Pent up blogging frustration

It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm actually feeling frustrated at not being able to express my thoughts.

~~~

Christmas was good, all about the kids of course. I'll probably write about it another time, but by now you've all heard us tell the stories a hundred times anyways :)

I got a couple of books, "The Davinci Code" by Dan Brown I've already read, and the latest Diana Gabaldon book (not from the "Outlander" series). I've decided that it might be a laugh to revue these books to you guys...

So out of five stars

***** outstanding, absorbing and enjoyable, amazing story, talented writing
**** Good story, good writing
*** Good story, ok writing
** Ok story, writing leaves a little to be desired
* Complete crap

Tina's Revue of The Davinci Code...

*** Good story, ok writing

I'm not sure that I would give it as much credit as the book revues do. Mr. Brown did very little original research for this book, taking information from established theories dating back centuries. For a "Sangreal virgin" though this book is a great introduction to one of the most interesting historical, theological and political mysteries in the world. The ongoing search for the Holy Grail and the various conspiracy theories surrounding the topic has been a hobby of mine since my grade 6 debate team covered it. This book will provide the uninitiated with a roadmap to the various mysteries, including Davinci's clues, the Merovigian theory, Rosslynn chapel, and the perfect number... Besides the subject matter though, the plot was a little too fluid for my taste (they figured it out in 24 hours) and the charecters didn't have much depth.

I'd go on and disseminate it right here and now, but I'm guessing that Sean at least would enjoy reading it first.

~~~

In other news, I'm officially happy.

No, seriously!

I used to make a habit BD (Before Dan)of sitting myself down and evaluating my current situation. I'd ask myself if I was happy, and if I needed to change anything in my life in order to make it more positive. Usually the answer would be "No I'm not happy" or a shallow "yes of course I am...((insert slimy boyfriend here)) is soooo dreamy". I would end up reorganizing my life and leaving that enviroment behind.

I sat myself down yesterday and asked myself those questions, and I could honestly say that yes I am happy, and nothing in my life right now is negitive and beyond my control. For the first time in my life, I don't feel the need to remodel myself. I don't feel like I need to change the structure of my life anymore........
now remodelling house is a different topic altogether ;)

~~~

A few New Years resolutions that I feel are reasonable

-lose another 20-25 lbs (I'd lost 20 lbs since November, but Christmas had me gain 7lbs back)
-upgrade my english, look into the Librarians program at Athabaska
-instill my kids with morals

Eavil

Some of you may have already read this, or know about it at least.

OMG!

Jackie posted!

Business Acumen (gesundheit !)

Sorry folks! I have been very busy lately and blogging has been drastically dropped on my list of priorities...at least until after Christmas. (Please don't yell at me *whimper*)

The kids and I have spent the last week sick with the latest flu going around...parents groups have dubbed it "The Sleeping Flu", since it consists of headaches, runny noses, and bear-like hibernating (acompanied by bear-like grumpiness). Dan complained of a tickle in his throat when he got up this morning. *checks watch* He should be over it by now.

Last week, I got up the energy to write 70 some-odd Christmas cards (no we don't actually know that many people). 40 of those I delivered to my subscribers with the newspaper on Sunday...Just a little Christmas cheer, and subtle reminder that 'tis the season to tip the newspaper fairy. So far it's paid off...6 houses returning my good tidings and 65$, a calendar and a candy cane. I might actually be able to pay for my holiday season "toasts" at this rate :)

Christmas shopping is done except for the last few touches. I wrapped all of the presents yesterday, and today or tomorrow I'll start on wrapping stocking stuffers.

Tonight is my turn to cook, I'm doing sushi and some sort of soup. Hot and Sour, I think. Is 2 rolls each enough do you think? There's 5 of us so a pack of ten seaweed sheets is good in theory...Or should I get a twenty pack? I always make too much sushi, and it's not like it's good the next day :p

Hockey Night in Colwood

Ok. I just had the best girls night ever! Who would have thought going to a hockey game without a man would be such kick-ass fun!!! (I think I'll be on the 11 o'clock news tonight btw)

So yeah...The Salmon Kings vs The Bakersville Condors...final score 5:2

We sat right behind the penalty box, so we could hear the players beak at each other across the score keepers. It helped that Sylvia can read lips as well ;)

I'm sure it'll be on the news tommorrow, so here's my eyewitness acount of the events at the game leading up to the banning of Salmon Kings/New York Rangers player #28 Dale Purinton from the game after seriously injuring a player from the opposite team...ala Burtusi.

First of all, some blame should go on the referee's shoulders, as I don't think they were behaving very professionally...but apparently that is normal. They handed out a couple of 5 minute penalties in the first period for fighting, and then spent most of the second period being nice to the players and turning blind eyes on obvious infractions...once again normal. However, even I could sense the rising disorder in the players conduct, above and beyond normal game aggression. They really should have made a few calls to get a handle on it before it ran out of control.

Second of all, where as the Salmon Kings were pretty good with their equipment, and doing up their helmets properly, The Condors seemed to like leaving their straps undone, or throwing their helmets off (sometimes at players).

There were literally dozens of fights leading up to the stick-check doled out by inforcer #28, and we girls on the bench could see it coming a period away.

His stats:
#28 - Dale Purinton
Position: Defense
Height & Weight: 6'2" 229 LBS
Birth Date: October 11, 1976
Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN
2003-04 Team: New York Rangers (NHL)

He is a friend of the coach and is playing as a favor. However, maybe he shouldn't be. He stood out as overly aggressive since early in the first period, and only got worse as the game progressed. He was playing like he needed to prove himself, which is silly since he's already an NHL player. He shouldn't be trying so hard to stand out, because he already does.

I feel bad for the kid whose neck got hammered. He will not make the NHL cut now for certain. All due to a hired ape who should be out playing golf instead.

This was game 2 in a 3 game series (Purinton was kicked from the first one as well) Fur will fly again in game 3, I am sure.

Any of you girls up for another hockey/girls night? It's amazingly refreshing to drink beer in an arena surronded by swearing (and quite a few cute) men, yelling your lungs out at the players and referees. Try it sometime, you won't be sorry.

Geek Liason...

We watch Spider-man 2 tonight. I can't wait...

You are 32% geek

You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator. Normal: Tell our geek we need him to work this weekend. You [to Geek]: We need more than that, Scotty. You'll have to stay until you can squeeze more outta them engines! Geek [to You]: I'm givin' her all she's got, Captain, but we need more dilithium crystals! You [to Normal]: He wants to know if he gets overtime.

Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com

Lozerz

My new favorite comic :) I just have to create a button for it so I can add it to the sidebar.

Green eyed x-mas monster

I know, I know, I've been neglecting you guys again :( But for a good reason! I've been wallowing a lot lately over a few events, and I wanted to wait till my blood pressure returned to a more reasonable level. Ranting and venting are two different things, and poor Dan usually takes the brunt of it. Don't get me wrong, he usually still deserves a kick in the butt, but I shouldn't have to crawl to him afterwards looking for my boot.

*grunt* Just a sec while I set up a couple of soap boxes *gasp* here .

*puff*

Ok so the stressful event.

Dan gets invited yearly to the Grand Ganash Bash at some swanky hotel downtown. I was invited as well (My name was down as "and guest") but we felt that being the x-mas season and all, and how busy we have and will be, maybe I should just pass on this event. The kids should get a little bit of our time before x-mas. So Dan got to go of course and I stayed home...

Hang on I'm going to switch soapboxes

*thump, tap, tap, tap, tap, pa-thump*

here's part of the issue. Dan claims that he is almost caught up to me in "days off" owed from 18 months of pregnancy and 15 months of breastfeeding....hmmm, lets see here, carry the 1...that's 2 years and 9 months of doing nothing but producing offspring...we've been married for 3 and a half years...yeah right!

*thump, tap, tap, tap, tap, pa-thump*

So he still has this ticket for "and guest", so he holds a draw at work to see who gets to go with him...I'll admit that up till this point I didn't really care, I would have stuck out like a sore thumb in a room full of stinky Rich people anyways (that's right, capital R, Rich people)...but out of all of the names he could have picked, he grabbed someone's name that I couldn't deal with...I'll call her Barstar...and it's not that I don't like her, she seems nice enough, but she reminds me of what I was like five years ago when Dan and I met...I have an unreasonable hate-on for her and it has nothing to do with anything she's done, it's just that I feel threatened by her youth, beauty, perkiness and ability to go without a bra...is that so wrong??? I just don't feel that I can compete anymore.

*Thump, tap, tap, tap, ta-trip, limp, pa-thump*

So after a very long day of dealing with the kids, and then a long evening alone feeding them dinner, giving baths and putting them to bed (along with the inevitable battles that go with) I sank into a luke-warm bubble bath and tried to read for the first time in weeks. 15 mins into it Dan stumbles in the bathroom and grunts a hello in my direction. I pulled the plug and followed him into the bedroom wanting to hear the story of his evening. All I got in return was a few grunts as he sprawled out on the bed...oh look! It's 8:45 and my husband is gooned!...So I went directly to what was important, where's the goods? The Grand Ganash Bash is all about chocolate, and the deal was he could go if he brought me back some...of course all Dan would say about it was a series of grunts, so feeling a little depressed I left him to our spinning bedroom and went downstairs to play on the computer. Later after he had somehow managed to undress himself I found a very melted lump of goodies in his pocket, but that wasn't in time to cheer me up, that's for sure...Oh yeah, and when I finally came to bed he was spread out across the whole bed. I asked him to move and he finally said something coherent..."Sure Julia"

(on a side note, neither of us know a Julia, and I'm giving the him the benefit of the doubt)

*Thump, tap, limp, tap, limp, pa-thump*

I went shopping and found an x-mas outfit for this year. This was the first time I've shopped in years and haven't come away with a complex about clothing sizes. Btw, I highly recommend Cleo's for women who actually have dimensions besides up and down.

*Thump, tap, tap, huff, tap, pa-thump*

I visited my Dr last week and finally talked to her about a few things that have been bothering me (not the least, I got her to check out the mutating lump on Dan's head). My biggest problem, of course, is my weight. I've been eating low-fat for months and walking for at least an hour every day for over a year. Dr. Giles admits that is more than most people do. I watch my calorie consumption, buy the healthy version of things in the store, and have been working on my water intake...why then am I still gaining weight?

Today I'm fasting so I can get my thyroid checked out this afternoon. Dr. Giles has also prescribed this pill that I'm not too sure about yet. I really do trust my doctor btw. This pill hampers the enzyme in my stomach that absorbs fat. So 30% of the fat that I take in, doesn't touch my system, it just gets flushed. The medication also doesn't enter my system, it acts completely in my stomach. So the only side effects is an upset stomach if I eat to much fat. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop...I have lost a couple of pounds in the last week though, so I'll try it for awhile and see what it can do...That sounds like a mad scientist sort of thing to say...

Well I'm going to put these soap boxes away now...

Over the weather

As I've said before, getting up at 5 am to deliver the papers gives me a lot of time to think. It also gives me the opportunity to pay close attention to my surroundings. That is something that I used to love doing as a child, but now that I have adult responsibilities, I don't really do anymore. Not that I'm not aware of my surroundings...They just aren't as important to me, as say, what Liam is getting into at the moment.

This morning was very cool (in both meanings of the word) as I got to actually watch a windstorm blow in.

When I left the house at about 5:20, there were clouds in the sky, but I could see starry patches as well. 15 minutes later I heard this deep rumbling which really startled me out of my vampire* induced reverie. I looked up and couldn't see anything deferent, the wind was still, I know because I actually tried to sniff the wind...I figure that if a predator is nearby, maybe I'd be able to smell it. I know it's weird, but when you are by yourself in the dark, it really does make sense.

*(last nights roleplaying adventure, for those of you who don't get the reference)

Continuing on, much more alert now, I got 5 minutes further, to the darkest stretch of road on the route. The trees off to the side of the road which were completely hidden in darkness. A flash from behind me lit my surroundings, and I jumped. Silly me, I started counting 1-elephant, 2 elephant, and got to 21-elephants before I heard the rumble.

Cool! Thunder and lightning is my favorite weather type. It's strange that I couldn't smell the ozone, I'm usually pretty aware of atmosphere changes. Either I smell it, or I feel it through migraines...

It took another 10 minutes before the rain started falling in big, fat droplets. I didn't see or hear anymore T&L, but it didn't take much longer before the winds started moving and building up to storm force winds.

All and all an enjoyable morning :)

