Passing the Horror Check

This week has been pretty stressful. It hasn't been all bad, but it's had me preoccupied and made it difficult to retain a lot of things I should have been paying attention to. I'm dimly aware that one friend got a new exciting job, another broke up with someone, and others have had various joys and stresses. I've failed to call a friend I reconnected with, after I said I'd call. I forgot to confirm plans for tomorrow until my friend contacted me, wondering if we were still on. I've barely gotten any work done, I answered almost no email, and any non-essential projects have just been shoved aside. I feel terrible about these things, but at the same time, I was stressed out and useless for a reason.

You may be aware that my fiancé is in the process of emigrating here, and as part of that process, he had to go through a routine medical exam. After he got home, I got a phone call that terrified me more than anything has in recent memory. The x-ray showed that there could be something seriously wrong with him. There were two obvious things to be worried about here, and we each took one. While I was having these horrible visions of his health failing, he was raging at how this is causing delays, meaning we'll have to be on separate continents longer.

The good news is, he's had another visit to a doctor, who has given him a clean bill of health. This is the important thing to focus on. I am now so acutely aware of how much worse things could be right now. The disappointing news is that because the first x-ray turned out to be invalid, he's got to make more appointments and wait, and wait, and wait for things to be processed and submitted and gotten to the right departments at last. We're not sure yet how long a delay we're looking at, but I'm coming to terms with the likelihood that our wedding plans will need to change and it'll be longer that he's so far away.

At the end of the day, though, I can't be too depressed about that. He's okay. He's not sick or injured. I can breathe again, and sleep, and think about things other than how I'll scrape up airfare to get to him and all the various ways our life would turn nightmarish and overwhelming. I'm so relieved that now I'm having a hard time focusing on anything but how relieved I am. Sure, I'm disappointed, and it hurts to think that it could be more weeks or months we'll be apart, but before the disappointment can really set in, I think about how it won't matter in the long run, because he's okay. It was just a false alarm. We won the luck check, too, and instead of having to fight a tentacle monster, we're just delayed in another dimension a little longer before we can get home.

To everyone who gave me bonuses to armor and courage by offering reassurance, distraction, or other kind words, whether they came in the form of a tweet, a Facebook comment, a text, phone call, or instant message, thank you. You helped me stay just this side of functional. There are a lot of really good people out there, who still offer to chat or try to cheer you up, even if they don't know you that well, and that's one hell of a silver lining to a stressful situation.

Some Wedding Stuff and Where to Get Reproduction Fashion

I've been trying to strike a balance between letting myself express the excitement and happiness I feel because of my impending wedding, and not wanting to be annoying and be one of those women who babble endlessly about it and can't ever seem to talk about anything else. I know my friends are lovely and supportive, but it would annoy me if I caught myself doing it. Therefore, I haven't blogged every single detail, but I have been having fun talking about dresses, and in discussing that topic, I've been made aware of some amazing websites and want to pass them on.

Love it, but a mis-match

The Internet is such a wonderful invention. Sometimes, I think it's mostly a tool for all the jerks who would normally just spew nonsense to their cronies in some bar or meeting to in instead post them in comments, but thankfully, it also lets people keep in touch and find others who like the same things. From Beth, Chia, Theresa, and Nina, I've had this whole world of retro and reproduction fashion opened up to me and have in turn shared it with a few others who also got excited about it.

I'd already heard of and browsed through Mod Cloth, but didn't find anything in my size that really interested me. I'm 6' tall and not a toothpick. Luckily, where I was ignorant of where else to look, others are expert! First, Theresa told me about Trashy Diva. I really like the look of some of the dresses there, but the prices, while not unreasonable, put them out of my budget. Still, they were a lot of fun to look at, and I have bookmarked it for a future date when I can afford to expand my wardrobe.

Chia then told me about Stop Staring!, which is when I started really getting excited. These dresses are not only gorgeous, but I got sticker shock in a good way! After hearing Nina's glowing reviews of the fit and quality of the dresses she's gotten from there, including her own wedding dress, it's really surprising to me that the average price of the ones I really liked was only about $150. In fact, the dress I'd originally decided was going to be my wedding dress is a Stop Staring! style. As much as I love it , I ultimately had to admit that it's a mis-match to what Fraser is going to be wearing, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him in his new kilt and the more formal rig to go with it.

Fraser will be in something like this

In choosing a dress, it's also important to me that the dress is one I can wear again. I'm just not interested in spending a bunch of money on something I'll either have to give away, re-sell at a loss, or allow to gather dust in my closet for the rest of my life. Plus, I think it'll be nice to wear it again and remember the first time I wore it. 

Oh, and I don't want to wear white. I'm not going to post a picture of it here just yet, but the dress I've now chosen is actually black, and I think it's perfect. At first, I was a little

worried about what people might think or say if I wore a black dress, but then I saw pictures of Nina in her black wedding dress, and man, that is a classy look. Not to mention, if anyone's going to be rude enough to say anything negative about my attire at my wedding, then that'll only reflect badly on them, not on me. I found the dress I will be ordering at Unique Vintage, which Beth pointed me to after learning that I liked the styles from Stop Staring! and Trashy Diva, as she wore a Trashy Diva dress to her own wedding, along with having some other pieces in her wardrobe. She also sent me to Daddy-o's, which I've bookmarked for future reference as well.

Black & White MacFarlane Tartan

The dress I chose is a 50's reproduction, and while it's black, it's not just flat black, and it does have some adornment that makes it a little fancier. It'll also need a crinoline, and Fraser and I decided that it'll be fun if we get my crinoline and his cravat in the same color. He'll also be mostly in black, largely because his new kilt is being made in his black and white clan tartan. That way, we each get to wear a little color and inject some more fun and personality into the whole look. While we're not planning an overly lavish or large affair for the wedding, we'll be happy with what we're wearing and what will be in the pictures we'll get to have forever. 

