Managed to sit down and finally write things up. I did manage to knit a bunch, got to the gym, didn't drink too much, I've been watching what I've been eating. The scale is still stuck but that is fine. My goal for SD is to eat well, not drink too much and the minute I'm done with work I go for at least a mile walk either outside or on the treadmill. I'm also bringing my workout books that I haven't even looked at for bodyweight exercises, yoga, and stretching. So at least the intent is to have the resources. I will be making sure to keep some accountability too.

Work was crazy busy. We managed a lot and getting ready for a big focus meeting this week. I finished things up late on Friday and then vegg'd watching TV and knitting. The boys went to kung fu and I made homemade potato salad and grilled burgers. They were simple but good. I did some spinning too since my hands were tired and my right elbow is still giving me fits from over use. Managed to get things going well there.

Saturday I woke up too early. I was ready for Andrea's memorial. It was sweet and funny and we laugh and cried and remembered a wonderful woman. Amy and I were on the zoom and it was fun reading the stories folks were posting. I was drained from it and then went to my waxing appt. That was pretty good. Then it was home for some lunch and heading to Willa's for movie afternoon/drinks/food. We watched the 1970s Sword of the Valiant and then the latest Green Knight. Same tale but different interpretations. The first movie was cheezy and I think I saw it way way way back when. The second was visually stunning and well acted I think. Though they did a nice job on the men's clothes the women's were lacking in many ways but they were jumping periods a bit too. Both struggled with assuming that you know the tale of the green knight. I knew some of it in general terms but not the in depth parts of the plot. Luckily, Ari is a very good with it and knows it by heart. So good discussions and nuances happened. WE also had good beer (leftovers form my vigil/war) and lovely food and vegan carrot cake from houldens rise above. It was a good afternoon/evening and I managed to finish the shawl. I had to skip the last return row since I was going to run out of yarn. I had about 18 inches left when done. That was close.

I'm happy with the Shawl.

Sunday we got up late and roughly to phx for the convention. Benton was being an ass and had not done any of the things we needed him to do ahead of time and then fought us constantly on them later. But we got on the road and to phx without incident. I had reserved parking in the PCC garage which was perfect. Its below the north side of the convention center and was easy to get to badging and in through security. We got Benton breakfast from a pretzel cart and then walked down to the exhibition floor being open. I had planned on going to two panels but just didn't. I was seeing folks and just didn't want to miss them. We ran into Johannes and Anita (who had forgotten mels helmet le sigh), Tristan and Damiana, Dominique, Tony & Roxi & the youngest. We made some purchases, had lunch from teh convention center. Benton was not dealing with the crowds well and hung out on the floor near a door for a while. But he did enjoy watching the cosplayers. We did take him to the Lego room so he could hang in the quiet. I grabbed a beer and headed to the gaming area and ran into Malcolm and did some purchases of magic cards and stickers. We finished up with the floor, got our large art purchases and headed out.

We then drove to Mayo to see Jesse who had finally stood up on his own (ish) since his surgery on Monday. He does have cancer that spread to his bones from his kidney. They are going to start radiation/immuno therapy soon. Since his leg is not doing as well as hoped they are keeping him through treatments. I'm a bit worried on the radiation to his head and how that will deal with his brain. We stayed for a few hours before then heading across phx to Tempe for dinner at Black Bear Diner (boy wanted pancakes) and then home. We got in about 1030pm and were tired. But it was a nice trip.

Monday after work I managed to get my shawl blocked, calligraphy done on the knighting scroll.

Tuesday I hit the gym and managed to get my laundry finished up and put away/hung up. I purged a few more things but have not tackled the closet well or my other drawers but I did pull things for use in SD for the trip. Gonna do some packing tonight (lay out SCA stuff etc.) but the bulk will be tomorrow night. Sighs. I had hoped to be better ahead but I we have been setting things aside etc. So not too bad. It will be fine. Its all good. I just need to do things etc.

Work has been a lot with this even we are doing but all in all okay. Time to head out now and hit knitting and then TJs for snacks for the trip.

Photos: Phx Fan Fusion Sunday 2025
Shawl and other photos tomorrow.

I really wish people would 1) do their jobs and 2) think before they do things like tell us what the problem is first with data before you tell us what the corrective action is that engineering needs to approve. 4 times in one meeting I needed to ask for the basics of those issues. We never had the first simple of part of "what is the issue?" UGH. So damn frustrating.

