Thoughts

I'm typing this while it isn't taken care of yet, but the HVAC repair guy tells me that the capacitor on our unit failed and that is why our house has had bad air delivery since Christmas. Once the temps dropped below 40f the heating unit didn't raise the temp in the house above 65f. No matter what we set the thermostat at, it stayed low. We ended up buying a new thermostat, twice, and that wasn't addressing the problem - not that we knew that because by the second thermostat the outside temperature had risen high enough that the air conditions in the house were back to comfortable. But then the heat hit here last week and suddenly our house was at 85/86f during the sunny part of the day. This time I specified that I wanted a senior technician. He came out, heard my story, and diagnosed the problem right off the bat. Unfortunately it is about as expensive to address as adding new tires to our trunk. Which we just did and now there is even less money for us to think about spending at Pennsic. Can't call it "being nickled and dimed to death" when the "dime" is in the multiple hundreds.

I didn't do a darned thing with my sewing pile yesterday. It was too hot in the house to think about moving much. We didn't even cook dinner, just ate out of the fridge. But I got a lot done for my Pennsic job. My desk is just below two air vents so what minimal cooling was going on was doubled in that spot. I got a lot of computer work done! After the repairman leaves I will start cutting out the four hoods and their linings. I need to check my trim stash and see if there is anything that would go well on the hoods. I'm trying to de-stash trim so right now I have a box with "stuff that insults the authenticity lover in me" mixed with "woven stuff that is too, too nice to use on just any old thing". I have hopes that between them I can find something to edge the hoods with and lower my stash level a bit.

I have a request in with our lawn service to get the big tree trunk chopped up and its stump ground down. Haven't heard from them yet but I did hear from someone who wants to pick up the pile of wood (roughly half of a cord) so they can use it for firewood. That'll take a worry off of my mind.

The Kingdom of Atlantia had its University event this past weekend. The first set of classes were in-person at a small school on Saturday while the second set were virtual on Sunday. The format works if you happen to live near the site but will likely mean missing out on some Sunday morning classes because of travel if you don't. I admit attending classes in person is much nicer. It is currently made difficult because of our mask requirements when our instructor's mouth is obscured or their quiet voice is muffled by their mask, especially hard for people who are not aware that they lip-read to make up for diminished hearing. As my poor husband found out in his classes on Western Mongolian clothing and Mongolian customs within a Ger (Yurt). His instructor was new to teaching and speaks with a soothing and quiet voice.

We got to the university session later than normal since we just were too tired at 5:00am to hit the road. We went back to bed and both of us woke up refreshed at 9:30, so we drove for three hours to reach it. It was worth the drive. I spent the afternoon "helping out at the University Store" aka reconnecting with two friends and, as ya do, we solved all the SCA problems ever while we talked and laughed. And there was hugging - I don't often but it was so nice to see friends in person.

The next day I took a lackluster class on the history of the College of Arms in the SCA which fulfilled our requirements for annual classes and then a fabulous one on the use and significance of cotton in Abbasid Persia. Many would think that was a dry class, maybe signing up for it expecting examples of fabric decoration styles or treatments but instead it was all about who could grow and market cotton, relative costs of the fabric and its grower's social standing, its importance over other fabrics as the Muslim faith began to supersede the previous religions, and the effect of the global cooling later in the period as well as the reestablishment of preferences for silk among certain groups of people within the population that then spread out into the stricter upper class. Fascinating.

