Thursdays pack up was pretty stressful. We were all tired and I was kinda in a manic mode. I really really did not want to go. Another week or so would have been perfect. But with Benton's school dates set we really couldn't. So, tonight after work will be getting him a cell phone and shopping for clothes, and a new back pack. I'm dreading the phone. We had hoped to only get him a flip phone for calls and texts but I guess we don't get to pick that. Sighs.

But with him riding the bus and friends etc it will be nice to get a hold of him but he really doesn't want one either. Lol.

But the packup and doing things around the house was exhausting and I was over tired and didn't get to bed until way too late but I was still asleep before mel came to bed even later. We slept in until 630am...had wanted 6am but with that 1am ish bedtime it was a no go. We got things loaded with a good clip and cleaning out the fridge meant some wild life will be living large on the offerings we left at the edge of the woods. But things went into our two coolers Though because of how we packed we didn't have the coolers accessible except when we stopped but that was okay. I drove the first leg to just into Kansas. We did get Taco Johns for our last taste of midwest texan mex food in Grand Island Nebraska. We arrived in La Junta Colorado 730pm local time and after we unloaded the cats and go bags we hit up Boss Hogg's It was basic and we had the local beer Tivoli's Outlaw Light. Its a light beer but perfect after the long drive.

We got back to the hotel and chilled watching Twister and then part of mummy returns. Mel crashed the hell out on the bed fully clothed. I got Benton to shower and got ready for bed and lights outed us at 11pm. I set the alarm for 7am but I was awake at like 615am. At some point mel had gotten out of driving clothes and properly into bed but I slept okay. The cats were snuggling at our feet here and there or on Mel's hip. My only complaint about holiday inn express is that the beds have a gap under them at the back that cats can get into. And Tasha was being a PITA to get in the carrier. But holiday inn breakfast, and easily accessible ice machine and on the road we went. I drove us to Albuquerque where we got lunch at 5Guys. Feeding the teenager has been "a thing" and with his meds he doesn't realize he's hungry just angry and snippy. So we've made sure to get "double" meals for things like a shake with his burger and fries and a quesadilla with his big burrito. Mel was still tired when we was taking over so I got him a coffee shake at 5 guys and that got a big thumbs up from him and he drove us all the way home to Tucson. Now we were a bit squirrely at the end but we did take some good walk/potty breaks so that was good too. Got home, got unloaded, and we noticed the center support on the middle shelf of the fridge was cracked. Mel pulled the shelf out and was cleaning the glass when it shattered. ooops.

Luckily I got online and found the parts we needed and ordered them but am currently on hold with the company since there was an issue and the order is on hold? But it should be an easy fix. Hopefully. I was hopeful on Saturday night but we shall see. Anyhoo. Mel got that cleaned up (with the use of the shopvac cause glass was into the disposal. I ordered pizza from Mod and headed to pick it up. We were all hungry but tired and warm. The house only gets down to like 83 when its 100+ out. So we had food, a few beers and then we were all in bed pretty early cause time zones are a thing. I awoke super early on Sunday 6am and just read on my phone for a while. My back was not happy with me and I was AWAKE. So I got up and out into the family room to ready and sit up for a while. Mel got up a bit later and made coffee. He was all about putting things away and I was just a lump but I got up after my first coffee was done, got dressed and started puttering. We got benton up and headed to Joe's for breakfast.

It was old home week literally, Mary was back in town and all of the waitresses that have known us for decades came to chat. Our waitress was like "well obviously you must be regulars" and "I'm new". We explained we weren't as regular as we used to be but we still come in from time to time. The food was good, chatting with Mary and catching up on things was good as well. We got back and then I started on my puttering to get things put away a bit. My back was unhappy when ever I got up from sitting down. I wasn't too worried since I had smartly scheduled a massage for that afternoon but boy was it angry. My massage was only 60mins and my body fought it but it did loosen and then I did a bit of walking to shop at Daiso and Petsmart and Ulta which were across the parking lot from my massage place. We will soon be getting a Bed Bath and Beyond there too which is nice. The walk did wonders for me as did when I got home I put all of my clothing from the trip away, picked up my studio and set it to rights for the work day and just tidied. Mel made potato/carrot mash to go with the cooked pork chops we transported from SD and we had a nice evening.

