Wednesday, 4-28-2010 - Friday, 4-30-2010

Wednesday:

Played D&D Online with Susan.  

Watched Desperate Housewives.

Thursday:

Susan took the kids to the art museum.

Steve Helms and Joe Zachariah came over to hang out.

Friday:

Went over to Stephen and Lindsey Jendraszak's house, talked a lot, played Upwords, and drank.

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Tuesday, 4-27-2010

Another stressful day at work, but on the plus side I got to tear down a bunch of old systems that I had grown to despise.  Yay!  Susan and the kids were sick with head colds.  Watched some Desperate Housewives and played The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom.  I slept on the couch, not because I was in trouble, but because I wake Susan up at night and she needs her sleep.

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Monday, 4-26-2010

Work was stressful, we launched a new web site and there were a lot of fixes, changes, and additions that had to be made.  Didn't get them all done, but was exhausted nevertheless.  A night of beer, Legend of the Seeker, and Dragon Age:  Origins made everything better.

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Sunday, 4-25-2010

1.  Susan went out for 5 hours or so and I stayed home with the kids.  They were really good, especially considering that the weather sucked and we had to stay inside most of the day.  

2.  During Sophie's nap, I kind of passed out on the couch while Rainer watched cartoons.  I awoke to Rainer, sitting on my shoulder, blowing into my ear.

3.  We saw a raccoon (it was apparently the first real raccoon they'd seen).

4.  After they went to bed, Susan played D&D Online with me.  I rolled fighter, she rolled wizard.  I had a great time...  We'll see if she wants to play it with me again.

5.  Read some of The Furies of Calderon.

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Saturday, 4-24-2010

1.  Susan went to Zumba in the morning.

2.  I went out, alone, to play Starcraft:  The Board Game for a few hours during the day.  I played The Overmind, renamed creep "Soylent Purple," and had a damned good time.  

3.  Won the raffle for the board game, so walked away with almost $100 worth of swag.  

4.  Watched some Desperate Housewives with Susan.

5.  May have convinced Susan to play Dungeons & Dragons Online with me...  Only time will tell if this works.

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Sunday, 3-7-2010 - Friday, 4-23-2010

It's been a busy 7 weeks and I haven't had the motivation to update the blog until now...  So, here goes:

Education

• Strongly considering going to grad school in the Spring 2011 term to get an M.S. in either Media Arts and Science or Human-Computer Interaction
• Considering moving to the Broad Ripple or Lawrence areas to make the commute to IUPUI less intense

Gaming

• Continued playing Dragon Age:  Origins...  Still haven't finished it
• Played and beat Fortix

Health

• Found out that dad has Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (AVRC), which basically causes your heart to randomly stop working
• Dad got a defibrillator
• I got a blood test to determine whether I have AVRC (since it's a dominant genetic trait, there's a 50% chance)...  No results yet, though

Reading

• Started reading The Furies of Calderon, which Lee Cherolis bought me for Christmas.

Social

• Met Zankruti Mehta for the first time.
• Met Jillian Bull for the first time.
• Started hanging out with Steve Jendraszak for the first time since high school
• Met Lindsey Jendraszak for the first time
• Birthday parties!  Rainer turned 4 and Sophia turned 2.  Birthday included fireworks, green and blue cakes, and lots of friends.

Tradeskills

• Learned how to make beer
• Made a batch of amber beer
• Learned how to tailor
• Made a cape (pics forthcoming)

Work

• Work has been super busy, which is partially why I haven't been updating the blog
• Finally got a second IT guy...  Hopefully work will become less busy as a result

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Saturday, 3-6-2010

1.  Still sick.

2.  Susan took Rainer to basketball camp.  Sophia was distraught that they left, so I asked her what she wanted to do.  Sobbing, she responded "I want chocolate!"  So, we went to Starbucks.  I had a cinnamon latte, she had chocolate-covered graham crackers. 

3.  Dad & Sheila came up for the weekend, we met them for lunch (along with Jessica, Christopher, Halie, and Cooper) at Eddie's corner cafe.  

4.  Susan and Rainer went to one of Rainer's friend's birthday parties...  Sophie and I took naps.

5.  After nap time, it was beautiful outside (for early March).  The kids and I played outside for a couple hours.

6.  Played Fallen Earth.

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Sunday, 2-28-2010 - Friday, 3-5-2010

Sunday:

1.  Hung out at mom's house.  Realized we had left the space heater on (to dry up the water from the previous night).  So, Susan drove back, turned the space heater off, went to Zumba, then returned to the party.