We're making plans to attend an archery competition in a couple of weeks. It's during the Atlantian coronation of our new king and queen - people I don't know at all. That is so strange to me. It turns out that there was miscommunication between the archery marshal in charge and the folks who were helping him get everything organised, so now I am committed to sewing three pilgrim's bags to use as prizes. I'm a little irked that he didn't tell us that he had not lined up someone to make the things and here it is just a little under two weeks from the event, but I've got the fabric now and tomorrow I'll start sewing them together. It shouldn't take too long. Somehow I am going to have to impress on him that asking a craftsman to make something good enough to be prizes is not a task to put off until two weeks before the prizes need to be awarded. But luckily a Laurel in the local group had just taught a class on making the bags and this morning she dropped off one complete one (golden wool lined with scarlet), two different full-sized patterns, and a lovely purple wool someone had donated for the class which had not been used. I dragged the marshal with me to the fabric store this afternoon and he purchased the rest of the necessary materials. And we found, in the remnants bin, one yard of blue suede. It is very, very "heraldic blue" and has a nice soft hand feel. There was printed canvas duck available with a traditional Turkish fabric pattern stamped on it in blue and white which will be perfect for the lining. I expect that one will be the main prize. And he bought some silly holloween/thanksgiving printed fabric to be used to make a joke prize for one of the better-known archers. They do love to razz each other. The incoming Royals are adopting a "pilgrimage" motif for their reign and have arranged to have various badges be given out to attendees at select Kingdom-hosted events. There are six and they fit together to form a map with a river (or trail, whatever) between points of interest. It is a fun idea and I think people will enjoy gathering their "pilgrimage" badges. This FB post has pictures of the badges: https://www.facebook.com/duchessadelhait/posts/pfbid023PViKbLwArWS7mJJgNCEqBbNzZ9cYNHhEk2GwmVeb21dCenpAW3jgKLUNo55ZPN4l


Not related to any of this, do you remember me complaining* about my new PCP whose mantra seemed to be "well, you're just fat and that is the source of your woes"? It seems she is no longer employed by the medical group - and it's a BIG group, covering most of the commonwealth of Virginia. One day she was there as normal and the next day a nurse called to ask who I would like to replace her with as, she explained, "the doctor has moved on to, ah, other employment opportunities." So that is that.

*Actually, I complained in a different venue. But really - I was vacillating between sticking it out to teaching her new views and kicking her to the curb and finding a different primary physician.

I've been dealing with the side effects of Amitriptyline. It caused tremors and then cardiac arrythmia when I took the initial dose but it also alleviated my nighttime leg cramps and I was able to get restful, deep sleep. I woke up feeling more cheerful and energized. Until the arrythmias became a daily thing. That scared me into discontinuing the medication cold turkey until I could consult my doc (that was miserable.) So because it was so successful in alleviating the nightly cramping we're trying out a half-dose right now to see if the tremors come back or are tolerable if they do. Well - they're back and I'm not sure if I can tolerate them or not. Typing is a bit difficult. My hands don't shake but controlling their movements is hard. I need to watch myself type lest I hit the wrong keys. I'm going to give it a little while longer in the hopes that I can adapt, assuming they don't get any worse or my heart doesn't gets involved again. I really love being able to sleep at night.

I have been feeling "up" enough to start sewing again. I've cut out seven tunics and two surcoats as pre-Pennsic projects. One tunic is sort of a by-blow - I am making two undertunics for a friend who dresses in 14th century Mongolian attire. He wants horizontal slit neck openings with a button and loop to hold them closed, which I finally made. Yuck. And I think he's going to find that they are not comfortable under his deels. So I am making an additional tunic with a regular round neck opening as a "just in case" item, a gift from me. Well, they are all gifts, actually, as he isn't paying me for them. After cutting out this third tunic it looks like I have just enough fabric left for one more under tunic for either Bossman or I and there's a whole bolt of fabric I no longer need to store. YAY!

I'm 65 years old and I've just been taught the size differences between one size and two sizes larger in women's under wear. Oh my. I foolishly ordered two packages of new undies, also a pre-Pennsic thing, and didn't notice that I'd ordered them two sizes too large until I had already opened the first package. That one can't be returned. Those suckers are HUGE! I wonder if the size difference increases logarithmically or something. Then again, maybe "huge" will be an advantage while camping in the hot and humid summer.

In other news, we came home from fetching dinner (subs) to find the house reeking of gasoline. We traced the stink to the lawn mower in the attached garage. It is now sitting on the front porch. I foresee a major purchase in our future. Especially as our weedwhacker decided to start dying last weekend. This wouldn't be a "major purchase" except we are less than a month from vacation, one that involves driving 10 hours to get there. At 17 miles to the gallon it is going to be an expensive trip just in travel. So much for spending money at the merchant's booths I guess.

