Entries tagged with retinue

.....It's the start of a three day weekend, and I'm happy about that. This past week has been rather frustrating. Both at work and in dealings with the SCA it's been like everyone around me is speaking English and I'm speaking some bastardized form of Pig-Latin. The more I try to get myself understood, the less I seem to be understood.

.....Yesterday was the worst and culminated in e-mail traffic where I had to go back and read what I wrote several times as the recipient took what I had sent and interpreted it in a way that was not intended in the slightest. I read the response and stared at the computer screen going, 'Huh?'. Then proceeded to try and pull the remainder of the hair off of my head in frustration.

.....I've complained bitterly about this several times already, but its still there. As a Seneschal, you can point to rules and processes and say 'Yes, this is right' and 'No, you can't do that'. But as a Coronet, things are so much more nebulous. You have to balance egos and styles and wants and desires with the ultimate needs of the Barony and try to move the whole mess forward while maintaining as many egos intact as possible. It's not easy!

.....This morning TBT and I went and did our normal Starbucks run. I was still feeling strung out and frustrated. When we sat down a Journey song came on the radio and for some odd reason the first thing I thought of was a scene from 'Heavy Metal'. The one where the warrior girl puts on her armored boots and climbs aboard her 'Sparrow of Doom' to do battle with Evil Incarnate.

.....'Ca-Caw! Ca-Caw!'

.....I start laughing and giggling hysterically and it did the trick. The frustrations of the week finally slid away and I was able to let it go. The problems are still there, but I don't need to own them. I'll do what I can to help resolve them. We'll work to make things happen and the Barony to move forward.

.....TBT and I have a lunch date with Madrun today. That will be fun. We'll probably start talking and then four hours later we'll look at the clock and wonder what happened. Having resolved all the World's crisis of course. :-)

.....TBT and I also have to pick out silk dyes today from Dharma Trading. THL Anne is taking lead on the banner making. Excellent! She is ready to move forward on purchasing, with a group of us contributing to the kitty. She just needs to know what colors TBT and I need for our banners. We've decided we want to get four done. Instead of two really large ones, we'll do four slightly smaller ones. We want to do one each utilizing our primary devices (python and fleur-dy-lys). One utilizing my winged cat. And a fourth one using the combined device banner that TBT made for our step-up. I can't wait to do these. We have a day scheduled for February to actually get together in Anne's garage to draw out the banners and dye the silk.

.....To-Do List:
.....Pull out Silk.
.....Rough Draft of four banners (decide on final elements).
.....Anne is going to get the remainder of the dyes that Conchobar has to see what is already available.
.....Get Anne the colors that we need.
.....Anne will let us know how much we need to contribute and what supplies we need to acquire.
.....Anne will order supplies from Dharma Trading.
.....Banner making party at Anne's.

.....Retinue meeting tomorrow. Must remember to go through my notes and make a list of things I want to make sure and talk about. Definitely need to make an agenda for Candlemas.

.....Time to clean house. I hear TBT in the kitchen and the cat boxes definitely need cleaning.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....I've had my current job for nearly four years now, and will be married for four years this summer, and still have not quite adjusted to the radical change in routine in my life. As I think back to 'life before' there was a procedure for keeping the house at least relatively neat and tidy. The cat box was regularly cleaned. The driveway swept. The plants watered. These days I can't seem to manage to stay on top of the dishes to save my life! :-)

.....This morning the new disappointment was the houseplants. It was the routine to water the plants every Sunday, every Sunday and Wednesday during the summer. This morning I happened to notice the wilting leaves on the Avocado and was dismayed to find that the Avocado and one of the coffee trees were completely dried out and dead. The other coffee was dried out and wilted hard. It may survive. But I was sad as I've had these for a while. When I started thinking about it I realized that it had been over four weeks since I had watered the plants last. Damn!

.....I'd been thinking lately that maybe a small dog, or even a bird might be a fun addition to the household. But now I'm having a hard time convincing myself that I have the ability to care for another animal if I can't seem to take care of the houseplants. :-) That's a long term muse though. The cat-tastrophe we are currently living will probably be around for quite a while. :-)

.....I would NOT change anything I have right now. I like being married. TBT is an incredibly important part of my life now. But I need to figure out some way to get some routine again in my life. Nothing I've tried to date has helped a whole lot. Time to try some other techniques. Just not quite sure what yet.

.....I mentioned last night to someone that we had a retinue meeting scheduled for this weekend and they were puzzled as to why we had so many of them. I had to think about that a while. I can honestly say that it is entirely for my benefit. It has been amazing how chaotic everything has been. The hardest part about being part of this Coronet Team is in moving the process forward and herding all the cats in a single direction. :-) I like the meetings as they help me to focus my thoughts and organize the schedule of things that need to be done. It helps me to have a logical and as sensible a plan as possible that I can follow to help ensure we cover all the needs.

.....Plus, I like discussing ideas with others. It helps me to see things from different perspectives and ensure that we're making the best decisions possible. That we're not forgetting important things and people. Multiple brains are better than single brains as far as I'm concerned.

.....And, really, I just like our retinue personally. They've all been wonderful people with whom to work. Intelligent and industrious. Caring and considerate. All fantastic personalites. I enjoy their company and conversation. I do need to keep reminding myself to ask them to speak up when they've had enough of meetings. No need to overindulge my ego. Although, considering everyone who's been involved, I really can't think of any of them who would hesitate to speak up if they think they've had enough. :-) I know that TBT can take them or leave them, so we'll see.

.....Regional Pelican meeting tonight. One of the big things is to set the meetings for the Spring, Summer and Fall Quarters of 2011. The Laurels have been doing this for a while. I thought that we might as well try this approach and see how it works. We all have such diverse and busy schedules that there is never a good day and time to meet, so we might as well throw 'something' out there to plan around. Not everyone is going to make it, but enough generally will to make a quorum.

.....Plus a stop at Harbor Freight Tools along the way! That thought alone was enough to make TBT consider driving Ralph and I to Tacoma so she could partake. I'll have to remember that for future reference. :-)

.....On the horizon, let's see. Next weekend is the Sunday Fight Practice at Manchester Fuel Depot. If we're lucky Sir Brendan might be there. That would be way cool.

.....Then the following weekend is Ursulmas. We put out a call for the Barony to gather around the Erics to cheer on Dragon's Laire fighters competing in the Tournaments. I hope we get a good turnout. The Ursulmas Autocrat responded to the post right away with offers of helping to organize space for us, which I thought was very considerate of them. I think it will be a good day.

.....We also have a silk banner making workshop coming up. I'm really looking forward to it. THL Anne is setting it up. I've wanted to get banners done for TBT and I for a while now. I'm excited at the prospect of possibly having them for May Crown and June Faire. YES! :-)

.....Must get started with the day. I'm looking forward to a three-day weekend. One more reason to be happy with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as if there wasn't enough already. :-) May be the last free weekend for a while though.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

Yeah, Saturday Morning.

Musing On A Friday Morning.