The day just got more of the same so when I headed out it was lame that I walked into a dust storm and then the rain hit while walking to my car. Sighs. I grabbed poke and then hit knitting. I got one pattern row and one return row done in my time there between eating my dinner, chatting and then knitting. It was nice.

Managed to get home, relax and have beer while Mel was playing Dredge. I may have to start playing this...its neato. I'm trying to crunch through to perfection on Stardew but its a PITA. Animal crossing makes me sad cause its real time and weird and I'm still missing a few things to complete and yeah. Also, mel sucks so bad at driving that boat. Ugh.

I finished up #13 but there is an added story at the back which sets up the other stories in this world and locations we had seen in the previous books. But tonight I will start #14 which is Lore Olympus 8 which I accidentally ordered a second copy even though I had been given it for xmas by the BIL/SIL and it shipped when released. oops. Linnet gets a bday gift. Lol.

My goals are next week gym time. I'm letting my lungs get back on a good clip. I still have issues and have to hit the inhaler a few times per day. So we shall see. I may get a wild hair and go tomorrow afternoon since I need to be on site for a meeting in person (bleah). It will be dead but that will be nice to get things done. My inbox is crying.

Managed to get work completed pretty efficiently after spending weeks on a finance slog. That helped me to finally get my in box down to in the 50 email range. Which is nice. I felt like I actually accomplished a few things which has been a good thing.

Got poke on my way to knitting and that was also good.

I managed to get all the way through chart one on my shawl. Tonight I work on Ari's bday gift (yes I'm late but she just got back in town today :P). Its simple but I need to pull out things I haven't touched in years to make the thing. Which is why I'm glad I cleaned up the studio so I have table space etc. Then I can package it with the other cute things I got her. Looks like we are doing dinner tomorrow night so that will work as well.

But my back is almost done shedding and the skin feels not as tight so I will be able to get thing physically moving at the gym Tuesday next week. I am going to try to do some yoga in my studio this weekend and Monday to at least stretch out. It would be good for me. Like seriously get my ass in gear. But small steps, give myself some grace but don't cut myself too much slack. :P

So, My ortho appointment was good and bad. I have achilles tendinitis. And yeah...fun times. I get a boot to stop me moving my foot for 6-8 weeks and PT. I start PT tomorrow and we shall see how that goes. I spent the weekend in Flagstaff and hobbling around using my Rus walking cane on the rough terrain was exhausting. I did walk too much but the way we were set up I had to get up and move to watch the semifinals and the finals and then it was roses circle and then and then....yeah. Course when we were packing up I tripped on a pile of banner pole holders and that was an ouch. So yeah today is hurts ville. But we have a new Crown Prince and Princess. Its a first for both of them and that brings me joy.

The ride home did not bring me joy...construction on the mountain roads to Flagstaff mean lots of lane closures and people being dumb as a box of rocks. It will be great when its done but so painful while is under construction. A trip that usually takes 2 hours took 3.5 hours. Mel whiteknuckled it while I passenger princessed, knit and played on my phone. Benton played on his switch until he ran out of powder 20 mins from the house. We stopped in Phx for food and that was a good thing. We were all tired and cranky. Rudy's never disappoints. We then got home, I took the brace off and then iced things. I was tired. Spicy had not ate well with Ari taking care (no shade on Ari, Spicy was being Spicy) so she was gobbling food.

I went to bed early and played on my phone before turning in at 11. Mel came to bed really really late. And today I'm paying for my excess of fun. Oh well. It is what it is. I had fun, I'm excited for making things...my muse has perked up and sewing sounds kind of fun again. I will need a new dress and to finally make my own coat for light weight wear. I'm going to make it 3/4 sleeve for comfort here in Atenveldt.

I didn't manage to read but I did put a few inches on a hat made out of light weight fingering yarn. Its now 10.5 inches out of 23 inches...so more to go but its pretty and soft and will be nice to wear I think. Its the Musselburgh Hat. But all good.

The weekend was nice...Friday was so long...OMG.. Work was so much work but I managed to knock everything off of my to-do list for work by 330pm on Friday.  I haven't done that in a really long time. It felt so good. Then I sat and played Stardew Valley for a few hours until dinner time.  I made my chicken dish and mel made mashed potatoes and green beans. The only change was I went 80s hot dish and added crushed up Ruffles versus bread crumbs. It made a neat texture change and was tasty.