I just put shredded pork and a package of pork drippings (the liquid remains from our slow cooker) in the freezer. I've been promising myself for a week that I'd turn it into lumpia but one thing and then another delayed me and today, after waking up yet again with a throbbing headache, I decided I'd better safeguard my fixings by freezing them. The drippings are going to be substituted for the water I use to make the rice for the filling. It'll either work or be a disaster. Poor me, I'll have to taste the rice before it gets mixed in with the rest of the filling.

I don't know how long it takes for the internal part of an eye to change its pressure after a diabetic gets their blood sugar down to a safe level but I hope it isn't too long. I need new glasses. I'm fairly certain that eyestrain is the major contributor to my daily headaches but it is still too soon after the endocrinologist's appointment for me to get my vision checked. Uncontrolled high glucose levels increase the internal pressure in the eye and distort vision. My levels are dropping now and stabilizing so it shouldn't be too long before I can make a vision appointment. Since I'm wearing trifocals my glasses are expensive even with the great insurance we have so I'm trying to be patient and play the waiting game.

I bought a fez a few days ago. It's large for my head, which is a good thing as it will sit low to be the base for an Ottoman Turkish headcover. I'll have to remove the (sewn on!) tassel and then do some sort of decorative work on it before adding a veil or else I'll risk being mistaken for a really strange Shriner. I'm looking forward to the project. I only have two Turkish coats and one undertunic - and that tunic has got to go! It is a heavily woven cotton and doesn't breath worth a darn. I think I could sew it into a sack and it'd carry water. But it worked for the quicky purpose I needed it for and I don't regret making it. I would regret not replacing it with something better. I am torn between using some of my already-purchased cotton (or maybe there's some linen) muslin or leveling up to buy a really thin almost-transparent linen, which would be more correct-to-period. It'd be nice to reduce my fabric stash a bit more but since I'll be wearing this next Pennsic in the summer heat, linen appeals. And at some point I'm going to make one or two more outfits. I like wearing Turkish garb.

Day four of the caging snow. It is actually more dangerous on the roads right now than it was yesterday. Most of the roads are coated with snow packed down to ice, with high-edged ruts or piled snow along the edges blocking access to the drains. We ventured out to make a grocery run and saw quite a few accidents during our 12-mile round trip. Most dangerous are the drivers in trucks with empty beds or lightweight top-heavy SUVs who were travelling on partially-cleared 4-laned roads while driving in excess of 50mph - those were city roads with random stop lights and lanes suddenly covered in white ice. Idiots.

Also idiotic is the mindset which causes men (it seems to always be men) to insist on backing into a clear driveway from an ice-packed road with three cars parked at the curb across the street... luckily one of the neighbors my husband blocked from reaching his home had about ten pounds of road salt in the back of his SUV, which he shared with Bossman so between that and the backing/forwarding rocking of the truck the hubster finally got our extra long truck away from being a total roadblock. I was scared to death he was going to hit one of our neighbor's cars - the truck was skewing (!) sideways in the road and getting its self more horizontal to the road than before. I have never seen my man take such a risk just to have the nose of the truck pointed toward the street in our driveway. We rarely put the truck in the driveway as it requires our across-the-street neighbor to have an empty curb in order for us to even pull out. Having his vehicle stuck at the curb and all that rutted icepack on the road - - I have no idea what my guy was thinking. We have a Ford 250 with a six foot bed. It isn't short from bumper to bumper, nearly as long as the road is wide.. Neither is it lightweight. There was burning rubber involved and a lot of adrenaline as he spun the tires, burning through the ice to the bare pavement. I jumped back about five feet (and nearly landed on my hinny) when the truck slid sideways towards me the first time - and then he did it repeatedly afterwards until he got traction. Good gravy that was alarming.

