I see... dead people...

He's really in pretty good shape, seeing as how he was buried 1200, 1250 years ago, eh?

Been looking at lots of pictures of sarcophagai, reading records, etc etc etc . Even sat down with Morwyn for an afternoon and evening and read through portions of the Capitulare de Villis (a document Charlemagne had put out with instructions for how his estates should be run). Big long list of plants that were supposed to be planted. (I'm trying to figure out what the Franks were eating, among other things.)

Also decided that yes, I'm changing my name. As on May 1st (SCA New Year) I will be Liutgard of Luxeuil. I have already encountered a fair amount of resistance, and people who don't like the name, how I pronounce it, how I spell it, the construction, the period, yadda yadda yadda. Do they think I would do this sort of thing without doing the research? I am very annoyed. And then there's the people who just can't cope with me being anything but 'Lainie. 'Know what? Deal. Really, folks. Just deal.

Also very busy- I'm making clothes for the incoming Summits royals, so there's a huge pile of fabric in the sewing room. I cut a bunch of stuff out last night, and this evening I started piecing together a gown for Gabriel. So far it is turning out really nice. I think they're going to be happy with their clothes....

Also went to Eugene last weekend, and saw the installation of the new Episcopalian bishop here in Oregon. It was really quite amazing, and I came away from it realizing that the SCA knows NOTHING about ceremony. Or spiffy clothes. Wow.

Tax Day is almost over. Sheesh, maybe the Tea Party gang (bankrolled by Fox) will shut up for awhile. We can hope.

Franks but no beans.

(The picture is of a 7th century Duke of Alsace, named Aldaric. Nice, nice clothes...)

So I've been really pretty busy lately, partly good, partly bad...

Sweet meat after sour sauce, they say, so here's the sour sauce:

The CAT scan in September showed a tumor about 5mm across. The scan in January showed it at a little more than 9mm, which is a significant increase. So they did a PET scan. The tumor was just a little too small to get a conclusive result, so they'll be doing another scan in June. They may decide to take a biopsy then, or maybe simply do surgery and get it out. It's not interefereing with my breathing at all- it's in the lower lobe of my left lung, and toward the outside. Hopefully will be fairly easy to get it out. What happens from them will depend on lab results. Very anxiety-making, but nothing I can do until June.

Sweet meat? I GOT STING TICKETS WOOOO-HOOOO!!!!

Think it's too early to lay my sleeping bag out front of the Schnitz? My tickets are for June 4th. Maybe a little early. :-)

I also have a ticket to see the formal installation of the new Episcopalian Bishop of Oregon. It should be interesting- I've never seen anything like it before, and they know how to put on a good show!

And I've been working some more on Frankish stuff. To the extent that I'm seriously considering changing my SCA name. Liutgard or Liutberga. From Luxeuil, which as it turns out, has a number of ties to the monastery at Corbie. Corbie... just can't seem to get away from that place...

School and children...

I have become convinced that college is like having a baby: after a few years, you think about going back, and you've forgotten what a pain it was...

So this last weekend I went to Eugene. Unlike usual trips, I wasn't there for an event. This was (mostly) a fun trip. Well, I have to qualify the 'mostly' part. Get to that later.

Friday afternoon I drove down, checked into a little motel on 7th ave (not the absolute cheapest, but reasonable, and a lot less impersonal than the ordinary chain outfit. (In fact, the maid chased me down on my way out Sunday with something I forgot- how often does Motel 6 do that?)

Got down to the University in time to meet my all-time favorite professor for tea (Dr Louise Bishop). Oh, it was so good to see her! She was as warm and funny as usual (not that I expected that to have changed), was interested in what the kids and I have been up to, and best of all, I could 'talk shop' about some of the research I've been doing and not have to explain myself every other sentence! Oh, that alone is worth gold...

She had another appointment later or I could have talked for hours and hours. But after she left I turned to my second purpose for being on campus. I headed for the library. (No! I am NOT Hermione! Don't even think it!) And that is the 'mostly' part of the trip, because while it was rewarding, it was also work. But I ended up with three and a half pages of bibliographic notes, which gives me more opportunities to find the info I am looking for. Or maybe simply another turn down this rabbit hole. (Go ask Alice- she's the only one who knows for sure...)

James got in later that evening. He brought some of his reallyreally yummy red lentil soup, and we had soup and some beer and chatted (like we usually do on a Friday night that we're together). And watched the Olympics until much too late. I have a crush on Apolo Ohno. :-) Too cute for words. Watched some skiing too. Scary stuff.

Saturday James went off to his meeting (Diocese stuff) and I slept in. A lot- I had an incredible headache. (And no, two beers with a meal does not a headache make. I think it was unfamiliar pillows and driving. Most of the pain was in my neck and the back of my head.) After he got back we hung out for a bit and then did some thrift-shopping. I found some movies and some music and drooled over some antiques. I forget what he found. Then we picked up David and Lydia and met Stephen for dinner at the High Street Cafe. Was quite an experience to have dinner with adult children, sit there and have beer with them and chat. It was cool, really. And we made the waiter work for his tip. :-) Also have to say that the Black and Tan Brownie is just as good there as up here. Pretty amazing stuff.

