A lazy day. I didn’t think I needed recovery from the War—really, we didn’t do much at all—but I slept hard last night. (I can tell when I sleep well because I don’t roll over on my stomach and throw one of my pillows on the floor. Sleeping on my stomach is my “comfort” position, which I’m trying to train myself out of because it hurts my lower back now, but sometimes it’s the only position that will get me to sleep.) And today we’ve been rather quiet. Cleaned and returned the RV, sorted laundry (although we never started any), got most stuff upstairs to the sewing room/garb closet). I had a minor sinus headache in the afternoon, but drugs and a shower and another cup of tea made short work of it.

Ken did set up the new 19-inch flat screen monitor and get the main computer running. The old 21-inch monitor just didn’t fit where a monitor needed to go, so we went shopping last week. I need to transfer files back from Afalwen, and then I can start setting up the upstairs office.

We’ve also been catching up on TV. Two eps of “CSI”, and two eps of “Desperate Housewives”, which is actually quite funny and fun, and one ep of “LAX”, which may not last for us but is amusing so far. That’s it so far, but there will be a few more shows before the day is through. I have to find needle and thread to finish up the favours for Harvest Tourney on Saturday—my fingers have been itching for a handwork project during all this watching.

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Okay, the lead singer of whatever band is on VH-1 Classics right now—I think it’s Lynyrd Skynyrd—looks eerily like His Majesty Brand. Um…

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So. The War. Lots and lots of fun, although it was also rather quiet. I spent a fair amount of time with a nagging feeling that I was supposed to be doing something and forgetting what it was. That will change in coming years…

We got there Wednesday night. I felt completely unprepared and that was causing me stress, almost to the point of not wanting to go. Packing garb involved driving the RV up to the storage unit, opening my garb rack, and throwing things into the RV. In the end, I took more than enough clothing and shoes, and I did find my pouch of important SCA jewelry (fealty ring from Albra, fealty ring from Elffin & Signy, Court pin) at the last minute, so all was well.

We arrived and enjoyed a major perk of the RV: driving up to our spot and plugging in and thus having our entire “camp” set up. We changed and wandered off to HQ to see how things were going, which led to us doing a 10–midnight Gate shift because there was a need for warm bodies. It was easy to slip back into that routine.

Thursday, Umberto went off to fight rapier after we did a brief turn through Merchant’s Row. I took a crochet class and came away with a crocheted pouch! I learned crochet and finished a whole pouch! I was (and still am) so very chuffed.

Hm. The rest of that day is a bit of a blur. I know we wandered Merchant’s Row again, and it was probably then that we first talked to the custom jewelry guy (who will become important later). We had dinner with Morgana and Alexander, eating a pasta-and-chicken salad that I had made. Yep, other than that, getting very blurry.

Friday I worked 6 hours at HQ, and Umberto marshaled rapier, and we had dinner with Morgana, Alexander, Caterine, Emrys, and Eleanor. There was more merchant wandering, and I believe this was the night that we designed our custom Baronial coronets with the jewelry guy. Don’t ask how much we’re investing in these… We’d looked at some places online, but I was so much more comfortable tossing ideas back and forth with someone face-to-face, getting suggestions, bouncing concepts. They should be ready by the end of March. Whee. We hung out that evening with Christeane and Thomas, Illeana and William, and other people whose names I’m blanking on right now. I worshiped in the Chapel of Alcohol (a small tent set up with icons from every possible religion, with donations of various cordials and meads and a keg of Blackthorn).

Saturday. Hm. Not remembering much of Saturday, either. What in the world did we do? I know that after dinner, Morgana and I ended up at Gaukler Medieval Wares, looking at his pictures of finds from various museum trips. His chandelier dripped wax on my coif, shawl, and Viking apron, dammit. Then the four of us went wandering, and found Kelebek and Rajid, and Kelebek danced, and Umberto escorted a Scotch-sodden Albra back to her encampment.

I’m pretty sure I volunteered somewhere on Sunday, but I can’t remember where. Sheez. We went to the Volunteer Auction and I got a little box with a Jack Sparrow compass in it (e.g., it doesn’t point north), and a promissory for a rune reading. Umberto won a shirt to go with the two he’d bought (he’d forgotten all his shirts, and to be honest, most of those are still in process anyway). We four ate at Merchant’s Row, and did one more wander through before we packed up (which involved about as much work as setting up) and headed home.

I saw, but didn’t spend nearly enough time with, so many people, including Maren, Kelvin and Lucia, Max and Christine, Ceridwen and Rowen…almost too many to name. And again, I spent a lot of time feeling like there was something I _ought_ to be doing. We were sort of taking this War “off” from the heavy volunteering of previous years, but I wanted to do more than I did.

That will, as I said, all change. We’ve discussed it frequently and seriously, and we’ve decided to bid on running the War in 2006. Unless something weird happens, we’ll get the bid. Which means that next year, we’ll deputy ourselves to the Stewards, and probably run some job or other in the process.

Yoiks.

Perhaps not the wisest thing to do career-wise, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time. I feel better knowing it’s something Umberto and I will be doing together, and also that we have some incredible support staff already.

Of course, first I have to deal with Harvest this weekend down in Gyldenholt (I’m Co-Steward), and Black Oak Lodge in April 2005 (ditto). Neither will cause me any real stress, as I’ve run local day events before as well as two Black Oak Lodges. I’m just cranky because there are two Styx concerts in NV that same weekend. (Although they just schedule a show in Anaheim the night before the event, so I’m somewhat mollified.)