Monday:  

1.  Went to work at Barnes & Noble.    

Tuesday:

1.  Susan and the kids started getting sick.

2.  Played D&D over at Studio 301.  

Wednesday:

1.  Susan was so sick that she wouldn't get out of bed until 10:30.  Took a half day and watched the kids so she could sleep.

2.  Won a free copy of Fallen Earth off of MMORPG.com!

Thursday:

1.  Started getting sick.

2.  Played Fallen Earth.

Friday:

1.  Continued being sick.

2.  Played Fallen Earth.

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Saturday, 2-27-2010

1.  Felt better!

2.  Rushed over to the YMCA with the kids so Susan could go to Zumba.  Put the kids in "Child Watch" and read a book in the lobby.

3.  Susan's dad brought over Mexican food for lunch and watched the kids for the afternoon!  Susan and I bummed around Castleton Mall for a few hours.  Bought some curtain rods and hung out in the Borders in the mall for the rest of the time.  

4.  Erin, Nick, and the kids came over in the evening.  Had pizza.

5.  After the kids went to bed, which was chaotic, we got out some booze, chocolates (which we acquired at the mall), and The Great Dalmuti.  "Your mom" jokes were pretty rampant all evening.

6.  Around 10:00 or so, the water softener decided to start vomiting forth briny water.  Susan caught it pretty early, fortunately, and there was only about 1/4" in the utility room when we got to it.  Nick used some sort of pipemancy and bypassed the water softener!  Going to have to call the plumber back on Monday.  :(  

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Wednesday 2-24-2010 - Friday 2-26-2010

Wednesday:

1.  Erin and her kids came over to hang out

Thursday:

1.  Sick.

2.  Gross water backup in utility room.  Plumber came over and fixed the drain.

Friday:

1.  Sick.

2.  Didn't really do a whole lot...  Watched a bit of TV, read a bit, went to bed.

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Tuesday, 2-23-2010

1.  Back to work after a nice vacation...  Greeted by 3 pages of unread emails.  Took me almost the whole day to clear the inbox.

2.  After work, Susan went to Zumba.  The kids didn't remember how to function when Susan was gone and freaked out for most of the time.  Distracted them by playing the "let's replace light bulbs" game, which consisted of me changing light bulbs and making weird noises while they jumped on the bed.  

3.  Played Shadow of Yesterday with the Studio 301 gang.

4.  Slept horribly... Didn't fall asleep until around 2:30 and woke up a bunch.  Probably should avoid 1 L of blue Mtn Dew before bed...  Maybe cookies, too.

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Monday, 2-22-2010

1.  Went to the grocery in the morning.

2.  Susan's parents watched the kids for most of the afternoon, so Susan and I had a date day!!!

3.  Bummed around the bookstore for a couple hours.  I prepared some stuff for Shadow of Yesterday.

4.  Hung around the house for the rest of the time and had a nice afternoon in.

5.  Susan's parents came over for dinner.

6.  Watched some Desperate Housewives after the kids went to bed.

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Sunday, 2-21-2010

OH Trip 2010, Day 3:

Return Home:

1.  The kids woke up around 6:00...  Again.  Woke the grandparents up immediately and they played with the kids for a while.  

2.  Sheila made bacon, smoothies, and other yummy breakfast foods.

3.  Sophia finally got comfortable enough with Sheila to let Sheila hold her.

4.  Started driving home around 9:30, arrived around 3:00.

5.  Cleaned and unpacked for a couple hours.

6.  Watched Desperate Housewives with Susan and caught up on a week of the Internet.

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Saturday, 2-20-2010

OH Trip 2010, Day 2:

1.  Rainer woke everyone (including Sophie) up around 6:00am.  I tried to convince Sophie to go back to sleep, but she said "Want to see grandpa John, he's nice" so I got up.

2.  Couldn't find any ground coffee, so I had to crush a bag of Shady Arbor coffee (roasted by the Jones' neighbor) with a bottle of cider.

3.  Woke Susan up around 8:20 and she told me that we had a bag of coffee already ground...

4.  We hung around dad and Sheila's house all day, played in the snow, built pillow forts, and hunted for moose.

5.  Pandora Radio made me a custom station because I said I was looking for medieval court music on their Facebook page.

6.  Susan and I got to take a nap around 3:30, dad and Sheila played with the kids.

7.  Kids went to bed around 7:00.  Adults followed shortly thereafter, heading to bed around 9:00.

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Friday, 2-19-2010

NC Trip 2010, Day 8:

OH Trip 2010, Day 1:

1.  Decided to cut the trip to NC a bit short and head to Ohio.  Had a pancake breakfast with Jennifer and Kyle before we left.