And then we watched some more skiing, some skating exhibitions, and the American bobsled team 1 in the Night Train WIN THE GOLD!!! WOO-HOO!!!

James left early. (He had stuff in Ashland at 9.) I slept for a bit longer, checked out, and went back to the library for awhile. And then I drove home. Got lost in Salem trying to get back to the freeway after I stopped for a burger. Otherwise uneventful.

I really am suffering a bit from a jones to go back to school. But as I told Louise, there's no money, and even if there was, I don't think my health could take it. But I really miss being in classes, the discussion, the bit of a push to stretch myself. And checkout privileges (at the grad student level, especially) would be completely awesome. :-) Hmm. If only I could figure out some way to go to school (or teach even) and get them to pay me... yeah, and while I'm at it, I want a pony, and... *sigh*

This week: another ILL has arrived! I will pick it up in the morning (or what passes for morning for me). And maybe later in the week I will go upstairs and get some sewing done. The queue is still way too long.

Happy New Year!

"May you live in interesting times" is said to be an old Chinese curse; I'm not sure I believe it is Chinese, but it does seem to be a curse.

So anyway, this month we celebrated Chinese New Year (ask Annie about New Year at Phil and Susan's! The FOOD!!!), or at least some of us celebrated it. I was busy throwing up that day, so there ya go...

Started out the month with Groundhog Day- two of my dearest friends had birthdays that day. It's always fun to give them a hard time about that. Apparently the groundhog did see his shadow back east, but here on the west coast he did not. Which may explain why we just have rain out here but my friends back east are still wondering if the mailman is under that pile of snow on the sidewalk... James' brother Geoff offered to let me shovel his driveway! He said he wouldn't make this offer to just anyone, but since I'm practically family... Riiight Geoff. I'm not falling for that one, family or no. Somehow there's a scent of whitewashed fence to that one!

A few days later I was sick again. (Still, yeah.) Was having chest pain that was oozing into my shoulders and upper arms, and short of breath too. But I didn't have the sense that the obvious was happening. So I called and got a same-day appointment with my dr, but didn't tell the nurse the whole story for fear she'd just tell me to hang up and call 911. We've been there, done that.

So I spent the week in and out of the clinic, while they poked and prodded and tested. EKG, was iffy but it was my normal iffy (stuff with the a-fib off and on), they sent it to my cardiologist but he said it was within my normal range, but to check all of my bloodwork. Potassium fine, sugars fine, the enzyme that would have said I was having a heart attack- negative. Thyroid was fine. Well, let's take more blood and test for other stuff. They put an oxygenation monitor on me and made me trot around the nurses' station (it's laid out in a giant donut, with exam rooms all around) with a nurse holding the monitor. Well, on my second turn around I sort of slid onto and slumped down the wall- not really passing out but not far from it. About eight people picked me up and walked me back in and onto the table. Was basically ok, just... sliding down a wall.

So about 6:30 that Friday evening, I get a call from Dr Becher's co-worker who was working that afternoon, she'd just gotten some of my labwork back, and did I know that my nortriptyline level was roughly four times what it should be? No, I was not aware of that! Turns out that some of the symptoms of approaching toxicity are... chest pains, shortness of breath, lightheadedness. Talking with her we determined that the best course would be to drop the nortriptyline I was on- NOW. None of the usual tapering it off over a month or so. So I dropped it. Felt not really good but ok Saturday, which was nice as James and I went for a long walk (there's a gazillion restaurants on Alberta!) and then out for Lebanese food. (Dolmas and lamb. Yummy!) Came home and had chocolate fondue with strawberries and pears and some Chilean red wine. Very tasty.

Sunday my body realized that something was wrong. James went to the early service at church, and I stayed in bed because I had a Very Bad Feeling. Very Bad got Worse an hour or so later, and I managed to get to my wastebasket before I lost it.

Dolmas and lamb and chocolate and red wine are tasty going down- separately- but not so tasty coming up together. It was pretty horrible.

Eventually I figured I was empty, and staggered into the bathroom to clean the wastebasket. And I slipped. So suddenly there I was, naked, upside-down in the bathtub, with the wastebasket upside-down on my chest. Yes kiddies, that was even more horrible.

By the time James got back I was in a pile of towels on the bed, sobbing and laughing at the same time.

I spent most of that week sleeping while I finished getting through withdrawal, felt better enough toward the end of the week that I finished Wanda's new Frankish outfit, and then dragged her off to a potluck that the new canton up the Gorge was throwing. Nice little event, quite enjoyable, decent potluck, and I met a young fellow who's also interested in Frankish stuff, so I had someone to talk at for a bit. This week is sleeping, more dr visits (and lab work- I think they should stop stabbing me and just install a tap), and some reading. I finally got through ILL several books, one of which has a LOT of the info I need on the abbey at Corbie.

