Just got back from the orthodontist with Ben. VERY spendy. *Hugely* spendy. Jitter, jitter AUGH!!
OK, so... Ben now has braces on his lower teeth only. They took an "impression" of his upper teeth and are making a device they will install next visit between his two rear-most upper teeth, to widen his upper palate, which is too narrow. And he's going to have to wear headgear to lift the back of his uper palate as well.
Ben is *thrilled*. I mean, he says it aches a bit but he is just really excited about getting his teeth fixed, finally.
MGIC.
Heading out to Rainy now, Paul-less-ly.
My parents sold their house in Rainy River and bought one in Pinawa, Manitoba. They'll move in May, which makes this weekend the one weekend I can see them in the existing place. Once they live in Pinawa, we'll have to fly to Winnipeg and rent a car from there. My nephew Michael will be there, so it will be a good chance for Ben and Michael to play. They haven't seen each other in *ages*.
I'll likely be working next week - I had an interview this afternoon at MGIC and may be working there; alternatively, I may be working at Emjay Corp. It depends on if MGIC decides for certain they want me and then can come to an agreement with Kelly's. The job at MGIC sounds more interesting.
More once I know something....
It's been a slow few days. I've been waiting to hear back about some temp jobs through Kelly's, but nothing yet. There are another couple positions coming up: I have a phone interview this afternoon with Baird, and an in-person interview with MGIC on Thursday.
We were intending to go to Minneapolis to visit Rusty this past weekend, but stayed home because Paul hurt his back lifting heavy things at Matt's. He's going to the chiropractor (or failing being able to get in to see the chiro soon enough, the doctor) this afternoon, so hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.
I'm reviewing MS Access, since that's one of the programs this afternoon's interview wants me to know about, and doing laundry. Ooh, *so* exciting! :o)
Poor March gets a bad rap for it's 15th... just because ONE person gets bumped off on that day, ages and ages ago... I mean, no OTHER month has it's Ides treated this way. Humph.
No word on a job yet. Just thought I'd keep you-all in the loop. :o) I plan to stay home for the rest of the morning, then head out and try to buy a suit in case I get the M&I Bank job. Then tonight is Curia, which is the monthly general business meeting for the local SCA group.
It was A Good Day.
Paul left Friday right after work to go to Minneapolis for an anime convention... if you want more about his weekend I'm sure you will be able to find it in his blog. From what he said on the phone, A Good Time Was Had By All.
I headed out to Wauwatosa early Saturday morning and picked up Sir Robert (Paul's Knight) and we drove out together to the site. We were there on time, which was a good way to start the day, and I was in armour in time for my foster-Knight's (Sir Aaron's) first class, which was sword and shield technique for melee. After that class there was an hour break, and I used the time to hang out with Bou, to drink water (and to enjoy some iced coffee I had brought) and to eat a sandwich.
Shall I give those of you who have evented with me a moment to recover? Yes, I took the time to sit and eat something at an event. :o)
I'm sure Bou will post her day's experience here, on her blog.
The second class was also my foster-Knight's: polearm for melee. When I am in a melee, my favourite weapon by far is the 7 1/2 foot unpadded polearm. We ran several drills and much fun was had by all.
Rusty turned me loose for the third class period, so I took His Majesty's spear techniques class. Agility, thy name is Siegfried. I'm happier any day (and probably of more use) supporting a spearman with my pole. It really showed me how I am not cut out to be good at every weapon form.
After the last class, we were split into three large groups by region, and the melee practice began. It was one hell of a lot of fun!! Rusty was (I think) the last person standing in that melee - *I* was the second last. Much credit goes to John Chandler (a bardic laurel) who was my shieldman; his good sense kept us both alive till almost the end. :o)
After that, I had to go sit down because I couldn't breathe anymore. I got all dizzy and used my inhaler, which made me shake really hard... but I still couldn't breathe. I sat for about 25 minutes, and then went and lay down in a corner for about another 15... which gave me enough breath to get across the gym to where my stuff was. I shucked the armour and lay down *again*, and so after a total of about 90 minutes was feeling better enough to go marshal in the last melee.
