Rainy day today...I've started on a new project to make Korean Maedeup.

I'm making the silk cord on a Japanese Marudai which is a little wrong since I should be making the cord on the Korean Dahoe, but since I can't get a Dahoe, I'll have to settle for the Marudai.

In Korea the art of Maedeup is a national treasure and protected. The only way to obtain the Korean version of the Marudai is to study under a Maedeup Master for a year. At the end of the year training, IF the master thinks you are worthy, you then are offered the opportunity to purchase your own Dahoe. Of course, now that we are back in the U.S. I may be able to comission someone to make the Dahoe for me.

When I Korea, I really enjoyed some of the art styles they have. I love the Maedeup which is Korean cord making and knotwork. They have their own version of the knots which at first glance looks like the Chinese knots but have their own flavor.

I'm really unfocused in my A&S right now. But with my life as crazy as it is right now... I'm still in limbo.

Then we have had a really bad week with Kelly this week. Kelly got really sick this week and her tempurature spiked. She spent most of the week at the vets and at the animal hospital. They couldn't figure out what caused it. Then they did an exray on her chest and found an enlarged heart. So.... Kelly is off to the University for more tests to try and find out what is wrong. The poor girl has been on so many different medications this week and my poor parents have gotten no sleep. My dad was up for over 64 hours straight nursing the poor girl and taking her to the vet. I'm so thankful that my babies are in good hands. I don't know what I would do without my wonderful parents!

Work got very stressful this week. A big project got dropped in my lap this week. I have less than 3 months to get this conference planned. The girl who was in charge of the conference up until a couple of days ago did NOTHING!!!!! I'm a little irked that the project was dropped in my lap at the last minute. All I have to say is that my co-worker better stay out of the conference now that it is mine! Grrrrrrr. This is work dejavu for me. I always seem to be handed projects at the last minute to pull off. The good things is tha I'm apparently good at it since all of thos projects turned out really well in the past. So here we go again. -Let's hand a failing project to Isabel to fix... Of course nothing will be done to my lazy co-worker. She will continue to get paid 2x as much as me, by doing 1/2 the work. But that is life in the Government system. She is now on my "list."

Well the blueberry picking this weekend became blackberry picking and boy do they make yummy pie.

We just had to share the pie with a friend after it was baked. Next thing I know it is dinner time and we had eaten most of a whole pie. Luckily I had enough blackberries for 2 pies so one will go into work with me tomorrow.

Dinner became blackberry pie, but blackberries are fruit right....soooooooooooo it wasn't that bad for me, right? Well, I'm going to pretend that it wasn't that bad for me.

My saga continues...

I've had a pretty productive week at work. Next monday is the meeting/briefing day with one meeting/briefing one right after another all day. I'm starting to see the friuts of my labors at work, dispite my co-worker. She is very nice and pleasant but very lazy and has a negative attitude toward the programs that she is supposed to be managing. How can you say that a particular program is a waste of money when YOU are the one managing the program and YOU are getting paid to manage the program. Things that make you go hum. She is just full of contradictions like that. Crazy... She is a complete idiot... normally that would make me very angry but I can't seem to stay angry with her... I don't get it.

One of my work friends calls where I work "Sleepy Hallow" Well he is mostly correct. If I don't get out of sleepy hallow soon I'll never wake up...But I'm working on getting out... I have a couple of bites on my resume's so we will see how things play out.

I finally decorated my office this week. I brought in a few scarves to make into window treatments, some Thai fabric to cover this ugly phone box on my wall, a Thai hanging to bring color to the grey cubical walls, and some of my awards from my last job...oh little thinkgs like the "Commander's Award for Civilian Service" that is personalized with a nice note... hehehe "I am evil Isabel..." Beleive me, the timeing for bringing in the Work BLING was timed to the day. I have lots more work BLING that I can add once the house hold goods get delivered to Atlanta.

So all in all things are looking good. I'm hoping to be in a position soon to enact my master plan...hehehe More evil laughing from Isabel.

OK.... My dad and the pups are doing well. Thorulf is healing well. The owner of the bad dogs paid the vet bill right away.

I'm so glad my babies are in good hands.

Well it looks like I'll be in DC for at least another year so time to make plans and get into the swing of things!

I have fabric on order for new garb... Isabel is moving to "late" period... hehehe that is 11th century for me.

I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work! Any takers?

OK I'm HOT HOT HOT. My poor babies had a big vet visit yesterday...

My dad was taking my babies for their morning walk as usual. He takes them on a 2-3 mile walk each morning. The pups and my dad really enjoy these long morning walks. Anyway out of the blue and over a hill come two off leash out of control dogs charging up to my babies. My dad has by babies on short leash at this time. The two dogs run up to my dad and my babies, they didn't stop, they didn't sniff they just bit Thorulf on the back leg... at which time all H*ll broke loose!. Mean while, my dad is trying to protect my babies from these two out of control off leash dogs. By the time the owner of the other two dogs got there, my baby, Thorulf, was covered in blood and had two big bites. Kelly made it through it with just a small scratch. My dad also was bitten by the dog that got Thorulf. Thorulf at least had the other dog down on his back by the time the other owner got there.

