Alive! *staggers*
I feel like there should have been dramatic music and soft pillows for the staggered entrance I made into my home Tuesday night. The past ten days have been an absolute whirlwind of GOGOGO. And getting back to sleep in my own bed was nothing short of amazing.
So I left for Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon in my little Mazda (his name is CARDIS btw, if you weren't aware), with owlbear as my co-pilot. Because I needed a co-pilot, even if he is really cranky, steals your Thai food, and ate a pigeon once (he's gonna have worms, I just know it). Had to leave in the afternoon instead of morning the day before due to a prior engagement to join in a time-travelers birthday party for a dear friends who was really excited about her party and I helped her with planning a bit, etc etc. So I had to book it up to Philly. Luckily in the prior week I managed to get a new stereo put in my car so entertained myself (and annoyed owlbear) with 30 hours of podcasts (mostly nerdist's Sex Nerd Sandra which I adore, sprinkled with Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap, and a smattering of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere). Arrived in Philly at my aunts house at 2:30am Monday morning to a welcome sign pointing me to a sofabed - which wasn't the comfiest of places but it worked, it was a flat vaguely padded surface and I crashed out hard.
The next day and a half were spent catching up with my Aunt Pat, who has Parkinsons, which is truly painful to watch, I hate that disease and really wish we could go ahead and find a cure. She was always so athletic and such a go-getter, she is to the point where she will actually let me clean. (This was always a big deal, she never let anyone clean b/c she is so OCD... and now she just can't). Seeing my grandmother, who is crazy spry and fit and amazing, and I love her dearly. And my Aunt Katie, who is where I get my artsiness from, and my love of cottage gardens, and the desire to have a house that could be a museum... She makes beautiful art, and jewelry and silk scarves and she would be much less struggly in finances if she would embrace the internet, but it is rather anathema to her, so she goes to her faires, and she works at a frame shop and gardens enthusiastically.
Then driving again... only 5 hours this time, back to Pittsburgh for AnthroCon! I arrived Wednesday night, played 'tag' with Truffke, as we tried to meet and bounced around each other (this was a theme for the entire convention). Dinner with the awesome Rooth, Kzace, SixthLeafClover, Jeff, and Drasilius, then crashed out.
Rest of con is a bit of a blur of chatting/hanging out with ursulav myenia vantid kazeno_taka alchemist dark_natasha Lizzie-Bean, Heather Bruton, Hanna, Chelsea, Foxfeather, Mbala, Kyell, Kit, Teiran, the SofaWolf Crew and more... highlights including Sushi, getting books signed by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon, chatting with Larry Dixon for quite a while, drinking in the hotel bar with a rotating crowd of friends, and room parties (which I rarely get to go to).
Got a chance to have a nice dinner and an awesome Thai lunch with some artist friends before I pushed off for the drive home, then we had a 25 hour trek back. This time Owl-Bear was unhappy to have to share the passenger seat with Kzace and Rooth. I think he may have nipped them. We made it home Wed at 1am and boy am I glad to be home. Picked up my awesome DogDog from the Wonderful idess who was kind enough to watch her AND groom her while I was gone. And now I am just getting ready for RMFC and trying to get in some time to paint! Oh, yeah, and fix up the gardens, while I was gone the salvia tried to die, as did my Delphinium, but the veggie garden exploded, so I weeded that yesterday, and am moving on to the rose garden weeds tomorrow. Excited to see that the honeydew and tomatoes look like they will be okay, and the squash are starting to blossom so we should have summer squash soon!
It was a bit of splurge-con for me, as I got myself a few treats: The new Mercedes Lackey book, a piece of art from kazeno_taka and a crow claw bronze necklace from Skullery... so thats super nice.
So I left for Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon in my little Mazda (his name is CARDIS btw, if you weren't aware), with owlbear as my co-pilot. Because I needed a co-pilot, even if he is really cranky, steals your Thai food, and ate a pigeon once (he's gonna have worms, I just know it). Had to leave in the afternoon instead of morning the day before due to a prior engagement to join in a time-travelers birthday party for a dear friends who was really excited about her party and I helped her with planning a bit, etc etc. So I had to book it up to Philly. Luckily in the prior week I managed to get a new stereo put in my car so entertained myself (and annoyed owlbear) with 30 hours of podcasts (mostly nerdist's Sex Nerd Sandra which I adore, sprinkled with Kevin and Ursula Eat Cheap, and a smattering of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere). Arrived in Philly at my aunts house at 2:30am Monday morning to a welcome sign pointing me to a sofabed - which wasn't the comfiest of places but it worked, it was a flat vaguely padded surface and I crashed out hard.
The next day and a half were spent catching up with my Aunt Pat, who has Parkinsons, which is truly painful to watch, I hate that disease and really wish we could go ahead and find a cure. She was always so athletic and such a go-getter, she is to the point where she will actually let me clean. (This was always a big deal, she never let anyone clean b/c she is so OCD... and now she just can't). Seeing my grandmother, who is crazy spry and fit and amazing, and I love her dearly. And my Aunt Katie, who is where I get my artsiness from, and my love of cottage gardens, and the desire to have a house that could be a museum... She makes beautiful art, and jewelry and silk scarves and she would be much less struggly in finances if she would embrace the internet, but it is rather anathema to her, so she goes to her faires, and she works at a frame shop and gardens enthusiastically.
Then driving again... only 5 hours this time, back to Pittsburgh for AnthroCon! I arrived Wednesday night, played 'tag' with Truffke, as we tried to meet and bounced around each other (this was a theme for the entire convention). Dinner with the awesome Rooth, Kzace, SixthLeafClover, Jeff, and Drasilius, then crashed out.
Rest of con is a bit of a blur of chatting/hanging out with ursulav myenia vantid kazeno_taka alchemist dark_natasha Lizzie-Bean, Heather Bruton, Hanna, Chelsea, Foxfeather, Mbala, Kyell, Kit, Teiran, the SofaWolf Crew and more... highlights including Sushi, getting books signed by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon, chatting with Larry Dixon for quite a while, drinking in the hotel bar with a rotating crowd of friends, and room parties (which I rarely get to go to).
Got a chance to have a nice dinner and an awesome Thai lunch with some artist friends before I pushed off for the drive home, then we had a 25 hour trek back. This time Owl-Bear was unhappy to have to share the passenger seat with Kzace and Rooth. I think he may have nipped them. We made it home Wed at 1am and boy am I glad to be home. Picked up my awesome DogDog from the Wonderful idess who was kind enough to watch her AND groom her while I was gone. And now I am just getting ready for RMFC and trying to get in some time to paint! Oh, yeah, and fix up the gardens, while I was gone the salvia tried to die, as did my Delphinium, but the veggie garden exploded, so I weeded that yesterday, and am moving on to the rose garden weeds tomorrow. Excited to see that the honeydew and tomatoes look like they will be okay, and the squash are starting to blossom so we should have summer squash soon!
It was a bit of splurge-con for me, as I got myself a few treats: The new Mercedes Lackey book, a piece of art from kazeno_taka and a crow claw bronze necklace from Skullery... so thats super nice.