Third

The busy factor peeks this week. Brace yourself.

Good Stuff:
- We spent the weekend in Kansas City, MO, working in the Clan Campbell tent at their Scottish Games. We had a lot of people come in to chat and talk about their great-grandmother, who was a Campbell, and what's this about a feud with Clan Donald? We may have recruited another helper for the MO contingent, but we were too far from our territory to find anyone helpful to us.
- I did not shop much. I only bought a tank top.
- On our way there, we detoured a bit to Arrow Rock, MO, where there is a theater that was originally a Baptist church built in the late 1800's. We found it easily and took a dozen or so pictures, some of which will go up on my blog in a little while.
- Our newest helper complimented the earrings I was wearing yesterday, so I gave them to her. I made them last year and can easily make another pair, and it was a lot of fun to see her face when I took them off and handed them over. I think I'll be doing that more!
- My fencing instructor had another clan tent down the row from us, so I did get to play for a while. Fencing in a temperature-controlled gym with an even floor is a whole different animal from fencing outside in the sun and humidity on a hill wearing a kilt. My endurance is not as good as I thought it was!
- Before all the Games excitement, I did get some words in. Pretty good ones, too, I think, but I fell short of the word count goal.
- The lawn got mowed, for whatever that's worth. It rained again while we were gone.

Not So Good Stuff:
- We ate fair food all weekend, despite what I thought were my best efforts. I'll be stepping up my game for next weekend.
- My bard mentor's son has a post-op infection after having part of his colon removed. They may have to operate again. Prayers for Kiel Campbell would be appreciated.
- I tried to make a big batch of chai tea so I could keep in it the fridge and reheat at will, or pack in a cooler. The first try was merely drinkable. I will be tweaking it this week.
- No writing gets done when we're working Games. I was lucky to have little bits of time to think about the changes I need to make to my fictional church based on our Arrow Rock detour.
- I found out I'm having so much trouble with the story of the Countess of Carrick because, unlike Bodicea and Cartimandua, there is information out there on her. It's just tucked away in obscure places that talk mainly about her son (Robert the Bruce). The ancient queens were easier because all the sources were more or less the same and all pointed back to Tacitus. They were largely a matter of ruling out other sources before I took the little that's recorded and wrote my version of their stories. The Countess will not be so easy. Barding is not as easy as it looks. :-/

This Week:
- Write. I need to do about 5,000 words, and I only have four days. It's not so much that I can't do the words, it's a matter of focusing long enough to get them with all the other stuff I have to do.
- Buy and prep healthy food to take next weekend. Don't over-do it. There will only be two of us, and we only need food for one day.
- Laundry. Lots of laundry. It's not just day-to-day stuff. I need to have clean clothes to pack for next weekend. Also should probably give the kilts a good shake and airing.
- Go through the Games boxes and make sure everything we need is in there.
- Put the new Campbell flag on the pole we bought.
- Leave early Friday morning to get set up in Chicago. We have the Chicago Scots Games Friday night and Saturday. After next weekend, things will slow down a tiny bit. I won't have to dedicate whole weekends to anything for the rest of the month.