2.  Played over at the Jones house with Jennifer and Mackenzie until lunch time.

3.  Drove to Ohio to visit dad and Sheila, arrived around 10:30pm. 

4.  Stayed up and chatted for a little while, but went to bed around 11:00.

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Thursday, 2-18-2010

NC Trip 2010, Day 7:

1.  Woke up and went to It's a Grind!  with Susan and the kids.

2.  Went back to Jennifer & Kyle's house for Sophie's nap.

3.  Played at Bond Park in the afternoon.

4.  Nathan and Leslie came over in the evening and brought absinthe!  I'd never had it before and was totally excited.   Traditionally, a shot (or more) is poured into a glass.  Then, water is poured slowly through a slitted spoon, over a sugar cube until it dissolves.  The result is a greenish, cloudy alcohol that tastes a lot like licorice.  

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Wednesday, 2-17-2010

NC Trip 2010, Day 6:

DC Trip, Day 3:

1.  Woke up, had a mild headache (probably from the mead).  

2.  Drank coffee.  Headache was gone.

3.  Went to Brueger's Bagels, ordered an egg/cheese/bacon bagel...  Started feeling ill.

4.  The HSU gang nursed me back to health with:  advil, water, sprite, and motion sickness meds.  

5.  Drove back to NC after lunch.

6.  Played Rock Band and Bayonetta with Jennifer, Kyle, and Susan until bedtime.

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Tuesday, 1-16-2010

NC Trip 2010, Day 5:

DC Trip, Day 2:

1. Woke up at 6:45...  In spite of my best efforts to sleep in.  Had bagels & coffee with Jeff and David.

2. Had a company meeting for 6 hours or so.

3.  Went out drinking with coworkers at a local pub.  Yuengling was had.

4.  Jeff and I went back to the hotel, drank mead, and ranted until the wee hours of the evening (9:20pm).

5.  Went to bed "super late" (9:30pm).

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Monday, 2-15-2010

NC Trip 2010, Day 4:  

DC Trip 2010, Day 1:

1.  Went to our favorite coffee shop:  It's a Grind!  James and Wayne (our two favorite coffee dudes) were there, so we chatted for a while.

2.  Hung out around the fountain near the coffee shop (at Rainer's urging).  Contemplated moving back, although mom and Jessica said "no."

3.  Picked up a rental car around 11:00.

4.  Drove to DC from 1:00 - 6:00...  I don't remember the trip very well, but there was a lot of epic metal on the way.

5.  Met Jeff at the hotel and went to TGI Fridays.

6.  Jeff walked me around parts of the city...  Saw the White House, the Washington Memorial, the Capitol Building, and some other stuff.  Started freezing, so we went back.

7.  Called Susan, talked for about 15 minutes, and went to bed at 10:00.

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Sunday 2-14-2010

NC Trip 2010, Day 3:  Valentine's Day

1.  Went to our favorite coffee shop ever:  It's a Grind!  Had awesome coffee, contemplated moving back to Cary, realized that we would need more money to do so, and started scheming...

2.  Hung out with Jennifer & Keith for a couple hours.  Listened to music, talked about Makerbot / RepRap.  May have received corporate sponsorship, but we'll have to wait and see.

3.  Went back over to Jennifer & Kyle's, ate lunch, hung out, talked about various things on the Internet.  

4.  Sophia, breaking my heart, said "I have a MakerBot... On my bottom."  Susan thought it was hilarious and continued to break my heart by revisiting the utterance.

5.  Nathan & Leslie came over in the afternoon.  Talked about games, us needing to move back, Shadow of Yesterday, and absinthe.  

6.  After the kids were in bed, we watched Un Chien Andalou (a crazy movie partially created by Salvador Dali) and then Stardust.  Had fancy Valentine's Day desserts from somewhere.

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Saturday, 2-13-2010

1.  Ate breakfast at Holiday Inn.  They had really crappy coffee (as usual), so we picked up some Starbucks afterward.

2.  Arrived at Jennifer & Kyle's in the morning.  

3.  Revealed my plans about building a RepRap / MakerBot.  Susan rolled her eyes, but everyone else seemed interested.

4.  After Sophia's nap, we went over to Jennifer & Keith's house to play for the afternoon.

5.  Had a few beers and played some Wii Sports Resort (mainly fencing and archery).  

6.  Jennifer & Kyle came over later and brought some of my home-brewed mead and cider.  We downed the mead pretty quick, but the cider wasn't hit so hard.

