4 loads of laundry

Mood: good
Weather: 70's and no humidity

I have my 4th load of laundry in the dryer and hopefully it is the last. There is still a tote of stuff that went to Pennsic but didn't get worn more then a hour or so that I'm hoping I can get away with airing outside rather then washing. We are going out to the Village Inn for dinner so this will be sorta short.

Pennsic is hard to put into words but it is more then a vacation, it is living differently for a week. We got there 11pm on Sat, driving all day, and went out to a party. That was actually one of the few parties we went to all week. Next day we set up and did all the usual first day visiting. We ate with my parents camp all week so it was cool to have good food and visit family 3 times a day.

Monday - Friday there were battles every day starting at 11. Very easy for me because I could get up, dressed, walk to breakfast and be back by the time people were going to the field. For the first few days Lars was fighting on the opposite side as the majority of the household so I did a lot of walking back and forth to give him water and take care of the other guys too. We kept hoping that Northshield would declare for the East because they were super outnumbered and the king previously said he would fight for the East if they were outnumbered but that didn't happen. I suppose after so many years of being on the loosing side he wanted to win and with numbers 4 to 1 in your favor he had a good shot at it. I don't begrudge him the victory and I won't count on stuff until I see it happening. I don't really care much at all because Lars had fun fighting.

There were two knighting of note. *for the non SCA people who read, knighting is the highest recognition of fighting in the SCA. You have to be a superior fighter and generally good and courteous person. All the current knights discuss and vote on who they want to elevate to knighthood so different kingdoms end up with different standards because they are voted on by different groups etc. Lars, by the way, is a knight and worked very hard to get it and works hard to remain an example and teaches anyone who wants to learn. Anyway, one guy from Bloodguard was knighted - he is a super cool fun guy and it was awesome to see it done. I helped set up the vigil and felt fairly involved so that was cool too. The other knight is from Northshield. He is a cool fun guy too but I really can't judge his fighting because I don't fight. The ceremony for each guy was done by the respective kingdoms and the similarities and differences were interesting to note. Today, in reading my E-mail from the week, someone took a really low shot at the new Northshield knight, publicly saying he cheated on his wife. In my opinion, his personal life is his and who he sleeps with is between the relevant parties. I hope it doesn't taint the Order or the kingdom.

Lars managed to find a poker tournment one night and came in second so we made some money at Pennsic. I stayed in camp chatting 2 nights out of 7 - but I think there were less huge parties this year. 1 night we walked around the merchant area for midnight madness but we didn't actually buy anything, just ran into bunches of people we know and talked. There were 2 ladies nights, the first was fairly dull because there wasn't a lot going on and we were disorganized starting out. The second ladies night was hosted by Mistress Izzy and she always puts on a great party and it was the last night so pennsic ended on a high note. Lars and the other guys joined us both nights about 11 - some of the ladies didn't like it but I did since I have more fun with him around, I suppose someday I may get tired of him ;)

So that is my pennsic in a nutshell. Since I've been home I showered twice, shaved my legs in the luxury of hot good pressure soft water (Pennsic water may be hot but it is very hard, like little iron spikes hitting you and I get a reaction from it every year). I gave myself a manicure, peticure and facial so I look pretty, rested, and tan for work. Now it is time to put food in the belly....