12/30/2010:
I had a nice Christmas weekend in VT, and I am looking forward to New Year's Eve. Rob and Brittany are hosting our Slobfest for the weekend. We have a "less geeky" night planned for the Eve itself: board and card games, general hanging out and fun. On Saturday, there will be D&D, with me as DM. I am looking forward to it. As ever, I have some anxiety, groundless as usual. It will be a great time.

I am tired of being tired. I haven't been sleeping well this week; my nights are either filled with bad dreams or very active dreams which are not bad in themselves, but leave me feeling unrested in the morning. I have also been feeling extra stiff and sore in my joints lately, more than I should feel at my age. I need to get more active, need to exercise. I still have little interest in the gym, other than as a place to do just that, out of the weather. I'd prefer to exercise here or outside when it is tolerable out. In my mind I feel motivated, but I'm having trouble turning that motivation into actual activity. Hopefully next week, when a "normal schedule" resumes, after the holiday, busy weekends, etc.


12/13/2010:
Half way through December already, with Christmas approaching fast. The time just flows on by.

I had a nice weekend, mostly computer-free. I finished my Christmas shopping online on Friday night, and I hopped online Saturday to check email, Facebook, and pay some bills, but that was about it. Didn't even turn it on yesterday. Was nice to be offline for a weekend :)

On Saturday, I got a few errands done, then in the evening headed down to Newington, CT. I met Pete and some friends there for dinner at Carson's, and then we went to a nearby bowling alley for duckpin bowling and some laser tag. It was a great deal of fun; everyone seemed to agree on that. I had never bowled duckpin before; definitely a different experience than the usual bowling, what with no gutters to worry about and smaller balls, all the same weight as the others. Laser tag was fun; we were in there 20 minutes, but it felt like 5. I would definitely go again, and try to do better (it was free-for-all, and I came in 7th of 12, so fairly average).

I got up early (ish) on Sunday to get a few things done around the house. I put plastic on the windows in the bedroom and on one window in the bathroom; just too much cold air coming in around them. I think new windows are in order, all around, when we can afford it. Probably not next year; more likely the year after. The plastic does an OK job of keeping the heat in. Definitely saves some $ on heating costs. Later in the afternoon, I went to the Abundant Wellness Center for my monthly massage. It was very nice, as always :) After that, back home to clean the boys' cages and then relax on the couch for the remainder of the day. Got some reading done (currently re-reading A Song of Ice and Fire -- it's my 3rd time through), got some work done on my D&D campaign (I'll be running World in Peril at Slobfest on New Years Eve weekend), and watched some TV (finished Season 3 of Lost, yay -- only 3 more seasons to go :) ).

Got to bed at a decent hour, slept pretty well, and here I am back at work today. Tonight, we're going to do reintroductions for our girls (currently Iris, Clover, and Zinnia are together, but Nilla has been living apart from them, in the bottom 1/2 of the cage). I'm going to take them downstairs to the play room and see how that goes. Hopefully well; Nilla and Clover seem to get along well, so that should help. We'd like all 4 to live together. It'd be better for everyone, as long as they can get along.


11/29/2010:
Had a lot of time off during the last week. Had a 4-day weekend, worked Wednesday last week, then another 4-day weekend. I have a couple of PTO days left over, "just in case", and I will carry them over to next year if I do not use them. I sold back my purchased PTO time, which should make for a nice little bonus in my Christmas paycheck (on top of whatever other bonus I receive).

Did a lot of relaxing on my time off. Two Saturdays ago, I was actually feeling pretty ill, so after some necessary morning errands, I spent the rest of the day on the couch, watching movies, reading, and playing some Puzzle Quest. I felt better the next day and for the rest of my time off, which was nice. I spent the rest of it doing things around the house, and doing more of what I did that Saturday (except the feeling really ill part).

