The 7th of October-Saturday

Today we went to an event celebrating the 30th year since the Barony of Stonemarche was founded.  It was a small event but sometimes those are the nicest.   Many people canceled last minute because of sickness.   At smaller events people are generally able engage in idle chit chat more often which can be rather relaxing.

There was a Baronial Arts and Sciences competition. We had seven terrific entrees.  I was one of the judges. We used a rubric to help score each of the entrees and that proved to be very useful at the same time as making it a bit more challenging to judge.  The rubric was a reminder of all the things we should be looking for in a project, not just how good it looks but how it fits in a medieval way, whether it was prepared with period techniques and products etc.  I finished judging thinking that I would love to try to edit peoples documentation.  My daughter will most likely be handing me hers before the next competition to look over with these things in mind.  She became an apprentice today and the ceremony is in the pictures. 

It was an honor to be included for the judging and that, as well as my daughter's aprenticing are my happy things for today.

This picture was taken because of sun rays coming through the clouds.

Unfortunately, they don't really show in the photo.

 My daughter becoming an apprentice.

Kind of long-about 11 minutes.

My one still shot.  I hope others got some during the ceremony. 

 Random foliage

My daughter's 27th birthday

Next week at the school job the majority of the kids will be away at Nature's Classroom.  It sounds like a blast but I will be back at school trying to make the week fun with a substitute for the 6 ish students who are not able to go for one reason or another.  It is possible that I will end up in another grade if a para calls in sick but I am hoping to get to stay where I am.  I could be asked to go anywhere but there is a comfort in being with the people I am still getting to know.  At this point, I am still learning the job. 

House sitting- I hear a noise and think it is the cats playing.  I check out this slight thumping sound and it is not them.  I decide that it seems to be coming from outside but I will double check the house first.  Downstairs I can't hear the noise at all.  Back upstairs I open the front door and I am now fairly certain that I am hearing distant fireworks.  It could be something else, as this is October, but I think it must be fireworks.  The other part of this listening exercise is that while standing in the hallway, watching the cats not move, I hear at least 3 different clocks ticking.  Interestingly enough, they don't seem to be in complete unison.  Dissonance is the word that is coming to my mind when I think of standing there. 

While I was finishing up my other job tonight my daughter and her family and a friend went to see a movie.  After, I joined them and later so did my daughter's in-laws and we all met for ice cream.  We were a rowdy bunch at Friendly's .  It was a lot of fun and is my happy for today.  Now, sleep...

October the 5th

Tonight I am house/cat-sitting.  I am writing while sitting on a chair at a table.  Generally I am either in bed or sitting on the couch.  I am hoping that I don't fall asleep at the table as that would prove to be rather uncomfortable.  Change is good.  Perhaps I will be able to find a spot to do this at home too.  Just sitting closer to straight is a good feeling.

A week or two ago I learned that my best friend from high school's Mom passed away.  I had called my friend and left a message and she returned my call tonight while I was working.  We talked for a while.  I didn't get as much work done as I should have.  We aren't living too far from one another anymore and I hope that we are able to get together soon.  I think it would be good for both of us at this time in our lives. 

Yay, me! I got up this morning and took a 2+ mile walk before getting ready for work.  It made a good difference in my day.  I generally felt more energetic and awake for the school day.  Well, until independent reading when I almost fell off my chair. 😉  It didn't help my other job at all, by then I was tired from getting up so early.  It is highly unlikely that I will get up early again tomorrow.  This is a routine that I want, but need to work myself into.  Sleep is also important.  I don't want to self sabotage myself by becoming truly exhausted.  My walk is today's happy. 

 Peeking over the top of the capitol building is the eagle on the dome.  

There are also stars in this shot, which I am pleasantly surprised are visable.

The moon and more stars!

That building used to be a church and is undergoing renovations

to be condos or some other living space. 

There is something about the way that the clouds look

 when the sun is shining under them that I long

 to put into eloquent words whenever I see it. 

Drive by foliage. 