I slept well once I reconfigured to a big stiff pillow for my knees and that helped my back tremendously. But we will be shopping for a new mattress cause yeah. Today I've been walking a bunch around the house and once my afternoon meetings hit I will do standing desk as well. But its hot in the house and I have my fan blowing on me but not much more that I can do since its evap cooling and even though the humidity is stoopid low its 104F.

So tonight will be shopping with Benton and then heading to scriptorium. I've missed the girls and I need to start working on laying out Cael's scroll. The stones we've picked up aren't big but that means I need to get working on detail. I'm hoping we can flatten one a bit if not I will head to the stone places and find a nice piece again. But the fact we roadside geology things is part of the fun.


While I've been poking away at writing this I got two death notices:
1) My stepbrother was found dead in his room near flagstaff. Autopsy today. My eldest stepsister called me to tell me and that was all the info they had. He would have been 49 in October. I had not seen him in 19 years (his dad's funeral) and had no idea had had moved to Arizona.

2) Arsenda passed at dawn this AM. I had left messages and I hope they were read to her. This fucking sucks. I've since now texted her partner and got hugs in return on text. He was my cousin Baron so long love there. Sighs. This sucks so hard.

Monday and Tuesday work was a lot of work and I'm realizing my deputy is just not great at anything. We meet, he gets actions and then doesn't do anything with it. He had a peer review for a major piece of paperwork and he didn't write down the actions. (head desk) He is not a good technical writer and its showing, he's not groking the hardware even though he's been in bed with it for months. I've had multiple people tell me issues and its not just me.

I have tons of stuff due and the motivation is low. I don't know if I'm not sleeping well or what but I wake up super tired. Today was with a headache.

Tuesday night we headed to see my Aunt in Rock Valley, IA. They had a huge flash flood at the end of June. She was okay and had an apartment on the opposite side. We had a nice meal of spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was nice to catch up with her and hear about my cousins and their kids. We talked crafts and Benton talked about archery. We showed off some of the projects we have done or are working on, talked about the SCA. I still have no idea what happened between my aunts and my Aunt Judy but its still bad blood. She didn't even want to talk about Judy and Gene. So weird. But it was a good time. We left at 1030pm and almost hit two deer coming out of town. Luckily I know how to drive in deer country but they are still dumb as a box of rocks where cars are concerned. We basically got home and went to bed.

In reading news I had finished #24 the Last Graduate and while I really want to start the next one I figure a good break would be good. I am now reading the second book in the Greta Helsing Series called Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw as #25 for the year.

We have Shanday lady doing a stop over this weekend and have Ali and Aaron and Ceran coming for a visit. So we have a bit of clean up to do before guests arrive. I did finish the mohair spinning and am now plying the silk/wool blend with the merino/sparkle. Its turning fun barber pole.

And in other weird news, we just figured out Benton and I are the same height. He's 13.

Well, I've been MIA from posting since I've had a scribal project in big works and then I had an allergy flair that laid me out, Benton got sent to DC for school trip and work was even more special two weeks in a row.

So, last I updated Benton and I were together for the week with Mel on travel. He and I survived and did good. Very little yelling and he got video game time while I did painting in the evenings. Friday (12th) had Mel home and I headed to the happy hour for Frank's send off to another program. I dressed up and put make up on and that was nice. Got to catch up with a lot of folks who had moved programs and it was nice. I was able to treat one of my engineers to drinks for a thank you and get hugs from folks I hadn't seen in a while. Sat we grabbed Ari and headed up to Phx for Cerridwen and Val's wedding. It was a lovely day, perfect weather, strong drinks, good food, party games (I still rock at corn hole). We headed home happy and satiated and Benton got a slew of kids prizes for games and things he had played. I also got to knit a bit and reconnect with knitting Cerridwen cause worlds collide and friends are friends and you didn't realize it.

Sunday I worked on the scroll and Po came over for faces and kibitzing while I got the text finally settled. I basically made it sound like a medieval recipe to make a laurel and it went like this:

To Make a Laurel (As Written)
Take a thousand words or more & sound hem forthe and drawe Þe Nobles and Crowns togidre unto a fayre procession.

If Þou wilt, lete hem be led by a fayre goode cooke dressyt yn fine raiment & high upon her hede the grandest hattuz fer all to knowe.

