I got better

So now I’m mostly fine. Thank you all for wishing me better. Fire guy was the best and took good care of me. He didn’t want me driving anywhere I didn’t have to and he made sure I got everything I needed. The only thing is that I’m still tired. That and the antibiotics seem to make my brain not function right. Which doesn’t completely make sence but since I haven’t taken the pain meds in a few days the goofy brain things have to be that…or just being tired I suppose.

Thanks for wishing me better!! It worked!!

My Tummy Hurts

So Wednesday morning my tummy was not super happy but come lunchtime I was hungry so I had a Turkey Sandwich with lettuce tomato and mayo…pretty benign I thought. But my tummy hurt. So I didn’t eat any more. I drank stuff and my tummy hurt. DAMN!! This happened once before, 5 years ago. I have diverticulitis. So the only way to get it taken care of is to get antibiotics…and the only way to get them is to go to the E.R. so they can give me a Cat Scan and come up with the same answer.

4:15pm – arrive at the E.R. at St. Joseph's in Tampa (St. Joes is a good hospital)
5:15pm – called to the nurse’s station to take my temperature and sent across the hall to pee and have blood taken
1:10am – called to the back to be seen.

YES!! I’m not kidding!! I waited 9 hours!! I would have left but they told me that since I had seen the nurse and they had taken the blood to do the lab work I would be charged. So if I came back in the morning when they were less busy I would have not only started over but I would have to pay the $200 co-pay TWICE!!

The girl taking my blood missed the first vain and had to try again. (Granted I was dehydrated)

The first nurse put the IV in my hand but to have a Cat Scan you have to have a bigger vain so they can put the contrast in under pressure and don’t blow your vain so they had to put another one in my arm.

The Second nurse who put the one in my arm took 10 min to be sure of where she was putting it. Poking the same HUGE vain in my arm with her finger so she could feel it and then wiping it again with the alcohol pad. Poke poke…wipe, poke poke wipe. I wish I was exaggerating. I’m not. Then she put the IV through the vain anyway and had to pull it part way out again to line up to go down the vein. There is an ugly bruise on that arm from all the holes.

Then the lab said my blood sugar was 36 and so they had to keep sticking my finger to be sure I wasn’t in insulin shock. HELLO!! I haven’t eaten in 40 hours and I’m not slurring my speech and now that you gave me contrast for the Cat Scan in Gatorade my blood sugar is fine…SHOCKING!!

In the end guess what…I have diverticulitis…

I KNOW…Hook up the IV Antibiotics so I can get them in me, give me the scripts and let me the heck outta here!!

I was allowed to go home at 8:30am. I spent less time in the bed of the E.R. than in the chairs in the waiting area.

Now my tummy doesn’t hurt. The antibiotics are working and I’ll have to take the oral ones for a week or so and other than I was kinda tired yesterday so I took it easy, everything is back to normal. Of course all of this means I haven’t run again since Tuesday and won’t for a few more days. (Fire guy threatened to duct tape me down if I didn’t rest properly) Loki is the best kitten on the planet. He always watches out for everyone. He has been on my lap or next to me in bed the entire time, and hasn’t lept on my tummy or attacked my feet once. If they would have let him he would have been the kitten used in the Cat Scan. As it was I think they must have had some strange cat do it. ;)

Next time I go to Tampa General.

Home Again!!

I am home and I am safe!! I have some small bruises and one large one. Its par for the course.

Ok here is the long version…

The Society for Creative Anachronism or (SCA) is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe.

Anacronism - a·nach·ro·nism [uh-nak-ruh-niz-uhm]–noun

1. something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, esp. a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.
2. an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one: To assign Michelangelo to the 14th century is an anachronism.

So we are out of place and time when we go to these events.

There is dancing, singing, fencing, weaving, cooking, sewing, and of course heavy weapons fighting. We put on real armor and use wooden swords (they really did too…didn’t want to kill your knights practicing ya know) and play full contact fighting!!

The regional groups a split into Kingdoms and local groups are Shires and Baronies. Gulf Wars is a war each year between the Kingdom of Ansteorra and the Kingdom of Trimaris.