7.  Ordered pizza.

8.  Sat around, drank, and talked for quite a while.

9.  Went back to Jennifer & Kyle's, put the kids down, chatted for a while, and went to bed.

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Friday, 2-12-2010

NC Trip 2010, Day 1:

1.  Left the house around 9:30 and drove...

2.  Stopped for lunch at BK.

3.  Stopped for dinner at Shoney's.  If you've never been, I would recommend not going.

4.  It started snowing around 9:00 in Winston Salem.  We debated about driving through, figuring we could make it if we drove slowly...  Then 8 people slid off the road in a 3 miles and we decided it wasn't worth dodging crazy drivers...

5.  Spent the night at Holiday Inn Express in Winston Salem.

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Thursday, 2-11-2010

1.  Had another snow day (they hadn't finished cleaning up from yesterday's blizzard)...  Unfortunately, I had to work anyway in order to get a bunch of stuff done before my vacation.

2.  Susan's parents came over in the morning to hang out and play with the kids.

3.  Susan and the kids went over to Jill's in the afternoon.

4.  Cleaned and packed.

5.  Watched Outsourced.  

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Wednesday, 2-10-2010

1.  DC got a blizzard, so we had a snow day!

2.  Got some packing done for the trip

3.  Did a bunch of cleaning

4.  Prepared to run Shadow of Yesterday... At the bookstore :)

5.  Rainer, thinking D&D is awesome, started drawing dungeon maps on his Etch a Sketch and told me he's learning how to read so he can play D&D with me.  Definitely one of my top "proud father moments" so far.  

6.  Ran Shadow of Yesterday, it was awesome although there was a lot of stumbling in the beginning.

Addendum from Tuesday:

1. Christopher fixed our car in 30 seconds... Apparently Jiffy Lube unplugged our Mass Air Flow Filter when they changed our oil and forgot to plug it back in... Who knew?  So, he opened it, smacked himself in the head, shook his head, plugged it back in, and said "don't go to Jiffy Lube."

2.  Fixed the printer... The print head was covered in horrible goo.  Fixed it by wiping it off with several moist paper towels.  Must remember this next time it stops working.

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Monday, 2-8-2010 and Tuesday, 2-9-2010

Monday

1.  Worked

2.  Watched Heroes

3.  Worked on some Shadow of Yesterday stuff

Tuesday

1.  Worked

2.  Helped Susan figure out Shadow of Yesterday

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Sunday 2-7-2010

Sunday

1.  It was the Super Bowl, or so I heard on Facebook...  Did the normal stuff:  go to grocery, clean, etc..

2.  Played in the snow with the kids for a while.

3.  Reread a bunch of The Shadow of Yesterday.

4.  Read some stuff about building robots.

5.  The Colts lost, which was a tragedy.  At least that's what I read on Facebook.

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Saturday, 2-6-2010

1.  Got more snow.  Another 3", approximately.  So, Rainer had me out all morning (8:45 - 11:45).  Events included some of the following.

2.  Put the kids in the sleigh and tried to pull them 0.6 miles to the soccer field to go sledding.  That didn't go well (Rainer wanted to walk, but got snow in his boots) so we ended up turning around before we got there.  

3.  We improved upon the snow fort substantially.  Its final measurements were about 8' long x 6' thick x 4' tall.  We dug a tunnel through it that he could crawl through. 

4.  Our neighbor (Diane's) grandson Eli came was at her house, so we went over to play in the snow.  Met some of our neighbors I'd never met before.  

5.  Drove down to the Fashion Mall to get Susan some magical serums that, when combined, would cloak her pores (as per Invisibility Sphere).  There was much rejoicing.

6.  Stopped by Trader Joe's for some foodstuffs and balloons.

7.  Kapil came over for dinner and hanging out after the kids went to bed.  He brought Graeter's Ice Cream (they have the best blackberry chocolate chip ice cream ever)...  T-minus one week until he goes to India and gets married.    

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Friday, 2-5-2010

1.  Susan's dad came over for the morning to hang out.  

2.  It started snowing substantially around 10:30, but D.C. got hit with a blizzard and the office closed down.  I got to take some time off in the afternoon.  Susan, the kids, and I went outside and played for about 90 minutes before dinner.  I built a snow fort with the 3" or so that had accumulated on our driveway.  Susan made a snow mouse that Rainer crashed down.  Sophia ate more snow than was probably healthy...  It's the only thing we'll let her pick up off the ground and eat, so she's always immensely pleased with herself.  

3.  Gave the kids a bath (which never goes well when I do it for some reason).  

4.  After they were in bed, Susan joined a ceramics ListServ to get in touch with ceramicists.  I played a lot of Dragon Age.

5.  Watched an episode of The Tudors.

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Thursday, 2-4-2010

1.  Woke up refreshed!

2.  Susan made a friend (named Jill) in the Noblesville area!  Jill brought her four kids over and they played at our house for most of the afternoon.  Rainer was infatuated with some of the girls (who were all older than him) and kept asking to go over to their house after they left.