For Thanksgiving, Joanna and I went up to VT for a few days, and we had a great time. We drove up on Thanksgiving day, spent a few hours at my parents' house, then went over to Aunt Lisa / Uncle David's for Thanksgiving dinner with the family. It was nice to see everyone there, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed. We spent a few hours there, then returned home to watch a movie (District 9 - my Mom wanted to see it, and she kept it to watch again; it can be tough to follow the first time through). My parents went to bed thereafter, but we stayed up to watch some more TV and relax. The following day (Friday), we spent mostly inside, just relaxing. We also watched Iron Man, which I wanted my parents to see. Dad slept through 1/2 of it, so I left that there, too, so he can watch it later. Later in the evening, we went down to my grandma's to eat dinner and spend time with her. We spent awhile there, and it was good. We then returned home to play a few boardgames, then relax in front of the TV, then sleep.

Joanna and I returned home to MA on Saturday. We left early afternoon from VT, arriving home around 3:30 pm. We unpacked and relaxed awhile, and then Sean and Kris came over and we played D&D. This was the first session of my new campaign, and it went quite well. Everyone had a good time, though Roland couldn't make it, and for that we were a little sad. It turns out he had come down with a cold (explains why he was so exhausted). I'm hoping he feels better soon, and can join us for the next session.

And now back to the grind today. I'm working a later shift to help cover because people are out; 11-8 instead of my usual 10-7. It was nice to sleep later, but things feel a little out of whack (I would have been done a few minutes ago on my usual shift). Ah well. Only an hour to go now.


11/16/2010:
It's been a decent couple of weeks, and there is a bit of news.

Clover had to go into surgery last Thursday to get a lump removed from her left shoulder. She made it through fine, and is now recovering in the solo cage. She goes back next Wednesday for her checkup, after which she will be able to rejoin her sisters in the larger cage. While Clover is resting in the small cage, we put Nilla, our smallest girl, in the bottom half of the girl's cage, so she can get more used to smelling them, and them her. This weekend, we'll swap them; Nilla up top, Iris and Zinnia in the bottom. Clover will probably go in with Nilla for awhile after she recovers, then we will work on introductions of all 4 together.

Cashew and Filbert, our newest boys, are making great progress. They come to the cage door much more readily now, and we pet and play with them before each feeding time. They are growing bolder each day; soon, I think we'll be able to start picking them up for some closer time together, including time in the playroom downstairs.

I am continuing with my rune studies. Still taking in slow. I am starting by writing the properties of each, from the book, because that helps me to remember them. I am including the galdr and magic uses of each, so I can eventually use my notebook as a reference guide during meditation and other practices. I have two more to write about, Dagaz and Othalaz, then I will move on to the next stage.

I've been playing several different video games lately. For multiplayer, League of Legends is still my most played, followed by Borderlands, and then Unreal Tournament (UT3, UT2004, and even UT99 have been played recently). Single player, I am working through Dead Space, and also Puzzle Quest (still - I took a couple months off), on the Wii.

I want to start playing D&D more often. I am putting together a smaller campaign for local folks; just 4 players, myself DMing. It'll be nice if we can start playing that soon on a more regular basis than our recent campaigns (once every 3 to 6 months). Due to scheduling issues, I did put my main campaign on hiatus until further notice. One of my players works a 6 am to 2:30 pm shift now, another works 6 pm to 3 am, and I found out recently that Bryan, another player of mine, recently moved to Texas. The Texas thing I can actually work around easiest; his character, Mayar, has always been flighty, so for him to take off in the middle of a storyline is not unheard of. The scheduling of the other two just can't be worked around, though, right now. Hopefully things will balance back out eventually, and we can pick it back up again. I would prefer not to lose either of their characters in the campaign.


11/05/2010:
I have had a really nice week off, and I still have a few days before I have to go back to work :) I've spent a lot of time relaxing, reading, playing games, watching movies on Netflix, and it's been very good. I hadn't planned to accomplish a lot this week, which is good because I haven't. In this case, relaxation itself was the goal, and in that I've done admirably.

