jedimentat

I'm back for a week now from Pennsic, and the low is hitting hard. I don't feel like FB is helping, bc I see a ton of pics and posts and it just draws me into a whirlpool of feels that I don't need right now.

Pennsic 52 was a fabulous time. I loved going to Early-In and helping build the dream, and talking to people in a smaller setting, to the awesomeness of Peace Week, and then the craziness and totally different vibe of War Week. I wasn't sure how the leaving-to-bring-kids-home-to-the-real-world-and-then-returning would go, but it was akin to travelling fast through different time zones; disorienting, but the less you let yourself adjust or think about it, the smoother the transition went.

So many memorable moments. The biggest focus was being there for Phineas and Minibarr's last Pennsic. It looked iffy for my fam for a bit there; the whole trip nearly didn't happen, and I'm so grateful that it did. The farewell across the lake after the Pirate March, the toast and speeches on the boat, will live in my heart.

Also enjoyed hanging on the boat, Faerie Wars, singing Ukrainian songs at Midnight Madness at TtE, dancing as an owl, dancing until 530 am, Turkish tea, laughing with friends, especially ones that I haven't hung with in a few years, and being inspired to do more things...so badly needed all of this. It was a PURE DELIGHT to see friends and I can't overstate that.

I don't take pics at Pennsic, so most of these are stolen from various FB posts.

sooo humid and sweaty at that first part!

breakfast in tent, possibly raining idk

(happy about it, tho)

(my right foot/ankle/calf swelled up real bad one evening, with calf-pain, and I had to go to the local hospital to get an ultrasound to rule out a clot (EMTs agreed that with my health history and blood disorder, it was def the smart move; and with my brother literally having a stroke the week before, it was the non-minimalizing, adult-move, but maaaan it sucked and also a huuuuge relief to be clear of clots and not have to go on blood-thinners (I MIGHT HAVE BEEN OVERLY GIDDY AND RELIEVED ABOUT IT ACTUALLY and run around even more manically); the doc at the ER said that it was likely just over-stressing the new hip a lot etc). pic of 'oh man I have to do the responsible thing and overcome whitecoat syndrome' face

look! relaxing!

"Seven/?" "No! Fifty-Two!!"

catapult-making (mom-brag: the instructor was impressed that Kirk made an innovation that she had never seen before)

Post-Peace-Week hotel night, eating burgers and watching Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom and the Crystal Skull, kids are semi-appalled/amused by both

meme that Kingfox made

Nearly didn't go this year, bc my brother had a stroke while on vacation in Maine the week previous. He is doing okay, but with no insurance and no real treatment plan, it's a stressful situation and there's a lot of fatalism.

Kingfox also had a health situation going on, and it was a stressful situation as well.

For my part, summer has been very consciously maxxed out in every way that I can while getting responsible tasks done. The kids have done camps (Rec camp, VoTech camp, soccer camp, volleyball campS, music and karate); July was a lot of being a taxi in between household tasks, but since we are outdoors-only these days, summer is our time to be out and about and not so contained in our house. Didn't get to do as much beach as I wanted in June and July, and now August is AQ issues and hurricane-stirred waters, but motivated to get more beach-time in before school.

TEMPTING!!

Went to a lovely wedding of two friends and celebrated their love. (( EDIT- I KNOW I have more pics of this so I'll have to come back and post them, but also I was absolutely manic and stressed due to KF's health issue and soooo glad that they didn't play any slow songs bc I would have been like 'what-if-this-is-the-last-time-we-slow-dance-together-at-a-wedding-boo-hoo-hoo' which would have been a huge NOPE at a celebratory event)) ((Also also, I never take photos at weddings bc I figure that's what a wedding photographer is for, and that phones shouldn't really be out, but did you know, dear reader, that the wedding photographer of *our* wedding messed up all of our photos, and that the only ones we really have are the ones that attendees sent us? (honestly, i didn't make a big deal about it at the time bc it seemed like small potatoes compared to the larger post-honeymoon issues in life, but there you go. True story! So, snap away, bc you never know)).

(note- sooo I wore and danced in high heels at the wedding, which in retrospect was not a good idea five months out from THR, bc the stress and unaccustomed balance gave me a torn calf muscle on the right side, so i felt like i had been shot in the calf for like three weeks until that resolved; which made for some awkward limping and ungainly lurching around, especially when it got fatigued. not quite ready for significant heels i guess).

Commemorated our anniversary at Ironbound Cidery and Farm

Kids

ice cream ball

Home-made
Round Valley No-Co Meetup and Hike

Homemade sushi night!

Chickens

Dogs

getting steps in while L at volleyball camp

Other
Packing the 'new' Wagoneer for Pennsic was literally joyful; I cackled at how much I could fit in there.

(also, it towed Steve's structure)

(fake pic bc there was no way i was going to deposit it in the exact correct space tbh)

Was aiming to go to Maine during August, but appointments got rescheduled, and we have a major house reno project next week of empyting our hoarder basement so that the asbestos can be removed. (The very old asbestos-remediation/containment was visibly failing, and needed to be dealt with). It's a major reno project so it eats up nearly two weeks of summer, and I'm dreading it, but it needs to be done. Definitely adding to the "low" aspect of the Pennsic-return, along with my upcoming annual ENT appointment.

On the gratitude-side, man, the hip-situation was so much better this year. Last year, the drive out to PA was pretty much constant discomfort and pain, as well as the walking, and this year, while I frequently (and deliberately, lbh) overdid it, the hip held up to lifing significant weight and walking literally 20k steps a day and dancing all night. One evening, I felt over-peopled and walked by moonlight to pick up something from the Fort, and then archery, and then back down to the lake, where a pal wanted to walkabout to parties, so we closed out Lost Boys and then closed out Dun Phalen, so it was a *lot*. It really shows how much is mental and how much is physical, and how so much that feeds the spirit comes from social interaction and stimulation, and how much better i feel mentally when I successfully kick my own ass as hard as I can. I always resolve to try to work more of that into everyday mundane life, but so many other things get in the way.

Real life is the pits. I can't ignore world news and events, much as I want to. Greece and Spain are burning badly right now, southern Europe hit a drastic heatwave that has many Europeans scared, and meanwhile in the US all sorts of messed up things are happening, ICE raids (and funding) topping the list. Being climate-aware, politically-aware, and pandemic-aware is probably more stressful on the bod than complete ignorance, idk.

Homeschool preparation is going well; last year, we had a fantastic scholastic year and focused a lot on government and history; this is an art-and-culture year, full of art history and Shakespeare, so I'm looking forward to it. I've set a lot of household, scholastic, and extracurriculuar-kids' goals, but not a lot of my own personal goals, so I need to get on that aspect.

Poor Porter had horrible skin allergies this year, which got infected, so he needed a vet visit and doggie-entibiotics. He's looking much better and less mangey now.

The chickens progressed from adolescents to more grown, and they are usually parked right in view of our kitchen and bathroom windows, so it's like constant chicken-tv, and we're all very into it and invested in them.