3.  Worked at Barnes & Noble for a while.

4.  Got a book about robotics.

5.  Susan went to Zumba.

6.  Played a serious amount of Dragon Age:  Origins.  

7.  Watched two episodes of The Tudors.

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Wednesday, 2-3-2010

1.  Woke up exhausted from a late night and an early morning.  

2.  Susan and the kids went down to Greenwood to hang out with Erin and her kids.  I stayed back and worked.  

3. Although I am ashamed this is truly a sign that I'm getting old, I stayed home from D&D so I could go to bed early.  May the gods of gaming have mercy on me.

4.  Watched Heroes with Susan.

5.  Played some Dragon Age.

6.  Went to bed early.

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Tuesday, 2-2-2010

Tuesday:

1.  Cleaned and prepared for D&D.  I was Lucan Varis, Master of Economics, Ex-Minister of the Royal Purse, etc., etc..  Ended up staying awake until 2:00-ish.

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Monday, 2-1-2010

1. Susan and I started dating 2/1/2003, so this is our 7th "dativersary" as we've been calling them.  Don't tell me that "anni" from "anniversary" is the part that means "year" because I don't care.  Anyway, it's been a great seven years and dating Susan was probably one of the best (if not the best) decision I've ever made.  Love you!

2.  Snuck out during the day to buy her a bouquet of flowers under a ruse: taking Rainer to the bank.  The bluff check was successful and she had no idea until we got back and Rainer ran in and said "Mommy, we brought you flowers" before I could get my shoes off...  Oh well, it's the thought of the deception that counts rather than the somewhat flawed execution.

3. In the evening, we watched some Legend of the Seeker, she did some ceramics, and I played some Dragon Age...  Now if only we had a book store involved, it would have been an accurate recreation of the day we started dating.

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Sunday, 1-31-2010

1.  During breakfast, Rainer said "daddy... I have a cunning plan...  We should go to the park"  (thank you Black Adder).  I pointed out that it was 10 degrees and that our noses would freeze, but he responded "Dude!  We just need... Dude warmers!  They'll keep our noses warm."  We didn't got to the park, but we did take a short walk, albeit without dude warmers.

2.  Went over to mom's house for the morning.  On the way over there, we stopped by Cuppy's Coffee to get refilled on caffeine.  Ughk!  Don't go there for coffee...  Their gelato is tasty, but the espresso tastes like poo. 

3.  Went over to Susan's parents' house in the afternoon and for dinner.  Clarence had been in Florida, so this was the first time the kids had seen him in about 2 months.  There was a lot of running around, jumping off stairs, building towers, and burning wood.

4.  At night, Susan did more ceramics stuff, managing to salvage her wayward bowl mold.  I played a few hours of Dragon Age.

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Saturday, 1-30-2010

1.  Susan went to Zoomba in the morning...  I stayed home with the kids who just wanted mommy.

2.  Took a Dragon Age break to mentally recharge when Susan got back.

3.  After the kids went to bed, Susan did some ceramics stuff...  Had a a malfunction with a bowl mold.  Casualties included the garage, the carpet in the back room, and my boots.  I was played more Dragon Age.  

4.  I learned how to make quesadillas.

5.  Watched an episode of Legend of the Seeker & Heroes.

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Friday, 1-29-2010

1.  Susan and the kids went over to grandma Linda's while I was working.

2.  Played a bit of Allods Online to check out the warrior class.

3.  Susan took the kids out right before I stopped working for the day, so I played some Dragon Age.

4.  Grandma Linda came over to house sit after the kids were in bed...  Susan and I went to United Art and Education to get some clay or something for her ceramics.  Went to Barnes & Noble in Clearwater.  Since I said Susan was going to mooch some of my cinnamon dolce latte from me, the baristos (?) gave her a 2.5 oz cinnamon dolce latte and told us it was the "mooch size."  I read about how to program microprocessors.  After the bookstore closed down, we checked out this music place next door (it claimed to be a restaurant with concerts).  We went inside and were greeted by what seemed to be a sign that prevented weapons or other nefarious things being imported, decided it wasn't our type of place, and drove to Taco Bell for some fourthmeal tacos.

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Monday, 1-25-2010 - Thursday, 1-28-2010

Monday

1.  Played some Dragon Age:  Origins.

2.  Watched some Desperate Housewives with Susan.

Tuesday 

1.  Played D&D with the Studio 301 gang (and Susan). I was Lucan Varis, Susan was Tasita Wellspring.

2.  Had coffee around 11:00 pm and couldn't fall asleep until 2:00 am.

Wednesday

1.  Erin and the kids came over for the morning / afternoon

2.  Played D&D with the Studio 301 gang.  I was The Inquisitor, we stole an air ship, and I got to shoot a wizard in the gut with a ballista.

