Mon Oct 31 - The Haunted House at work yesterday was really cute, although it was difficult to climb/crawl over a stack of haybales in heels and a costume. They had us go through in pairs, so fortunately the guy in my department who was walking through with me gave me a hand up and a hand down. Some of my co-workers could be heard screaming in a variety of points in the maze, and fun was had by all.

I worked extra late at the office, leaving finally around 8:30 or so, maybe slightly later. The biggest hole in my normal schedule is clearly finding time to cook good/healthy food at home on a regular basis so that I can pack all my meals in the morning each day. So now I have two main goals for my home and schedule: Put together my gym bag and workout clothes again, to start working out before work most days; and Start grocery shopping and cooking more regularly, to pack meals each morning and brewing coffee at home again.

Oh, and besides just doing work itself late, I also managed to get all the updates to the theatre website loaded for everyone to review. I hadn't realized how *many* changes had come in over the weekend, so I'm glad I buckled down and got all the information loaded all in one evening.

And on top of everything else going on this week, I also have to make a skirt for a co-worker of mine to wear to a wedding this weekend. So I picked up a tiny bit around my room (you'd never know it to look at it) and then picked out some mock-up fabric from my stash of weird material to make a pattern mock-up of her skirt. I found this amazingly bizarre cross between a plaid and a paisley (really!) which had a nice grid-effect in the pattern, making it easier to block and mark up the pattern, cut, and sew it together quickly. Still, I was sewing from about 10 pm until after 1 am, but I did complete the whole pattern in the mock-up fabric.

Tue Nov 1 - She's absolutely thrilled with the mock-up skirt, and was astonished I could "make a whole skirt in one evening." Of course, my SCA friends are probably shocked I'm finally sewing again at all. Yes, my dears, I'm shocked, impressed, and pleased too. I just might start having new garb sometime soon! *grin*

I will have to take the skirt in about 1-2 inches throughout the waist, hips, and thighs, but I made it slightly big on purpose to make sure I didn't cut it too small. She's thrilled with the triangular gores on the side seams, and her fancy set-in gathered panel in the back hits right at the back of her knees, and looks wonderful. It also has an amazing shimmy and "sa-shay" when she walks, looked stunning from both the front and the back. Yay me! So now I'm not that nervous about using the good fabric, because this was fairly easy to put together in one evening. I should have no problem finishing the real skirt all week.

Work is still scary, and I might have to be here all day on Saturday to really finish, but my boss is okay with that and I'm not as terrified of my deadline as I was feeling a few hours ago.

My friends who do dyestuffs are *also* suddenly working on designing a Guild, and so I took a few minutes over my lunch to mark-up the suggested by-laws. I might even be able to host their website in my account.

And one more new project hit my inbox today: As one of the newest Bards in the Kingdom, I was promptly tapped to work on a Fighter Poem for the published poetry book that's coming up in two weeks. My own Baron needs his poem written, so of course dear "Auntie-Your-Grace" (as Raphael calls Natalya) volunteered me to the Lady in charge, Mistress Philippa. Natalya's right, of course, this *is* something I should do, and so I'm happy to finally take a poetry assignment for the first time. I've been meaning to volunteer to write one of these poems in tribute to the people who enter the contest to become the King/Queen every six months. But every six months has gone by for over 12-13 years of me being active in this Kingdom without ever remembering to actually volunteer yet.

(I hope I explained that well enough for my non-SCA friends and family reading along. Feel free to ask questions if you're still confused.)

Tonight I'm working late on my office assignments and then braving the traffic to get to my Baronial council meeting for the first time. It's heart-breaking to add yet another reason to miss going to the studio once a month, but how can I not go to this monthly meeting now that I'm the local Bard?

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Recently Listened to: Gravity Willing Requia
Recently Watched: Saturday Night Live, In the Actor's Studio... Michael J. Fox, South Park, and Xena
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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Lev and Gayle: For such unconditional and warm friendship that transcends the miles and the distance from one another. I'm constantly thankful for the smiles you two put on my face.