What I did on my winter vacation!
Oh yeah it was good... Oh yeah, this is a long entry...
And here is your updates!
Tuesday -- cleaned the house a bit, dropped off my doggies. It was so freakin' quiet around the house -- and it was nice outside, so I opened up all the doors of my house to let some fresh air blow through.
Kniggit-2's lady, his son, and Miss Mira came by the house for the night around 7 or 8 p.m. and started playing cards. By then, I was exhausted from zooming back and forth various places, helping out with lots of projects, and packing the last final bits of my stuff. So, I went to bed very early (like around 9) and slept like the dead. There was no waking me up, even when Mr. O came to bed around 11.
Wednesday -- Woke too early at 5 a.m., took my time gettting ready since the airplane was not leaving till 9:45. Got to the airport, and I am thinking that my luck at airports bled over onto kniggit-2's lady, who ALWAYS has a difficult time doing automatic check-in. It went through in nothing flat, and if only her son hadn't tried to grab the ticket before it was exposed, there wouldn't have been much of a problem... Thankfully, before we held up the line too long, they managed to pry that wily ticket from the grasp of the machine, and we carried on.
Flight: a bit bumpy -- I enjoyed looking out the window. A little girl sat next to me (open seating) and when we had a dip go on, I went *wheeeeee!* and made her laugh instead of crying. That is a first (usually kids cry when they get put near me)
Got picked up by Cam in Grampa O's HUGE DULEY TRUCK OF DOOM (tm) -- I found it amusing that most of the vehicals at Sky Harbor were nicer ones -- SUV's nice rentals, shiney and not dusty. And then the diesel truck with wyoming plates drove up (or perhaps I should say rumbled up with a load of dust and mud). People looked at us just a bit oddly as all 5 of us gleefully jumped in the truck.
Set up camp. Hot, dusty dusty work. Enjoyed that my tent goes up with 4 stakes, 3 vertical poles and 2 horizontal poles, and a minimum of two people with one staking down the 4 stakes. Oh yeah, and 5 minutes of time. Fiddled with putting the bed together, helped finagle a pup-tent for man-at-arms-brudder (bungee cords are your friend!) and then started unloading the vast amounts of stuff kniggit-1 brings from the Caerthe truck. Set him up, had issues with his tent-floor. Swore a bit, and then I stole a HUGE gulp or two of his Guiness. It was hot and dusty, I hate beer, but god damn that stuff tasted good in that one instant!
Had a GREAT time camping with Legion -- the folk there enjoy eating. There are a couple of meals per day, and all I had to do was wash dishes on occasion (no problem, since the stoves were high BTU's and the water heated quickly) Legion is also composed of a few early morning risers like me, so I am not looked at wierd when I emerge from the tent at 5/6 a.m. when the security parking lights are still on.
Thursday -- I went and fought in the Outlands Prize tourney. It is kind of weird, as last year, I was really nervous and my knees were knocking together, and I am fighting back having a tear escape -- being terrified that I would get my ass handed to me, and laughed off the field. One year later, I am *calmly* looking for the person who I am to fight, look forward to the fight, and just right before I salute to Her Majesty, I get one teeny butterfly that goes away when I make eye-contact with Her (Or kniggit-1, or kniggit-2) and it is just a fight. All of my fights were good. No single-shot deaths. I went 3 rounds -- wish I could have gotten a bit farther, but thems the breaks. I did a double-kill on one of them, and that had to be re-fought. He finally sliced me down the side of the head, and I felt it was hard-enough (and totally clean) so I dropped dead... He argued a bit with me that he didn't think it was a good enough shot, but I was perfectly fine with it. It is amazing how much one can change in just a single year.
I then went and fought pick-ups... A few of them I swept the floor with, and had to adjust so that I wasn't cleaning their clock over and over again... (what fun is that?) Taught a teeny bit to a lady-fighter who had just barely gotten authorized that day... encouraged her to keep on with it. Then, fought Mr. 'Ni, who totally swept the floor with me. I could not land a shot, his D was so tight. I felt reasonably good with my defense, as he didn't single-shot me. But, that is how it goes. I learned a bit, and hopefully will get to be better when I fight him next time. I hope that he had as enjoyable a time as I did. (goals goals goals)
Thursday afternoon after cleaning up, I shuffled into Merchants row with kniggit-1 and mizz Red and Miss MIra to go get middle easterny stuff for Her Redness. I think they had a plan... I just slipped easily into it -- We stopped by THE Hat Merchant (the one with the wool wooby hats that have fur on them.) and start trying on hats.. Mira's trying on hats, Hans is handing me hats, Red is trying on and handing me hats.. and somehow I ended up with this REALLY coool black hat with red stitching, a cat toy dangly bit, and greyish fur on my head that fit, and looked good.. It looked faboo on me, but, I wasn't about to purchase it (funds are tight right now) so I started taking it off. Heh. I was told to keep it on and hippo biridies to me. Wahooo! I finally have an Outlands Chick hat now!
