It Happens

Well, I am not going to be able to finish my project for the ACC.
I was unrealistic about my ambition and the scope of the embroidery.  Am bummed that I don't have a Fabio new dress to wear, but at the same time... I have to forgive myself sometime or I will spend an eternity looking for an invisible jet.
Pneumonia likes my lungs.  This makes me sad.
I failed another set of bloodwork - anemia, a1c outta whack, low blood count.  I think the DMV has officially revoked my lisence.
I keep telling myself that when you hit rock bottom, the only way you can go is "up".  Unfortunately, there is also sideways.
Time to count blessings: great kids, new boots,  job I love.  Now I'm smiling again.
:-D

And there were beads

Well, the faux pearls aren't a terrible addition.  They were the inexpensive alternative for a budget-driven decision.  Still under my $100 budget for the ACC.

back of veste

Embroidery is 95% complete on the back.  Now to add beads, then move on to a different project before i detest the sight of green fabric and gold thread.  I'm thinking i will deconstruct a camacia and reassemble it with a black silk insertion stitch.  Sounds like a challenge.

ACC Update

I'm about half way done with the embroidery on the Veste.  I doubt I will have time or desire to embroider the front guards.  I know, bad Laurel, shame on me.
Life is still chaos.  I may be moving to day shift as a result of the whirlwind of life crap my family has gone through.  Maybe, if the boss' boss' boss approves my request.  Have I mentioned my frustration at government beaurocracy and it's love-affair with paperwork?
Fencing is still fun.  I got to fight, actually fight instead of practicing parties and lunges and footwork.  I got my butt kicked, but giggled the whole time.  And I killed my Don!  Once, but I it!!  And from the surprise on his face, he didn't let me do it. 

ACC Progress

Embroidery takes a fearsome long time.  I've finished about 1/3 of the embroidery on the back of the veste.  That means I'm not quite done with half the embroidery just on this piece.  I am seriously doubting that I will get all the bits and pieces done before NYE.
I'm full of excuses why I haven't finished more yet, but excuses are like @$$holes, everyone has one and they all stink.
;-) 

Hit and Miss

I've felt like someone's emotional punching bag for the past two weeks.  I think I have exited the ring with grace and decorum.  I am trying to leave the bitterness behind and move on.
Swordplay has not been going well.  Seems I have become a petulant brat to my teacher.  He threatened to take Vilhelm's sword away and make me practice with his heavy, poorly balanced sword.  Did I mention I got REALLY whiney?
I went through my stash hoping for enough linen to make the shift.  BEEP.  No luck, unless I want to make it out of blue linen.  Raspberries.
I am almost done with my extra project at work so I can go back to a 40-hour workweek.  This 55+ hour weeks is total crap.

I suppose I should stop grumbling and get some sleep so I can do more embroidery tomorrow.
*sighs*

Needle in my Arm

Thorvald coined the phrase this weekend.  I have a new addiction & obsession.  I can't get enough of it.  I am hooked.  I constantly have sword play on the brain.  Every step I take is translating to advances or retreats, cross-overs and demi-voltes.  My head is aware of muscle extension and contraction, balance and reflex.  It's been twenty years since I've had this kind of awareness, and it's invigorating, empowering and exciting.
Don Sionainn had us put masks on this weekend, and started showing me how each move rolls into the next.  How a lunge, recover, party four attack flows into a demi-volte with offline attack.  I am giddy; setiously intoxicated with the whole learning process.
Sunday, Sionainn made me watch an episode of Firefly with my mask on, to get used to focusing beyond the black mesh, and to learn depth perception with a screen in front of my face.  It was a silly "Daniel-san, paint the fence, wax the car" activity, but it got me used to the mask before a sword came at my face.
Thorvald took me to Don Aaron's last night, and His Excellency agreed to make me a gorget fitted to me, so my windpipe doesn't get crushed when a head shot tips my mask and pulls Vilhelm's gorget into my throat.
And today, Don Tarkash agreed  to help me practice during the week.  I get to play with swords every day! 

I waited twenty years for the "right time" in my mundane and SCA life to have the opportunity to learn this art.
And the phrase "when the student is ready, the Master shall appear" is so true.  I have five masters who want to feed this addiction.  Five.  I am beyond flattered, and highly motivated to learn more.  It feeds my competitive nature, makes my doctor happy (I got my first "normal results" back from the lab in five years!). All around, in every facet of my life, things are improving.  Things that used to disappoint me or set me on edge have no influence on me.  They are *chuckle* outside my circle, and until my circle expands to include them, they have no control over my joie de vivre.

Gratitude, hope, elation and tiny bruises are my sustenance .  My hand becomes an extension of fluid steel.  Strength, poise and balance are my mantra.  I have found another happy place within the SCA.

As for the ACC, my fighting doublet will be a mock up for my Veste.  See, yet other example of how this joy intertwines itself into every face of my life.