Cheshire Cat grin on Her Majesty.

...three more to go.

huscarl105, as well as a bunch of other people have got me convinced to enter the Byzantine into QP, under Embellishment.

Okay, okay. Just let me do the research and find documentation.

Had waaaaaay too much fun over the weekend with kampfrau and rhodri2112 and Countess Branwen.

Left KC with everyone Friday evening after seeing Valkyrie withkampfrau and rhodri2112. Yes, Tom Cruise is a terrible actor. No, the movie isn't horrible, but it does leave some things to be desired. Dropped things off in the 'Ville, found that my blue card had arrived (thanks to Martinus, I am an official SCA member now. :D I think it was a great Christmas present.) and I didn't require my print-out. Yay. We stayed at Alex and Roise's in Omaha, and I snorted a lot. Their Graces Eringlin and Alethea also stayed with Alex and Roise, as well as Luke (?). Lots of fun, tried not to die with a ceiling fan sharing the space with the top bunk I slept in.

Day of the event, woke up, got dressed in some pretty awesome Byzantine if I do say so myself. My new Pashmina included. Did some waterbearing, did some hanging out, lots of chatting, carded wool, helped make butter (and showed a few people how to make it), ran around placing bids in the silent auction for an awesome gown (three words: ice blue linen), and I'm pretty sure a lot of other things, but I can't think what else I did quite yet. Traded a pair of earrings for a hyooge bottle of Sabi's first batch of mead, which I think is really good. Went to court, and apparently I'm a bad kid, according to ruaidhriprime and liadan_m, so it was up to sit with the other bad kids in the balcony, but with that meant that we could see things like HRM Maerwynn signing for two gentles who are hearing impaired, but earned their AoAs. I thought it was very nifty. Sat feast thanks to kampfrau, and had fun. Poor Rhodri, though, sitting inbetween trimguy and me. (And Rhodri, I'm Roman. May have spoken Greek, but dammit, I'm Roman. If we really wanted to get nitpicky, Armenian or so, but dammit, I'm Roman.) Feast, while good, was something I had to choose what I ate. Not a big pea fan, so I avoided the soup course. Dessert, though, was awesome. I really liked the Apple Snow. :D I'm realising that I was downgraded from retinue table last year (which was fun with odiernelion and Ermenrich and Kasha), but still quite fun. :)

Anyway. Postrevel. Had fun singing and snuggling. As well as snorting. A lot. And by a lot, I mean a twenty-five snort laughing jag. Adelaide and Mairi Rose were also there (yes, in the same room, snorting at different times. And yes, the drinking game was in effect), so needless to say, while it was a smaller postrevel, it still had a lot of drinking going on. I suppose I'm to be at some sort of blame here.

I did sing my planned QP piece, but because I won't be there due to work obligations, I'm writing it off as practice for a later competition. I think it sounded good, at least, I'm pretty sure it sounded good.

Somehow, my bottle of mead not only survived the day, but survived postrevel as well. summersdream, want some drinky-beverages when you come back? Also, are you thinking about coming to Bellewode again this year? I'm trying to see who might be interested. There's also an event a couple weeks after that I'm supposed to try to teach a dance class at that I think you might like to go to. It's in Leavenworth, so not that far away.

While that's on my mind, huscarl105, do I need to contact anyone about teaching at Ceilidh? And what would you like me to teach? Or, to phrase better, what do you think would be best for me to teach?

Anyway, back to the weekend. Went back to Alex and Roise's, and had a huge pancake breakfast, shared stories from the day (including the wearing of my oh-so-awesome WiFi detector shirt on the way out!), and got everything ready to go...but I've now realised I'm missing my Byzantine garb. rhodri2112, was it found in your vehicle, or do I get to email Dolan?

Got back to town, went back to work today (but I'm off until Saturday), and opened presents from the boy's family, including more Bath and Body Works stuff and a few Longaberger things from his mom. He got me this little clear bouncy ball with blue glitter in it that is my new plaything near the computer for the time being. Might make it into some new photos.

