I'm back at work after a weekend at Dark Odyssey.

This was an atypical trip to a camp event for me. I'm not saying it wasn't fabu, because it most certainly was, but... atypical.



I'll get the cons out of the way so I can leap towards the pros.

Yucky weather - rain rain and more rain on Thursday and Friday. Kind of put a damper on a lot of my ideas.

Sick girl - poor dahling got horribly sick on Thursday, but thankfully came back to life on Saturday. I spend much of those two days taking care of her. See pros for more info.

First time at an event - Much to many people's surprise, this was my first Dark Odyssey. Someone when learning this replied, "Really? I mean, your first? I'm so used to seeing you everywhere that I'm actually shocked." The problem with being an event for the first time is that you don't really know the lay of the land. It took me a while to acclimate myself to the new crowd and new category of events. I commented to dahling that this was the first camp event I ever attended where I knew so little people.

Dark Odyssey is definetely much more sex based than Leather Retreat. I love sex, don't get me wrong, but it took me a while to get into the space of being at a predominantly sex-based event versus a predominantely SM-based event.

Not that long of a list of cons. Let's look at the pros.

Domestic bliss - I was really focused on dahling this trip. Her being sick put me in the caretaker mindset, making sure she was well. I normally play my head off at these things... but with her being sick, I felt my place was with her to make her stay a little more comfortable. It was her first time, after all. We really did well together, I think.

I like spending time with her. I like spending almost all my time with her. It's an odd sensation.

Burying the hatchet - This could have been a theme for me at DO. I took the time to extend my hand to several people who I have not seen eye to eye with. Some of these gestures will certainly surprise a few people on my friend's list, but it felt like the right thing to do. I'm turning 30 in 9 days. I'm getting too old to keep fanning the flames of discord when in reality, there isn't any reason to be upset anymore. Better to be able to sit in the same company with a smile. I hope some of the people I extended my hand to reads this - I meant my gesture. Let's put the past behind us, and say hello to each other once again.

Friends - ah, here is the sweetness of camp. I spend a great amount of time with friends that I have had woefully little time with. Of special regard is em_yrt, nvisiblegrrl, bratboy, daddyzbabygirl, and passionandsoul. It was a pure joy to reawaken these friendships - I feel special connections with all of them.

New friends - made a bunch of new connections. Met a Mischief person who made me laugh over the fact that I was an asshole for not turning out to be an asshole. Met the wacky bunch of sex bloggers who I spent an unfortunate little time with. I'd love the opportunity for more!

Special events - Being the Singletail Sensation at the Cirkus was so much fun. My sexy assistants dahling and daddyzbabygirl were great.

OINK! - OINK cabin is simply THE place to be. 7 camper awards. Amazing friendships and mutual understanding. A dedication to fun and play that is mindbending.

Play - Like I stated above, I didn't do as much play this year. In fact, I imagine I was barely seen. The Caning Corner had a few visitors (note to self - make new sign!) Enjoyed a great dress-up scene with dahling  and em_yrt that involved police uniforms, prisoner jump suits, and a whole lot of metal bondage. HAWT - even if the tide was turned against me by some bastard imp with the initials LBD.

And then came the most amazing scene. I'm not gonna write about it... very few people saw it... but I think dahling and I know about the magic that was shared there.

I suppose the real theme to the weekend for me was strengthening relationships. Through making up with people and rekindling connections, I really strived on this. And then there is of course dahling. I think this weekend was amazing for us, and I'm really looking forward to the future.

I guess that about sums it up. I'm sure I left stuff out... and maybe they'll inspire another post. Upwards and onwards.