Thursday

1.  Watched some Desperate Housewives with Susan

2.  Played Dragon Age:  Origins

Kid moments:

1.  Sophia ate too many cookies one day, got a wicked sugar buzz, layed down on the rug in the kitchen for a while, didn't move, and just giggled

2.  Sophia correctly identified a Purple Worm mini

3.  Rainer correctly identified a Fire Elemental mini

4.  Rainer has been perfecting his opossum dance

5.  Sophia informed me that a spoon was, in fact, a choking hazard and would not believe me when I told her it was the opposite of a choking hazard

6.  Rainer has decided that playing D&D means adults get a bunch of minis and politely telling the monsters "shoo, go away"

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Saturday, 1-23-2010 and Sunday, 1-24-2010

Saturday, 1-23-2010

1.  Shopped at Trader Joe's and Penzy's Spices.

2.  Grandma Linda came over and house sat for us after the kids went to bed...  Bookstore (partially to make Susan a D&D character) followed by Logans (to finish said character and have some alcohol).  

Sunday, 1-24-2010

1.  Susan went to Zumba and the grocery.  Since it was almost 60 degrees, the kids and I played outside most of the day.  There was a great deal of digging in mud and throwing mud.  Rainer and Sophia were opossums most of the time we were outside and Rainer even invented a possum dance.

2.  Found out how to build a machine that creates things in 3D with molten plastic...  Now I just have to come up with a way to justify the $500 of parts required to build it.

3.  Played Dragon Age.

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Friday, 1-22-2010

1.  Another not-so-hot day at work.  Too many bugs and requests to deal with.

1a. Went to Barnes & Noble to work for the morning while Susan took the kids to get Rainer's hair cut.

1b. Ate lunch at El Camino.

2.  Played some Allods Online...  When it is properly released, I'm probably going to go with Psionicist or Mage.

3.  Got a pack of 20 Fudge Dice in the mail, addressed to Brother Spoon.  Thanks, Nathan!

4.  Said "good riddance" to a week that was kind-of-crap with blueberry daiquiris.

5.  Watched some Desperate Housewives with Susan.

6.  Went to bed at 9:30, trying to reclaim some lost sleep.  

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Thursday, 1-21-2010

1.  Mixed more clay in the morning.  Susan took the drill back.

2.  All the schools in the area were closed due to rain of ice that had coated the roads.  So, Jessica came over for the afternoon to hang out.

3.  Mom came over for dinner and stayed at the house with Jessica and Susan until 9:30-ish.

4.  I went to play D&D with the Studio 301 gang.  Played The Inquisitor.

5.  Went to bed around 12:45.  Susan apparently couldn't fall asleep until 3:00 or 4:00.

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Wednesday, 1-20-2010

1.  Pretty exhausted from staying up until 1:00-ish.

2.  More things broke at work.  More headaches ensued.

3.  Susan tried to mix her clay into usable slip.  This entailed the following:  attach a paint mixing attachment to our drill, watch our drill fail to spin, rent a bigger drill from a tool rental place, break paint mixing attachment, buy mortar mixing attachment, watch new drill start spinning slowly, watch new drill start smoking, rent a giant 40-lb drill, and finally mix clay successfully.

4.  Watched Legend of the Seeker and Heroes.

5.  Went to bed early.

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Tuesday, 1-19-2010

1.  Back to work, unfortunately everything at work decided to break.  Headaches ensued.

2.  Got beta access to Allods Online.  Called Nathan to ensure he could get a key. 

3.  Went out to play D&D with the Studio 301 gang.  Watched a bit of Dragon Age, ate some Chinese, and played Lucan Varis.

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Saturday 1-16-2010 to Monday 1-18-2010

Saturday:  

1.  Cleaning and stuff.

2.  Susan cut a hole in the wall and added a vent cover in the hope that our toilet pipes wouldn't freeze.

3.  Susan took Rainer to the grocery (Sophia and I took a nap).  They came back with a goldfish.

4.  Erin & Nick came over for dinner and to hang out for the evening.  We ate, drank, and played games.

Sunday:

1.  Susan's mom took the kids for the afternoon.  Susan and I went to Borders for a while, the Fascist (Fashion?) mall, and then to Barnes & Noble.  Not quite sure what happened at grandma Linda's, but when we came back the kitchen was covered in bird seed...  

