Just Some Household Thoughts - True commented that I might want to embrace the role of: "Beanatighe" literally, "woman of the house" (Bawn ah tee). In Celtic society, similar to the role of seneschal, but for a household.

That misses the mark a little bit, with our group, since we already *have* an established Head-of-Household in the married couple of Lot and Caterina. Lot is the Captain, and so he heads the Ship-portion of the household. Caterina is the Lady of the Villa, so she heads the Land-portion of the household. I have interests in both parts of the House -- keeping the Villa running and supporting my shipmates. I really do see Lot in the role of "Captain" even though the stories we've put together so far for my persona (which is similar to writing the script for a character, for my non-SCA friends) have focused on my role in the Villa. We have one silly story about my accidental first trip on the ship (gee, I really ought to finally *write* that story down), but I'd like to develop something further that incorporates both parts of the Household.

I have many leadership qualities, but heading the household is *not* one of my pursuits. Those roles are filled already, and I love supporting Lot and Caterina in their leadership roles. But being involved in the nautical-role of "Docks Mistress" sounds very appealing, since it incorporates good business sense, inventory control, customer service, as well as putting me closer to the ship but still has me involved in the Villa. I like the idea, quite a bit. *grin*

On to my narrative from this week:

Mon Apr 2: First Night of Passover - Passover is an eight-day remembrance, although often people only know about having one family get-together for "Passover Seder." This year, I was invited to Jeff and Adrienne's home for "First Night" seder, with all of their parents in town to have a true family-holiday meal together. This was the first time I met Marc and Renee (Adrienne's parents), Mike and Wendy (Jeff's parents), and Lori (Lot's "second" Mom). All five of them were just a joy to get to know, and I'll get to see Marc and Renee again this evening over "Second Night" seder with most of the household joining us.

Adrienne out did herself cooking, as she always does, and we had some of the most flavorful holiday food you could find anywhere. The matzoh ball soup was really amazing, and apparently gets invitations to parties all by itself. I really enjoyed the yams (or sweet potatoes?) and the asparagus, but I can no longer eat beef so I'll just have to report everyone seemed to love the roast as well. I *did* have the chicken and onions, and loved them immensely. I can tell I'm getting older, since the horseradish is less painful each year -- I even voluntarily added more of it to several different bites of food, not just the required two times you're "supposed" to eat the bitter herb (called the maror) in the order of the service (or seder which literally means "order"). I adore gefilte fish (always have!), and even went out today to buy two jars of it for at home this year, not just one jar. And the crowning jewel: Adrienne served her "chocolate decadence" for dessert, which is an incredibly dense non-dairy dark chocolate "almost fudge" (the best way to describe it). And just for Lori, she put together a raspberry sauce (with huge whole berries), even though Adrienne's allergic to all berries, which means she couldn't taste the sauce to make certain it was good enough. It was, of course.

We had a lovely meal and a lovely seder together, and afterwards chatted for a little bit before all the parents went home to their hotels. I did some more spinning on some of the roving I dyed at the last Fiber Retreat, and I'll probably bring it along tonight too. Wendy, Mike, and Lori flew home today (I believe) and we'll get to see Renee and Marc again tonight. After Jeff drove Adrienne's parents back to their hotel, he and I sat up a little bit longer chatting (as we do!), and then I got home somewhere close to 1 am.

Tue Apr 3: Organizing A Bit - I opted to work half my day at home today, which gave me time to cook over my lunch hour, wash lots of dishes, and unpack a bit from camping this weekend. I miss being at home sometimes, but I'm also planning which office supplies I'd like to bring in to my desk on base now that I'm spending more time there. I managed to run some errands over to the bank, buy some groceries, and clear my work-email-at-home finally. Now I need to run back over to my office, send my end of the day report, and head over to Second Night at Jeff and Adrienne's.

Those of you celebrating Passover, enjoy your Seder(s). And I'll see many of you on Sunday evening at B'nei Caid Seder at the Dudley's.

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Cloudia and Wolt -- I love keeping in touch with college friends, and it amazes me what a beautiful family you have, Clouds!