Hello family! Sorry I've been so absent lately. There's a good dozen sets of photos I've taken from the past month, and I even finally downloaded them off the camera and backed them up on my portable hard drives. But flipping through photos with a friend last night, I realized some backups I haven't made copies of, so more photo tasks to add to my time-budget for next week.

My narratives are as abbreviated as I could stand, but I think you should enjoy them. Maybe read them in sections, if it's too long. I've organized them by days or weeks for the monthly adventures, then there's an old essay-like section about communication that I penned in March, with a sort epilogue at the end about how I'm feeling nowadays about the things I was thinking in March. Enjoy dearies!

Fri May 4, I drove to West (meaning northern California, north of the Bay Area) with Lot (Jeff). There were several moments of déjà vu (after the long drives to Arizona and Mississippi this year) that had me laughing often. We stayed in at the hotel where we met up with Gauge, Rigo, Teffan, and Eithni again (yea! I've missed Gauge!).

Sat May 5, after some unusual moments being asked if we were headed to the "Beer Festival," we drove out to enjoy Beltane West Kingdom Coronation. There were lots of Caidan white scarves there to support the new creation of the "Order of the Western White Scarf" (the highest award for fencing in the West Kingdom). I finally met some Westies I'd only heard of before, met Arnaz from Trimaris, met a few Ansteorran scarves, and saw some Caidan transplants in the West. I especially enjoyed spending time with Arganteilin (Michelle), and of course briefly seeing Ghislaine. Found some lovely roving at merchants (colorfully dyed wool, ready for spinning) and the merchant is coming to the Fiber Retreat in June, so she'll be bringing it to me there. Lot, Teffan, and I drove all night back home. I managed to do about 3.5 hours of the drive, mid-drive, and Lot did the early and late driving, then napped at my place when we finally got in around 8 am.

Sun May 6, enjoyed a lovely breakfast with Teffan and Caterina, while Lot was napping. Then everyone was showered and dressed and off to Ren Faire. I spent time with Meala in the morning at Faire, then some time wandering alone, while she went and found the rest of the group (I was having no luck finding them). I met some of the members of the Celts Guild, and several of the spinners; met some weavers; met a knitter. I finally later met back up with the gang (Meala, Lot, Raphael, Diego, Teffan, Marcos, Mina, and Tom/Guiseppe), although throughout the day I had also run into Avenal, Oliver, Kate, Eabha, Beathog, Domnhall, and Maren. Our original group went off and enjoyed "Bold and Stupid Men," (and I got some great photos of Diego on stage), plus I met a few more fiber artisans over with the gal who was knotting a fishing net (including a guy who works with Clark/Thorin). Then enjoyed a dinner out with Lot, Mina, Teffan, and Marcos, had Marcos over for chatting with Teffan, and fell asleep even before he left the apartment.

Mon May 7, Enjoyed part of my Monday morning with Teffan. Found a local beach neighborhood for her to enjoy while I was at work, picked her up for Council, enjoyed time with my Barony, and made on-the-fly dinner plan changes and ended up out with Teffan before taking her to LAX to fly back to MN.

Sat May 12, Altavia Anniversary. The day's theme was "Green" and I had a VERY silly time wearing so much green, there was even a green silk scarf for my head-covering (a lovely present from Kristin years ago from Australia). I was volunteered for the bardic performances, so I sang the Kermit song in a Kermit voice, making the Baroness almost cry with laughter. Had a very interesting conversation with one of the chamberlains for the next Court (for the next King and Queen) about scribal things. Then we wrapped up the evening with a party at Meala's for her birthday, complete with Coffee Bar and dinner and dessert. And I've finally found the first (modern) video game I've ever enjoyed, where we got to "slap bunnies" in a video game on the Wii.

Sun May 13, Mother's Day. Drove north to enjoy brunch with Mom, sis, nieces, step-dad, and some shopping time with family. Then off to my shire to enjoy a Baby-shower for Baby Conroy, and lots of silly "perky goth" baby fun at Elyramere's house. I've missed my Shire friends! Bill and Lynn kidnapped me for dinner, and I got to see their new place (loved it!). Finally, I saw my daughter over at her aunt's house, and even though it was a short visit, it was *lovely.* Nothing quite like seeing your daughter on Mother's Day.