The owner of the other dogs "said" he would pay for the vet bill. My dad promised me he would report the incident to animal control. My dad was bitten on the foot because he was using his feet to try and push the other dogs away from Thorulf and Kelly.

I am HOT HOT HOT!!!! My babies were on leash and my dad did everything he could to keep my babies safe but that is a little hard when two off leash dogs charge you and your two dogs are on leash. Kelly and Thorulf worked as a team of course...

The vet said the babies will be just fine, which is good to hear. My poor dad was so worried about the babies but everyone is doing fine including my dad. I'm just thankful I have such great parents!

Well the job I was over qualified for in Atlanta was given to a political appointee...grrrrrrrrrrrrrr So now I'm back to looking for work in the DC area since my current job will only last for a year. So my frustration is a little high right now. Not to mention that I found out that my co-worker isn't even qualified for the job she has...and it shows! I'm more than qualified but she is senior and is making more money than I am. I just have to keep my eye on the ball (which in this case is the higher level job I'm hoping to get while here in DC.)

I still feel like I'm in limbo. I don't feel settled yet, and I'm having trouble getting excited about SCA events. My life is so unsettled that it is hard to plan past a couple of weeks so it is hard to plan for events. I'm trying to work through it, but a lot happened in Atlantia while I was gone and I'm trying to work through it. Soooooo I sit here in limbo both in my public/work life and in my private life.

I'm slowly getting back into things. The problem is I'm still in limbo...

I'm enjoying my job right now, but I did get contacted about an interview in Atlanta GA. Soooooooooooo... just when I'm getting settled in after being away for 3 years I now may be moving again before the summer is out. I just want to know if I'm here or if I'm somewhere else...

It makes it really hard to plan and get back involved in the SCA when I really don't know how long I will be here. So here I am ready to start sewing new garb but not sure if I have the time to get started. I also want to sponsor a A&S competition on "fixing and repairing items in period." Most of the things I own including my vast research library is either in route to Atlanta or still in storage in North Carolina. So I'm in a bit of a holding pattern which is really hard for me since I like to plan and work toward a goal. Problem is, I can't plan because I don't know my future yet... GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

But, I should not complain since I do have a job even if it is only a temp job for 1 1/2 years. I just got off the phone with a co-worker of mine from Korea. She wasn't able to find a job after leaving Korea and is now out of work AND she can't apply for unemployment because she gave up her job and wasn't fired or layed off. But she wasn't able to stay in Korea either. Sometimes being a military spouse really sucks!!!! I am soooooooooooooooooo done with this life style. I just don't fit the "mold."

Isabel may be moving forward in time. I really want to do the Queen Emma style for a while. King Cnut was a Danish King of both Denmark and England but is one century later than what I have been doing. I want to wear something a little more flowing and I really like the look of Queen Emma who was also known by here Norse name Ælfgifu.

OK... 2 new projects...

I finally have my Oseberg loom set up with a TW band... I got my household goods Thursday and in that was a nice supply of linen/wool/silk thread.

But since I'm looking at starting rapier... and it would just be WRONG to fight rapier in Norse I am starting a new research project into late period (15 hundreds) German garb to fight in... Meet my great, great, great granddaughter. ;-)

Oh it's good to be back in the land of Michael's... I pulled my Oseber loom out of storage but won't have my TW cards until Thursday.... And since I just couldn't wait until Thursday to start a project off to Michael's I went.

I went there with the idea to buy some nice card stock to make my TW cards from... and what did I find? Beautiful, paper thin birch wood sheets just waiting to be turned into TW cards. They didn't stock that when I was in the states 3 years ago... I know the rest of you are saying "They've always stocked that what is so special about that?" Well, 3 years ago the thinnest wood they stocked was the bass wood, which Danr made into TW cards for me... the problem is that those cards are so big and heavy they dragged down on my weaving... so I used plastic and paper cards (yuk) there is just something wrong about doing TW with plastic cards... NOW they have this beautiful thin birch wood that I was able to make into absolutely beautiful TW cards! So I bought the wood, and a few other supplies in order to make the wood into cards. Here is my 2nd problem... they only carry cotton yarn and the heavy wool knitting yarn at Michael's... AND I'm back where I've started... do I wait until Thursday for my linen and wool yarn arrive to start my weaving project, do I order new linen and wool yarn from on-line to start my weaving project or do I give in, warp the loom with yukky cotton and start weaving just so I can have a project going? If I weave with the cotton, I won't put it on any garb... that would be just wrong, but then I'm a little out of practice so doing a practice peice won't hurt...

