Rae Roy

They're a little bit messy, but here are my current plans for the first quarter of 2022. I've been wanting to get into using my Rocketbook instead of paper planners, but I had barely used the planner I had and didn't want to waste it. Well, I think being at least halfway through it is more than reasonable at this point. Eventually, I'll digitize my old planners to clear that clutter, but there isn't a rush on that as I'm more concerned with the loose sheets of paper elsewhere.  I need to do about 7 chapters a month to get the edits done on Sparker. This is possibly too ambitious, but I'm going to try my best. It's important. I want to spend the rest of the year deciding on publishing. I was originally going to try querying, but Jenna Moreci's last video has so many excellent points on what made her decide to self-publish, so I think I've finally learned what I needed to make that decision. I intend to go with either Friesen or Tellwell. Hopefully

It's post holiday and I'm in the stage where my home is a giant mess from the things I didn't get to before I had to travel. And, I can't do a thing about it right now. All I can do is wonder if and when my nose may stop bleeding. This isn't new for me. I used to get bloody noses all the time as a child.  One time, it was so bad my parents almost had to bring me to the hospital. That one was after jumping into our pool.  I suspect I am getting this one because of the dryness from home heating. All I can do is lubricate once it stops.  And it has. Finally. I just need to give it a moment before I put anything up there. I suppose it's that time of the year where one should just relax anyway, but after reading a friend's blog post on Goodreads I discovered I used to have my own blog connected, but never updated it when I changed its home. I've now fixed that. This is likely all the progress I will achieve this week as I get my booster shot tomorrow and my a

 'Twas the days after Christmas, and a return to my house Was delightful and stirring, without a mouse No stockings were hung, because they don't do that After all the food, I was feeling quite fat! I looked forward to sleeping in my own bed As nice as it was to lay my head The holidays were over and I was relieved Some things that had happened, I could not believe. My parents could not understand what was the matter Had I just visited with the Mad Hatter? Away to my phone, I flew in a flash I left to avoid the wrong kind of bash. Hours of shopping behind mom walking slow Did not bestow me with a happy glow The things that they said, were born out of fear Of a world that was changing all they held dear. Annoyed and disgusted, inside I yelled ick! I needed to leave there extra damn quick Dear dad, that is more than quite lame Rather than calling someone by name. Needless to say, I looked forward to the end When I could return to those I call friends I returned to my place with a

When something negative has been a constant in my life, it takes a toll. I haven't had the mental bandwidth to do much lately. But changes are slowly happening and I'm gathering momentum. The frustrations of 2021 are gradually easing up. I feel immensely relieved and my mind is freer to focus on everything else in my life including my writing. I even have a date planned ;) I spent much of the weekend cleaning, reading, and working on my 2022 Q1 goals list. The weather was bad, so why not?  I won't be declaring it my year. I don't want to scare it. Despite all the good that is happening, I'm sad. The world lost a writer today who influenced me to write in a genre that is often make dominated. Her stories impacted me greatly. I think it quite likely that The Tale of the Body Thief helped me imagine how others may feel in a situation. It has definitely been a helpful imprint for character creation as one of mine learns about themselves. Her Mayfair Witches are a favour

Lately, and for quite some time now, it seems every path I try presents a roadblock. My bicycle has been one roadblock after another. Tires that don't stay inflated long enough to ride it have been a major problem. And it took a long time to find ones that work between Covid supply issues and the size needed. When I finally found them, the chain got all twisted and I haven't been able to get it on properly, so I needed to take it into the shop. I was going to do that on Saturday, but it finally decided to snow and since people largely drive extra bad here on Saturday, that combined with the first major snow made me think twice about driving across town. So  I went on Sunday instead. I was overthinking, as I often do, about when I might have to return to pick it up and getting a bit stressed about it all. The technician fixed it right then and there and didn't even charge me anything! Then there is my bathroom renovation. Yeah, no luck with plumber #4. There was a lot there

Reno The plumber is due this morning and I'm cautiously optimistic. This is the 4th I've been in contact with. The first only did jobs of a certain size and was trying to convince me to put in an open concept shower that would have had water everywhere and cost about $10,000-15,000. I live in a condo and if water goes from my unit into another unit, I'm in trouble. The second plumber wouldn't return calls or book anything and is no longer being called for work in the building by anyone. Several months were lost here. The third plumber was under contract with the property manager and waited many months to tell me they felt they shouldn't because it wasn't for the property company. So more time lost there. This new plumber has a policy of fixing it the day they look at it whenever possible, so I am really hopeful this will be resolved, but given all the ridiculousness I'm guarding my hope. The door to the water shutoff still hasn't been unlocked though I r

