rowanf | Feb. 24th, 2003

Friday the landscapers came by and finished up most of the new drip system. The parts they've worked on shows how much neglected the rest of the yard is. *sigh* Oh well, hopefully we'll be able to afford to get the back done this fall. At least we have to whole blue print ready to go.

At this point the computer ate my whole Friday. :-( How do I get so lucky. Hmm. I went to work and then to dinner with Kurt & Marina. I had way too much fun and got to bed at an unreasonable hour.

Saturday I tried to sleep in. Hah. By 9am I was at Whole Foods buying lots of turkey and such to make turkey & dumplings and greens as requested for 4th Tuesday dinner. Spent the rest of the morning cooking. The house smelled absolutely delicious and it was hard not to eat any of it! I have a full table on Tuesday and I may need all that lovely, lovely turkey.

After lunch the lack of sleep thing caught up with me and I took a nap. Russell roused me and we headed off to the fabulous 60/50 birthday party of Macha & Corby. It was definitely the social event of the season with visitors from as far away as Utah and Oregon. I saw lots of friends I hadn't seen in way too long and had some good visits. I enjoyed presenting the triple raven stool I bought at PantheaCon to them. The party crush was so great people were saying as we walked up how wise we were to bring our own chair. *LOL* Happy birthday Macha & Corby and many happy returns of the day!

After a not-too-late night I woke up still feeling in deficit territory but went out to Sunday breakfast with Russell and

ocean_song at IHOP. I was dismayed to discover with that "strawberries" on the whole grain pancakes I ordered with previously in heavy syrup. Yuck! So much for my mostly healthy brekkie idea! We had a lovely visit though and it was a pleasant way to start the day.

After breakfast I got down to some serious napping since we were going to the Carnal Carnival Sunday evening. We made great time and arrived at the Cat Club at about 9:15pm. (Yes, after my bedtime!) As the club slowly filled we were enthralled by the pyrotechnics of three of the <http://www.fyrepixie.com/fire/">Fire Pixies. All I can say is "Wow"! These ladies surely do know how to put on a show. Then the charity auction began. I bid on and won a bondage session with Dan of Two Knotty Boys. I had studied their web site earlier and was happily tied into a "Celtic knotwork bra" made of red hand-dyed rope. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera and will just have to hope that someone sends me a photo! It was truly lovely. You can see a less attractive version on their web site under "Workshops, Decorative Bondage". Mine had more knots and was really cool. Dan showed Russell what he was doing but I don't know that either of us will be able to recreate it. *laugh* Before we left Katya did a henna glyph of roses and flames on my stomach. I had a great time and am only sorry that the benefit didn't raise more money. Evidently last year a lot of dot-com folk were bidding in the auction. This year many things went at total steal prices (including I must confess my bondage session). Did I mention I got to bed around 2:30am? Eeek!

It is now Monday morning and I am at work. I actually bought a coffee this morning (those who know me know I am a tea-osophist rather than a javacrucian) to see if that would help keep me awake. So far, so good. *laugh*

This morning I have finally started sending out press releases in ernest for the CoG Wiccan Youth Essay Contest to send a young Witch to Barcelona for the Parliament of the World's Religions. I have sent out pr to many major web sites, zines and organizations. I really hope we get a good response. I am jazzed about the contest! z