Tue Mar 21 - Pictures! I have pictures for you! First, here's two shots of me [you can click on them to go to the originals in the main album, if you like].

A nice photo at breakfast on Saturday morning, with my "long hair"


A silly photo of me at the end of the feast, after having washed pots for three hours


And these are two of the photos I'm most proud of, for composition and how nice the gals look in the photos.

I just adore this picture of Eleanor:


And this is my favorite picture of Fluerette:


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Often, conversations in email turn into commentary for my journal. Today's was a really early morning email conversation with Wilhelm, a friend from my home shire. He'd written me offlist to ask if I was one of the five couples who'd already contacted the "president of the regional SCA group" (Kingdom Seneschal) to show intent to fight in our Crown lists.

For my non-SCA friends, we get a new King and Queen every six months. There's a tournament, called accurately "Crown" tourney, where the winner becomes the next Prince/Princess. Each fighter has a consort who "inspires" them, and the couple rule together. Two months after Crown, we hold a Coronation where the old King and Queen step down and the Prince and Princess step up and are crowned the new King and Queen.

Over the years, the requirements have varied about what you have to do before you enter the Crown Lists. Right now, you don't have to send in any formal notification, but the regional organizational head officer requests (please!!!) send in an informal letter so she knows how many people to expect in the line up. It's a courtesy notice. She's only received letters from five couples so far. [When I say "couple" I don't mean dating or married couples, but just fighter and consort couples.]

Wilhelm was curious if I was one of the five.

I wrote him that I don't think I've been a consort in a Crown lists since possibly '98 or so, because I think it was a few years before my divorce back when my (now) ex- was still happy to fight for me. I haven't had a fighter in my honor in over 6 years, in any list on any field at any event.

That's okay. His loss. I transferred my love for one man (anyone's devotion to only one person) to my love to my entire SCA family. His loss, Caid's gain [and even a few people in Northshield]. (For those of you who need an explanation: Caid (pronounced kah-YEED) is the regional southern CA group or Kingdom that I'm a part of, and Northshield is a Kingdom that includes Minnesota and Wisconsin, where I count several dear friends that I met in Arizona in February.)

That's when it dawned on me how different my world is now. I really do live in a world where I celebrate the opportunities of being single. I have the rare gift of being able to devote time and energy and love to a multitude of my friends and family. When I start trying to count my "best friends," the list gets really long, really fast. When I try to count how many people I would drive across town for, or I would like to be there for their major life accomplishments, who's life I enjoy celebrating, it is such a vast pool of friends, that I feel like *I'm* the one who's blessed. I'm the luckiest gal in the world, that I can be a part of their lives, a part of so MANY people's lives.

Certainly I'm part of a household, now, officially. So all of White Star is my brethren. And my love for Crimson Spade is right up there with my own household, for I love them like my brothers and sisters too. My new Northshield friends, both from di Cellini and those who aren't, are the newest treasures in my heart. In fact, Gauge and I were chatting briefly on the phone last night and I said off the cuff "because I love you guys" and he actually said, "Why?" I'm not completely certain why, but yes, my Northshield Estrella buddies are amongst my SCA family that I do *love.*

My home shire, Darach, is filled with my closest friends and the kind of family for whom I would travel across the world. My new home Barony, Lyondemere, continues to shine and grow in my heart. My alumni home shire, Isles, is still a beacon of light in my life, and I'm getting to know the folks there more over the last year.

What an amazing thing. What a fantastic and rich treasure that's been given to me.

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: I think I spent this whole journal entry talking about it, but I'm also excessively thankful for Wilhelm's friendship. Dearheart, you so totally rock. And I'm honored you're planning to fight for me in this Crown Tourney.
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Weight Loss This Week:
Tue 3/21 - 16.0 lbs lost total (down -1.4 from yesterday, only up +0.6 from Friday AM) Ah ha. The fun of scales going back and forth over a few days. I love having perspective on these things. And I packed good food for work today, so I'm feeling successful still/again. I think there's not a pair of pants in my work clothes that don't sag from the weight of my cell phone and pager now. Not all of them need to be fully taken in, but all of them are loose.