Wow
So once again, I've been a bit remiss in posting here. It's not that nothing interesting has happened, I've just been busy off and on, and I keep forgetting to post in here.
So what have I been up to? Quite a bit, actually.
So, back on the 16th, I went up for another weekend visit with Justin. (I'd have posted about it in here, but literally forgot until right before I was leaving to catch the train to Oceanside.) This time, however, was a bit different. That weekend was the Pirate Faire up at Lake Casitas in Ojai, so things were a bit more...interesting this go-around. Travelling up there, I went all the way to Oxnard, since it was closer to the Faire site (about 30 minutes away) and Justin was spending some time at his parents' place. Well, technically, Jeremy and Kelly were housesitting while his parents were away, and Justin was visiting/staying over/kindasorta housesitting as well. But close enough. So I got in late Thursday evening, owing to waiting an hour in L.A. for the last Ventura train to get me to Oxnard (the one I normally take didn't go all the way there, so I would have had to wait sometime). Justin picked me up there, and we went to his parents' house, where his brother had dinner and DVDs to enjoy. I'd never watched How I Met Your Mother, and I found it an enjoyable show.
Friday rolled around, and it was setup day at the Faire site. I admit, it was my fault we were a bit late getting there; I insisted on making sure Justin had breakfast before we went and, well, I should have left myself more time when working in an unfamiliar kitchen space. But we got our stuff together, we got there, we helped set things up, and all ended up well. And the site? Is GORGEOUS. I'd never been to Lake Casitas before, and I really hope I have a reason to go back in the future. It's absolutely incredible, I think. I hope the Faire board is able to keep the Pirate Faire and the Spring Ojai Renaissance Faire at the site; it'd really be a shame if they couldn't.
After set-up, we got the tent set up (more on that later), then headed back to Oxnard so we could get the rest of our Faire gear, shower, run an errand for me (MANY thanks to Justin for that!), and hopefully have time to get back to the site before the gates closed at 11. Well, that didn't happen. We hit major traffic heading to Oxnard, and by the time we got things done, it was after 10. So we decided to spend one more night there.
Saturday started off...not so great. Basically, his alarm (for reasons unknown to us) did not go off, so we ended up being late for Director's notes. (Justin assists one of the Directors, so he has to attend that meeting.) I tried to make sure things were organized, but with being half-asleep still AND trying to juggle things for two people, I wasn't doing well. Luckily, he was able to help me out. The rest of the day went off well, with our interactions garnering a lot of praise from the rest of the group. After Faire and evening notes, we joined Cindy and Matt on a fast-food run, caught a bit of the night entertainment for people staying on-site, played Apples to Apples (and shared more than enough laughs), then retired for the night.
Now then...about that tent I mentioned before. See, I no longer have any of the old camping gear I had when I was a kid. It apparently has all gone to that big storage shed in the sky, as far as my family is concerned. So, I was concerned about what I was going to do for a place to sleep, seeing as how a) I had no gear, b) it gets chilly there at night this time of year, and c) Justin generally sleeps on a small air mattress at the encampment (read: no room for one more person). So, he and I figured trying out pitching a tent over where the other participants camp would be nice to try out this time. We had this HUGE tent his family owns, a large mattress loaned to us by Cindy, a couple sleeping bags that combined into one large enough for the both of us, and a beautiful view of the lake. Yeah, coupled with being able to snuggle against him for a nice bit of protection against the chill, I think I got a bit spoiled by it all. We'll see how things pan out for camping out at the Escondido Faire site, since it's a much smaller site (and a park, as opposed to a recreation area/campground), but maybe we can pull out the bigger tent for the Ojai-esque Faires where we'd have room for it.
