Somewhere along the way, I had been working on a draft of my 5-parties-in-3-days weekend in June, and accidentally wiped out some of the draft with a bad keystroke. *bad keystroke, bad!* I kept the remainder around to finish later, and it's certainly much later now [Mon, Jul 10]. But I hope you enjoy this recap of Mom's show, brunch with Grandad, party with Elizabeth, party with Raz, the movies, and party for Mina.

Fri Jun 16, continued - "Arsenic and Old Lace" was a hoot, and once again it was an experience where something my Mom taught me young came back to me. "Always try to laugh out loud: The actors cannot hear you smiling." So I laughed out loud. A lot. At first, the guy next to me looked at me and smiled. Second time I laughed, three people around me giggled. Next time I laughed, a dozen other members of the audience laughed a little, too.

By the time the actors got to the prat falls instead of the witty dialogue, all the teenagers in the audience were going nuts with laughter. I was more impressed with the puns and funny dialogue, but by then the audience knew how to laugh. The actors were thankful. *grin*

Then I grabbed dinner at the local Denny's (since I was just parched with thirst and really hungry by then), and got to chat with our friend Muzette's son Kelly who was working grave shift. I also finally finished reading a little book that Mina lent me, so I can return it to her now.

Then off to Mom's and falling asleep promptly on her couch.

Sat Jun 17 - Brunch with the family was lovely, although I was still writing down directions to everything upstairs as everyone was arriving downstairs. I got to hang out with my grandparents, some of the siblings/spouses, and three of my nieces. Megan and Kara just keep getting more beautiful every time I see them, and Sarah is now walking as fast as she can manage. She's a hoot, and Larry is immensely funny with his granddaughter.

Then it was off to Anaheim for a welcome-home party in the afternoon for Baroness Elizabeth. Traffic was HIDEOUS on the 5 South, and the weather was painfully hot. I finally broke the instant cold compress in my first aid kit and used it to easy the pain in my shoulder, stave off a headache, and generally cool off in the heat and sun (even though my air conditioner works and was on full blast).

Hanging out at Morgan and Gwenna's was lovely, especially since most of the people at the party I've known from events but I've rarely gotten to socialize with them. Thomas and Angelina were there, as was Eowyn, Tetchubah, Eichling, Bruce and Astra, Una and Gerhart, Tonwen, Cariadoc, oh-darn some herald I've known for years and who's name escapes me now.
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[And now the re-constructed re-typed section... I hate when I type so fast that I accidentally delete a bunch of paragraphs at the stroke of a key and have no un-do option. *sigh*]

I brought my kumihimo with me to work on, and many of us sat around in the shade working on various hand-projects. It's really neat to be amongst friends who also bring crafts with them everywhere they go. On occasions I feel slightly out-of-place with my spinning or braided crafts, although most of the time I'm confident enough in who I am to get past the momentary self-consciousness. But there's something wonderful about showing up to a picnic, and everyone has a different craft in their laps or in their hands. These are my people!

Speaking of "my people" and fitting in, the only really remarkable and unusual moment [and a moment I had typed up and accidentally lost in a key-stroke] was the way in which I felt like I was really part of a different peer group. There are many times when I'm one of the "old folks" around all my twenty-something lovely friends, or around many newcomers or folks who've been in the SCA much less than my 13-20 years. (Parenthetical aside: I *found* the SCA in '86, played a bit on and off '86-'88, but didn't really become active until '93. Between '88 and '93 I was working on completing my 4-yr degree in 7 calendar years with one year off and two years part-time. Wow, that was a long time ago! Anyways, back to the story.)

At Elizabeth's "we're glad you're visiting us from England" party, I was one of the youngest in the crowd, and one of the few people who wasn't an SCA Peer (a Knight, a Laurel, or a Pelican -- the highest rank, and given for either Heavy Sword fighting, Artistic/Scientific mastery, or in recognition of Great Service, respectively). And although the peers there never gave anything away in their conversations that was confidential on the peerage email lists, they did chat a bit about some things discussed on a peerage list or two. They were appropriately diplomatic, but of course they were amongst other peers and were naturally discussing things going on. I wasn't sure whether to feel uncomfortable that I was sitting there for said discussions, or flattered that someone might forget that the party wasn't filled with just peers. Know what I mean? I would never repeat anything I heard, of course, and like I mentioned, I didn't really hear anything that couldn't be repeated outside the peerage circles. But it was bizarre. I don't think of myself as naturally part of these groups, and to feel informally invited to hang out was just weird enough for me to notice it all.

Well, I didn't get to stay for the entire BBQ, but I did get to see Elizabeth and spend time with people I respect greatly, and I was very thankful to be there. But then it was time to jet over to Raz and Maggie's surprise birthday dinner at an Irish pub just 20-minutes away. The party was absolutely packed, and we had a fantastic (and raucous!) time with everyone.

Afterwards, a bunch of White Star decided to go catch X-Men, so once again I've become a movie-goer. (Don't tell anyone! It'll ruin my reputation! *grin*) It wasn't as exciting the 2nd time around... I remember the first time seeing the 3rd movie was absolutely edge-of-your-seat wonderful. But I did catch a few things I missed the first time, because as an audience we were loud at the midnight showing opening night. And we had fun laughing that the people who left before the credits were over.... and I even got a small group to stay who almost left about 15 seconds before the end. "You don't want to leave yet. Stay to the end of the credits" I said conversationally as they got up to go. I mean, really! If you've stayed that long, you deserve the tip from the rest of us. But if you leave at the beginning of the credits, you deserve to miss the closing clip. But really, duh, who hasn't learned about the extra scene at the end of the credits by now? Especially in a comic-book movie?!?

Adjin was having massive leg issues as we were leaving the movie theatre, so several of us got to help get her out safely. I was tempted to put her piggy-back on me and just trot around like a toy horsie, but I was wearing heels for the brunch with Grandad and that just wouldn't have worked. Some day I will. *giggle*

Sun Jun 18 - Finally, the end of the weekend of parties: My roommate's birthday. I missed going to her ballet recital, but I had surprise birthday decorations up and the house clean before she got home and before any guests arrived, so yay me. The party was fabulously fun, and once again Mina and I are the best roomie pair -- the way in which both of us live our lives is beautifully matched. We both love being out and about, and only coming home occasionally, but we also both love throwing a party for friends.

She received two more gorgeous tea sets from friends and family for her birthday, so we'll have to throw some additional tea parties in the future.

Lot brought bags of games to the party, and we ended up playing "Apples to Apples" for hours. I simply =must= run out and buy this game for my stash! I love this game! I also continued working on my kumihimo during the party and...

[Reconstruction complete! Yay retyping!]
...I finished more than another yard in the span of the evening. But I sat on the floor for most the evening (easily more than three hours) and my knee got stiff and sore. It was actually difficult to sleep with the way it was hurting. *pooh*

But it was a wonderful party, and a wonderful weekend. Now, may I go sleep for a week? *wink*