Getting close to the point where I need to decide if I'm keeping my AmiAmi preorders for MP Rattrap and the ML Arcees. The last they've said regarding the current issues shipping to the US is that they won't be canceling orders. They'll keep the items in their warehouse but it's not clear for how long. And there will still be the question of what it'll cost to get them imported here even once they can be shipped. They're apparently accepting cancellations by customers without question right now.

I did put in backup preorders on DeepDiscount but without knowing what the shipping and importing prices will be from AmiAmi, I can't compare the total prices. That said, I don't think there'll be much of a difference. I wanted the loyalty points for this order but I'm thinking more and more as I type that I'm better off cancelling with AmiAmi and waiting for DeepDiscount.

Guess who made beignets~

Me! :D

I came across the recipe being recommended on Tumblr at the same time that I had songs from The Princess and the Frog stuck in my head, so I kinda had to. It required a trip to the dollar store because I didn't have the right kind of flour but at least the weather was pretty decent. And, hey, there's the walk I didn't take outside yesterday. Nice! The recipe itself was easy enough and I got some reading in while waiting for the dough to rise. I didn't really have a very suitable pan for frying but found one that worked well enough. The first half or so of the dough, I used to make something more like beignet bites. That would've been what I used all the dough for but I got tired of dealing with such small portions at a time, especially since some of them really didn't want to turn over. Too bad, since they cooked so quickly. The rest of the dough made more of regular sized beignets, which had its own issues-- namely, they were a liiittle too big to fry comfortable in my pan once they'd puffed up.

The finished products didn't end up being the prettiest, especially the bites, but they taste good and that's the important part. I'm taking the bites with me to work tomorrow!

I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with the leftover oil. It's clean enough still that I'd rather not just toss it but I don't really dip-fry a lot of food. Nor is there a lot of food in the house right now that I would want to dip-fry. I'll probably just slice up some potatoes, tbh.

I completely forgot that I had meant to do to the post office today to send off my charity squares orz

The deadline isn't for like a month but I really wanted them in the mail asap. And yet. I wasn't able to get it taken care of last week because the weather was bad for walking in but it was nice out today. Would've been a pleasant walk too. Which, lemme tell ya, I needed. I slept in, started out alright when I finally got up but then jut lost track of myself during the day. I'll still finish the menial chores I wanted to do this weekend but, uh. Yeah, I'm definitely not getting the floors done, lol.

I recently remembered that embossed crochet is a thing and I want to try it so bad. I'm pretty sure it's just some kind of back and front post stitch pattern? In which case it should be pretty easy to pick up, though figuring out how to do freehand designs be something of a headache. At first, anyway. I'm sure once you get the hang of how it works, it's probably pretty smooth. That's how I felt about entralac, even though I ended up not liking it much.

Anyway, I've had a colorwork project in mind for a long while now and I think the embossed look would be perfect for it. I'm gonna look up some tutorials and maybe do a small practice project, then see if I can figure out how to mak eit work for the bigger piece I have in mind :D

I see the UN has finally officially declared that the genocide in Gaza is, indeed, a genocide. Thanks for finally chiming in on that one, guys, I've spent these last two years all in a tizzy of uncertainty.

People are speaking up who didn't before, countries are threatening to drop out of Eurovision, sanctions are being threatened and even carried out, IDF members are being banned as tourists. Late is better than never but ffs. It turns out that it really is that easy, huh? Can you imagine if they'd all done this from the beginning? Or even a few months in? Even a year ago? So many lives could've been saved.

Got an email from the HR lady today to let me know that I stand to lose ten PTO days if I don't get them scheduled by the end of the year. Which, on the one hand, is pretty cool for the obvious reasons. On the other hand... what am I gonna do with ten PTO days?

She suggested I tack some of that time onto my TFcon PTO, which does make sense. I don't really have anything else to do at that time, though. I can't take extra time for the trip itself because I'm not the one driving. Unless I want to roadtrip up and then fork out to catch a plane back, lol. I certainly don't need the days leading up to pack. And even if I wanted the days after for something, someone else in accessioning already has that whole next week off.

No one has the week of my birthday, so I think I'll take that and knock out five days at once. As for the other five, Idk. I don't want to miss out on the days I deserve but I want them to be for something, y'know? Of course, I have been thinking about taking days just to be able to have solid time to devote to working on things at home. Maybe I should take the full week leading up to the convention and use it for that. I can do some general housecleaning and get any rearranging done that I want to do and maybe I'll better enjoy both the vacation and anything I bring home with me.

Well, I did not get any fics done. I'm disappointed, ngl, but I did still get some solid work done on some first draft wips and I'm trying to be proud of that. It's a little less work that future me will have to do, at any rate.

I did finish a scarf/shawl thing using one of my Yarnia skeins, though! Aside from blocking, anyway, simply because I'm not sure how to go about it. The shape isn't one I've dealt with before and my cork board is too small for it. I knew I should've splurged on some blocking boards, lol. Ah, well. It looks fine as it is for now. Not like I need a scarf at the moment, since the temperature has had the audacity to go back up again.

On an un-creative note, I also finished watching Beast Wars while I worked on the scarf. Trying to decide if I want to move on to Beast Machines. I'm not sure I've ever actually watched it the whole way through and I do want to. On the other hand, I'm also not sure I want to squander the happy nostalgia feelings that Beast Wars gave me, haha. I might just wait a bit. Although, Idk, do you think if it pisses me off enough, it'll kill the ideas I've come up with for BW fics during this rewatch so I can focus on what I'm already working on...? Lol.