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moonrivcr · 2 months

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❀ *◦ ning yi zhuo. cis woman. she/her. bisexual. ⇝ hey, isn’t that mingxia "millie" ruan? i think that the twenty-three year old from fremont county, colorado works as a vet technician at happy villagers vet clinic and a cashier at the raven house, but outside of that people describe them as icicles glittering in the rising sunlight, fleece blankets littered everywhere, a clear night sky, a ring of skeleton keys, and antique dollhouses meant to be looked at and not touched. i hear they are gullible & flighty, but they are also known to be trusting & open-minded. consider giving them a visit at their home in kingpin trailer park and get to know why they’re called the stargazer.

-partially blind, sheltered little bean -book smart, not very street smart -is used to being babied and full of unearned confidence -wasn't properly socialized as a teenager, a tiny weirdo -not a lot of life experience, but she's doing her best to come into her own -doesn't realize that her long-lost sister is in anchorage -is lowkey having prophetic dreams, but she's not fully aware of it -excited to explore her new home (with her trusty seeing eye dog at her side)

pinterest / playlist

tw: ableism mention, kidnapping mention

always a riddle in the world, she said, always a riddle inside my head: lore.

Childhood:

Born the youngest of the Ruan siblings, Millie doesn't remember much about her life before she was adopted. But despite the lack of knowledge about her origins, there was always one consistency that persisted among her siblings, even long before they were placed under the care of their loving adopted parents: Millie was always to be shielded and protected from anything that could potentially hurt her, something that became a central facet of her upbringing throughout every stage of her life.

Her adopted parents', already teetering on the edge of overprotective when it concerned their children, were even more cautious with Millie thanks to a childhood diagnosis of optic nerve hypoplasia just after she was born. Though her sight wasn't entirely gone, her vision was much more limited than other kids her age, which came with its own set of challenges.

Paired with a general delay in her cognitive development in the earliest years of her life, her parents took extra care in looking after their youngest. But despite their best efforts to give Millie whatever she needed to succeed in life, their helicopter parenting became a hallmark of her childhood, with the girl rarely allowed to leave their side and venture out on her own for fear that she might unintentionally hurt herself.

Millie appreciated their warmth and unwavering support, but even as a child, she was frustrated that there were milestones she wasn't allowed to reach on her own, eager for the room to explore and make mistakes like any other kid.

Still, despite the initial obstacles, Millie had a penchant for learning new things, eager to soak up information and discover how things around her and out in nature worked, even if it took her a little longer than other children to fully understand and retain the information. This desire lead to a natural curiosity about science and history, as well as a fascination with animals of all shapes and sizes that persisted long into her teenage years and adulthood.

Adolescence:

Though she was already confined to her own personal bubble, the whole world seemed to change for Millie the day that Mei disappeared. Sure, her parents had always been extra cautious with her, erring on the side of slightly controlling over the baby of the family, but that only seemed to ramp up in intensity when Mei was taken. And with Millie considered particularly at risk due to her limited vision, they became downright paranoid over her safety.

On the cusp of turning thirteen, she was not allowed to do anything that ordinary teenagers would've been doing: joining clubs, going to sleepovers, or even volunteering at the local animal shelter. But even despite her natural curiosity, Millie didn't mind her new, more isolated existence all that much. A part of her figured that her parents were right, that they were only keeping a close eye on her to protect her from being victimized the way her sister had been. No, the restrictions on her personal freedoms didn't hurt half as much as losing her big sister. That was what haunted her the most, not knowing what happened to Mei.

So Millie spent the formative years of her adolescence keeping to herself, learning to navigate life with her deteriorating vision, and fostering her interests within the safe confines of her house. Her only saving grace was that she managed to convince her parents to allow her to remain in public school, though she was barred from doing anything outside of attending her classes.

Even when she eventually graduated from high school and began her collegiate studies, Millie wasn't allowed to live on campus or attend any parties with the other kids her age. Instead, she spent all four years being driven to class by her parents and living at home. But she took solace in her studies, eager to learn as much as she could from her professors and dedicating herself to her academic pursuits, hopeful that one day she would get to put that knowledge to good use outside the walls of her childhood home. Pretty soon, she was walking across the stage at graduation, elated at what she'd accomplished and looking forward to whatever the future held.