Sunday we woke up early for our requisite bit of snuggling (in other words, we set the alarm to give us an extra half hour or so to simply cuddle before starting the day) before we broke down the tent and got things packed up for the trip back to Oxnard that evening. I finished up when he had to go to Director's Notes, so I locked up the car, made sure we had a bit to eat that morning (and that I once again had my caffeine), and we were off and running for the second day. There were a couple hitches that day (which I'd prefer not getting into, since they were discussed and over with, so better left in the past), but we finished as strongly as we had started the day before, even if I did need an hour-long nap at the end of the day. I also got the prettiest little locket from him, thanks to the help of our adopted big sis, Cindy. (Looking back, seeing her that weekend was bittersweet, since she's taking time away from doing Faires. But I hope we can all spend time together when I go up to see Justin.) From there, it was tear-down, visiting with folks during tear-down (we had to decline dinner, since we had an early start to the next day so I could get home at a reasonable time), then back to Oxnard for sleep.
The only bad part about that early morning the next morning? I forgot my iPod up there. Guess that's what I get for being that damned tired. But fortunately for me, Justin has gladly agreed to be its protector until his family's visit next weekend (the 9th and 10th) so I can have it returned to me. So more thanks to him for that. And since then, it's been more of the same, so nothing of incredible importance. Oh well.
Wait. Before I wrap this up, I realized something. I haven't shared any kind of picture of him on here with y'all, have I? Well, since one of our Guildmates got some great ones, I figured I'd share both his look that weekend and mine.
Here are a couple pictures of my look:
(Me attempting to shoot a 30-lb longbow. I hadn't shot a bow in years, and when I had before, it was a 25-lb shortbow. Still, I at least look like I know what I'm doing.)
(My Pirate Faire getup. They're cut off at the bottom of the photo, but I'm wearing my tan moccasins as well. Those were lifesavers that weekend!)
Justin was a bit trickier to find photos of Faire-wise. For some reason, the ones that showed off his outfit really nicely didn't get his face as well. (And y'all know that's just as important as the garb!) So I found a photo of him in his garb from last year that shows his expression much better.
(His garb for this year's Pirate Faire. I so love that red shirt he has on, it's what convinced me he should wear red more often. Wish you could see his face better here.)
(Pic from last year's Pirate Faire. I prefer the red with his garb, but you can see his face better here.)
So there you have it. A nice long post with a few pics at the end. Hope you enjoyed. :)
So what have I been up to? Quite a bit, actually.
So, back on the 16th, I went up for another weekend visit with Justin. (I'd have posted about it in here, but literally forgot until right before I was leaving to catch the train to Oceanside.) This time, however, was a bit different. That weekend was the Pirate Faire up at Lake Casitas in Ojai, so things were a bit more...interesting this go-around. Travelling up there, I went all the way to Oxnard, since it was closer to the Faire site (about 30 minutes away) and Justin was spending some time at his parents' place. Well, technically, Jeremy and Kelly were housesitting while his parents were away, and Justin was visiting/staying over/kindasorta housesitting as well. But close enough. So I got in late Thursday evening, owing to waiting an hour in L.A. for the last Ventura train to get me to Oxnard (the one I normally take didn't go all the way there, so I would have had to wait sometime). Justin picked me up there, and we went to his parents' house, where his brother had dinner and DVDs to enjoy. I'd never watched How I Met Your Mother, and I found it an enjoyable show.
Friday rolled around, and it was setup day at the Faire site. I admit, it was my fault we were a bit late getting there; I insisted on making sure Justin had breakfast before we went and, well, I should have left myself more time when working in an unfamiliar kitchen space. But we got our stuff together, we got there, we helped set things up, and all ended up well. And the site? Is GORGEOUS. I'd never been to Lake Casitas before, and I really hope I have a reason to go back in the future. It's absolutely incredible, I think. I hope the Faire board is able to keep the Pirate Faire and the Spring Ojai Renaissance Faire at the site; it'd really be a shame if they couldn't.
After set-up, we got the tent set up (more on that later), then headed back to Oxnard so we could get the rest of our Faire gear, shower, run an errand for me (MANY thanks to Justin for that!), and hopefully have time to get back to the site before the gates closed at 11. Well, that didn't happen. We hit major traffic heading to Oxnard, and by the time we got things done, it was after 10. So we decided to spend one more night there.
