Secret Santug Holiday House Swap 2016!

Heh I know its only water weight =p However.. way I see it is normally at this time of year the scale wants to creep UP six lbs.. from the goodies! So.. win win in my book (see .... the silver lining can always be found!).

I have always been one of the "lucky" types who catch everything. So, yeah this time of year I dread social contact. However I would do this again for the memory of that precious baby girl with her cake. She didn't have a clue what to do.. and they took her finger and shoved it in the cake.. and put her finger in her mouth. Her eyes widened.. we all leaned in expecting her to tear into it.. not THIS princess... nope.. regally pointing at a fork and then her mouth we were all led to know she was not about to subject herself to anything less than a civilized way of eating! PRINCESS indeed! It was truly adorable =D

Heh! The brain-chemistry changing (at least temporarily) flu inspires yet again!

Uwk

HA!!

Her totem is a cat, no doubt... "Come along, you lot, I can't exactly grasp such a thing, but you know what you must do. Fork. Cake. Mouth. Now."

Uwk
("And mind the frosting, I mustn't be mussed.")

I'm glad to hear that! Being sick is the worst.

I've been rather sick myself. I caught a nasty virus from a student, and so far, I've been allergic to every medication they've given me except benadryl and prednisone. (Doctor says I'm not really allergic, but the virus is reacting in unpredictable ways to the medication.) I spent a few hours in ER with swollen elbows, one swollen finger, an ear three times its normal size, and hives down my chest and back. They kept me there to make sure my lips wouldn't swell and turn blue. On top of all the normal end of semester stuff I have to do, plus preparing for a two week vacation to see my family, I'm fighting off this virus... and I'm hoping I get over it soon because we're leaving in two days.

The drawback is that I've been too sick to do any Frostfell stuff this year. I did, however, finish my house swap and one of my commissions.

Hi everyone!

I was able to contact Jaz though a guildie of hers. She was unable to send out emails last night with the 5 day warning message. She might get the emails out to people but just in case here is her message that she sends out with a couple edits since I volunteered to just finish up the event for her so she won't have to worry about it. So just in case people don't know this...My in game main character (decorating name too) is Antonia_Bayle.Ocarinah. However, I have a character named Building on every single server so that I can tour, vote and help people. So please please please be sure to leave Building house access which Jaz gave me. I will be going to each house to take screenies at the very least and hopefully do a video of each house. Here is her 5 day warning message (edited by me):


Greetings, decorators!

This is a reminder that you have 5 more days after today to finish up your Secret Santug Holiday House Swap house. December 23rd is the last day to decorate.

If you wish to save a layout of the home you built or to take screenshots of what you’ve done, do so before the 23rd, as some homeowners like to remove trustee shortly after the event.

DO NOT tell the homeowner when the home is done. The home reveal is on the 24th of December, no sooner. Don’t ruin the surprise!

If you wish to leave a note for your homeowner, feel free to pick up a notebook and to leave a little something for them to read when they come home. You can do anything from tell them what you were thinking when you built, to explaining various features of the home, to giving them a book walk-through of the house--whatever catches your fancy! However a book is NOT required.

The house swap isn’t anonymous (unlike a “real” Secret Santa exchange), due to the fact that your names will be on every piece of furniture you crafted if you’re a carpenter. There’s no need to remain anonymous after the fact--in fact, revealing yourself is encouraged, as that way if the homeowner decides to publish their home, they can do so and give you credit for the decoration.

HOMEOWNERS: when you enter your home for the first time on the 24th, please DO NOT remove Jazabelle’s OR Building's trustee IF YOU WANT YOUR HOME SCREENSHOTTED/VIDEO TOURED BY BUILDING!

Be patient--Building needs to learn how to do videos and she will get to your home! It simply takes time.

Please send email to Building at EQ2BuildingInspector@gmail.com or send in game mail to Antonia_Bayle.Ocarinah when you’ve completed the home you’re decorating if you haven't posted here that you have finished or sent email to Jazabelle. Building does NOT have access to the Homes and Tomes email.

The Secret Santug Holdiay House Swap 2016 organizers


P.S. I know a bunch of people have been sick this holiday season or had RL issues come up so if you are having issues completely your house, please contact Antonia_Bayle.Ocarinah as soon as possible.

I'm done with my house, and I sent you an email Ocarinah. Thank you so much for helping out Jazabelle. We all really appreciate it!

** GASP **

OMG I lost 3 days due to my mom being home from the hospital and having to care for her. I think the one room I was able to do is all I will be able to get done. I started on the second one but just haven't had the time as my mom needs looking after even though she is progressing well. Well. . as WELL a can be expected.
But I will leave a little something for them. . . so I guess I am pretty much done.l

I lost another day today with hubby having a severe infection in his leg. But I'm hoping I can pull it off in time

I am still working on my house, but do anticipate having it done by the 23rd. I will inform you, Ocarinah, if I am not able to finish it on time. I have completed my final in English and am taking my final in math on Wed. Only one speech left to go, and I'm very well prepared for that speech, so I should be able to get in some more play time this week and have plenty of time to decorate. Hopefully I've seen the last of the problems I was experiencing with the layout editor, which kind of put me behind schedule a bit.