Schools are out tomorrow, still. And likely the next day. The city is basically paralyzed until the snow melts more, with the road crews unable to even plow our main roads much less the vast tracks of neighborhood ones.

There is going to be a heck of a lot of potholes to repair this spring. But we've four days of daytime temps being above freezing and rain coming on the warmest days so hopefully by the end of the week we'll see mostly-clear roads.

The end of the week is when our local area is hosting Kingdom 12thNight. The organizer has pulled out all stops in getting everyone she knows to do her a favor in running something for the event. We are filling every available room in the convention areas, which take up two floors of the building. There is one restaurant on the bottom floor. We've just learned this is important, because she held back on the information that non-staying guests will not be allowed to bring in any foods, beverages, or alcohols, so luncheon cannot be a sideboard. We must eat in their restaurant or leave the hotel for a meal. Those of us who are on specialized diets (us diabetics are livid) are scrambling to find workable solutions. Mine is an age-old one. We'll bring a cooler to keep in the car and smuggle our munchies inside. Jerks. I sure as heck am not giving Pat Robinson's foundation $15-20 (or more) for a hotel lunch. And I've publically asked how this policy will affect those of us who are giving food items as gifts.

My Khanate (a small unit of members of the Dark Horde) is running a gaming room for the event. We'll offer period games - board, dice, and cards - during the day and open the room for both modern and period ones once court starts. I have no difficulties keeping the game room open during court as I, as are many Atlantians, are attempting to have the least amount of contact with Atlantia's current monarchs as we can. This way we will provide a comfortable space for those who would otherwise feel that they might as well leave the event at that point. We were going to keep the gaming open for the duration of the event since there is dancing after feast, but with the news about the food/drink situation, we'll likely fold up when feast begins.

And before that, I need to get a muslin cut out and tailored into a decent del and then make the del, or I'll be the only member of my Khanate who is not dressed in a Mongolian style. And I'm the Tarkhan, the head of the khanate! Dels have been a running sore spot for me since I joined the Horde years ago, as big bosoms and bathrobe-lapping tunics are not friendly. There is always some sort of gap to flash a bra at others no matter how I cut it in a period-correct manner. My co-sufferers just pin theirs to keep the gap closed but it looks like crud that way and I refuse to do it. I had one del that worked but it only did that because I sewed the flaps to each other from the inside and had to take it on and off by pulling it over my head. The side ties were just for show. I really need to experiment and get one draped correctly.

I have acquired more stuff. On Friday we travelled to a Sam's Club out of our area so I could get a shiny red tricycle rather than the shiny gold ones available at our local store. Yeah, we checked out regular bike shops first but the price difference for the rather boring and mundane model that I wanted was huge - I'm not ready to spend a minimum for $500 for a bike when I don't even know for sure that riding it is going to be something I can maintain! So - shiny red bike came home in a box. Sunday morning, after he woke up and saw that I was desperately fighting to get to sleep, my man waited until I'd succeeded and built the bike on his own, letting me sleep for eight hours rather than waking me up to be a part of the Trike Building Team. There is now a long scratch through the paint on the support leading up to the handlebars - and I don't care. Because he sunburned the heck out of himself and sweated a few pounds, too, so I could have my new toy for this week's increase in my physical activity plan. I'll get some car paint to dab onto the scratch marks. Or maybe just by some reflective paint and decorate right over it.

Riding a trike is weird. You can't lean into a turn. In fact leaning seems to be counter-productive, as it misaligns the rider to the bike frame. That is going to take some getting used to and will likely impact any decision about buying a regular bike down the line.

I've been researching headlights and tail lights. I already know that I will most likely be riding during the night so those are quite important. I don't know how it is in your area but my little corner of suburbia has few sidewalks, if any, and we are legally required to ride out bikes on the roads... where reckless drivers can ram us on their own terms. Or so it seems. Which is one reason why I'd rather ride at night - fewer cars on the roads and bright lights on my trike will make me far more visible than I shall be during daylight cruising beside parked cars and trailers on the sides of the roads.