The last melee was a special 'experimental' one, in which a youth combatant joined the adults for the first time ever in Northshield. He (and his parents) had been through a long training process to be allowed to join us even though he's under age, and he had a really good time. As of April 1 this year, some older teens (I think 16 and 17 year olds) will be able to go through this process and be allowed to fight with the grown-ups. Two rounds with the minor, then a marshall's meeting explaining the ins and outs of all the waiver-laden hoop-jumping that has to be done by the minor and his or her family. Holy cow.
After that, we packed up and headed home. Sir Robert got a ride home with his family, who had come to the event later in the day, so I had a couple hours in the car, just me and Jethro Tull.
In summary for the event: Even though I had to drop out earlier than I hoped, I was able to stay in longer than I had feared would be the case, so I guess that says something or other. :o) And somehow I came out of it with hope that I actually will really be able to do this decently again... and it again showed me how much FUN this game really is. I am looking forward to getting back into going regularly to practices and hopefully getting to more events than we have been.
My Big Exciting Plan for the day is to do laundry and relax. :o) And to wait impatiently for my husband to come home. :o)
... is Murray Stewart, in Newmarket, Ontario. I bet *he* could make my neck happy again. I bet amputation would be difficult. You know, if I did it myself. :o)
Helm is padded. Still very white, but we're thinking about what to do with it... so white is the order of the day. Armour is repaired, restrung etc, all in black. Paul finished my gauntlets because he's so cool.
I'll be packing mostly tonight, though I'm not leaving till Saturday morning. I'm planning to day-trip the event, and not stay overnight up there anywhere. I prefer to sleep in my own bed.
Tonight is errands and maybe Chicago. And sleep. And work on my neck.
After today, two more days here. It will be nice to not have to talk on the phone all day! :o) I have my name in for two temp positions right now - one at M&I Bank as the admin assistant to the HR Director, and the other at Covenant Health Care as a secretary-type.
Compare and contrast: Pay wise they're in the same ballpark. Dress code is business casual for the Covenant job, and professional for the MNI job, which means I'd have to shop for suity-type outfits. The M&I job is more administrative, keeping the Director on track and organized, which could be cool or awful, depending o nthe Director. The Covenant job is more general office work, like sorting mail and so on.
Tonight - errands like crazy. Pick up dry cleaning, buy some armour repair supplies, repair armour, finish padding helm, laundry... whee!
I got as through my shower this morning before I decided that I didn't feel well enough to go to work yet. It no longer feels like a cold - now it's all in my head (which feels all sandpapery inside) and my gut (no detail necessary). No more coughing hardly at all, and at least I can breathe.
We missed Bardic Madness this past weekend, which is one of my favourite SCA events of the year. It's usually a day of listening to a lot of music, poetry and storytelling, most of it pretty darn good, as well as socializing with my friends and taking cool classes. This year, one of our friends ("G") was being elevated to the Order of the Laurel (the highest SCA 'cookie' for an art or science) and we missed it. :o(
But I'm sure all those singing-folks really wouldn't want the bug we have.
But still.
Paul and I both have colds. Ick. At least Ben doesn't have this.
I haven't been getting much of anything accomplished - keeping Ben in food and the apartment clean has pretty much eaten up all my oomph. My head is too full of snot to be able to think! I know, ew. :o)
No job leads yet. Kelly's is looking, and we're not worried.
I'm toying with the idea of going back to repairing musical instruments. I was good at it and I enjoyed it... but I don't have any schooling (I have training, yes, and years of experience, but no piece of paper to prove anything) so it'd be difficult to get a job. There is a school somewhat near here that we found on the net a while back but we don't seem to be able to track it down again.
My current job at bank one isn't fulfilling (or even really enjoyable) but it does pay well and is reliable. I fear that jobs that are more enjoyable (such as band instrument repair) will be less lucrative. It's a balance between security and freedom I think... why does it always seem to be THAT biting me?