October 4th

My feet hurt so bad!!  I wore my boots today and forgot to bring the sneakers for job #2.  Enough complaining.  My day went well, other than the feet.  I still like becoming a paraeducator, there is a new challenge every day.  There is fun too.  Today the science classes got to make magnifiers with water and microscope slides.  They had other objects they could use as well to see how much magnification they could get.  The rulers they had to measure the magnification were new and came in a plastic sleeve.  Someone in the first class figured out that filling that sleeve with water worked real well.  Tomorrow they get to learn how to use the microscopes.
🔬

My son-in-law was part of a Commedia dell'Arte troupe, i Sebastiani, a few years ago.  I have been considering trying it for a few years.  I don't think I would ever want to perform a big part, but it is intriguing.  We may start going to practices together.  But will I be spreading myself too thin? 

No pictures today.   The weather was gorgeous so I really should have pulled the phone out and snapped some shots of the beginning foliage.  I'll make a better effort tomorrow.  I started listening to the audio version of Stop Saying You're Fine by Mel Robbins today.  Yet another self help book-but it is why I thought about learning some theater stuff today and why my alarm is set for 4:15 AM.  I just need to get up and not hit the snooze. 

As I prepare to sleep tonight and consider my happy I have to say that right now, this minute, my happy is that my feet are up and I can rest them for a few hours before starting another day.
👣    😴  

October 3rd-Tuesday--Very short

This will hopefully be short.  I have been trying to sort through my new work email all evening and have been falling asleep in the process.  School went fairly well today.  There was a substitute in the class I have 3 times a day.  By e time the last class came we pretty much had it all down.

The fog was lovely this morning and the river was nice this afternoon.  My happy for today is that I finally got my paperwork sent in to become a paraprofessional.  Phew.

It was just a little foggy that morning.

But it clearer by late afternoon.

The second of October

The other day I came home to my daughter watching The Good Place.  When her husband came home he was a little disappointed because he had wanted to watch it too.  And so we have been watching this show and are now finished with the first season.  The show is about an architect that designs the place we go when we die and the people that died and their existence there.  I think I described it without any spoilers...  We are enjoying it.

My mattress hasn't been set up yet.  I didn't get home until around 8 o'clock from working my jobs and dinner still needed to be eaten.  Hopefully it will happen tomorrow.  Currently I am not planning to go to the second job so maybe there will be time to clean my room up in preparation then.  I really want to be on that mattress instead of the air mattress. 

This morning brought a little fog.  Some of it, for no reason that I tell, was rising with a slight purple tinge to it.  Pictures don't do it much justice.   Purple fog rising is my happy for today.   Exhaustion is overtaking me.                                                                                                                                           

Happy October!!

And Happy Sunday!  The family went out to breakfast this morning at Tucker's.  We really like the food there.  For the season they have pumpkin pancakes which Gideon got.  They were yummy, he let me try a bite.  I got the Garden Bounty Skillet with cinnamon raisin toast.  I really enjoyed all the vegetables and cheese and the toast gave me that sweetness that I tend to want at breakfast time.  My daughter got the regular pancakes, she usually gets the Power Cakes but decided not to today.  I don't remember what my son-in-law got. 

Last night I ended up sleeping with the heating pad because the air mattress was so cold.  I have a sleeping bag as a pad between the air mattress and me but it doesn't keep out the cold as well as it seems it should.  So my daughter and I took a trip to IKEA and I chose a bed and purchased a mattress.  We will head back down there in the next week or so to buy the bed frame.  Tomorrow I hope to get the mattress onto the floor and the air mattress deflated.  Tonight I have laundry to take care of and things to do before work in the morning.

Funny thing happened at IKEA, we ran into some friends that are also in the SCA.  We all had a long drive to get there so it seems an odd place to bump into someone.  The funny part though is that the last time my daughter was there, she bumped into these some folks!  How weird is that?  Seeing friends, however briefly, is my happy for today.

Only a little bit of color in the Tucker's parking lot.

Fur.  I may get some of this to trim my cloak with.