Saturday started off...not so great. Basically, his alarm (for reasons unknown to us) did not go off, so we ended up being late for Director's notes. (Justin assists one of the Directors, so he has to attend that meeting.) I tried to make sure things were organized, but with being half-asleep still AND trying to juggle things for two people, I wasn't doing well. Luckily, he was able to help me out. The rest of the day went off well, with our interactions garnering a lot of praise from the rest of the group. After Faire and evening notes, we joined Cindy and Matt on a fast-food run, caught a bit of the night entertainment for people staying on-site, played Apples to Apples (and shared more than enough laughs), then retired for the night.
Now then...about that tent I mentioned before. See, I no longer have any of the old camping gear I had when I was a kid. It apparently has all gone to that big storage shed in the sky, as far as my family is concerned. So, I was concerned about what I was going to do for a place to sleep, seeing as how a) I had no gear, b) it gets chilly there at night this time of year, and c) Justin generally sleeps on a small air mattress at the encampment (read: no room for one more person). So, he and I figured trying out pitching a tent over where the other participants camp would be nice to try out this time. We had this HUGE tent his family owns, a large mattress loaned to us by Cindy, a couple sleeping bags that combined into one large enough for the both of us, and a beautiful view of the lake. Yeah, coupled with being able to snuggle against him for a nice bit of protection against the chill, I think I got a bit spoiled by it all. We'll see how things pan out for camping out at the Escondido Faire site, since it's a much smaller site (and a park, as opposed to a recreation area/campground), but maybe we can pull out the bigger tent for the Ojai-esque Faires where we'd have room for it.
Sunday we woke up early for our requisite bit of snuggling (in other words, we set the alarm to give us an extra half hour or so to simply cuddle before starting the day) before we broke down the tent and got things packed up for the trip back to Oxnard that evening. I finished up when he had to go to Director's Notes, so I locked up the car, made sure we had a bit to eat that morning (and that I once again had my caffeine), and we were off and running for the second day. There were a couple hitches that day (which I'd prefer not getting into, since they were discussed and over with, so better left in the past), but we finished as strongly as we had started the day before, even if I did need an hour-long nap at the end of the day. I also got the prettiest little locket from him, thanks to the help of our adopted big sis, Cindy. (Looking back, seeing her that weekend was bittersweet, since she's taking time away from doing Faires. But I hope we can all spend time together when I go up to see Justin.) From there, it was tear-down, visiting with folks during tear-down (we had to decline dinner, since we had an early start to the next day so I could get home at a reasonable time), then back to Oxnard for sleep.
The only bad part about that early morning the next morning? I forgot my iPod up there. Guess that's what I get for being that damned tired. But fortunately for me, Justin has gladly agreed to be its protector until his family's visit next weekend (the 9th and 10th) so I can have it returned to me. So more thanks to him for that. And since then, it's been more of the same, so nothing of incredible importance. Oh well.
Wait. Before I wrap this up, I realized something. I haven't shared any kind of picture of him on here with y'all, have I? Well, since one of our Guildmates got some great ones, I figured I'd share both his look that weekend and mine.
Here are a couple pictures of my look:
(Me attempting to shoot a 30-lb longbow. I hadn't shot a bow in years, and when I had before, it was a 25-lb shortbow. Still, I at least look like I know what I'm doing.)
(My Pirate Faire getup. They're cut off at the bottom of the photo, but I'm wearing my tan moccasins as well. Those were lifesavers that weekend!)
Justin was a bit trickier to find photos of Faire-wise. For some reason, the ones that showed off his outfit really nicely didn't get his face as well. (And y'all know that's just as important as the garb!) So I found a photo of him in his garb from last year that shows his expression much better.
(His garb for this year's Pirate Faire. I so love that red shirt he has on, it's what convinced me he should wear red more often. Wish you could see his face better here.)
(Pic from last year's Pirate Faire. I prefer the red with his garb, but you can see his face better here.)
So there you have it. A nice long post with a few pics at the end. Hope you enjoyed. :)