Present Day:

That was when the dreams started again. Millie had always dreamt in fully opacity, frequently dreaming of simple mundanities that seemed to occur in the near future like clockwork. She'd never really thought much of her dreams before, chalking their occasional accuracy up to her overactive imagination creeping little slices of her life directly into her subconscious. Nothing more than a simple question of probability and suggestibility, that's all. But this time, she dreamt of a place entirely unfamiliar to her, something outside of the safe bubble that her parents had constructed to keep her safe: a snow-dusted forest, a cat sleeping on the windowsill of a cozy bookstore, and a sign that reads "Welcome to Anchorage."

She originally gave the idea very little thought, brushing off these dreams as nothing more than something she must've picked up in a geography class, or perhaps a nature documentary she'd seen in the past. But the visions of this place became more persistent, more vivid in her sleeping mind, and Millie was having a hard time finding a logical reason for her newfound fascination with this place, a city she'd never even thought about before, with her mind's cautious insistence that maybe it was a sign. Maybe there was a reason she was meant to go here, something beyond her largely unchallenged, more scientific worldview.

Her parents were apprehensive to allow Millie to leave Colorado, especially as her vision was bound to only worsen over time. But after years of doing exactly what was expected of her, of taking their helicopter parenting in stride, she was more than ready to start her own adventure and explore the world at large. But is Anchorage really the right place for Millie to venture out on her own and start to forge her own path, to test the waters of independence in a place with unknown dangers waiting around each corner? Only time will tell.

always a thing of wonder, the way we come to be: stats.

General Info: Full Name: Mingxia Allison Ruan. Nicknames: Millie, Mimi, Xia (only really used by her family). Age: 23. Date of Birth: July 12th, 2000. Zodiac Sign: Cancer. Gender: Cis woman. Pronouns: she/her. Sexual Orientation: Bisexual. Romantic Orientation: Biromantic. Alignment: Chaotic Good. MBTI: ISFP, the Adventurer.

Appearance: Faceclaim: Ning Yi Zhuo. Height: 5′2. Eye Color: Brown, partially blind in both eyes. Hair Color: Jet black. Tattoos: None. Piercings: A single earlobe piercing on each ear, a helix piercing at the top of her right ear (her twenty-first birthday present to herself and her one small rebellion).

Background: Education: Graduated with a bachelor's degree in veterinary sciences from Colorado College. Occupation: Vet technician at Happy Villagers Vet Clinic and a cashier at the Raven House. Residence: Kingpin Trailer Park. Class: Middle. Ethnicity: Chinese. Language(s) Spoken (in order of fluency): English / Mandarin.

Identity: Label: the stargazer. Positive Traits: easy-going, trusting, open-minded, forgiving, curious. Negative Traits: naïve, tactless, foolish, forgetful, flighty. Quirks/Habits: has a loud laugh, jiggles her leg when she's anxious/feeling restless. Love Language: Quality time. Hobbies: Knitting, listening to audiobooks and podcasts, watching documentaries, journaling. Likes: shapeless dresses, knit sweaters, overly blushed cheeks, fuzzy socks, trinket dishes. Dislikes: feeling like a burden, feeling inept. Fears: being tricked, never standing on her own.

#anchorintro

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heystephen · 11 months

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Bestie what is the demonology store and chocolate place 👀

wait okay so the demonology store i usually tell ppl to check out is evidently no longer there </3 BUT THE CHOCOLATE PLACE IS THEO CHOCOLATE (expensive but a nice indulgence whenever ur in the area) its rly more in fremont than ballard but the neighborhoods are so close together . in lieu of my beloved demonology store i will have to rec the georgetown trailer park mall to ppl now

#i got mail*#anonymous

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fragilcline · 1 year

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❀ *ﾟ ni ni. demigirl. she/they. bisexual biromantic. ⇝ hey, isn’t that mei ruan? i think that the twenty eight year old from fremont county, colorado works as a book seller at sleepy cat books, but outside of that people describe them as the comfort of an oversized flannel, the distinct smell of an old book, and wrapping your hands around a warm cup of tea. i hear they are distant & haunted, but they are also known to be mature & resilient. consider giving them a visit at their home in kingpin trailer park and get to know why they’re called the phoenix.

trigger warnings for intro: sex trafficking, ptsd, depression

PINTEREST: link

Mei Ruan doesn’t know the names of her birth parents, instead being adopted by a seemingly normal family before she had the recollection to remember the event. It actually wouldn’t be until her teenage years that she would even learn she wasn’t blood related to her parents.