~~~

I wanted to thank Sean again for making dinner last night. It was so nice to not be in such a rush, and to be able to sit and enjoy the company for once. It gave a whole new feel to the evening for us...but I'll let Dan talk for himself ;)

~~~

So now that Lucius has touched the rapier, what are we going to do? Do we find a way out of here? Or go looking for a Methuselah? I believe Lazarus is MIA back at home...I vote nobody else touches the rapier as it is obviously a holy artifact of some sort...now who do we know that might have the faith to weld a holy weapon?...hmmmm

*evil grin*

Gaming Nights

So here's the story, out on the table...Wednesday nights are very hectic for Dan and I. Between cooking, dealing with kids, hosting, and getting the garbage and recycling ready to go out for Thursday morning, by the time dinner is ready both Dan and I are in pissy moods. Dan is especially grumpy because I tend to get less motivated the closer it is to the kids bedtime, and thus less helpful. That is a daily occurance though, due to the fact that I have dealt with my two lovely children for the past 11 hours and am sick of butting heads with them...

Anyways, we have mentioned before the option of taking turns making dinner on gaming nights. I'm not sure that it was taken seriously, but I for one would really like to try it out. I guess just not having dinner here is an option as well, but personally I really like the social time before we start.

My idea is that everyone takes a night to make a dinner. They would cover the cost and do the cooking. If others wish to bring stuff as well, they are welcome to. For example Dan bbq's one week, he provides the food which would most likely be hamburgers, buns, potato's or fries and a salad, and the fixin's...I do another week (we'd get 2 nights cause there's 2 of us) And I'd do up a big Thai noodle dish or sushi or spagetti sauce or whatever, you get the picture. Pizza and take-out is fine, but it is the "cooks" responsibilty to pay. I realize that that might be unfair cost-wise, but over time and when you take labour into consideration, these things work out.

My idea of a schedule is this...

Tomorrow : Sean will do stroganoff (sp?)
Next week : Dan
Week after : Kevin
Week after : Me, and I'm liking the sushi idea maybe with hot&sour soup
Week after : Stacy
Week after : Back to Sean

So basically you would make dinner about once a month, depending on how the gaming schedule is. What do people think? Please email me or leave a comment...

Hope you're happy :p

New photo's are up.

Also, my comment system isn't registering comments. The comments do appear in the comment section, but it doesn't show up under the article. This has nothing to do with me, but with the program. So don't beat me massa! Just click on the comments link even if it's says (0) comments...you might miss something otherwise :p

Cow!

So Dan asks me yesterday, "What do you think Teresa's first word will be?" I was suspicious of the question (or the way he asked it) and shrugged...
Dan turns to Teresa and says "Can you say cow?"
Teresa gabbles something that could be heard as "cow" if I stood on my hands and tilted my ear towards her just right...I told Dan he was loony

Tonight in the bathtub Teresa stood up (bad girl!) and held out a sponge cow and said it again. It isn't quite her first word because I don't think it is annonciated enough to call it that yet, but she is soooooooo close :) She definatly understands the word.

~~~

She's growing up so fast, today I taught her to blow on her food if it's to hot...it ends up more spit then air comming through her lips, but she understands now when I try to direct her on something like that.

~~~

*sigh* Why does she have to grow up? Why can't she be my baby forever?

~~~~~~~~~

In other news...Flotsam has been updated.

an interesting debate that I stumbled across

somehow my blog is associated with a google search that turns up this thread

Nothing to say, but I'm going to say it anyways

Dan seems to think that my minimal posting lately has made my throngs of fanboys restless...You can see why I married him :) He certainly doesn't lack anything in the imagination department.

The truth is that nothing has really been going on around here. I didn't win a corvette, my kids and I have been a little sick, the weather is dreary, and I'm running out of books,movies and games to entertain myself with.

~~~

I guess there's the seafood feast to write about...

Menu $20 per head

Crab
Lobster
Shrimp and Scallops Vienna
Wild Rice with baby clams
Mussles and clams
Oysters ala Dan
Salmon
Fresh Bread
Salad w/oil and balsamic vinegar dressing
lemon gelato/lime sherbet with mint

I hope everyone had enough to eat, I know that I was stuffed :) Unfortunately we had had a busy day prior to the feast, and were beat by the time it was done. I'm afriad our hosting skills were a little lax after that. My apologies if it was overly obvious. Next time we will time it better :)

~~~

My wallet has been missing since last Weds. I've searched the house top to bottom and even got down on my hands and knees to look at things from the kidlets perspective...but nothing. At this point I think it must have been recycled. Does anyone remeber seeing it anywhere? Or seeing the kids with it? It's blue denim and has my keys attached to it with a chain. I guess I should just give up and start cancelling my cards :(

~~~

I'm really enjoying gaming with James as DM on Fridays. It's neat to play under a new DM, I've only ever played under Dan and Ari and they both influence each other a lot I think (or maybe it's just Dan who's picked things up from Ari...dunno). But James is entirely from a differnt gaming sphere...or something. He has his own style that has devoloped away from this particular gaming group. Not better or worse, just diferent. It's kind of refreshing.

And I'm not saying that I don't love playing with Dan as DM. Dan thinks like I do, so it's easy for me to visualize what he's describing. Dan will always be my favorite DM, and that's not just be because of the sex ;)

American Idiot

I'm copy and pasting this from Mischiff's blog, because I like the song (Green Day, I think) and because now Dan will have the lyrics for sure. He has the worse case of Chronic Lyricoses I've ever seen. But besides that maybe we can get a blogger movement going...If you are reading this and agree with the sentiment of the song, copy and paste this to your own blog, and then leave me a comment. Let's see how far it'll spread.

~~~
Green Day - American Idiot

Don't want to be an American idiot.
Don't want a nation under the new mania.
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mindfuck America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the idiot nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.

Well maybe I'm the faggot America.
I'm not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along in the age of paranoia.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the idiot nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.