Joanna and I did take a little trip east. On Tuesday, we drove out to Boston and went to the aquarium. She had never been to an aquarium before, and it was a great experience. This was my 2nd time at the one in Boston, but the first time was about 9 years ago, so I was quite ready to go again. She wanted to see seals, eels, sharks, and an octopus, and there was all that and more. She got a lot of really nice pictures while we were there; I'll hopefully be able to post some here or on Facebook later, after they are sorted. After the aquarium, we drove north, to Salem, where we had a very nice seafood dinner (scallops for her, baked haddock for me) and spent the night. On Wednesday, we toured Salem on foot. We visited the Witch Museum first, then wandered from there, around the streets and through the shops. We spent a good 6 hours walking around, I think, and it was all very enjoyable. The weather was cool, but it was nice and sunny out, plus we were in and out of shops all day so we didn't have time to get too chilled. I bought myself a nice dirk while I was there, scottish style (so said the tag), with a twisted steel handle. When I get to that stage of my rune work, I will probably use it as a ritual tool. That is what I had in mind when I purchased it, anyway. I also received a reading while I was there, at Omen. It was the first place we visited that did readings, and after circling through and visiting the other places, I got the best feeling about it, so I had it done there. Tarot was the medium, and the reading was positive. I am on the right path with my rune studies, it is said. I have known, but having external confirmation helps.

I have wanted to work on my runic studies this week, and that I have done. I am taking it slow, not rushing anything; this is the best way for me. I did some meditation on it this morning, and will again tomorrow, and, I plan, every day thereafter.


10/26/2010:
A week ago (10/19), we adopted a new pair of boy rats. Keeping with our nut theme, they are named Cashew and Filbert. They are a bit younger than our other boys, around 8 months old, and they are very shy, but they are slowly coming around (they always do). Cashew is a light brown/tan color, with dark eyes, Filbert is a black and white hooded. They are both very cute, and curious, and they come out and explore more and more each day. I don't think they were handled much in their previous home; they are ok with occasional petting, but resist being picked up. I have faith that will change as they grow more used to us. I think they have the potential to be very snuggly. Once they are more used to us and we are able to pick them up for awhile, we will introduce them to Walnut and Chestnut. They will hopefully all get along and be able to live together; currently they occupy separated halves (top and bottom) of a ferret nation cage.

Had a good weekend. Hanging out and D&D on Saturday, chores and some games on Sunday. It was very relaxing. I am working this week, then I have a whole week off from work, during which I have few plans. Joanna and I hope to go away during one of the nights, probably a weeknight so whereever we go will not be too busy. Maybe go east, to Boston or points near there. We will see what we feel like.


10/18/2010:
Joanna and I went to the mall on Saturday. We were there to pick up a couple things, but mainly just to look around. We always go to the pet store when we're there, to look at the bunnies and the puppies, even though we'd never consider buying one from there. We were surprised to see they had some rats, so we took a look...and found they had 3 young rats in together, 2 boys and 1 girl. Not a good idea, unless you want baby rats. We decided the girl needed to be rescued and given a good home, especially if she was pregnant, but also because if she wasn't, she probably soon would be. So we bought her, and brought her home, and she is the sweetest little thing. She's probably not more than 5 or 6 weeks old, quite a bit smaller than our other 3 girls. We have her in a cage by herself right now. Joanna brought her to the vet today to get checked out, and she got a clean bill of health. They weren't able to determine if she is pregnant or not; she is either not or it's just too early to tell. We'll keep her separate from the others for another week or two, to make sure and also so she can get a little larger before we put her in with the others.

I will also be calling the head office for the pet store and filing a complaint. Keeping girl and boy rodents of any kind together is not good practice, unless you are breeding them on purpose, and I know that wasn't the case there; it was plain carelessness.


10/11/2010:
I feel like a space cadet today. Everything is just flowing by slowly (except my workday, thankfully; almost done with that now), and my mind just feels...floaty. I've been able to get a decent amount of work done, but I really need to focus; otherwise, I start drifting away to other things, other thoughts. I feel like I'm still in "weekend mode".

Speaking of the weekend, it was great. Spent it playing games (mostly D&D, with a little bit of Magic) down on Long Island, during a 3-day weekend (I took Friday off). It was myself, Steve, Wills, Mark, Jen, Chris, Dave, and Serena. Dave just hung out; he wasn't interested in playing D&D with us. The rest of us played (Chris is DM). It is a 4th Edition-based campaign, but we are all playing non-standard classes and races, all created by Chris. It has been fun so far; I look forward to the next session.

Chestnut came through his surgery fine. The tumor was larger than expected; the doctor removed the lump, and also had to remove part of the side body wall, but he did a great job and everything looks good. Chestnut has to stay isolated from his brother Walnut now, so he doesn't chew out the stitches. This makes for 2 sad rats. Tonight, we are going to let them be together again, fully supervised, for a little while, so they will be less sad. They won't be able to be together unsupervised until the stitches are out, but the short times together will hopefully improve both of their moods significantly.


