressure of the poking.

I was warned that the results could take up to 7 business days; they took 5, and I am relieved to say my thyroid nodules are benign.

Temperature projects update

2025 is done!* 2026 projects are progressing!

My 2025 temperature blanket stretching across the sofa in an array of colors, with a skein of yarn for the border dangling on one end.

OK, the * is because I still have the border to finish on the 360-day granny square blanket I started in mid-February 2025. The final day in that count fell during Capricon, so I finished the squares, adding the squares to the row, and then attaching the row to the overall blanket after we got home from the convention. I have started the border using the same gradient white to black yarn that I used to join, knowing that I have an unstarted skein still. My approach at the moment is to get a row of single crochet around the entire blanket – which lengthwise stretches across the sofa – and then determine whether I have enough yarn for a fancier second row.

The beginnings of my 2026 temperature blanket - a completed strip for January, with 31 linked chains and a white border, and a partial strip for the first half of February, with the beginnings of the white border.

The 2026 blanket is definitely less of a time investment than the 2025 one – each link, even with my February decision to start on the border as I add each link, which helps orient them correctly, takes 10 minutes or less. I’m super excited about how this will look once I’ve connected multiple months. That part has to wait until the full month is finished, since there’s a second row on the border that can’t be added until the entire month is complete. I can’t even make the filler links – 3 gray ones for February – until I finish out the month, since they connect in as they’re crocheted.

My 2026 Temperature Tree, an embroidery project that encompasses the entire calendar year.

The temperature tree is also progressing nicely. I feel like each day takes longer than this year’s blanket, but that may be inaccurate. I still have to think about what I’m doing for the embroidery, which is mostly not the case for the daily links I’m crocheting. I can multitask the daily crocheted project while watching or listening to something, which probably gives me impression that it’s going faster than it really is.

Overall, these are both fairly quick daily projects, so I have started another (side? main?) crochet project as well. That’s a gift, so it won’t show up here until it’s been handed to the recipient. Actually, that’s the case for a couple upcoming projects, so there may be some project photo dumps later in the year.

Goblins and art show and boxes, oh my!

Capricon 46 has come and, alas, gone, as is the way of annual conventions. I had waves of free time alternating with “why did I schedule myself like this” intervals… again, that’s kind of the way of conventions. The meal times I left myself were not necessarily convenient, except for breakfast, since most convention scheduling starts around 10am.

My entire display at Capricon 46's art show, an array of painted and crocheted items.

One of the first items on my checklist, after checking into the convention and hotel, was setting up my display in the Art Show. The bulk of my items were displayed on half a table (mental note: next year, get the whole table… bid sheets take up space), theoretically shared with another artist. As it happens, the other artist only sent items that needed hanging, so they were on the grid above my selection.

"Super Cabra", a crocheted goat wearing a red cape and holding a rainbow flag. He's standing on a purple cushion next to a small stack of multi-colored bricks. The small purple cushion is next to an actual purple brick standing on end, with Capricon 46 showing on the side.

“Super Cabra,” however, was my Artist’s Challenge piece, and went in a separate space with other competing contributions, making it easy for attendees to see the choices they were voting on. There were three this year, all meeting the challenge requirements: “incorporate a goat (the convention’s mascot) and three of the following items: a flag, a hand, a brick, a broken robot or computer, or the color purple.”

As with my other pieces, “Super Cabra” had a bid sheet for people to purchase or – had he received 3 bids – send to auction. The Artist’s Challenge prize – a purple brick with “Capricon 46” on one long end, “Rise of the Humans” (this year’s theme) on the opposite, and goat head on one side – came home with me, while “Super Cabra” went home with the winning bidder.

Much of the convention was normal for me: I hosted a Stitch & Bitch, where people bring craft projects and chat while working on them; I volunteered in a couple places including at the art auction; I helped a little at Box Fort (more about that below). What was new this year were a couple “actual play” role-playing games – RPGs with an audience – and I was delighted to participate in a one-page RPG called “ShenaniGoblins,” where goblins working for the ominously named Dark Lord scramble to correct whatever they messed up on their assigned mission. Apparently setting buildings on fire and flinging goblins from trebuchets are fairly common in this setting, and our game was no exception.

My main duty at Box Fort is the Sunday morning collapse of the boxes for recycling, though I help sometimes with set-up and door duties. I did realize though, looking back at my previous posts about Box Fort, that I haven’t really explained convention parties here. To be clear, each convention has its own rules – if they officially allow parties – and each party may have separate rules too. And both of those must follow the rules established by the location hosting the convention.

A stack of collapsed boxes with some unflattened boxes in another large box nearby.

In the case of Capricon, which is fresher in my mind than sister convention WindyCon (where Box Fort also had a party), the convention’s Code of Conduct explicitly requires all parties to be coordinated with the Party Liaison, who among other duties, assigns the appropriate rooms for each party based on preference and availability. The book launch party doesn’t usually need a suite; Box Fort and Barfleet (among several others) prefer to have the extra space.

While the parties are all technically private – not run by the convention – coordinating through the convention keeps the party hosts in both the convention’s and the hotel’s good graces, ensuring that the hosts and people attending the parties are all subject to the aforementioned Code of Conduct. This is also a reason to turn away normal people who may be staying at the hotel and happen to stumble into the party hallway (they may have seen the flyers display as the exited the elevator)… they haven’t agreed to the Code of Conduct, and if they misbehave, it’s your problem as the party host.

Some of those parties may be completely private: my bachelorette party, for example, was hosted many years ago at a Capricon, coordinated through the convention to have a suite not on the party floors. (There was also a wedding on-site that weekend, using a much larger area in programming space.) Some may be intermittently private: Barfleet shuts down “early” on Saturday (if you consider midnight early) to become a members-only event, and several parties will “soft-close” late at night as they prepare for the next day.

