Saturday

Today I went to Patti's and she sewed and adjusted the ionar, while I sewed amber beads onto the my leine. She is going to keep Miach's tunic, and she's taking the mostly-finished ionar to Sorcha to hem and embellish. She needed to put gores into the ionar, but she's pleased with the way that it hangs and thinks that once the embroidery is on it, that will pull it down a bit more.
I was surprised to find that I'd finished putting the beads on with most of the day still left, so when I went home I sewed up the large woven band that Patti had given me from she and Gunther's stash, into a fabric belt for Miach. Meanwhile, Miach was down at Auntie's being fitted, and then she finished his trews and hand-sewed their hems while he waited. She also made him a pair of tight, short Book of Kells soldier trews.
Countdown Day 7 very productive.

One week to go to Investiture

I'm starting to have trouble sleeping.
The Investiture garb project hit a huge snag when Miach's tunic arrived and was too tight. Miach didn't want me to tell our artisan/tailor, he just wanted to have someone local fix it. However, I felt that would be very disrespectful, as I know that our tailor put all her energy and time into this and it was her creation. I wanted her to basically give us her blessing.
What ended up happening was she pulled entirely out of the project. So here we are, one week before Investiture, with the key component of MY garb (an ionar jacket) incomplete and totally un-embellished. She did send us all the embellishments she had made, and a very large quantity of embroidery floss.
I'm still kind of in shock, and emotionally somewhere between mortification that I've hurt her feelings and anger because she abandoned the project. If it was just a regular SCA person, I'd be angry, period. But this is someone I consider one of my best friends, someone who has done so much for us, someone who knows how much this Investiture means to me. And I really feel the project meant a lot to her, too, and she just burned herself out on it, and was very protective of the ownership of the artistry of the garb.
Plus, I'm not sure where this puts our Court for the Big Picture, because she is an integral part of our Court and I truly do not want to stress her out for the next big event: Great Western War and camping for a week, and food! We already had potential for emotional trauma with that event, as most of the former members of our household and our current Ri and Rian are at odds, and we were going to try to meet with both groups on different days/nights but the chance of insulting our Ri and Rian by that was high.
Not to mention that we have family going to Investiture, kids clothing being shipped to us, worry about them being confused or bored by what is a very long day even for SCA geeks, worried about what to feed them during the break between Courts.
I haven't learned my lines.
What if I have a sudden attack of Dumping Syndrome?????

On the positive side, I've lost a lot of weight since the GBP. And my joints mostly don't hurt, except my thumb joint where it joins my hand. I have started walking faster, and I don't become short of breath any longer. I THINK I've stopped snoring, because I no longer wake up choking. Although I sometimes wake up at 6 am needing to go to the bathroom, I no longer wake up every 2 hours needing to go. I can cross my legs - but I mostly don't. My shoulders feel sharp. My wrists look thin, and so does my face. My knees are palpable. My ankles and feet are still fat, and still swell at times. I bought two pairs of sandals that fit, but don't look good because of the fat feet and ankles, but the Crocs are now way too wide and floppy.
I lose about two small handfuls of hair per day, and have been for about 3 weeks. I'm taking Biotin for that, and I also have horsetail and nettle but to be truthful haven't been using the herbs.
I also have discovered that sadly, I can eat all manner of stuff I'm not supposed to without feeling really full: bread, noodles, rice, potatoes, chips, cake, ice cream, etc. The only healthy things I can do that with are yogurt and cottage cheese! But meat? About 5 or 6 bites, and I'm full. I did discover a fairly good protein, 100% whey isolate, at Costco (again). They only stock the Vanilla flavor, but mixed with orange juice it tastes very good. 30 grams of protein a serving. And after only one unfortunate incident, I can eat protein bars without dumping, and those are 20 grams per bar. Plus, we just went through the worst heat wave in decades, with temps in the 110 - 120 range, and I stayed really well-hydrated by drinking at least 40 oz of protein drink during the day. I only got dry mouth once, and it used to be a daily thing in just normal summer temps prior to the surgery. That was my biggest fear, dehydration during the summer.

The Run-through Father's Day Potluck in the Park

It was wonderful. Roz came up and Teresa came over the hill, and we all gathered at Patti's house and plotted and cut out garments and bees. That was Saturday. On Sunday, we had the Investiture practice, but first we smoked meat and cut up fruit and people brought side dishes and we all ate. I have no idea how many people were there -- as many as for a small SCA local event. And everyone ate their fill, and we still came home with about two meals worth of meat, some fruit, and most of a cake (there had been three cakes).
It was great to talk with people and hang out, a real bonding experience for the Court and Artisans. Bjorni and Finna came, Their Highnesses of Cynagua came. It was just lovely, sitting under a giant walnut tree, rehearsing in a shady, relatively remote arbor in Rusch Park.

The Hats. I Cannot Freaking Believe It.