Last weekend, I watched the new Unsolved Mysteries . The theme song is similar, but I feel like anyone new to Unsolved Mysteries would see this and not understand the longstanding history. The 80s kids would. We watched it in the evenings in the TV lit family room and felt a thrilling chill at the voice that came through on the television's speakers. The voice is gone. The format is more like mini documentaries. It's narrated by a member of the victim's family.  New watchers won't know Robert Stack! Onto other things... I figured a mystery of my own out recently. No, I'm not saying what, but I'm excited about it! On Monday, I made it out to the indoor skatepark. I forgot how much effort quad skates are! I managed to make it up one ramp once. I bailed pretty much as soon as I first stood up and I smirked about it. I had jelly legs pretty early on. It'll definitely take me awhile to get my leg strength back for it. I saw some friends on Tuesday for a couple o

I figured it was time for a general update. I'm currently sitting at 14/24 books read in 2021. As far as work goes, my mid year check in when well and I'm feeling more motivated after it. French is back on my mind and I found a newer resource to try that involves reading stories. It was inexpensive, so worth a try. I'm wanting to eventually take some courses to add to the film side of my resume. I'm not sure when I'll have the time or the money for them, but at least I have a direction. I have a plumber booked for December 1st. Hopefully, this time, my shower will be repaired and upgraded. This one doesn't do tub surround installs, so I'll still have that to do, but once the leak is handled, I can do that. My other bicycle tire is due tomorrow, so I may actually get to ride my bicycle this week as it's still fairly warm here in Canada. I've been doing a lot of research to help finish Sparks  and while playing Minecraft, I figured out the design of a

This is how I feel about the time changes.  Luckily for me, I was told that I hadn't taken enough vacation this year, so I took the rest of the week off! It really helped adjusting to the time change. On Thursday, I mainly planned, did some decluttering, and played video games. It was a day for relaxing really. Friday brought time to get a tire and tube for my bicycle. This has been an ongoing saga for me. It took time to find the pump that worked, but it will hopefully finally work out. I also visited my young buddies who had a P. A. Day off school. We played games and had Chinese food. While it was fun, I'm happy not having children of my own. Saturday was a mix of gaming, adjusting my rim to accommodate a Shraeder valve tube, and watching TV. I didn't find my pump until Sunday. I also made progress on my bathroom door, though it's still not quite right. Today, I rearranged part of my bedroom, did laundry, and got my tire set up. Here's the result of that:

Sunday I feel rather boneheaded about this one, but I only just realized my social media links were not up earlier this week. I've since created a list of the links for the sidebar and will get on a pretty Contact Page that includes them as well.  I have NaNoWriMo on the brain right now and may not be posting a lot this month. The more I research my current project, the more excited I am. As a dual benefit, it is helping me with some outstanding learning that I need in order to finish Sparks . Monday I did something I had been meaning to for ages and I got myself a membership at the indoor skatepark. My first visit there was a fail. The skates I brought were too small and unusable. It's a good thing that I have a couple of other pairs. Wednesday I had a doctor's appointment for test results, which all came back excellent. This is a tad annoying because something has been making me dizzy and we don't know what, but at least we ruled out some big things like diabetes, liv

On Wednesday, I hung out online at the Wakefield Writer's Fête. It's a writing festival I've only discovered because of work creating lists of things to do. Last night's panel was on song writing and it was hosted by a comedian, so I had an enjoyable time. We're inching up quickly on National Novel Writer's Month (NaNoWriMo) and I couldn't remember what my plan was for it. I swear I wrote something down, but I have no idea where. Clearly, a digital declutter will be on the horizon soon enough. After digging into my ideas folder, I've cobbled together a plan for a short story anthology. A hiccup though, I apparently have two NaNoWriMo accounts and the bulk of my projects are on the one I can't log into. I've sent tech support an email and am hoping they can merge the two accounts. As far as ukulele goes, I'm recently worked on Stitches by Shawn Mendes because it was the first challenge I had. It was not my type of music generally, but the son

