tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8658511569505412682024-03-05T10:43:35.575-08:00Tastes Like LintUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-22643091048446626822010-05-10T09:13:00.000-07:002010-05-10T10:22:10.476-07:00Fun times, fun times.Recently, Kate and I have been having some fun doing something revolutionary that we haven't done before, and that only a handful of people do; roleplaying in a roleplaying game.<br /><br />As many of you know, Kate and I both play World of Warcraft, a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game). A few days ago we created two new characters on a new server (which will remain unnamed, to protect the innocent). We had a grand ole time, actually; relaxed in a nice little bar, met some people and made some friends. Yeah, roleplaying in a roleplaying game; who knew it could be fun?<br /><br />Seriously though, this is something Kate and I have wanted to do for a long time; we both enjoy RPGs and were both, I think, disappointed at the lack of roleplaying in WoW. Indeed, RP is somewhat looked down on as somewhat stupid by the majority of players. Those are the same people that I would classify under the "twitch-happy spazbot" label and proceed to do my best to avoid. WoW even has specific servers which they designate "roleplaying" servers and even on those ones you still get people who complain about it. I don't understand why people act surprised when they play a RPG and people want to Role Play. Too many people out there just don't think.Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02810460134036259725noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-8421958763829221292010-03-28T20:13:00.000-07:002010-03-28T20:33:07.149-07:00Resurrection!Much has been happening this past week.<br /><br />We were getting ready for the arrival of our newest little one, Rosie, when she decided surprise us! With herself! Panic ensued.<br /><br />But seriously, no, she's here, she's happy to be with us and we're happy to have her with us, too! Here's some pics. First off, me and her in the hospital together; skin-to-skin contact is very important with babies like Rosie that are a little early.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHJCVCYRVORwFJWXPTBajKcnQd7B5c8G9JtZldwsEWArau4TVBiDFvtoh-xupdJQq3wnN_s-YP42Paa18HSK3gPFFM6M5PcLCDcw5vU-hcXmjIxi-DGTdlDSpHphIKXiNuZfkXffZdpg/s1600/jonandrosie.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHJCVCYRVORwFJWXPTBajKcnQd7B5c8G9JtZldwsEWArau4TVBiDFvtoh-xupdJQq3wnN_s-YP42Paa18HSK3gPFFM6M5PcLCDcw5vU-hcXmjIxi-DGTdlDSpHphIKXiNuZfkXffZdpg/s320/jonandrosie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453892398043445138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Second, a picture of her looking at us, she has beautiful dark grey eyes, and hair that seems to be more my color of brown than Kate's.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLickPKxsRRGKwRf2y0Vfgjua6wujDyLM6z6sEY9RqOleW2DHT958umRU-Meq52r90h_zXXmj90We14g79ZW4mpz_nxwRB7F66Q2zTGFXB88Te6Jc3H2-LM7LSmWiNDkEefXiZ_ACyrHk/s1600/Rosieopen.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 120px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLickPKxsRRGKwRf2y0Vfgjua6wujDyLM6z6sEY9RqOleW2DHT958umRU-Meq52r90h_zXXmj90We14g79ZW4mpz_nxwRB7F66Q2zTGFXB88Te6Jc3H2-LM7LSmWiNDkEefXiZ_ACyrHk/s320/Rosieopen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453892687928919554" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And finally, Rosie in her car seat snuggled in tight (look at those chubby cheeks!) and her favorite toy, Sisseahorse. Kate thought up the name and picked up the toy LONG before Rosie was born, she's been playing it occasionally for Rosie while she was still in her.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEholSdZRI2HqM1rtQncR6oF5nvbpIld7ODtBjS92hMb9fP4pNpVFKuKxhyphenhyphenPPgaINSlRPhmMJnKf11_mThnZdPXLZnC4TAIRSGFBn6qJOK0CinJPjkxNY4BU3nQ3PJyDKcTv90QtZ8RK9Sg/s1600/rosiecarseat.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEholSdZRI2HqM1rtQncR6oF5nvbpIld7ODtBjS92hMb9fP4pNpVFKuKxhyphenhyphenPPgaINSlRPhmMJnKf11_mThnZdPXLZnC4TAIRSGFBn6qJOK0CinJPjkxNY4BU3nQ3PJyDKcTv90QtZ8RK9Sg/s320/rosiecarseat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453893091983149714" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So that's the big news from us, we'll keep you updated and make sure to post more frequently now that things are starting to get settled down!Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02810460134036259725noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-62107845859469253792010-02-23T07:54:00.000-08:002010-02-23T08:11:48.394-08:00Update on RosieLess than two months left to go, and I can't wait! I want this baby out of me, and I think she wants out, too--she's constantly kicking and punching me, as if to say, "Hey! Let me out! It's getting crowded in here!" (It really is.) I'm looking forward to being able to hold her in my arms... and I suspect I may even sleep better after she's born, given how much her kicks keep me awake.