This weekend I'm heading to Eugene- James has some meetings for the Diocese there, so I'm going to meet him there, spend some time with him and with the kids. And I'm also meeting with my all-time favorite prof for tea Friday. I'm so looking forward to seeing her- I haven't see her in years! And it will be nice to talk 'shop'.

Oh, and there will be a trip to the library. But don't you dare call me Hermione! I'm cuter. :-)

I think that this must be a month for stooopid drivers. Well, a little more than that, since it was on the 31st that we got rear-ended. But since then it's like Zippy the Wonder Volvo has a target painted on her. I drove from here down the the Barley Mill pub the other night- maybe 4 miles?- and had to slam on my brakes at least three times. And no, it wasn't me- it was idiots changing lanes in front of me with just inches to spare, making left turns in front of me, etc. Sheesh. Maybe they should take the bus? (Not me though- getting anywhere but downtown from here is a pain- no matter where you want to go, you have to go downtown and the change buses, adding huge amounts of time to your trip...)

Not much in the news otherwise. Wanda is out of town this week, to Louisville, Kentucky. Shadow continues to be a dumbass. I still have sewing to do (probably head upstairs after a nap). And the Republicans continue to think that Republicans are the only ones who rate meaningful health coverage- the rest of us can go hang, apparently. Grr.

But the good news is- John Kitzhaber is running for Governor again! w00T! If he gets the nomination, I might have to volunteer again. :-)

Getting a CAT scan...

So I get to go in for a CAT scan tomorrow- to see if the stuff in my lungs and liver has changed any. But I don't actually see the doctor for results until March. Grr. Y'all know how much I love waiting...

We finally got Zippy the Wonder Volvo home! She is back on the road with a replacement hatch and right-hand lights. The hatch is hunter green, but as the car is a dark brown it isn't really obvious. I'm slowly re-assembling the sticker collection. Bunch of Potterverse stickers, a Laurel wreath, a sticker that says Hwaet!, the SCA Emergency Roadside Assistance Program stickers (the SCA and An Tir stickers) and a new U of O sticker. Sadly, the ORYGUN sticker is out of print. I got a plain yellow and green Oregon sticker, and despite my efforts, it is off-centered which bugs me. (I don't know if I can take it off and re-center it- may have to buy another one.) I still have to replace my godless-baby-eating-granola liberal stickers. ;-) Think I'll start with 'What Would Jefferson Do'.

Went to Adiantum Midwinter's Feast. It was a nice time. I managed to sit next to Bera for the evening and neither of us got arrested! This may be a first. ;-) Lots of cool A&S displays, and the KEWL thing- Miriam won Adiantum A&S! Yes, our little Mermee! w00T! Ok y'all, she's setting the standard... :-)

I have stuff to sew for Rustam, and then the belated Christmas presents for Alannas and Wanda, and then some stuff for Malcolm, and then I need to make new chemises (I have a fitting problem with the ones I have, as in my middle-aged arms no longer fit in the upper-arm/armseye area) for myself. And Amalric wants into the queue too. I may surface sometime in May...

I've got my money on the guy with the pig-faced bascinet...

Doesn't that just look like a lot of fun?

We're kind of spinning our wheels lately. Finding a hatch for Zippy proved a lot hard to do than one would think. Apparently getting any parts for Volvo 240 series is hard- people keep them and fix them rather than get rid of them. Parts are at a premium, and they aren't making any more of them. But we finally managed to get the hatch for Zippy, and she's down at Adam's being fixed (crossing my fingers that it will go smoothly and be done before Saturday). The hatch we got is hunter green. I think it will look nice with my stickers. I got online the other night and ordered replacements for most of them. Still have to get a new Obama sticker. And make the Jefferson and the '0 to 60 in 8 minutes' stickers again. But it appears that the 'ORYGUN' sticker is out-of-print. :-( I'm thinking to stop off at the UO bookstore when I'm in Eugene this Saturday and see what they've got these days.

The aftermath of the accident has been... interesting. The guy who hit us had let his insurance expire- which it did, the day before the accident. The phone number he gave us was no good, and Wanda has found that he has addresses in at least two states. Apparently he's an ER physician. Where we aren't sure. Wanda wants a piece of his posterior. She's been dealing with the various reports and all and it's been weird.

In other news... there ain't much other news. I've been either sleeping or trying to deal with car fu. Got some reading done (more on Frankish women and then a book on more general women's stuff). Pulled the ornaments off of the tree, took down the swag, which is getting kinda ratty. Need to do something different next year. I still need to pack up the nutcrackers and haul everything up to the attic. I'm thinking about getting some of the good Rubbermaid totes and getting stuff out of the misc boxes, which are also getting ratty.

Miss my Sweetie, miss my kids. :-( Miss my Zippy. :-((