Bring forthe all good grene Laurels and gather togidre and caste hereto norot to fewe, ne noȝt to many the fine vestments to fit as to that noble order henceforthe, and add to writ all rank, privilege, and rights togidre fore all tyme.

And thus, we serue it forthe this Saint Agnes Day, Anno Domini MMXXIV in Anno Societatis LVIII to proclaim Magdalen Venturosa as a Companion of the Order of the Laurel. Set by Our hands hereto and hereafter.

Kona Cyng, Aesa Cwēn 

Took some wrangling to get all of the correct things in but since she is already a Pelican I didn't need to put in a patent again which would have made things awkward. I rather liked it. Plus her Hubby was doing a Chaucer piece in full old English to open her ceremony. So he read the scroll.

Anyhoo...with a few more hours painting it was done and just needed calligrapy. Work that week was nuts. I was super tired and trying to get things done was hard. Tuesday was my birthday and it was very meh. I dressed nicely since I had to be in work that day but the plan was pretty meh. Nothing special. I did bring in donuts. Mel and Benton had kung fu and fighter practice. My day shifted drastically when we got evacuated from our building and not with the fire alarm. We didn't know what was up but security had us move north of the road loop and instead of hanging at the covered area near the bus stop we headed to one of the large cafeterias to wait. We weren't sure what was going on and they wouldn't let us go south to our cars so we waited. A few hours later we got sent back to work since the suspicious package had been dealt with. Yeah they had evacuated a blast radius. But it was dealt with and we were okay. It was just a bit nerve wracking. But by the time we got back to our desks at 2pm we were all just cranky. evac news

I left work and came home and sat on my phone playing games until it was time to get Benton. I should have cooked but we picked up Canes which was not what I wanted so it tasted meh to me. But I managed to get the practice on the scroll text using a crap chisel pen and a legal pad. It had been almost 2.5 years since I had done any calligraphy so I had to practice a few times. The early gothic I used to do has not changed into a fine batarde so that was a surprise. Mel got home very late and I was cranky...he had gotten me flower (tulips and other things for my birthday which was nice but the cats kept trying to eat them). It wasn't a great birthday and just plain weird.

Anyhoo, work was nuts the next day too but I got home and did a trial run on a piece of tracing paper to the tracery of the scroll setup. I did one half and then went down a nib size and that dialed in the text for how I needed to do it for the real scroll. I made very large G&T and got at it. I'm very pleased with the result and I only made two typos. One I forgot a word and I glossed that in later and I missed a letter in her name and had to scrape and fix it. but overall it was done. Then I had to draw in the bumpers and the fancy initals I had left off. Thursday i painted that all in and then started in on the gloss. A gloss is
where a text had extra notes or translations or errors fixed later in the margins. I took feedback from friends, associates and KW peeps to add into the gloss. I used a drafting nib to write it in my own handwriting/printing. It fun and I then put spiders in the painting and elsewhere in the text areas. They are her heraldry and it was fun to hide them.

I had Friday (19) off so I ran to michaels to get foam core and made the enclosure. its been a while since I had done that but it turned out nice. I then went and helped Bridget get a battery in her car. Kia designed things dumb and I don't have a 6 inch extension for my craftsman set so I had to remove the air filter and have her hold the cowl back for me to get the dumb battery bracket undone but we got it done in an hour even with the drive to and from the autoparts store. Got home in time to pick up Benton and get his ID card and then got a massage and home to a grumpy husband. Who thought we had to be someplace at 6pm and I got home at 630 and I'm like my dude, its always a 90 minute appt and the thing doesn't start until 7pm. He chilled after that. We headed to Thyra's for Magdalen's vigil and it was old home week. Tati and Mingo arrived from Meridies, Ann and Tonius came in from Midrealm. Bridget came since her car was working and brought Maddie who is 24 OMG. Benton played with the mini aussie puppy and ate a lot of the food...which was tasty what I could eat. I mostly drank the cocoa puffs beer from Dom and chatted with people. We got home about 1045pm and we all crashed.