<br /><br />Yesterday we went for a growth ultrasound and non-stress test--both went very well indeed. Rosie was quiet enough for the ultrasound (though even when she's barely moving the techs always seem to think she's being unusually wriggly) and we got to see a lovely picture of... her foot. She's face-down and kind of squished in there, in the same position as last time (when we also got a nice foot view), so it's likely there will be no more cute pictures until after she's born. We did get to see her exercising her lungs, though, which was quite interesting.<br /><br />The non-stress test was especially interesting, as it was the first one we'd done, and I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. The rooms they normally use for it were all full, so since the test was done on the Labor & Delivery floor we got to use one of the regular rooms, which was very nice and now I have a better idea of what to expect when Rosie's born. For the test, they had me lie down on the bed and strapped two monitors to my belly, one to listen for the baby's heartbeat, and one to measure any contractions I might have. The test was to last 20 minutes, and they wanted to see two accelerations (Rosie's heart rate going up from her usual 130ish to 150 or so) in that time... I was warned that for some people it could take up to a couple hours to get enough accelerations.<br /><br />Well, Rosie is not 'some people'! By the end of the 20 minutes, there had been 9 accelerations recorded... and no one was quite sure whether I'd had any mild contractions or not, since she was kicking the monitors the whole time, so hard that we could see them moving up and down. (It didn't help that I was laughing a bit... she's feisty, and very protective of her space it seems.) So, it seems our little girl is doing very well indeed. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-40313986643105905832010-02-11T05:42:00.000-08:002010-02-11T06:01:27.528-08:00The mystery of the pancake cookiesApparently <a href="http://www.baking911.com/cookies/chocolate_chip.htm">I'm not the only one</a> who's had problems with the basic cookie recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag--I really should have done my research before I started last night, but I wanted something soft and chewy that would work well with nuts, and I thought that it couldn't get any simpler. Well, I was wrong... I ended up with 32 thin and lumpy chocolate-chip pancakes that refused to come off of the pans (and yes, the recipe does say to use an ungreased baking sheet!) While this could have been averted by not following the recipe (using shortening instead of butter) or simply chilling the dough first, I seem to have come up with a rather unorthodox solution.<br /><br />You see, I have this pan.<br /><br />It's a dark pan, so I never ever use it for baking. It has raised edges, making it absolutely wonderful for when I want to bake potato wedges, heat up breakfast sausages and toast, make chicken nuggets, bake ribs, etc. I <span style="font-style: italic;">love</span> this pan.<br /><br />So last night when I had used the last of my nice light-colored insulated cookie sheets I sighed, got out my favorite pan for the last dozen cookies, and hoped they wouldn't come out too burnt.<br /><br />They were <span style="font-style: italic;">perfect</span>.<br /><br />Love conquers all? ;)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFJwRIHssKDPm-MdJRF3JVud_TlqQr_EC1RNUfkKHMkifQ2t5NlPIY0Kp48Qpz3-N-K6jc4O0-p5kEvIRjgcP2JBBxtr9MDAPw2XFDJpcpECXnNUbQW1zcvPZLnqaULc9q0RMoMu_n34/s1600-h/cookies.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFJwRIHssKDPm-MdJRF3JVud_TlqQr_EC1RNUfkKHMkifQ2t5NlPIY0Kp48Qpz3-N-K6jc4O0-p5kEvIRjgcP2JBBxtr9MDAPw2XFDJpcpECXnNUbQW1zcvPZLnqaULc9q0RMoMu_n34/s400/cookies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436985659520435970" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-66150485048183561632010-02-09T12:01:00.000-08:002010-02-09T12:13:30.837-08:00"Fast" FoodI decided to go for a different sort of theme with Jon's lunch today...it didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped (we didn't have any ketchup packets, and I think Jon might have been disappointed at the lack of a cool toy) but for the most part I'm pretty happy with it:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1UpJlaCQkuKxwo7p_95TgyU86kkkkpFh-8VNOraFl9s_mv4IZH61hdPSq2O2XEU8aSZDhp9PXZDWgxExMAo617geVRviZYyT7QTwxjf327nId2lzYNX6I90Apt2kO-WonnVZe7h6HRA/s1600-h/bento_020910.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1UpJlaCQkuKxwo7p_95TgyU86kkkkpFh-8VNOraFl9s_mv4IZH61hdPSq2O2XEU8aSZDhp9PXZDWgxExMAo617geVRviZYyT7QTwxjf327nId2lzYNX6I90Apt2kO-WonnVZe7h6HRA/s400/bento_020910.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436336597163741506" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Chicken patty on a bun with lettuce and mayo, another hippo cookie, potato wedges, blood orange slices, green grapes, and cherry tomatoes.<br /><br />I still feel like I'm over-using the cherry tomatoes, but they're just so handy...and I already had a cup of grapes, it would have looked weird to use those instead. One potato's worth of fries wasn't quite enough to fill to the top of the box, I should have baked another half potato or so, and the blood orange slices ended up not looking too exciting. I still have a couple left, so for next time I will look for ideas to make it really stand out--maybe peeling and segmenting the fruit instead of slicing it?