Birthday Broads, Floral Felines, and Aural Assessments
Mar. 20th, 2026 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melydiaI had a nice quiet birthday yesterday. Work was a little better than usual because I not only got a big dataset to work with, but I discovered that the originator of said data was my corporate supervisor, Zack. He's good to work with and plenty competent, so that makes my life easier. Speaking of coworkers, today was a retirement shindig for my branch chief, and some former coworkers showed up - Tom, James, and Kyle. It was really great to see them again. There are only four of us Edgesource folks left at my agency - two on my contract and two on my supervisor's - but Tom and James are both loving retirement and Kyle seems really happy at his job, so I can't get too mad. I just miss them.
For my birthday evening Jason did a reprise of the Valentine's Day meal - steak, twice-baked potatoes, and peas - with a chocolate peanut butter cream pie from Amphora Bakery for dessert. We watched some TV then I opened presents - art supplies, books, socks, Neopets cards. Even made it to bed at a decent hour!
This morning was a little strange. I swear Zenith smelled like potpourri. Jason couldn't smell it so it might have been my imagination but I also have a much more sensitive nose. Either way it's a mystery - we don't have any potpourri in the house that I know of.
And apparently Umbra told him he stank because they suddenly got into it, rabbit-kicking furiously, fur flying everywhere. We made sure to catch them both to trim claws and check for injuries, but everybody was fine. The fur was definitely Umbra's - each hair was half black and half white. I think she might be changing color, like vitiligo that's taking a while to manifest. She also has a patch above her eye that I can't tell if it's white or just thin.
I listened to a bunch of contest song recordings tonight. I think this is something I'm suited to, because I have a good ear for relative pitch. And I feel very fortunate that Director Claire is a bass - she's been a huge help getting me acclimated to the whole process. I'm probably weakest of the section leads in terms of music theory and Sweet Adelines lore, but I do all right. The other night someone played a note and Ginger said it sounded like a B-flat. Claire, looking at the music, said it was an A. I whispered to Ginger that she was off because of the time change, and she laughed so hard she couldn't sing the first note. That's the sort of thing that is, I feel, my true contribution to the chorus.
Between Rauth D&D tomorrow and Jo & Hanette visiting on Sunday, I'm sure the weekend will fly. Usually does.
For my birthday evening Jason did a reprise of the Valentine's Day meal - steak, twice-baked potatoes, and peas - with a chocolate peanut butter cream pie from Amphora Bakery for dessert. We watched some TV then I opened presents - art supplies, books, socks, Neopets cards. Even made it to bed at a decent hour!
This morning was a little strange. I swear Zenith smelled like potpourri. Jason couldn't smell it so it might have been my imagination but I also have a much more sensitive nose. Either way it's a mystery - we don't have any potpourri in the house that I know of.
And apparently Umbra told him he stank because they suddenly got into it, rabbit-kicking furiously, fur flying everywhere. We made sure to catch them both to trim claws and check for injuries, but everybody was fine. The fur was definitely Umbra's - each hair was half black and half white. I think she might be changing color, like vitiligo that's taking a while to manifest. She also has a patch above her eye that I can't tell if it's white or just thin.
I listened to a bunch of contest song recordings tonight. I think this is something I'm suited to, because I have a good ear for relative pitch. And I feel very fortunate that Director Claire is a bass - she's been a huge help getting me acclimated to the whole process. I'm probably weakest of the section leads in terms of music theory and Sweet Adelines lore, but I do all right. The other night someone played a note and Ginger said it sounded like a B-flat. Claire, looking at the music, said it was an A. I whispered to Ginger that she was off because of the time change, and she laughed so hard she couldn't sing the first note. That's the sort of thing that is, I feel, my true contribution to the chorus.
Between Rauth D&D tomorrow and Jo & Hanette visiting on Sunday, I'm sure the weekend will fly. Usually does.
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