Her childhood was a quite normal one, growing up lower middle class but not ever very aware of money issues if her family had faced them. They always had food, always had money for the school field trips, and went out to eat when there was a special occasion or even just for a celebration like getting straight A’s.

But tensions began building when Mei reached her teenage years. It had begun when her parents, very gently, informed her of her adoption. As nicely as they did it, as many reminders they gave her that it changed nothing about their family, she felt a strange feeling about why they hadn’t informed her before. If it wasn’t a big deal, why keep it from her?

Mei had also somehow found herself collecting a couple of friends who could be seen as troublemakers. Most of the behavior was harmless but frowned upon by her parents, like talking back to parents, ignoring a few homework assignments, and generally being rebellious. After a few months of falling into similar behavior, her parents forbid her from seeing these new friends, further putting a divide between them.

For the remainder of her teenage years until she was eighteen, the relationship with her parents would fluctuate, sometimes getting along and at other times at odds with them. Mei found it difficult to let go of those two events that originally caused the divide in their relationship. At the same time, she also felt a little guilty about why she was holding these grudges against the two people who raised and loved her, but when it was in the moment of their arguments, she couldn’t help her feelings.

Things finally came to a head when they were discussing what she would do after college. Her parents refuse to agree with what she wanted to do and, in return, she refused to give to what they wanted for her. In a fit of rage, she stormed out of the house, telling them she would come home when they were done controlling her. She walked all the way to a close by diner, where she sat for awhile, calming herself from her anger that seemed to heighten at crazy when provoked. After an hour, Mei had already reasoned with herself that maybe she was overreacting just a bit, deciding to make the walk back home.

While on her walk home, a car pulled up beside her, and she recognized the driver as someone who was a distant family friend. She didn’t see him entirely often but knew him throughout her life, always welcomed into the family home when he did come around. He offered her a drive home, and she accepted.

She would never make it home.

The next few years of her life would be spent offering her body to whoever would give her pimp money, a future she never saw for herself. If she hadn’t been so angry, hadn’t held onto to resentment towards her parents, she wouldn’t have been in this situation. Her only way of surviving was the sketches she was able to do when she had any writing tool and paper, often scribbling drawings in book edges or even a random receipt she could get her hands on.

There had been attempts to escape, to find any kind of life outside of that sort. Most were thwarted, only leaving her with punishments to encourage her to never try something of the sort ever again.

Mei was almost convinced but found the willpower to try once more.

Mei was too terrified to try and reach out to her parents, assuming they would think she had just abandoned them after her cruel last words. Would they believe what she had truly been through? Would they just assume the worse about her? The thoughts were too intimidating to make a reality out of.

Instead, she found herself showing up to a women's shelter, where she would meet Mindy Jix. When the other said they were hightailing it out of there, Mei didn't really know what to do with the one person she could trust suddenly out of her life. Slowly, paranoia start to set in that her abuser would somehow find her, so she decided to run. As far as possible, leading her all the way to Alaska with the little amount of money she had managed to save up after getting a job while staying at the shelter. Once she got there, she tried to block out everything from the past. Her intention was to move on no matter how often she thought she saw a familiar man’s face in a crowd or woke up in a cold sweat after spending hours to fall asleep in the first place.

She’s gotten a job at the Scary Cats Books and spends even some of her hours not on shift taking care of the cats that hang around there. She’s the one who feeds them regularly, even showing up on her days off. She finds it easiest to form bonds the cats, easier than those in town. As someone who still does some art as a way to pass time, she has begun selling bookmarks at the store that feature her sketches.

