I have to get up at 3 a.m. to get to the concert tomorrow morning (only for Styx would I get up that early, I swear to you…) so I need to get this posted before I collapse in a stupor.

Friday was the concert in Yuma. We left at 5 a.m. and got home at 3 a.m. The venue sucked and will be getting letters of complaint from several of us. Styx was great, as always, although the set was way too short because REO was also playing. I was Ricky’s Bitch again, and ended up with one of his picks wedged in my bra, even though I was wearing two close-fitting, not-very-low-necked shirts, and he threw a handful of picks from a distance. (I didn’t see that happen, but felt them hit me, and looked down to see them launching off the ski jump that is my chest. I didn’t find the one in my bra until about half an hour later.)

Saturday was our final prep for the Home Tour. Ken worked on the frontpiece for the built-in desk in my writing office, and I cleared out personal items from various rooms (my office was the biggest project, necessitating the unpacking of four book boxes and the packing of two boxes of files and writing paraphernalia), did dishes, that sort of thing. I also printed out a photo-quality picture of the two of us in 1904 clothing and found a frame for it (because people on the tour always want to see a picture of the owners) as well as a series of pictures chronicling the various stages of work we’ve done in my office (taking out the four 250-lb filing cabinets, ripping up the carpet, etc.). Ken’s mom showed up in the afternoon and she and I went to the gardening store for color pots for the front porch. A hanging pot leapt into my arms as well (Mom swears she saw it happen) and it really balances out the porch nicely (the other side has a big ol’ bush that desperately needs trimming).

Then we went out for Morgana’s birthday dinner, with Morgana and Brian and Kelly (Richard had another commitment), at a great Chinese restaurant. They make a perfect lemon chicken—the batter is actually crispy. (They use the same chicken/batter for their orange chicken, which Brian got and which was also excellent, and their ginger chicken, which Morgana ordered. I don’t like ginger, so I didn’t try it.) Afterwards we wandered over to Toys R Us to peruse their Halloween section. I wanted to buy another stuffed walrus or two for the concerts this week, but they were completely out of all aquatic animals. Quite annoying. Then we all wandered over to our house and sat around eating chocolate and just relaxing. Unsurprisingly, the conversation wandered over to SCA things, and eventually I mentioned my decision, and everyone was very supportive, and then it wandered off to Styx, and Kelly hadn’t seen us in the “I Am the Walrus” video, so we all trooped into the TV room and watched that. Hee.

Ken finished the frontpiece for my desk, and surprised me with the handle—he’d managed to get all the paint off the original knob and buffed it to a bright brass shine. Now, of course, I have an intense desire to strip all the wood in that room…

Sunday morning we put the cats (and their food and litter) in the bedroom, did a quick vacuum and wipe down of the kitchen, and lo, we were ready. Harris and Mike, the organizers, came by with a big bag of stuff for us—all of the items available for sale with the tour logo (tote bag, apron, two hats, two leather bookmarks, two t-shirts, and two travel coffee mugs), as well as a framed photo of the sketch of our house that appears in the tour booklet. I got a little weepy about the latter, as we’d been planning to track down the artist and get a copy to frame.

(You know, it’s possible that Harris and Mike delivered the stuff on Saturday. I’m really not sure anymore.)

Just before the tour started, we vacated, heading over to Brian and Morgana’s because Brian would be walking the tour with us. And then off we went. It would be impossible to describe the gorgeous homes (five, including ours, plus a hospital), the details, the woodwork, the tiles, the landscaping… Ours was the oldest home on the tour, with the others ranging up to the 1930s—it was interesting to compare and contrast styles, architectural details, etc. I ended up with all sorts of house envy, which is not to say that I don’t love our house or even that I want a different one—more that I want the time and money and creativity and knowledge to do all sorts of fun things with our house and garden. (It didn’t help, of course, that I was overtired and headachy the entire day.)

My phone had apparently turned itself off the night before, so during the door, as we were walking from one house to another, I turned it on to find out what time it was, and found messages. The first was from Helen, calling from the Styx concert. I amused the others greatly by bopping happily down the sidewalk, occasionally breaking into song as I listened.

After the tour, Brian headed off to fighter practice and we perused some vendors, buying a Welcome tile and a long, skinny panoramic photo of early downtown Oxnard (the latter which Mom bought for Ken as a birthday present). Then we ate a hasty lunch and settled ourselves outside our own house to be greeters/ticket-checkers for the rest of the day. It was pleasant, uneventful work, and we got to chat with some people about the house. We got many lovely compliments; a number of people had been to the open house before it was sold, and told us we’d done wonderful work thus far. [beam]

The very friendly Scottish Fold cat from down the street discovered our open doors and apparently took up residence in our kitchen for a while, before Deborah, our tenant, found him and removed him. Hee. At least he didn’t go upstairs and harass Grimoire and Eostre through the bedroom door!

By the time the tour was over, I was something of a wreck, so I crawled into bed and took a nap. We were supposed to go over to Morgana & Brian’s and eat leftover Chinese food, but I had no desire to exert that much energy. Instead, we ate dinner at home and watched Battlestar Galactica and, um, other stuff I’m already blanking on. It was quite pleasant to sit and relax, but I was awfully tired, and that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.

So, in all, it was a wonderful weekend, but so packed that I really need a weekend to recover. Unfortunately, this week will be even crazier: Wednesday morning is the Mark & Brian Styx show, Wednesday afternoon I’ll be working at home, Thursday is the Wiltern Styx show (GA, so we’ll have to be there around noon, I think; we also have something important but secret that we need to finish by then), Friday is the Palmdale Styx show (not GA, but we plan to head out early to go to the big cat sanctuary and possibly to see Serenity beforehand), Saturday evening is Ken’s party, and Sunday we’ll be going into LA to see Mirrormask.

My eyes are crossing already.

It’s been raining and foggy the past two days, all lovely and grey. No idea if it’ll last, though. I’m trying to enjoy it while I can.