10/06/2010:
Chestnut is going into surgery tomorrow, to get a small lump removed from his left side. He is a little over a year old, and is strong and healthy, so recovery should be no problem. But there is always worry... Joanna took him to the vet today to have the lump checked out, and during the examination, it was found that he has worms. Poor little guy :( He has medicine for that now; one dose today, another in a week (I think; Joanna has the dose information at home). Walnut, his brother, has not yet been tested. Once we have a sample for the vet (we'll bring one with us tomorrow), he will be tested as well. Hopefully no worms for him, but if so, at least we can easily get medicine for him. Just trying to be positive about the surgery tomorrow...


10/01/2010:
Last weekend was nice and mostly relaxing. I got done what I wanted to get done around the house. Cleaned up the back yard a bit by trimming some branches that needed trimming. Cleaned the bathroom vent fan. Cleaned out two of our computers with some dust-off spray (two of them sit near the floor, so they pick up quite a bit of dust). Filled out some financial paperwork (and finally got it submitted today, after gathering supporting documentation).

While filling out paperwork on Sunday, I realized that my driver's license had expired. On my birthday, this year. Which was over a month ago. Whoops! I never received a reminder to renew it. So I had to go to the RMV on Monday morning to get it renewed. Thankfully, it didn't take long, and I now have a paper license. The real one should arrive in the mail early next week.

I did play some games last weekend. Finally finished Fallout 3! The ending came up on me unexpectedly. I knew I was getting close, but when it ended I was still surprised. I would like to play through it again sometime. There are a lot of things I didn't do, skills I didn't maximize, etc. Not immediately, though. I now need to restart Dead Space and play through it until the end. And of course there is also League of Legends, and, more recently Borderlands to play (the latter of which Sean, Mark and I played until 3 am last Friday night). Will most likely be playing more of one (or both) this evening, though not that late this time :)


09/24/2010:
Had a very nice weekend, last weekend. Drove up to VT Friday night. It was crisp and beautiful. More traffic than I usually encounter at that time of night, but nothing overwhelming.

On Saturday, I spent time with my family in the morning and early afternoon. Nice conversation, and a really nice walk with my Mom after brunch. We walked up through the fields and woods, then down the hill to grandma's house, where we stopped and visited. My aunt Linda was there, too, and it was nice to see her. We chatted and finished up a puzzle the two of them had been working on when we arrived. Mom and I walked home afterward, and then my parents had to leave for awhile, to attend a BBQ, so I had a few hours alone, which was really nice. I spent awhile reading (The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie), then took a walk in the woods. My ankle was bothering me a bit, so I didn't go too far, but I found a nice quiet place and meditated there for awhile, reciting the names of the runes I am studying, and practicing some of the galdr and tones for them. I felt the presence of others, briefly. It usually doesn't take long. I invited the good to stay, asked the mischievous to leave. Awhile later, I walked back home. I read awhile longer, then had some dinner and watched Old School on TV. Around 8, I drove over to Jesse's parents' house, where a wedding afterparty was going on (his sister Rebecca was married that day). I had a great time hanging out with Jesse (hadn't seen him in a year) and his family. Rob and Brittany were there, too, and I got to meet some new people as well. I left around 12:30 am, tired but happy.

Sunday morning, I spent some time with my cousin Katie, hanging out and talking, playing with her younger brother (he mostly played on his own, with some interaction from her and nearly none from me). It was great to see her. It is important that us younger cousins stay in contact (and older, too, but I'm terrible about doing it). After a couple hours, I went on my way, back to Jesse's parents' house for a brunch with the bride and groom and most of the people from the previous night :) It was a very fine day; before I left, Jesse and I got to talk awhile about things, mostly D&D and such, and it was good. We gave each other some ideas, which will hopefully be put to use by each of us at some point :) I left there a little after 4 pm, stopped at my parents' house to pick up my things, and then drove home. The drive home was uneventful; I arrived around 7:30 pm. I was enjoying my computer-free weekend, so decided to continue it and just watch some TV instead, to relax.

