Great Goddess, I'm off for a long weekend and the office goes to pot!  Things were quite a wreck when I came in this morning, and it took me the whole morning to get everything set to rights again.  I don't even want to know what it's going to be like in here when I get back in the middle of September.

Yes, my leave of absence was granted, and I'll be focusing solely on Altar Boyz for the whole rehearsal period.  I think this will lead to  happier and more capable SM for the time off, though my wallet won't be getting as fattened as I'd hoped.

I let myself get a little excited about the possibility of going freelance, and now that I'm retaining my day job, I'm a little disappointed.  I'll take that step eventually, just not today.  Still got to get that debt paid down!

Which I added over $300 to yesterday.  Mrrrrrrrrrr.  Vehicle needed oil change, two new tires, one new rim, tire rotation, and a full tank of gas.  Goddess preserve me: I bought a new car two years ago so I wouldn't HAVE to keep paying out the nose for repairs!  But for some reason, the tire and wheel system on the 2006 Kia Rio is just shoddy.  At least I got rid of the last of the original tires, which should help things.

On to more fun things!  The Trinity Wood Renaissance Festival (click for video) on Saturday was a lot of fun.  Cat and Simon joined Tommy and me, and we met Kai there.  It was TINY and not particularly advanced in facilities, but it was enthusiastic.  And we discovered that it was organized and run by a 15 year old, on a $200 budget, whereupon we got very impressed.  And the fights, which were the main "entertainment" were actually really good.  We, wenchly trio, managed to ingratiate ourselves with the man who was destined to become the next King of Britain.  King Arthur, even.  Very amusing: after the coronation ceremony, he gave a little speech, "enjoy the rest of your festival day" sort of thing that ended with, "Go!  Make merry!"  A slight pause, and then, an obviously impromptu, "Wenches!  To me!"  We looked at each other, shrugged, stalked out onto the combat field and draped ourselves around King Arthur.  Hey, we KNOW how to play!  Also, thanks to us, we now know that the National Anthem of Britain under Arthur's rule was "Follow the Band," and three of Arthur's closest advisors were two pirates and a wench with a fuzzy pet dragon.  Ah, being dragged into scenario is so amusing.
Pictures will be posted when I stop feeling lazy.
That evening, made yummy burgers, and we set off fireworks for Cat's birthday.  Drunk Doctor Who watching followed. 
Good weekend, except for me feeling quite ill on Sunday.

And now, the remaining GIDFest pictures.  I managed two cool pictures of the fireworks!

 

I call this one, Electric Jellyfish!