So, Miach won May Coronet. And I've been meaning to blog it. 

Everything has changed.

Sean/Eoin is taking back the Seneschal position for Mountain's Gate, Gregory of St.Albans took over the Principality Chirurgeonate as of one week ago, at Golden Rivers Championship Tourney. It's been a really whirlwind 2 weeks. I will never forget it, and I hope to survive until Investiture. Which I hope will be fantastic and entertaining.

I found a great garb site, Historic Enterprises, and I'm wearing garb from them in the photo above. I bought four additional pieces after Miach won Coronet, because while we are blessed with a ton of support, there's no way we can get decent clothes for upcoming June Crown and now we kind of HAVE to look pretty good. What's really sad is that I'm going to be shrinking out of all the great stuff that we're working on, and all the great stuff from Historic Enterprises. And by then, I'll probably be too broke to buy more! 

I can't believe I'm sitting here writing this. This blog has gone from housing boom/bust, to SCA/medieval, to chickens, to Gastric Bypass, and now back to SCA/medieval. Because the hats used to scare me so much, and now I have one myself. My dad always said I could be a Princess, but Miach actually made me one. 

Oh, I have to talk about the tournament!

It was truly the best way that Miach could ever have hoped to have won. He took every shot that he felt, that wasn't on the flat. He took shots that he didn't HAVE to take. This was our decision, for the greater good of his SCA trajectory. WE GAVE UP THE NOTION OF WINNING CORONET, AFTER TALKING OVER EVENTS THAT OCCURRED AT BELTAINE. We decided that Coronet was not likely winnable the way that we wanted to win it, and therefore we probably wouldn't win it. And then we did. Because Miach fought honorably, chivalrously, and very very skillfully. His worthy opponent in Finals was Sir Heinrich and he also fought honorably, chivalrously and very very skillfully. We could not have hoped for a better Finals, and right up to the last fight, I did not believe that Miach would win. People told me afterward that they heard the solid clang of the headshot, although very few actually saw it. And just like that, in that second, everything changed. 

Miach cried, many other people cried. Of course, I didn't cry at this, the most meaningful moment so far of my SCA life -- even though I've cried at proposals offered to others from the field, at the emotion of others in Court, at Miach getting his Rose Leaf and his Ash Leaf. I was stunned. Just too stunned and unbelieving. 

So, just as Teresa told me, half our team of Coronet Cooks ended up not being able to cook because they'd won Coronet. I hadn't believed her, but she was prescient. 

I ate too much at feast, and had to burp up a lot on the way home from Quincy. I had to leave that very night, and did not get home until 1:30 am, and had to work that day. And immediately, it all began falling together: I was able to get GWW off due to a co-worker switching to another department and vacating those days on the vacation calendar. We notified family. We bought Arnold a plane ticket. Juliana agreed to be head of court. Miach called Miriam almost from the tourney field to let her know he'd won wearing Mike's coat of plate. Morgan and Siobhann were thrilled.

Oh, there have been problems and snarls and high emotion the last couple weeks, but we're now off and flying and hoping that we can just make it to Investiture, in garb that reflects our new station, with friendships and familial relationships intact. We've ordered bling, we've purchased fabric, we've gathered a most awesome crew of artisans, and court attendants, and wranglers of artisans and court attendants.

We have harpers, and special projects craftspersons. We have historical consultants to our Celtic reign. 

Planning all this and scheduling it out has gone a long way toward taking a lot of the anxiety out of it. The pressure, in one sense, is now off. Miach won Coronet.

Beltaine

The West had Beltaine at the Pitt Ranch in Arbuckle this weekend. It was very windy, and hot. And it IS a ranch, so that meant flying dung and dried grass, allergies, etc. All in all, the topography of the site was good. Parking was far enough away and close enough both. Because of the WEATHER, I think a lot of people are judging the site harshly. Personally, I'd rather keep this site and toss the sheep ranch site with the rattlesnakes and the "No Dogs" rule. We didn't camp, because there really wasn't any reason to and we need to save our impositions on the neighbors (to feed and lock up our animals) for those times when we really must camp.
It was a relatively unpleasant, hot and windy day followed by a very pleasant, temperate and calm evening.
Court was highly entertaining.

I think I'm getting to the point in my relationship with the SCA community where much of the magic has worn thin. I don't like to sew, my garb always seems lacking and I truly have no desire to spend any amount of time on it, and yet I know that people judge me on that and it gives me less credibility. I'm tired of being a Chirurgeon, even though it isn't difficult. My arthritis prevents me from walking great distances over uneven ground without a lot of pain, sometimes for days, so again I don't have the credibility that the former Principality Chirurgeon had, and currently has as Kingdom Chirurgeon. I admire her a great deal, the fighters are all very familiar with her and trust her because she is always out there, and at events at which I am the CiC I tend to stay at Point. There are things I love, such as brewing and bread-making and fermenting vegetables. There are things I truly WANT to learn, such as harping and tablet-weaving beyond my basic skill set. But it seems to me that a basic part of the SCA is trying to maintain an acceptable appearance, which is too expensive to do unless you do it yourself, and I truly do not like machine sewing and don't have the time to hand sew all our garb unless I spend every spare moment doing that and nothing else.