I was asleep by 1030pm I was so tired and I had had a couple of margaritas before dinner.  So tired.  Saturday I was up early for the Atlantian University. It was good. I learned a few things and in the off ours I got the text penciled in on the porch project and more work done on my crochet shawl. I took a class on 14th Century hoods which had a stats slant to the types in manuscripts, a wonderful class on women Printers in the 15oos, an okay class on beads that lacked documentation completely and a class on the "squashed bug" style of painting in 15th and beyond manuscripts.  That class was neat.  After that I played some more video games and then went to my room with my ipad and shawl while the boys played Halo.  It was nice to sit and relax and finish my shawl while watching YT.


Sunday we all slept in and I thought I had calculated time changes correctly but missed my first class of the day.  I then went to my SIL class on dyes from your Kitchen and then took a class on making early period fibula.  The biggest thing to learn on that one was anneal, anneal, anneal which I knew but it was nice to see it step by step.  Then I played video games again and after that I got going on moving the porch project back to the porch and got some more progress on it before the mosquitos ate me alive through my DEET bug spray.  Ugh.  But I made progress on that project and the end is nearing. YAY! I also managed to get the shawls washed and blocked and my hat I made in July washed and laid out.  The studio was full of wet wool/silk and Eucalan smells and cat who wanted to lay upon the big flat surfaces covered in the wet projects.  le sigh. But its all dry enough today to hang on the shower curtain rod for final drying.  Except the hat...its thick but that is okay.

Mel and I after dinner continued on our dive through Clone Wars. We hit season 3 Episodes with the Force overlords and the battle there.  Wow, if we had known any of what those 3 episodes were about the last movie would have made way more sense.  I realize now I'm going to have to watch the crapiness of Episodes 1 thru 3 after we finish this series just to get the whole picture.  We own them on DVD cause I wanted the original series with the updates for visuals but not all of the crap lucas shoved in for the special editions.  So yay!.

On the book front I easily finished #16 When Sorrows Come and don't know why the novella at the end wasn't just part of the book but its all good. Toby finally got Married!

I'm now re-reading #17 of the year Mortal Danger by Eileen Wilkes.  I read this book a long while ago and can't remember much of it.  But I have the next 3 on loan from Mughi so I want to finish them up.  Its a neat world and a very neat take on magic.

So all in all a good weekend.  Very happy with that and I even managed to tear back on my Cloudlift Shawl that I messed up but I think I may have to rip the whole thing back to the cast on. Things are weird on it.  I will look at that later in the week. 

A little over a month ago the largest social network for fiber crafts did a launch of a new website and within hours folks with visual issues had problems. There have been seizures, migraines and brain bleeds from the site not following the accessibility rules for websites. And instead of a hard stance like the folks have taken with hate speech (its not allowed), being diversity inclusive for the LGBQTA+ community as a whole and fighting for Black Lives Matter, this entire issue has been met with all posts asking for changes etc being blocked, deleted and closed.

The staff at Ravelry are now discriminating against a minority of folks who are affected by their very product. I'm one of those people...I see differently than most folks, I need high contrast to do a lot of work and use "dark modes" on all of my tech devices as I can. I get nauseus using the new site within about 10 mins. Everything is too bright and the wrong kind of contrast. You can now "opt-in" to use the Old Ravelery but we've been told that it will be shut down eventually.

I am sad and disheartened by all of this. A community that has helped me through so much and is now not accessible to me and many others and then we are ignored, shut down and downright deleted. WTF?

In the mean time if you do use ravelry and you share links please append any links with the following:

/?newlook=0

This will default the link to the old ravelry pages and make it so folks who are like me can see the pages and now have a medical issue.

This isn't right and it sucks and I'm still in disbelief that the staff is treating this minority with such disregard when they have been so open in the past. It just boggles.

So I had a birthday on Monday and I spent the day sewing and watching Supernatural. I'm now in season 3. I'd spent Sunday the same way and that was all recovery from the 18 hour travel day on Saturday to go to a Windale event north of Wickenburg at the original Burro Creek Wars Site (aka the precursor to Estrella War). That was a fun event though a long travel day. I sewed and kibitzed and drove and yeah. long day.