After doing some cleaning in my office on Thursday, I spent the bulk of the night immersing myself in music. I took out my guitar and was terrible, but that's OK. I also took out my trumpet, which I haven't done in a long time. I want to get back to it. I also sang along to some songs like Black Velvet and Creep. It was the best evening I've had in awhile! It probably sounds random, but I've switched to the ukulele path on Fender Play for a bit. Who knows, perhaps I'll prefer it to guitar? I'm almost mid way already. I might have ordered an electric tenor one that is due to arrive this week... My finances are improving. I was approved for a line of credit, so I'm able to get rid of one credit card or reduce the amount down to keep it as an emergency for necessities. As soon as the line of credit is active, I should be able to move my balance from my main credit card to it at a much lower interest rate. And we're still in an interest free status on studen

I've been dizzy for a bit while I taper off of my antidepressant. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, I've been slowly getting some things done around the condo. Small things like rearranging items that actually help quite a lot. I went through the bins in my bedroom closet and was able to move most of them into my craft area for later. This let me put things in my closet free up space in the hall closet for my large toolbox. And now my guitars are in a better place in my living room. I thought those bins were mostly full of paper and all but one is full of fabrics. I guess my paper clutter situation may not be as bad as I thought! Though I've been making progress, I feel stuck in some places. I've spent the whole summer trying to get tubes for my bicycle. They're a special size and so far, no one can track them down. I ordered some from one store that had communication issues with their supplier. More than once. Finally, I just asked for a refund because a frie

I meant to post on Wednesday, but I've been fighting with my ear again. I was supposed to go visit my family, but the dizziness and low-grade fever plus ear discomfort made it too hard to drive safely for anything more than short trips like picking up antibiotics. So a video chat was had instead and I added some things, like whole cranberry sauce to a Swiss Chalet meal to put together a chicken dinner for myself. That's life sometimes. As I mentioned, I finally conquered Chapter 5 and I'm now working on Chapter 6. I've chatted with a number of friends on part of the content for this novel because it goes beyond my own knowledge and experience areas. It's all well and good to write what one knows, but I don't stick to that to the letter. Expanding my own knowledge to make the story better is something that I want for my novels. Now I have a long list of things to learn about to narrow down what fits with what is in my mind for a technical aspect of Sparks. I don&

... I get excited because October is my favourite month of the year. I'm a goth and have been since the 90s.  I'm struggling with one of my costume items. It looked so good on the site. Hopefully, I can get it to look good on me too. My first attempt didn't go well. I'll keep at it. My main writing update is that I made it through Chapter 5 and I'm really happy with it. And now I'm stuck on Chapter 6. This book has a futuristic view mixed with magic and some things are quite challenging to invent or reinvent, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the process despite occasionally wanting to rip my hair out. Every tweak has ripple effects across the rest of the story, so it's important to take my time.  A new round is already here and I need to set some goals. For the bulk of the final round of 2021, my plan is my current novel, but November is NaNoWriMo and I haven't decided if I will participate or not. I've set myself up with a schedule. For 3 days each w

Do you ever feel like you're exactly where you're meant to be? It's quite rare for me, but that was Friday. After retrieving my skates from Farrhaven, I spent the night catching up on punk bands. It felt like what I really needed. When I don't suck so much at guitar, I'd like to be in a punk band. I can't do power chords yet, so it'll be a minute... I also played around with learning GIMP. I've been wanting to have skills in this area for a long time, and I'm working toward that. This is the part of the sandwich when I say it was martial arts I've left behind indefinitely. Though I enjoyed swinging my sword the other day, I need time away to focus on the things I'm more passionate about. Thankfully, the community has been accepting of this and that's a weight off my shoulders. I was worried I would lose some friends over it as silly as that may sound. Saturday brought sleeping in, more punk catch up, and working on Sparks. I really need t

I've made a decent amount of progress this weekend. I've noticed that whenever I make use of my planner, I tend to do better on my goals. Part of the problem has been that it would get misplaced during the reno, so it was hard to set shorter term goals. I tend to use Trello for my long-term overarching goals.  I also made a change with my chores. I have a schedule, but I was initially trying to get everything done in a whole room and that wasn't working. Instead, I'm keeping the schedule, but my goal is to do whatever I can in 30 minutes or so. I'm seeing a lot more progress on my declutter this way and it's less stressful. Now it doesn't feel like I have a mountain to climb. And it's motivating me like nothing else has lately in regards to getting caught up around my home. For awhile, I thought about going back to school for a Master's degree, but I've realized that the last decade has been too full for me. I've had little time to relax and

