Goodness and busy-ness

Another Sunday, another Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf writing afternoon. My last one until June! since I’ll be out of town three out of four Sundays in May, and Albra’s having her annual garden tea on the only Sunday I’ll be in town.

It’s been a busy few days… Thursday we had dinner with Morgana & Brian because our mutual friend Lev was in town (staying with M&B), and ended up staying rather late, watching the final ep of the Torchwood season (again for us, first time for M&B) and generally just enjoying good company.

Friday we headed up to Santa Barbara early to miss the weekend traffic. We wandered up and down State Street and had dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Greek place (nummy lemon chicken souvlaki!) before heading to the tattoo artist’s…only to find out I’d had my appointment time wrong by an hour. So we shared a chocolate shake at Coldstone Creamery, then strolled down to the beach, heading back via the Moreton Bay Fig Tree, the largest in North America. (The sapling was brought from Australia by a sailor in the 1870s and given to a girl… There’s a great romance story in there!)

Then I got my tattoo! Or, rather, I finished my 30th birthday tattoo! It was a different experience this time…different and in some ways the same. It was less of a major emotional/spiritual thing, and more of a peaceful thing. No stress, no great thought, just experience. The moment. I’m not explaining this well at all, but so be it!

Saturday we gathered up Morgana and went to Mission Park in Ventura, where Lev was playing concertina for his Morris Dance side. (A group of Morris Dancers is a side. A side of Morris Dancers. Don’t say I never taught you anything.) There were sides from all over, including one from England! We bought presents for my sister and Ken’s mom. We tried to follow Lev et al. to Channel Islands for their next performance, but we never managed to figure out where they were, so we headed off to Camarillo for their Celtic Fair. Our SCA group was doing a demo, so we ended up helping with that for a bit, and Ken and I shared a grape shave ice and I bought a silver spiral ring that’s actually appropriate for my 7th-C Welsh persona.

(Oh, and I’d like to put this out into the universe: I’ve misplaced my grandmother’s silver-and-diamond ring and my silver spiral ring from Avebury. Please think positive thoughts for me to find them!)

Anyway, then we went to the Victoria Pub because the dancers were there. We had dinner there, and I indulged in a cider and some vinegar-soaked chips for the first time in forever. Oh, Thomasina had joined us by then (we’d run into her at the Celtic Fair), so it was all quite pleasant. Then we came home and I took a much-needed shower because it had been bloody hot all day and I was a mess of sunscreen and sweat.

Tonight we’re going out to dinner with M&B&Lev, and having lemon cake and fresh strawberries afterwards, and I am greatly looking forward to it.

So now I’ve got to hit the ground running this week, because I have a ton to do before I leave for the Marketing Workshop in Oregon on Friday:

• finish a short story with Teresa
  
• finish three synopses for the workshop (I’ve read two of the three books and started the first synopsis)
  
• get as much done as Ghosted as I can
  
• pack for the workshop (printer, lap desk, and jacket already shipped)
  
• get a massage
  
• get my hair done
  
• work out with my trainer 2x
  
• lots of miscellaneous little fiddly stuff, like answering e-mail and cleaning off my desk and dealing with various SCA bits and bobs and mailing my sister’s present and buying contact solution and…
  

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Currently Reading: Mélusine, Sarah Monette
Lately Listened To: Ghosted playlist
Recently Watched: Lost; Battlestar Galactica