Still here

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I haven't forgotten about my blog. I've just been slammed at work and at home, so haven't had time to post any of the most recent stuff that's been going on. I expect I'll put up a report on Gulf Wars as time permits. That is all.

Challenging Times

Ok, so, I'm going to whine a bit here. Sue me. The past week has been rather challenging. It's funny how life decides to throw multiple issues at us at once. Funny "strange", not funny "ha ha". It's not amusing in the least, believe me. To start with, we are frantically getting things together for Gulf Wars, our big, week-long SCA event that starts in about a week. This includes several frustrating projects that have not been particularly cooperative. We've had to drop a lot more money than I'm comfortable with to accomplish our goals, as well. To top that off, I was on call with work all last week, which is always emotionally exhausting. Then, as if the above stresses weren't enough, the transmission in our van self-destructed in a fit of pique. So much for our recently paid off credit card balance. Sure, it is supposed to be fixed before we need it to go to Gulf Wars, but the price tag is enough to make us wince. Oh, and did I mention that Ysabel has bronchitis? Not fun. She had to miss out on going to the Northern Regional Practice on Saturday and was very unhappy about it. I managed to go by loading all of my (and Dougal's) gear into my piddly little car. It was not happy to have to haul that load all the way up to Crossville, TN. The practice itself demonstrated just how out of shape I am, too. I got to try out my new rapier helm, but the silly thing proved to be too heavy for my back and neck to support for very long. Between that and the complicated new dagger guards I'm trying to learn, I have a lovely knot in my back that feels like someone inserted an ice pick right next to my spine and left it there. I need to work on building up my "core" muscles, apparently.

On the good side, the camp bed is done and we have a memory foam pad on the way to use as a mattress. Our rapier students all got to come to the Regional and spent some time fighting each other. They seemed to have a blast and I got to work with Jack and Rayne some, which is always nice. Dougal got a couple more authorizations out of the way and I helped Piers, a new fighter from the Thor's Mtn. group, to authorize, as well. It was a productive day that was only marred by Ysabel's absence and the problem with my helm. I'm no longer on call at work, which is a huge weight off my shoulders. We seem to be on track to have everything ready for Gulf Wars. And last, but not least, I'm not completely broke.... yet. I guess you take the bad with the good, huh?

Meatless Monday

I haven't eaten anything remotely resembling meat so far today. Not out of any moral objection to eating the flesh of tasty animals, but because I was in a hurry and forgot to pick up a lunch at the store this morning. Rather than going out to get fast food (which I am trying really hard to avoid), I just decided to eat more of the stuff I bought for breakfast and snacks. Breakfast consisted of a granola bar (with 5 grams of soy protein) and a cup of peach chunks. Lunch was another protein bar, a different granola bar left over from last week (mmmmm... fiber) and a handful of dried apricots. Unfortunately, my metabolism is that of a carnivore, so I'm feeling really weird right now. Too many complex sugars, not enough protein to soak up the resulting insulin rush. Reality is warping in unpleasant ways.

Sorry, PETA, but ingesting your furry little buddies is a necessity to my continued well-being. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't take their sacrifice for granted. I'm very grateful to them for giving up their earthly forms that I may live. That said, Meatless Monday is not destined to become a lasting tradition. In fact, I doubt I'll make it all the way though the day without feasting on one of your cute, cuddly barnyard pals. You know what they say, "Meat is murder. Yummy, yummy murder...".