<br /><br />I'm not sure yet what Jon's lunch is going to look like tomorrow, but I did practice a fun kiwi cut on my lunch today, so that may play a role...maybe some banana, too. Maybe I'll make a big pot of rice tonight to last us the rest of the week in lunches, that keeps things fairly simple!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-2132990219883440532010-02-05T12:58:00.000-08:002010-02-05T13:20:32.063-08:00Bento + Bonus Baby BellyI don't always do fancy, pretty lunches for Jon...those are just the ones I like to show off. Here's his lunch for today--much simpler than the other ones I've posted! (It's a little sad that my fridge has better lighting than my kitchen, don't you think?)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNZrf1w_I-r2u1DdzQJOOF39R9sF_VY59keWgxSbxVOt6hZ0AGAvCdkJ9kN8nGM4P5rt5bhyphenhyphenYbPi7QKic5yYurOnrc5ZKReMKRSO-RwPinpSH7plehNat6W8ti0nviMGUx2sxncqcpUo/s1600-h/bento_020510.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNZrf1w_I-r2u1DdzQJOOF39R9sF_VY59keWgxSbxVOt6hZ0AGAvCdkJ9kN8nGM4P5rt5bhyphenhyphenYbPi7QKic5yYurOnrc5ZKReMKRSO-RwPinpSH7plehNat6W8ti0nviMGUx2sxncqcpUo/s400/bento_020510.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434867474621121138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Baby carrots, sliced pickle, peach with yogurt and brown sugar, cold cheese sandwich, and a chocolate hippo cookie--simple and super fast, I was done in under 10 minutes. (And yes, that's homemade bread--I love my bread machine!)<br /><br />Anyway, I have been scolded for not putting up pictures to show just how large I'm getting, so here I am, posing for the camera:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Humpback_stellwagen_edit.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfPMyyvcxbhOxWvqYiuWtLXxOqniBxJTg35lTf1jliPRwvgedgI7VsMrwUtMeQwp19MeBFddCGT2FPMiK2Q0FFJRJuA0ifnyRjVvM2wLbygsRBdS44nueuCrS6CtELu9bpNgJbRvCHwA/s400/whale.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434869034425037090" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All right, so I'm not really a whale, but I'm certainly starting to feel like one! Even most of my maternity clothes are too small...and the ones that still fit are a little tight. Thank goodness Jon has plenty of comfy shorts and t-shirts for me to borrow!<br /><br />Here's a real picture of me--my dad sent the <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/womens/bc2c/">awesome shirt</a>, I love it. :D It's only been a week and I already think my belly's gotten bigger...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvtrAXobOPNetvC2yYoinO6KB3hqptQ43gg93BPfqApaQykh-JnS_cGWG3YxHWi7UjmEy5jpcSdj8trJXwDCs8odohgpqUqEkSqxAT07hQkF6KPj8mDtOCTW6_Q94F0s5e8CmaWopdppM/s1600-h/belly1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvtrAXobOPNetvC2yYoinO6KB3hqptQ43gg93BPfqApaQykh-JnS_cGWG3YxHWi7UjmEy5jpcSdj8trJXwDCs8odohgpqUqEkSqxAT07hQkF6KPj8mDtOCTW6_Q94F0s5e8CmaWopdppM/s400/belly1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434871149821714642" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And here's a bird's-eye view, proving conclusively that I no longer have feet:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4UxvLDr6yHNUkVzeKop2I2rUGDfzIP6H7JG1wdHOCF0Ee8FmDlGL0qoW2l6nu4wUuAjnYPozumcst1W1KkQ1ISlk1mofoFdwJ2QxRNjWj7vOL1wWmODXhIlYsUdDpRA998LC0nHAg4aI/s1600-h/belly2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4UxvLDr6yHNUkVzeKop2I2rUGDfzIP6H7JG1wdHOCF0Ee8FmDlGL0qoW2l6nu4wUuAjnYPozumcst1W1KkQ1ISlk1mofoFdwJ2QxRNjWj7vOL1wWmODXhIlYsUdDpRA998LC0nHAg4aI/s400/belly2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434871222523435010" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I want it to be April already! =pUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-33671396153284976042010-02-03T16:06:00.000-08:002010-02-03T16:16:35.369-08:00This is becoming a habitbut I don't think Jon minds. ;)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmBOk0kCOQufwGafH0IZeIIeifzcGSZ13VpuQi7MRWQKwC0Pen_5vNj-yelGSC_OJ0nap6BJ4V6UQg45PmZMUg6MGPW_xezY4_zmcU8qtS8nuIB_fFlsQze1eEQO45j59odFlNoJZQrg/s1600-h/bento_020310.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmBOk0kCOQufwGafH0IZeIIeifzcGSZ13VpuQi7MRWQKwC0Pen_5vNj-yelGSC_OJ0nap6BJ4V6UQg45PmZMUg6MGPW_xezY4_zmcU8qtS8nuIB_fFlsQze1eEQO45j59odFlNoJZQrg/s400/bento_020310.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434173029886225890" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Pickle springs (I got the idea while flipping through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Book-Garnishes/dp/0895864800/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265241069&sr=1-1">this book</a> at the mall, though it uses cucumbers), more of that ranch chicken (Jon loves it!), cherry tomatoes, pasta sauce in the heart-shaped container, a big slice of apple, spaghetti, and some little hearts made from mozzarella cheese and red pepper.<br /><br />I've noticed that a lot of my lunches tend to lean toward a red and white color scheme, when really there should be a bit more variety. I think part of that can be blamed on a lot of my accessories being red, but then again, I do pack Jon an awful lot of tomatoes and apples. I think next time we buy fruits and veggies I'm going to make more of an effort to get some other colors, too--maybe some broccoli, kiwi fruit, and pineapple. I also need to get some sauce containers that aren't red!