On Wednesday, I got to visit my young buddy and show him a few things in Minecraft. It was so good to see him, his sister, and my close friends in person. Their pug was also quite happy to see me too. I have a Minecraft book to lend him if his friends don't first. He reads now and I love that so much. His little sister reminds me of him at her age as she has trouble sitting still. He's much more patient now and his vocabulary is much more developed. She's a dear too. It was wonderful to have a bit of normalcy and to be able to hug my friends! I spoke with my boss this week as the role I assumed has been too stressful in the wrong way for me, so some changes will be coming eventually. Sometimes one has to admit when something just isn't right for them. On Friday, I went to a vaccinated-only house party with one of my friend groups and had an excellent time. Not only did I get to spend time with dear friends, but I got to try a 70s Gibson Marauder! The night wasn't wi

My weekend was a bit of a rollercoaster. I had a blast watching my friend perform on Friday night at SAW Gallery. Her band, Chautauqua, is fantastic. A small group of us followed the concert up with drinks at Avant Garde, which was great because we couldn't socialize much during the concert.  I felt a little rough the next day, so I took it easy. At one point, I felt like writing, but I couldn't find my notes for the part of the project I'm on right now. Frustrated, I spent time cleaning in my office and eventually remembered where they were. Unfortunately, I was not as far ahead as I thought I was. My notes were more of a list of guidelines and I still have to figure out how to rewrite the section they apply to. At least I know where they are now and I can plug away at it. On Sunday, I did some errands, laundry, and relaxed with TV and video games. Actually, I got a lot of gaming in all weekend and it's been good for my morale. I've been feeling burned out lately.

September always feels like a time of new beginning to me. Perhaps that's due to 22 years of academics? Or maybe it's because the weather cools some and my mind feels clearer at this time of year. It certainly helps me that my seasonal allergies also begin to wane. Also waning, or supposed to be waning, are the number of items that have been in my queue at work. And the bulk of my bathroom reno has also been wrapped up. Whatever the reason, this September is beginning with a return to my writing. One that brings fresh eyes and the learnings of another summer season. In my 40th year, I feel like I know myself more than I ever had previously and there is still much about the world and my place in it to discover. I'm quite excited about it all! My main goals going forward are: 1. Sparks This is rather like, "Finish the thing." I have a plan to follow. I also have a different ending in mind. 2. Guitar After performing some much needed maintenance, my major goal is to

August 8th: Well, I made a lot of progress on my bathroom reno, but I also hurt myself. After several days of working on it, I'm done installing and caulking the trim. I believe it was the contortionist maneuvering I had to do near the toilet that has done my oblique in near my back. At least it's only part of the oblique muscle? That being said, the main things left are painting the trim, and some other caulking. Those items can mostly be done regardless if I save the trim painting behind the toilet for later.  August 15th: So, I meant to post that last week, but I was in quite a lot of pain. Though I haven't fully recovered, I'm doing much better. I acted background in a movie for a fight scene and was able to throw myself to the ground without hurting myself. Mostly. I did come away with a bruise on my calf from my own shoe: I'm extremely tired after 4.5 hours in a park during ragweed season, but it was so nice being able to see friends and hug them!

There has not been a lot of writing, but about a third of my to-do list for this week is already done. That's not bad considering work is keeping me so busy. When you're feeling like you're not getting anywhere, I highly recommend doing up a list and you might surprise yourself. When I updated my Trello board (it had been awhile), I realized I have done a lot more in recent weeks than I thought I had. It was quite motivating to see! 1. I've set up a space for my spiritual practice. 2. There has been the tiniest bit of progress on my plank wall. 3. The garbage has been taken out. 4. I'm actively working on my paper declutter. 5. I've finished watching the storyline episodes of the X-Files. Season 11 was not my favourite, though I enjoyed the ending of the series. 6. I've taken items out of my unit that I don't need. 7. The baby goat picture has been hung on the wall. 8. I have ordered my meds refill. I hate the phone and I'm often running late on this