Don't want to be an American idiot.
One nation controlled by the media.
Information age of hysteria.
It's going out to idiot America.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn't meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We're not the ones who're meant to follow.
For that's enough to argue.

Bushwacked

I refuse to post anything about the US election on this site. I'm a Canadian and it bugs me that what happens in the US effects us so much. But then it effects the world as a whole...

We watched Farenheit 9/11 on Hallowe'en, and it was the scariest movie I've ever watched.

~~~

Tonight...

Stacy brought over his salmon on Monday, and I've been marinading it since yesterday morning. It should be like candy by the time Dan BBQ's it :)

I'm going to do up my famous asparigus and smoked salmon soup as our veggies.

Can someone bring some baby red potatoes? I'll do up a batch of those greek/dijon baked potatoes that I did a couple of weeks ago.

~~~

For anyone who is interested...here is the link to the site I download my charecter sheets from. Dan has asked me for it. Take a look around, there's something here for everyone. Party treasure sheets, equipment placement "dolls", really shiny charecter sheets ;) I'm using the Vampire:Dark Ages, Revised sheet tonight because it has theology down under the Knowledge skills list, which isn't there on the origanal sheets.

2 MUCH lighter links mostly for Sean...Zombies Calling is the latest comic by Raven (Demonology 101), and Clan of the Cats sort of a supernatural soap...Anita Blake-ish.

Happy Hallowe'en!

For your enjoyment...don't let it get you...

Don't read my comments until you've read the story...spoiler alert!

What can I say?

You will notice that the little ad box is back at the top of the page. I thought that I had finally gotten rid of it, but Google has actually offered me a paycheck for having it there...not that I think anyone will actually pay attention to the ads unless it says something about gay s*x ;) However, I am now able to screen out ads that I don't want, and it should pick up on my blog topics like Dungeons and Dragons, D&D Miniatures, Bear Mountain... So if an add pops up that interests you, do me a favour and click on it...otherwise ignore it...

Does this make me a corperate sell-out slave to the Man?

Hmmmm...Interesting...

My Horoscope for today:

Pisces(Feb 20-Mar 20)
The grass may look greener on the other side of the fence but, once you get over there, you will realize it is not that much different at all. If you are thinking of changing your job, or maybe even your entire career, you are advised not to make any final decisions until after tomorrow's lunar eclipse. Things are not as bad as they seem.

Important events coming up...

So...What to blog, what to blog...

Obviosly I've changed blog templates again, I like it...It's sort of fitting for the season.

There is a lot of plotting going on in our house, but I have to keep my mouth shut about it ;) Mwaa-ha-ha!

Some important events are coming up, so just to inform you all...

Kevin's birthday is this weekend (as is Halloween, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Roxy...Hmmmm, Kevin in drag, anyone?)

We will be throwing a sea-food feast at Kevin and Cheryl's place on Nov 6th, Email Dan if you want more information, or want to pout because you weren't invited ;)

Sometime around Christmas I'll be throwing a christmas dinner for friends. Joe and Jackie are in town as is Bill and Leanne. My Grandmother sent over a 20+ lb turkey for Thanksgiving that is way to big for just our little family (including my mom and brother). I figure after mashed potatoes, stuffing, carrots, yams, gravy, brussel sprouts, mince/butter tarts, etc... I can probably feed a small army.

So the question is...are people going to be around between the 28th(dec) till the 3rd(jan)? What day is good? Email me or leave a comment :)

~~~

And last but not least, something scary for Hallowe'en

20 Questions

This is amazing...or at least it's amazing to me, because I'm not sure how its database is so well organized. 20 questions played against an "ai". It guessed my animal..."Phoenix"... in about 11 questions.

Pg3 is up

Also if you get the chance, please check out Flipside from the Flotsam link section...
Brion Foulke (the author and artist) is our first referrer. He does a beautiful fantasy comic. Thanks Brion :)

Hijack this!

So after scouring the internet for a solution to my virus woes, I finally found a solution that I could handle on my own :) For anyone else that has to deal with this "about:blank browser hijack" here is what I did. If you find that it won't work as noted, try it in safe mode.

1. Download reglite

2. install it and run it, enter HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\\AppInit_DLLs into the address bar.

3. Click AppInit_DLLs, if the bottom textfield named value contains a .dll file ;
then this is the hidden file you need to get rid off.

4. You should not be able to delete this file if you try to clear the value field,
IMPORTANT: take at note of the path and name of the .dll file.

5. Rename the Folder windows to NOTWINDOWS highlighted as a purple folder in the left hand pane of reglite.

6. Click AppInit_DLLs again and clear the value containing the .dll and ok it. This should have removed the .dll

7. Rename the windows folder back to its original name "Windows".

8 next step will be to remove this dll file so make sure you have it noted down.

9. Click Start-> run and enter cmd

10. This will open a command window I will assume you have a basic knowledge of DOS if you have any problems at this point just write back I will outline the commands.

11 type dir *.dll and locate the dll name

12. Go to the system32 folder and type attrib -r "nameofdll".dll

13. type del "nameofdll".dll

14 type dir *.dll and locate the dll name the dll should now have been removed and will not be listed.

15. Download and run spybot and CWS shredder
http://security.kolla.de/index.php?lang=en&page=download
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/CWShredder.exe

16. restart computer in safe mode and run these programs again, just to make sure all traces are gone.

17. Boot up pc as normal and you should be trouble free.

If it falls apart on you at steps 11 & 12 because you can't detect the .dll or it won't give you access, restart in safe mode, copy the .dll from the system32 file into a new folder on your desktop, right-click properties and click the read-only box. Now delete it and empty your recycling bin.

~~~

I really like the CWShredder and spybot programs, I also downloaded a start menu analizer and anti-hijack program from the same sites. Hopefully that'll keep me clean for awhile.

Lawful Good or Lawful Stupid?

Today I reformat :(

In the meantime...

~~~

Insomnia apparent, I lay awake and counted the knots in the ceiling beams. Thoughts haunted me of friends lost and eminent betrayals. The loss of Tobin, a longtime trusted companion to the undead realm, is only the latest blow to my morale. Since starting my journey from the shelter of the temple, I've lost no less then 11 companions in the fight for Good. Mordicai of course has come back from death at least once, and now works to thwart my efforts.

Can I allow Shabbahat and Tobin the same chance?

I can't help but wonder if I hadn't taken this journey, would all of these good people still have died? Or is this all a part of Pelor's plan? Would it all have happened to another if I had became the cloistered nun as was expected of me by the church?

The life of a hero is not what I thought it would be. Moral responsibility is a heavy burden to bear when others don't care to.

Of course the benefits are good as well.

If this is all part of Pelor's plan, then I feel good knowing that I am doing what he needs me to do. That he chooses me to spread his words through my sermons and heroic deeds. The choices that I make, the obstacles that I face, all are watched and noticed by higher powers. Not always a good thing, but even in the fight for good there needs to be checks and balances to keep the fight honest.

Shabbahat and Tobin were both trusted friends. Both having earned that trust through their deeds and service to the cause. Perhaps this is also part of the plan. Shabbahat claims that he is not evil. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, one chance to prove himself and Tobin as well. It's the least I can do for past friendships and fellow adventurers.

Stupid vampires!

Virus!

Joe just MSNed me to let me know that our computer probably has a virus. They recieved an email from us containing it. Just to make you all aware... I'm playing computer doctor right now. I'll let you know more when I find out. Has anyone else recieved an email virus from us lately? Maybe you should check.

I feel so dirty.

Happy Birthday Tessa!

Teresa turned 1 year old on saturday.

*sniff* My baby's growing up *sniff*

We threw a small get together for her in the "back 40", our big communal back yard. Invited the family, the neighbors and the wasps.

I just have to say that as much as we've been going away from shopping at Thrifty's because of the cost of produce...They are a great benefit to the comunity. Besides all of the charity work that they are constantly doing, they also provide free birthday cakes for 1 year olds. A big rectangular cake with light icing and not near as much sugar as some bakeries and ice cream places do. It was so big that after feeding 14 people 1st and 2nds, we still have a big chuck left over :) We also had a carrot cake that Dan's Grandma brought because I was worried that Thrifty's would give us a small cake...it never got touched.

Teresa made a haul with presents. Some of the high lights are : Silk pj's, A "baby so pretty" doll, Fisher-Price Farmhouse, little white and pink running shoes, ballet slippers and lots of cute outfits. Liam didn't do so bad himself, since just about everybody got him "consolation" gifts.

~~~

Yesterday we rearanged Teresa's room and started getting baby stuff ready to take up island next weekend. Dan's cousin Kyle is preggers (well actually his wife Jackie is pregnant, but you get the idea) and we are going to get rid of all of our baby stuff :) Yay! We really don't need three strollers, a baby swing, an exersaucer, car seats and baby baths and high chairs, oh my! Not to mention countless boxes of cloths that the kids have grown out of. We will have so much room all of a sudden :)

~~~

Dan has next week off around his birthday, but I believe gaming will still be on.

~~~

Oh! and I changed my commenting system after reading Stacy's comment on Leanne's blog. BTW, Leanne blogged :)

Flotsam

Page 2 is up :) Leave us feedback if you have time.