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-90519537861669073112010-02-02T14:33:00.001-08:002010-02-02T14:53:58.949-08:00More bento fun :)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmueydLYIsEdiG1kcEF-XK-VcirZHm3-lp3OZIaLcgPzv_0ULXQVIKPFR5aEH9bUlhrl4J0ecrb5Fl3uIuZHXjQ9tCZzy4yJodftKredUE6OmM76CmSrkrgRTdkM91B33Ljk_skh4puQ/s1600-h/bento_012910.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 387px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmueydLYIsEdiG1kcEF-XK-VcirZHm3-lp3OZIaLcgPzv_0ULXQVIKPFR5aEH9bUlhrl4J0ecrb5Fl3uIuZHXjQ9tCZzy4yJodftKredUE6OmM76CmSrkrgRTdkM91B33Ljk_skh4puQ/s400/bento_012910.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433778115648446850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Jon's lunch on Friday...after he'd eaten part of it, there were more carrot sticks and cheese pieces to begin with. Bagel quarters with spinach-artichoke cream cheese, heart-shaped carrot sticks, apple heart slices with banana, cherry tomatoes, and heart-shaped cheese pieces. The heart box holds three raspberry Hugs--yum!<br /><br />I did a lot of things the hard way here. Instead of slicing the apple and then using my large heart cutter, I tried to cut the whole apple at once...it worked, but it took a while. The carrot sticks were also problematic, as the cutter wasn't really the right size anyway, and I should have just used a knife to begin with. The banana and cheese were easy, though I probably should have just had cheese slices to fill the apple instead of using banana, it would have been prettier. Still, Jon liked it, and I got to try out a bunch of my new cutters.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNbZal4UkyO7gItr2FOmhhhXFFZt1e1Ry04DSVRLzVxNFk8yIa1ZLRgFxw_eKQI1oO5EoewrkYtAM7DvPDrKfTGYiAGDI_G5ODGg7O7H6tHhUN3BGriFcexBOnz5Gs84ykWnKjxa881Y/s1600-h/bento_020210.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNbZal4UkyO7gItr2FOmhhhXFFZt1e1Ry04DSVRLzVxNFk8yIa1ZLRgFxw_eKQI1oO5EoewrkYtAM7DvPDrKfTGYiAGDI_G5ODGg7O7H6tHhUN3BGriFcexBOnz5Gs84ykWnKjxa881Y/s400/bento_020210.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433780737267052114" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This was Jon's lunch today, his second one in the <a href="http://scribblekitty.blogspot.com/2010/01/pirate-mac-n-cheese.html">new box</a> (I really am in love with it). On the left we have rice with flowers made from celery and colored peppers. The brown at the bottom is a soy sauce packet, and makes a pretty good mound of soil--a very nice coincidence! On the right are celery sticks, a flower-shaped cup with peaches (I tried to arrange the slices in a petal pattern), and leftover <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/Kittencals-Easy-and-Delicious-Ranch-Parmesan-Chicken-200296">ranch chicken</a> with a decorative pick. I wish I'd had a flower-themed pick (maybe next time) and I could have added some cherry tomatoes to fill in the gaps a little tighter, but overall I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Definitely my favorite so far!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-24778178351835331712010-01-27T12:13:00.001-08:002010-01-27T12:23:04.834-08:00Pirate Mac 'n' CheeseI slept in a little late this morning and had to rush to put Jon's lunch together--I really need to make my carrot sticks ahead of time. He sent this picture from work:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyzQ6nUaUC8Z0BdlKAlhccb2GETLP3IwSCa1bIvMn42lVTQXIhc-kyX1eAc9aaV52fES-jhfYMseRxdiJQluGMJTFAupVw4RKodw-XhYzA-nnBR4igs_f00ewBjIFj8V6Qmr2UJus70g/s1600-h/bento_012710.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 325px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyzQ6nUaUC8Z0BdlKAlhccb2GETLP3IwSCa1bIvMn42lVTQXIhc-kyX1eAc9aaV52fES-jhfYMseRxdiJQluGMJTFAupVw4RKodw-XhYzA-nnBR4igs_f00ewBjIFj8V6Qmr2UJus70g/s400/bento_012710.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431515599163428850" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Leftover <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/Easy-Crock-Pot-Macaroni-and-Cheese-81853">mac 'n' cheese</a>, some carrot sticks, a clementine, and some cherry cake. The cake is one of the German foods I picked up at World Market, it's kind of dry so I thought it would handle being in a bento pretty well (a lot of things end up soggy). There's way, way too much orange going on here, but I expect that it tasted just fine. :)<br /><br />This is Jon's new bento box; the hardcover book, while Jon probably did not intend it for this purpose, shows its size pretty well. It was a lot more fun to pack into than a sandwich box, though I do need to get used to it being a little shallower. The decorations are all things I picked up at Michael's: The cheese cutouts were made using mini butterfly and tulip shaped cutters (I need to start keeping some white cheese on hand) and the pirate flag and cupcake paper came as a set.