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Yet another subject line from Hazbin Hotel. This is the grand villain's origin story in song form. It's Saturday, and I got to sleep in for a change! Til nearly 7am! Now I'm sitting here feeling a little naughty and daring for getting up so late. The downside is that someone will surely be stirring soon, so my peace will be short lived. It's good if it's Jess, they're soothing. My sister is not.

Oh, Jess is up! I summoned them with my thoughts. I'm a goddamned Jedi.

My mouth is still a little swollen, but has gone down quite a bit. There's barely any swelling in my lip, and just a bit of a swollen area in my gum. I think in another day or so, it'll be gone.

Went to my company holiday outing last night. It was fun, but so goddamn loud. We went to Miss Toya's Creole House which was pretty good? Not like OMG awesome, but not bad. I started out with fried deviled eggs with crabmeat which were very tasty. I ate three, and probably could have called that my meal. But no, I had two crabcakes with cheesy grits and spinach coming. Most of that is currently residing in my refrigerator. The grits were excellent, the spinach was good, the crabcakes were a little overspiced. I love me some Old Bay, but damn. But overall, it was just a smallish room and nearly 30 people, and no sound deadening material. My boss, A, and I were both going "I am way too old for this." Still, it was nice to see people. I, being fat and a lefty claimed my seat immediately, and just as fas the two top bosses claimed seats on either side of me. I talked to them off an on all night, which was nice, since I get along well with both of them. But definitely had a "My milkshake brings all the managers to the yard" vibe.

Today, I will finish prepping for our 12pm game and then we shall see. Our local farm store has a jam tasting today at 11, so I'm wondering if I could sneak over there, buy some jam and then come back. I may try it.

Then, at 4, the dogsitter comes over to meet Yoda. Fingers crossed for a smooth introduction. If all goes well, I'm going to have her start coming a couple of times a week to walk him, so he'll continue to consider her a friend.

On Thursday, I discovered an exciting thing. Sometimes, Costco has Dungeness crabs! I got two big packs and we're going to have a crab feast this evening. I'm looking forward to it! They might not be as good as the stuff we had overnighted from Alaska, but I'm sure they'll be tasty. I can't wait.

Tomorrow, we're supposed to have a game, dependent on how the DM and players are feeling. That's not til 12, so I have plans to sleep in again and take it easy. The game will finish around 3, so maybe I'll actually cook something. I'll have to look and see what we have (so many things).

The tricky part is that I'm still sore, so it can't be something I have to bite. I'm thinking about the baby back ribs, since they should cook down to fall off the bone if I do it right. Otherwise, I'll just be cutting microscopic pieces to make it easy for myself. Or maybe by tomorrow, it'll be even better and I can make steak. We'll see.

But for today, it is prep time and then we shall have game! I have many traumatizing things planned for them. Fingers crossed that everyone is up to playing. Everyone have an amazing Saturday!

Day one on Clindamycin. Not that different from Augmentin. My lip is swollen and my mouth is sore, and I desperately want these medications to work. I'm tired AF of this. I know it's only been a couple of doses of the new med, and I'm not despairing yet, but good lord, this is stubborn.

I had my Mid year review yesterday, which went fine. I had to tell my manager all the shit the higher bosses have me doing so that it would be accurate, and we bitched about the various shit that Hopkins is doing (new phone system, which may or may not do what we want. New HR platform that isn't working at all the way it's supposed to. And an upcoming total system overhaul next year.)

I could stand to bring my call quality up some, but I'm not good at hitting lines. I tend to be more focused on the patient and what they're telling me than saying their name 3 times, or saying exactly what I see on the screen as far as insurance. It's Blue Cross Blue Sheild FEP Standard PPO, but I'm probably going to say "Blue Cross Federal Standard," and that's a ding. I get caught on little things like that, because I'm talking to the patient like a human and not a robot.

One of my old bosses called my phone style "folksy," which let me tell you, I hated. Still do. I like to think of it more as warm and conversational and maybe a bit of stand up in there. I try to put the patient at ease and offer comfort or maybe a chuckle. "And are you claustrophobic?" "No." "Oooh, you're better than me!" If I can make the patient laugh, that's my goal. They're calling for what can be some seriously scary shit. It's my job to make them feel like I care about that, and by extension, so does Johns Hopkins. That we're there for their body, but also to care for them as people. I've done a lot of research to know what each test entails, so I can soothe fears and give them hope that they can get through an MRI, even though they're claustrophobic. But I probably am not going to chant their name like I'm calling for Beetlejuice.

Tonight, we have our big work party. I haven't decided what I want to eat yet. I'm kind of torn between Jambalaya and Shrimp and grits, both of which are pretty easy to eat. I just have to get through the day and I can go out with work friends and have quality time. I'll probably still be a little puffy, but I'm going to do it anyway, barring severe pain.

We're down to 76 days til Alaska. But I'm also excited about so many other things. The most recent is the news that the West End production of Much Ado About Nothing is coming over to Broadway this fall. It's got Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell as Benedict and Beatrice, and I cannot wait for tickets to go on sale. We've already got a party of four, we'll see how many end up going as I may ask a few more people if they're interested. We won't be able to rent the party bus, but it'll be good anyway. I'm on the list to be notified when we have updated information, since right now the word is "Fall," and I'm going to need them to firm that up a bit. We've got CONfab this fall, so we'll have to push it a little out from that. It's listed for a 10 week run, so I'm assuming like Sept-early November. That way they're maximizing the people who will want to stay over night and can't afford NYC in Christmas prices.

I'll probably aim for early-mid September if that's the case. CONFab is at the end of October, so that gives us a little time between. Of course, early in October will be New York Comic Con, which one of our people goes to, so I'll be watching for that as well.

This makes four plays in less than a year. Who am I turning into? We saw Phantom in Baltimore, now we're doing three in NYC: Lost Boys the Musical, The Rocky Horror Show, and now Much Ado About Nothing.

I guess I'm evolving? I don't even like NYC! It's too crowded. Though I'm excited to spend money in Mamdani's city. I want him to be able to afford to enact all the good socialist plans he has.

Okay, time to go forth and consider the day. Everyone have a most excellent Friday!