Personality-wise, she can be a bit quiet and apprehensive of strangers, still finding it hard to trust people. She isn’t rude or impolite but can be awkward at moments, despite her best efforts to appear normal, another attempt to further herself from her past trauma. Those tendencies of her past are still there, for the anger to grow unexpectedly, but by not getting too close to people in Anchorage, she hasn’t reached that level of emotion to show. She struggles to form close connections, despite feeling distant and unconnected from people, so there is a part of her that craves it.

#anchorintro #tw ; sex trafficking #tw ; ptsd #tw ; depression #props to anyone who gets through the whole thing bc i don't expect anyone to read the whole thing ghjfdkg #but also i couldn't stop

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chargingandstartingsystem · 2 months

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charging and starting system

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charging and starting system

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excusethequality · 4 months

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My 2023 in Film

Part 5: 201-250

I was nearly done with this section before I remembered that my October movie gauntlet began in this chunk...Which meant I had already written descriptions of the spooky ones for those posts I did in October! I also saw that some of those were better than I ones I had just written, so I went ahead and stole from myself.

Link to Part I

Link to Part II

Link to Part III

Link to Part IV

* = rewatched

[++] = I loved it [+] = I liked it [=] = I am indifferent about it [-] = Not my thing [--] = I hate it

Click on the list number to get a trailer for it.

201.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) * ---Sports Comedy

A hotshot NASCAR racer must rediscover his passion for racing after a new racer comes to town and knocks him off his pedestal. [++]

202.

Fremont (2023) ---Drama Comedy

Donya is a former translator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan who is now living as a refugee in Fremont, California. Lonely and struggling to come to terms with her new life she decides to try and make a connection. [+]

203.

Brewster's Millions (1985) * ---Comedy

A minor league baseball pitcher named Monty Brewster is a given a bizarre opportunity: a chance at 300 million dollars. But in order to get it he must successfully spend 30 million dollars in 30 days without giving it away, gambling it away, or gaining anything tangible from it. [+]

204.

Little Big League (1994) * ---Children's Sports Comedy

A 12-year-old inherits the Minnesota Twins baseball team and decides to make himself the general manager. [+]

205.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010) * ---Animated Fantasy Adventure

In a land where everyone wants dragons dead, one young man dares to try and befriend one. [+]

206.

Step Brothers (2008) * ---Comedy

Two juvenile grown men who live at home are about to get forced together when their parents get married. [+]

207.

Certified Copy (2010) ---Relationship Drama

While in Tuscany for a book tour a British author takes a drive with a French antique dealer. A look at the nature of relationships, art, authenticity, and how the nature of those things can change over time. [-]

208.

Game Night (2018) *

see #167

209.

Redline (2009) ---Animated Sci-Fi Sports

A racer from the streets attempts to win the biggest underground car race in the galaxy. [=]

210.

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) * ---Coming-of-Age Magical-Realism Horror

An urban fairy tale about a group of orphans who band together to try and survive in a city being destroyed by the cartels amidst the Mexican drug war. [++]

211.

Dumplings (2004) ---Horror

An aging movie star hears a rumor of a woman who makes dumplings that can make you look young again. But when she learns how they're made she must decide just how important looks are to her. [+]

212.

You're Next (2011) * ---Home-Invasion Horror

A woman goes to her boyfriend's parents' anniversary party only to learn that the family has just been targeted by a group of killers. [++]

213.

Skinamarink (2022) ---Experimental Horror

A young brother and sister wake up in the night to find that their parents are gone and all the doors and windows in the house have disappeared. [-]

214.

The Thing from Another World (1951) ---Sci-Fi Creature Horror

A military base at the North Pole discovers a crashed alien spaceship and are subsequently attacked by an alien plant monster. [-]

215.

Dave of the Dead (2020) ---Animated Crime Against Humanity

You don't need to know what this is about, because this is currently in last place on my list ranking everything I've watched this year. Dead last in a group of over 300 movies. And I know that nothing seems to make people want to see a movie than someone saying they think it's a worst of the worst, but I can assure you that it is not fun bad; it is just bad bad. I have no idea why anyone in their right mind would have ever paid real money to create such a thing.

If you don't believe me go ahead and try to watch it (no multi-tasking) and you see how long you can last before your brain starts to atrophy and you regret even attempting it. Then report back to me so I can say, "I told you so." [--]

216.