Saturday was Meet the Masters and Mel had packed up a bunch of weaving things for him and Floki and I packed up my scribal stuff and when we were packing Benton started throwing up. And was not stopping. I had the scroll to deliver, We were both supposed to speak to Magdalen and yeah. We made teh decision for Mel to stay how with the kiddo and the puke. I drove across town to the event. hiked my stuff in after getting the scroll signed and setup everything just before court. I sat at the back of court with Ari and Bridget and the crew gathered for the Laureling. I did not know that Magdalen was going to sing her way in for presenting the boar's head . She had the Whiskey Bards (tucson local ones). It was quite the affair. I was to speak as teh royal peer for Ivan and I and I guess I did okay cause everyone said I was inspiring. oof. But from a Royal peer you need those who make the ambience, who culture the experience of the SCA, who wear those hats you see in painting and go WTF is that?! That is Magdalen. There was an audible gasp for the scroll which is always the best part(tm) and everyone was amazed at the gloss.

You can see the scroll progress picts here.


I got the scroll for display during the day and I set up my scribes desk and callig'd 3 scrolls while chatting with Po and Ari and Dominique. Dom was across the walkway brewing beer and chatting with us too. We had a lot of school kids come and chat with us and I did a quick tour of the inside folks. Afternoon court was good and we had packed up beforehand so it was easy to go home. I had been checking up on Benton and Mel and once he stopped puking 930am...he slept until 2pm and then was pretty good.

I was hot and tired since it was low 90s and slightly windy that day. I got a shower and texted Ari and we had family dinner out for Sushi. (benton had good noodles and broth). It was nice and quiet and just the family with Dominique since she was staying with us. It was nice to chat and talk and then go home to rest. I was weary.

We slept in a bit and Sunday was a lasy day but I went and got things for Benton's trip and got my toes done. I was feeling odd though when I got home. And I will talk more about that in the next post.

I'm still reading "Making it So" #14 of the year.

With the last post I was heading towards the holiday and trying to be prepared. I was freaking out and trying to do a lot ahead to not be crazy but my brain was having fritzes where I just couldn't begin. But I took Wednesday off and I turned my anxiety into productivity with a list and things and got it done. I only had the green bean casserole to finish on Thursday...Mel had the turkey going finally but it was a weird morning cause the smoker refused to go to high and he had to replace the regulator and that was good. We still had to finish it off in the roaster but it was tasty and good. Luckily he was feeling better after being death warmed over. Ari came over early which was nice for my sanity. We got things settled and then mom blew up my phone...I think she thought we forgot her. She forgot that we had agreed at 1pm...she was hounding at noon. I had to explain that in the SW versus the midwest we arrive on time or 5 minutes past...not 30 mins early. But I got her picked up and we had a really nice meal. Benton was off...he was feeling overwhelmed and not social. I get that. He had some food and then retreated to his room to read. Its okay.

Mom was really alert and we had a nice time. She only stayed about 3 hours which was okay but I would have liked longer but I think she was worried if she had to go to the bathroom that she would have an accident like she had before. I don't know it was odd. Got her home and then came back to have drinks and relax truly for the first time in a week. Btw all of the food was perfect. All of my pies jelled and were tasty. Put Smith&Cross Rum in the Peach, Cherry Herring in the Cherry, the pumpkin was divine and DF, and the dutch apple I did I wasn't sure was going to turn out but it was perfect. I used Sugar Bee apples for the first time and they were nice and sweet but still firm when baked. Mel didn't remember we used to put booze in the whipped cream and he did it this time and loved it.

We had Thyra nd Ruhdhan in the evening for driveby chatting and food. They hadn't done a meal that day due to many things and we were quite happy to provide food and drinks. It was nice to have a 'tea' session and chat and see where things were at and then swamp styles. It was a nice evening.

Friday I got up early and went to the gym. Making it my 3rd time at the gym that week. We were having a post Turkey day HIIT session at 9am. I was a tidge early and then Keith and I realized that we didn't have anyone else. No one else showed up. No one else. which means I had the hardest HIIT session. But I did it. I burned almost 700 calories. I was so shaky on the way home. I got home, had a nice shower and then headed to my massage...expect I was an hour early...so I dinked around Ross and Petco and got some things for the holidays and what I needed. Massage was excellent and worked out all of the tightness from my morning exertions. Jesse and Jen came down for Friday afternoon and evening and we had a nice time.

