It was Fight Practice last night.

.....I surprized Cedric over the weekend by saying that I was planning on armoring up at Estrella. It has always been a dream of mine to be a part of that war. I've always stood on the sidelines and watched. It looks exciting as hell. So I was determined to do at least one battle. So when Cedric hears this in the truck on the way to Twelfth Night, he about drives off the side of the road and then tells me that if I show up in armor at Tuesday's Fight Practice he and Brighid will GO to Estrella this year, even though they had earlier decided not to do so.

.....When I arrived at home from work I was a little nervous as I gathered armor together. Then I became a LOT nervous because I could not find my chest plate. The garage is a pit that needs to be tamed BADLY (I put it on the 'to-do' list for the weekend). I tore the place apart looking for the armor. The Beloved Tamm helped search as well, but we couldn't find it. So we got into the car and drove to site. I unlocked the doors and helped set things up and then ran back home to see if I could find it. I knew that Cedric wasn't going to hear excuses of any kind and that it was important to find it.

.....After another hurricane of flying boxes I finally found the damned thing. It was buried underneath the pile of pavilion carpets at the very back of the garage. Argh! I run back to site with armor in hand.

.....Back to site (and after dropping off a mocha with the Beloved Tamm). I start pulling on all the pieces. I'm really nervous by this time, so I'm fumbling with everything and can not seem to make my fingers operate properly. Luckily for me, Ronan and Alys were there and helped me get everything onto my body. Then Aelianora walks in with checks to sign and we conversed on a few exchequer things. Believe it or not, that helped calm me down a couple of notches. Probably because I was concentrating on something other than how silly I was going to look.

.....Then Cedric calls me out onto the floor and tells everyone that he is oathbound to attend Estrella if he and I fight at least one fight this evening. Sigh! Now everyone is staring. I walked forward and tried to remember things I was taught in the past. I was a total spaz. But Cedric is a genuinely nice person who cares about doing the right thing. So I eventually get a little more comfortable. We spar for a short time and Cedric announces that the oath if fulfilled and that he is now going.

.....After that, I fought with Oliver and with Sir Alexsii (sp?). Both very patient with me. I finally started remembering a couple of things. I was still a total spaz, but I think that if I keep working on it some of it will come back. Oliver said that he'd help me out, which is great.

.....I'd forgotten how much stamina it takes to move in armor for long. I'd also forgotten how much your center-of-balance changes with all of your armor on your body. But after all was said and done, I was glad that I went through it. I'm definitely going back next Tuesday and I may see if I can get in a couple of extra practices in with Oliver off to the side.

.....This is going to be a freakin' busy week though. June Faire meeeting tonight. Scribal Meeting on Thursday. Taking Mom out grocery shopping (and Games Night) on Friday. Sheep-To-Shawl on Saturday. Scribal Workshop on Sunday. Kingdom A&S meeting on Monday. Hmmm, got the 'to-do' list to go through as well.

.....The Beloved Tamm goes to the Artisan's Retreat in Oregon this weekend. She'll get some time with Gulenay as well, which I think will be good for her. Looks like a large group of the Dragon's Laire 'Women-Of-Power' (TM) are traveling to the Retreat as well. Hope that the Beloved Tamm doesn't decide that she doesn't need me anymore, being in that vortex of power might be kinda cool when compared to the drudgery of home. :-)

.....Time for work, Aaron / Arontius.