Mon 5/14 – Fri 5/18, finally got my organizational feet back under me again. Got my day runner updated through the end of the year. Updated the theatre website, after 4-6 weeks lag. Really started eating well again, including stocking groceries at home and work. (Finally admitting I work from my office on the navy base, not working from home the majority of the time.) Finished hand-repairs on Lorccán's "fighter dress" (as he calls it), including darning all the rips in the linen. (Hmm. I should repair/darn the rips in my linen dresses next.) And balanced all my receipts, paid all my bills, and planned out the next two months of bills and paydays. Plus bonus: Left a birthday voicemail message for my son. This year, I got to communicate with him.

Sat May 19, Darachshire Anniversary. Picked up my daughter in the morning, went to the Shire tourney all day. Finished three shire award medallions the night before, and finished 17 more medallions on site during the event. Really enjoyed just chatting with friends all day, most notably Lynn spent the day with me, spinning on her spinning wheel. (I covet her wheel! That's the wheel I want next!) Also enjoyed a little time with Mwynen, and bless her heart she made "Drunken Pear Cake" for me again. I think we've been enjoying this dessert at events together for seven years now. I adore her. I closed out my evening with dinner out with Diego, Elisheva, my daughter, and Meala at a mexican place on Melrose (wow! I'd never been there before), then home to sleep.

Sun May 20, lazy breakfast with my daughter, lazy enjoyable morning. Cleaned house after the event, and really put away all the SCA stuff rather quickly. I'm quite proud of finally getting good at rapid packing, unpacking, and clean up from events. Even managed to remember to call Michelle for her birthday. All afternoon and evening, Liz and I enjoyed birthday partying with Caterina, and enjoyed the company of tons of friends. Then the nice long drive to take my daughter back home, then the return trip to get me back home again.

Mon May 21, more administrative organizing around the house. Finished my poem for the Bards of Caid collection for Coronation, this time for the husband of the Queen, and even penned a little tune for the poem as "artwork" for the collection. He's a musician, so I cannot wait for him to see the poem. Mike had a surprising horrible circumstance happen, so he's crashing at our place for the week until things are sorted out (with lawyers and other horrible stuff). I was glad I'd been cleaning house so much lately, so I gave him my room and I've been sleeping on the couch. Nothing like spoiling a friend who's had the world drop out on him for a while. Of course, he's grumbling about taking my bed and making me sleep on the couch, but hey, that's my choice. He can just deal with being spoiled for a little bit, and enjoy the bed.

Tue May 22, I started packing for camping (Potrero War) this weekend. Did some more house organizing, and had some breakthrough spreadsheet wonderfulness at work. I like when I'm suddenly smart and figure something out. I can get a certain weekly task done in 15-30 minutes now that used to take me 6 hours by hand, because the original report was so horrible. It's not so horrible now. Yippee!

Wed May 23, registered to take free Hebrew classes starting next month for a 5-week course. Caterina's going with me, and I'm looking forward to this very much. There's only so much language you can figure out on your own from books at home, and in-class language-study has been a hobby of mine all my life. Let's see, I've actually taken courses in Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and American Sign Language (ASL). I've also try to study extensively on my own both Hebrew and ASL. And I still plan to spend time with my Mandarin Chinese language learning podcasts that I download daily off the internet for free—this is how I plan to be entertained while exercising. Started memorizing bardic lyrics for this weekend's performances: "Death to Jack Rogers," for the White Star set on the Open Arms Bardic Stage, and "Twa Magicians" to perform with Rathflaed and Eben, I believe on the Bawdy stage.

Tomorrow is dinner with Scott, so this evening I have to finish the last touches on his new fighting coat. Also I have to finish laundry in the morning, so I can pack all evening, plus shop for groceries for coffee bar for war. And finish the last of the scribal tasks before court at war, and post the scribal updates for Kolfinna.