Saturday we slept in a bit and I was trying to finish the 39th Book of the year and I did that. Then I picked up Mom and had her come over to 'help' wrap presents. The boys went to the lumberyard and Ace. Mom was very spacy during things. She thought we were doing lunch. So I fed her. I'm worried she's just not eating unless she really really likes something. If there is chicken in anything she refuses. Sighs.
But she was so confused on Saturday and kept asking the same question (where are we going to breakfast on Sunday) and we answered every time. Sighs. The boys were playing Grounded and I read into the evening. IT was nice.

Sunday we had breakfast with Mom and she was much more alert and cognitive. Still asked where we were going for breakfast. We went to Biscuits which was new to all of us. They were a bit patriotic for my taste but the food was excellent. Benton ordered pineapple upside down pancakes and wow those looked good. They put buttermilk pancake stuff on the griddle, toss in some cherries and pinapple, coat that in brown sugar and then flip. OMG. Mom had her usual bacon, eggs and pancakes. She didn't eat a lot but made a good dent. I had the huevos rancheros and their green sauce was AMAZING.I should have not gotten them Christmas...green all the way. It was a nice time and we dropped mom off. I relaxed a bit at home and then ran some errands to pedicure, the grocer, big lots and checked out a cycle shop. We are planning on getting bikes again and now is the fact finding missions. It was nice to just bum around with a real need. I restocked xmas paper and bags which was needed for future wrapping. I had bought a new paper organizer and finally used it and it is semi-hard sided so it stands nicely in storage.

The rest of Sunday was relaxing and hanging with Mel watching Wednesday. OMG it is so good. Like brilliant casting all around. Wonderful visuals and Danny Elfman wrote a wonderful score. We are at the last episode which will hold to watch until Wednesday. Seriously fun.

I'm now reading #40 for the year which is Tricks for Free from Seanan McGuire. This is the 7th book is in the Incryptid series and its been super interesting. Her world building is always amazing and its a fun mystery. I have 4 more books in the series until I'm caught up and that is a good chunk to get me to the 50 mark or close to it.

Monday was work and the gym and my brain is kinda quiet. I'm not too stressed. Getting more physical exercise has helped with the brain I think. And yes I know its supposed to and that is the point of getting my butt in gear but I've also been lowering my alcohol intake...not restricting per se but not having a lot when I do. So small steps forward are okay.

Project fronts....lol. I'm kinda meh. I need to plan some more simple clothes for war and outfit the boy who has my broad shoulders. But yeah. I still have socks on the needles for mel and half gloves for my self. But that is the week recap.

So this whole month has been nuts with appointments for mom. She had radiation on her hip to help with the pain. She had and full head MRI and a full PET scan. Plus all of her normal appts. This has been tough on me and her. She's in pain, having to get transported a lot. Hard on me cause its a constant shuffle of work etc. She's seeming very weak to me and just not normal weak. She's also just been a bit more not cognizant on things. Which is concerning. Thursday (7/21) was a stellar day of finding out her brain has more tumors and then her PET scan on Friday showed that she has larger tumors in her lungs, sternum and pelvic bones. They are going to try doubling her chemo med and see what happens but I'm not sure what will happen yet. I figured the drugs wouldn't be working in about 5 months from now, not now. But I don't seem to get what I want lately, not sure why I'm surprised. I've got a call into the Doc about the plan for the additional radiation they want to do. I got the test results before he did. Which is a fun thing now...sighs.

To add insult to injury, we had a incident at work Thursday at the plant that does my hardware. Everyone is safe but they had an accidental turn on of a battery when it shouldn't have been able to be turned on. Folks got evacuated and for the weekend and now things are moving on a failure review. So that was a fun. Still fun. We are shut down and this sucks. But time and the review board will figure it out. I'm part of the team so yeah so much work and my brain is sideways at times.

