Super Blue Blood Moon Day--Another short post

Totally exhausted.  Unable to keep my eyes open or concentrate on anything.  I missed the super blue blood moon this morning.  Totally forgot about it.  Today at school was better than yesterday.  For some reason chatty students are getting on my nerves more than usual.  That is probably a lack of sleep thing too.  Yesterday was stressful for other reasons.  Tomorrow is a new day and I will laugh and it will be good.  😊

Today my happy is taking it easy this afternoon after work.  Now to sleep.

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Squid Day-short

At school today we dissected squid.  Now I managed to get out of dissecting in school.  I was one of those who chickened out of the thing.  In all honesty, I watched from a bit of a distance very interested and wishing that I was more involved.  That is kind of the story of my life--watching from a distance and wishing I was more involved.  Today, despite other things that were off at work, I managed to assist many students with squid dissection.  This is very out of my comfort zone.  Not only did I help students but I brought some home for dinner, cut it up and gave it to K to cook up.   Then I even TRIED it!  I didn't like it, but I did try it.  Stepping out of my box is my happy for today.

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Ice Castle--Many pictures

School went fine today.  It was the first day of the after school gaming program with a few different kids than before.   Most of our first day was going over rules and regulations.   Next week there will be game play. 

After work, a nap and food all the family went to Ice Castles.  It was a cold weather blast.   Beautiful lighted ice walls with arches, tunnels, slides and little alcoves.  There was a water fountain too.   I crawled and squirmed through a few tunnels and went down the slide and got a boot full of snow.  Gideon decided that one of the tunnels just wasn't for him but he had a great time with other tunnels and the slides.  This family outing is my happy for today.

K, Z, Gideon, C, E and me.

Water Fountain

Glamour shot

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Yesterday and Today--Many pictures--kind of long

Yesterday: I woke up early to help out at gate after not sleeping well.  The event we went to was Birka.  I don't know the exact numbers but there were over 1500 people there.  I helped out at the gate where people pay their entrance fee, mostly by counting money in the backroom.  It is a dirty job, but someone has to it.  I also got to visit with friends.  Because I wasn't running gate this year I was able to leave before it closed to attend Baronial Court and then Kingdom Court.  Unlike our modern day courts, at these awards are given and people are recognized for good things they have done.

At the Baronial Court the Baron and Baroness presented awards and one of them was a brand new one.  They now have an award for children who participate in the Barony.  Three children were honored as the premiers.  One of these is Gideon. 

Gideon reflects on the award.

There were other awards given out to friends and acquaintances.  K made some of the scrolls for them.  

During the Kingdom Court there were many more awarded.  Most of these people I don't know, but a few I did.  One of my best friends was made a Baroness of the Court.  We have 2 different types of Baroncies, Landed who are the voice of the royalty in a specific area (state or county etc) and Court (See here).   She is one of the people who does a huge amount of behind the scenes stuff in helping our Barony run.

Some of us went out to dinner after court at the restaurant in the hotel.  A former King stopped by and said hello.  He knew 4 of the 6 of us right away and made conversation.  After a few minutes he recognized me as well.  A few years ago, when he was sitting the throne, he and his Queen inducted me into the Order of the Pelican.  It is a great honor and I was pleasantly surprised that he remembered me and seemed to with more clarity than I think I would in similar circumstances.  When one is royalty in this group they must meet hundreds of people in a very tight period of time (less than a year) and for me, it would be a challenge to remember them all I think.  As I write this however, I think of so many faces with no names that I see event after event that I remember from year to year as familiar, so maybe I would remember more than I think.  It was a nice mood booster to have been part of this conversation and it helps me to remember why I enjoy this group.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the day.

The Landed Baron and Baroness 

Gideon getting his award, Tabula Rasa.

My SCA Heraldry

Trying on her new coronet after becoming a Baroness. 

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Today: I went to a meeting in the morning at the Kingdom level.  It was the first time I attended one at that level.  It was interesting and I really liked the way they ran the meeting.  At the Barony level our meetings are much more laid back.  There was more organization and only certain people were expected to participate but anyone could attend.  After, I chatted with a few friends before heading out to a very late breakfast with K and other friends.  Always good to spend time with them.  

The rest of the afternoon has been unwinding.  Gideon and I watched a movie while everyone else went out.  The movie was more intense than I expected.  K told me that the beginning was sad but it had a happy ending and Gideon had seen it before so he knew that.  I'm not sure I would call it a happy ending, but perhaps that is my own melancholy coming through.  My moods have been a bit off kilter lately.  Small things making me want to cry.  Things seem to be going well for me, much less stress and anxiety with this job, or at least a different kind of stress.  Yet the last few weeks things that normally wouldn't bother me are bringing a tear or more to my eyes.  I'm writing it off to hormones for now.  At the same time my cheeks are sore from laughter and smiling over the last few days.  It is the laughter and smiling that are my happy for today.  May the laughter drown out the tears.  