The She Beast (1966) ---Horror

A long-dead witch possesses the body of a newly married woman who was on a road trip for her honeymoon. [-]

217.

Bell, Book and Candle (1958) ---Fantasy Romance

Just to be petty, a modern-day witch enchants her neighbor to fall in love with her. [=]

218.

Doll Shark (2022) ---Horror Comedy

The ghost of a killer shark goes into the body of shark plushie in order to get revenge and continue its reign of terror. [-]

219.

An American Werewolf in London (1981) * ---Horror Comedy

Two American friends are backpacking in Europe when they are attacked by a werewolf. [+]

220.

Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971) ---Queer Horror

Dr. Jekyll is investigating a hypothesis that female hormones could be the secret to extending ones life. When testing his theory he learns that this hormone cocktail temporarily transforms him into a woman they name Mrs. Hyde. But while Jekyll wants to continue refining his experiments, Hyde begins to become discontent with being hidden away and she is determined to take over as the dominate personality. [++]

221.

Puppet Shark (2023) ---Anthology Horror Comedy

An anthology film about killer sharks told entirely through puppets. [--]

222.

Son of Dracula (1943) ---Horror Drama

An heiress in Louisiana invites a vampire who may or may not be Count Dracula to town only to learn that he has his own fiendish plans for this new world. [-]

223.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) ---Horror Drama

Dr. Jekyll fears the danger of man's evil impulses. To keep himself pure he invents a way to separate someone's good aspects from their bad. However he must soon find a way to reverse it when his evil side starts to get a little too evil. [=]

224.

The Bewitched Inn (1897) ---Spooky Short Film

A weary traveler wants nothing more than to get some rest at an inn, but discovers his room is haunted. [+]

225.

The X-Ray Fiend (1897) ---Spooky Short Film

An x-ray machine gives us a peak at people's insides. [+]

226.

Titane (2021) ---Queer Drama and Body Horror

A dancer with a fetish for cars must pretend to be a missing boy in order to hide from the police. [+]

227.

The Girl from the Other Side (2022) *

See #22

228.

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) ---Anthology Horror

A fortune teller reads the dark fortunes of the other occupants of his train car. [=]

229.

Werewolf by Night (2022) ---Action Fantasy

A group of monster hunters are gathered for a contest to see who will inherit an artifact of great power. [=]

230.

I Blame Society (2020) ---Comedy Horror

An out-of-work filmmaker wants to prove to everyone that they've been underestimating her by making a movie about how she would plan a perfect murder, but things quickly get out of hand. [++]

231.

Los Reyes (2018) ---Documentary

What began as a documentary about the kids that frequent a skate park in Los Reyes becomes a look into the lives of Chola and Fútbol: two street dogs that make their home there. [++]

232.

Bluebeard (1944) ---Crime Horror

A painter who feels compelled to kill the beautiful women he paints tries to fight these urges by making puppet shows instead. [-]

233.

Escape Room (2017) ---Horror

A group of rich friends go to an exclusive escape room for a birthday party, but soon learn that this one could be deadly. [-]

234.

Prey (2022) * ---Sci-Fi Horror Adventure

In 1917 a Comanche woman sets out on a trial to prove her worth as a warrior by hunting something that's hunting her. But she is soon to discover that her prey is far more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. [++]

235.

Astonishing Tales of Terror: Rocktapussy! (2022) ---Comedy Horror

An investigative journalist, an out of work miner, and assorted others must stop an evil being that was accidentally unleashed during a mining test. [-]

236.

The Demon (1963) ---Horror Drama

In a small Italian village a woman is treated as an outcast and believed to be a witch. But if you're already being mistreated for being a witch, what's to stop you from trying witchcraft? [=]

237.

Sea Fever (2019) ---Horror

An Irish fishing boat becomes stranded at sea when their ship encounters a strange creature. [+]

238.

Maximum Overdrive (1986) ---Horror

When machines start trying to kill people a group of survivors find themselves trapped in gas station by a pack of killer semi trucks. [-]

239.

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) ---Fantasy Drama

The ancient Inuit legend of brothers, spirits, revenge, curses, true love, and more. [++]

240.

Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013) *

See #46

241.

The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976) ---Drama Horror

An alcoholic woman's trauma from her childhood drives her to act out in increasingly wild and deadly ways. [=]

242.

I Married a Witch (1942) ---Fantasy Romance

A witch and her father are released from their ancient imprisonment and seek to wreck havoc on the world. But things get tricky when a spell goes awry and she falls in love with a human. [=]

243.

The Monster Club (1981) ---Anthology Horror

A horror author saves a starving vampire and is invited back to his favorite club as a gesture of gratitude. [-]

244.

Intruder (1989) * ---Horror

Things go from bad to worse when the overnight crew at the local supermarket finds themselves trapped inside with a murderer. [+]

245.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) * ---Comedy Horror

A Mel Brooks spoof of the story of Dracula. [-]

246.

I Was a Teenage Wereskunk (2016) ---Horror Comedy

An homage to the drive-in horror movies of the 50s about a boy who is bitten by a skunk and starts turning into a murderous wereskunk whenever he gets aroused. [=]

247.

The Devil's Backbone (2001) ---Horror Drama

In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, a young orphan is left at an orphanage that's hanging on by a thread. But he soon learns that evil doesn't just lurk outside the walls when he a discovers a ghostly presence that haunts the halls. [+]

248.

Spirit Halloween: The Movie (2022) ---Kids Horror

A group of kids decide to spend Halloween night in the scariest place they can think of: a Spirit Halloween store! [=]

249.

Arachnophobia (1990) * ---Creature Horror

A rare and deadly spider winds up in a small American town where it proceeds to turn all the spiders in town into its minions. The local doctor better get over his fear of spiders fast if he's going to be able to save anyone. [=]

250.

Tales from the Hood (1995) ---Anthology Horror

A mysterious funeral director tells 4 spooky tales to the group of drug dealers that visit him one night. [+]

#xcusethequality

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thedaveandkimmershow · 5 months

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It was a week, of course. It was definitely a week. And how could it not be with Linzy's birthday and Thanksgiving going back to back?

So, on Tuesday of the week, the day before Linzy's birthday, Kimmer's painting, crafting, collaging, and arranging with stickers and photographs, assembling Linzy's birthday card, a pretty big construction, maybe four times the size of a normal birthday card. When she's done, she hands the card over to me and we talk about where text should go on each page. After that, I take it to my office and settle into the couch with my notebook in hand and the card in front of me on the storage ottoman. I start drafting a message that'll fit into the spaces across the pages.

Eventually I show my final draft to Kimmer and we're good to go.

The next morning we get up early and I begin writing into the actual card, modifying what I'm writing to fit the twists and turns of the spaces, modifying my writing as I gain one or two better ideas.

In the meantime, Kimmer's making one gigantic envelope from a book cover that used to belong to one of Linzy's text books in highschool.

Works and fits perfectly. 😊

Then Kimmer's off to the kitchen to make frosted lemon cupcakes we'll take to Linzy's place a little later.

And yes. I get to lick the beaters. 😁

By 10am we've picked Linzy up at her place, parked along the waterfront, and are walking into the Edgewater Inn to their restaurant, 67.

We're here for a birthday breakfast!

We have a great time, by the way. Better than we expected because we expected the place to be packed. Not sure why. Of course this was just a normal workday, albeit the day before Thanksgiving, so there weren't that many people on hand for breakfast and we got a table right next to the window overlooking Elliot Bay and, for some reason, an entire platoon of ducks along with a coupla monster seagulls loitering on a nearby ledge.

We brought Linzy's mega birthday card along so she could experience it at the table as we waited for our breakfasts to arrive. Since the text I wrote into the card in some places curves and turns around some of the shapes Kimmer crafted into the card, it was funny to watch Linzy read it as she rotated the card this way 'n that.

It's an annoyingly exhausting experience that's much more fun to drop on someone else than it is to be the drop-ee.

🤣🤣🤣

Okay so Kimmer's in a (believe it or not) online class she's gotta attend from noon to one for her doctorate studies. So we head back to Linzy's place where Kimmer sets up in the kitchen while Linzy 'n I hang at Linzy's workstation in the living room, sharing music videos and movie trailers with each other.

