In which I go on at length
Oy, it's been a long time since I posted! Um. Stuff happened. If I don't write about it, I forget about it, so here goes an attempt to preserve what failing recollections I have left. :)
Yule went very well overall. There was music all day (and some dancing!), we got a fantastic new A&S champion who was utterly thrilled to be chosen, some overdue awards went out (and we're still sitting on a few for folks who couldn't make it to the event), and the mini-monkey's annual tribute from her canton was particularly awesome: They gave her an adorable stuffed squirrel and a hand-knitted acorn hat -- the hat being for her, not the squirrel! Now that it's safely over, I can admit I was really nervous about the proposed format for the food, but everyone seems to have eaten well and there weren't any riots, so hey. I still prefer an actual sit-down dinner where everyone's eating at the same time in terms of being able to manage toasts, speeches, visiting tables, etc. -- this worked out fine, though, and at least it was a nice change of pace. Our last Yule as Baron and Baroness, yikes! It's really starting to sink in now, what with having official heirs and all.
Speaking of which, yeah, as of June our dear friends klynn330 and ubiq31 will start their reign of terror -- er, I mean, will be stepping up to replace us. :) Although the L.C. and I had been joking about taking the year off, that clearly won't be happening since I've already volunteered for a job with the College of Performers, we're still doing Pennsic this summer, etc. Whee!
This is definitely a big time for transitions; a couple of days after I got the news about our heirs, I also got the news that my band is going on hiatus, which I'm translating as "defunct." It was nice while it lasted. *sigh* I've learned through experience that it makes me very unhappy not to be playing out moderately regularly, so am now trolling Craigslist just to have something to do on that front -- if anyone has suggestions, let me know. I play flute, recorder, crumhorn, rauschpfeife, pennywhistle (if I really have to), and a little bit of very basic hand percussion, can manage some vocal contributions within a fairly narrow range, and am interested in medieval, folk, and world music. I'm not particularly looking for studio-only projects (unless they're awesomely cool).
Getting back to the "here's what happened so it's not completely gone from my brain in a month" endeavor, some stuff I remember from December/January:
We hosted the gaming group's annual holiday potluck party: tons of excellent food, and a very happy gathering. Shortly thereafter we hosted a Who Year's Eve party (apologies to all and sundry for not inviting everybody -- normally we do NYE more or less as an open house, but this year we really couldn't cope with anything beyond a very limited number of guests). We had the Face of Boe in the fishtank! We had fish fingers and custard! We had a family show up dressed as Captain Jack and Nancy with their little boy in a gas mask, dutifully reciting the "Are you my mummy?" line! We had *two* people show up wearing fezzes, and one dressed as Cindy Lou Who! There was the mandatory annual Scrabble game, plus Munchkin, we all watched the ball drop and some fireworks afterwards, and then the L.C. and I got to bed somewhere around 4:30 or so. :) The next day we went to brunch at my parents' place and came home to find klynn330 and friend K ensconced on our couch, watching the Mummers. Yay! The Fancy Brigade show was particularly odd this year; if you didn't catch the Satin Slippers "Rise of the Cyborgs" routine, check it out and note the bizarre Darth Vader appearance as a very, very poorly placed tank driver.
I took the sprout to see the dress rehearsal of the PA Ballet's Nutcracker -- she's been twice to see the full production, so this seemed like something different and neat. They went through the second act first, which upset her greatly since she was afraid she wouldn't get to see the tree grow, but it turns out they do the second act and then boot all the school trip groups out before they work on the more technically challenging first act. We found this out because when we went out to grab some lunch after the second act, worried that our day was over, we met the lighting designer at the hot dog stand on the corner and he not only let us know what was going on, but also took us backstage so she could see the tree, the Nutcracker's bed, and all the young dancers waiting to go on! Very cool experience for both of us. (and I'm awfully glad she wanted to wear her tutu, because that was what prompted him to ask if we'd been at the rehearsal!)
In other sprout news, we bought her a saucer sled the day it snowed, and I took her to the field on the other side of our neighbors' to go sledding. She had an absolute blast, and I got some fun videos of her giggling maniacally as she whizzed by me. I also got two adorable drawings from her afterwards, one showing us at the top of a hill with me about to push her, and one depicting the aftermath of one of the times she made *me* go down in the sled, focusing on my black boots up in the air. :)
The music project for 12th Night, Bruni's processional music, went off fine. It was stressful right up until the last minute and we could have used a lot more practice time all together, but recognizable 14th- and 15th-century French music was produced -- and people seemed to enjoy it (or at least they didn't run screaming), so I'm pleased. Also, Bruni's canopied procession was so incredibly amazing that I suspect everyone was a little distracted. :)
As part of my quest to spend less on takeout, we got a crockpot. I should've done that years ago! Love love love. Send me your favorite recipes! I've been cooking other non-crockpot food as well; I had forgotten how very much I love this Tunisian fish soup recipe (do use cilantro, not parsley, unless you really hate the stuff), and this veggie stew with kale, chickpeas, and butternut squash turned out well. It's awfully nice to have the fridge stocked with actual home-cooked food.
Last but not least: The new(ish) Conan movie was terrible, the Dr Who Christmas special was fantastic, and "Pitch Perfect" is my current most favoritest movie ever. Check it out if you like singing and can tolerate pop music!
