A bed of roses

A year ago I was enjoying a regular Saturday with added JWs and extra church service, playing FFXII, and watching Ruth & Boaz.

Today started slowly as Sundays should. Our former Rector was presiding today. During the prayer time we made origami hearts. I wanted to make some at home - but I have Washi sheets not origami sheets. Today's reading was another one with vineyards and people feeling entitled.

In the garden, I did some weeding and cleaned out the bird bath. Then we had a video call with the kidlings. Granddaughter had had some 24 hour thing yesterday that she most likely picked up at nursery - apparently a few of the kids came down with something similar last week. She was full of her usual mischief, though, so I think she's on the mend :) Younger Grandson showed us his red Hulk and said he wanted to bring his green 'jelly' Hulk next time he comes here.

This afternoon I made progress with Chained Echoes. I keep forgetting I have a map. The skill-learning thing reminds me of COE33.

We had pork for tea, which didn't go down as well as I hoped.

I'm finishing the day with the end of Murder in a Small Town. Lots of threads coming together.

A year ago I was enjoying breakfast made by Husband, cleaning, playing FFXII (poor Fran), and watching The Hack.

Today began with a trip to the chemist to pick up Husband's prescription, then I carried on down to the office. I met a colleague to discuss the November newsletter - we have a plan!

This afternoon, I worked through the PoC for my project. I added a new page to one of my Power BI reports and got the data Copilot suggested but that only tells me what's happening today - it doesn't store the data. Copilot also gave me some step-by-step instructions for doing that but I can't get into the guts of Power BI, so I've booked a meeting with the Dev next week. I added the time I spent on that to my OTJ, and the time I spent on the Community forum, but I'm still a way off target. There's a two-week online AI conference thing coming up next month, so I'm hoping to make up some time then.

Husband made tea, which was nice to come home to. Then I played a bit of Chained Echoes. We have DONE the Sewers. There are always sewers. Tonight's thoughts:
- With the witnesses gone, he can tell any story he wants
- The staircase outside the palace is a cross between that tower in FFVI and the one in FFVII
- How did all the merchants get in here...?
- I had some sacred water with me?
- Time for shopping? Yes... but tomorrow...

I'm finishing the day with a couple of episodes of Murder in a Small Town, which seems to have a thing for casting adults to play kids.

A year ago, the roofers were making their first attempt at fixing the leak, and I was cleaning the kitchen, making progress with FFXII, and watching Old Who.

Today started with some more words for Anne. She's clueless about the reality of the world she lives in - but she's going to learn about it.

My first 'meeting' was an appointment with one of my mentees. They are doing better and I'd like to think I played a tiny part in that. To get there I went down some streets I didn't know existed before :D

I got one of my old fic's up on AO3 - only Holding on to the Memory to go. And I watched another episode of SkadiLP's LP of Cyberpunk 2077. She's playing COE33 as well as DAV, now.

There was a project board in the afternoon and then a RAPID review. I've also done some thinking about how project risks might get escalated up to portfolio level, which is something I wanted to do anyway but is also in my objectives for this year.

Husband did a fry up for tea, which was very nice to come home to.

Now I'm finishing the day with a couple of episodes of Murder in a Small Town.

 A year ago I was exploring parables at church, getting rid of weeds, levelling up in FFXII, and watching Old Who.

Today was a quiet day, which I took advantage of. The most important thing I did today was plan out how to approach my objectives for this year. I've put in milestones in Actus and some placeholders in my calendar - and some things are in train already.

We had one of our transition team meetings at midday to talk about how to organise our churchwarden team. Afterwards I popped into Tesco for bits and pieces.

Tonight we were watching Mastermind when we got a call from the GP. 'Do you know why we made this appointment?'. We didn't know we HAD an appointment! Long story short, Husband's kidneys are doing pretty well but Doctor wants another urine sample.

And I finished the day with another episode of Murder in a Small Town.

This time last year, I was doing work stuff and home stuff, enjoying FFXII and watching Life Begins.

Today started with some practice for tomorrow - it's looking pretty good, I think.

I managed to get the cleaning done in the living room and bathroom before Daughter and Kidlings arrived. Daughter went into town to get something for Younger Grandson for Christmas. They were their usual cheerful, energetic selves. 

I gave the boss in SWO another go and got absolutely nowhere. So, I turned that off. Next I tried Cross Code. Some thoughts about that:
- I'll start with the difficulty lowered, thank you!
- Old Skool graphics are very nice
- Aiming the VRPs is a bit fiddly... but it seems I don't need to be too accurate...
- The premise is interesting
- You want me to do what with one hand whilst I do what with the other?!
- Nope, not happening

So, I turned that off, too. Next I tried Chained Echoes. Some thoughts about that:
- Shades of Alundra
- RPG 101 - talk to EVERYONE
- RPG 102 - collect ALL the loot
- Broken charm and dynamite - what could possibly go wrong?
- HP and TP restored after each battle? Yes, please!
- It's a trap? Really?

I watched a couple of episodes of Old Who, and now I'm watching a Whoculture video about River Song. Such an interesting character - and I'm even almost reconciled to the whole parentage thing...

This time last year I was juggling work things , making progress with Power BI, thinking about Nova's world, and playing FFXII.

Today started slowly, so I watched the latest episode of CIA. Does Colin even know the truth of who he is? Also, his girlfriend asked him to pick up her kid - and then he went all cloak and dagger. What happened to the kid?! I guess he picked him up and he got home 'off camera'.

Workwise, I got through the lessons learned list, deciding what should happen to each item.

