Looking Out At SeaTac.

.....Here I am at Gate A-7, SeaTac Airport, ready to catch my 11:55 flight to Indianapolis via Chicago. The sunset is not quite as dramatic as it was last time I was here, but it is still romantic all the same. I was feeling rushed today with the epic 'to-do' list and the throwing together of things into the suitcase. Thankfully, all my files and 'official' stuff was already neatly piled and ready for package. So it was really only the clothes coming out of the laundry cycle that slowed me down. But I still made it out the door way too early and even though the radio kept talking about slowdowns in Tacoma, it really wasn't that bad a drive.

.....It was really a busy weekend though. I probably should have thought that one through a bit more. But everything I attended was good and / or fun in its own way, so I can't complain too much.

.....Saturday started with the traditional summer outing at Blackberry Hollow south of Port Orchard. Angharad and Marcus were good hosts as usual. We didn't jump into the pool at all, but had great conversations around the dining room table. The best ones dealing with Serjeantry; what it meant and how it should be run. Even though some of the discussions get interesting at times, I always go away with new ideas, or better clarification of what we want to do. I think more people have bought into the program.

.....Then a drive up to North Seattle to Giuseppe and Tom's annual Tiki Party. I generally only know maybe a third of the people who show up for this party so I usually stay on the fringes. But this year a new element was added, a trading card game. It was a great ice breaker and forced people to actually talk to other people they might not normally. At least that was true in my case. We stayed at the party at least an hour longer than we would normally have.

.....Sunday started with a retinue meeting in the morning. We all came together over what was going to happen at July Coronation next weekend. Who was riding with whom. What we needed to bring, and not bring, with us. My plane gets in at 11:30 on Friday, so I think I'll be home around 2PM. I'll have to do some laundry quickly, so I don't expect to hit the road before 4PM. With dinner on the way it could be rather late before we hit Ranier and site. Thankfully, the Baronial Encampment looks set with Brenna and Renart, with the Baronial Pavilion in the capable hands of Albrecht and Magdalena.

.....The following week is epic in its fullness. Serjeantry testing on Monday with Practical and Domestic Sciences. Eight candidates is going to make for a longer evening. Tuesday is the Social with a class taught by Talon. Wednesday is probably when I do the September Crown Public Site Walk-through. Thursday is a Dragon's Pearls meeting. Then Friday will be preparation for Hot Summer Lights in Druim Doineann.

.....I have to remember to do some advertising for Hot Summer Lights on the Dragon's Laire e-list. They introduced more of a larger scale war between Dragon's Laire and Madrone. But with everything filling up the calendar as it has this year, the 'epic war' is not getting the attention it should. We'll have to make up for that next year. But I don't plan on having something like September Crown on the docket next year either!

.....I would love to make some time this week to run over to see Donnan and Callista. But I don't know if it is going to happen. The last time I was in Bloomington the conference ran long all three days. I ended up bailing on them. I don't want to make appointments just to break them at the last minute. So I'm going to try and gauge the conference and see how it looks Wednesday evening before I make the call.

.....I keep hoping that maybe the D.C. bosses would figure out how to make one of these battery conferences happen in Hawaii, or in D.C. itself. :-) Crane, Indiana, is so far out there. Almost an hour and a half drive from the Indianapolis Airport. I should check the weather reports. I hope it is cooling down a little bit from where it was last week. But they do now have a Starbucks in town, so I know they are living in the twenty-first century with the rest of us. :-)

.....Hope TBT enjoys having the king sized bed all to herself. Although I think she would have fun traveling with me on some of these things. Maybe we'll add it to the list of things we feel more like doing when we've stepped down as the Coronets. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.