Ansteorra is effectively Texas and Oklahoma. Trimaris is most of Florida, Panama, Antarctica, and the Mars. Ok…Really we have some service people who went to Panama and Antarctica and claimed them for us and since there aren’t many people there the lands stuck. Mars….yeah we really got that. One of our people sent a Trimaris sticker on the Mars rover, he works for NASA.

We all meet in the middle in Lumberton, Mississippi and have a big war. A war with no enemies. And at the end of the week it is always declared a tie. (But we really did kick butt this year!!) and so it must be fought again next year. We compete in Arts and Sciences, Heavy Weapons, Volunteer points (things gotta get done somehow), light weapons (rapier etc), equestrian, and live weapons (archery and thrown at proper targets of course).

During the rest of the year we take part in much smaller events where any of the above activities may be available at the event depending on facilities, time of year, theme of event etc.

So….How did it go…well I only took part in the Heavy Weapons portions of the war. Trimaris was victorious in the Ravine Battle, the Town Battle, the Bridge Battle, the Field Battle, and the Fort Battle. YEA!! Our house!!!

Here is a picture of me at the fort battle. I am in the blue with the belt on the left. I am shielding an archer who is beside me and doesn’t show up in the picture. The army has lined up beside us and is ready to charge the sally ports and walls of the fort. HOW COOL IS THAT!!

I’ll try to post more pictures as they become available from people returning from War.

For those who would like more information www.sca.org is the best starting point. Then look for your local kingdom and that will direct you to your local group. Or e-mail me and I will tell you all about it.

Last night I went for a 3.6 mile run with FireGuy and it went pretty well. I was sore from war and that made it hard but my knee held up just fine. All the walking from last week did it a lot of good. So we are now going to start scheduling regular runs since the world has settled back down….for now.

Long needed update and explanation…

First of all the knee update is good. I haven’t had much trouble with it for a week or so even though every attempt to schedule a run has not worked out. FireGuy has been sick with a head and chest cold and so previously scheduled runs during the week with him turned into just hanging out and running to grab cough medicine. I know I could run without him but if it’s at night I need to go to the gym and then it’s in the wrong direction from checking in on him. The weekends have ended up suddenly SUPER cold or rainy or both and I have been trying to be a big baby and not make the first run on my funny knee when it is cold and hard to warm up. So there we go.

I will run again. And this break has been both good and bad. After the Marathon I thought I would never miss this ever. Now I do. I let the new semester start without a running plan in place and so now I have to make the room. And I will. I promise…..BUT FIRST!!!….

Next week is Gulf Wars!! For those of you following my other activities this is the big event of the year for us. It is a week long event with the SCA – the medieval reenactment group that I have told y’all about. There are “Battles” of all kinds. There is Equestrian, Rapier, Arts, and of course the heavy weapons fighting that I have told you I participate in!!

This is a picture of one of the big battles this is fought in a ravine in a capture and hold the flag sort of situation.




Here is everyone getting ready for the fort battle. We are listening to safty rules and the instructions. Everything is much safer than it looks




Here are some of the “Nobility” hanging out probably before court. I have no idea what is off to the right that they are all looking at.




There are classes on all kinds of stuff like actually spinning your own wool and fibers with a hand dropped spindle (took that class one year) and costuming classes, calligraphy, black smithing, almost anything. Food is cooked, dances are held, parties that go all night. And shopping till the cows come home. Lords and Ladies everywhere and all being nice to each other and having a good time. (Ever want to be treated like a princess?)

For those of you wondering what we look like when we are all dressed up I don’t have too many pictures but here is one taken at a weekend event recently. There was a tournament and FireGuy won. He gets to hold the Trident for a year. That is the prize. Next year he will run the tournament and pass the Trident on to the new winner. A friend, DG, of ours won a second tourney that day and with his prizes came the toy trident he is holding here. They were comparing…tridents…. I’m the one in the middle laughing at them both. (FireGuy on left DG on the right)




So there ya have it. This is what I’m getting ready for. It really is a lot of fun and I can’t wait to go. Also all in all it is a rather inexpensive vacation.

We will return to you to our regularly scheduled running blog after the War.
(maybe I'll have pictures from this first)