The difference between “open” – for anyone to walk in – and “soft-close” is also a difference between private and open parties: having the door fully open, sometimes with signage and people standing at the door to card partygoers, versus just propping it open with the security bolt, like when you dash down the hall to fill the ice bucket. If you don’t know the person with the barely open door, you don’t walk in; any conventiongoer (well, depending on party rules) is welcome to walk in and introduce themselves at the party with an open door.

Any open party serving alcohol has to verify your age, which is done either at the door or the bar; at the door typically gets you a stylish wristband that will last the rest of the evening. (Any private party hopefully knows your age, since they invited you.) Some parties will also restrict admission to people who have achieved drinking age or better, reducing the workload for their bartenders. You’ll still get a wristband, they just won’t need to check for it at the bar; they’ll check it at the door if you leave and come back in later. (For clarity, each party typically has a different colored wristband than the other parties, and different for each night as well.)

By the end of Saturday night, partygoers have usually perused the various parties and scanned the QR code to vote in the various party award categories for the year. This year, those voting categories were best mocktail, best alcoholic drink, and best overall party. And yes, Box Fort won the best overall party this year… by a single vote.

Avoiding hibernation

It can be tempting for those of us in cold climates to stay indoors most of the winter, relishing the technology that heats our homes. Several locations that you would generally count as outdoor eagerly provide opportunities to visit when it’s cold, with a variety of both indoor and outdoor activities.

A snow-covered pond with grasses in front and a variety of trees in the distance.

Morton Arboretum, for example, hosted a Chocolate Weekend last Saturday and Sunday, featuring a variety of local chocolate vendors – who knew there were so many? – many of whom were offering samples. That, not surprisingly, was an indoor event… convincing vendors to stand outside in 25 degree weather would probably be difficult. (Well, at least after the Christkindlmarket season.)

They have a chili cook-off at the end of the month, and assorted specialty food and drink events including a “Winter Whiskey Tasting” in March. They also have outdoor events, such as a Conifer Walk, and they offer snowshoe and ski rentals when there’s four or more inches of snow on the ground. Not that you’ll want to use those shoes or skis on the mostly untouched snow in this photo – that’s actually a pond. The only footprints on that clearly belonged to a small animal.

Similarly, Brookfield Zoo offers an assortment of events throughout the winter. Both locations have holiday lights leading up to New Year’s, both offer Valentine-themed dinners, and as things warm up, Brookfield Zoo is hosting a lantern festival some evenings from mid-March to mid-May. Brookfield has many indoor exhibits as well, so it’s reasonable to spend a few minutes outdoors viewing the animals that enjoy the cold before popping into a building and shedding the coat and gloves for a while.

What other outdoor venues do you enjoy visiting this time of year?

An eclectic selection for Capricon’s art show

I’ve mentioned Capricon here a few times, particularly last year when I volunteered as co-chair. I have far less work for the convention this year, as a staff member, panelist, and volunteer, which means I had time leading up to the convention to craft things for the Art Show. Traditionally, most of my art for sale has been crocheted items, and this year is no exception to some crocheted items being available. That said, I’ve been experimenting with watercolors for a bit now, so I decided to include some paintings as well. Three of the thirteen pieces that I’m listing are pictured below… come to the convention to see the others.

A watercolor spiderweb various colors of shiny paints between the web pieces; the web itself is made of white yarn. — “Shiny Spiderweb”

"Fuzzy Wuzzy is a dragon. Fuzzy Wuzzy has a flagon. This may, perhaps, explain the 'wuzzy' part." This crocheted plush dragon is gray with white highlights, holding a flagon on one arm. — “Shiny Spiderweb”

Thoughts on The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association is quite the handful for a book name, and I’m delighted that this book by Caitlin Rozakis lived up to that handful.

Our local library typically hosts summer and winter “reading” challenges, providing sheets to track your checkouts and rate them. Anything available through the library counts, whether books (in various formats), games, DVDs, or even “how to” kits that they have available. I’ve found these challenges offer a great opportunity to explore what’s available at the library, from movies we haven’t seen yet to picking up books off the new fiction or the recommended by staff shelves.

That’s how I found The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association, on the new fiction shelf, as it was just published in May 2025. The basic premise is that Vivian and Daniel are struggling with their integration into a magical community after their daughter, Aria, was bitten by a werewolf. As mundanes, Vivian and Daniel are entirely out of their depth, lacking so much magical knowledge that the rest of the community takes for granted. This is, of course, an ideal perspective for telling such a story, as the readers are exposed to the worldbuilding along with the characters.

Having relocated to be closer to the exclusive Grimoire Grammar School, one of a handful of magical schools in North America, Vivian, as former accountant turned stay-at-home mom, throws herself into the school’s PTA and the parents’ WhatsApp group in an attempt to fit in. To her dismay, she discovers that the prophecy of doom overshadowing this hidden magical town sounds distressingly like it’s about Aria, and the town’s welcome becomes remarkably chilly as more signs of the Reckoning emerge. In the midst of that mess, she and Daniel struggle to prepare for the required testing that will allow Aria to remain at the school, particularly after discovering that other magical schools rarely mix different types of magical creatures and are much less likely to admit a werewolf with human parents. Navigating parent cliques and suppressed controversies from the school’s past, Vivian struggles to find where she fits and how she can express her experience to her mundane therapist without her sanity being questioned.

This is a refreshingly unique take on magic schools and how people interpret the concept of the Chosen one from a cryptic prophecy to their own advantage. And while it’s a standalone novel (for now?), our library has the author’s other book, Dreadful, which also sounds like a distinctive approach to a fantasy setting.