This afternoon, Husband had an appointment with a kidney specialist. On the whole, it looks like things are OK - his BP, pulse and sats were all great, there was a bit of protein in his water sample, and he's put on some weight - but the doctor sent him for more bloods and they took FIVE vials of the stuff! I was pretty worn out by the time we got home - two trips in one week do not a happy Rosa make. And there are two more next week...

When we left the house the sun was out, then it started raining, then the sun came out again. OK, jokes about Britain... but really, how do you dress for weather like that?!

The three of us had a nice chat after tea, and now I'm watching the end of Pieces of Her.

A year ago I was having a slow day at work and a slightly better session at the anti-racism training (Toxteth Uprisings...).

Today started late because I was tired after yesterday. I don't know what I did to my porridge but it exploded all over the microwave, so I had that to clean as well :( And I lost half my breakfast.

I had a prep meeting with a couple of colleagues - one of whom can really talk, so we overran. I've updated the ToR for the PB we were discussing, so that the PM steps back and the BCM steps forward. I'm waiting for their feedback.

I also had a meeting with Big Boss about EA. We are making progress after something of a hiatus for one reason or another. Copilot has helped, too.

LM has given us all our objectives for the year, with very detailed success criteria. This is good! It makes breaking down the steps towards achieving them easier. I've put some time in my diary for looking at them properly, but for today I just read through them and accepted them.

There was also a working group meeting for the move from our current building to the new one. People ask stupid questions.

At dinner time, I sent off the next three chapters of Anne's story to my Betas, and uploaded them to AO3. I also uploaded a couple of my fanfics. One of them, 'Where We Belong' is one of my all time favourites. 

Now I'm watching the next couple of episodes of Pieces of Her, whilst the boys watch the football. It's so tense. There are so many secrets layered over other secrets, I don't even know where the end of the thread is.

A year ago I was getting through cleaning jobs, Mother and Stepfather talking endlessly about Vikings, the trophy list for Roki, and a video call with the kidlings.

Today I went to St Bride's. The reading was a challenging one but I did work out my discussion questions for next week! 

Daughter posted a couple of videos of the kidlings car dancing to the radio, and some still pictures of them looking very grown up. They really are the cutest kids.

I made progress with SWO. I've got to a boss fight where the enemy doesn't seem to have got the memo about me playing on easy. There's clearly a method to the fight, I just didn't work it out.

The tiny primroses and violas had grown quite a bit, so I decided to pot them on - which I did but their roots weren't as big as I thought they'd be. I'll leave them in the new pots a bit longer.

We had lamb chops with a roast for tea. And I discovered what I always discover when I eat them - the tiny bit of meat on them is VERY tasty but there's far more bone and fat. Even pan frying them didn't crisp up the fat enough. But we all cleared our plates, so it can't have been that bad :D

I'm finishing the day with a couple of episodes of Pieces of Her. I love Toni Collette - she's done such a range of roles. This has me gripped. The little town the daughter has just arrived in is the absolute image of the town in Lake :D

A year ago I was getting interrupted by a fire alarm, attending a session about women chemists, checking out different editions of Ghost of Yotei, getting some new meetings (which disappeared and have now reappeared at the request of a very senior colleague!), getting positive news about Granddaughter, and playing Roki.

Today started quite slowly because I couldn't get myself moving, despite having a really good sleep. But it was a WFH day, so there was no rush. I managed some words for Anne - a note from her solicitor, short and to the point.

Work was a series of meetings with Big Boss for various things I'm doing for them, a couple of which I managed to get mixed up in my head but straightened out before the meetings themselves. The middle one was with some other members of the leadership team to discuss a new project request. After we'd sorted out what to do with it, the discussion moved to how to gather information before a project starts, and the possibility of a 2-step process of approval with the Big Committee - similar to the conversation I had with the PMs yesterday! I've put some time aside to think it all through and plot out an extra step in the PMF.

I also got into a tangle with which version of a spreadsheet to send out, whilst trying to watch the Friday Feature. I got it straight in the end but it was frustrating - and a bit embarrassing - whilst I was in the midst of it.

This is why we have weekends - to forget about work for while.

I played some SWO and moved the story on. Some of the areas are really beautiful. There's another group of collectables that Nix can find and can be swapped for something for him to wear. There are a LOT of types of collectables. Of course, I'm not concerned with actually getting them all.

I might go back to Lies of P when I finish SWO - but it's more likely I'll pick something else from PS+ :D

Now I'm finishing the day with I, Claudius. Captain Picard has just turned up to do Livia's dirty work >D 

A year ago I was doing some work with Favourite Colleague and working from their team's pod.

Today started with some words for Anne - she has begun her letter to her solicitor. I've also got his reply/visit mapped out in my head. Kinda sorta.

In the office, I actually started with a session with my spiritual director. We ended up talking a lot about Husband, our relationship, and how much I manage his life. One thing that really struck me, through SD's questioning, was the shift in power dynamics between us. He is so reliant on me organising his life, and puts a lot of trust in my ability to do that. Which makes him sometimes pushing back very understandable. Anyway, that effectively took my 'lunch time', so no fics got uploaded.

There was quite a bit of AI Academy stuff. I did Unit 2, which was interesting - but seemed to assume we're all in a position to instruct the whole organisation in what to do. Then there was Workshop 2. Our new coach was encouraging us to speak up in preparation for the EPA but only two people stepped up. We know it's coming - we'll deal with it when we have to. I've blocked out some big chunks of time for the Module 8 project next week and the week after.

I was hoping to get some SWO in tonight, but we watched a couple of episodes of Animal Park, so it was a bit late when I came up. I couldn't settle on something to watch on Netflix, so I've settled for a mixed bag of YT videos :)