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-11536691893306405192010-01-22T09:47:00.000-08:002010-01-22T10:09:40.161-08:00His & Hers LunchesI've been making bento lunches for Jon just about every day, but this Wednesday was the first opportunity I had to make one for myself (it seems a little silly to pack one when I'm not going anywhere, after all). I had a lot of fun putting these together, though I put way, way too much time into getting everything perfect, and it would have been better to make the pancakes ahead of time. The apple bunnies took a while, too, though they turned out pretty cute--it was my first time making them, and I really should have practiced earlier.<br /><br />Jon's is the larger sandwich box on the top, mine is the little blue one from Dollar Tree. (It has a picture of Bob the Builder on the lid, but it's pretty much the perfect size for me, so I just ignore that.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUTaeAHtTXVgc6Xh_3I0AMZmKuQsSAdPZ2KKHFtmZYEsExC9x_h7eGRTX_VOexL_VrQB_W9Fo45s-kUd26wa56oPbRSLu8QvUYYErn2e2bnvicJuwElpdIkQfPZcEMUhqRxcbmszBa3I/s1600-h/bento_012010.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJUTaeAHtTXVgc6Xh_3I0AMZmKuQsSAdPZ2KKHFtmZYEsExC9x_h7eGRTX_VOexL_VrQB_W9Fo45s-kUd26wa56oPbRSLu8QvUYYErn2e2bnvicJuwElpdIkQfPZcEMUhqRxcbmszBa3I/s400/bento_012010.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429623015883988626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Jon's lunch: Rolled omelet, baby carrots, mozzarella and grape tomato mini-kabobs, apple bunnies with sliced apple underneath, pancakes with butter (syrup is in the sauce cup), and a couple peppermints left over from Christmas.<br /><br />My lunch: Rolled omelet with soy sauce and bacon bits (yummy! Jon wants his this way next time), clementine segments with an apple bunny on top, a baby carrot and one mozzarella and tomato mini-kabob, jam and pancake sandwiches, and a peppermint. I ended up hiding a slice of sharp cheddar under the pancakes to keep them from moving around once I put the lid on.</span><br /><br />As for why I needed to pack myself a lunch, Jon's mother and I went up to Portland to visit the Container Store and pick up new lunch boxes for Jon and his dad--<a href="http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/foodontheGo/foodContainers?productId=10025860">here</a>'s what we decided on. We also stopped in Keizer on the way back, and I got some mini cookie cutters at Michaels that I think will be fun to use for lunches, along with some cute picks and other goodies. (We also visited the World Market store... Jon was <span style="font-style: italic;">very</span> pleased to discover that I'd picked up a big jar of German pickles for him.) Anyway, it was a fun day, and I can't wait to try out the new lunch supplies I got...it seems like there are only going to be a few things I'll end up buying online, so maybe I'll sneak a few snacks into the order as well. (If I could get it more often, I would have a serious addiction to <a href="http://www.jbox.com/PRODUCT/MPJ477">Pie no Mi</a>.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-19701902928785910372010-01-05T00:13:00.000-08:002010-01-05T01:06:42.326-08:00I made Jon a bento...<a href="http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/15/i-made-you-a-cookie/">but he eated it.</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwnaS9-hGGnTF9hZ-ZzjMI1Z3_OuRRFHaIKbHkk-meOIAIi6cJFsD8seziSeER4hPsbTgWew0jA524XsRSyD1FCUItW9y7ya4-PiLDIiwYFTLi-1kShQcuM1Y1w8BgkgmxRmjUAhQTa9M/s1600-h/lolcat_bento.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwnaS9-hGGnTF9hZ-ZzjMI1Z3_OuRRFHaIKbHkk-meOIAIi6cJFsD8seziSeER4hPsbTgWew0jA524XsRSyD1FCUItW9y7ya4-PiLDIiwYFTLi-1kShQcuM1Y1w8BgkgmxRmjUAhQTa9M/s400/lolcat_bento.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423166962598880514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Back before I met Jon I became fascinated with <a href="http://lunchinabox.net/faq/">bento lunches</a>, ordered a bunch of extremely cute supplies online, and then decided it was far too much work to make cute lunches just for myself. Now that I have a test subject... er, <span style="font-style: italic;">audience</span>... I once again find myself wanting to experiment. Luckily Jon is a good sport about it (or has been so far--he gets to try my first attempt for lunch tomorrow, so we'll see what he thinks after that). The idea of a tasty, attractive boxed lunch is very appealing to me, and I admit that while I've been making sure my darling husband gets a good breakfast and dinner, I've been leaving him to fend for himself on lunches, which means he either comes home hungry or ends up buying lunch at work. If I can get the hang of this, it'll be a great way to use up leftovers, keep Jon fed, and save us what he would have spent on burritos and sandwiches. Besides, it's a great excuse to look at cute bento accessories online (not that I really <span style="font-style: italic;">need</span> an excuse, of course).