Camping; Books of the Week

I've just gotten back from the craziest school function ever. 3 days, 2 nights of camping, hiking, and biking. 16 kids, 2 chaperones. Fun time, and a disaster.

Our first day started at 10 AM at the campground parking lot. We all unpacked and set up, and three hours later, after some bike repairs, we went on our first ride. The trip to the trail was five miles alone. Once we were on the trail one boy flipped over his handle bars, and the group was separated. One boy was left behind from his group and lost in the woods for a few hours, through two large thunderstorms. During said storms I was with the three other girls and one of the chaperones, dogding hail stones after clambering out of trees.

Yeah, it was pretty insane. And that's only the short version of the story. By the morning 3 campers had already gone home, surprisingly the one that was lost in the woods decided to stay. Good thing he did, we ended up having an awesome time the next day. We slept in, went for a hike. It was nice.

And at night we built a huge fire. Teen guys screwing around. We found some racoons raiding our camp, so the guys took a huge branch that had been the fire poker, set the end on fire and tried lure the racoons into the camp with hot dogs, and chase after them with the branch. It was crazy, and hilarious.

Oh well, enough of that. Because it started early Monday morning I was unable to post the books of the week, so here they are:

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (it had to happen eventually, and you knew it)

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (link)

Loss of Breath by Edgar Allen Poe (short story)

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift (link)

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri (this is the first part of Divine Comedy)

Well, that's it for now. Read and enjoy!

Ring Con, here I come!

Well, last night my mom got home from a "business" trip in Denver (where she got quite a few beautiful pictures). I put business in quotations simply because I don't know if a really really big Pampered Chef meeting counts as a business trip, but, that's waay beside the point. The point is, when she got back she had a few presents for the family. Sweets! My dad got a shot glass and some hot sauce, and my train-loving nephew a train whistle and beaded belt (his pants are always too big, no matter what size). Me, on the other hand, was at first handed a geode. Which is really cool, 'cause I love rocks and crystals, and a geode is both in one, and I don't have any geodes in my collection. But, just as I was about to rush off to find a hammer to break open my geode with, out from her suitcase my mom pulls out this gorgeous(!!!!!!) dress! And I mean beautiful! I don't think I can describe it adequately. At first, I thought it was for her, but then I realized that it was at least a size too small for her, so I tried it on (very happily!) and had a few pics taken.

Isn't it amazing! I'm perfectly ready for the next Ring Con! Well... almost. I noticed that there's a few adjustments to be made first, tough I'm not sure My mom will take to it kindly.
First off, as seen to the right side the sleeves are a little too loose, especially around the shoulder, for my liking, but that can be easily fixed (without waiting for the sewing machine!). I think that I will very carefully detach them from the dress, make them a bit smaller up top, where they're really too wide for my arm, then attatch them to an under shirt or dress. I would prefer a dress, but I may well just attatch them to a sleeveless shirt I already have that matches the dress perfectly. This way, I'll also be able to switch out the under shirt/dress with another one that has white sleeves, my own variation of Eowyn's sheildmaiden gown, one dress off my wish list!
I also want to adjust the ropes on the sleeves. Currently, they allow you to sinch up the petals on the sleeves, not a good look! What I want to do is make them run around my arm just below the elbow, which I think would look much nicer!

But, other than those two adjustments, the dress is perfect! I'm so ready for the next Ring Con!