Laurel's list

My maredudd@caerthe.org account hasn't been the easiest thing to get to for about a year, since the hosting changed. I've pretty much ignored it, and haven't given out the address to anyone for some time.

However, I recently had to retrieve a password from maredudd@caerthe.org, and this meant that I not only had to get to it, but I had to figure out an easy way to access it.

I have to admit that there were over 7,000 e-mails in it. Yes, that's a seven and three zeroes. Of those, about 5,000 were from the Laurel's list. That's five thousand posts from the Known World's laurels in about a year. Of course, my first inclination is just to delete them all, but I didn't. I'm reading them all.

Well, not the "Happy New Year" posts, or the off topic posts, but I am reading about "bog coats" and "R&D" and using safer materials in A&S projects than lead or hemlock. It's tedious, it's a challenge, but it's important to me.

In the past two-plus years, there simply hasn't been enough time for work, for my family, for housekeeping, for holidays, for the garden, and for the SCA. I feel disconnected. I feel like I can't advise the Crown on who needs awards; I feel like I can't promote the things that I find meaningful inthe SCA; I feel like I can't contribute to the growth of my apprentice and proto-apprentice; I feel like I can't contribute like a Laurel should contribute. I can't get new clothing made, although it's been cut out for months. I can't even keep up on this SCA blog! In some ways, it seems like reading all those old posts is allowing me to be just a tiny bit more in the swing of things.

Now, if I could just motivate for a vigil tonight and a baronial A&S tomorrow, while the house needs picking up before Mile High Maids gets here, Halloween costumes need to be done, I need some sleep, Evan needs time for homework, and so on.

At least with the e-mail lists, I can fit reading in between crises at work. It feels good. And now I have to go prepare for the maid service......