So I spent the weekend in a daze in a way. I wanted to badly just get blind drunk and pass the eff out. But I didn't...I did have a few drinks but nothing crazy, not even buzzed. Friday night I had dinner with Ari and Thyra...it was good to chat and not be with my mom or in my house. Saturday AM I slept way in...past when I wanted to get up for the KWHSS...but classes I could attend started at 6am my time. oof. But I got up, played stardew and then went to a facial. It was with Brook versus Marci and I really don't like Brook. I will wait until Marci comes back from leave. I just don't vibe with her at all and she doesn't really dig into the extractions as much I think she should. She didn't touch my nose at all....like I know I got gunk there...wth? I did not tip well but it was a good self care for me. Then I got cat food from the vet and home to get dressed and spent a few hours as my sCA self and attended classes. It was nice, I chatted with folks until 7pm and then I was peopled out. Mel and Benton were playing games so I took myself to the bedroom to lay down and watch things on my phone. I was too tired to think of grabbing my ipad which has a bigger screen. I was up later reading. The Twilight Watch got interesting and then that part ended and I'm now at the 3 portion of the last book and yeah. So weird still. I hope to finish it this week as it will be Book 24 of the year.

What was nice was that during the last class I finished off the shawl I had started a few days before coming home from SD. I got it washed and blocked yesterday. Today I will sew in the 4 ends of the yarn. I also managed to purge my bathroom of old makeup and stuff I don't need. Its way cleaner under the sink (I had had to remove everything due to Mel installing a shiny new faucet the previous weekend). Plus I washed all of my makeup brushes which they really, really needed. So I'm all set if I want to do makeup lol. But it felt good to get rid of 5 shopping bags full of crap. And now my tiny countertop and the top of the toilet are clean/organized.

On the project front I have been slowly sketching the scroll for the apprentice. I need to finish that up soon so I can start the next part. I'm going to rip out a sock I started for Mel cause the pattern isn't the right number of stitches. I had just finished the cuff so its not too hard to fix. I have a baby blanket set to start just need to figure out the color progression. So lots of things to start and I still have 1 shawl on the needles that is in time out, 2 other baby projects as well that I started and havne't made much progress on and some of those kids are years old now. So I'm not sure what to do there. I should just finish them and have an FO and send them off and not worry about it.

So what do you do with old FO? do you just finish them or let them sit some more? I also have to think of a new outfit for my apprentice getting her laurel....I can't look like ass and wear something old yanno. She's my first graduate so its important. Sighs...too much todo. Well back to work.

I last wrote on December 14th, 2021. I wrote about my mom being sick and getting a call from her BFF. Well on Friday December 17th I convinced mom to go to the ER. And it was not good. I got a call from the doc on the 18th and mom has stage 4 lung cancer and they moved her to a larger facility in Sioux Falls. I got there on the 21st and yeah...good times. She was in the hospital until the 5th of January (she should have stayed longer but they were out of nurse/staff) and became a full time care giver. It was not pleasant and on March 1st we moved her to Tucson to an assisted living facility. I'm now back at work for the first time 68 days. I had tried to work from her place and take care of her but it did not work. i went on FMLA on the 12th of January.

So in that time away, I finished one hat, finished a pair of mitts, crocheted a hat, started and finished a cowl and started a shawl. I've also read 20.5 books in all of 2021.

I've started 2022 pretty good:
1) Finished Mortal Sins by Eileen Wilks
2) Blood Challenge by Eileen Wilks
3) Death Magic by Eileen Wilks
4) Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
5) Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest
6) Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
7) A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
8) Fangs by Sarah Andersen
9) Hold me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
10) Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
11) My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
12) Currently reading Necromancing the Stone by Lish McBride sequel to #9

So, I'm working and getting mom to appointments here in town. Thus far its manageable. I have to say I've adulted way too much the last 3 months. Seriously. From putting cats down, to cleaning a house, the being a caregiver, to plumbing issues to handling all of the land/tax paperwork its a lot. Glad to be home.

So I'm tired from my weekend cause it was peoply and that was good!

The week was long with work things and the fact I went back to weight lifting and managed two weight lifting sessions and a Hiit session. By Friday I was tired and sore and oof. I did not over lift even though I could physically do more weight but I knew I would have more problems than I did. Did I have a few days of it was hard to pull on my pants or sit down? Yes, was it worth it? Yes.

Friday I had fasting blood work and I was starving by the time my appointment was. I ended up getting burritos and getting things settled at home, read some and then moved on to runnign errands for a few hours. Got back and played video games until it was time for me to cook family dinner. Cause we had dinner with Ari and Linnet and Mason planned cause everyone is fully vaccinated but Benton and Mason. It was a long time coming but it was good. I made steak, sweet potatoes and green beans. It was tasty. There was booze and chatting and Benton getting sent to bed early since he threw a cat at Mason but gods it was great to sit and chat and just hang out with family. So good.

