Wed Sep 21 - So, last night's fencing practice thingy was absolutely a blast, and I'm very thankful I thought to ask to attend and they were kind enough to extend the invitation.

We weren't entirely sure if the park was going to be okay after the deluge rain that hit some cities the day before. But Mariam had swung by and checked and assured us nothing was squishy, so several folks made the trip. When I arrived, Jeff and Eric were already there, so I got to just hang out while Jeff showed off some of the things he'll be teaching on Thursday and Saturday, from a medieval fencing manual. There were some incredibly cool disarms, and I just got a general sense of "Wow, he has pretty posture. He looks just like the drawings in the manuals!" I wonder if Jeff really knows how *much* he looks like the authentic manuals in history.

Ben and Saul arrived, followed by Alan and Theresa. Since the five guys were all arming up and fencing, Theresa and I went on walking laps around the park for a while for the exercise. It was also fun to get to know her a little better, as we chatted about what we do for our modern jobs, various histories of our experiences, etc. She's teaching a medieval knitting class this weekend, and in preparation was *making* knitting needles for her students!

So when we came back to the fighting area, we sat and continued working on the knitting needles together. She's using wooden dowel rods (thin, probably close to a size 8 needle, or about half-a-centimeter thick) and sharpening the ends with a pencil sharpener. She made mostly double-ended needles (which look a little like these from Brittany but *way* cheaper to make your own!) and a few single-ended needles. I helped sand all of them, and by the time practice was over at 10 pm, we were done making needles together.

Then everyone headed out to spend an hour at Starbucks, which for some of us was dinner (we weren't sure if we were going out to dinner if practice was cancelled) and just generic hanging out and chatting.

In some ways, I've really found my home again, spending time with these folks. It feels really good. *grin*
* * * * *

So, Today. Can you believe it, my roomie and I were actually home at the same time?!? She was making curry for dinner, and so she offered to make enough for both of us. Not only did we spend part of our evening together, but we sat at the kitchen table enjoying a meal together.

She also had a better creative idea about re-arranging things in the living room than I did, so we moved furniture and dragged in the peach patio-shelves and set them up in the living room next to the loom. I got the majority of the boxes in the living room picked up and put on the shelves for now, so that I can start working on them one at a time and not have a giant box-mountain to work around. I've still got four big boxes for Good Will that I have to cart away, but I'm much happier about the living room.

* * * * *
Recently Listening to: Poe "Haunting"