It was a very good weekend for me, and I am hoping this one coming up will be the same :)


09/13/2010:
Tried to update a couple of weeks ago, but this server was apparently having an issue and I kept getting disconnected.

I had a nice weekend. On Saturday, I went to home depot to by a sliding lock for one of our doors, and some caulk for the windows. I am hoping to be able to seal the windows so I do not need to plastic them this winter. After returning home, I had breakfast and then worked on the windows for a few hours. I was able to get 6 of them done (outside only for now; if there is still a draft, I will caulk the inside as well, as needed) on Saturday, and the other 5 on Sunday. Saturday evening, Pete and Sean came over and we played some games (Naval War and Munchkin), then went and saw Scott Pilgrim. It was a very nice evening.

Joanna and I spent Sunday at home. We only went out to do a little grocery shopping, to get some meat and vegetables, which Joanna turned into a very tasty stir fry. All the meat is now cooked, and the vegetables are all prepped, so we can have it throughout the weekend, with different sauces and spices. Last night's lemon pepper stir fry was very tasty! We played some League of Legends, then ended the night with a movie (Christine) and a couple episodes of The IT Crowd :)


08/23/2010:
I felt well yesterday, up until about 11 or so, when my stomach started bothering me. It got worse, and I felt really ill, which persisted until well after I should have been sleeping. I did sleep, but it was broken by bad dreams and feelings of sickness, and I woke feeling fairly ill and tired. I called work and advised I was going back to bed for an hour and would work from home, which I did. I felt better as the day went on, and was able to eat a little bit. Work is now done, and the boys' cage is clean. Joanna is going to clean the girls tomorrow, and I will probably vacuum thereafter, to pick up all the bits of cloth and bedding that are always on the floor after a cage cleaning.

Not sure if I feel up to games tonight. Maybe some Fallout 3, since I still need to finish it, and I can stop whenever I want. Yeah. That sounds good.


08/22/2010:
My tiredness issue lasted through Friday, but it was better yesterday, and I am definitely feeling better today. Yesterday, I slept in, getting out of bed around 10:30. I fed the cat, had some breakfast while I paid bills, then went outside for awhile, in the beautiful weather. I mowed the front and back lawns, did the trimming, and edged along the driveway a bit to cut away the overhanging grasses. It looks a little better now, and I felt accomplished. I came in and showered, then Joanna and I went out and did our errands, including what little bit of grocery shopping was needed. When we got back, we had an early dinner and watched a couple of episodes of Lost, and then it was game time. And game we did. Joanna and I played League of Legends for three hours, then she went back to her MMO (Perfect World) and I played some UT2004 with the clan for five hours. Eight solid hours of gaming...I can't remember the last time I played video games for that long, and I think it really helped me relax. My left hand was all cramped from so much UT, and it was completely worth it. We had lots of laughs and good games. I am hoping for some more gaming today, later. Going to take care of a few things online first, and I have a massage appointment at 2:00, which I am, of course, looking forward to :)


08/19/2010:
I am almost totally exhausted. I felt the same way yesterday. It was actually worse then, because it started when I crawled out of bed and lasted pretty much until I crawled back into it after working and then watching some TV because I had little energy for anything else. I slept better last night than I had the previous two nights, and felt pretty well this morning, but I started feeling tired again on my drive into work, and now I feel mostly wiped out. I have the energy to complete my day and drive home, but it may be another couch night at that point. I'd like to play some online games, but will need to see if I am up for it. If I feel the way I do now, probably not...


08/17/2010:
Had a fun weekend down on Long Island with my family. My sister and JJ were down there, at a house his parents own. My parents drove down Friday afternoon, and I drove down that night after work. Was a long drive both ways, but otherwise (apart from the spider) a great weekend. We hung out at the beach for awhile on Saturday, and later that evening Mark and Michelle came up and joined us for dinner. It was great to see them and have Michelle meet the family :) We are hoping they can come up to VT sometime in the next few months.

Ashes, Cinder, Silk, Silver, Lily, Chips, Cheese, Dip, Coal, Char, and Jazzman were delivered today towards their final resting place. They will be cremated and returned to us in an urn, to join the others on our mantel. We plan to engrave each of their names in the urn; the label will read simply "Ashes' Family"; short but full of memory. I dreamed of them last night, all alive; it was joyful but sad, because I knew they were all gone from this world, but in my heart and mind they live forever.


