fencerm2 | New week, weekend wrap-up (Reply)

I had a good weekend – how about you?

Friday night I met up with my dad after work and went to hear the Ridgewood Concert band perform. This was pretty cool – they’re really good. My love of classical music is almost wholly my dad’s fault.

Saturday I decided I had to clean, and the Virgo side got control. Suddenly I vacuumed, did a little rearranging of my dining room/office, and mopped my kitchen and bathroom floors. Exciting, I know. Then I went to Denville for the Chamber of Commerce awards dinner and casino night. This is the biggest networking night of the year for the Denville businesses, and I used this event as an opportunity to promote Off the Compass. I think I made some good connections, and got myself out there. I also won a prize following the casino night (I was kicking ass on the craps table) – a basket with some snacks and a couple bottle of wine and other stuff. Not bad at all.

Sunday I spent with krystinia and her sister Tracy working on my Steampunk outfit for next weekends’ event. We’re going to the Steampunk Worlds Fair in Piscataway, a group of 6 (or 8 now, I think) of us in costume. I was originally working with my SCAdian pirate coat – but on a lark Saturday drove through Hackensack, and stopped by the Army/Navy surplus store there. I found the PERFECT older pea coat – and it was only $20!

krystina, Steampunk mad scientist that she is, made some cool modifications to the coat to make it look right for the event (the weapons she has made for herself for her costume are pretty amazing). I worked on my own costumer pieces, and then had dinner with the Pamperin family to celebrate Mother’s Day (

krystinia’s mom invited me – which is cool). En route home I called MY mom and wished her a happy mother’s day as well.

So here we are – the start of another week. I intend to be intentional this week in all I do – and make this a GREAT week.

Today I am grateful for:

- krystinia. She really made my costume for this coming weekend look good – and helped me with stuff I was working on as well. And her family makes me feel very welcome – the brother no one actually wanted, per se. She also did a great job speaking at the dinner Saturday (since she is President of the Chamber and all).
- Steampunk. There is soooooooooo much to create in this world. It’s a unique idea that is not completely set to a single concept – which is why I am working on more than one story using this technology and costuming. Very cool.
- Creativity. In building things for my costume, I was taking spray paint and taping off sections of an old toy gun to recolor it so it looks less plastic. Then I was taking odds and ends and various bits and pieces to create things for my steampack. Tore apart an old watch to make it look like a gage. Feels REALLY good to be creative like that!
- The dogs. I love my cat – but I sometimes really miss having a dog. The affection they give is so much more over-the-top than cats (granted MY cat is much more dog-like). Sake, Bauer and even Trina were very sweet yesterday.
- Accomplishment. I got a lot of things done this weekend – and that always feels good.

Looking forward to an excellent week ahead.