I am not actually required to buy a helmet. My own doctor told me that I needn't, pointing out that since helmets are normally worn to protect a rider from damage while falling and the likelihood of falling off of a tricycle is about 5%, it is not necessary for me to wear one. (He said that if I were to be riding and fall because I'd been struck by a car, then there would be a lot more to worry about than head injury. Likely he is right about that but the cautious part of me is still looking at a helmet. If I can wade through all of the ones offered online. Good gravy! It is worse than porn!

Saturday we delivered the small fridge to its new owners and came home with my 15K89 Singer sewing machine. Which does not have an operator's manual online. I shall have to use the 'generic' 15K manual. Oh, and it does come with a case. So this is what I've got now.


I haven't tried to use it yet and likely won't until I get the 22 sheet walls for our GDH camp perimeter sewn and painted. Or at least as painted as they are going to be by mid-October.

Three weeks of living in the muggy outdoors was exhausting. And yet not. For the first time I had an air mattress on my bed rather than a real one and it was a joy. The mattress predictably lost air during the first night and then stayed in that state for the rest of the time. Its softness was an awful lot like sleeping on our waterbed. For once I came home without sore shoulders and hips. And slept deeply, too, almost every night.

The Deputy Mayor job was fun. Great, even. I'm going to miss doing it next year.

I'm taking a year 'off' from the SCA. Or more specifically, from my local group. Maybe two years, I don't know. I've been very excited about my plans ever since I made the decision - projects that I had waiting are now things I am looking forward to, and I'm even planning new ones. They are all for my own satisfaction - no deadlines, mostly, and no pressure to please others or work around their expectations. So relaxing.

This break time will eliminate the time sink volunteering has had over me so I cannot use any more excuses about getting stronger and building muscles & mobility. I'm looking forward to camping next summer and being able to be useful during set-up, or rather, during unpacking and erecting the pavilion. I AM useful during set up after the pavilion is up, as I am the one who arranges all the furnishings and creates the kitchen set-up. But the heavy lifting has been done by my husband and it's not fair.

Yesterday started the 'build muscle' regime. Minorly, just one exercise done here in the house, but I feel good about it. Today I return to my food log. It was lovely to set it aside for a month (a whole month!). I ate double-stuffed Oreos last night as my celebratory farewell to unmonitored munching. It wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be - the dietary changes have modified my dining desires. I would have killed for some decent cherries instead. Alas, the season has passed.

Today I also pull out my sewing machine to put together the rest of the blank sheet walls our camp will use for War of the Wings. Or at least 'this batch' of them. I've had the fabric sitting there for a year and was never inspired to finish it up, even with a whole bag of bias tape hanging from one of the cabinets in the craft room as a 'reminder'. Now I want to do it.

After I get some sleep. It's become fugitive again so I guess the "Pennsic Recovery Period" has passed.

I have been upending my life. Sort of. It finally came to me in a moment of clarity that I was suffering from a deep burnout with the SCA. Not with 'living history' or my love of what we study, but with the society, or the various personalities, of those I interact with and what they expect of me. And like many volunteers, I'd overloaded myself with jobs and long-term projects to the point that I was not doing anything I enjoyed but merely what duty dictated.

I was angry and resentful towards my friends who were not knocking themselves out on a local level to 'make things go'. Lividly angry, in a couple of cases - and unfairly. Haven't we always preached "Do what makes you happy; if it isn't making you feel happy or fulfilled, stop it!"? But yet I'd ignored that directive in my own case to give in to 'duty'.

One of the odd things about being created a Peer in the SCA is that we have a almost uniformly-accepted mandate to 'continue to work to improve the Society'. We are openly scornful of those who step aside to see to their own pleasure as that is something acceptable in non-Peers but is shameful in us.

I fell into that trap.

Heck, I was so overwhelmed with jobs waiting to be done that when I wasn't sick, sleeping, or doing housework, I was stressing over what I 'should be' doing. I haven't even built my newest Lego buildings - which if anyone knows me, is downright weird.