So last week I had one of those big birthdays where one starts a new decade. I spent the tail end of the previous one figuring out many things about myself and my needs. This included my spirituality, my politics, and my sexual orientation. Because I had time to think about things in a lot of depth, I think the next decade will be good for me or at least better than the previous ones have been.      I also anticipate my 40s to be better because I care less about many things that I should've stopped caring about long ago. A more solid view of what is actually important has replaced those old cares. But some days, I have no idea if anything will improve.  On fitness , I got out for an hour long walk on Friday after work. I was hungry, tired, sweaty, and a little mosquito bitten after, but I felt great. This is something I clearly need to do more often. I had felt like skating would be too much of a mountain to climb that day and it was fairly warm, so the walk was what I opted for in

Three months worth of goals are below. Bathroom (1-5 in early July) Yes, the bathroom will still be a thing in my life for awhile longer, but I'm close to finishing the bulk of it. Those items that are making the rest of my home a mess. Well, not all of them. The tub surround for Phase two is hanging out in my living room behind my couch and it's quite an annoying thing to have this large cardboard box there, but it is less in the way than it was in my entrance way, so I'm calling it a temporary win and maybe I'll cover it with a blanket to pretend it's not a giant box behind my couch. 1. Finish plank wall 2. Install trim 3. Get and install corner shelves 4. Move furniture in 5. Celebrate the completion of Phase 1 6. Phase 2? (Depends on plumber) Education I'm currently enrolled in a course to help improve my ability to research as an author as I feel like this is one of my weaker skills at this moment in my writing career. I want to learn the methods that help

No in French is non and it got me wondering about the word nonsense for a moment, but not enough to deep dive on it. It's probably because Latin anyway. Have you ever had one of those days where you want to say everything and you also want to say nothing? Maybe you have a secret. It could be about something private, or a deal that isn't solidified, or it could even be that saying it out loud might make you look disturbed or like an asshole. I have days like this and I think some of it is the imposter syndrome monster nagging me because not having published any of my novels yet makes me feel like I'm not a real writer. By the time I publish Sparks, I wonder if anyone will even want to read it.  It has been through a lot over the years. Point of view changes, setting changes, time changes, and sensitivity changes are among those.  Because I aim to eventually have ties to my other novels, I've had a lot of thinking to do that I didn't initially plan to have to do. Writ

Strange Dreams I had several nights a couple weeks back where I flowed in and out of dream sequences. Dream 1 I was fighting with my mother about whether or not we should try and protect the dog from mosquitos. I kept arguing they can get infections that disfigure them and she kept arguing that it was just a dog. The dog wasn't their dog. It was a friend's dog, Snowy. Dream 2 I was moving into a shared house with friends and one was being really jerky about what I was allowed to bring and not. Someone brought some of my things for me and they included garbage like old pizza boxes. I was adamant that my books were coming. My friend brought all kinds of stuffed animals that weren't mine like Pikachu and was taking up space in my room with them. Dream 3 I was at the store with friends and we came upon a box of fabric softener sheets that had my name on them. It had to do with a return from Amazon that somehow ended up at the grocery store. I hatched a plan to get them for free

So, I had my first stream tonight. It was plagued with technical issues, but I kept going. I figured out some things like how to put my game on the screen thanks to a pointer from my friend, DJLittleFever. That also let me put my face on the screen.  The audio issues remain. I had a issue where the sound would endlessly loop if I tried to add in-game sound, so I need to work on that. But I did it! It's a bit weird talking to myself, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. I played Minecraft and mostly toured my various builds. I'll have to plan something more time consuming in the future. I have ideas for that, I just need to figure out where to do them. Check out my progress here:  https://trello.com/b/RM8yD3eq/rae-roy-general

As we approached the weekend, I was feeling a bit glum. The heat had me wanting to do nothing but sleep. Our humidity levels had it up passed 30 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) and I was sure I wouldn't be able to achieve any of my goals for this long weekend. Specifically finishing the painting in my bathroom and getting the sink in place. This weekend is also the traditional annual May Seminar for my martial art and there was no way I'd be able to participate with the heat. I was also wanting to catch up on my dishes, but who wants to run a dishwasher in the heat? So I decided to take a brief detour and install my air conditioner. That took some time and energy, which was a delay, but a worthwhile one because I no longer felt wiped out by the heat. I also had a tub surround to pick up, but it would be hard to find a place to put it without getting my sink in place. I made it. Mostly. The painting is done (4 coats later - lime green is awful to cover) and the sink is i