Anyway, I'm going to bring this to a close, as I'm feeling that I'm starting to ramble a bit.

I am back from Kris Kinder. Good time, that's for sure. rhodri2112 and kampfrau picked me up Friday night, and it was a fun two hours down to KC. I gave her the present I made for her (which she totally rocked all day Saturday) and, they made me snort. Funny, yes, but my nose still hurts...but I suppose those are leftovers from postrevel. Anyway. Got to KC about nine, hung out with kampfrau, talked garb and other things, and went to bed early, given that the next day would be long. I maintain I have a pretty kick-ass SCA family: kampfrau gave me a tunica, and we're settling on garb for other things. Silk is nummy, I maintain. Burgundy silk, even nummier. :D Purple and gold garb! (No, I don't bleed purple and gold. Nope.) Remind me to bead stuff for you, kampfrau, and with a bit of direction. I think I can make it manage well.

The next day, we headed out. I did a lot of window shopping, as I have most of my gifts either already made or for my actual family, figured out. However, I bought Anti some of HE Anneliese's soap (it'll have to cure for a little bit longer, but he seems pretty happy I remembered him, and I think it's helped ease the stuff that happened...uh...a few nights ago). I also bought lemon curd, and an awesome poison ring with five little garnets in it from the cooks' guild (and I do apologise for being perhaps overly excited about showing it to everyone. I am rather partial to shinies.) Then I socialised. A lot. As usual. I also sang with Christian's group, and even recorded a piece for CalonSound Project. I sang soprano. For those who know my singing voice, I don't normally sing soprano. I normally sing low alto or tenor. I can sing soprano, but it's not my favourite thing to sing in the first place. But I did sing soprano for this particular piece we did. I still have Gaudete stuck in my head (I maintain that I need to get a quartet to sing it at church for Christmassy things).

After the event, I went to Genghis Khan with huscarl105 and Ferd's household, asked my questions, got answers, was satisfied by said philosophy espoused, and after that headed to postrevel. Sang stuff, wore my Cthulhu slippers (which just about everyone loved. Hee hee hee), snuggled with people...all that good stuff. Got accused of alcohol abuse (I bumped into liadan_m, spilling a little bit of her Mike's pomegranate lemonade all over her). Snorted. A lot. My nose hurts. Talked more with huscarl105. (BTW, measurements are as follows. Waist: 31 3/4" Hips: 40 1/2" Inseam: 32 1/2" Yes, I'm mostly leg.)

Went back to kampfrau's. Dropped. Out like a light.

Woke up this morning, and ended up back in Maryville at noon or so.

Yes, I had fun. Yes, I'm tired. But yes, this was so worth it.

Yes, I'm finally past the point where the mere mention of Crystal Ball was likely to send me into a fit of uncontrollable babbling. :P Now it's just the happy memories of it that make me giggle.

Anyway.

My friend Sprin and I headed out Friday, picked up her boy from Rolla, and I didn't get to Cathus and Rowan's until about 10 or so. All things considered, I thought we made extraordinarily good time. huscarl105 was already there, as was Alessandra. And they were playing Collateral Damage with Cathus. I just watched. Especially at the sheer hilarity of the characters contained within the game. Some even made my brain hurt.

Anyway.

Went to bed, woke up bright and early at 6:30, and then proceeded to mentally wake up over the next hour or so. Coordinating schedules with everyone was entertaining, to say the least, and I rode to site with huscarl105, which was fun. Took my first few classes (Bransles with huscarl105, helped with Arina's Beginning ECD class), then headed off to the cafeteria where I helped with Tsire's Dance Jeopardy. (yeah, I'm loud. Yeah, I helped. Honestly, I swear I'm not a herald. Honestly. :P) Then, it was off to Azenari's English Country class to firm up Scotch Cap and to learn My Lady Cullen. That was also quite fun. Sprin went to Isabeau's Beginning ECD (and apparently, my lessons in Rufty Tufty helped her help her fiance learn the dance. I am pleased). I went Russian. Korobushka is fun, no lie. I know it's not period. But it's fun. And I can't really say that I didn't have fun with it, because I did.