So I took a deep breath, recentered myself, and resigned. Sent notes to my barony and Heraldic & Chatelaine superiors that I was resigning from various jobs, that I would not be taking on new ones, and was stepping aside to recharge my SCA batteries and recover from burnout. (I am still the drop-dead deputy for our Kingdom Herald but since that only really involves a few email discussions every few months, it was nothing that needed stepping away from. I'd like to keep my hand in a bit.) However, and this is just for my own edification later on when I start to thinking that I can return to volunteering, ( this is what I am stepping away from: )

Burnt.

Out.

It is my hope that in a few months I will re-read this and exclaim in wonder about how grumpy and sour I sound, and be thankful that I don't feel like that any longer. I need to get my mojo back.

It has been a tumultuous week & a half. I'm going to bullet-point. Sorry, I know that is not the best journalistic style.

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I've been too sick to drive for Uber. I haven't been sleeping well but even though I'm awake during the hours I'd normally be driving, I'm tired and dizzy. I miss it. I also miss the minor extra income it brings in.

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We drove to Cooper's Lake a week ago, on a Friday as folks were getting out for lunch, which meant hitting DC rush hour traffic midway through our trip. Luckily for us we always take a route that runs diagonally across the state so our overlap with the dense traffic was short term. And, although I shouldn't have, I had a Dairy Queen banana spilt for dinner. Because I could and we were there. It is at our traditional gas/food stop during that trip.

I was stressed about the meeting for the next day. My lousy health this winter/spring meant that I was not as diligent about getting my Pennsic job done and I had 37 email strings (Gods do I hate gmail and its formatting!) to wade through before the meeting, some of which were letters asking for my help and having been dated a month ago. It was shameful. As it turned out, I was about even for 'doing my job' with the rest of the Deputy Mayors, which is both heartening and embarrassing all at the same time. Guess we all had a lousy few months. Nonetheless the emails were sorted, my departments were updated, and I'm now back in the loop again. Although about $200 poorer because I can't request a refund for my travel costs.

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I've decided to take a break from Pennsic staff next year. Sure, I'll do duty - we all should volunteer a few hours - but overall I am going to be a 'tourist' and relax. It is the first time since Pennsic 21 that I will not be on staff. I did schedule a break one year but a friend guilted me into running a Page's School once we got onsite. The autocrats had never bothered to find a staffer for it and there I was, sitting with her on the Cooper store's front porch trying mightily to resist while drinking Pennsic Chocolate Milk (it deserves the capitalization) when a little girl came out of the store with her brother excitedly telling him that "THIS year I'll be eight years old so THIS year I get to go to Page's School too. You don't get to have all the fun this time!"

Well yeah. We were both Boy Scout Commissioners and we could put a one-week school together while standing on our heads and blowing kazoos. So no break for this staffer. (It was a good school and people were absolutely fantastic about stepping up at the last minute with few financial resources. I still remember some of the classes with nostalgia.)

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The lumpia fundraiser thing is done. More specifically, I am done pimping the sales. It was a total flop in that we profited only $80 and I have sealed and frozen lumpia filling our freezer to the very top. Over 900 sticks of it, not to mention the 200 or so over at our Baron and Baroness' house. But - done and no longer my headache. Except that my failure haunts me.

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I've 'fired' my weight loss dietician, which means I've quit their program since there is only one 'non-surgical' doctor. I've finally learned that 'encouragement' isn't an aspect of their care but pushing more drugs as an answer to the slowing down of loss is. I've not lost any weight in months but neither have I been the least bit diligent about cooking, exercising, or watching my calories during the months of feeling sick as a dog. Twice I asked for a 'pep talk', a group to meet with or anything that may help me regain my perspective when I went in for my follow-ups and each time I was told that they "didn't do that and have I considered this drug or that surgery?" I need to regain my enthusiasm for cooking foods again instead of tiredly reaching for whatever ready-made or easily-grazed item is in our cupboards. Now that the exhaustion from last month's cold has begun to lift the kitchen is starting to look more attractive to me. Next comes motivating myself to the gym.