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And now for a very old set of essay-like thoughts that I penned in March:

Thoughts about communication and all the different technologies: I miss having penpals. I'd thought of this occasionally over time, but there was a column in Newsweek that I read over laundry that reminded me. I have some friends who primarily exist on MySpace, and I have to remember to check there regularly to keep up on their lives. Others have their own unique journals or blogs, which I often read on my phone browser while taking a break at work or sitting around the studio. Other friends only update LiveJournal, and I find myself having to budget time to keep up there on my phone or computer, too.

Some friends only email me, and sometimes I have to stay up late or get up early to make sure I've remembered to respond and keep up with them too. One friend insists that I should only visit her in person to tell her stories about life, and she's the one who needs the "punchline first" before I tell a detailed story. I used to keep track on my dayrunner when was the last time I saw her, so I wouldn't forget her for too long. I have such a hard time keeping up with all my day-to-day activities, plus my dream projects, plus my obligations and commitments that I promised to fulfill, plus all the relationships and friendships I'm trying to nurture and enjoy in my life. I'm never sure what to say when people observe how much I get done, because I'm certain I'm not doing as much as I want to do, let alone dream of doing.

Many of my friends on email, I have all our correspondence filed in folders or under tags, and I occasionally try to skim them to see how long it's been since I've written, and what have I neglected to tell them about in life, or forgotten to ask them how things are going in their lives and schedules and families. And I travel so much with the SCA, that post-events I like to try and jot down all the names I learned and something about each person or event, so that I can remember them a year later when I see them again. A couple of my friends are really talk-on-the-phone people, and so I need to find time to call them occasionally. Then there's family, and keeping up with the aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents, parents, nieces, nephews, and kids. Again, I used to write this down in my dayrunner, and I'm behind right now. Of course, I like to remember birthdays, but I'm not doing nearly as well this year as I had hoped. There's a few friends I catch on IM occasionally, or with whom I exchange text messages on my phone.

Then there's task-related correspondence: Keeping up with the website updates. Working on costuming projects or SCA building-things projects. All my work-related correspondence for deadlines, assignments, daily reports, HR and relationship maintenance with my bosses in my company as well as on my contract. The CTG. Griffin Dyeworks. The Fiber Retreat. The Hogwarts friends and Quidditch practice. The band, the studio, recording, festivals, CD sales, and reviewers who want copies of our CDs. Paying bills on time, keeping my checkbook balanced, paying off debt, planning for long-term credit improvement so I can buy a car or whatever I want. And of course I'm several hundred photo albums behind, both online and in print.

And then there's what I call my seven-tracks for SCA: Rapier, FiberArts-Textiles, Costuming-Textiles, Scribal Arts, Bardic Arts, Service, and Household (and other role-related commitments, like Autocrat, Baronial officer, Royal Scribe). Then there's my plans to get back into exercise regularly.

Sure, I miss being able to write hand-written letters to friends or family, but when would I? With whom would I correspond?

I miss having time to visit people in a relaxing friendship setting. So much gets lost over email, and misunderstandings when you're apart for a while and out-of-touch are painful and heart-breaking.

I miss having someone special in my life so I can cuddle at night, or just enjoy quiet time in the same room even without talking. I miss being able to squeal with delight at something and have someone to share that will. More often than not, I'll notice I'm the only one in a room of 8-12 friends who's not in a relationship.

* * * * *

Today's thoughts after reading my old March essays: The relationship issues are not so heart-rending anymore. One friend teases me, "If you just lowered your standards, you wouldn't be alone. It's quality or quantity, babe." She's right. And I'm not lowering my standards. I occasionally find myself pondering here and there, but no, I'm never settling for second best ever again. Red flags are red flags, and they mean keeping someone at the appropriate arms-length. I'll survive. I'll deal with being single. Heck, I'm too busy enjoying all my friends and family, hobbies and commitments, to really stress out about any of it. What would my french-speaking daughter say? C'est la vie.

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Mike, you're a punk, but you're funny. I'm glad I could be here for you this week.