Saturday I slept in with coffee in bed. I was tired already and that was okay. I got up and played video games until Jessie and Kevin arrived for a visit. Skylar was over for a while with Benton and they were bored cause the adults weren't paying attention to them but it was okay. Had dinner with Jessie and Kevin and then it was just a nice night.

Sunday was Mother's day and all I asked for was breakfast in bed which I got. I was tired from all of the social interaction and slept way in and didnt' really get out of bed until noon. But I got dressed, ran two errands and then played some video games before cooking a tasty shrimp and grits dinner. Mel and I have been going through clone wars. We realized last night that we had watched most of the first season. Its been good to get caught back up and we have a few seasons to go but its nice to binge a 4-5 episodes in a night.

I finished "Will my Cat Eat my Eyeballs" (#7 for the year) and it was delightful. Not very indepth but I guess its more a young adult/kids primer for it. So I will let Benton read it. I think he will get a kick out of it.

Now I'm in "The Burning Maze" (#8 of the year) which is the third book in the Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan. Next is a cheezy romance Ari got my for Valentines. I actually put my books in a stack to just pull the next one on the stack. So that is helpful and intimidating for things. Lol. But I'm committed to getting through that stack so I can then pull a few more things off the bedroom shelf and read.

When last I wrote I had just crashed my car and was in the final frantic stretches of prepping for our Coronation. I was panicking and then I realized I'd made a cutting error on the caftan sleeves for Mel. I lost 2 days fixing those sleeves. Note to self: handwoven fabric requires AT LEAST a 5/8ths seam....my life would have been so much easier if I'd had that but since I only had scraps of fabric left oh well. So we spent the rest of the week sewing and sewing and me handing things off to people who were awesome. Seriously. Plus I didn't rush, I didn't botch anything else and we looked awesome. Things were not ironed when we arrived to site on Saturday the 5th but I had brought an ironing board and iron and had many Hrafn ladies to help with that. My student Ai'sha knocked it out of the park on my under dress and tunic for ivan on Sunday as well. We looked so sharp.

I will have to sit and write more later on the whole day but here are the highlights:
1) My SIL flew in as a surprise to see us from Atlantia and only pounced on her brother as he walked down the aisle after crowning himself king. And then she surprised me!
2) We had a Master of Arms swear fealty to us and us alone. The cover of the June Southwind is not a flattering photo of us but it shows that moment and its importance. I'm still tearing up on it.
3) Benton is not a ham and is kinda embarassed by being heralded into court by his well meaning uncles. He was cute but kept biting on his wooden spear head like a berserker chess piece. Lol.
4) I had 25 contenders in my Queen's Champion in 106°F weather. Go me. And one of my household won it. Yay! Go Lord Mathurin!

So, the family photo, a bit blurry but cute.


Close up of the clothes during the transition:


Benton intensely watching the archery competition.


Us at Champions:


So, we got home from Coronation tired but fulfilled. Monday we took a "rest" day where we hosted scribble and relaxed with people and then Tuesday we started the car hunt cause in the interim they totaled the car. $5k in damages on a car worth $4300 due to age and high mileage. Tuesday we test drove the new 2018 Fits which we did fit into...they'd changed them since the last time. It was fun and we looked at the new Civic hatchback but Mel didn't want to test drive it...more on that later. Wednesday we test drove a Mazda 3 which Mel liked and I didn't. I stalled it which is the weirdest thing for me and well, it was stiff etc. Fun to drive but I wasn't sure I wanted that. Thursday I went back to Honda and test drove the Civic and fell in love with a car. Wow. Friday we had the day off so we dropped Ben and Mark at school (Ari was gone for the week at her work Summit), had breakfast at Bisbee Breakfast Club on Broadway and then headed to test drive Hyundai, Subaru and have Mel drive the Civic. Hyundai was okay but they had no manual transmissions in the state. :( Subaru was odd since we really liked the look of the Impreza and Crosstrek but Mel didn't fit in the back seat. His head hit. So we test drove a Forrester and really liked it. Talking price etc we realized that its in the same size class as the Xterra we used to own and well, we had to think about it. Went over to Honda and Mel got that shit eating grin of his the minute he shifted into gear. The reason he hadn't wanted to test drive it was that he knew he was going to like it too much. We talked and agreed that the Subaru was too much car for my daily commuter and the 22-24 mpg wasn't going to be good for our pocket books in the long run. So I knew talking to a few Phx dealerships that there was a Red civic in the sport edition we wanted and the Autonation here in Tucson drove up and swapped cars with them to get us the Rallye Red we wanted. Here she is without tint.








