"Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do."- Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

And I've been obliged to do more work than play the last few weeks, sadly.  Oh, I've had days off- but most of those have been filled with the type of housework that becomes unmanageable if not kept on top of.  

Especially, with my houseful of men.    Seriously- it's amusing to watch how two allegedly grown men and a half grown boy can walk right by something that needs Picking Up and not touch it for DAYS.  My brother calls it "Man Looking."

I prefer a more descriptive term.

Not that I'm a neat freak- I'm not.  I just prefer not to have my house look like a flea market exploded in it.

So, when I'm not working, traveling to work or sleeping- I've been cleaning.  My knee is contemplating putting a price on my head, I'm pretty sure.

Birka was amazing and fun- but lots of work.  I'm so grateful that both my husband and the House Troll were able to be there to help with the heaving.   The conference center floor where Birka is held is the Floor of Hell  after 8 hrs on your feet.

Spiffy came out for Birka-for everyone who doesn't know- I'm the oldest of 5.   Spiffy is daughter #2, House Troll is #1 son and 3rd in age. Anyway, Spiffy is off in Northern NH where she works as a nurse at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.  Ridiculously proud of my sis- it's not everyday a 29 yr old lets out their inner SCAdian!   The nurse thing is pretty cool, too.

Pretty much every moment since Birka has been get up, clean, go to work, sleep.   Just got the ARC of War Maid's Own by David Weber- loved it!- which took me 3 days to finish reading.   Normally, I plow through his books in less than a day.  Two, if I have a long shift at work.   Not this week- everything seems to be taking longer than it should to accomplish.

It just seems lately that all I do is go to work, go home, sleep.  Part of the reason is that we're short handed at work- and everyone in the tri-city region seems to have been down with one of two illnesses in the past month.   Which means is went through the salon like grease through a goose.  So far, I'm the only one who hasn't had to call out of work.  

Pretty sure the girls have a betting pool going on that.

I know I shouldn't complain- things could be much, much worse after all- but I'm finding it really difficult to balance everything I have to do with what I should also be doing.   What I want to be doing fell off the list sometime between Halloween and my birthday last year.  

Fun times are ahead, however.  Faire season is ramping up for kick off in early May, we're going to the "Another Salty Ball" in CT (it's a Pirate thing) next weekend, today's my 11th anniversary and we're going to Dragon*Con in Sept!!

Also, my husband- sweetie that he is- gave me an anniversary present early.   Star Wars:The Old Republic!! /Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  

I know, I know, total geek but OMG OMG OMG.  Just made my character today, and I'm in love.   It's going to take some military level of organization and scheduling- ugh- but I think I've managed to come up with a workable method for balancing LTG Paintings,  home, work and SWTOR.  

Until the next lightning strike, anyway.

Joyeux Nouvel An!!

I hope everyone has had a great holiday season and ended the year well.

Despite the rotten luck we’ve had with vehicles-our own holiday tradition, one I could do without- we had a lovely holiday season filled with family and friends.  

December was a crazy month, as can I’m sure most of everyone can relate- and for that I am happy to see December leave for another year.

The holiday season is one of the busiest for the salon- and one of the most exhausting.   I think I averaged 6 non-holiday days off the entire month- including the 3 days I had off for the trip out to Dallas.  

I just plain ache all over, from top to toe.  

Anyway, with the relaxing of the holiday season I can return to Looking Through Glass (with some creative time management, /sigh) and actually get something done.

To that end, I’m adding two more events over last year!

They are, Market Day at Birka, in Manchester at the end of this month and one weekend of NHRF 2012 in May.  I am ridiculously excited to be returning to both events under LTGP’s sign.

With that, Happy New Year to everyone and good night!

-Phe dy Vaganza