Now I'm off to brunch and then practicing the drive to work...

Well, I have a place to live, so far so good. I will practice the trip to work tomorrow of Thursday to see how that goes and to see how long it will take.

No matter what, moving is expensive! Yikes, I'm still suffering from sticker shock on everything right now. I forgot how good I had it in Korea... Free housing, cheap food, cheap fabric, great furniture for great prices.... sign I wish I would have been able to send at least some of the furntiture to DC...I really like the furniture we bought in Korea...

But I fly to Florida on Monday to buy a car and drive north past Fayetteville to pull some furniture out of storage. But I still need something for in the living room... I guess I'll be sitting on the floor for a while because I'm not willing to buy something I'm 1) not happy with and 2) won't last. and we don't need another living room set so... I'll have to think of something. I'm 1/2 tempted to go to Korea Town to see if they have the pillows for sitting on the floor. I've got 3 great handmade rugs that are coming my way so the floor sounds good to me.

The place I found to live will be great for the pups, lots of green space, nice sized apartment for the price with tile in the kitchen, bathroom, and at the doors. AND it opens out to the back yard so I can take the pups out for breaks easily. There are also great places to walk the pups in and around the neighborhood, plus a free shuttle to the nearest metro stop. I'm pretty happy with the place.

I'm looking forward to getting started at work and getting settled in the job. I'm hoping this position will lead to something a else... this is a stepping stone position.

OK... I had to get up at 3:00 am this morning to make a phone call to the states... what a waste of time that was. Grrrrrrr

Anyway I'm almost ready for the movers on Monday. They come on Monday to take 900 lbs to DC. They say they won't take any furntiture... I'll see if I can slip in my jewerly box and two stools into the shipment.

I'm just really tired right now. I hate this part of moving. I want to just fast forward to Sunday and get this week over with. I'm ready to get on the plane. I've enjoyed Korea, but there come a point where its time to move on... I have great friends here and have really enjoyed my time, but its time to go. I'm looking forward to getting to DC and getting settled in.

I'm also looking forward to doing SCA stuff again... I miss my friends in the SCA.

8 more days until I get on the plane. I can't wait to see all of you in DC. We have so much catching up to do.

OK... 10 days and counting until I fly back to the US.

Work is crazy busy and I'm working right up until the day before I fly. I'm only taking one day off from work to pack up my house hold goods that are going to DC.

I tried to write down all of the stuff I do at work today, just the highlights ended up being a 7 page document. I don't think my boss understands 1/2 of what I do, she is in for a rude awakening when I leave. And that 7 page document was just the overview, just the highlights, not a detailed explaination of what I do. All of the details are in the 20-30 4 inch binders in my office.

I'm a little sad about leaving the job, I've worked really hard to build a great program and just when I'm getting it to the point I want it, I'm having to leave...

The good news is that my job in DC is very similar to the one I have now and I can build a new program in DC. Besides, the people in DC really made me a great offer, so off I go to DC... and I have all sorts of great friends in the DC area and I can't wait to see you all again!

Life is good, I'm just have mixed feelings right now... I'm sad to be leaving... but I'm happy about the new opportunity in DC AND I get to see all of you again. Besides, I miss the SCA and am looking forward to being active in the SCA again.

See you all in 10 days!

OK... here we go! I fly in two weeks. I'll be flying into DC on 10 May. Danr is flying in on 9 May to help me look for a place to live.

I've got a couple places picked out and will check them out in person.

Soooooooooooooo..... All of you in the DC area, what are you doing on 16-17 May? I would love to be able to meet up with the gang again while Danr is still in the states.

I'm looking forward to being near everyone again and having a good time with friends. I'm also looking forward to no longer living in a fish bowl!

I just finished the "big event" at work this Friday night. It went very well and I got a lot of compliments...Who would have guessed that the skills I learned in the SCA would have practical application at work? I was basically the autocrat of a large high profile event.... hummm what does that sound like?

Anyway, it went very well and people in my field in DC have already heard about it. News travels fast...

Now all I have to do is figure out what gets shipped to DC, I'm limited to 900 lbs. And then try and clear and finish up my job here.

See everyone in 2 weeks!

OK all.... right now things are happening so fast that I'm in a bit of a daze.

Nothing was working for me in Atlanta...I wasn't getting any hits on government jobs in Atlanta... And I'm not leaving my GS job because the benefits are so good...

So I started applying to jobs on the east coast from DC down to FL.... Well I got a hit in DC and before I knew it I was offered a salary that I could not refuse. I interviewed one week, got the offer less than a week later, then started salary negotiations. I did all of the calculations taking into account the VERY HIGH cost of living in DC. I had my high ball and low ball mark for the salary negotiations.... needless to say there was no negotiations... they offered me a salary that was way more than fair... so off to DC I go.