This has lately become an issue with me because I'm shrinking and I don't know what to do to cover all the stages between old body and new body. Miach's fighting this year has been really good. He came very close to winning a Coronet two or three years ago, and I think he's feeling that he has to try to win it this year because he's not getting any younger. So I'm worrying much more than I usually do about garb. I also worry that I'm not presenting the best in reflection of him, and I know that the Knights are looking at him and he has enough hurdles to cross already without my garb being one of them. One of our friends was recently asked to join the Chivalry, and I truly believe that a large part of that invitation was that his Lady maintains a very nice period encampment and she dresses the both of them in attractive garb.

I'm also grouchy today because the Shire, which I once loved, has become fractured and nearly dysfunctional. Perhaps we need to take a lesson from the people that are currently thorns in our side, but again: I don't have the energy or ability to host events due largely to my arthritis, which I am beginning to acknowledge is much more of a disability than I have been willing to admit prior to this. I used to be able to take a pill twice a day and move fairly comfortably, but due to my surgery, I can't take those pills any longer. And I absolutely do not want to use narcotic pain meds, even if my doc would prescribe them. I've seen first-hand what they do to people over time, and it's not pretty and it's not healthy.

And this is where my head is at currently.

GB: I've got this covered

I've done just about everything now that I could do: several restaurant meals, a trip to Florida, wedding reception, birthdays and ethnic foods.
I've tolerated very small amounts of cakes of all kinds, pasta and rice. But I've taken to heart the warning to put good stuff in my pouch first, and foremost.
The protein drink saga continues, but since I can tolerate slightly more food, I'm hoping that two drinks a day will suffice. Cause really: that's all I can get in.
The directive to not drink for 30 mins before/after meals is just not realistic for me. That's 3 hours. I need those hours to get the liquids in, which is kind of important. I'm not an office worker, who can sip constantly. My drinks are kept in a lunch cooler in a hot car, and they need to stay relatively cool for my whole day. I'm already limited by having to see clients for one or two hours at a time, and trying to eat/drink between visits.
I've learned why you need to take your time: if you eat too quickly, it WILL come back up. It's not horrible, it's kind of like having something stuck in your throat or swallowing air and belching. It's not exactly socially acceptable behavior, though, and it should be avoided, which you can do if you eat slowly and chew thoroughly and STOP when your pouch says to.
And I've seen all kinds of verboten behavior by other people who've had GB. The scariest is alcohol overconsumption, and I don't mean just one drink. I mean entire bottles of wine, or several beers or mixed drinks. I haven't tried coffee again yet, and that's another of those dubious liquids. The only way I can rationalize it is to mix it with protein powder and put it over ice. I'm not sure I could tolerate it. And it's not good for hydration, or for your pouch. OTOH, it does help with constipation. As vices go, the coffee vice isn't near as bad IMHO as the alcohol one, or the return to over-eating carbs one.
In general, be mindful of the size of your new stomach and take it slow, but live a social and active life and don't think you can't enjoy hanging out and eating (in a controlled, slow, savoring fashion).
I thought about posting weights, but I kind of go back to an earlier post about it: I had an operation. If I DON'T lose weight, that's remarkable. The expectation is that I will lose a lot of weight, and so far, I have. I am down 2 pants sizes, and I'm visibly smaller. And my advice on that is shop at thrift stores! And only get 2 pairs of pants at a time. Tops last even longer, but try not to look like you're wearing a tent before you get some new ones.

About my trip to see Roz

For some reason, I thought I posted this already. But I didn't.
I drove down to Seal Beach near LA to see Roz a week ago, and stayed for 3 days. It was very nice. We watched "Lincoln" and "Big Love" and visited on Easter with Morgan and Siobhann. During my stay, Roz convinced me to try egg white protein mix, and I tolerated that much better. With half a banana, it was delicious. We went out shopping on Saturday to a cute little Japanese store that was like a 99cent store, then to the Japanese market next door, where I found rice bran for pickling!

I talked in detail to Roz about all sorts of yucky stuff, and it was very wonderful to be able to do that and not feel like a whiner or like I was being disgusting. Roz talked to me about some of HER yucky stuff, too, and that was actually pleasant. I think it made us feel like we were both on the same team of "people whose insides are now modified".

I got to know Roz's dog, Flori, who is just adorable and recovering well from her own leg surgery.

A very helpful and healing little mini-vacation, for once NOT SCA-related except in a peripheral way.