We all have to decide, when given choices, what things are the most important. Ken and I have always striven to give each other, and our relationship, maximum importance. And we did today.

He left at 5:30 a.m. or some such ungodly hour for the airport, and will be in Portland until Friday evening. However, when he arrived, he was bumped from his over-full flight and given a seat on one at 1 p.m. He checked one of the motorcycle saddlebags because he didn’t want to lug his backpack of clothes around, and went back out to the bike to ride back home so we could have a few hours together.

Only to discover that the bag he checked contained his helmet.

He called me, and we commiserated, and then I curled back up to sleep. I was very, very tired. I soon realised that sleep was no longer an option. I called Ken back; he hadn’t yet gone through security into the depths of the airport. Half an hour later, I was on the road.

Traffic sucked (big surprise—welcome to the morning rush hour) and it took me just over an hour, rather than the usual 30–45 minutes. For amusement’s sake, I’d printed a few pages from a website that lists where filming sites are from various TV shows and movies. So we went off to west LA to find the Halliwell mansion from “Charmed”. It turned out to be on an historic street of gorgeous Victorians, and there are tours of some of the homes once a month. We’re definitely going to go. Drool-worthy houses, definitely. We walked up and down the street in the sunshine, holding hands and pointing out various features of different houses.

Then we cruised down Wilshire Blvd. to find the historic Los Altos Hotel and Apartments, which is Angel Investigations’s base, the Hyperion Hotel. Very pretty on the outside, with stone carving and a courtyard with a fountain. We didn’t go in, though.

Feeling very pleased with ourselves, we headed back towards LAX, ate yummy burritos (are there any other kind?) at Baja Fresh, and then I saw Ken off at the airport. So there you have it. I could’ve slept for at least two more hours, gone to my chiro appt, gotten all my errands done, and then tackled all the things on my To Do list (not the least of which is BH!). But instead I played hooky. It’s all about importance.

I’m going to sleep very well tonight, on many levels.

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I did manage to get to Walmart on the way home, and picked up stuff so I can make a chemise for someone tonight, plus I got some house stuff and some Yule presents. Eventually I realised that I was wandering around aimlessly, exhausted and mindless, so I checked out and headed home. I’ve been catching up on computer work and so forth ever since—all the stuff that didn’t get done over the holiday when we were away.

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So, an excellent Homeless Waifs party, with excellent friends, excellent food, and excellent fun. Totally, dudes.

I was poised to write on Friday—had the laptop open and had typed in that brief journal entry—when Meg arrived home from taking someone to the airport, and we headed out to do some grocery shopping. When we got back, I became obsessed with finding a $500 cheque that she had lost somewhere in her study-cum-guestroom. This involved cleaning off her computer desk and storage desk. And ya’ll know how I get about organisation. I’m delighted to report that I found the cheque _and_ Meg can close the desk for the first time in, well, an amazingly long time.

Kendra made an astonishing amount of exquisite sushi for supper. More folks descended on the Miller Residence and we played Fluxx (a card game that Ken & I have decided we must own) and Exploding Cows (a Cheapass Game, natch). (It just occurred to me that I picked up “natch” from the Trixie Belden series that I so dearly loved as a child, and I wasn’t entirely sure if I was using it correctly. Word’s dictionary has informed me that I am. Ah, good.)

Saturday we grudgingly arose, eventually showered, and finally got out the door to head to the Fabric District—Ken & I, Meg, and, um, Lisa? I can’t remember her name. Bad me. Meg had gobs of fabric to buy for her students to make costumes for “Macbeth”, which she’s directing, and Lisa had various items on her shopping agenda. Because it wasn’t just Ken & I grabbing the few things we needed and splitting, it felt like herding cats. But Meg found everything she needed (at $75 less than her budget), and we found everything we needed except pearls, and I bought a Celtic knotwork patterned out fit, and everything was okay. Plus, we’ve offered to make all those above-mentioned outfits for cheaper than a seamstress would, so we figure most of the kids’ parents will go for it. 20 tunics at $25 apiece, plus some baldrics and tabards at $10 apiece. Nothing needs to be edged or hemmed (serging is enough), so we figure it’ll take two days max. We’ll probably use the money to finally FINALLY order our silver coronets.

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Oh, this is not good. It’s 6:40 p.m. and I’m struggling to stay awake. Folks will arrive by 7:30 for sewing night. If they weren’t, I’d probably go to bed. Well, no, I’d probably soldier on and go to bed at 9 or so, and read until I passed out.

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Where was I? Oh yes. So, Saturday evening we rented movies and a bunch of us lounged in the bedroom eating ice cream directly out of the containers (Ben & Jerry’s chocolate something and, um, something else, and mint M&M). We watched “Reign of Fire”, which must have looked incredible in the theatre. As it was, the plot was shaped something like a collander (e.g., full of holes) and it was just the right movie to watch with a bunch of people all drinking lots of wine, because we provided our own MST3K.

Sunday we again arose grudgingly to greet the day. Ken and Matt had toyed with the idea of going up north to Darach’s fighter practise, but Ken & I realised that if we were going out to a friend’s house that night, perhaps it would be wiser to spend a few hours of the afternoon at home. So eventually we hauled ourselves home. Ken ended up replacing a blown (as in fried beyond repair) circuit breaker that powered not only The Behemouth but also half of the sewing room. We showered. I checked for any crucial e-mail, fed the cats, cleaned litter boxes, threw in loads of laundry. And then we were off again.

We had dinner at Lasairfhiona (I can’t type that fast…) and Wulfric’s: more turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc. Yum. No complaints here! We had intended to watch the extendo-extended FotR, but ended up watching a show about people who recreated a Roman circus and chariots and trained four people to race them. It was pretty damn interesting. A bit repetitive in places and obviously toned down for people who aren’t used to watching these types of things for fun (as opposed to SCAdians), but really interesting and educational. And we were silly and made jokes about it and had a fun time.

Then we came home, Ken packed, and we fell into bed. You’ve already heard about what happened after that. [g]

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Eclipse seems to be asleep, sitting up. She’s next to me, on the desk, with her eyes closed, but she’s sitting up. I wish I had this ability.

I woke up enough for sewing. I decided not to start on the chemise I’m making for someone, in part because I should wash the fabric and in part because Amy didn’t bring a project to work on because she was going to teach me inkle weaving. It is SO COOL! [bounce bounce] I’ve wanted to learn this for ages and I’m having a total and complete blast with it. Hee hee!

Now it’s after 11 and I should go to bed. I talked to Ken for a bit, and I’m noodling on websites. I’m tired, and should go to bed. I repeat myself when I’m tired…