X-mas wishlist

This post is mostly for family. It just makes more sense then making a list for x-mas and then not being able to think of anything to put on it and then forgetting to email it off...Or being put on the spot by Great Aunt Bertha and not knowing what to say.

"What do you want this year for Christmas dear?"
"...Uh.......?"

This way we'll both know ;)

Doing it this way, I can continue to update it as things occur to us. We have already said that we prefer gift certificates for Home Depot and Sears. However, I am informed that that isn't a good enough list.

Some of the stuff on Dan's list is there, not because he has asked for it, but because I think he needs it.

<- I will post a link to this post on the sidebar in the "Links" section. Say that ten times fast.

Family gifts


• Disney DVD's and kid friendly movies
  
• Gift certificates to various department/hardware/toy stores

Kids


• Fisher-price "Little People" Farm stuff...ID#'s B8796 Wishing well, B8797 stable, B9172 tracter, C1157 apple stand (This is to add to the Barn that we already have)
  
• Storybooks
  
• Educational/Science/Imagination toys (This is more a guideline then anything, get them toys that they can use thier imaginations with like dress up cloths, or that teach problem solving skills for ages 3+, there are tons of quality toys out there that incourage thinking and learning and playing actively)
  
  
  Liam
  
  • Train table (sans big train track, we already have one for him)
    
  • Playmat (a carpet with roads and fields printed on it)
    
  • "Brio compatible" wooden train stuff
    
  • Cloths size 2x-3x
    
  
  
  
  Teresa
  
  • Dolls
    
  • Cloths Size 18-24 months
    
  • Hair things
    

Dan

• Moccosin style slippers
  
• Starbucks photomug (That one is for you Mom/Dorthy)
  
• Firefly DVD series
  
• D&D stuff (ask me for current list) or gift certificates for gaming store
  
• Shirts (both work and casual)
  
• Jeans
  

Me

• Miniatures or "Hobby" painting suplies
  
• Audiotapes (Fiction, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery)
  
• Books (The DaVinci Code would be nice, or classics like C.S. Lewis, L.M. Montgomery)
  
• Anything with Tinkerbell on it
  

If you have any questions, or anything to add or subtract from the list, comment in the comments section.

A morbid taste for bones

The booktape/housecleaning was a hit. The main floor of our house is tidy and more respectable then I've seen it in ages. The story was good too :)

There is a limited selection of books on tape available at the library, but I noticed that they have a whole series that I've been eyeing for a long time, just never justified buying. I thought of you Sean when I grabbed the tape. If you haven't already heard of the series, you should look into it...It's definitely your kind of author. It's a bit wordy in the discripitive, medieval style, but I like that.

The one I listened too yesterday "A Morbid Taste for Bones" reminded me of a movie which Sean Connery and Christian Slater starred in back in the mid 80's. "In the Name of the Rose"
The characters are very similar, and I wouldn't be surprised if the movie was based on one of the books.

The main character, Brother Cadfael, is an ex-crusader in the 12th century. He fought in many big name battles, beside some big name people, but now that the crusade is over he decides to take up the cloth and live out his life in peaceful repentance as a Benedictine monk. Only to find himself surrounded by some big sinners in the brotherhood. So file all of that, and add a splash of Colombo and a dash of Sean Connery style wryness. He's a pretty neat character.

A murder mystery on the medieval welsh moors! Gloomy and gothic and fun for housecleaning to :)

~~~

P.S. There is a very good chance that page 2 of Flotsam will be up today. ... And you thought we had forgotten about you ;)

Bwaaaiiiinns!

Liam learned a new trick this morning (isn't that horrible? It's like he's a dog or something). Dan chased him around the house for like a half-hour all hunched over, arms dangling, moaning "Braaaiiins". Liam giggled his face off.

Now Liam is doing it to Teresa ("Bwaaaiinns"), and she's loving it.

My own family of zombies :) What more could a woman want?

Full moon

Yesterday was a great day around our house (as you can read in yesterdays posts). But for some reason, around 4:00 I started to develop a raging migraine. I managed to stick around for dinner, and I intended to go shopping with Dan after the kids were in bed (Scott babysits when we do this), but the high pitched squeals coming from the living room were really making me grind my teeth. So I went for a short lay-down at around 7:00. I didn't wake up until my alarm went off at 5:15 this morning :)

I feel great!

It's amazing what 10 hours of sleep will do for you when you are used to 4 to 7 hours a night.

The moon was full this morning, which was nice because I barely had to use my flashlight it was so bright.

And Dan is going to work later this morning because he has a meeting...which means morning sex! (Not that you needed to know that, but this is my diary. So I'm going to write it anyways :p ...)

Yup, things are looking up today. At least from this angle :)

Wilma "The Glare" Adair

Check it out! Just a reminder to donate when you get a chance :)

Busy Bee

Playgroup was a hit, I am sorry to say ;) On the elevator up to the play room, we shared the car with a mom and her little boy. The whole way up she was promising that it wouldn't be for very long and she would be right back. The little boy wouldn't stop hugging her when it was time to go.

Not Liam.

The minute we hit the top of the elevater and he could see the big room full of toys and kids, he was off like a shot. He didn't even look up from his cars when I tried to say goodbye. I think I'm traumatized.

The criminal record check is free after all. The rec center gave me a note to take in with me when I go saying that they will pay the $75 dollars that it costs to get done. I still think thats a little pricey just for checking a database, but what do I know? It might be a discount already...

Hey look! It's a post :)

I had a really great weekend, so there is lots for me to write about :) I hope I can get it all down before the kids wakeup.

Saturday we took the kids to Goldstream to visit Gramma and Randy at thier campsite. Liam really liked walking around looking for bugs and mushrooms :) Later that night, Mom and Sylvia tag-team babysat (Mom couldn't stay all night as she had to catch a flight on Sunday). Dan and I went to his staff BBQ. My big contribution was 70+ jello shooters, that I had made on Friday :)

At first I was a little worried that I wasn't going to enjoy myself. Dan has a short attention span for me at most social events anyways, but he was kind of the "host" for this one (being the social rep. and all) so I was spending long periods standing and being uncomfertable. I'm just not up to snuff with my office gossip and banking jargin. Eventually as the night wore on and the jello shooters got downed the conversation turned to "how much beer can you chug" type coversation which just annoyed me. I slipped into the house and checked out our hosts (Helga and Jim's) bookshelves. I was pleasently surprised to find the Dark Paladin series as well as a few others that we all have read recently. As well as medieval literature, antique Nancy Drew books (yellow and older grey covers), tarot decks tucked into spaces, pagan "sourcebooks", and at least one book that wasn't even written in our alphabet...it was ogham (runic).

Now this was more up my alley :) Helga is an SCA person, as well as an artsy type, and I really enjoyed hanging out in a quiet corner with her and Jim. At one point we were discussing fiction, and she told me that she goes to the library and finds her fiction on tape. That way she can listen to it while doing housework, thus making housework less boring. I've decided that this is genius, and I'm going to go pay my late fine today and see what tapes are availible.

~~~

Liam has Busy Bees today at JDF Rec Center so I'll swing in to the library while he's there. The other thing I need to do is get a criminal record check done, which I'm a little worried about...not because I'm a criminal, but because I don't want to have to pay $75 to volunteer for my kids' playgroup. Volunteering is manditory btw. I'll let you know how it goes :)

~~~

P.S. As I was looking for the link to the SCA, I came across this picture.
Cute aren't they?

Exercise in postive thinking

You may have noticed, but I havn't really been in the mood to blog lately. I have been feeling out of sorts lately, moody, short tempered and overly sensitive. Could be the season, could be that time of the month or hormones...or a combination of the the three...

Anyways, in an effort to post something positive and longer then two paragraphs, please allow me to daydream a bit :)

~~~

If we win a house on Bear Mountain...(and $10,000, and an ugly two seater wannabe car)

I want...

10) Topped up RESP's for the kids
9) A weekend at the Kingfisher Spa in January or Febuary
8) A week trip to Shaunigan with all of our friends on a houseboat complete with hot tub
7) A playground/basketball hoop and specially themed bedrooms for the kids
6) A personal trainer...or liposuction (whichever is cheaper)
5) A new wardrobe
4) A new CD and DVD collection
3) A career as a student
2) A maid
1) A trip by rail across Canada in 2006 to renew our wedding vows in Ottawa (or Montreal, or Newfoundland...or all of them)

I'm not asking for much, eh?

I'm going to have some stiff compitition for my prize though. I consider myself to be an exceptionally lucky person, I can usually win something from a draw once a year or so (never anything this big though). However, I inherited my luck from my mother who is also incredibly lucky (When reading books from her personal collection you constantly are catching pressed four leaf clovers as they fall from between the pages). She has four tickets for this contest to my one and karma is on her side right now...as in she deserves it more than I do.

Why am I going for the second prize instead of the first, you ask? Why, I'm being realistic of course ;)

Bye-bye Brendan

The Christianson's just came over to say thier final goodbyes to us. They are leaving for Ontario tomorrow and are just finishing up cleaning thier house for the new owners. I hope the new people are as good as these guys were. We are really going to miss them.