<br /><br />My old bento box is just a little bit small for Jon, so for this Lolcat lunch I just used a basic sandwich-sized container. I used lettuce for dividers since I don't have any plastic ones; I have no idea if Jon's going to eat it, but it looks pretty and keeps things neat. I tried to stick with what I know about proper proportions for this kind of lunch--3 parts rice (leftover), 2 parts fruit and vegetable (cucumber, tomato, and carrot mini-skewers with a layer of red grapes underneath), and 1 part meat (leftover meatloaf). Actually, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be 2 parts just vegetables, but given how many carrots this guy eats, I'm not going to stress over it. ;) With the lid on, nothing moves around (except a lone, rebellious grape) so I'm feeling pretty good about the whole lunch.<br /><br />I wasn't planning on decorating it, but once I'd finished, everything but the veggies did look a little plain. I cut a slice of cheese with some vague notion of adding a bit more color, then realized it was roughly cat-shaped and knew just what I was going to do. :) I managed to get the cat shape and all of the letters out of just one slice of cheese (the paws, for instance, are each half of the triangle from between the ears), the cat's eyes are coriander seeds, and the nose is a carob chip. Pressing the nose into the cheese made it crack, but I covered that up by making a few extra cuts to show whiskers--I'll have to be more careful next time. And there will definitely be a next time, I'm already having fun thinking of what I'll make for Jon's lunch on Wednesday!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-14833380230682782502009-12-10T09:05:00.001-08:002009-12-10T09:24:06.190-08:00It's beginning to look a lot like......I actually know what to do with a kitchen of my own. Also, Christmas, of course. xD<br /><br />The past few days I've been on kind of a baking kick--here we have the latest results:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaF8QbX_2wyf13-iqzp4DkLl09ai5tYGcIvml6rXZT5VVYKCYEy2ZxeZRkmcahQ22hcsr9V0OS8y5S77glZm3zDAQouN5WBoNm5A8bhK9P51FOnjgGavkKGvzp7P7p14B355rakC0e-U/s1600-h/baking.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaF8QbX_2wyf13-iqzp4DkLl09ai5tYGcIvml6rXZT5VVYKCYEy2ZxeZRkmcahQ22hcsr9V0OS8y5S77glZm3zDAQouN5WBoNm5A8bhK9P51FOnjgGavkKGvzp7P7p14B355rakC0e-U/s400/baking.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413655210669298610" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On the left, we have a variation on my dad's ohmygoshsoyummy chocolate chip cookies--I think the recipe he sent me called for a little too much molasses, and I only made things worse by melting the butter so I could stir it in more easily. To make up for the horrific gooeyness, I ended up adding a whole extra cup of flour, and then an extra quarter cup of sugar to sweeten it. The end result was a cookie with a much milder flavor and firmer texture than my dad's, but pretty tasty nonetheless. It was also a little less greasy than usual, and I think it will hold up pretty well in Jon's lunch today--we'll have to see. ;)<br /><br />The chocolate chips were Hershey's Special Dark, and I had trouble not just eating them out of the bag... yummy!<br /><br />On the right, we have the remains of a small batch of cornbread muffins I made to go with dinner last night--I had a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix sitting around, so I used that, but I added an extra quarter cup of sugar to get the sweet crust on top (noticing a trend here? hehe) and followed the suggestion on the box to let them sit for four minutes so the muffins would puff up nicely. I think they turned out pretty well--they were sweet enough that we skipped the honey and just put butter on them.<br /><br />As for Christmas-y stuff, here's a picture of our tree. It's the same artificial we used last year, minus about half the ornaments so it doesn't look quite as overloaded, and I found a tree topper that doesn't make it bend over! It's an oven mitt type thing shaped like a gingerbread girl, which I think goes pretty well with our "peppermint" theme.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlfu7equpsYDOjak56Om_F_F3lrRHoZSCWuiq-DulBt7rW-J_m6sehZRdpHbp0JUHjuk1yzgrijzsLmY_Ltl9VVPq0Q8ZiXojiL9I5JN_kkxqz27MGDoWqo3OfRtDyTULJODkpVZ2hKU/s1600-h/tree.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlfu7equpsYDOjak56Om_F_F3lrRHoZSCWuiq-DulBt7rW-J_m6sehZRdpHbp0JUHjuk1yzgrijzsLmY_Ltl9VVPq0Q8ZiXojiL9I5JN_kkxqz27MGDoWqo3OfRtDyTULJODkpVZ2hKU/s400/tree.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413659321617277410" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I can't wait til Jon's mother gets back from Utah, I have a feeling baking cookies with her is going to be really fun this year. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-47585251174655543692009-12-10T00:50:00.000-08:002009-12-10T01:18:34.224-08:00Allods online, a new world!I take it upon myself to write this post, as every time Kate tried to she'd log on to get a nice screenshot and realize there was a quest or two nearby she wanted to do, and five or six quests later just shrug and forget about the blog post.<br /><br />The TL:DR version; play the game already, geez.<br /><br />So, here we are. To give you an idea of how the game looks, here are a few screenshots.<br /><br />The top picture is of the Empire Capital, the character in the foreground is an Arisen Savant. Cyborg undead. Coolest. Thing. Ever. When you use the /sleep emote on an Arisen character, they get a pneumatic, powered coffin that closes around them. Everybody else just lays down. I have provided a picture of Isyris, Kate's Arisen Heretic, inside her coffin, down below.