The Tale of Balin Lipsmasher
I had a great weekend!
Saturday morning I got up with the girl and got her fed. Kim went to go get manure for the garden and I played with Gracie. In the afternoon Jayson came over and worked on his half gauntlet some more (I think I am going to have to make me one of these, they are spiff!), raked leaves, moved the remaining lumber I got from Gianetta, and mounted up lights so we can start having practice in the backyard once the weather turns warmer. Shop clean up never seems to get started, but I’m sure I will slog through it all eventually.
That evening we went on a quest for the wily Q - BBQ that is! We went to try this place called Big Daddy’s but when we discovered it was an outdoor only type lunch place we changed tacks and met F&H over at Brocks. Funny regional difference: We sit down and the waitress brings us bread and hush puppies.
Jay picks one up and is like “What is this?”
Byram: “…It’s a Hush Puppy…”
Jay: “….”
Byram: “…”
Jay: “….”
Byram: “Oh! It’s corn meal, try it!”
Kim got sick on the way home from there and we think it must have been some weird food allergy because while the rest of us were stuffed to the gills with ribs, bbq and shrimp none of the rest of us got sick. They had a lounge singer/two piece band in there that really, really sucked. I never though that they could out-ballad a ballad, but yeah, they did. Somewhere Don Henley looks up from his line of Coke, and sheds a single tear.
We got home and after Kim’s stomach settled we watched “Wanted”. Oh man. BAD! The special effects were awesome, and I admit that I have watched worse, but oh man. It was like they (literally) took the first two pages of the comic, and the last one (sorta) and then through in an entirely different story in the middle. In fact as we were watching it, Kim remarked that she had read a series of books about a group of assassins that randomly pick their victims by reading binary in the weave of a special loom. Or something. Maybe she was high. I certainly wished I was while watching this film. Awful.
I’m watched worse to be sure, but man….just disappointing. Also, don’t watch this if you have a rat phobia. Yikes.
Kim suggested we watch “Futurama: Bender’s Game” next and while usually I am all for this, I told her I had to get up early and that I doubted I could make it through the whole thing. We tried, but I was right. Put me right out.
Sunday I got up early and Jayson meet me at the house. We took Grace over to my parents for the day so Kim could get a much needed day off of being ‘mommie’ and picked up Patrick in the East End, and headed to TYD for their Sunday practice.
I totally overestimated the time it would take to get there and arrived an hour too early. No problem, I told the guys - we will just arm up, stretch out and take our time….No. It started raining just as we got there. Why, because IT ALWAYS RAINS IN TIR Y DON! Or at least, it always rains when I go there. What was funny was that after about 30 minutes an SUV pulls up. 'Sweet', I think! 'The TYD crowd is here early!' But no, it is just Aedan, Ella, and Ray. A few minutes later another car pulls up beside us, but no, that is Linnet and Kendrick. Hehe. I was thinking that all of us could have stayed in Caer Maer when the first car load of Tirydonians pulled up.
Their practice site at The Boys and Girls Club of Newport News is outstanding. It is, in my opinion, the best practice site for the SCA that I have EVER seen. They have both an indoor full-sized gym, and a fenced in large field outside, with a covered pavilion. Inside there is a large game room with plenty of games for the kids, and tables and benches. The ladies fixed us hot dogs and hamburgers afterwards and that was just wonderful. Folks were out working on garb, socializing…it was great. I love TYD, they are the best. What a healthy group!
Now that I realize that their site is 1 hour from my house, I plan on being there twice a month, barring event weekend. We had around 13-14 fighters in armour and another half dozen out on injured reserve from Caer Mear, TYD, and Marinus. Looked like there were about 10 fencers too.
I got a lot of fights in with Arrayd, which was just stellar, and lots of good fights in with the TYD crew of Moe, Aidan, Matthew, Megan, Matt of York, etc. etc.
I loved this practice!!!
Only small downside is that while doing some teaching, Jayson popped me in the mouth with the tip of his sword. Not something I would like to repeat (getting whacked in the teeth with a rattan sword) but not the stupidest thing I have ever done or had done to me. Teaching is dangerous! I quick ice massage and I was able to get back to fighting.
I wasn’t able to get the ice under my lip so today I have a small bruise at the corner of my mouth. It looks like I went to Tir-Y-Don and brought back THE HERP!
Lots of good folks at that practice though, and I was great to see Sir Eadric and hear his plans of fighting from a wheelchair.
We picked up Grace on the way back and dropped Patrick off. She was exhausted (no naps at Nana’s) and was toast the rest of the evening. Kim made Sheppard’s Pie for dinner and once Julie got home we tried to watch the rest of Bender’s Game.
That movie had the Zena effect on me and I slept through most of it again. We watched about 30 minutes of the Oscars and then watched Big Love and Adult Swim.
Today I am back at work trying to get my tail in gear. Lots to do this week with taxes, billing, etc. but I am not feeling it. None the less I will slog through it.
Btw, for fighters and those that exercise, I again recommend Glutamine L for muscle soreness. Wow! I take a heaping tea-spoon mixed with an Emergen-C before and after fighting and the muscle fatigue is noticeably less. This Amino Acid is naturally occurring in beef and most protein powders have some in it. But getting this extra dose really seems to help me. Thanks to Sir Gunnar Redboar for the recommendation a few years ago. I got a new tub of powder this week and it has made a big difference in my over all stiffness.
Tonight I am going to veg out once Grace goes to sleep, watch some TV and maybe Prince Caspian. I might work on that half-gauntlet some more. There is some simple stitching and painting that I can do while watching TV. Or I might just go to bed early, hard to say.
