She was a shining example of guinea pig-dom. She was the original Guinea Goddess. While it breaks our hearts to finally have to say goodbye to her, we know that she's no longer in pain or distress. I always used to call her my "angel pig," and now she finally is one.

She grew to be a stubborn, moody thing as the years went by, and I think she overcame her various health issues by sheer will alone: it was her way or the highway! I used to joke that the Rainbow Bridge didn't want her, and Hell was afraid she'd take over. Through all her bossiness, cage-chewing, and demands for MORE FOOD!!, she always loved to cuddle with me and was as content as could be in my arms. She loved to give kisses, stretching out her nose to touch someone as soon as she was close enough.

I'm going to miss her very, very much. The sun is a little dimmer now that she's gone.

We gave Mimi and Mona a chance to say goodbye. Mona wasn't quite sure what to do, but Mimi laid down next to Isis and tried to wake her up. It was heartbreaking, but I'm glad that she passed at home and they were able to see her one last time.

I'm not sure when I'll stop crying — probably not for a long while yet. It grieves me to let her go, but it's my firm belief that she's found herself a big carrot patch somewhere over the Rainbow Bridge and is furiously chomping away at them.

There are a few potion "strengths" available for purchase, differing in the amount of time each one lasts as well as the percentage bonus given when you consume it. The one I went with gave me a 55% XP bonus for 2 hours, and it cost 2500 Station Cash — the equivalent of $25.00.

Spending so much on a potion made me not want to waste a single drop of it. As long as my main was logged in, she was going to be chained to that crafting station! This sounds like exactly what I was hoping for, except for one thing: Vitality.

At those levels, 100% vitality will only last a couple of levels. With my vitality bonus and the XP potion, I burned through them within about 30 minutes. Oh hey, look! I have this, which will refill my vitality once a week! That's another couple of levels down, woohoo! Wow, I still have a whole HOUR left on my potion!

…But the vitality is gone, with no way to refill it except to not play that character for a few days. Continuing to try and level with no vitality — XP potion or no — isn't exactly my idea of a good time.

And that's how I spent the last few weeks. I spent almost the entire time on my secondary characters (a Tailor and a Carpenter), running the daily tradeskill missions for fun and profit.

Here comes the best part:

Not only have those two alts gained just as many tradeskill levels as my main, but they've earned a boatload of plat AND earned max faction with their respective crafting groups. Buying that potion and doing my best to take full advantage of its benefits has left my main WEEKS behind in faction and coin — not to mention $25.00 lighter.

My advice? Don't purchase the Marketplace potions unless you have money — and time — to burn.

I guess you could say I enjoy things that stimulate my senses; when shopping, I'm always touching things, loving the textures of fabrics and materials. I love eating good food…it's hard to stop because I enjoy the flavor so much. I like looking at shiny, colorful, or bright things that catch and hold my eye. I almost always have scented candles or incense burning because I love the different aromas.

All this makes it easy to overindulge when I should be thinking about the bigger picture. I want a second helping of pasta because it turned out so well. I want to order another box full of beads because they're new and shiny or have such pretty colors. It's not that I need to stop enjoying these things; I just need to know when to stop.

I have more than enough materials to make countless bits of jewelry…all I have to do is sit down and commit some of my ideas to the materials I have on-hand. I don't need to cook less-tasty food…I need to learn to listen to my stomach when it tells me I'm sated rather than listen to my tongue and get another helping.

There's more to be said, but that's for another post at another time. Suffice to say that this year will be a year of moderation!

I've been down on the Gulf Coast visiting my parents for a few days now. The flight down was ok — except for that combat landing into Memphis, ugh — and the airport wifi gets a big thumbs-up from me. It's really nice being able to tweet, email, and even do a little gaming while waiting for my flights.

Of course, I wouldn't be able to do any of that if Peter hasn't gotten me this kick-ass laptop for the holidays/my birthday. /dance

I've been seeing this doctor since October '07 (you know, the CCS) and at first I wasn't really sure about him. He was quiet in a "let's get this done as quickly as possible" kinda way. (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing when it comes to "OMG, do I still have pre-cancerous cells" visits.) Yesterday, though, was my first "actual" exam done by him, and he was just as pleasant as could be.

He asked me what I've been doing as far as work these days. I told him that I design websites from home. He asked if I used programs like Dreamweaver, and I said, "Oh no, I do everything by hand."

His jaw dropped for a second and he said, "So you can just look at the code and see what it's going to make?" I said, "Yeah, I can."

He was amazed…astounded. He said, "It's incredible that you can look at characters on a screen and know exactly where each little dot will fall. So you're like a musician in that way, someone who can read music. They look at the notes and can hear it in their head."

Personally, I've always envied people who can read music. I started to get the hang of it in high school show choir, but that was 12 years ago, and I've never picked up a piece of sheet music since. I was deeply honored to have the work I do — and love doing — put into that sort of perspective. I've never thought about it that way; it's just something I taught myself to do because I really enjoy it.

I think this is going to be my happy thought for a while.