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScuZeinH-FAvM_Jt2VVGq3YUtjECT2Zse_rGpEe4bsyP-8g0Gg_fTpbaSJuOg7yyj-2XWYrcZOo4TBVl1DfmTHVKtdetfiUnsvZRtKqfrzjNO2mmZthTvuZxBiqOJamm80CbtXw7PuWs/s1600-h/statueallods.PNG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScuZeinH-FAvM_Jt2VVGq3YUtjECT2Zse_rGpEe4bsyP-8g0Gg_fTpbaSJuOg7yyj-2XWYrcZOo4TBVl1DfmTHVKtdetfiUnsvZRtKqfrzjNO2mmZthTvuZxBiqOJamm80CbtXw7PuWs/s320/statueallods.PNG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413528354539063330" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5NfsyhScyOtTomrTU7Y6fk_3TacguBFbOYi91eWMdbKp10f1TWYx6zGjzB-hpRHlKpWDGvMiaMbYP4eIwLDn6nKZBRa2c1Bp6sDIwMfCS82qRJZMZmJXuQqY23aTRTyZXbHxBWv_JL8/s1600-h/allods17.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5NfsyhScyOtTomrTU7Y6fk_3TacguBFbOYi91eWMdbKp10f1TWYx6zGjzB-hpRHlKpWDGvMiaMbYP4eIwLDn6nKZBRa2c1Bp6sDIwMfCS82qRJZMZmJXuQqY23aTRTyZXbHxBWv_JL8/s320/allods17.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413533530748873314" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />It's a Russian game, here is a picture of some of the Russian that appears, as it's still in closed beta they probably haven't translated everything perfectly over yet.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkgSSqOPeW2IYzrtLTF-MPfCZqJTP9eFJBmP94NkIyXAgEeVtyZ2TikK9c10v9wOwYTsQS7HqzCscxN3fRqeQGKFRIl4VHak0-XG_6mmZ8GAz45_llx0y78C8gODoVK-Ok_0vxdYOxfQ/s1600-h/russnscrnsht.PNG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkgSSqOPeW2IYzrtLTF-MPfCZqJTP9eFJBmP94NkIyXAgEeVtyZ2TikK9c10v9wOwYTsQS7HqzCscxN3fRqeQGKFRIl4VHak0-XG_6mmZ8GAz45_llx0y78C8gODoVK-Ok_0vxdYOxfQ/s320/russnscrnsht.PNG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413528380072316482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This picture here is of the League starting area, an island you are transported to after a demonic attack on the magic tower where you start the game. It's quite idyllic, actually, except for the shipwrecks of mutineers and necromancers.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWuufr0_-aWEtBs3LkWI3_ViXSGTAxqexwVL65OB4fG5YqSR1FXI9m9IRMrQFFEh4a5pN4-nTAC8XfSt1MTQoMWvGSioD60D6ZWKhhrkhFcu1jprXiQaC0tvcfCS3QUzk0VA1k9dN7JAY/s1600-h/allods7.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWuufr0_-aWEtBs3LkWI3_ViXSGTAxqexwVL65OB4fG5YqSR1FXI9m9IRMrQFFEh4a5pN4-nTAC8XfSt1MTQoMWvGSioD60D6ZWKhhrkhFcu1jprXiQaC0tvcfCS3QUzk0VA1k9dN7JAY/s320/allods7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413528392830586466" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This shot is as you are being transported off the island, rescued from marooning, really, the elf in the picture is Kate's Elven Priest, by the name of Rue. And below Rue are my three little Gibberling Seers (from bottom to top) Viskar, Suzie and Hobbes, shaking their stuff with a /flex emote.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHXlGVmQo17jad42OMSHie7lBP2lYRZuUZmPT0kWtG79UsXRLeh-5EeVX7rZgRFwPUHP4ciX7hULIEKq6lsvHJctnCKpSV2h6XU27j8QhZbAKf8kcxMZJ-OkywaRQt3nCy-plEhCmkmw/s1600-h/allods9.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHXlGVmQo17jad42OMSHie7lBP2lYRZuUZmPT0kWtG79UsXRLeh-5EeVX7rZgRFwPUHP4ciX7hULIEKq6lsvHJctnCKpSV2h6XU27j8QhZbAKf8kcxMZJ-OkywaRQt3nCy-plEhCmkmw/s320/allods9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413528399317701458" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFesPN5sGUI1VtRfFvk8prbVheURH9V7I7b_kkVSQko2BRa-P9CI4xT8Zcy_7uZm0MwDGTEoBO-YyxDUkvG2EoF_ibWGI1X5ZSUuUMAv-vafdLRQlldBITeuv9SVIlv4s6riorTWRXd8Q/s1600-h/gibbrflxing.PNG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFesPN5sGUI1VtRfFvk8prbVheURH9V7I7b_kkVSQko2BRa-P9CI4xT8Zcy_7uZm0MwDGTEoBO-YyxDUkvG2EoF_ibWGI1X5ZSUuUMAv-vafdLRQlldBITeuv9SVIlv4s6riorTWRXd8Q/s320/gibbrflxing.PNG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413533513367456482" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />So, the pictures are to capture some interest in the game visually, now I'll discuss how it plays. Quite well, actually. It's easy to transition from WoW to this game as there are similarities in the interface; many emotes are the same, key bindings, menu layouts are similar in many ways.<br /><br />The gameplay is smooth and less fast-paced and intense than WoW; there are some bugs in the system, but once again, a game that's in closed beta is that way for a reason.<br /><br />Kate and I both like it because it integrates things we like in World of Warcraft, namely ease of communication with fellow characters, and an emphasis on party and group dynamics while still allowing a character alone to accomplish things, but it also has some things in it that WoW lacks, like a more relaxed battle system and more customizability in characters (the creation options are much more varied than WoW).<br /><br />We recommend this game for people who are looking to get into online gaming, as it's got a nice solo introduction into the game but leaves you feeling like you are accomplishing something with every quest. In WoW, the quest to kill 10 boars in the beginning is basically "because there's too many of them," while in Allods the quest to kill 10 rats for the Empire is so that you can test the effect of the stress that battle has to find out why you weren't ripped to shreds by a teleporter.