I'll be working at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I know it goes away in 2 years, but this gets me back to the states, gets me my own status, I am now my own sponsor (You would have to be military to understand the improtance of that.) Basically with my current job, because Danr is my sponsor when he leaves korea I am out of a job... now that I am my own sponsor, my employment isn't tied to him.

So I'll be arriving back into the states mid May... I don't have fly date yet but I have a report date to Walter Reed of 24 May.

Now I need lots and lots of help from friends in DC... I need to find a place to live in the DC area (I'm thinking Alexandria) that is nice, not too expensive, and will allow pets. My plan is to take the metro to work each day. If any of you can help me out that would be great. I'm doing some research on the web but would like help from those on the ground. At some point when our household goods are delivered in Atlanta, I'll have to head south load up a small u-haul with some of the furniture to furnish a small one bedroom or studio appartment in DC....

I'm still in a daze right now... In under two weeks I had an interview, was offered a job at a salary I couldn't turn down, gained my own status for employment, and got a release date and starting date from my two organizations. Since I'm moving from one government job to another the two organizations had to agree on when I move... The great thing is that for the first time since I left the military, I don't loose senority at my job, I don't loose leave days and sick days and I'm not taking a pay cut.....

OK... So Danr and I went shopping in downtown Seoul today. First we got some yummy Vietnamese noodle soup and then went to the rug place. I hope I can find good asian food when I get back to the US. We drove our car because we were shopping for a new rug and didn't want to have to carry it back. (You all probably will NOT want to ride with me for a while after I get back to the US at least until I've re-learned how to drive in the States. I've changed my driving habits/practices to drive in Seoul Korea...I just DRIVE... and I mean just drive. I find myself driving just like the locals here and I think I've forgotten what traffic laws are... you mean you have to stay in your lane? What, no more driving on sidewalks? I've gotten really bad... but I can drive anywhere in the city with no problem. 2 inches of clearance is a LOT of room around here.)

So.... normal to Korea, I parked the car on the sidewalk infront of the store. Two parking attendants walked up and wanted me to leave my keys in the car with the window open... OK... so we did. No one messed with the car or drove away with it. ;-) Only in Korea can you leave the keys in your car with the window down for over an hour and know no one will steal your car or take anything out of it. I love living in Seoul... I would NEVER have done that ANYWHERE in the US.

I have to say living in Seoul is one of the safest places I have ever lived.

I'm going to go through some serious reverse culture shock when I return this summer. When we get to Atlanta I'm going to need to find a good Asian Market, and an Asian Doctor... Acupunture and herbal medicine is the way to go for good health! I'm healthier than I've ever been in my life. I think it is a combination of the healthy food (lots and lots of veggies), natural/herbal medicines, and green tea. I think I drink a pot of green tea a day, no more sodas for me. I've completely cut sodas out of my diet. When I did that I immediately lost 5 pounds! I'm a good 10 pounds lighter than I was when I left the US and feeling much much better.

OK... Gota go. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again this summer, reverse culture shock and all...

OK... Work is crazy busy and I've got to find a job in the states while working 10-11 hour days plus weekends...

I've expanded my job search to the east coast...we'll see what happens.

Well here we go again... It is time to get the resume together for yet another military move. You would think that I would get used to this.

So here we go again with another resume' update, searching for a job, and posting the resume on every job search web site and company across the planet. I'm hoping to stay in the government system so I don't loose my seniority and vacation time, but I still have to find a job in Atlanta.

I also have to make arrangements for the pups to fly home in April. The pups have to fly in the magic time when it isn't too hot and isn't too cold...I hate to put the pups through the flight again, but we will put them on a direct flight to minimize the travel for them. I'm thankful that my parents are going to dog sit for us until we get back to the states. The pups get to go to camp grandma...They are in for lots of walks and lots of love.

So we finally know where we are coming back to this summer. We will coming back to Fort McPherson in Atlanta, GA in July...

So now the job hunt begins, again. Sigh... Hopefully the job hunt will be a little easier this time... we will see.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you again. It is really hard to beleive that it will be 3 years this summer. It doesn't seem like that long.

We have to send the pups home a couple of months early. They can't fly in the middle of summer, it get way too hot.

So sometime in April/May we will put the pups on a 14 hour flight to Atlanat, Ga. The parents will be picking up the pups and dog sitting for a few months.

This past week at work was completely crazy!!!! I'm now 3 people at work... But things turned out well in the end so all is good.

What a wonderful holiday break!

It was sooooooooooooooooo nice taking two long weekends in a row and spending them with the sweetie! We were both in need of some down time, relaxation, and time spent together.

Now back to work...

I made a wonderful Shakespearian Christmans feast this year. I really miss cooking for feasts and royal lunches...

I miss being with people that understand my love for period food, and research and recreation of history.... sigh...