And with them they are taking Liam's first friend Brendan. It's sad to think that they might not remember each other in a couple of months. We do have msn messenger and a web cam, but I don't think it'll be the same.

Good luck guys! *snif*

Child porn CDs were seized,court told

The story from the Times Colonist. Found on page B2

September 21 2004


Fourteen computer CDs containing still images and video child pornography were among items seized from a Colwood man's residence when it was searched by West Shore RCMP in October 2002, Crown counsel Robin Baird told B.C. Supreme Court Monday.

RCMP, acting on information provided by Victoria Police, obtained a search warrant and searched the basement suite occupied by Peter Doherty, of Wale Rd.

Police found the computer disks in a dresser drawer. An unregistered .38 revolver was also found in the dresser, Baird said. Two hard drives seized by police were also found to contain child pornography. Doherty has pleaded not guilty to possession of child pornography and possession of an unregistered weapon.

The B.C. Supreme Court trial went into voir dire Monday - a trial within a trial process used to discuss the legality of evidence.

~ TC staff

No title

So there was an article in the TC today, tucked quietly into the Local section of the newspaper, about a guy who had child porn confiscated from his home in 2002. It’s just being analyzed now.

So first of all, if this guy lives in a residential area, why is it just now being investigated?

Usually I try not to pay attention to articles like this. Once again it reminds me of how flawed our legal system is here in Canada. However, the street name caught my attention…Wale Rd in Colwood.

He’s a neighbor.

So then, now I know that there is a potential pedophile living no more than two blocks away. Should the parents in this neighborhood treat him like he’s innocent until proven guilty? There are no less then 80 townhouses in this area (55 on this street) that it is required you have a child to live there…

Who is guaranteeing our children’s safety while the courts figure stuff out?

Elf Sorcerer and Halfling Ranger?

So if we can change gaming nights to Fridays, we will see one of the rarest phenomena in gaming...

...A girl gamer!!!

It seems like forever since Leanne and Shannon gamed with us, and before that? Well there were no other girls to game with before that. It's funny how all three of us sort of got nudged into gaming by our men...is there a reason why girls don't take an interest in roleplaying on thier own? Maybe it only seems that way. But I don't see any girls out there wanting to play for any other reason. It's not a bad thing...just strange.

Nothing against playing with all guys either, I just can appreciate another estrogen fueled player to counter-balance all of the testosterone that flies during our sessions.

Anyways, April is interested in playing...Yay!

If we play on Friday nights then Randy and April are both available (as is Scott for the whole session).

So here is me begging ....please, please, please can I have a girl to play with? I won't break her...I promise*

Tina

*Routine elusive comment aimed at Sean and his colorful imagination...I have to reward him for being party accountant somehow :)

Phil and Ngaire's Trip

Well I don't have much to say today. Newspapers sucked this morning and I'm just not in the mood to write...

So here you go, live vicariously through P&N for a while as they wander around Bankok.

Beerfest

Just a quick post on Beerfest. Most of you were there anyways, so I don't have anything to say that you don't already know :)

Q. When all was said and done, what was your favorite beer?

Personally I really enjoy blond/pale ales, and I don't think anyone else there did. My favorite was the Wild Seed stuff from Tree Breweries (at least I think that was what it was called). The Arctic Ale from Swans was really smooth too.

~~~

Part of drinking for me is the hangover, and intense feelings of mortified embarressment, whether I desearve them or not ;) The good part is that after the hangover subsides, I forget most of the prior occasion...Sooo, I apologize to everyone in general in regards to any behavior or verbal diarhia I may have lost control of. Please don't tell me about it, I don't actually want to know. (I do have vague memories of checking to see if the biker guy wearing the kilt was going commando or not, I don't remember what answer I came up with.)

Gaming nights

Ok, so I was going to write an individual email to Sean in regards to some of the conversation last BBQ, but at breakfast today Dan slipped up and made the same mistake. I realize that really I should give this lecture to everyone.

Please watch what you say around Liam and Teresa. The other day Sean was talking about some movie and a chain link fence/sex scene. This morning Dan was reciting me a dirty poem...

Now you know that I personally don't have a problem with this kind of stuff, but Liam has already picked up a few unsavory habits from us. No two year old should be able to swear...and do it in context. (Liam drops his shoe down the stairs..."F*ck!") I'm just saying, please people, watch your language and conversation topics till the kids are in bed.

Thanx

Gaming

So I'm trying to figure out how to post about gaming and make my post upbeat.

I like what Stacy is trying to do in regards to opening the channels of communication between players. I think the biggest problem our group has, is that we need to communicate to each other with more respect. It's ok to joke around, don't get me wrong, but a better respect for individuals is in order.

Enough negative thoughts for today :)

Here's a list of positives for each player. Alphebetically of course ;)

~ Stacy/Brother Lucius : You are the peacemaker of the group. The mediator and diplomatic one in many arguements. You are usually in a good mood (or at least not a bad one) when you come to game. As far as rulemongering goes, you look up the facts, lay them out, and then let people decide what to do with the information. Personally I find that approach very helpful.

~Sean/Tobin : The organizer of the group. As an expirienced DM/Storyteller, you know what to do to help Dan keep the game running smoothly. Which is noticed and appreciated by him. Battlemap organizer, initiative controller and treasure counter (at least in the past...) These are all jobs that nobody else wants, but if it didn't get done we wouldn't be able to play. Let's all take a moment to really appreciate Sean.

~Scott/Rex : The nOob of the group. As a new gamer, Scott has a lot to learn about a very complicated system. He has an active imagination, and I can see him as being a good roleplayer once he learns the ropes and figures out where he fit's in. I'd like to get him a button that says "Please be patient, I'm new" for gaming :)


I do have one issue right now, but it isn't gaming related. I guess now is the time to address it, so I'll be sending an email out to the individual involved :)

Peace
T

Edit It has been mentioned to me that Kevin not being included in this list might give people the wrong impression. I was simply trying to give everyone still playing the game a little boost. However, just because Kev has stepped down, it doesn't mean I don't still love him...So...

~Kevin/Wizzbang : The party Tactician. Kevin is very good at planning how an encouter should go, keeping in mind charecters assets and flaws and how to counter balance them. (This is much appreciated, because my idea of tactics is to summon a celestial badger and get captured by pirates) Wizzbang is one of the more discriptive and well played PC's in the group and we will sorely miss him and his Wand of Wonder. Kev is also our secondary numbers guy. He takes up the slack when Sean gets frustrated. He is another expirienced player and DM(I assume, I actually don't know if you DM) and is a huge help to Dan in the organizing and running of the game. He also has lots of sourcebooks...lots and lots :)

I'm not going to write anything more about this, I'd rather go to beerfest and do the "I love you man" drunk speech...It's more amusing that way ;)

True Magic

It's gotta be good, the bad guys are sun clerics...And the god they worship is named Lucideous

True Magic

326 Dead, 156 of Them Were Children

I had a pretty good weekend. Got lots of work done around the house, spent some good quality time with Liam, looked after Dan's 2nd cousin Ethan...

It was a good weekend.

All of it was overshadowed by Saturday's front page story.

~~~

Randy and April came over on Friday night to play games, and since they were both getting ready for graveyard shifts we decided to stay up with them later then usual. Dan and I both delivered the newspapers at around 1:30am and got it done in about 20 mins...even if I was in tears for half of it.

Maybe I was just tired, but usually stories like this don't effect me this much. I add it to my mental tally of "Atrocities that happen far, far away from here" and then move on. Dwelling on acts of war just make me feel helpless.

But the picture on the front page...

A little round face. Eyes closed. Blood on it's cheeks. The poor mother didn't look like she really realized it yet.

~~~

It's so easy to believe that I live at the end of the world here on the island. It's so far away from all of the violence. I'd like to continue thinking that this is a safe place to live, but the truth is that the world is becoming less safe in general.

See? There's that helpless feeling.

~~~

My family is so precious to me.

I grieve for the victim families and the survivors. Nobody desearves to be treated like this, just to make a statement. I can see how this cycle will go now. If I was that mother on the front page, I'd strap on a TNT vest and take a little stroll through Chechnya. The best martyrs are innocents.

