We went to Santiori's again with C & R, and this time we were joined by SIL and hubby. As usual, the food was excellent. From there we split up, as nobody else wanted to go to the movies. We were trying to pick between Valentine's Day, From Paris With Love, and When in Rome. We used the, "Which is showing in the biggest theater?" technique and wound up at Valentine's Day.
Despite reviews to the contrary, we loved it. It was very funny. Very very funny. And many of the stories were very sweet. McSteamy-as-quarterback coming out was an interesting twist. McDreamy as a philanderer was so-so until he got owned by the mistress.
At home, we chilled out for awhile and watched a variety of shows. Then it was Vana time. As I was still in West Saruta, and there were no cilices on the AH, I resumed the search. I was puzzled at where level 35 dhalmels would be in a stater zone, when I looked at wiki again. And, once more, Aerin fails reading skills. West Saruta *S*. Once I hopped through the Maw, it wasn't very long before I found the dhalmel camp.
I began the long process of dhalmel decimation while chatting away. It took a couple dozen beasts before I had just two tufts of hair. I had planned to get 4 to increase the chances of a successful synth. But I was bored.
I Mawed back to the present and ran to the guild. Almost 3k later I had a wool thread. I picked up advanced synth support and gave this recipe a shot. Or, I would have, but instead I got a message that my skill was too low. AAARGH! So, I waste two hours and 3k and I can't even try? A warp to Jeuno later and I put the mats up for sale.
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Sat - Marathon!
The shell had planned tonight for the Holla assault, and I'd planned to farm recollects as I'd promised. But Med and Layton had other plans. Med threw out the idea of running Holla early so that at 8-ish we could move on to the next set of missions. We began to assemble but it didn't work out. There was talk of starting a COR unlock run. But I took my leave and ran to the library to drop off the DVDs and to Target for kitty litter (not mine).
When I got back, Med and Layton were about halfway into the run and I joined them. It was a lot of tedious running around, and one particularly tough fight against a Soulflayer which used up all my tricks save Benediction. Med almost ended the run at the second cutscene and I reminded him there was one more around the corner.
After that, we started the Caedarva map quest. This would have been a slam-dunk except for two things. Layton continued going AFK, and Med added Shadowhawko to the run and there was a delay while he came in from Wajaom and Med went AFK himself. /sigh
But we did get it done, and this particular cutscene series was very well done. I wonder if there's a YouTube of it. With all these delays, it was time to start the run and there was no time for me to farm recollects.
Between the COR run and the map quest, I got my meds from storage, and was able to get a crafter to make my cilice. I had been shouting for craft help in both Jeuno and Whitegate for a couple days and today someone answered! Hollaback replied, asking if I had the mats. I did, and he happened to be close by me, at the sanction NPC. I traded the stuff plus 5k and he succeeded on the synth. When he traded me the cilice I added a 2k tip. So I basically spent 10k and 2 hours to get a 3k piece of cloth... But now I could up my gobbiebag to 70 and free up the space I'd been using for the other three quest items.
And now, for the Holla run, which began at about 10, after assembling everyone and reviewing the battle plan. Recall that I went in 0 for 6. If I said I came out 0 for 8, would you pity me?
The climb was relatively uneventful, but slow. Once in the spire, we took a little time while Med explained a few things to Layton (on SMN) and Shadow (on WAR). Like macros. And job abilities. Oh. Boy. The plan was for Med and Layton to team up near the end of the fight to unleash Shivas, Astral Flow, and repeated Diamond Dust attacks. It didn't happen.
We nearly wiped right off the bat when Shadow went down. I think Shadows shadows fell quicker than planned and he took damage rapidly. We opted to stop fighting, wipe, and regroup. The second fight went to about 40%, and the summoners did start their assault. But it wasn't nearly enough. We wiped painfully once more. And this time, we were supposed to HP to save the XP loss but I wasn't paying attention and reraised unnecessarily. Oh well.
In other news, while waiting around the Ru'lude AH, I grabbed a Gala Corsage and the Opaline Boots. Man, those things are *white*! They make my Blessed Pants look really dingy. At some point, Stoik came on and said he'd read of my shell troubles on my blog. He's going to set me up in his.
Later that night, while chatting with Kep, he offered to give me his Emperor's Hairpin to go towards my Opaline gear. I was honored and a little speechless. He's quitting on the 28th so he's willing to part with stuff. I feel a little bad taking such a fine gift, especially after I put my foot in my mouth...
Meanwhile, for most of the afternoon and evening, Ape and the boys were off with SIL's family. They were all in Gainesville visiting the University of Florida. Younger is a huge Gators fan and they were spending the day there. They got some great pics in the stadium and around campus.
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Sunday
Today was a pretty full "get stuff done" day. We did house chores, and then headed out for a little shopping. I grabbed a preorder for FFXIII, hoping it ships with beta keys for 14.
Also while out, we stopped at Ape's salon so Elder and I could get much needed hair surgery. The stylist and I talked a bit about '80s hair and then Ape and I settled on "neaten it up, shorten and thin the front, but leave the back long, as it's gonna get longer. She said I had "very pretty" hair, and once she was done, I had a hard time puting down the mirror. She moussed it - I've not had product in my hair like ever - and it looked fabulous. I hated to sleep on it...
From there, we had a great dinner at Chili's with my mom and dad. After, it was the Amazing Race. My cowboys did very well. I was running around during the show installing the new doorknobs Ape bought.
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