Tuesday I got up earlish to go to a class on Medieval attitudes on marriage, sex, etc. - very nicely done, but I would have preferred more structure to the class. Then I "busked" for a bit before running back to camp to grab my afternoon materials, then running back "downtown" to buy  some lunch and heading to class. Unfortunately, I had over-done it somewhat and so was a little spacey and not really all there for the class, oddly enough on space travel in period literature. Then there was my class - Pictish Life. I was trying not to be high-maintenance about my class scheduling, but this really should have been class one of three instead of class three of three. It worked OK, but I think I'll be more specific next year. I don't really recall what I did for the evening, but that night was the Northshield party. I got there and wandered back to mightyjesse 's tent. She wanted to show off her cheeses, so I sat with the little one until I could pound the peepers off Miss Em and then put her into her stroller. Being a bar-raised babe, she had no issue whatsoever with being carted around Vlad's in full party mode. :) Eventually mightyjesse  was out of cheese and reclaimed her spawn. I needed to run up to parking to get a phone charger for my Wednesday morning conference call and so made the trek back to N19 with some good company. Conversation ensued that I am still mulling over, and likely will for some very long time. Once again, what I'd not do for a time machine or a little foreknowledge, but that's the way of things, I guess... Phone charger obtained, I hiked back from the parking lot (row 21!) to Vlad's and enjoyed a little more party time before turning in.

Wednesday I had to get up extra-early for a conference call. Blech! I had been thinking about things backwards and had thought I'd need to get up by 6AM Eastern for a 7AM Central call. I realized the truth in time to "sleep in" but it then meant I missed ragnvaeig's class, which I had been looking forward to taking. Luckily she had extra handouts on hand, so I at least have the Cliff Notes. The Viking woman's class I took next was disappointing - not nearly as specific or enlightening as the description seemed to promise. Not a waste of time, but not the squee-worthy class I'd hoped. Early in the afternoon, I hired Leiflette to carry all my crap down to AEthelmark Royal for the Kingdom MOAS meeting. I was teaching just across the street immediately after the meeting and simply did not have it in me to carry my backpack basket even that shortish distance in the heat. Five bucks and a teenager to the rescue! Fabulous investment! The Norse Child class was somewhat more lightly attended than I'd thought, perhaps because of the heat and perhaps because of the class being scheduled during a standard nap time. In any event, about 15 people, so not awful. I let the one rambunctious toddler play with some of the toys and I was happy to see that she had no trouble identifying their purposes - some things change, but dollies and horsies and balls are eternal. Then there was Northshield Court, wherein several most deserving gentles were recognized, including marwen , they new Pyxis, and baroness petranella ! Happiness! Then there was dinner, then Midnight Madness. I lost my shopping party pretty early on, but that was probably for the best as I spent an inordinate amount of time in Windrose looking at their books (50% off! They were practically giving them away!). I also got a really sweet Laurel medallion from Northstar Armory. (They really have great stuff, take a look-see if you are not familiar with them.) Unfortunately, shopping was cut short by a storm that blew in. It was not too bad to start, but then the rain picked up and I realized to my horror that Stephen was dead asleep and snoring like a troll, leaving me the responsible party for the battlefield sunshades. Two of Leif's squires assisted, but we were all soaked through before we even reached the shade flies. (Stoopid storm. Stoopid shade flies. Stoopid fighters. :P) Then it was REALLY time for bed because I was wet and freezing. Hurray for period tents that stay dry and for feather beds, sheepskins and flokati!

Thursday was a class on Mercia at the time of the burying of the Staffordshire Hoard and then more "busking." At this point in the week, I was getting fewer people pointing and laughing and more people pointing and saying "YOU! You're the one who taught so-and-so The Stitch!" It seems my Evil Plan worked - most people were scurrying back to camp and teaching everyone they could get their hands on. (*excellent*) I'm not a touchy-feely person, so the fifth time I was kissed that day, I decided that my work here was done and closed up shop. I have contracted with one of the local merchants to leave my stool and teaching kit near her booth next year, so look for five minute whipcording classes on Busker's Lane at Pennsic XL (unless, of course, I think of an Even More Evil Plan between now and then). Sadly, the classes I had been so looking foward to at 3PM and 5PM (same teacher) were both canceled sometime during the day. I'll try to get the notes from the instructor, but it was a great disappointment. Thursday night was mostly a camp night with an excursion down to Midrealm Royal to socialize until my knees hurt and I headed back. When I got back to camp, I had a new pan from Irontree to season and a pound of bacon, so of course I made midnight fireside bacon, reserving the drippings for seasoning the pan and for making cakes the next day. :) On the list of ways to make your campmates love you, preparing and then sharing bacon is apparently pretty high on the list.

Friday I puttered about a bit, went to a class on Knitting Madonnas (which was more on generally Madonnas-Playing-with-String), shopped, taught the Veil Stitch at Starry Knights, and shopped some more. Then there was some pre-packing in anticipation of pulling out on Saturday morning. Friday night was Greyfox vs Consumables. We ordered in Pizza and chicken for Greyfox and Darkmoon and they tried to eat through all the perishables and drinkables in camp. I made barley oat cakes (some made with oil, some with butter and some with bacon drippings) - Nummy. However, I was beat and really did not last long - my lovely bed claimed me embarrassingly early in the night.

Saturday was the first day I could actually sleep in - sleeping in being defined as 8:30ish. Our neighbors to the North were horrible this year - it says something when your camp is more annoying than the camp to the south which is DARKMOON in all their rowdy, profane and drunken glory - they had woken up every morning by 7AM and then there was loud talking, pans clanking, some pathetic attempts at music, a child screaming, and the child's owner screaming at it - this din continued through most of the day. Happily, they had left on Friday - the Greyfox people breaking camp and ferrying things past our tent didn't even touch the noise we'd grown accustomed to hearing. :P Soon enough it was our turn though and, against all odds, I got all our stuff, plus my purchases (including over 20 yards of linen, six pieces of pottery, and a dozen-odd books) back into the car and we were on our way! The time back was not quite as good as the time out, but we still clocked something like 9.5 hours door-to-door. Gods bless the iPass - this was my first War with one and it was a thing of glory and beauty. 

Now, to pull the last load of Pennsic laundry out of the washer, reward myself for being so diligent with some ice cream and head to bed! (The disasters in the rest of the house will have to wait for another day and another pint. :P)