Birthday was just dinner out with the boys. We went to Culinary Dropout which was new to us. Good food though and then home for cake. I had finished my Daybreak shawl by Stephen West and wore it since the AC was a bit cool.

Here is it all blocked out and then me wearing it sans makeup or even really doing my hair. Oh, well. Just not feeling it this year.







I'm quite pleased with it. I did have breakfast out after dropping Ben off at Ari's. I went to Prep&Pastry and had decadent red velvet french toast and beer. Cause you can.

My brain weasels are fighting with my productivity. I need to have the house not be a wreck to work but I have deadlines and yeah. So I'm enforcing cleaning on Friday night so we can have people over on Sunday for a work day and not worry about my house being a disaster of epic proportions. It really bugged me after we had unexpected guests show up last night for a drop off and I looked around and was appalled at the state of things. Sighs. With me finishing the shawl I'm not allowing myself to cast anything else on until I finish my Shale Shawl that has been a PITA and in time out for quite some time. But it will get finished and then I can cast on socks for us, a new cowl and the Spectra Shawl which I've had kitted up since we last reigned and haven't done yet.

The last few months have been a lot of work at work and at home on projects.  I've managing a large team of young engineers doing challenging things on a tight schedule and managing a small team of people to work on the Plurican and now I'm managing and working on the stepping down clothes for TRM and I have a hard time by the end of the day making any more decisions and I get dead locked in my head.

Had a nice night with my student who helped me work through some issues and bounce stuff off to get stuff cut out.  Yay!  I have plans to get things moving and that will be good.  I will have good progress by then end of the weekend to be able to hand off things to my apprentice and student.  Its helping but people are expecting me to constantly make decisions when all I want to do is not do anything. 

Sighs.

But it is what it is and when I was given the opportunity to do another few sewing commissions, I said no.  It was hard, I really want to do these things but mentally/Physically I just can't.

I have more mandatory, unpaid, training this friday and plan on working on these socks some more.  I had not gotten to the toe yet and you can see the progress from the previous week at training.

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.

Friday was errands, pampering and hanging out with my apprentice for boozy brunch before working from home for a while. This was most of my weekend...do things and then work for a while.

I finished my kitten hat for the march on Friday night and got my phone finally upgraded to the new OS! Yay!

I slept fitfully since I was worried that things would not go nice and the worst case scenarios where in full force in my dreams but that was no issue.

The march was inspiring and cold and hot and inspiring and I was tuckered when I got home but I worked....Benton was beside himself that I could not be his world but he settled down once I finished and he got to watch some tv with me. (grin)

After he was in bed I pulled out my armor bag and checked through and found all of my stuff and got things packed up for the next day. We even taped up a new sword which was awesome. I was nervous when I went to bed but was so tired from the night befores poor sleep that I crashed hard.

We got Ben off to Mary and Andrew's for the day and got to site to find the event already in full swing. They had moved the event start time up but had only posted it to FB. Never cross posted it to anywhere. le sigh. I talked with the social media office and stated that was unacceptable. We didn't miss anything other than a drive by court barony but still. If I'd known things were going earlier I would have gotten us up there on time. le Sigh especially since I had the scrolls for the event.

But I got myself settled with scrolls and got my fighting card situation settled (I could not find mine) and then got armored up. To say I was nervous was an understatement but I got in and got myself insinuated into the line and things just fell right into place. Seriously, fell right back and I had no issues where I felt tired until much later in the day. Yay for working lungs! Got some nice compliments, helped teach some new fighters how to take and receive charges and just had fun. Seriously, it was so good to get back into things. Got lots of compliments from folks who were really glad to see me back and some from folks who didn't know I fought heavy. But that is to be expected that there is a short generation of fighters who have never seen me take the field. Sad but true. 3 years is a long time away. But I did it, I did it well and I'm still grinning even though I'm beat to hell.



We finished up with final court, loaded things up (I got shiny new scrolls for the case!) and then before we got to the interstate Mel noticed a 5 guys and we decided to stop there for dinner. This was the best plan. I did not realize how hungry I was and I was on fumes. Our plan to wait till Culvers in Casa Grande would have been a very bad idea.

Got to pick up Ben just before 7pm and then home to unload, get the boy bathed and then get settled in for the night. I'm not ashamed to admit I was in bed by 930pm.

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