But here in BC, I put on a movie and snuggle up on the couch with my children, holding them close and praying that I can keep them safe. At night I hold my husband a little tighter.

~~~

It's ok, in a few weeks Hollywood will make a made for TV movie about it that will dilute the effects, and we'll all move on.

Very few straight men are this pretty ;)

Brother Lucius...aka Happy Pants :)

Time wasting test :)

Just put your answers in my comments section...

1) Favorite RPG?
2) Favorite charecter class/clan/whatever?
3) Favorite race to play?
4) Favorite charecter you ever played (explain)
5) Favorite campaign you ever played in (and main quest)
6) Longest charecter played?
7) Favorite alignment?
8) Best session ever?
9) Best roll (of the dice) ever?
10) Favorite colour? (just had to throw that one in)

By the power of greyscale!

I know, I know, I've been MIA again.
I've been playing around with photoshop a bit, trying to learn the program. If I can get it figured out in time, you MAY get to see the comic updated on schedule :) Leanne usually does the coloring, but I don't see why I couldn't help :)
Here's what I've been doing...Aurora.
Next I'm working on Brother Lucius, but using more layers and playing around with effects... Hope you like pink hair Stacy ;)

Gmail

So I've had my gmail address for a couple of months now, and no invites to hand out.

Suddenly they are piling up! I now have 6 invites left...is anyone else interested? Or are there any ideas of what I could do with them? I have heard of people donating invites to US soldiers to help them keep in touch with thier families...but are there any other creative ideas of what to do with these?

Beautiful

I wish I could write like this. What a beautiful soul.

Four Leaf Clover

So it's been awhile...

It was really good to see Bill and Leanne. To bad they brought out the rain with them, but we just ignored it anyways :)

The benefit concert last weekend (ok, the weekend before last) was tons of fun. I haven't let go and danced like that in ages. Of course I realized how old I'm getting, when instead of waiting for a second wind at 2 am, I just went and laid down in the van. It was nice to just sit alone and listen to the music. I am very rarely alone...all by myself anymore. Kids kind of make that impossible.

We got a new bedroom set the very next day, so I'm kinda glad I took the chance to get some sleep. Congrats Sylvia! On moving in with Mike :)

Camping this weekend at Lizard Lake was a hoot. It rained all weekend, but we had tarps and alcohol...and fire. There was just us there this time. The ranger said that it's been a slow summer out there...I feel for the guy, it must be a dull job sometimes.

On the way back in, Dan, Leanne and I wondered why they don't "officially" put a road thru between Port Renfrew and Cowichan?
1. It would improve traffic to both comunities, not to mention the whole west shore of the island.
2. When times were though in either comunities, they could commute and take up fishing or millwork (or logging)
3. It bypasses the Malahat. The government could call it "The Scenic Way".
I just love the way that every time the Malahat shuts down, they have to deny the "myths" that there is anouther way to get down the island. I guess they worry that people will get lost on the back roads....Proper signage would fix that.

In other news...Dan has bought me a house in West Van...or Bear Mountain...or a Corvette... mmm ..

I found a four leaf clover on the way out to Lizard Lake. I gave it to Dan's Dad to replace the last one I found for him :)

G'mornin'

It's raining out...delivering papers this morning sucked.

I'm messing around with the site again, as you can see. I found a free forum from Bravenet that I'd like to replace the shoutboard with (I pay for the shoutboard). I'm going to make the forum accessable from the comic as well.

I'll write about our weekend later today :)

New comic that I haven't bothered to add to the list yet...I figure you guys have enough to read already.

Grayle reminds me of Scott.

Ok, so I lied?

The comic is up!

I'm messing around with the site format so bear with me for a little while :)

Tomorrow :)

Leanne just sent me the end copy for page 1 of Flotsam. I'm going to work on the site and getting it up for tomorrow.

Believe it or not, we are actually on schedule... I wanted a page every two weeks, and so far that's how we've been doing :) I've actually had the title page for a while, but I wanted page 1 to go along with it :)

Don't cry over spilt bubbles.

We had one of those "incidents" yesterday. You know the ones...a two year old left alone...the center of chaos...mayhem and havoc insues.

We were having a good day yesterday. Everybody was getting along. Liam was behaving himself, and was interested in learning things instead of resisting anything he could. I was getting ready to go out and take the movies back, and was emailing Leanne back about the strip. Liam was playing nicely with Tess outside in the sandbox so I figured I had a moment.

5 minutes later I came running upstairs to Liam shouting "Mommy, broken!" At first I thought he was talking about his watering can again. But after looking around I noticed the 2 litre jug of bubble solution that had been almost full a few minutes ago, laying on it's side with the cap off.

Empty

A large soapy puddle on my livingroom carpet.

We were having a good day though, and Liam felt really bad about it. So instead of giving in and screaming...or crying...I just gave him a hug and sent him back outside.

It took me at least an hour, most likely more, with the carpet cleaner to get it all out. (Thanks for the loan of your carpet cleaner Wilma).

Now it's the cleanest spot of carpet I've ever seen :)

Movies !

Yesterday was Dan's one day weekend. Now he switches back to Monday to Friday schedule.

However, yesterday I was deserted for a D&D miniatures tournament that went from 11:15 till 6:30. (It actually was 12 till 6, but I was on my own between the former hours). Since it was just me and the kids, we went for a long walk over to the shop where the tourny was held. We took the boys some lunch, spent some money, and made our way over to the video store.

Liam and Teresa got "Elmo has two hands, two ears and two feet" which was as annoying as predicted. For the family we got "Brother Bear" which hasn't been watched yet. For the adults we got "The full ten yards", "Kill Bill, vol 2", and "Cold Mountain".

"The full ten yards" hasn't been watched yet, but Dan and I watched "the full nine yards" last week. I really love the first one, hopefully the sequel doesn't let me down.

I'm not sure why "Cold Mountain" got a academy award. I mean it's good for what it is...a bodice ripper on screen, but nothing about it jumped out at me as being all that cutting edge or even interesting. I cried, but then I usually do. Most movies have a strong message, and I respond to it.

I say most movies have a message because I'm not really sure what the point of "Kill Bill" was. The first volume was all about the action and ultraviolence, and I actually liked it for that. If the second one was about plot and dialog it wasn't bad on the one, but really fell down on the other. Usually you can count on Quinten at least for some interesting dialog...but Superman's alter ego isn't anything very profound in my books. I guess the movie was making fun of a genre, and definately succeded in that, but he could have done so much more with it.

Found the prefect birthday present for Bilbo *evil grin*

~~~

Oh yeah, congrats on the tournament Dan, Scott, Randy and Stacy :)

New toy

Check out the button down at the bottom of the sidebar :)
A guestmap !

Comix !

There!

I fixed the comics links. I added a bunch that I hadn't got around to before, and I removed a couple that weren't updating fast enough, or that just bugged me. If there is anything that you really miss then let me know and I'll put it back.

There should be something here for everybody now :)

Except bankers. Maybe I need to find a comic out there about bankers ;)

Sean complained to me last night about my lame commenting system...
So, any excuse for a change of scenery :)

In completely unrelated news...

APB folks :)

Bill and Leanne will be in town from the evening of the 19th, until after the 29th...Leanne told me which day exactly, but it went in one ear and out the other.

Itinerary as it pertains to me (and you) :
21st - All night music festival...call me or email Dan if you are interested in tagging along
27,28,29 - camping at lizard lake...alchomahol and swimming in bear country! Don't miss it, it'll be fun :)
Weds the 18th - gaming? It's up to Dan wether he wants too add two more cameos or not...

Contact me if you want to visit, or join in the fun :)

New Pictures

When I was tidying up our storage yesterday I found an old journal of mine containing a poem. I used to really like it when I was younger, but it seeemes even more relevent now. I apologized to the guys for the sexism...if you want, this could be you to :)

I recommend reading the lower post first.

Lunacy Game

What if instead of drugging, shocking, tyingdown our Mad Women, we put them in warm tubs of water naked as babies and got in there with Them and cooed and encouraged Them to cry great salt tears, to grieve the passing of dreams, the rape of the soul? What if we rocked Them to sleep in giant hammocks of competant fat arms when They are too damn exhasted with keeping up pretenses or holding Thier heads up any longer? What if we agreed with Her that the whole world is fucking crazy, out of balance and that She is not to blame for the halt and the lame, the lack of food, the phone not being answered, the port wine stains on babies, the wars on every contenent of the globe?
What if we gave Her a baseball bat (none of the nerf shit impotant harm nothing foam battica bat bullshit, but a solid wood bone cracking put a goddamn lump on it BASE FUCKING BALL BAT ) and let Her slam every post stump wall door window house car in an arena where She is cheered on to a frenzy?
Then let's pick Her up when she falls down exhausted and foaming and take Her down to the locker room for a steam bath and massage that leaves Her noodle limp and rage-less for the first time in decades.

Dina Kerik

In this day and age...(rant alert!)...

It is inappropriate for kids to be hyper, teenagers and pregnant women to be hormonal, and adults to be depressed. So instead there are pills to solve all of that...except now after 20 years "they" are finding out that these pills may cause even greater problems then the ones that they cure.

Mental illnesses are hereditary in my genepool, and I myself have dealt with bouts of depression since I was a kid. However, I went through a period of clinical counselling and learned to spot the signs early. I surround myself with supportive and understanding people, and I assert myself where I can to deal with my problems. I don't take pills, but I know that others aren't as able to control it as I am.

I don't believe that pills will solve the worlds problems. 50 years ago people didn't take pills to feel good about themselves. I'm not sure what they did...but apparently the world wasn't as stressful back then to begin with...at least according to those emails you see going around.

