It’s just after 2, I’m waiting for the caffeine from my one cuppa/day to kick in. My brain is full—it seems right to say it’s flurrying around, but that’s not how that word is used—and I have a million little things to do. This sort of thing always happens when we go away for a day. I’m not sure how everything piles up so quickly, but…

Twelfth Night was lovely. Our garb was really stunning and I felt gorgeous in it. Velvet and satin and silk do that to a person. We ended up having our portrait taken; I can’t wait to see the proofs. The cost was amazingly reasonable, with no sitting fee. Hmmm…presents for next year’s Yule, perhaps!

I was a bit tired all day, and then during about remove #4 of the feast I sat down and thought, “Oh, no,” as the exhaustion crashed down over me. As a result, the day was coloured, and even while I was smiling and laughing I said several times that I was having a crappy day. So we didn’t win the garb contest. I bet we came in second. So the winner of the silliest documentable hat was wearing the one I was planning to make if I’d had more time. I didn’t get it done, and so the other lady deserved to win. So we would’ve won the tableau contest because nobody else entered, but we didn’t get a copy of the picture we wanted to re-create. No biggie. So my belt broke. I tied it and it worked fine. So I threw out a pair of expensive earrings because I didn’t see them in the wrapping in the candlelit hall. I still have the necklace, and the earrings weren’t antique as I’d originally feared.

I repeat: We looked stunning, and we got our portrait taken. And we served high table, which was fun until I got really tired. And the feast was yummy and included fried cheese (although it lasted about two removes and two hours too long. The feast, not the cheese.). We got to dance Epping Forest (aka The Kissing Dance or Rhieinwen’s Favourite Dance) and my ankle didn’t hurt. We saw lots and lots of friends and gave them presents that made them happy.

This morning Ken headed home from Meg & Matt’s to get an early start on the roof, and I went to have brunch with two writers with whom I’ve been corresponding, Christine and Jenn. We had a blast (well, _I_ did. For all I know, they bitched about me on the way home. Just kidding. [g]). Didn’t talk about writing much, but we did talk about The Two Towers and Tolkein and Buffy and various authors and Clarion and RWA and, oh, tons of things. It’s hard to describe the feeling involved with meeting people and not running out of things to talk to them about. Anyway, I hope to get together with them more frequently (and not take six months of planning for it every time).

So now I’m home. Feast gear has either been washed or put in the dishwasher. Nothing else has been unpacked, though. Living room needs vacuuming. I need to take down holiday decortations. And answer e-mail. And go through regular mail. And sew the rest of the tunics for Meg’s little actor students. But, I’ve just made some lists and sorted things out by what needs to be done each day, and that’s good. It’s not as overwhelming that way. It’s not as overwhelming when you’ve had more than 3.5 hours of sleep, too. [g]

Much, much later. I didn’t accomplish everything on my list and that irks me. But Ken went to bed early and I’m not undecortating the tree by myself. No way. That’s one of my rules. But I did put away a lot of other stuff, and fold laundry, and clean the kitchen a bit, and so forth. Now it’s after midnight, and I have a gazillion errands to run tomorrow, so I’m going to bed and falling over with a loud thunk. Besides, the wind is flying something fierce, and rattling all manner of things, and it makes me want to curl up with my honey.