Attending Lent

So Lent is coming up, and I randomly had this brilliant idea to make it an event page on Facebook, and invite every single one of my "friends", whether I've talked to them in years or not, whether they're Catholic/Christian/atheist/agnostic, etc. to attend Lent. And make it necessary to RSVP. However, I then decided that I really have better things to do than screw around on Facebook, trying to figure out how to even make an event page in the first place, so I'm just going to tell you about this brilliant idea, and you can appreciate it that way. I may still do it if I get bored enough. We'll see.

Anyway, weird as it may seem, I actually enjoy lent. It's a time of renewal for me, a time when I can really think about my life and make a conscious effort to change for the better. To make sure I'm on the right track to the place I'm supposed to be, the Aethelflaed Place, in which I am the best person that I can be. This year for Lent, my offering will be to get out of bed in the morning. It seems an odd sort of offering. But I've been trying to do it for ages, and the only way I know I am going to do it is if it becomes a sort of sacrifice. I don't go back on my Lenten obligations. And I'm pretty sure that a lot of other things that I'd like to change about myself hinge on that...the lethargy that comes from a sluggish start to the day, the need for more time to accomplish things, the somewhat depressive attitude I seem to have recently taken towards things. I'm really looking forward to changing that. And I'm not really waiting for Lent to get started.

I'm not really sure...

...what this blog post is going to be about. I haven't decided yet. I just figured I'd start typing and see what happens.

I got Valentine's cards from my siblings today, one of which had a pirate joke on it, so I'm going to share, 'cause it made me laugh. Get ready for a dorky joke:
What do you get when you cross a pirate and a zucchini?

A squashbuckler!

Hahahahahaha...okay, so I thought it was funny anyway!

Hertzkrieg last weekend was great. I got to see so many people that I haven't seen in ages, some of them since before I even left for Wyoming. It was so good to see everyone again, even the people it had only been a few days since seeing last. And...I got to help serve feast again for the first time since a long time...well, Siege I guess. Serving feast is actually one of my favorite things to do at events. I also got to do several of my other favorite SCA things, being fencing, playing with arrows, (just wrapping the fletching, not actually shooting them, but still good times), playing with babies, and just catching up. It was grand. I can't wait for the next event, which should be Lupercalia in a week with Anne. Hooray!

Good timing

http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2009/01/grave-of-saint-blaise-patron-saint-of.html

Evidently they think they've discovered the grave of St. Blaise. With his feast day coming up relatively soon (I don't remember exactly when, but it usually lands sometime during Lent), that's rather good timing, don't you think? Anyway, just an interesting article.

Beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, of all things, and beheaded. I almost want to laugh about the carding combs bit, but then I can't, cuz those things are vicious.

I've discovered the blog of blogs

Yes, it's true. You can now find the link to it to the left of my posts. It's called Unlocked Wordhoard, and it's full of all kinds of things Anglo-Saxon, and many Norse, for those of you who are Vikings fans (not the football team. There's nothing for you there). I'm excited. There's even an Eddie Izzard video. Which I will have to watch when I am somewhere with speakers.

Horses!

My parents were up in Sioux Falls last night for the farm show. Well, really just for the horse pull at the end of the farm show. It kinda turned into a family gathering...my brother and his fiancee were there, my two little brothers, my two older sisters, my brother in law, my nice, all of my grandparents, and my aunt and uncle. We're farm folk, what can I say, we really appreciate good strong horses. I've never been to a horse pull before, and it was really something to see. The horses get pretty excited about the whole thing; they dance around with impatience to pull a sled full of dead weight that, by the end of the competition, is more than twice their own. Sometimes their handlers would have to walk them around the ring a couple times before they could get them settled down enough just to hitch them up...and as soon as the hook was in place, they were pulling and straining in their harnesses to pull that thing until they couldn't, and even then, they never gave up until they were asked to. Pictures:

Nick and James doing their very best to pull something like 4 1/2 tons

My Grandma Uhing and my Katelyn

Horses (ya think?)

Nick, Laura and James trying to eat Katelyn...evidently she thinks this is a joking matter.

My niece is a cowgirl and has the boots to prove it.

I did get video of the horses, but I couldn't upload them...evidently Rachel's computer is tired today. May have to try again; or check facebook, I'll try and put them there.