Lessee. Sisuela caught me halfway through the day, and told me I needed pretty garb for the ball. So I borrowed her middle class Tudor, complete with corset. That was put on before feast. I was told I cleaned up well.

At feast, Cathus and I gave such a hard time to Alessandra. It was bad. It was funny, but it was bad. No words should be used to describe half the crap we gave not only her, but each other. Sang Lowest Trees Have Tops for cantigajoy, which I was then asked if that was my QP entry. I decided then and there that perhaps it would be less of a problem for me to do a John Dowland song as a performance than it would have been to write the icon. So I switched. Ha. Now, just need to fix my few problem spots, write my documentation, and I'm good!

After feast, it was time for dancey dancey! The musicians were practicing a few things, like the music for Korobushka...which happens to be the same music that Tetris uses. So I made living Tetris shapes. I wonder if there were any photos of that very big bit of silliness. Anyway. Ermenrich came up to me, put his arms over my shoulders as I went lower as a Tetris shape, went "GAME OVERRRRRR!" and then asked if I wanted to dance the Carolingian Pavane with him. I told him yes, and did so. And then got the hell out of Dodge when the Galliard started. I rather like the stylistic bits of the Pavane. No lie.

After that, I held off for Heart's Ease, Petit Vriens (which I danced with Sprin and her boy and had great fun doing the over-under thing that happens when large groups of people dance it), and I danced Korobushka with Azenari. That was the end of Set One.

Set Two was a set I didn't do much dancing. I did dance Scotch Cap with Cathus, but other than that, I did my normal thing of hanging out with people. As always, fun.

The dessert revel meant that I got in line. So did Ferd. And he almost succeeded in tying me to a chair or a column with the hanging sleeves of the gown. I don't remember what it was that he was trying to tie me to.

Set Three was where my hips and knees caught up with me, but I still danced the Black Alman with huscarl105, Confesse with Cathus, and the Official Bransle (that's Toss the Duchess/Wench) with Cuilen. I loved getting tossed up into the air! So much fun! And it helped keep my legs cool.

I didn't dance much of Set Four, but I did walk around a lot just to keep my joints moving. Definitely did the Maltese Bransle (Turkish Bransle is another name), and that was when I realised that the caller was trying to kill me with the number of traits she was picking out and how many applied to me. Well, maybe not trying to kill me. But it felt like it.

Set Five was where the crowds we had with Set One left us with the very dedicated dancers by this point. I danced Chesnut with huscarl105, who came over from the dance floor to our phat palatial estate (I dubbed it Calontir Corner) to help me off of the ground to dance with him. Afterwards, I sat with Ferd (who had his head in my lap and was doing Ferd-ish things to make me laugh and snort) and more Calontiri. And that was awesome.

Set Six was where most people were dancing in their sleep. Cathus and Rowan were exhausted (and understandably so), and even though I felt tired physically, my mind insisted that I do My Lady Cullen, and the one dance I had been waiting all night to dance, and that was Rufty Tufty. It's sad, but it's my favourite. At least right now, it is. I won't lie. I danced it with huscarl105, and I danced his requested pick-up dance with him, and by that point it was time that everything was falling apart. Brain, knees, hips. You name it. It hurt. It was time for a nap. So, at nearly five that morning, we headed back to Cathus and Rowan's.

