Happy (Belated) Flip the Calendar Day - Oddly enough, I got to flip five calendars at home today. Since I'm headed off for a camping trip, it's the kind of day where I like to take out the trash, do dishes, and generally pick up the house while I'm in the middle of packing. There's something so nice about coming home to a clean house when my car is full, rather than coming home to a mess. I spent years tearing my house apart to pack, coming home, and being bummed that my house was a disaster. Now I tend to clean more while packing so that when I come home, it's even easier to unpack and have a nice house. I'm a weirdo, I know. *grin*

Some Stats - I finally thought to put some statistics to work for my curiousity. I have Google Analytics keeping an eye on catellen.com for me. I opened up our Regional (Kingdom) newsletter, and I'd forgotten that the Lady and Knight who is in charge of the armored combat in our kingdom quoted my memorial verse for Lord Al. She quoted my verse in her monthly column, complete with a link to the song on my website. So I checked my analytics, and 31 people checked my bardic pages in March, 23 looked the Fighter Song, 16 looked at "First You Take a Sheep," and then 4 people found Lady Kaarna's lyrics to "Come Roll Me Away." What a fun thing to know! One visitor was in the UK, one was in Austria (wow).

The Rest of the Adventure Tales - So, last I left off in our narrative, Mon Mar 24 was The Bris of Benjamin Maurice. I'd never been to a Bris before, the Jewish ceremony for the circumcision of a son when he's 8 days old. It was really touching, to have close family and friends there together, almost like we're the ones pledging ourselves to young Benjamin and his parents, even though that wasn't mentioned in any of the ceremony. The mohel, who conducts the morning service, was funny and helpful and knowledgable and a joy to meet. Jeff and Adrienne were radiant, and so were their parents. It was doubly joyful to see all the new grandparents there, a couple of cousins, and those kinds of friends that make up your extended "family" (in quotes). Adrienne asked me to read something at the bris, and my roomie (although she could not be there) and I both wrote a little blessing of what we wished for Benjamin. We had the distinct feeling that we were being the "fairy godmothers" invited to bless the child with gifts of music and love for animals and all things wonderful. Two of our friends were selected as the Kvatter and Kvatterin, which is not completely analogous to "godparents" but has some parallel symbolism.

And there are over 200 photos in my folder from the Bris, which is before I've edited them and tossed out duplicates or blurred images. But since I really should be packing right now, I'll work on those photos next week.

Remember how I started some books Sunday morning at Ben's house, and read three books in a day? Monday contined as I finished book 4 & started book 5. And the day ended with "Apprentice Dinner" combined with our local SCA college campus Fighter Practice. I got some great photos of the fighters and a spontaneous "More String Better" award cords fingerloop braiding session. Some of the photos ended up in my monthly newsletter (published earlier this week) and I'll post them to my journal next week. Finally, several of us went out for late night coffee & milkshakes after practice, which was really nice for just socializing and chatting.

In my notes, all I wrote for Tuesday was that I finished book 5 and started book 6. If I remember correctly, I actually came home early and lounged around on the couch, chatting with my roomie, too. Ah, nice.

Wed Mar 26, I got up early, so that I could finish book 6 even before work started. I know! What a nut! *hee hee* I went to "Social practice" after fighter practice, where we went to IHOP and once again I enjoyed some very nice social time with friends. And I managed to get half the Gulf Wars photos done (which you've seen posted in here already, in my last journal entry).

At work on Thu Mar 27, I wraped up my most recent big project, started a completely new project, got an email with kudos from my recruiter, got an email invite from Jason (which you've seen the pictures from already), got all my bills paid, got my medical insurance sign-up done, and finished Gulf Wars photos. Whew!

On Fri Mar 28: I started the Bris photos, started the monthly baronial newsletter, and updated the theatre website again. My hosting company has almost made it easier to upload new files for my websites, although it's a little clunky and sometimes I lose a day before I can get online and upload my work. But we haven't been hacked, which makes me happy.

Saturday Mar 29 I got up very early, to braid my roomie's hair for her costume review for Ren Faire. In the afternoon, I went to the park and finally met Jason (and all his friends and Bill's friends). This was an absolute blast. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like -- to meet someone in person with whom I'd exchanged so many email correspondences -- and to meet a bunch of his friends, I'd never met or chatted with before. It turned out we went to a nearby park and watched all the kids run around on the playground, as we alternately chatted and played with the kids. Jason is a dear, and quite fun to chat with in person. His friends are similarly wonderful to be around -- they reminded me of pretty much all my friends already. There were lots of kids connected to the parents there: 2 boys in one family (ages 5 and 2), 2 girls in one family (probably 4 and 3), 1 girl (probably 4), and a boy (probably 5) with another neighbor boy (probably 5) who came along. It was such a joy to see good parenting, well-behaved kids, and still the joy and exhuberance of kids on a playground. There were several moments when I thought "gee, this is me and Jeff and Adrienne and everyone else in another 5 years.... wonder who else will have kids over the next several years?" The grown-ups were also intelligent, interesting, and fun, so I had a marvelous time in the park.

Sun Mar 30 I worked on the baronial newsletter and more photos until very late. And on Mon Mar 31 I finished the newsletter and posted it by 2 am on April 1st. *whew!*

Let's see, and since then? Just normal work things, organizing things, laundry, bills again (didn't I just pay these? *hee hee*), shopping for fresh produce at the Farmer's Market, some costume hand-work for my roomie, some braiding on the lucet, and now lots of packing to head up to King's Hunt, a camping trip in the Santa Barbara mountains. I'm going to coordinate meals for just a half-dozen of us or so, with a huge element of "Potluck" and "Stone Soup" thrown into the plans. I haven't even shopped for food yet, but I have a friend to pick up on the way, and I'll have her help me shop. So, I'll see you all next week!

Just Some Humor - Aren't I glad I live in the sun? Check out some SCA dancing, on ice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCvUcqllEIg

Funny Abbreviations - So there I was, entering a receipt into my check register, from shopping at a Target. It read "Mead, $1.99; Orbit Bub, $0.97." And I was thinking, "Since when can I buy Mead at a Target? Oh, Mead brand notebooks." Darn. Alcoholic Honey Wine for $2 at Target sounded nice. Now, how about an Orbit Bub? *wink*

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Arye and Amya