Pick five
There was entirely too much stuff I wanted to do this weekend, and no possible way to fit everything in. The loser was Floradora, the smash Broadway hit of the early 20th century (or whatever they were calling it). There was just no way to get there around all of the other things that we'd committed to. And since I hear the show sold out anyway, I probably couldn't have gotten a ticket if I'd been able to make the time.
On the other hand, the rest of the weekend worked out mostly well. Saturday's demo at the Monterey Scottish Games wasn't bad -- the crowd was light and we were well off the beaten track and our usually attention-grabber wasn't there, but the fighters managed to attract a fair number of passers-by (some who actually came looking specifically for us) and we talked up the SCA and handed out lots and lots of flyers. I confess I'm not fond of demos, since I don't like crowds of people and I'm never really sure of what I have to offer that would lure new folks in, but by the time we left the site I had all kinds of ideas brewing to draw more attention next year. If I were smart, I'd park those ideas in a handy spot for easy retrieval later....
From there, it was over to the pool party at allesandro_bard and colletteshorses'. We expected to arrive to a party in full swing, but other than cnewsonsmith and some family, we were the first guests to show. Turns out a series of accidents on Hwy. 17 had most of the party guests sitting in traffic -- as we'd come up Hwy. 1, we had clear sailing the whole way. So we chatted and helped stage chow, and soon the house (and pool) were full of happy party-goers. Toward evening, I began to feel peopled-out, so I asked mastersantiago if he could get a ride home, and bailed. Back home, I curled up with some sewing and a lap full of cats, and worked on regaining my wah.
Sunday morning I got caught up on some household chores, and then drove over to Fremont to meet cathyblancett to handle some business-type stuff before she took off for Pennsic. Mission accomplished, I dashed back home and we started the rounds of birthday parties.
Over to blkeagl and strmonkey's for Princess A's pizza-and-Dora-the-Explorer party, and we were just in time for the lighting of the cupcakes. In classic Donna-Reed-meets-the-Home-Improvement-Guy fashion, strmonkey was using a blowtorch to light the birthday candles, and I'm actually surprised she didn't melt Dora's face off.
Next was the House of Too Many Children's Pirate Birthday Adventure, with the kids all decked out in their tiny 18th century gear -- aak! The Cute! It burns us!
While the parties were fun, I felt like a total slacker for showing up entirely empty handed. The kids may have never noticed, but I'll make it up to them soon. It never hurts to get birthday presents, right?
Back home to recover before the work week starts, and to reassure the cats that no, they weren't in danger of starving to death any time soon. mastersantiago was all comfy on the couch, and Echo curled up to snooze in his arms -- she's so pretty, and has this little Mona Lisa smile, and the two of them looked so content -- it was a picture-perfect moment. Which I totally blew, because I couldn't remember how to turn the camera on.
One week until we leave for Alaska. I totally can't wait.
On the other hand, the rest of the weekend worked out mostly well. Saturday's demo at the Monterey Scottish Games wasn't bad -- the crowd was light and we were well off the beaten track and our usually attention-grabber wasn't there, but the fighters managed to attract a fair number of passers-by (some who actually came looking specifically for us) and we talked up the SCA and handed out lots and lots of flyers. I confess I'm not fond of demos, since I don't like crowds of people and I'm never really sure of what I have to offer that would lure new folks in, but by the time we left the site I had all kinds of ideas brewing to draw more attention next year. If I were smart, I'd park those ideas in a handy spot for easy retrieval later....
From there, it was over to the pool party at allesandro_bard and colletteshorses'. We expected to arrive to a party in full swing, but other than cnewsonsmith and some family, we were the first guests to show. Turns out a series of accidents on Hwy. 17 had most of the party guests sitting in traffic -- as we'd come up Hwy. 1, we had clear sailing the whole way. So we chatted and helped stage chow, and soon the house (and pool) were full of happy party-goers. Toward evening, I began to feel peopled-out, so I asked mastersantiago if he could get a ride home, and bailed. Back home, I curled up with some sewing and a lap full of cats, and worked on regaining my wah.
Sunday morning I got caught up on some household chores, and then drove over to Fremont to meet cathyblancett to handle some business-type stuff before she took off for Pennsic. Mission accomplished, I dashed back home and we started the rounds of birthday parties.
Over to blkeagl and strmonkey's for Princess A's pizza-and-Dora-the-Explorer party, and we were just in time for the lighting of the cupcakes. In classic Donna-Reed-meets-the-Home-Improvement-Guy fashion, strmonkey was using a blowtorch to light the birthday candles, and I'm actually surprised she didn't melt Dora's face off.
Next was the House of Too Many Children's Pirate Birthday Adventure, with the kids all decked out in their tiny 18th century gear -- aak! The Cute! It burns us!
While the parties were fun, I felt like a total slacker for showing up entirely empty handed. The kids may have never noticed, but I'll make it up to them soon. It never hurts to get birthday presents, right?
Back home to recover before the work week starts, and to reassure the cats that no, they weren't in danger of starving to death any time soon. mastersantiago was all comfy on the couch, and Echo curled up to snooze in his arms -- she's so pretty, and has this little Mona Lisa smile, and the two of them looked so content -- it was a picture-perfect moment. Which I totally blew, because I couldn't remember how to turn the camera on.
One week until we leave for Alaska. I totally can't wait.