08/04/2010:
It is a sad day, for Chips passed away this morning. He was the last of his siblings, and he joins his mother, brothers, and sisters on the other side. He was happy and comfortable to the end; even last night he was eating and bruxing happily. The sudden deaths always hurt us the most, but for their sake I prefer it to a lingering sickness. I love you, Chips; you were my favorite rat and I miss you dearly.


07/31/2010:
A beautiful summer day, and I feel very accomplished. I got the lawn mowed and trimmed first, then took a trip to Home Depot. I picked up some bolts with nuts and a few lengths of steel pipe. I used the former to bolt our hose rack back together and the latter to fix the clothesline that was knocked down by the tree that fell a couple of months ago. The clothesline fix wasn't difficult; it was more a matter of deciding how I wanted to fix it and then getting around to doing it. And now it's done :) I also uncovered the large pile of wood in the back yard so it can weather and season, and stretched the tarp out on the back lawn to dry.

Joanna and I went with Sean and Sarah last night to see Inception. I thought it was very good; it was different and "thinky", which I usually enjoy. My dreams have been that vivid; I just wish I could be that lucid during them.


07/26/2010:
I haven't been feeling very well the last 5 days or so. General anxiety, tension, upset stomach. Definitely worse while I'm working. Felt OK on the weekend, though not as good as I'd hoped. I hope to go to the gym tomorrow morning, before work. I haven't gone steadily for a couple of months now; with the heat and humidity, I just haven't felt like it. The humidity has been lifted today and it is supposed to stay like this for the rest of the week, so hopefully I can get some exercise in and feel better in general.

We picked up a Netflix subscription last month. It has been great so far. We've watched a few movies, and have started watching Lost. I'm almost done with Season 1 now, and I'm loving it. They have 5 seasons streaming on Netflix, and the last I can get on DVD.


07/15/2010:
Had a fantastic Slobfest weekend last weekend. We gathered at Rob & Brittany's for a weekend of gaming and good times. Total assembled: myself, Sean, Mark, Roland, Rob, Brittany. I ran the D&D campaign, the rest played. There was much fun had by all and we look forward to the next one.

On Friday, one of the fillings in my teeth came loose, and it fell out on Saturday. It was one of my larger ones, so there was some pain, but nothing a couple of Aleve a day couldn't take care of. I got it refilled this morning, and hopefully it stays put this time. I expect it'll be a little painful and sensitive for the next few days, but that isn't a problem; at least it's not a gaping hole now.

I have been feeling pretty worn out this week. Work has been very busy, to the point of overwhelming sometimes, as I try to get everything done and it sometimes just doesn't happen. I may be putting a couple hours of overtime in this weekend (voluntary) to get some of our requests cleaned up. I have also submitted to have Monday off, and that was approved, so yay 3 day weekend. I plan to spend it doing yard work and RELAXING. My mind needs a break, before it breaks.


07/09/2010:
Time gets away from me. There have been things going on, updates to make, but I just haven't.

I've been feeling pretty worn down this week. I am blaming the humidity for most of it. 90+ degrees every day (over 100 on at least two I think) and heavy humidity makes me an unhappy person. That kind of weather makes me feel ill if I'm outside in it for much time, so I tend to stay inside in the cool A/C. But that means less sun and less fresh air, so I feel...blah. The temperature has been dropping the last couple of days. Was mid-90s yesterday; supposed to stay in the 80's today I think. I have mostly-inside plans for tomorrow but hopefully I can get outside for a little while, and also on Sunday. It may rain, which would be good. If it's not too wet, I will get out regardless.

Chips isn't doing so well. He has lost most of the strength in his back end, though he is maintaining enough strength to still get around the cage, up and down the ramps. He is still eating and drinking; all good things. But I still worry about him. He is into old age for a rat; 2 years and 9 months. We always want them to live forever, yearn for it, even though we know that's not possible. It can be incredibly saddening sometimes. But we get him out when we can and cuddle him and let him wander around and continue to live the good life he has had. As long as he is comfortable and happy, that is what matters most.