Time to get back to work.
Saturday morning I got up with the girl and got her fed. Kim went to go get manure for the garden and I played with Gracie. In the afternoon Jayson came over and worked on his half gauntlet some more (I think I am going to have to make me one of these, they are spiff!), raked leaves, moved the remaining lumber I got from Gianetta, and mounted up lights so we can start having practice in the backyard once the weather turns warmer. Shop clean up never seems to get started, but I’m sure I will slog through it all eventually.
That evening we went on a quest for the wily Q - BBQ that is! We went to try this place called Big Daddy’s but when we discovered it was an outdoor only type lunch place we changed tacks and met F&H over at Brocks. Funny regional difference: We sit down and the waitress brings us bread and hush puppies.
Jay picks one up and is like “What is this?”
Byram: “…It’s a Hush Puppy…”
Jay: “….”
Byram: “…”
Jay: “….”
Byram: “Oh! It’s corn meal, try it!”
Kim got sick on the way home from there and we think it must have been some weird food allergy because while the rest of us were stuffed to the gills with ribs, bbq and shrimp none of the rest of us got sick. They had a lounge singer/two piece band in there that really, really sucked. I never though that they could out-ballad a ballad, but yeah, they did. Somewhere Don Henley looks up from his line of Coke, and sheds a single tear.
We got home and after Kim’s stomach settled we watched “Wanted”. Oh man. BAD! The special effects were awesome, and I admit that I have watched worse, but oh man. It was like they (literally) took the first two pages of the comic, and the last one (sorta) and then through in an entirely different story in the middle. In fact as we were watching it, Kim remarked that she had read a series of books about a group of assassins that randomly pick their victims by reading binary in the weave of a special loom. Or something. Maybe she was high. I certainly wished I was while watching this film. Awful.
I’m watched worse to be sure, but man….just disappointing. Also, don’t watch this if you have a rat phobia. Yikes.
Kim suggested we watch “Futurama: Bender’s Game” next and while usually I am all for this, I told her I had to get up early and that I doubted I could make it through the whole thing. We tried, but I was right. Put me right out.
Sunday I got up early and Jayson meet me at the house. We took Grace over to my parents for the day so Kim could get a much needed day off of being ‘mommie’ and picked up Patrick in the East End, and headed to TYD for their Sunday practice.
I totally overestimated the time it would take to get there and arrived an hour too early. No problem, I told the guys - we will just arm up, stretch out and take our time….No. It started raining just as we got there. Why, because IT ALWAYS RAINS IN TIR Y DON! Or at least, it always rains when I go there. What was funny was that after about 30 minutes an SUV pulls up. 'Sweet', I think! 'The TYD crowd is here early!' But no, it is just Aedan, Ella, and Ray. A few minutes later another car pulls up beside us, but no, that is Linnet and Kendrick. Hehe. I was thinking that all of us could have stayed in Caer Maer when the first car load of Tirydonians pulled up.
Their practice site at The Boys and Girls Club of Newport News is outstanding. It is, in my opinion, the best practice site for the SCA that I have EVER seen. They have both an indoor full-sized gym, and a fenced in large field outside, with a covered pavilion. Inside there is a large game room with plenty of games for the kids, and tables and benches. The ladies fixed us hot dogs and hamburgers afterwards and that was just wonderful. Folks were out working on garb, socializing…it was great. I love TYD, they are the best. What a healthy group!
Now that I realize that their site is 1 hour from my house, I plan on being there twice a month, barring event weekend. We had around 13-14 fighters in armour and another half dozen out on injured reserve from Caer Mear, TYD, and Marinus. Looked like there were about 10 fencers too.
I got a lot of fights in with Arrayd, which was just stellar, and lots of good fights in with the TYD crew of Moe, Aidan, Matthew, Megan, Matt of York, etc. etc.
I loved this practice!!!
Only small downside is that while doing some teaching, Jayson popped me in the mouth with the tip of his sword. Not something I would like to repeat (getting whacked in the teeth with a rattan sword) but not the stupidest thing I have ever done or had done to me. Teaching is dangerous! I quick ice massage and I was able to get back to fighting.
I wasn’t able to get the ice under my lip so today I have a small bruise at the corner of my mouth. It looks like I went to Tir-Y-Don and brought back THE HERP!
Lots of good folks at that practice though, and I was great to see Sir Eadric and hear his plans of fighting from a wheelchair.
We picked up Grace on the way back and dropped Patrick off. She was exhausted (no naps at Nana’s) and was toast the rest of the evening. Kim made Sheppard’s Pie for dinner and once Julie got home we tried to watch the rest of Bender’s Game.
That movie had the Zena effect on me and I slept through most of it again. We watched about 30 minutes of the Oscars and then watched Big Love and Adult Swim.
Today I am back at work trying to get my tail in gear. Lots to do this week with taxes, billing, etc. but I am not feeling it. None the less I will slog through it.
Btw, for fighters and those that exercise, I again recommend Glutamine L for muscle soreness. Wow! I take a heaping tea-spoon mixed with an Emergen-C before and after fighting and the muscle fatigue is noticeably less. This Amino Acid is naturally occurring in beef and most protein powders have some in it. But getting this extra dose really seems to help me. Thanks to Sir Gunnar Redboar for the recommendation a few years ago. I got a new tub of powder this week and it has made a big difference in my over all stiffness.
Tonight I am going to veg out once Grace goes to sleep, watch some TV and maybe Prince Caspian. I might work on that half-gauntlet some more. There is some simple stitching and painting that I can do while watching TV. Or I might just go to bed early, hard to say.
Time to get back to work.