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January 27th-Raincheck

It has been a really long day.  Tomorrow I plan to write about today's happenings.  My happy for today is watching my friend become a Court Baroness.

Friends

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Big weekend

There are so many special people in my life.  Tonight I am at an SCA event where I volunteer to help check people in at gate.  A few years ago the gate was my responsibility.  I found the volunteers to work the various parts and managed it.  I have found someone to replace me and I am now her backup.  We expect to have close to 2000 people come through tonight and tomorrow.  It can be a daunting task.  I believe this is the 3rd year that I haven't been in charge but I still have at least one nightmare prior.  It is generally concerning my forgetting to have the right amount of change for the registers.  This year the dream involved me getting to the event and having no change and other people were already there.  Thankfully, this hasn't really happened.  So far everything is running quite smoothly.  And I really enjoy doing these things and the people that we work with and see.  It is all my happy for today.

I took a picture but it won't download over the hotel internet.  Maybe tomorrow.

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Very short

Gideon and I were supposed to have a science project for the event this weekend.  We tried to put something together for a little while after work today.  Sadly, the project will not be done for this event.  Considering the limited space this time, it is probably for the best.

This evening we played Snake-Oil.  My cheeks are still a little sore from all the laughter and giggles.  Playing games with the family is my happy for today.  😀😁😀  Now sleep is calling to me.  Work tomorrow followed by a very busy weekend.

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Frosty Morning

Some things at work are starting to click finally.  It seems like I was on top of things pretty well when I first started and then not so much for the last little bit.  Like I got into a routine but not the best routine, just an okay one.  Hopefully things will continue to improve.  

Home this afternoon to an empty house.  Thankfully C & E came back with Gideon soon after I got home.  We all tried to make plans for the rest of the week.  We got through tonight and that pizza would be dinner, dishes and general cleaning up would be followed by a puzzle and that a friend of mine was coming over so we could help her string tokens for the event this weekend.  It was all good.   My happy for today is a bunch of us doing the puzzle together.   I think I have a felt pad somewhere in storage that can be used to store an unfinished puzzle.   It is something that I will keep when it is found.  

Frost on the windshield of my car this morning.

The sun rising this morning. 

 The preparing to set this evening.

We did a puzzle!

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All Together-short

There was a delay at school today because the weather consisted of freezing rain and icy conditions all night.  It was supposed to be rain during the day but it pretty much stayed freezing.   On my drive home there was a car upside down on the highway.  This is also the day my son (C) and his partner (E) flew in to visit.  Thankfully they flew in far enough south that it was rain, not freezing rain.  My daughter (K) drove to get them though so I was a little nervous for a while waiting for their arrival.  They arrived safe and sound after dinner and there was much hugging.   Now that they are here I am wishing I had taken some time off from work.  Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.  Gideon and E have talked on the computer a few times and made fast friends.  I'm looking forward to more catching up and getting to know E better this week.  Needless to say, being with my kids is my happy for today. 

Lots of ice.

 Droopy

C, me and E 

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Car Rides-not short

Netflix recently started airing Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (better link) with Jerry Seinfeld.  For those of us who rely on things like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime instead of cable or satellite TV, well, we don't see all the things when they first come out.  I have no idea how long this series has been around and none of this is relevant to what I mean to write about.  The episode that I watched tonight had Sarah Jessica Parker and they drove around in some old station wagon that brought back memories of her childhood.  They talked about kids playing with their Etch A Sketch, Mad Libs, or ... something else... in the back seat and groceries rolling around when making corners and the lack of a cup holder.  I was thinking about this and how different things were for my kids and even more for my grandson. 

When I was a kid in the back of a station wagon there were no seat belts.  My brothers and I would fight over who got what spot, there would be a no man's land and if that line was crossed a hand was slapped.  I remember falling asleep in sleeping bags in the back of a station wagon, again, no seat belts.  I remember Mad Libs and Etch A Sketch in the car and also some thing that had a pen that turned the correct answers gray.  We would sing, play the alphabet game and something that had to do with cemeteries.   We would see how many different states we could find on license plates.  I used to think that we were in the car a lot, at least during the summer, but we seldom left New England.  My kids and I traveled quite a bit more, including across the United States a couple times.

Having painful memories of having my hand slapped I was determined that my kids would behave in the car.  Oh, the fantasies one has as a young parent.  My children had many of the same things I had.  We played Mad Libs and Etch A Sketch but we also had books on tape with read-a-long books with pictures so they could follow along.  We sang songs and played the alphabet game.  We would see how many different states we could find on license plates.  There were always atlases in the car (no GPS).  We played a game where I would say what state we were traveling to and from and how many states we had to go through to get there.  They had to come up with the states to go through and could use the atlas when they were younger, but not as they learned them all.  Eventually they also had Game Boy and read books and the adults could listen to music that wasn't Disney or Disney books.  Or they did school work.  Generally they would rather look out the window than do a worksheet though.  They also had seat belts.  I joked that riding in the car is the only place you can legally tie up your kid. 