Things like

payingbillspoliticsatwookgoodgradesamIfatWARidiotpoliticiansglobal
warmingreligiouspersicutionmilitaryspendingchildrenshealthand
safetypregnancybeingalonefearofcommitmentfearoffailureDECIDE
whattodowithyourlifestudentdebtTIMEforyourselftimeforyourfamily
timetogetworkdoneinholidaysseasonchristmaspresentsovereating
weightlossexercisenotenoughsleepamIcoolschoolbulliesgunsinschool
povertyclearcutloggingoverfishingtariffsandmadcowandsickchickens
andgroundupprostitutesinporkchemicalsonyourveggitablesand
expensiveorganicshormonesinplasticfailingjusticesystemgangsjumping
peopleunsafeinyourownhomepedifileswalkingfree.....etc

can't be solved with a pill. Some of them can be solved by smart people sitting down with a pen and piece of paper...not thinking of themselves, but about solving the worlds problems...and then implementing solutions. It's either that, or bomb the place and start over ;)

When I was pregnant with Liam there was a lot of stuff going on in the world. 9/10 was the day I found out I was pregnant. I woke up the next day to a helicopter crashing into the Pentigon. THE PENTIGON. That doesn't even happen in movies, the Pentigon is the ultimate power for good or evil. Also around that time the Pickton investigation started which I followed closely.

One day while I was at work at Malatest (worp for those of you that know what that is) I was calling social service cases for serveying. One case, the guy started crying as I was asking him questions and spoke to me about killing himself...the next guy yelled at me.

I went home that night, and called in sick for the next month and a half. I lied to Dan about it, he thought I was actually working.

In the end I was busted of course, and I confessed that I was going through some major depression. The hormones from pregnancy magnified everything to be even worse then it already was of course. So I went to the doctor and saw a counsellor...just the act of admitting it made my feel so much better. But now my secret was out, professionals from all sides were pressuring me to take pills. It's the only time I've ever seen "the system" say "to hell with the child, save the mother". And I have no idea why that is. Why is it that pregnant people can't smoke, drink,eat unhealthy,take asperin,anti-hystimines or any other pills...Anti-depressents are ok, but nothing else is? They still change the way you chemically react to things...

Now they are finding out that anti-depressants cause suicidal tendencies in teenagers, and birth defects in infants. Shouldn't they already know that before they start pushing their drugs on people? Especially people who are already fragile enough.

I refused to take the pills while I was pregnant, much to the doctors dissapointment. It just seemed wrong to me to put my health first over my childs safety. I did, and do just fine without them. Sure I have mood swings, but that's the fun of being human.

It's how you learn to adapt to this screwed up planet.

A very interesting rant from Scott R. Kurtz

Because it was way to big to quote...
Copied from www.imdb.com

---

The Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead.
[A man puts a body on the cart]
Large Man with Dead Body: Here's one.
The Dead Collector: That'll be ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: What?
Large Man with Dead Body: Nothing. There's your ninepence.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not dead.
The Dead Collector: 'Ere, he says he's not dead.
Large Man with Dead Body: Yes he is.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm not.
The Dead Collector: He isn't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I'm getting better.
Large Man with Dead Body: No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.
The Dead Collector: Well, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I don't want to go on the cart.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, don't be such a baby.
The Dead Collector: I can't take him.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I feel fine.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, do me a favor.
The Dead Collector: I can't.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, can you hang around for a couple of minutes? He won't be long.
The Dead Collector: I promised I'd be at the Robinsons'. They've lost nine today.
Large Man with Dead Body: Well, when's your next round?
The Dead Collector: Thursday.
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I think I'll go for a walk.
Large Man with Dead Body: You're not fooling anyone, you know. Isn't there anything you could do?
The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: I feel happy. I feel happy.
[The Dead Collector glances up and down the street furtively, then silences the Body with his a whack of his club]
Large Man with Dead Body: Ah, thank you very much.
The Dead Collector: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
Large Man with Dead Body: Right.

So a few things for people to know today...

For the gaming crew:

1) Dan and I are grilling up a salmon tonight so don't bother bringing bbq food unless you hate salmon.

2) The earlier you guys show up, the sooner we can start sorting through party treasure

3) Rex is not dead yet...In fact he thinks he'll go for a walk...back to the keep for ressurection :)

That's it for now, I'll probably post something later with a little more meat to it :)

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

It's that time of year again for the friendly neighborhood paper delivery girl. (One of my many persona's). At 5:05 am when I left the house this morning , it was dark outside. I guess it's time to break out the flashlight again :( So this morning I composed a letter to my subscribers in regards to leaving a light on for me and clearing the path to the mailbox of hazards. Things like a badly parked car, a tricycle, a power cord strung across the path...all can (and have) make me trip as I fumble around in the dark. I think most people assume that thier papers just appear by magic in their mailboxes. They forget that somebody actually has to bypass the junk they leave all over the place in order to deliver the key to their morning rituals.

So if any of you get the paper...please be considerate towards the delivery person. Help them out by keeping your yard tidy and leaving a light on. It'll be appreciated :)

I'm walking around right now with a big shiner.

No, no, Dan hasn't been beating me...although it would sound better if he had been.

My two year old son did it.

The other day Dan, Liam and I were having a family tickle fight on the bed in our room. Liam has the best giggle ever (well, next to Teresa). He was giggling up a storm. I picked him up and rolled onto my back so he was lying face up on my tummy and I could tickle him from below. Dan was beside us getting both of us. Liam got really silly and started flailing, lifted his head and then snapped it back right on my eye.

The fun ended right there. I curled up holding my eye and feeling the lump swell under my hand. Liam was so scared. He kept saying "Mommy hurt" and trying to kiss me better. It was very cute in a trematic sort of way. I sucked it up and "felt better" for his benefit and then went downstairs and put ice on it.

Now I have this big black eye to try and explain to people...it's kind of fun really :)

So I have to apologize for my flakiness lately. A lot of what I blog depends, in a strange way, on my morning routine. I get up and do the route, think up something to say, and then turn on the computer and say it. At least that's what usually happens. These days, I get up and do the route and whatever I start to think about enevitably turns into html or story ideas that I can't share with you guys. Whenever I do have a good blog, Liam seems to know it. He's awake and raring to go. I lose my steam, and the blog doesn't happen.

At least that's my excuse ;)

So here's for everyone who's tired of reading about my creative dilema's.....

~~~

The Britch Story...

So Dan says to me for the forth or fifth time..."What is Scott's girlfriends name again?"

I replied,"Really it shouldn't be this hard for you to remember dear, it's my name but with an "r".

*Pause*

My loving husband says, "So her name is Britch?".

~~~

True story...I should submit it too readers digest ;) The girlfriends name is Trina for those of you who (like my husband) aren't too bright.

~~~

NorthAmerican Beauty

I did something this weekend that'll surprise the pants off of the lot of you...
After a bottle and a half of wine and a litre of cooler...I had a weak moment. Someone offered me a bit of pot, and I accepted.............
To put this in perspective, it's been 8 years since I last tried it at a New Years party. I spent the night being sick after one toke.
Before that, it was 2 years since I smoked anything, I had opted to quit for various reasons...

So it's been 10 years since I was a strung out pothead.

1 toke the other night was all it took to sober me up and send me into an episode of the X-Files. Paranoid, surrial, and feeling out of place, I went straight to bed. I had forgotten why I hate the stuff so much...Now I remember...And it's still not something I enjoy doing. So the obvious solution (again) is to just not do it.

I guess I just wanted to remind myself

A test from Jackie's (and Netwoman's) Blogs

My results

Wackiness: 38/100
Rationality: 56/100
Constructiveness: 56/100
Leadership: 26/100

You are an SRCF--Sober Rational Constructive Follower. This makes you a White House staffer. You are a tremendous asset to any employer, cool under pressure, productive, and a great communicator. You feel the need to right wrongs, take up slack, mediate disputes and keep the peace. This comes from a secret fear that business can't go on without you--or worse, that it can.

If you have a weakness, it is your inability to say "no." While your peers respect you, they find it difficult to resist taking advantage of your positive attitude and eagerness to take on work. You depend on a good manager to keep you from sinking under the weight and burning out.

Sounds pretty much like the truth :)

So...do you guys miss me??? I know I've been ignoring my blog lately...but it's for a good cause, really :) I'm really excited about the web comic. It is a chance for me to show off my creative and altogether too devious mind ;) or is that devient???

I think I need a new name though. "Flotsam" is already taken...so think on it folks. It will losely be based on a)Columbus's first voyage and b) The Little Mermaid
Note that I say losely, but that's sort of the premise. I was thinking of calling it Flotsam: a mermaid's tail, but Leanne isn't a fan I don't think. So, anyone have any idea's???

~~~

I opted out of going to Quoquitlam (sp?) this weekend for several reasons...the heat is a big factor, as is sitting in a car with the kids for hours in said heat. Dan worked yesterday, so he wasn't going to go either. Which means Heat+Car+Single Mom=Chaos...also add in that we would be staying the night in a strange place full of people and other babies...and the fact that Teresa got sick on Friday night, and it just wasn't going to happen :(

I hate this heat.

A roofer came by the other day to look over our roof (a long story ) and says that whoever built this place squeaked it in just under the bylaws. There needs to be more vents on the roof, and this is why our house is a sauna right now...sure wish I had a ceiling fan....

...Sure wish my spellcheck worked >:o( ...

Page one is up!!! I couldn't wait any longer :) I've started networking with other web artists to get link exchanges going...so I thought they should at least see that we have a site. When I claim that we actually have a web comic...well now we do !! Updates will be twice a month on like Mondays or something.