On the drive, I mentioned to huscarl105 that I was considering asking him if I could perhaps become his apprentice. Of course, this is really something that requires slightly more brain power than what we had at that point in the day. Even then, I think it's a direction I really want to go in. I'm finding that I like period dance styles. A lot. And it's really a way I can make my music geek and my dance geek work well. We'll see where it goes from here. Sleep deprivation lowers inhibitions. I had meant to ask on the way to site, but never quite felt comfortable at that moment to ask.

We arrived at our destination. This was where it got funny. Due to Hurricane Ike causing mass mayhem, their screen door doesn't like to stay closed. So we had a brain puzzle. After nearly twenty hours of dance. I know. Moved the door handle. That didn't work. So, we went around to the back door. Conveniently unlocked. Once in the house, it was getting across the kitchen. Except there was a baby gate to keep Cathus and Rowan's greyhounds away from the rest of the house. More brain puzzles! Once that was figured out, it was sneaking across the kitchen, in an attempt to keep people asleep. Unfortunately, my bead container decided to fall with a rather loud crash. Yet, nothing happened. No one woke up. Not even a shift in slumber. Nothing.

So, after that, it was off to bed. But my brain still was going a million miles a minute. So I packed what I could. And then tried to fall asleep. And that actually worked.

Up the next morning at eleven. Alessandra left not long after Cathus woke up, and the rest of us hung out for a little bit, going over dance geek stuff. Fascinating, really. Anyway. We had breakfast, Sprin and her boy hung out as I got a little bit of sustenance in me, and then it was off to go home. And I didn't get home until about ten that night, and which I did, safely.

I thought it was a great event. And now I want to do more dance things. No lie. I enjoy dance activities immensely, and apparently, I was a little Energizer bunny at work today, for the event high had pretty much kept me going. Everyone asked me if I had been on any drugs. None, but those of life. And Aleve.

Much thanks to Cathus and Rowan for opening up their home, Sprin for the ride down, and to Shattered Crystal for a fantastic event. Oh, and thanks to all of my dance partners! I had an absolute BLAST. Thank you all!

Thunderstorm rages, though not severe.

Secondly, the Calendar Geeks blog now has an RSS feed: calendar_geeks. Also, there are about ten calendars left in this printing run. If you want yours before our second run in November, get them now. :D

I am still sick, and think I have yet another relapse of EBV. It SUCKS. I hate my blood getting drawn, I hate going to the doc's office (I waited for two hours for a twenty minute consult. Tell me that isn't messed up.), and I hate not being at work. Of course, it's no secret that I hate my job, but I like getting paid. I'd rather do my job and get paid for that, than sitting at home sick.

I haven't gotten started on my Queen's Prize project, at least painting wise, but I also haven't accumulated all my paints yet. I think I may just bite the bullet and get paints from Walmart instead.

Bah. I really should get to bed, but as this storm is on the noisy side, I'm afraid sleep may not come soon.

After doing nothing on Labor Day, I went to work today after a day sick on Tuesday. I know, I know. Stop getting sick. I'm working on it.

Anyway. Today wasn't half bad. I was kept crazy-busy, which may have accounted for my lack of tiredness now. Or my sleeping for twelve hours yesterday. I haven't decided yet.

Meanwhile, Jib IMmed me to tell me that my seat at Coronation feast is reserved. YAY! Best Brother ever. I'm so excited. The downside...I miss my family on Family Day. It's all right, but I really wish I could see them more often than I do at times. Oh, well. I'll see them plenty in October, November, and December. I'm getting excited for Coronation...but I seriously need to sit down and bead. Badly. The boys picked up some beads for me in St. Joe, and some charms, including a little knight charm. I have no idea what I'm going to do with that quite yet. So, I have no excuses. I just need to sit down and bead away. Or else. I also need to make time to work on my QP project, too. Argh.

My to-do list is pretty big, too. And I have to pack my plastic tub so that it survives Martinus' pickup and the five hours up from Bethany. summersdream: I'll know by Friday the approximate time I'll be met there. It could be six or it could be eight (at night, of course.) At any rate, I'm excited.

See y'all there?