My grandson, Gideon, is almost 6 and still in a car seat because even seat belts aren't enough for small kids even though their grandparents got to roll around on the floor in the station wagon.  Don't let that last statement fool you, I am pro seat belt and car seat.  Sometimes we play the alphabet game or sing songs.  Sometimes there is music playing from Mom's phone or a book from Grammie's.  There is an app on my phone if we want to play Mad Libs.  Gideon also has his own children's iPad with many options to keep him busy on the road.  This grandmother is okay with that, and that sometimes it is nice to sing or play the alphabet game.  Maybe I should pick up a road atlas for the next long trip we go on. 😎

Thank you Jerry Seinfeld and Sarah Jessica Parker (according to IMDB, I am a few months older than her) for bringing up some memories and the laughs.

Today my happy thing is happy memories, car rides and making new memories.  Tomorrow night my son and his partner will be here!!!  😁

Rain freezing to the trees today.

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Support system

As I sit, thinking of what to write, I try to keep it upbeat, or at least not depressing.  I had a fairly good day, despite hearing sad news about a friend in the hospital, or about the funeral that so many attended yesterday but I did not, or the other friend that is struggling with a sick parent and also has these same friends as I and has had other losses in her life recently.  Sometimes things happen that just really suck.  With all that was going on, it was still a good day.  This morning was mostly spent being productive and getting things cleaned up and reorganized for my son and his girlfriend's arrival on Tuesday.  I am so very excited to see them!  There was a meeting this afternoon that I went to about next week's upcoming event.  Getting to hug and spend time with friends before and after the meeting are wonderful and healing things.  Out to dinner with a friend after and we got a little bit of walking in too.  Despite (or maybe because?) my being rather introverted I really get a lot out of being with family and friends.  When I got home this evening I prepared my clothes for the week.  The week!  I never do that, sometimes a day or two, but I have outfits ready until Friday and a good idea of what I need for the coming weekend.  It is time for bed and I am basically ready.  Wow.

All of these things make me one happy and grateful person.  So many friends and family, a wonderful support system that I have to be thankful for.

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Short and my happy.

It was a beautiful day out.  We were so busy doing chores and weaving and sewing that we didn't notice that until almost 3 this afternoon.  That is when we went for a walk to the bead store in town.  I have been in there before but only briefly to pick something up for my daughter.  Today when we went in Gideon knew right where the toys were and started playing.  My daughter looked for what she needed and I was told I could sit down at the table while I waited.  The people there were very nice and I talked with them a little about using the kumihimo disk for beading versus with cotton or silk.  I realized how easy it would be for me to start a new hobby and spend lots of time at the bead store.  Starting another hobby would not be good for me right now.  At least not a hobby that is as modern as what they were making with beads.  At this time I have enough hobbies that I need to complete.

The walk and being productive are my happy things for today.  If only I could remember to take pictures...

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January 19th-Friday

Wednesday was a snow day so Thursday kind of felt like a Monday to me.  When I got to work and someone said "Happy Friday" to me, it was almost a surprise.  I knew it was Friday, I wore jeans to work in honor of the day, but it didn't really feel like a Friday until someone said it.  I stayed to visit with some teachers for a little bit after work.  I had an appointment to get my oil changed and I fell asleep in the waiting room.  Will I catch up on sleep this weekend?  Doubt it.  I did make sure my alarm won't go off Saturday morning though.  

In the evening my daughter, grandson and I went to Craft Night.  This is just what it implies, friends getting together to do crafts.  My daughter made buttons, I think, Gideon played with a Lego set and I did more weaving.  There are places where I can tell that I made a mistake by the way the cards are positioned or the side of the weft is on but I can't SEE where these are.  So if a mistake can't be seen, I guess it stays.  

Below is a close up of the weaving project.  The cards that I mentioned are the cardboard with the 4 holes cut out.  The threads that pass through the holes are the warp and the thread that is on the shuttle and goes through the space made by the cards is the weft.  Tablet weaving is a warped faced weave, meaning the threads that are seen and make up the pattern come almost exclusively from the warp threads.  The pattern looks different on the top of the band then the underneath. 

Played checkers with a student today.  I chose not to jump one of their pieces because it would have resulted in losing mine.  What resulted was a stalemate!  Now, late in the evening, I am wondering if it is against the rules to not take an opponents piece if the opportunity arises.  The student won the next game.  

Weaving is today's happy.

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