- Sewing must happen. A lot of it. I had a family and a single guy needing loaner clothing for the event this weekend (the single guy's roommate posted at 10am on Facebook on the day the event opened, asking for 'whoever is in charge of Gold Key". They didn't actually get to my house until after 8:30 at night, long after the event had started. Yes, it was crazy for me to even allow it. But I did so knowing that with such a gross abuse of courtesy on her part (he didn't know any better but she is a Laurel), I could now have a group-supported 'rule' put in place requiring borrowers to contact me at least two days before an event. And the new guy, who'd never met me or anyone else in our group, has a few names and faces to remember. He seemed rather embarrassed about it. I learned later that it may have been because our Chatelaine visits their house two or three times a week to see their other roommate and she'd told the Laurel over and over again during the past month that she should contact me early if she needed to borrow anything.) I was at home because I was sewing a tunic for the son of the first family, who could not find a single thing in our Gold Key that would fit except for one cotton and one thick wool tunic. With an expected high of about 90f, wool wasn't going to do.

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I am lividly angry with our country's health care situation. Our (past) baron is dying of a cancer that cannot be cured. That makes me angry in one direction but more importantly to me (given the 'somethings we just can't take care of' situation for cures) is the fact that his wife is killing herself trying to take care of him, their child, their home, and keep an income coming in while the medical community stands by and whistles in the wind as she whittles herself down past the point of exhaustion. Cancer shouldn't cost two lives for every infection.

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And a man I respect highly and love dearly is dying of a different kind of cancer because he cannot afford health care. He's too proud, too private, and too, too exhausted with the medical merry-go-round to even consider trying to start a "go fund me" sort of thing so he is going to die while ignorant idiots posture and rant about the 'evil that is Obamacare'. I swear by the Almighty, if one person snarks "Obamacare" to my face I am going to pop them in the kisser. Yes, it is a freaking ugly package - but that sure as shooting wasn't Obama's fault and the politicians who posture and prance while fanning their egos with it have cost, or will cost, many of us the lives of people we care about.

And I don't love that man half as much as his partner, who is the mother of their pre-teen daughters does.

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I'm wiped out tired. Think there is a way to change out one's batteries?

In spite of not feeling well* I've been fabric shopping. Yes, Ms. "I don't want to stockpile fabric" went out and poured cash into the hands of retailers. Some of it was personal purchases due to Hancock's closing (over 300 dollars spent, although a chunk of that was on tools rather than fabric. I'll be setting aside my plans for buying an adult tricycle for a while until I reimburse our household account for that trip!). Other spending was not my own money. But of our own, one of the things we picked up was 'trim fabric' These ones:


A few yards of each will net me some lovely early-period stripes to turn into trim that is lightweight enough to actually bend and drape as fabric should rather than being thick and rigid as so many hand-made SCA trims end up. One of my goals as I learn how to weave is to make pretty trim that is pliable instead of stiff. I dislike seeing sleeves, for example. bow out in a stiff circle at the biceps because of the trim applied over the seam line.

We got over a hundred yards of various fabrics and one trim in three colours from an upholstery shop that was going out of business. Those are for the barony's Gold Key (newcomer's loaner items) collection. I'll be sewing until Pennsic, most likely, to get all of that converted to clothing. Of the blue there is about 53 yards. Wow! But at a dollar a yard for fabric and 75cents a yard for trim, it will be a real money saver.






*We thought I was struggling with a mean UTI - treated it once, had it return, treated it again, and then the longer test results came back showing no evidence of bacteria, so now a week into the second round of antibiotics and pain meds we've hit a wall. The next step is a specialist. In the meanwhile, I have deep-seated pain at the kidneys and lower abdomen which is sapping all of my energy. We've a weekend demo for the SCA coming up where I'll be doing onstage presentations - and all I really want to do it stay in bed and try to sleep. Somehow we'll make this work. I am not looking forward to loading our tent and equipment up, setting up, demoing, and then tearing down again. The thought exhausts me. But Bossman says we can do it so I believe him.