Yeah, I haven't made a post in a while and haven't fought in about a month. ( to get ready to read )

Giggity Giggity Giggity....

Last post 11 weeks ago! Well, I guess I have been busy. There is also the fact that we bought Dragon Quest VIII for PS2 sometime around then and it has been taking up my at home free time.

John Inchingham asked for my take on the River Battle. I don't know why, but I am guessing it's for a song. Since I did not do much of a battle by battle PW 36 recap, here is what I sent John. Watch out, it's long.

 

TOC was freakin' awesome, despite my lack of energy through half of the weekend. Here's out it went.

Good lord. I enjoy reading other LJ's so much that I am so sleepy and have a hard time writing my own.

Well I'm back to my workout routine and practices have been getting much better since Pennsic, though I'm not at the level I was at prior to Pennsic. At least this year, the bounce back time is shorter. Last year it would have been October before I felt this confident. My endurance was crap at the first practice back, but with a second practice, the Pas, and a third and fourth practice, my endurance is back again. My jump rope did not get affected though, which is awesome.

I actually feel ready for TOC. I haven't been to one since, I think Festival of Maidens 2000. Seriously, I'm not kidding. I can't remember being at another. Maybe there was one at a Northshield event back when they were a Principality. Boar's Head maybe? Anyways, I know I have been missing out, but up until a couple of years ago fighting single combat didn't have the same glory that it does today (for me). Everyday I feel more like a Martial-Artist, as opposed to a guy who belongs to this medieval recreation organization.

Last practice was fun. Sir Logos took me aside and complimented me on my shield. He was impressed and said that is was very period. I've been getting a lot of praise for my shield. It pleases me greatly to hear it. He also gave me some pointers on how to use the corners and how to step back and around with the back foot to get the torque required for a blow. It's a concept that compliments my attempts to deflect incoming blows rather than block them.

I saw Einarr at MKAOD. He was there for his son and youth combat. Einarr is not ready to fight yet. He's been out not because of his knee, but other medical reasons. Fortunately, he said that he'd be back eventually. I really miss the times he tutored me last year. My performance increased greatly. Maybe I'll ask him for some private lessons.

Did I mention that Talbot's been showing up to fighter practice? Now if we can get all of these white belts to show up on the same day....

Good lord it has been a while since my last post. Pennsic was great and maybe some day I will have the time to sit and pontificate about the highlights. I really should write it down. For now a quick recap of the past two weekends. Weekend before this: dinner at my sister's house, then lunch at my mom's with old family friends who were in town. Then the bachelor party, which was a good ole time. This weekend we took a trip up to MN to visit the in-laws. We went to the MN State Fair which was a cross between Great America and the Lake County Fair. Got lots of cookies!

Now we are home and are having a relaxing Sunday night ironing.

The week days have been busy as usual. I am working on my first union grievance, I am getting ready for lots of late nights doing interviews for Police Officers (eligibility list), and I am starting on a big project: Salary Survey/Internal Manpower Study/External Manpower Study/Benefits Survey. I'm also presenting the results of our Citizen Survey to our Village Board. I'll tell you all about it after I'm done with the press release.

My main concern lately is my lack of working out/pell work/practicing since Pennsic. I really feel out of shape and in poor form. I'm going to fight in crown and am really looking forward to TOC, but I wish I was at the level I was at in June/July. I haven't fought or did any athletic activity since PW. I think the Unbelted Champions and participating in the Midlands command structure took so much focus, that I feel dizzy and tired of fighting. I have the confidence mindset right now of  "I'm going to get clubbed like a baby seal!!!!." Hopefully I'll go to practice on Tuesday and Kilian will be there to shake me into focus.

To the ironing board for now.

My sister is pregnant! It's wonderful news. She's 13 weeks in. I'm going to have another nephew, OR my first niece! I was the last to know (the first to be told was Thursday) but I was so busy that we kept missing each other. I'm so happy. We were planning on going to see them anyway out in DC, but now we definitely are.

Today is more preparing for Pennsic. I'm almost done fixing my armor. We've packed up all of the stuff that will be taken in the trailer. Now we just need to finish our sewing.

Tonight, we see the Simpsons movie with my mom. Can't wait!

    Jeeze, today was like last week all rolled up into one day, except that I had a really good lunch as a part of my professional association (www.IAMMA.org). We ate at Maggiano's of Italy in Skokie. Still, overall it was an intense day.

Then I had my softball game. We one tonight for the first time. Our second to the last game. I scored the winning run. I still wasn't that enthusiastic about it. I realized tonight that I am really bored of the game especially after a weekend like the one I had at Simple Day. 16" just doesn't compare to fighting with the Unbelted Champions. It's a real let down to play even if you win.

I just got done with my biweekly progress report for work and emailed it to my supervisors. Kristine forced me to do 'cause she said that if I didn't write it down I'd be up all night thinking about it. She 100% correct on that one. Work keeps me up at night thinking about all the things I have to do. Sometimes it gives me nightmares. Makes me sick to my stomach sometimes too. But it also gives me a high sometimes. I guess that's why I'm so into it and take so much pride in my job.

Kristine is so great. She is so loving and caring and supports me in everything I do. She has a heart that's 10 times the size of my size 16 feet and calls me everyday at work. I'm so lucky to have her. I know we'll be busy this Pennsic, but I really want to make sure that we make time for ourselves. It's really important since the past couple of Pennsic have felt a lot more like work than vacation (running camp, helping with the reign, etc). I bet that if she comes to Gulf Wars it will feel a lot more like a vacation for us. We'll see.

Tomorrow I need to get up early to get started on all of the things that have to get done, so it's an early night for me.

Sorry about the subject heading. It was what was playing on the radio when I was typing.

This evening I realized that I want more period garb. So I wish I had the money to buy this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/MEDIEVAL-TUNIC-FLAX-OVERCOAT-GARB-COSTUME-SCA-LARP-RED_W0QQitemZ290126830309QQihZ019QQcategoryZ48560QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Of course I could make it too, but Kristiana is already doing so much sewing I could never ask her to make that. Oh well, it's not something that will be done by this Pennsic.

Here is some wikipedia info on Aurochs by the way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs#Aurochs_in_art.2C_history.2C_mythology.2C_and_media

Here is a cool website in English that I have used for Historical research

http://viduramziu.lietuvos.net/en/

The above is just the things that are on my mind right now.