Yule went very well overall. There was music all day (and some dancing!), we got a fantastic new A&S champion who was utterly thrilled to be chosen, some overdue awards went out (and we're still sitting on a few for folks who couldn't make it to the event), and the mini-monkey's annual tribute from her canton was particularly awesome: They gave her an adorable stuffed squirrel and a hand-knitted acorn hat -- the hat being for her, not the squirrel! Now that it's safely over, I can admit I was really nervous about the proposed format for the food, but everyone seems to have eaten well and there weren't any riots, so hey. I still prefer an actual sit-down dinner where everyone's eating at the same time in terms of being able to manage toasts, speeches, visiting tables, etc. -- this worked out fine, though, and at least it was a nice change of pace. Our last Yule as Baron and Baroness, yikes! It's really starting to sink in now, what with having official heirs and all.
Speaking of which, yeah, as of June our dear friends klynn330 and ubiq31 will start their reign of terror -- er, I mean, will be stepping up to replace us. :) Although the L.C. and I had been joking about taking the year off, that clearly won't be happening since I've already volunteered for a job with the College of Performers, we're still doing Pennsic this summer, etc. Whee!
This is definitely a big time for transitions; a couple of days after I got the news about our heirs, I also got the news that my band is going on hiatus, which I'm translating as "defunct." It was nice while it lasted. *sigh* I've learned through experience that it makes me very unhappy not to be playing out moderately regularly, so am now trolling Craigslist just to have something to do on that front -- if anyone has suggestions, let me know. I play flute, recorder, crumhorn, rauschpfeife, pennywhistle (if I really have to), and a little bit of very basic hand percussion, can manage some vocal contributions within a fairly narrow range, and am interested in medieval, folk, and world music. I'm not particularly looking for studio-only projects (unless they're awesomely cool).
Getting back to the "here's what happened so it's not completely gone from my brain in a month" endeavor, some stuff I remember from December/January:
We hosted the gaming group's annual holiday potluck party: tons of excellent food, and a very happy gathering. Shortly thereafter we hosted a Who Year's Eve party (apologies to all and sundry for not inviting everybody -- normally we do NYE more or less as an open house, but this year we really couldn't cope with anything beyond a very limited number of guests). We had the Face of Boe in the fishtank! We had fish fingers and custard! We had a family show up dressed as Captain Jack and Nancy with their little boy in a gas mask, dutifully reciting the "Are you my mummy?" line! We had *two* people show up wearing fezzes, and one dressed as Cindy Lou Who! There was the mandatory annual Scrabble game, plus Munchkin, we all watched the ball drop and some fireworks afterwards, and then the L.C. and I got to bed somewhere around 4:30 or so. :) The next day we went to brunch at my parents' place and came home to find klynn330 and friend K ensconced on our couch, watching the Mummers. Yay! The Fancy Brigade show was particularly odd this year; if you didn't catch the Satin Slippers "Rise of the Cyborgs" routine, check it out and note the bizarre Darth Vader appearance as a very, very poorly placed tank driver.
I took the sprout to see the dress rehearsal of the PA Ballet's Nutcracker -- she's been twice to see the full production, so this seemed like something different and neat. They went through the second act first, which upset her greatly since she was afraid she wouldn't get to see the tree grow, but it turns out they do the second act and then boot all the school trip groups out before they work on the more technically challenging first act. We found this out because when we went out to grab some lunch after the second act, worried that our day was over, we met the lighting designer at the hot dog stand on the corner and he not only let us know what was going on, but also took us backstage so she could see the tree, the Nutcracker's bed, and all the young dancers waiting to go on! Very cool experience for both of us. (and I'm awfully glad she wanted to wear her tutu, because that was what prompted him to ask if we'd been at the rehearsal!)
In other sprout news, we bought her a saucer sled the day it snowed, and I took her to the field on the other side of our neighbors' to go sledding. She had an absolute blast, and I got some fun videos of her giggling maniacally as she whizzed by me. I also got two adorable drawings from her afterwards, one showing us at the top of a hill with me about to push her, and one depicting the aftermath of one of the times she made *me* go down in the sled, focusing on my black boots up in the air. :)
The music project for 12th Night, Bruni's processional music, went off fine. It was stressful right up until the last minute and we could have used a lot more practice time all together, but recognizable 14th- and 15th-century French music was produced -- and people seemed to enjoy it (or at least they didn't run screaming), so I'm pleased. Also, Bruni's canopied procession was so incredibly amazing that I suspect everyone was a little distracted. :)
As part of my quest to spend less on takeout, we got a crockpot. I should've done that years ago! Love love love. Send me your favorite recipes! I've been cooking other non-crockpot food as well; I had forgotten how very much I love this Tunisian fish soup recipe (do use cilantro, not parsley, unless you really hate the stuff), and this veggie stew with kale, chickpeas, and butternut squash turned out well. It's awfully nice to have the fridge stocked with actual home-cooked food.
Last but not least: The new(ish) Conan movie was terrible, the Dr Who Christmas special was fantastic, and "Pitch Perfect" is my current most favoritest movie ever. Check it out if you like singing and can tolerate pop music!