Weekend Professoring rocks! :-)

So the Spring Ithra is over. *Sigh of relief* It was a bit smaller than usual, mostly due to the fact that Kingdom A&S and Summits March Coronet were scheduled against it. I had 8 students for class, and I usually get 15-20. But it was ok.

The room was terrific- there was this really cool whiteboard that was sort of a horizontal scroll, and so I basically had two boards that I could go back and forth to. I meant that I didn't have to redraw my maps nearly so often.

I got through the most part of the material. Didn't get to the War of the Roses, and the Hundred Years' War (which I only realized just now) , but I did get the Black Death pretty thoroughly covered, which I think is more important in the general scheme of things.

I finished up utterly spent- feeling a bit like a wet rag all wrung out. Had to drink my spare Red Bull so I could safely drive home. But I got here safely.

Semi- major wrinkle on the way home- Zippy the Wonder Volvo needed to be fed, and the stations right there at the Napavine exit wanted *$4.20* a gallon. I went down to the Nisqually exit and found some at $4.10, which still nearly made me weep while I pumped it (stooopid Washington stations- you have to pump your own, unlike Oregon). $46.06 to fill it. Gas prices are hitting me pretty hard- a serious problem in being able to see my sweetheart and kids, and cutting into SCA eventing pretty significantly. It's also pushing other things up- groceries have suddenly jumped, and my usual $150/month budget is more like $180. Who can afford these increases? And what will we do when gas costs hit a high this summer?

I was chatting the past few days with a woman named Ursula in Madrone about Frankish stuff, mostly costume stuff. Very nice conversation, and happily, she was put on vigil for Laurel at A&S. I think she'll be a fine member of the Order.

I think that I'm running out of steam here and need to go back to bed now...