Thursday night, I dressed all middle-easterny, wore the chick-hat with my coronet barely showing (yay stealth!) and zoomed around with Mizz Red. We drank Long Island Ice Teas. It got drunk out. I saved her from herself, and trouble-1 and trouble-2... I guarded a drunk Western naughty German boy when she needed to be done for the evening, and Red saved me from running into tent poles, stakes, palm trees and whatever lay in my path of stomping destruction. Glad several people were not around, as my inhibitions were NOT around, and they might have gotten snogged most thoroughly! Yikes! Got put to bed... It was funny having M pulling off my boots. OKay.. everything was funny.
FRIDAY!! (happy birthday to me!) I wake up at my normal time, come bouncing out of my tent to consume outmeal, and get glared at by those who had headaches from the night before (trick metabolism, I don't get hangovers) Listened to Grampa O hollering how much he LOVED the Legion!!! Every Paycheck a Fortune, Every Formation a Parade.. Every Meal a Veritable Feast! Kniggit-1 and Mizz REd didn't come out quick enough, so I was sent in as the shock troops to waller them. Yep... they got wallered by all 175 lbs of me. Then.. I got a surprise!!! Chocolate birthday cake was pulled out with my antelope and pine trees on it, with crossed axes (to look like x's) in roman numerals for 30. So, chocolate cake was had for breakfast (my oatmeal kinda got ignored after getting cake) and I had a chirpy buzz going on while putting on my armor for battle.
Battles were awesome -- we were outnumbered, I had a grand time hitting folks with my spear of woe. I then took out my spankin' brand new axe for the res battle and beat the crap out of folks that decided to charge by and get in range. JOY JOY JOY!!!!
OKay, so it is DAMN cool to be able to do what you love doing best All day long on your birthday.
Saturday: Broken field. Just took the spear out there and worked on helping folks do their job easier. I had an awesome time just being about 4 feet left or right of some very well known knights. EVERYONE targeted them, and just ignored little old me. *gleeful giggle inserted here* I finally just got worn out enough that I decided to stop and save energy for a household fighter practice after melee.
Followed after kniggit-2 for a while, *tried* to kill the King of the West, and came close, about an inch more of reach and I might have got him. Unfortunately, his two people/guards in formation with him stayed on target, and I died while laughing, which of course, made Him laugh as well.
Went to a fighter practice that was simple at first, a few squires, a few kniggits, lots of learning/teaching and then things started getting a bit deep. I started seeing a LOT more ducal leaves than red belts out there, and fights started getting a bit more upscale. I held my own for a while, was told by Duke Beck that I was a scrappy fighter (WOOT!) and just had a good time with the meat-and-beat. Finally, I just wasn't physically able to hold my sword anymore.. my callous had turned into a blister that had broken, and I needed food, water and a shower. The spirit is willing most of the time, but the flesh is weak. *sigh*
Being in line for the showers with the Other Lady Thegn, we were both giggled at by some girls who decided that drawing "wash me" on our dirt-covered faces was the highlight of the shower line for them.
Tacos and Margs for Saturday night. Went with kniggit-2 to merchant's row to see if we could find some scrap leather for lamellar for both of us. Found and purchased it. I hope I can have that set of armor done before Crown... Went zooming around various places.. had a hard time seeing all of my friends as I just kept so busy with things. I guess that is the way it goes sometimes.
Forgot to hook up with Northhawk to get her ice cream. =( SOrry Amber Kenna Cat! That is one of my regrets. Another regret is not finding Calontir and partying with them.
Cuddled up with a good friend to keep warm Sat. night, as I have a hard time getting warm after zooming around all night. Ahhh warm snuggles - you can't beat 'em! Then stumbled back to my tent to see if I could keep warm. Finally did and slept until Mr. O came in at 5 in the morning and put his icy cold toes and butt up against me. Cruelness I tell you!
So, I dozed and thought about stuff until Grampa O started thumping around camp. Packed up my camp by myself, then worked on other people's camps/loading. I have a good sense of "Git 'Er Dun!" when it needs to happen. Got driven to airport and played on the walkways for several hours before flying home. Flight was delayed about an hour, but it was filled with the Northern Outlands folks who made the stewardess laugh out loud when we mimicked her doing the pre flight gas mask routine. Slept on the airplane till touch down. Drowsily got off and was INSTA-AWAKE when the cold air hit me.
Was freakin' lazy yesterday, but decided to write today about all that went down. THere is much more, but that is all I can think about right now. All in all, it was the best birthday evah, the fighting was great, I killed many, and was trampled a lot. I also have a bit too much sun, despite my efforts with sunscreen.
