april 5, 2000.

I'm very sick & whiny. I had to leave work before lunch yesterday, as I kept catching myself staring open-mouthed at the computer. I wasn't vomiting blood or anything, but my work is only as good as my ability to concentrate. Once that's gone, I might as well go home & take a nap.

Which I did. It was glorious.

I'm feeling quite a bit better today. The nausea is mostly gone, which makes it a whole lot easier to pretend to be human. And my parents came home last night, so I can relinquish responsibility for my mobility once more. I know, I know - by the weekend I'll be snorting fire & chafing at the bit again, but right now it's just nice to be taken places. I suppose that's because I overcompensated for their absence & tried to be in too many places at once. It wore me out, I can tell you that. But the nice thing about my hyper-increased mobility this weekend is that it makes me look forward to the day when it'll just be me & the Boy, looking at used cars and trying to seem canny. We don't have any idea what kind of car we'd like to get, but we're working on names in the meantime. I like "Dark Inheritance" myself, so called after the Rat's term for the "magical powers he will one day possess." His first plan is to make Buffy real. I think Sarah Michelle Geller will be dead within 3 days, but what do I know...I can't even follow my great grandmother & use eggs to tell the future.

Which reminds me, one of the more interesting things in the search report was a cluster of searches looking for actual spells. I can't believe that someone would read the site of a 23 year old living with her parents, and still expect to discover the key to universe-altering power.

Despite my miserable state, I managed to show up at Froghopper Nook yesterday evening. A few weeks ago I'd promised to go over Pixie's final paper for her pre-university course; this was my last chance and sickness be damned. I'm trying to be a good sister in law. I don't have any practice with a biological sister, but I figure showing up when I promised should yield good results.

Of course, it quickly became more social than anything. I immediately began a conversation about the documentary airing at 8 concerning the lost tribes of Israel - it sounds like a kick-ass documentary, and anticipation created something of a buzz amongst my friends. (Yeah, we're excited about watching a CBC documentary. Wanna make something of it??) Unfortunately, the show was scheduled opposite Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so it couldn't be seen in the Nook. Pixie lamented the short-sightedness of the CBC programmers, but I hardly think they're after the Buffy demographic.

Mike G. (a.k.a. the Rat) soon popped up, trailing blank tapes and Kerri in his wake. I'd never met Kerri before; she's a good friend of Pixie & Corinne who began working for Versace in London by the time I really began to know people. We'd spoken a few times when I was lazing about the Nook and she phoned long distance for Pixie, but that's it. I like her. I really like her. That feels unusual - I don't consider myself someone who takes to new people quickly. But I'm probably wrong .

(When I was in 12th grade "Man & Society" class, I filled out a self-description blank with the words 'outgoing & talkative.' Then my friend Mike reminded me that while everyone else was settling in at the start, I consistently read books quietly. So there you go.)

The apartment filled up with people, laughing & chatting about Paul & Rossa's recent Mexican wedding. I don't know if it was the head cold, but I had no interest in even appearing interested...so I ducked out of the Buffy room & tore through Pixie's essay like the mad grammarian I hope to become. Meanwhile, the kittens slept in the shoes and all was reasonably well.