callistotoni

Movies:
- An amusing review of Outlander (yet *another* Beowulf take) may be found here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/23/DD2915DQIJ.DTL

- I missed Milk playing anywhere near me. Now I'll have to Travel (TM) to go see it in the theater. Also, Frost/Nixion played locally for a Very short time, and I missed that to. Crabbycrabbycrabby.

Brandee and the Barn:Things are good. Only noteworthy things are that Brandee is, indeed "higher" (for certain values of 'high') in the colder weather. There's a tin roof peice that's loose in her barn and banging all the time, and I think that's making her kinda nervous. She even had a "don't worry little monkey I'll get us out of here"-spook moment Tuesday night, when she saw (but I didn't) someone coming down a hill in the dark towards her.

Work continues; no update news on possibly being laid off. The little contract work that I had is done now, meaning I'm back on overhead, and that could be bad. I'm getting to learn database stuff (like, build one in MS Access) and I'm glad for that opportunity.

Home front: Owen (my ex and housemate) had to cut back and so cancelled a storage unit he was paying for. Now the house is full of Stuff (including my considerable amount of tourney gear), at least until the garage can be cleaned out and turned into a good storage place. Someday I'm also hoping it can be turned into a shop for J/S to use. ;-)

SCA: My personal themes this year are Parties and Sewing. No SCA horse-stuff for me this year. Party-wise, I'm putting together Her Highness of the Mists' late period Salon, which will be in May at the Mists/Cynagua War (stay tuned, folks!). And, as I've mentioned before, at the An Tir/West War over the July 4th weekend (that Friday, as a matter of fact), I'm organizing a big party for j/S' birthday. It will be epic, folks, you should all come! :-) I've started the ball rolling. Many thanks to Ysabella and Ula for party consultation and help. :-)

Sewing (for the SCA) is big deal this year. There are a few drivers:
- I need a bunch of new clothes, since I sold or gave away most of them last year.
- J/S needs new clothes, especially since he's switching to 14th C.
- I need some 14th C stuff, too. I'm not being converted from my 16th C-loving ways, mind you. But you have to admit that 'cotehardies' are flattering and easy to wear while camping. And, obviously, I want to match J/S when appropriate, like, when, the emphasis on that particular event is on fighting and so is more a Him-event than a Me-event.
- I need some colder-weather clothes, and those that could be worn at rainy An Tir events.
I've got a to-sew in 2009 list, but I'll post that later (for my own sake, really). Oh, and I've go to make a favor (or 2) for J/S :-). So sweet, yet so, well, different. It's a brave new world in the SCA for me. Wish me luck integrating Art and fighting and 2 different Kingdoms and cultures :-0 .

Other SCA projects include finishing the paint job on my sunshade walls, touching up the paint on my pavillion poles (which have taken a beating these last few years).

Trips & Travel: Estrella is just around the corner! Yay and AcK, all at the same time! I can't wait to see my sweetie! Even if it's another mud-fest, at least we'll get to be together for 4 whole days. :-)
March we're to the OR coast B&B again. April it TBD. May J/S will be coming south for our Mists/Cynagua War (so he can check out the whole Salon experiance). Late June-the July 4th weekend I'll be up north (for the War and J/S' b-day). August is Sport of Kings, and September is An Tir September Crown. That's as far as we've gotten planning-wise. I confess it saddens me a bit to think that by that time we wouldn't be living together yet. Blah at a cellular level.

Books: Read my Xmas gift from

j_i_m_r, "Richer Than we Thought: The Material culture of Sixteenth-Century St. Augestine", by Eugene Lyon. It shows how big a 16th C geek I am that I just read a book that's primarily inventory lists. Of note are the number of sandels and linen outergarments -- these people weren't stupid. More thoughts on this later.

Cat: Madeline is deleriously happy being the only kitty. Much playing and purring and enforcing gravity. ;-)

Weight: Maintaining. Doing pretty well; bouncing between 136 and 138 lbs at first-thing-in-am weigh-ins at home. Maintaining is harder, mentally, than losing, I have to say. Shocking how much exercise plays a role. Weekends with J/S have been super good weight-wise despite 'festive eating' because I'm not eating because I'm bored and there is an increased activity level. ;-)

That's it for now! Have a great weekend, everybody!