Looking forward to just chilling out for a few days before starting any new projects...
And here is your updates!
Tuesday -- cleaned the house a bit, dropped off my doggies. It was so freakin' quiet around the house -- and it was nice outside, so I opened up all the doors of my house to let some fresh air blow through.
Kniggit-2's lady, his son, and Miss Mira came by the house for the night around 7 or 8 p.m. and started playing cards. By then, I was exhausted from zooming back and forth various places, helping out with lots of projects, and packing the last final bits of my stuff. So, I went to bed very early (like around 9) and slept like the dead. There was no waking me up, even when Mr. O came to bed around 11.
Wednesday -- Woke too early at 5 a.m., took my time gettting ready since the airplane was not leaving till 9:45. Got to the airport, and I am thinking that my luck at airports bled over onto kniggit-2's lady, who ALWAYS has a difficult time doing automatic check-in. It went through in nothing flat, and if only her son hadn't tried to grab the ticket before it was exposed, there wouldn't have been much of a problem... Thankfully, before we held up the line too long, they managed to pry that wily ticket from the grasp of the machine, and we carried on.
Flight: a bit bumpy -- I enjoyed looking out the window. A little girl sat next to me (open seating) and when we had a dip go on, I went *wheeeeee!* and made her laugh instead of crying. That is a first (usually kids cry when they get put near me)
Got picked up by Cam in Grampa O's HUGE DULEY TRUCK OF DOOM (tm) -- I found it amusing that most of the vehicals at Sky Harbor were nicer ones -- SUV's nice rentals, shiney and not dusty. And then the diesel truck with wyoming plates drove up (or perhaps I should say rumbled up with a load of dust and mud). People looked at us just a bit oddly as all 5 of us gleefully jumped in the truck.
Set up camp. Hot, dusty dusty work. Enjoyed that my tent goes up with 4 stakes, 3 vertical poles and 2 horizontal poles, and a minimum of two people with one staking down the 4 stakes. Oh yeah, and 5 minutes of time. Fiddled with putting the bed together, helped finagle a pup-tent for man-at-arms-brudder (bungee cords are your friend!) and then started unloading the vast amounts of stuff kniggit-1 brings from the Caerthe truck. Set him up, had issues with his tent-floor. Swore a bit, and then I stole a HUGE gulp or two of his Guiness. It was hot and dusty, I hate beer, but god damn that stuff tasted good in that one instant!
Had a GREAT time camping with Legion -- the folk there enjoy eating. There are a couple of meals per day, and all I had to do was wash dishes on occasion (no problem, since the stoves were high BTU's and the water heated quickly) Legion is also composed of a few early morning risers like me, so I am not looked at wierd when I emerge from the tent at 5/6 a.m. when the security parking lights are still on.
Thursday -- I went and fought in the Outlands Prize tourney. It is kind of weird, as last year, I was really nervous and my knees were knocking together, and I am fighting back having a tear escape -- being terrified that I would get my ass handed to me, and laughed off the field. One year later, I am *calmly* looking for the person who I am to fight, look forward to the fight, and just right before I salute to Her Majesty, I get one teeny butterfly that goes away when I make eye-contact with Her (Or kniggit-1, or kniggit-2) and it is just a fight. All of my fights were good. No single-shot deaths. I went 3 rounds -- wish I could have gotten a bit farther, but thems the breaks. I did a double-kill on one of them, and that had to be re-fought. He finally sliced me down the side of the head, and I felt it was hard-enough (and totally clean) so I dropped dead... He argued a bit with me that he didn't think it was a good enough shot, but I was perfectly fine with it. It is amazing how much one can change in just a single year.
I then went and fought pick-ups... A few of them I swept the floor with, and had to adjust so that I wasn't cleaning their clock over and over again... (what fun is that?) Taught a teeny bit to a lady-fighter who had just barely gotten authorized that day... encouraged her to keep on with it. Then, fought Mr. 'Ni, who totally swept the floor with me. I could not land a shot, his D was so tight. I felt reasonably good with my defense, as he didn't single-shot me. But, that is how it goes. I learned a bit, and hopefully will get to be better when I fight him next time. I hope that he had as enjoyable a time as I did. (goals goals goals)
Thursday afternoon after cleaning up, I shuffled into Merchants row with kniggit-1 and mizz Red and Miss MIra to go get middle easterny stuff for Her Redness. I think they had a plan... I just slipped easily into it -- We stopped by THE Hat Merchant (the one with the wool wooby hats that have fur on them.) and start trying on hats.. Mira's trying on hats, Hans is handing me hats, Red is trying on and handing me hats.. and somehow I ended up with this REALLY coool black hat with red stitching, a cat toy dangly bit, and greyish fur on my head that fit, and looked good.. It looked faboo on me, but, I wasn't about to purchase it (funds are tight right now) so I started taking it off. Heh. I was told to keep it on and hippo biridies to me. Wahooo! I finally have an Outlands Chick hat now!