Sunday was Mother's Day and I knit and had breakfast out and had a nice day.

Yeah, things slowing down at the end of the year? Who am I kidding.....well, since I last posted here we've had Southern Crusades, Thanksgiving Break in South Dakota, Ben's Holiday Concert, way too many scrolls needed and my leg surgery is Friday. oof.

Also during that time I think I've determined that I'm going to take part in the Knitmore Girls "Grinchalong" which is basically...don't make holiday gifts from Dec 1 thru December 24th. The only thing I was going to make is socks for mel and I can do that after the holiday. Plus I want my MIL to pick our fabric for her dress I'm going to make her and we can start sewing after the holidays. So, there...grinchalong engaged!

So, Southern Crusades happened and it was weird and good. Weird since it was at the Estrella site, weird that I was there for setup and Mel wasn't...he had training and was picking up all of the kids. But I got to pull out the big camera and take pictures and that was nice.

Click the picture to be taken to the album:


Got done with that and a short bit of work and then it was teh weekend again. I stayed home from A&S for lots of reasons...mainly to just be home for once and I had to get my haircut so that was also good.

We left 2 days later for South Dakota with my Mom. That was good...much better than last year..not as much drama though we had some plumbing issues that mom got fixed after we left. We got her a new tv for xmas since the old one was 23 years old and fuzzy. We got her a Vizio 1080p 40" LED and got that setup. I had to fix the wire issues from the folks who did their surround sound 15 years ago. What an utter mess. But it works and I only had to run to town once for longer cables since we put things on a swivel extendable mount. Mom is now hookedup with netflix etc. Click the link below to see the album...I'm still editing photos.

Thanksgiving 2017 Album

In all of the travel mel's phone and laptop decided to basically die. The phone would only sometimes charge but we finally got him settled this weekend with a new one. I also got a replacement ipad and he's still figuring out what he wants for a laptop. We shall see.

So I only have 7 days left working for the year. Ugh..so much to do but I'm taking time for myself and knitting for me! Thus Grinchalong. I am doing the Jimmy Beans Wool Craftvent thing where you get an advent calenar with yarn, notions etc and you make a shawl by Xmas Eve. So far I'm on track. With my surgery on friday for varicose vein removal I should be good to sit and get through the day 8 knitting. I'm also making progress on my long lingering daybreak shawl. I also have the Old shale Shawl .

Plus I have my Halloween Socks to finish as well. Sighs. Lots for me to finihs.

Managed to do some relaxing, some antiquing, some adulting, some parenting, some knitting, some spinning and heading out to the fair. Not too shabby.

I got a new to me spinning chair:


Mel and I hit a newer antique mall and had a good time. Got Benton from school and had a nice Friday night. I may have had too many margaritas.

Saturday I relaxed while the boys went to the dojo and then we headed to the Pima County Fair again to do rides and carnival stuff as well as the exhibitors hall. I bought shoes...at the fair but how could I not?
I also ordered them in blue....

We got home and had a nice evening in. Sunday dawned at 345 in the morning with Benton falling head first off of his bunk into his trash can. I stayed up with him until he could sleep which was about 5am. He's okay, a bit bruised and reminded of why you need to put your head at the head of your bed. He had flipped around and slid down the opening at the ladder. Sighs. At 6am the cat broke int the bedroom, at 630 mel got up for Black belt testing for the dojo and mercifully I and teh boy slept in until about 830am. I was still zonked though and I managed clean up my library corner of books, patterns, yarn etc. I tidyied everything and now its useable as space. I also got out things for projects since Saturday night I finished my Darth Rainbow socks.



Mel got home at 345. Icka was over chatting since I found her something cool while shopping friday. I ran errands and then was home to cook dinner and then to work for a while before setting my spinning wheel back up to spin some fiber while we watched a movie.

All in all an okay weekend....wish I had more done but it was nice none the less.