2.  Ate dinner with grandma Linda.

3.  I finished reading The Shadow of Yesterday.

4.  Watched The Tudors with Susan.

Monday (MLK Day):

1.  I was off for the day.  We didn't have any food in the house, so we took the kids to Perkins for breakfast.  They had pancakes with sprinkles and were pretty ecstatic about it.

2.  Went to the grocery.

3.  After the kids were in bed:  I checked out a few demos to some games (none were terribly impressive), updated my Obsidian Portal campaign to comply with The Shadow of Yesterday.  Susan went to the hardware store to get supplies for her renewed foray into ceramics.

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Friday, 1-15-2010

1.  Found out that Allods Online is supposed to be kind of like Spelljammer the MMO...  Got Nathan interested.

2.  Susan's mom came over to house sit for us.  Susan and I went to the book store for a while and then went to the Claddagh so Susan could get all liquored up and forget about the day.  

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Thursday, 1-14-2010

1.  The cat hadn't been feeling well for a few days, hadn't eaten a whole lot, and had developed pretty raunchy breath.  So we took her to the vet first thing in the morning, expecting it to be something like a mouth infection...  Apparently, her collar had tightened around her throat and had been digging into her skin.  Susan went to see her and was pretty traumatized.  So the cat will be going collar-free from now on, hopefully she won't get lost on her many outdoor adventures.  

2.  Worked at Barnes & Noble for the afternoon.

3.  Went to play D&D in the evening, finally got to play Sludgeworth (I think he'd been ready for two months).

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Wednesday, 1-13-2010

1.  Failing to find Sorcerer again, Nathan pointed me to a narrativist / gamist RPG called The Shadow of Yesterday.  It's free, so I decided to check it out.  I'm now pretty set on running my next game using the system.

2.  Susan and the kids went down to Greenwood to hang out with Erin and her kids.  

3.  Since it was 75% off on Steam and since Tycho Brahe from Penny Arcade recommended it, I downloaded the demo of Armored Princess.  It reminds me a lot of how the old Heroes of Might & Magic games could have gone had they decided to advance into more of a hero-based game than an kingdom-based game.  It was really slow to play, though, so I didn't buy it.

4.  Watched The Tudors with Susan.

5.  Read the rest of The Shadow of Yesterday (it's only 30-40 pages long).

 

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Tuesday, 1-12-2010

1.  Started thinking about playing Sorcerer by Ron Edwards, but couldn't find my book.  Looked everywhere I could think of, but I couldn't find it.  The search wasn't completely worthless, though, because I found about 4 cubic feet of old books and papers I didn't want.  Also, I finally found my Rhapsody of Fire:  Triumph or Agony CD!  

2.  Listened to Triumph or Agony.

3.  Demons & Wizards:  Demons & Wizards arrived at my door!  

4.  Listened to Demons & Wizards:  Demons & Wizards.  Metal was with me this day, even if indie RPGs were not.

5.  Susan's mom house sat for us after the kids went to bed, so Susan and I went to the theater to see Avatar.  I loved the movie and recommend it to anyone who is interested in one or more of the following:  video games (specifically MMOs), saving the environment / communing with nature, incredible computer animation, or having a tail.

  

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Monday, 1-11-2010

1.  Back to work...  Unlike last term, I didn't have to work over the weekend for the first week of courses.  Woo hoo!  Automated tech support FTW.

2.  Played League of Legends with Nathan.  Gave the game a thorough analysis.  Determined that improving one's skills in the game is really hard because the game does not give you a lot of feedback and mistakes snowball from the time they happen until the end of the game.  I think I'm done with the game.

3.  Watched an episode of Legend of the Seeker.

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Sunday, 1-10-2010

1.  Susan went to the grocery, I stayed home with the kids and cleaned.

2.  Exhausted by the morning, I passed out on the couch for an hour while Rainer sat on me and watched "Here Come the ABCs" by They Might be Giants...  I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get "The Alphabet of Nations" song out of my head for a few days.

3.  Christopher, Jessica, Tyler, and Cooper came over to our house while all the adult females were at an adult female's party.  I'm sure inappropriateness was had, but since mom was there, I don't want to dwell on the matter.

4.  Drank a bottle of home-brewed hard cider.  

5.  After the kids were in bed, Susan and I folded laundry for 90 minutes while we watched The Guild:  Season 3.

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Saturday, 1-9-2010

1.  Susan's mom took Rainer in the morning.  

2.  Susan and I took Sophia to get her first haircut...  She was traumatized, but got a balloon.  

3.  We took her to Barnes & Noble to get a Cinnamon Dolce' Steamer and some Chinese food at the Taiwan Tea House.  

4.  After lunch, we dropped Sophia off with Susan's mom for a nap and some time in the afternoon.  Susan and I had a nice afternoon at the house.

