Well... insert frustrated swear words and sobbing here-

I have to call my knee doctor tomorrow. More on that later. I know you've been waiting to hear about how the Janesville Ren Faire went, so I'm going to do that first, because I was happy there... it was a nice place to be...

The cortisone shot I got in my knee twenty-three days ago (which was about a week or so before the Janesville Faire) worked fantastically through the faire. My knees did not hurt. My only hurt was from my feet and all the standing and walking I had to do. My only hurt on Sunday was from my feet and a little of my lower back because my back was all whiny about having to stand and walk all day.

~Link to the Album of Janesville Faire Photos~

The first day, the heat was somewhat oppressive. It was humid as fuck out, too. I wore my blue "over-archer" bodice with one of the new blue skirts I sewed the previous week. (one skirt is mine, the other is Christine's). The over-archer style of bodice/corset has a collar on it (making it more Victorian than Elizabethan) and it meets in the back sort of in a halter-style (there's a row of grommets, laced like a tiny corset), so the collar bit just LAYS on your neck. Or, my neck. I had four layers of upholstery-weight fabric laying on my neck in the mid-80s temperature and one-billion intensity humidity. That pretty much guaranteed that I won't be wearing it to Bristol this summer.

But, here's a photo of me in the blue medallion over-archer.



And the back view of both my over-archers (blue medallion and "Captain Blood"- with the matching tie-on peplum).



Now, they're gorgeous and I love-love-love the fabric and how the corset/bodice accentuates my curves (because, daaaaammmn, I have a great hip-to-waist-to-bust ratio, even as a fat girl). But with all that humidity, it was uuuugh. And, because it was supposed to rain on Sunday (spoiler, it didn't even rain!) I wore my burgundy courtier.  (here's a photo of me with Jeff, the super-awesome dude I know from the historical reenactor group called GSM-Bristol. They "host" the Janesville Faire).




So, the faire itself was great. Sunday's weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was windy as hell, so the humidity wasn't an issue (I'd have worn my other over-archer had I known it would be that nice). My feet were the usual amount of tired and sore for a faire weekend. But, my fibro wasn't. I told many people that the "new" medicine "seemed to be working" because every time I rave about how good I feel, the medicine stops working. So, at the moment, generic Cymbalta for fibro seems to be holding its own.

On Sunday evening, when I got home from the faire, I had to carry in all my stuff. At the end of a faire day, I take off my bodice and my overskirt, so I end up having to carry my camera basket, my corset/bodice, my overskirt, and my utility belt (I call it that, it's the leather belt with pouches we all almost wear to faire, so we don't have to hand-carry every-fucking-thing). As I went up the steps, I felt my human knee twinge. It was like it was trying to twist itself.

Fuck.

I've spent the last week-ish gimping around, using my goddamn cane sporadically and generally being pissed off about the whole thing.

Saturday, a group of my son's friends asked if I'd take photos of them on their motorcycles, so I did. I was on my feet for almost two hours- my knee was so not happy about it at all. But, the photos were awesome and I even made a couple of the guys do my 365 with me. I haven't uploaded those photos to my Flickr yet, but here's a ~link to the Facebook album~



And then there's today. The "Get to that later" part I mentioned in the first part above.  At around 4 PM, I was walking upstairs to go to the loo (our bathroom is upstairs, and it's the only bathroom in the house and there's nowhere we could add a second one downstairs), and since the Twinge-Knee Incident of May 17th, I've been going up the stairs using only my cyborg knee. I got to the landing and shifted my weight to the human knee to put my cyborg leg on the step and BAM! Sheer, agonizing, blazing-white-hot pain shot through my knee like I'd slipped on the ice and wrenched the shit out of it. I started swearing and sobbing instantly. I shrieked to the Disabled Guy to get me my cane. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything but sob and gasp in pain. And swear. I swore a lot.

After sobbing off most of my mascara (waterproof my ass) and actually getting to the loo, I managed to gimp my way downstairs where I starting icing my knee. A bottle of frozen-solid water behind my knee and a smooshy, bendy blue ice pack over the top and sides of my knee. I've also since taken a bunch of pain meds (because it was close enough to my usual time). There's still pain, but at least I can breathe now. Unfortunately, I'm too fat to know if my knee is swollen or not. I assume it is, it feels like it is.

So, tomorrow morning, I have to call and make another appointment. Clearly the cortisone didn't work.

Now... about those photos...

Here's a few favorites, with my absolute favorite first.



The rest are in no particular order of favor.

And it goes on and on and on and on and on and on...