I made progress on my bathroom, but can't check some things off my list because they are only half done. One of these things is the paint. I've done two coats, but the lime green is still bleeding through, so I think it may be a couple more.  And my door is on, but first I forgot to inset the hinges, and then it was still a bit too wide. It has been shaved down quite a bit by a friend, but the hinges aren't as solid as they could be because it is screwed into a hollow steel frame. I have rivets coming to hopefully remedy that. Right now, we are having a lot of warm days in Ottawa, and the tiny room is a bit hot to be in for too long at a time. We're supposed to get a break in the heat this weekend. I'm aiming to finish the painting then and the sink as well. I have a plumber coming soon to fix the leaky tap, but at least the door has turned the volume down on that.  I've made changes to my desk area that leaves me with more desk space: I feel like once I get pas

It's actually a bit difficult to follow up a post about finally being able to poop in my own home! I almost wrote about the new Covid restrictions in Ontario, but the most concerning items were rescinded and the rest is a mess. Where my brother is, they can't buy a plunger at the dollar store, but they can at a hardware store. They also can't buy diapers at the dollar store, but baby wipes are allowed. In personal health news, apparently I have hyper mobility. There are some things that come with that and I didn't know I was different. My skin is stretchy. I bruise more easily. As I suspected, my tendons and ligaments are weaker than they should be. I've long known something was off with my tendons when practicing iaido. The good news is that this may be why I have chronic pain. My joints were given ultrasounds and they show no signs of inflammation. Since my joints can bend more than they should be able to, they hurt my weak tendons. Now, nothing currently can be d

It took about six months to get here, but yesterday I got my toilet set back up after the mold debacle was finally resolved.  What did I do in the interim? I had to use a bathroom on another floor. What about emergencies, you ask? You didn't, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Zorbi makes special bags for this and you can get them on Amazon. The bathroom reno isn't done, but I can shower and poop, so it's a hell of a lot better. With all I've had to endure with this project, I get fucking annoyed when I see someone in my building not wearing a mask. Particularly when they have one hanging from their car mirror for work. I had to pack, unpack, repack, and unpack my shower stuff regularly. I had to remember a towel. I didn't one time, but luckily had a tiny towel for my hair with me that time.  I didn't have the option to just stay inside my unit and avoid fucking maskholes who refuse to wear masks during a fucking pandemic. Anyway, I feel less stressed now and

Last Saturday, I participated in a talk about martial arts, music, and other arts in general including writing. It is part of the Practice Time with Ms. Rhona web series that Rhona-Mae of Musespeak Studio in Calgary, Alberta does regularly on YouTube. The episode will premiere one week from today, on March 26th at 7:00 PM Mountain Time or 9:00 PM Eastern Time . I was really nervous before the chat as it has been awhile since I got out there and did anything like this, but I ended up having an enjoyable time and I think we all had excellent ideas to bring to the table that added depth to the discussion. I hope you tune in on the 26th. Follow Musespeak Studio to find out more! If you want to know how I'm doing on my goals, please click here .

  No, not like that. Last Friday, I scalded my hand with pho broth. I did something I've never done with a burn before. I went to the Internet and learned about cool compresses. I quickly slapped one of those on. A friend said not to do it longer than 20 minutes per advice from a nurse he knows. This was the best thing I've ever done for a burn. The stinging was far less than usual. The next day, there was barely redness or stinging and I could work around the house as long as I was a bit gentle and didn't get too warm. I was able to start my office paint job. But I've been tired, so it's not done yet. I did clean my desk up when my monitor stand came though. Having a clean desk has helped my mood. Fast forward a week and... My bathroom wall has been fixed! Well, the side I don't own. There's work ahead, but I can at least wash myself in my own home now! And an area that we thought would surely have mold, didn't. Finally a lucky turn on this

I've been struggling for months with my dishwasher. It just doesn't want to clean glasses. It cleans other things OK most of the time, but not glasses. As a result, I've had to hand-wash glasses and I decided to severely reduce my dishes. My current set is faded and was bought more than 7 years ago at this point. I stopped enjoying them quite awhile ago, so it's time to move on. I'm going down to one dinner bowl plate that any kind of meal can be eaten in. I went with a beautiful turquoise one. I also ordered an ornate teal goblet that can be for any liquid, so I only have one glass to clean. I ordered a teapot and teacup with saucer as well. The teapot is white and teal. The teacup looks rather like the turquoise blue mountain pottery. I've always preferred tea to coffee, so I felt it was a worthwhile investment. I've received my set of stacking measuring cups & new measuring spoons that also come with a spoon rest and one serving bowl all in the same c