When Kimmer's done, it's time for Linzy to open our birthday gift to her that she's been wanting for quite some time. A particular microphone that seems to looooooove Linzy's voice. She used one at Chateau St. Michelle maybe a year ago at a Little Lies gig.

Makes a huge difference.

Then we're off to the Late Night Vintage Market on Capital Hill but, since it's barely two in the afternoon, it's not open yet.

Of course. 🤨

So we stop a few doors down to browse a sort of novelty shop and then head off to Fremont to indulge the Fremont Vintage Mall.

Fremont Vintage Mall, by the way, is a dangerous place to visit. I can't think of a reason to go there... but once there I can think of plenty of reasons to buy a lot of what's there.

Nothing practical, of course. Nothing in the Need category. Totally everything in the Want category.

At one point, Linzy's walking around with a bunch of stuff including a mini poster featuring the lyrics from one of Taylor Swift's songs. Really great design. Between the text and the illustration it was definitely quite something to behold.

With, of course, a price tag to match.

Eventually, all that walking around with seriously cool product did the trick. Which is to help avoid making impulse buys. So everything went back from whence they came.

☹️

Now we've got Starbucks on the brain so we drive over to that one along South Lake Union where we hang for half an hour.

Four thirty, we're back at Linzy's place for those frosted lemon cupcakes Kimmer made.

Super tasty!

Then we settle into the couch for the final two episodes of Daisy Jones & the Six, a series we've been watching as a family across most of the year.

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By six-thirty it's hugs and kisses all around as we leave and Linzy gets ready for friends coming over for her birthday Late Night. 🥳

On our way home, now, our focus turns to Thanksgiving so we stop in at Trader Joe's and Grocery Outlet for our next-to-final round of Thanksgiving dinner shopping.

Wait. Next to final?

Yup. Because grocery stores are open for a bit on Thanksgiving Day.

So first thing Thanksgiving morning we're cleaning the house. Vacuuming. Wiping surfaces clean. Cleaning mirrors. Putting stuff away. Dishes. Empty and load the dishwasher. And so on.

The day's list also includes setting up our artificial Christmas tree in the living room.

Except.

We have two artificial Christmas trees. One that's been at the house for years. The other that we bought for our apartment when we lived on Capital Hill. Now, the one we bought for our apartment is the narrower of the two and Kimmer wanted me to set up that narrow one in the living room.

Hmmmmm.

Thing is that both trees were disassembled, fit into large cardboard boxes, and stored in the garage. Under that condition, they seemed identical to me in their boxes so I made my best guess, pulled one into the living room, set it up and...

Yup.

This was not the narrow one.

So I took it down, put it away, set the other one up.

BAM. Perfect.

Then, because all the lights strung into it were dead, I pulled them off in preparation for new lights I'll pick up by 'n by.

Okay so "by'n'by" ends up being 2 in the afternoon, scooting through the front doors of the local WinCo in search of the remaining needs for the day's Thanksgiving dinner cooking. Combined with an unsuccessful hunt for Christmas tree lights. 😕

Quarter passed four (after dropping Thanksgiving groceries home and doing a quick turnaround) I'm picking up Linzy at Northgate, dropping us both back at the house by quarter to five, and welcoming our dear friends and their two little ones a touch after five.

In the meantime, Kimmer's got the Challah rolls, the fruit salad, and the crock pot potato slices done and ready to go. Our friends brought the Thanksgiving ham, the mini-marshmallow-topped whipped yams, and a couple ciders. Of course we've also got a gaggle of various wines, one or two of which are immediately mixed into an improvised evening's drink special.

Kimmer heads off to get herself ready after a full day of Thanksgiving prep, I do a thing with clean and dirty dishes, and Linzy takes to setting the dinner table, whilst our friends drape our Christmas tree in Dollar Tree fall leaves 'cause I never could find the lights.

Later, Linzy rifles through the sheet music in our piano bench and settles down with some Twinkle Twinkle Little Star variations by Mozart that start out simple as can be while quickly working themselves into a wicked complexity of piano composition.