Now, what I really need are shoes, and I keep being taunted by ads for John Fluevog's designs. If anyone knows where to score a pair of those on the cheap, that'd be great. If I could afford them, I'd totally be wearing these or  these.

Life, the Universe, and Homemade Nachos (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free)

If you're a regular visitor here, you've noticed that I've sort of gotten out of the habit of blogging. It's one of those things where life has been so eventful that I just don't know where to start. I'm hoping that this will get the ball rolling again, but it will unfortunately involve just listing, probably in an excruciatingly boring manner, the stuff I'd have blogged about if I'd taken time to when it was new. For your trouble, I'll also share the recipe for some nachos I just made, which made Sam declare they were better than any she'd ever had in a restaurant.
So, the news:

• The petition for Fraser's visa was approved near the beginning of the month. Hooray! That's the first hurdle done. He has to go to London in a few weeks for a medical exam (after filling out umpteen more forms and waiting for a couple of other things to process), after which the embassy will schedule his final interview, after which they will at last issue his visa and he'll be able to come over here for good.
• One outcome of the above is that we will be getting married within 90 days of his entry into the USA. The tentative date we've set is May 21, but I can't stress enough that that's tentative. We just can't make solid plans yet without knowing when his final interview is. We're planning a fairly small affair, knowing that hiked travel prices and worldwide financial issues will prevent many people from making the trip. Still, those who attend will be treated to homemade goodies, music, and fun on the theme of "stuff we like." So far, that includes Willy Wonka, Doctor Who, and Star Wars, but expect that list to grow. Fraser will sport a snazzy new kilt, and I have no clue what I'll be wearing. That is, until the costume party bit, where we're encouraging Scottish/American character mashups.
• I am back in the USA now, as of 2 weeks ago Wednesday. It's weird, and it has its ups and downs, and of course I miss Fraser, and of course I'm glad to see family and friends again.
• I'm actively looking for a decent job. I have a couple of leads to follow up, but no news there yet.
• Before leaving Scotland, I got to see more of the country, including Aberdeen and the northeastern coast, along the North Sea, including Pennan, where the movie Local Hero was filmed. I'll be posting pictures from that trip as part of a forthcoming article on Pop Bunker, so stay tuned for that. I did post reviews of a lot of the places I visited on Yelp, so if you're interested, you can see those here.
• I've brought on a new batch of writers at Pop Bunker, so hopefully things will pick up there and get fun again.
• I'm going to be writing more for the Geek Girls Network, once I get my posting credentials, so look for me there too.
• Supersecret project I can't tell you about yet goes here.
• More stuff I've forgotten and may get to later goes here.

Now, for the nachos! I was just feeling snacky, but didn't want anything sweet, so I raided the kitchen to see what all we had. There was a package of corn tortillas. There was one tomato, some onions, some dried cilantro, some lime juice, some garlic powder, some ancho chili powder, and a nearly-full bag of shredded cheddar cheese. Therefore: Nachos!

Use a pizza cutter to cut a stack (don't ask me how many - about 1/4 of the package) of small corn tortillas into quarters. Spray some Pam (I used the organic canola variety) into a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Dump in the tortillas & sprinkle in some garlic powder & ancho chili powder. Zip shut, shake like crazy til evenly(ish) coated. Spread on cookie sheets. Bake at 400F for 5-10 minutes (crispy but not burnt). You might have to check them pretty frequently. Throw away the ones that burned because you weren't checking frequently enough.

While the chips bake, dice up a tomato & a bit of onion (less onion than tomato). Mix in a bowl with a bit of cilantro, a dash of salt, and several generous squeezes of lime juice.

When the chips are done, switch the oven from bake to broil. Spread a layer of chips on an oven-safe plate. Top with shredded cheese and 1/3 of the salsa, making sure you get some of each on every chip (because those dry, bendy chips at the bottom of a plate of restaurant nachos are just nasty). Lay more chips on top and top with more cheese & salsa. Repeat one more time until you've used everything up.

Pop in the oven for just a minute or two, to get the cheese all nice and melty.

Remove with an oven mitt, bring to the table, and warn your friends that the plate is hot!

The Metal Tiger's Last Hurrahs

This is the last week of the Chinese year of the Metal Tiger. That worthy animal has been something of a totem since it was born last Feb. 14th. Its time will be done on the 5th, but as one might expect from a tiger - an animal of action and strength, it is going out not quietly into that good night, but with many mighty roars to call the universe to action.

What the hell is this chick babbling about? you may be asking, and you'd be well within your rights to tell me to just spit out the facts. 

Since yesterday:

Fraser and I celebrated 1 year since we met, along with some early birthday cake, since we'll be out of town for Fraser's birthday on Friday.

We booked our trip up to Pennan, which is the fishing village on the North Sea where the movie Local Hero was filmed. That'll be this coming weekend, and we will definitely toast the Metal Tiger's passing with a pint of the Inn's reportedly-excellent ale.

I received notice yesterday that my short story Sick Weather will appear in the 100 Stories for Queensland anthology. This will be my first print publication in fiction. I'll post more information about the book, where and when you can order it, and how much it will cost when I know those things. Right now, I can only tell you that the proceeds from the sale will go to the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief appeal.

Today, I was notified by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services that our petition for Fraser's visa has been approved. This means that as far as the US government is concerned, he can emigrate. It's not quite finished yet, but we're getting there!