Yup, you guessed it, I'm still having this flareup. I counted the days and I'm at the end of day 34. Every single day is an effort to get out of bed, followed most days with a nap after breakfast. And I had several days in a row where the very act of pouring cereal into a bowl, getting milk, and then eating it with a spoon was too tiresome to complete. (this is why I keep some Special K cereal bars around).

In between all of these stupid pain-filled days, I've had obligations to fulfill. Payday errands, grocery store trips, doctor appointments, Mother's Day boat trip and the Janesville Renaissance Faire. And those days meant I didn't get a nap. But I soldiered on. I trudged through the pain and had fun (at times) and did my job (which was part of the fun).

Now, my usual "days following faire" are spent in this chair, editing my photos (I shoot RAW, in case you forgot or don't care), and not physically moving all that much. The pain is typical of two-straight-days-of-physical-activity, but this time around, the fatigue spin-kicked me in the back of the face. Sure, the pain sucked- the arches of my feet had bruises (still do) and my back and hips were just screaming in an off-key, drunken way. It took me three days to edit the photos that should have taken me two. (I shoot more at Bristol because of the jousts). I slogged through the pain at the faire like I always do- slightly whiny and sitting down as much as possible (but I did stand a lot too, because sometimes you have to). But sitting here at my desk, I was so mind-numbingly exhausted that I would sometimes doze off with my hand on the mouse (thank the photo gods for the "undo" option in Photoshop, AMIRITE!?). And I've felt hot. Like I'm slightly overheated for no reason. I have central AC. I never have to feel hot inside my house.

The weird thing happened today. We had- I'm sorry, this "we" is actually me and my youngest daughter (she'll be 21 in a month)- we had to go over to my dad's house and then to the grocery store. But, I also shampooed the living room carpet. And as we were walking out of the grocery store, I felt my Vicodin wear off. I could feel the pain come back to me in a wave from my feet all the way up. After that initial wave sucked the breath out of my chest, the burning pain settled into my hip and lower back. My hands and wrists have been extra annoying these last few days, too. (I needed to throw that in before I forgot).

Now, back to the weekend- which was wonderful, because I got to lace up in a steel-boned bodice and flounce around outdoors with other people wearing equally silly clothes and doing their own flouncing. Also, I was able to get myself a Mother's Day gift from my friend, Joshua. He makes jewelry and I got myself a necklace made of cognac amber and bloodstone with a gold and blue tiger's eye. It's more awesome in person (you can see the details in the stones, that's why). Anyway... the weekend...

The same thing that happened at the Mother's Day pirate ship shoot happened at the Janesville Faire. If someone asked me how I was, they meant it. They knew I was still in the middle of this stupid flareup and they weren't just being polite when they asked if I was doing okay.

OH- someone who shall remain nameless said: "Well, they're actors. They were probably just acting like they were concerned." And you know what I say to that? (I mean, aside from: "No, you shut up, Nameless person") I say so what? If they were acting like they cared, they were doing a damn good job of it and it made me feel a little better. BECAUSE THAT'S ALL IT TAKES SOMETIMES. Sometimes just knowing that someone believes you and gives a flying rat's ass about your well-being is enough. (for the record, I don't think they were "just acting", because they're good people, dammit).

But let me repeat that one bit- Sometimes all it takes to help someone feel better, even with physical pain, is knowing that someone cares about them. That someone believes them. Especially when you have an "invisible illness".  (In case you couldn't tell from the above two paragraphs, I live with a naysayer).

Now, just because I was AT the faire and I take photos, I'm sharing a few of my favorites. I don't care if I shared the link to the whole album up there. I'm sharing them anyway. And also, a video- of the sea captains on the water, where they belong.

Post by Patty Smith.

And now, some photos...

Anne-Drew made herself a beard of sponges. 



These are a progression...



Frobisher and Hawkyns kept talking and cracking me up. Thee Bluebeard finally gave in and laughed out loud too.



Then he composed himself and became stern...



And then THIS happened (this is my cover photo on Facebook now).



Anne-Drew and Captain Grace O'Malley



To the Point, the fight cast. 



A real life fairy and her daughter. 



A Day in the life... 



Bristol Buskin Frolic (two of many, actually)



This was To the Point on Sunday. Josh (on the left) couldn't be there on Saturday, so I told them to pose like they were fed up with him and for him to look smug.



Captain Sir John Hawkyns



Thee Bluebeard is shocked!



Captain Frobisher isn't listening to you.



Yes, you are seeing this correctly. That's the Disabled Guy at the Janesville Renaissance Faire with my sea captains. No, he didn't attend the faire. He came out to fix the treasure chest he'd made for them. And he agreed to pose for a couple photos. I had them all pose with their arms crossed and scowling, like he was.