has it really been days since last I posted?

The rest of my trip to Tromsø went well. The classes were intense, which is good because then one doesn't mind being in class all day long. We made good time on the return trip, and this week has been zipping by. When I got back to town I emailed my new boss and asked him if there is anything else I should or should not be doing before our meeting on 31 Oct. to finalize the hiring paperwork (and my starting on 1 Nov). He replied that they are doing a short course on the use of Leapfrog the 27th of October and perhaps I might like to attend. Since my job description talks of 3D geochemical modeling of ore deposits, and this is a program designed to do 3D modeling of ore deposits I told him I would be delighted to attend. It looks like a fun toy, so I am looking forward to learning how to use it.

This week's major accomplishments are all sewing prep for the trip to Germany this weekend. I managed to finish the big project, and tonight we are making him a new tunic ("we" means that yesterday I cut most of the pieces and today I cut the sleeves, hemmed the neckline and sleeve cuffs by hand, and tonight he is using a sewing machine to assemble it). When that is assembled I also have another machine-sewing project lined up and ready for him to stitch. Because we are staying on site we are bringing our camping mattress, which is two thermarest pads and a fabric case we made to hold them next to one another when we sleep. However, when flying luggage space is at a premium, so rather than bringing the cotton sheets upon which we have slept on other travel occasions we are switching to silk. We bought two silk sleeping bag liners from a camping store today, and I cut them open and have pinned them together ready to sew into one huge bag. Luckily, if he doesn't get to it tonight we still have tomorrow after work, since we don't fly out till 06:00 on Friday morning.

I am looking forward to the trip--getting there should be fun in and of itself--there is a good group of us flying down from northern Sweden for this event, The Garden of Earthly Delights). (I suspect the good turn out has to do with the fact that our Prince and Princess live up here, and they announced their travel plans early on, and a number of the rest of us decided to head to Germany for this event, too.) Most (all?) of us are on the same flight, leaving here at 06:00 on Friday, and returning at 23:55 on Sunday, and we are sharing a rental car from the airport to the site.

It will be good to see friends from all over, meet new people, do some dancing, participate in the arts fair, and actually eat food at the feast. Yes, that is right, I get to eat--the cooks are doing a day-time feast! How civilized! I haven't eaten at an SCA feast since the one I ran in Tassie when blamebrampton made the trip south. Before that was the last Bard of the Mists feast I attended, which would have been 2002. I accept the fact that I am simply not hungry in the evenings, but it can make social eating difficult (which, given the fact that I like being slender, may not always be a bad thing).

Next week when I return I will go see our Prince in another capacity--in the modern world he is a doctor, and he has been training under Sweden's foremost ear surgeon. I am way past due for a new pair of hearing aids (and really want ones with blue tooth capability, so I can hear a phone through them), but in addition to seeing their audiologist I will also see His Highness, who will look at my ears and see if he agrees with my Australian audiologist that surgery will not help the problem with my ears. I am assuming that she was correct, but it would be silly not to check since I happen to have a friend who is qualified for such things.

The following week will start my new job--I am looking forward to it, but I will miss the free time. Hopefully I will be able to use the sudden decrease in free time to focus and make even more productive use of what free time is left.