Thursday night, I dressed all middle-easterny, wore the chick-hat with my coronet barely showing (yay stealth!) and zoomed around with Mizz Red. We drank Long Island Ice Teas. It got drunk out. I saved her from herself, and trouble-1 and trouble-2... I guarded a drunk Western naughty German boy when she needed to be done for the evening, and Red saved me from running into tent poles, stakes, palm trees and whatever lay in my path of stomping destruction. Glad several people were not around, as my inhibitions were NOT around, and they might have gotten snogged most thoroughly! Yikes! Got put to bed... It was funny having M pulling off my boots. OKay.. everything was funny.
FRIDAY!! (happy birthday to me!) I wake up at my normal time, come bouncing out of my tent to consume outmeal, and get glared at by those who had headaches from the night before (trick metabolism, I don't get hangovers) Listened to Grampa O hollering how much he LOVED the Legion!!! Every Paycheck a Fortune, Every Formation a Parade.. Every Meal a Veritable Feast! Kniggit-1 and Mizz REd didn't come out quick enough, so I was sent in as the shock troops to waller them. Yep... they got wallered by all 175 lbs of me. Then.. I got a surprise!!! Chocolate birthday cake was pulled out with my antelope and pine trees on it, with crossed axes (to look like x's) in roman numerals for 30. So, chocolate cake was had for breakfast (my oatmeal kinda got ignored after getting cake) and I had a chirpy buzz going on while putting on my armor for battle.
Battles were awesome -- we were outnumbered, I had a grand time hitting folks with my spear of woe. I then took out my spankin' brand new axe for the res battle and beat the crap out of folks that decided to charge by and get in range. JOY JOY JOY!!!!
OKay, so it is DAMN cool to be able to do what you love doing best All day long on your birthday.
Saturday: Broken field. Just took the spear out there and worked on helping folks do their job easier. I had an awesome time just being about 4 feet left or right of some very well known knights. EVERYONE targeted them, and just ignored little old me. *gleeful giggle inserted here* I finally just got worn out enough that I decided to stop and save energy for a household fighter practice after melee.
Followed after kniggit-2 for a while, *tried* to kill the King of the West, and came close, about an inch more of reach and I might have got him. Unfortunately, his two people/guards in formation with him stayed on target, and I died while laughing, which of course, made Him laugh as well.
Went to a fighter practice that was simple at first, a few squires, a few kniggits, lots of learning/teaching and then things started getting a bit deep. I started seeing a LOT more ducal leaves than red belts out there, and fights started getting a bit more upscale. I held my own for a while, was told by Duke Beck that I was a scrappy fighter (WOOT!) and just had a good time with the meat-and-beat. Finally, I just wasn't physically able to hold my sword anymore.. my callous had turned into a blister that had broken, and I needed food, water and a shower. The spirit is willing most of the time, but the flesh is weak. *sigh*
Being in line for the showers with the Other Lady Thegn, we were both giggled at by some girls who decided that drawing "wash me" on our dirt-covered faces was the highlight of the shower line for them.
Tacos and Margs for Saturday night. Went with kniggit-2 to merchant's row to see if we could find some scrap leather for lamellar for both of us. Found and purchased it. I hope I can have that set of armor done before Crown... Went zooming around various places.. had a hard time seeing all of my friends as I just kept so busy with things. I guess that is the way it goes sometimes.
Forgot to hook up with Northhawk to get her ice cream. =( SOrry Amber Kenna Cat! That is one of my regrets. Another regret is not finding Calontir and partying with them.
Cuddled up with a good friend to keep warm Sat. night, as I have a hard time getting warm after zooming around all night. Ahhh warm snuggles - you can't beat 'em! Then stumbled back to my tent to see if I could keep warm. Finally did and slept until Mr. O came in at 5 in the morning and put his icy cold toes and butt up against me. Cruelness I tell you!
So, I dozed and thought about stuff until Grampa O started thumping around camp. Packed up my camp by myself, then worked on other people's camps/loading. I have a good sense of "Git 'Er Dun!" when it needs to happen. Got driven to airport and played on the walkways for several hours before flying home. Flight was delayed about an hour, but it was filled with the Northern Outlands folks who made the stewardess laugh out loud when we mimicked her doing the pre flight gas mask routine. Slept on the airplane till touch down. Drowsily got off and was INSTA-AWAKE when the cold air hit me.
Was freakin' lazy yesterday, but decided to write today about all that went down. THere is much more, but that is all I can think about right now. All in all, it was the best birthday evah, the fighting was great, I killed many, and was trampled a lot. I also have a bit too much sun, despite my efforts with sunscreen.
Looking forward to just chilling out for a few days before starting any new projects...