Words written: “The Brinks Job”: ~300

So, right, the weekend, before another one goes by.

I worked at home on Friday, because the work I’m doing right now is easier without the distractions of an office and with the better computer. I prepped six stories to mail while making Ken lunch (it was his turn for dental hell), and got them in the mail by Monday. We managed to get most of our SCA gear either packed or prepped, which is always a relief. Maren showed up, hurrah!, and then Brianna, who was also staying with us. We were good and didn’t stay up too terribly late.

We all had to be up and to the site early on Saturday. Ken was in charge of merchants, which included helping them get set up; I was in charge of parking control and Maren was helping me with that; and Brianna’s the Kingdom Seneschal. We got there and then all headed off in our respective directions. Maren and I hauled chairs to the entrance of the park and sat just in front of the booth, and handed out parking vouchers (for $1 off) and made sure folks knew the site rules about live steel and the length of stakes (the latter for putting up pavilions, not slaying vampires. Just in case there was any confusion.).

We headed back for Opening Court, where, to much cheering and clapping and joy, the Event Steward, Aran, got a Court Baronetcy. I could go on and on about how much Aran has done for the Shire and the Kingdom, but I’ve already done that, in the letter I wrote to TRM. So there. Two friends also got our Shire’s local award, much overdue for both.

I spent the rest of the day badgering people into taking the three-page Kingdom History quiz I’d made (a page of multiple-choice trivia, a page with a map of the Kingdom with the local groups numbered, and a page of match-the-Queens-with-Their-Kings)—and then grading all the ones that were returned (thank goodness for Maren’s help with that! Although we got a wee bit punchy after the first five or so…)—and also doing some shopping.

You know, I’m not much of a jewelry person. I have a lot of jewelry I love, but I have enough that I have a nice variety. I hate generic jewelry, so it’s got to be something unique and special to catch my eye. Or, in this case, leap onto my finger and refuse to get off. A delicate silver ring with a swoop in the band, and three silver-bordered amber leaves. I’ve been wearing it pretty much constantly since Saturday. :-) I also picked up a kumihimo braiding disc and book, because I’ve been wanting to learn to do that for a long time. (Happily, they’ve just added a second kumihimo class to the Great Western War schedule.) And I got so excited by a new piece of weaving equipment that I hung out at the merchant’s booth for about an hour, showing it to everyone else. It’s a simple thing, so I’m going to have Ken make it for me. But it was so cool, I just couldn’t stop raving about it. (It would be very hard to explain here, though. Suffice to say it makes woven bags in such a way that they come off the “loom” complete, with a finished edge.)

We were the last people off site that evening, along with the Event Steward. Our Shire had done a stunning job of putting the event together as well as coming together for a potluck lunch that we almost didn’t have enough table space for, but I was a wee bit disappointed that so many people vanished before the site was cleared. Those who were left really had to bust their butts. I realized late in the day that I hadn’t been drinking enough water, and even though I then began to drink more, I was still pretty wiped out—just general fatigue after a long, busy day (which came after a long, busy week). So kudos to Ken, Aran, Griffin and Elizabeth, Maren, Æduin, and Mary. I’m sure there were several other people who I’m completely blanking on, and if you’re one of them, I apologize profusely. Oh, Sean stayed a fair bit, too.

There was much confusion and back-and-forthing about dinner, because Brianna and Eilidh wanted to take us and Morgana and Brian out, but other folks wanted to hook up as well. Eventually we all somehow managed to end up together at Chili’s, where we split an onion flower and I had some fine shrimp-and-chicken fajitas, and there was much laughter and all sorts of interesting discussion.

We ended up with four folks crashing at our place that night. Maren had to go home (phooey), but along with Brianna, we had Cat, Su (Kingdom Collegium Chancellor), and Lachlan (Kingdom Court Herald)—Morgana and Brian were hosting Privy Council on Sunday, which is why both our houses were full of Kingdom officers. Ach, stayed up too late, but it’s too tempting to stay up and hang out with fun, interesting, witty people.

Sunday morning was a lazy one, and eventually everyone wandered off to Privy Council or wherever else they were going. Soon thereafter, Meredith and Geoff arrived to give Ken his 40 Days & Nights present of brunch. They made crêpes, and Meredith and I got very silly on mimosas.

After they left, I puttered for a bit, but I was feeling unsteady, off-balance, and unhappy, and I finally figured out why. One of those cosmic two-by-fours. So Ken and I sat in the hot tub and had a long talk about the near future and something of the farther future, and the changes I was going to make now, and how to handle various things. The next entry will explain all of this; I figured it would be easier to separate it out.

Then we made salads, ordered pizza, watched TV, and eventually wandered off to bed.

Since then, it’s been mostly work (for me) and Home Tour prep (mostly for Ken, but both of us have been busy). We ran those errands last night, and tonight Morgana came over to work her magic by rearranging all of our artwork and knickknacks. There’s still a bit more to be done, but it got late and I got braindead, so we’ll finish up on Saturday. Everything is really starting to come together, and I’m kind of in awe over the whole thing. Must remember to take pictures.

You know, I never finished up about last Sunday. In a nutshell, in the afternoon we headed up to Ojai to see Kelvin and Debbie, because their 40 Days present to Ken was dinner. Kelvin, Debbie, and I sat on the porch and watched the sun go down over the mountains, and drank copious amounts of champagne. I know we opened a third bottle, although I’m not sure if we finished it. Ken spent most of that time working in Debbie’s woodworking studio on the frontpiece to the original built-in desk in my writing office. (The original frontpiece is cracked beyond repair, so he’s re-creating it.) He’s not a huge champagne fan, so he just had one glass.

Then we went off to a tapas bar and stuffed ourselves silly. How can all those little bits of food fill you up so damn fast? It’s really rather amazing. The food was also amazing, but I don’t have the energy to re-create the menu right now.

Right now it’s past my bedtime, and we’re driving to Arizona tomorrow night, so it would behoove me to go fall over.

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Now Reading: Buried Secrets, Evelyn Vaughn (Silhouette Intimate Moments)
Lately Listened To: um…
Recently Watched: Morgana working her decorating magic