Renaissance Faires

 
   I have always wanted to go to a renaissance faire, but I never went until this year. But in May, I went to the Enchanted Orchard faire somewhere in Massachusetts (I forgot where). Elecktra shopped my closet before we went. I have enough fun stuff to outfit several people. I really liked this outfit. 

      I next went to the Robin Hood's Medieval faire in Connecticut (somewhere). This outfit was OK, but it didn't make me as happy as the first outfit. And I decided my horns were kind of frustrating. 

      The second time I went to Robin Hood's faire it was 95 degrees. I skipped the boots, my horns, and added a parasol (which I got for this faire and then brought to Breyerfest). It was HOT. I had to sit a lot and I was still very sweaty. My skirts kept sticking to my legs and making it hard to walk. But it was fun. I love dressing up. I also love how much joy other people get from a cool outfit. I know I love seeing people all dressed up. 

      The Connecticut Renaissance Faire (which is held in Lebanon, CT) started at the tail end of August and goes through the second week of October. Travis has one faire outfit and he will choose to wear his armor or not depending on how hot it is. The first time we went to the CT faire, at the end of August, it was lovely, maybe about 70. This outfit was very comfortable, even with the layers, and I am finally happy with my horns. I also get a lot of compliments on them. 

     Today, Travis, Elecktra and I went to the Connecticut Renaissance faire again. It was hot, about 85, and even with short sleeves, and Travis with no armor, we were very sweety. But it was another fun day. I wasn't feeling super great so we only stayed a few hours. I think I am going next weekend as well. I hope the weather will be a bit cooler. 

     Just for fun, a nice close selfie with Travis, because everyone should see my cool eyes. Colored contacts are a new thing for me. But I really like the way my faire look is coming together. I know that some people don't like any sort of fantasy looks at renaissance faires, but a lot of people like it, and I think it's fun. I am working my way into a full on Maleficent-type fae look. There are some really beautiful wings I would like to get, but that will have to wait (they are expensive).

     I do have a lot more I can talk about with the faires; joisting, parades, trinket trading. I will talk about that eventually. I have been busy and tired, and school started. Though that is going extremely well. Hopefully it just keeps on getting better and better. 

Projects

     I have spent a lot of time recently conjugating Spanish verbs. I have been trying to learn Spanish for a couple of years and it is an ongoing work in progress. When you first start, everything is in present tense, so I am a lot better with present tense than past or future. Or any of the variations of past and future. I am trying to get the rules for regular verb conjugation to stick in my head, so I work at it. A lot. I am finally starting to remember. Some of the time. I also have charts of irregular verbs, which are a whole different issue when learning. But I am determined. 

      Today is Friday, so the end of the third week of the school year for me. It is also the first full 5 day week. It has been pretty great. This school year is, so far, very much beyond my expectations. The bar was extremely low after last year, but I am hopeful that this year will continue to be amazing. I have a student who is coming to me, starting late, that is going to need a lot of special skills to work with. Luckily (for the school) I have all those special skills because I have been saying for years, just give me the hardest kids to work with (and leave me alone to do it). I want to make all the invisible kids visible. Everyone deserves that. Everyone is teachable. But until my new kid starts I am working on projects. Some things are prep for my kiddo and some are for the classroom in general. As long and I am busy and feel useful I am happy. And I have been VERY busy. 

     One of the specials my kids have is art and one of the kids in the class (not one of mine) made this for me. She also made larger versions. It is like the old fortune tellers we would make when I was in elementary and middle school. But she made them compliment tellers. Once you went through the steps you would read a compliment (instead of a fortune). It was a cool idea. And the tiny one is just adorable and now is hanging out on my computer so I can enjoy it all the time. 

      The 555 day streak on Duolingo was really gratifying. I am a ways beyond it at this point, but I have been a little bit busy so I haven't had time to post. While Duolingo is never going to make me fluent, it is a fun way to practice. So I keep going. 

      I was thinking of going to a renaissance faire again this weekend but I need to go and get my hair done tomorrow. And right now I am way too tired to think about going to do anything else anyway. Maybe I will feel differently on Sunday.