I spent a lot of time in the last couple of days working on the website for Flotsam
Now I need to tweek, and add a no frames version and I think I'm ready. Let me know what you guys think. I use Mozilla as a browser, so let me know if I need to fix any glaring mistakes in explorer and netscape :)

I couldn't sleep tonight because my creative juices were flowing so fast I needed to write them all down. I have the first 6 chapters ready to go now, just needing to fill in minor details like dialog ;) It's nice to have the visual aid of the artwork (or the literary aid of the writing) to help the story along. This is going to be fun!

I think where I failed with Storytelling vampire and demon was the interaction with my players. My plot was good, but my dialog sucked. We'll see how it goes with fictional people/victims instead of real ones ;)

ps @%$#* no spellcheck!

In closing for the "Kevin Smith week" , Here's a link that Randy sent me...Flying Car

Did I mention???...Yay Sean!!!

I want to thank you again Sean for helping us out yesterday. Dan and I really appreciate the chance to go out on a date ...5th one ever ;) ...and actually talk about anything other than the kids :) And your work on the fence was also very much appreciated....thank you, thank you, thank you! With out your help, an afternoons worth of work might have taken a couple of months' weekends.

For everyone else...
1) Sean's a wonderful person and deserves a hug
2) If you're looking for a good place to go for wings, check out the Colwood pub :) The Times Colonist rated thier wings 3rd best in the city. But Dan and I agree that we've never had better dry pepper wings. I can vouch for the terriaki as well....Mmmmmmmmmm!
3) I'm a little slow this morning, I've caught the brown bottle flu ;)
4)Really this should be higher on the list...Leane and I have finished the first page of our comic, and it looks awsome! I'm going to work on the website for it today. I'll just use my telus account for the webspace :) I'll start posting it once we have a few pages ready to go.
5) Stoopid blogger spellcheck :(

Who comes up with this stuff?????

Ola
They've changed how posting works at blogspot...yay! Now I can post things like this........................................................................................................... . . .
Nevermind, aparently it's still in the planning stages...sigh

I've been working lately on a script for a comic called "Flotsam" . It'll be losely based on the origanal "Little Mermaid" tale by Grimms...the one where everybody dies in the end :) Leanne has offered to do the artwork for it...so if it's a little quiet on this site, that's why.

Argh! The spellcheck doesn't work anymore either :(

One of Scott's friends has bought a house and moved in with his girlfriend. He decided to get rid of all of his old VHS tapes and Scott made him an offer. $10 for 3 boxes of tapes...Not bad. Anyways, we watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back the other night...

I've avoided this one because I thought it looked stupid. I think I've been jaded by all of the summer blockbuster comedic crap that they put out these days, ala American pie. I should have remembered who wrote it. I've haven't laughed that hard in ages...I'm not sure if that makes me an unfit mother or not, I'm sure real mom's don't like gratuitous swearing and blowjob jokes ;)

So in honor of Kevin Smith I declare this week to be Kevin Smith quote week...If any of you have a favorite quote from any of his movies (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob SB, or anything else that I don't know about) send it too me or post it on the tag board.

I have a lot of pent up writing to get through this morning...3 or 4 different posts right now :) Usually I forget what I want to say by the time my computer finally boots up...So I've started taking notes whenever an idea pops into my head.

~~~

There are a lot of deer living in my neighborhood. It isn't unusual for me to spot a few of them as I delivery newspapers in the mornings. In fact it's an odd day when I don't. Yesterday I was crossing a large property near the end of my route. The yard is mostly a rolling field (or lawn I guess since it's manicured), with a gravel driveway that cuts through the middle running downhill. The house sprawls at the bottom of the yard surrounded by flowerbeds. The whole thing is probably 4 acres.

Anyways, there is usually a herd (or whatever you call them) of deer grazing somewhere around this area. They have become so used to me now that they'll just look up when I walk by, no further away then a car length sometimes. So I was non-plussed when I walked through the yard yesterday, and was approached by one of them. She walked directly towards me, ears straight up, tail down and stopped just out side of my comfort zone. I said good morning, and kept walking and looking at her.

When I reached the house I looked over again and was shocked...Right next to the path where I had been walking a little fawn stood up. It couldn't have been more then a month old. The mom had hidden her baby, and when she saw me coming she ran distraction until I got past it. I'll mention again, this was in the middle of an open field that was very well mowed. I had no idea it was there.

Nature is an amazing thing isn't it?

Yesterday was a busy day for the kids and I. I re-wrote my essay at noon while they took a tour of the campus led by Grandma. Liam got to see the big saltwater fishtank in the biology department, and play with some of the cool toys in the physics department. As for me, I feel that I did much better this time around.

A carload of my wacky relatives are in town this weekend. Two auties and three teenage boy cousins make for a houseful for Mom. I think I might offer up a tent and some space in my yard for the boys tonight...We'll see.

The boys haven't ever really been to Victoria before, so Mom and I are playing tour guides. Egypt exhibit tomorrow, and Hatley/Fort Rodd Hill today. The boys are really interested in seeing "Xaviers school for the exceptionally gifted" and if you want to spy on us, check this cam at around 10:00am tomorrow :)

Well, I've calmed down from this morning. Maybe I can get the message across without acting like an infernal hosebeast...But I doubt it.

I want Scott out of my house.

I'm tired of dealing with his attitude. I hate how he's always in my way. I dislike the bad habits he teaches Liam, like bad language and throwing things in the house. I despise the way he raids our CD stack for music and never puts it back, or even tells us where we can find it. I really hate the way he acts one way when Dan is home, and another when he's not. He's sullen, aggressive, verbally mean to me and Liam. And I've had enough of it.

It's my house, and I deserve to feel welcome in it. I've spoken to Dan about it and I thought he had agreed to kick him out...Except nothing was ever done about it. I admit that the situation has it's ups and downs. But the ups aren't going as high anymore, and the lows are hitting bottom. When I can't have a conversation without hissing and spitting...That's an old indication to me that something has to change before I change it myself. I need to be able to count on Dan for support...But he isn't listening, Scott ignores me when I talk to him about it...And the seconds are ticking down to detonation.

I have a very familiar feeling right now. It's the same one I had when I was 13 and left home and the same feeling I've gotten over the years akin to fight or flight.

$600 a month is nice, but if you choose that over your wife's sanity and happiness...Don't be surprised if you come home one day to Scott laid out across the kitchen floor next to a very dented frying pan...I'm just sayin'

Yesterday I went to Camosun again and spoke with Linda about my EPT results. I have to admit that it was a bit of an ego boost :) On the multiple choice area I scored a total of 116/120 !!! Which puts me in college level courses. Linda was just excited that I scored so highly with only a grade 7 English (the last level that I passed, pre-dropout).

My essay writing was another thing. 8/15 :( I'm using the excuse that it isn't something that I've done in ages...Because when she was going over it all I kept having to give my head a shake. Things like context...Keeping it to third person instead of jumping around, and using "they" and "it" instead of spelling out who and what they/it was. For example, "They use it as a new creative outlet." instead of, "The students now use TV watching and video game playing as a new creative outlet."

Anyways, I rewrite the essay on Friday.

The problem with college courses, is that they aren't as flexible as upgrading courses. I was looking for something that I could do from home. Maybe I'll have to look into Open Learning...

I have gmail :) ...sylentlucidity@gmail.com...

Bloggers get an invite automatically...maybe this will convert more of you slackers ;)

Good Morning !

I wanted to post this now before I leave for up island. If I didn't, then I probably wouldn't do it justice.

I've had a great little vacation the last couple of days. It was a lot of fun being single again, but I'm ready to see my kids again :)

Last night was a blast, I haven't hung out with Sean and Kevin in far too long. We had some really good conversation. It's been so long since I've had a real adult conversation with anyone but Dan, that it was a little rough at first, but once it got going...I laughed, I cried, it was better than "Cats".

A note for Cheryl :)

Kevin behaved himself very well. He had some very good things to say about you two, and is very obviously in love. The romantic poet in me was doing backflips over some of the stories he told, and I'm very happy for you both. It makes me less afraid to leave my house, knowing that happiness really does exist outside of it :)

Soooo...
One vehement bachelor down and two to go...

Back to the evening. Monty's sucked! The girls weren't enjoying themselves on stage or something. Sean enforced a tradition and coerced a group of lesbi*ns to sign my bre*sts. "No guys allowed, maybe Dan won't kill me".

I think the last time I went out for an evening like this was when Dan and I were only engaged. I remember being much more embarrassed at my behavior the next day. Besides changing cloths in the middle of the street (and not flashing anyone, much to Sean's dismay) I didn't perform to my usual standards. And I think I'm ok with that. Check out my photolog for pics :)

Evil Dead the Musical !!!!

Evil Dead the Musical !!!!

Play the game ;)

Essay re-write

Well, there you go. I just got off the phone with Linda from Camosun. She has just marked my assessment and says that I got very high grades in the reading comprehension, vocabulary, and language expression. My essay writing skills were there, but wasn't what they wanted from an academic viewpoint. So she has offered to go over it with me and let me retake the written portion of the test :) I'd really like to take some writing courses anyways, so even if I score higher, I might take a lower level course. It never hurts to know your stuff :)