After a little of that, Linzy asks for my Charlie Brown book that has the sheet music to Christmas Time Is Here printed inside. She gets right to work feeling out that Christmastime vibe on the keys.

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Over in our family room, a pair of little ones have taken to our exercise equipment, one just barely big enough to work the pedals of his machine, the other content to balance atop hers simply to watch and enjoy the experience.

In the oven, the ham and yam dishes are warmed up. Now we're taking a second pass at the yam dish, using the oven's broil setting for a few minutes to give those mini marshmallows atop the dish a golden brown sheen plus an extra lovely taste.

The kids also open our toy box in the family room. The "toy box" is actually a leather storage ottoman. Inside they find squirt guns they'll play with later. They also find plastic toy plates and utensils along with various plastic foods. So they work together "cooking" different things in our microwave (unplugged) and our toaster oven (also unplugged).

Later that evening I find a tray of four pieces of plastic toast in that toaster oven. All that was missing was some melted plastic butter. 😉

Okay so now we're saying a Thanksgiving prayer then dining buffet style, simply enjoying the meal, the company, the friendship, the fellowship, and the laughs.

After dinner it's a belated birthday present for the older brother. Kimmer found (at GoodWill, I think) an FAO Schwarz Premium 24-Piece Kids Spiral Art Set. It comes in a wooden case with a handle. It pretty much looks like a briefcase when carried that way.

The spiral art set's an immediate, unequivocal hit. It thoroughly engaged the young sir who couldn't seem to get enough. He started cranking out spiral art that very moment. 😊

Later, the kids remember the water guns they discovered earlier and quickly determine they'd like to play with them outside. So they're quickly bundled for the cold, night air, I fill up their water guns and lead them outside while everyone else settles down for relaxing adult conversation.

Now, I don't have a squirt gun. My job is to supervise and make sure everyone stays safe. Is safe.

Immediately they point their water guns to the sky and trigger streams and streams of water, referring to those streams as "fireworks". Next, they direct those streams of water at our red metal wagon from close up, referring to that activity as "cleaning". Eventually, they think to squirt each other... with time-outs called whenever it was time for me to refill their plastic weaponry.

It didn't take much longer for them to figure out they could both shoot me without any possibility of getting a face full'a water in return.

So they did that a bunch.

An activity they referred to as "FUN!!!!!"

After a while, the kids returned their water guns to our sink and got some help taking their coats and scarves and hats off.

Linzy played with them once they settled back into being indoors. Showed them funny videos and used one of her photo and video apps to accessorize their faces with hats and mustaches and anything else they could think of, along with filtering their voices in seriously funny ways.

For a break, Linzy showed Noah a coupla chords on his new ukulele. It was seriously sweet to watch them because Linzy's a music teacher on the side at a private music school. And while she does have adult, young adult, and teen students, she also has children down to five years of age. ☺️

And she.

Is wonderful with them.

❤️❤️❤️

Now, Kimmer's in a doctoral program where, it turns out, there is no rest for doctoral students. So yeah. Kimmer's got more studying to do even on Thanksgiving. She's enjoying the evening so much, though, that it's not 'til after 830 that we all say our goodbyes, at which point a little voice was heard calling out from our front yard

"Byee!!! I hope we come back and do this again for Christmas!!"

So.

Christmas Day plans are already under way.

Apparently.

🤔🤔🤔

9pm Linzy 'n I are heading down the freeway to drop Linzy at her place and grab her gear for the next night's gig 'cause I'm gonna pick her up near the Northgate Light Rail station earlier that day.

So the next night we're at Tsillan Cellars in Woodinville for a two-hour set that's very much appreciated over lovely wines and wonderfully delicious appetizers.

There's even a huge Christmas tree set up a few feet away next to her.

Great crowd, by the way. They applauded after every song and filled her tip jar when the performance was over.

Later that night, once Linzy's home and now I'm home, Kimmer 'n I settle in for our first Christmas movie of the season: The Man Who Invented Christmas.

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It's a classic for us and it gets that whole Dickens Christmas vibe a'rollin.

So yeah.

That's the latest on our holidays so far.

☺️😁🤔🥳🤣🤨🤯☺️❤️

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