in other news....

i've been selected as Kingdom Minister of Arts and Sciences for Northshield. i'm really excited about this, and i'm looking for input. if you're in SCA--this kingdom or another--what do you think should be happening in terms of A&S. don't misunderstand, i have pretty major plans. ideas. stuff is gonna happen. BUT, part of what needs to happen is that SCA needs to serve it's community. always. so while my plans are great, i also need to know what people feel needs to happen. i've seen KMoASs in the last 13 years of all types. hands-off, hands-on, you name it. i plan to be pretty active. as active as my illness will allow--with lots of delegation going on. that's what good leaders do, in my opinion. they find people that are good at what they do--and they let those people do their thing! additionally, the most successful MoASes that i've seen have been motivational! people that convinced others to play the game with them. i'm hoping that my experiences in running a yarn shop and getting people knitting/spinning/etc. will stand me in good stead!

so--if you have thoughts--email me! (orlaithballachATyahooDOTcom--change the AT and DOT to the appropriate symbols) leave me notes here, or on my other blog rita's g string, call me, facebook at me, whatever. :)

health-wise: my finger is looking MUCH better today (thanks eithni for the good information so that i could make an informed decision about the antibiotic--i'm nothing if not a info person). it's back to pretty much normal size. my tongue is still pretty sore, but definitely better. magic mouth wash is disgusting tasting (some weird mix of maalox, benadryl and lidocain i believe), but is doing it's thing and helping my mouth heal--i'm sure the antibiotic isn't hurting. also, my lymph nodes are almost back to their normal size (which since i was diagnosed has been swollen, but at not swollen so you could see it like they have been lately).

the edema is back! of course. when you evict middle schoolers they misbehave. just ask Marti about kicking middle school kids out of the library. they never respond well. yup.... evict leukemia is back underway. i wrote a song a long long time ago about evicting someone from my life--this reminds of it. the song was really bad. (in my i'm gonna be a country star at 22 period--ugh). but there you have it. we all have bad ideas here and there--or at least i do, regularly. unfortunately this is a slightly "sticky" song, so now i've got a bit of it stuck in my head. erg. good thing i got an MP3 player for christmas and am listening to some lovely harp music this morning.

the raleigh trip is of course looming close. i have to decide what exactly to pack. i figure i can do laundry at Marie's, which means i'll be able to take more fiber and a spinning wheel, right?

owen called this morning from India--it was really nice to hear his voice. i'm shocked at how much i miss him, since we weren't that close until he was gone. life is funny. thanks everyone for the notes of support and such--i doubt you know how much it means to me!