5.  Played some League of Legends...  Still not very good, but no one called me a suck roast, so it's an improvement (in a way).

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Friday, 1-8-2010

1.  The snow having been plowed, Susan went with the kids to pick up her high-grade dirt.

2.  Since everyone was gone, I played League of Legends during lunch...  Gaming during lunch is one of the only things I miss about working on-site.

3.  Susan acquired a migraine and was pretty miserable for the rest of the day.

4.  Watched an episode of Desperate Housewives.

5.  Played some League of Legends...  After a round in which I did particularly poorly, one of my teammates told me that my name (Darkroast) was appropriate.  Although I imagined it would be an insult, I asked him "in what way is it appropriate"?  His response:   because you suck roast.  I still don't know what to make of the insult.  On the one hand, I feel embarrassed for him for having said that in front of 9 other people.  On the other hand, if a "suck roast" did exist, it would have described my playing that round fairly accurately. 

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Thursday, 1-7-2010

1.  Received approximately 4.5" of snow.  We played in it for a while, although Sophia made me carry her the whole time.  Attempted to use a leaf blower to remove snow from the driveway...  It was less-than-efficient.  

2.  Susan's trip to acquire her high-grade dirt was postponed.

3.  Played some League of Legends.

4.  Watched an episode of Desperate Housewives.

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Wednesday, 1-6-2010

1.  Noticed that I put the wrong date on yesterday's blog post.  This is the real 1/6/2010.

2.  Played some League of Legends...  Read a lot about League of Legends.

3.  Susan and the kids went to the clay store to buy 200 lbs of high-grade dirt.  The store didn't have enough on-hand, so the plan is to go back tomorrow and pick it up after they have time to mix it.

4.  After dinner, we all went to Lowes to buy trash cans in which to mix 200 lbs of high-grade dirt.

5.  Susan's mom came over to house sit for us so Susan and I could go on a date.  Our choice?  Bookstore.  I had a bit of an existential crisis while there and started thinking (for the first time since quarantine) that I need a new hobby or project...  Wasn't able to come up with any ideas, however.  

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Tuesday, 1-6-2010

1.  Worked at the bookstore for a while.

2.  Susan's mom came over for most of the day to play with the kids and stayed for dinner.  

3.  Played and obsessed over League of Legends.

4.  Watched an episode of Desperate Housewives.

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Saturday - Monday 1/2/2010 - 1/4/2010

Saturday:

1.  Susan fell down the stairs and hurt her ankle.

2.  Susan's mom took Rainer for the afternoon.  Susan, Sophia, and I went to the Fashion Mall.  I bought The Great Dalmuti.

Sunday:

1.  Took the kids grocery shopping for the first time in months.  

2.  Remembered why we don't take the kids grocery shopping.

3.  Sophia and I went over to see Christopher, Halie, and Cooper in the afternoon.  Susan and Rainer stayed home.

4.  Downloaded League of Legends

Monday: 

1.  Got overwhelmed by tech support at work (start of the new term = people who don't know how to log in and want to talk to me about it)

2.  Rory showed me that Christopher Lee is creating a symphonic metal album about Charlemagne

3.  Beat Trine.  Loved the game, but the last level sucked hard.  The game completely switched from a thoughtful puzzley game to a race against the clock platformer.  I still recommend the game, but beware the last level.

4.  Played some Team Fortress 2

Sometime in there:

1.  Watched:  Desperate Houewives and Wuthering Heights

2.  Played:  Trine, Team Fortress 2, League of Legends

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Friday, 1-1-2010

1.  Due to some late-night coffee, I actually woke up without a headache for the first time in days.

2.  Our kids woke Erin and her kids up around 7:30.  The kids played together most of the morning. Stella busted her lip while jumping on the bed with Rainer.

3.  Erin, Nick, and kids went home before lunch.  

4.  Played some Team Fortress 2 during Sophie's nap.

5.  After Sophie's nap, we went to Meijer to pickup some ingredients for coddle (it's an Irish stew with andouli sausage, bacon, and some veggies)...  Delicious stuff.

6.  Susan cooked and we ate said coddle.

7.  Played some Team Fortess 2 and Trine in the evening.  Went to bed early-ish.

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Thursday, 12-31-2009

1.  Quit working a couple hours early in order to prepare for the night's festivities.

2.  Erin, Nick, and kids came over to spend the night around dinner time, the kids went to bed shortly thereafter.

3.  The adults stayed up and had:  stir fry, fondue (cheese and chocolate), blueberry martinis, and burboun.  

4.  We talked a lot and played drunken Boggle.

5.  Passed out around 12:30.

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