I don't care what the "doctors" say; I would think anything involving hives is an allergic response, o twits in white coats. >:-/

They told me I wasn't really allergic to the -mycin family of drugs (erythromycin in particular is NOT my friend), either, I guess because I didn't have hives, my throat wasn't closing up, I didn't have to worry about not breathing suddenly, etc. No, I was just throwing up continuously, any time I went through any sort of chewing motions or swallowing (just the motions, even with nothing in my mouth), and by the third day, they were beginning to get a little concerned about me getting sick on regular water (literally). The minute they took me off that crap and gave me a shot of smooth muscle relaxant (took care of the spasms), I started feeling immensely better; by the time half a day was out, I was fine. :-/

The medication was worse to me than the initial disease... X-P

Uwk

I'm inclined to believe them this time because I've taken these medicines all my life and never once had a reaction... until last week. To be on the safe side, I do have an appointment to be allergy tested next month.

Yikes! :-/

I could handle molluscs (snails, clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, octopus, squid, etc.) when I was a kid, even though I didn't really care for them much (think my body was trying to tell me something...) except for maybe New England-style clam chowder and the li'l deep-fried, breaded octopuses, 'cause those were fun to play with. The cheaper the chowder, the more I liked it (i.e., the less real clam stuff was in it, I guess). I overdid my intake at one fateful dinner party evening in high school, and ever since, I can't handle any species of mollusc for nothing (full-blown allergy). I've been in the hospital before. :-/

Uwk

So uh what I wanted to do is just not working. I haven't given up on the concept I'll just have to work on it in one of my own homes because it will just take waaay too long and I wont get it done in time. So I had to scrap all 5 hours of yesterday's work and take it all down and am now scrambling to put something together in time. I'm sad because I really wanted the other idea to work out. I'm not as creative as most of you so I kinda feel disappointed in myself that I couldn't do it. If it was my own place I wouldn't feel so bad but since this is for someone else and now I feel like I'm doing something stale and that has been seen before. Oh well...pity party time over with...time to get as much done as I can in the next few hours before my son gets home from school.

Don't feel badly. Even the best of us (and I'm by far no where near being the best) find we have to scrap a project from time to time. I'm sure whatever you do will be loved by the person you are gifting. I hope that you are able to accomplish what you are trying to achieve, whether it be in your own home or someone else, and if you need any assistance, I'd be more than happy to try and help out. I have a couple classes to attend today, but I'll be around later this afternoon.

First let me just say I am sending positive thoughts to all those having RL issues, hoping everyone and their family is feeling better fast. Hugs to all!

Second let me say this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE empty out your mailboxes so I can send you an in game mail message. I don't have all of your emails. I have tried to send a few of you mail messages already and your mailboxes are full.

I know that a few of you have been running into RL issues that have prevented you from being able to complete your santees houses the way you intended. I am trying to help as much as I can but I am only one person so cannot help everyone finish up. I am sure the person receiving the house will love anything you were able to complete and understand that real life happens. I am sure that if you need some more time after the deadline, most, if not all, will totally understand. I am pretty sure from posts I read last year that people allowed their santee to see what they had completed by deadline and then were allowed to finish up after the deadline. I don't think I should move the deadline though since others are very excited to see the houses that are completed.

If you are having troubles finishing up and haven't contacted me, please do so. There might be help out there you don't know about (I have asked friends to help me out with stuff so I can help you guys finish up). There have been a few participants that have offered to help out if people need it (one person from each of these servers...AB, Maj'Dul, and Skyfire). Please don't stress out, this event is meant to be fun and nobody wants to stress each other out. I can send a message to the santee that you require more time if needed so they don't peek at the house yet. You can also let them see what is done and have book there letting them know you plan on finishing up (I can include a message in mail as well letting them know if you wish). It will all be okay I promise.

I will send in game messages out the morning of December 24th (Saturday) to each of you letting you know if your house is completed and can go check it out or need to wait a little bit longer. I will be online the morning of December 24th to send out messages to each of you but probably won't be able to be online during the afternoon or evening since my family does holiday stuff that day instead of the 25th. I will know more about my schedule after dinner tonight and will update everyone here.

I sent you an in game mail. I don't know if you saw it yet...or maybe you posted that cause you saw my stressing out mail.

Edit: hahaha ok that one was totally cause of me. Thanks for the reply. I'm feeling a weight lifted off my shoulders.

3 more days till we can look! To those who are ill or families are ill I do hope you all feel better soon.

Where should we send RL email to if we need to contact you? I THINK I might be ready, perhaps, if, etc., but I'm not sure.

Or should we PM you here, or do in-game mail? :-/

I'm pretty sure I know who my decorator is, and I wouldn't want my decorator to stress out too much. If I need more time, I think my decorator should have more time, too.

EDIT: D'oh! Now I can see your email addy up in an earlier message...d'oh. X-P

Brb... ;->

Uwk

Hokay, Building/Oaky, I sent you some RL email. My deco gal's in-game box is pretty nice and roomy, and I'll clear out my guy's, too. ;->

Uwk

Actually, it wasn't totally cause of you. There are others worried about finishing too due to RL happening (how dare it when we want to play eq2!). Others had full mailboxes too. I know for sure one persons will be full no matter if they see message above or not but I have other ways to contact that person.