<br /><br />Oh yes, did I forget to mention that? The storytelling in allods is actually quite impeccable, they put emotion and feeling into the quests by giving each non-player character (NPC) personality and interesting dialogue. A quest that comes easily to mind is a quest in which an innkeeper's husband has died and she asks you to talk to potential suitors to see if they are interested. Instead of going the grieving widow route, the game takes the route of "okay, who can I get hitched to that'll be good for the inn." She's looking for a sugar daddy, and many of the "potential suitors" respond in ways ranging from mild disgust to amusement.<br /><br />So in conclusion, download the game and play it if you can, for heaven's sakes, and if you wanna find out how to download it, ask Kate or I, the thing's gonna be free to play anyway.<br />Here's a link to the website to get a beta key: <a href="http://www.zam.com/coupon-allods.html">Allods Online w/the Zam Network</a>Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02810460134036259725noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-12034398019786040862009-11-02T17:06:00.000-08:002009-11-02T17:11:21.493-08:00The Proud Family Tradition Continues!The moment of truth arrived today, in a cold dark room in the Salem Hospital. An old Finnish woman waved her magic scepter about, and wondrous pictures appeared on a screen.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDojye-OwdjDqiuGwYLp9vvIbJ8d2REMBsE_Yhkoi_qjHl885r_69A8NknLE6GVKCyAaaTWrjbeVtXrHUtamCotmQPVfl48V01AAavRXx6_kfqL03HVBo0gOtrpUqTjJDjYxj_Em1UI9c/s1600-h/ultrsndnov21.bmp"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDojye-OwdjDqiuGwYLp9vvIbJ8d2REMBsE_Yhkoi_qjHl885r_69A8NknLE6GVKCyAaaTWrjbeVtXrHUtamCotmQPVfl48V01AAavRXx6_kfqL03HVBo0gOtrpUqTjJDjYxj_Em1UI9c/s320/ultrsndnov21.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399678005927579234" border="0" /></a><br />The picture up above is the one that shows us what gender the baby is. For those of you who do not know how to read Ultrasounds or know what to look for, It's a Girl! That's right, the Guppy's now going to be Gerda Rose (but you can all call her Rosie). Here's another good picture, this one showing the head at the right, and a good view of the ribcage and torso.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPK0C1ffUCo61pCkeY9HgFjjjkqyiRbsdVOJuLHJFrxMTClSsTbBQpDJHlYhYoeMv-bWBTHzdaIbMPa_6qo1V_nrnm8d4WLq8oVPf2iUoqFMyOp17ES4asSu3IF2veKTzcOYgMXBubl7A/s1600-h/ultrsndnov22.bmp"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPK0C1ffUCo61pCkeY9HgFjjjkqyiRbsdVOJuLHJFrxMTClSsTbBQpDJHlYhYoeMv-bWBTHzdaIbMPa_6qo1V_nrnm8d4WLq8oVPf2iUoqFMyOp17ES4asSu3IF2veKTzcOYgMXBubl7A/s320/ultrsndnov22.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399678011519053970" border="0" /></a><br />We're very much looking forward to our new baby, Kate and I.Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02810460134036259725noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-86469707477841118712009-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:002009-10-31T14:54:39.265-07:00Happy Halloween (from the three of us!)Our WoW-time hasn't been so much busy as boring lately--we haven't even been playing much, though we at least got the in-game Halloween stuff done. That Troll of mine is level 80 and re-named (finally!), Jon's been working on leveling a Troll Shaman (hmm, I sense a theme here), and we've been missing most of the guild's raids in order to spend more time together and with family in real life.<br /><br />After all, real life is where the real excitement is right now: I felt the baby move for the first time yesterday!<br /><br />I was lying on my back after taking a nap, I woke up with a funny feeling in my belly and wondered if I would be able to feel the baby (I'd been trying for a couple weeks, but the little one was still, well, <span style="font-style: italic;">little</span>) so I put my hands down there for a minute, and tried to get a feel for anything that wasn't just my own pulse. I held very still, and I did feel something, a gentle little bump against my hand and a light fluttery feeling on the inside! I felt the same thing a couple other times, and a few times without my hand over the exact spot, but I still wasn't totally convinced. After all, I'd been wanting to feel the baby move for a while now, I could be just imagining it. I texted Jon at work that I thought I'd felt the baby move, then called my mom for her advice. (She'd never felt the baby as early as 16 weeks, though, so that just made me more confused. :P)<br /><br />This afternoon, though, I felt the bumping again...and I guess the baby was getting a little antsy and feeling like I was ignoring him/her, because it was even stronger and there was definitely no mistaking it this time! I already knew I had a wiggly little guy in there, I guess now he/she is letting me know that they want to play soccer when they get a little older? ;)<br /><br />And speaking of he-or-she, only a little while now until we know for sure...hopefully. We've got an ultrasound scheduled for Monday morning, and either Jon or I will be posting the new pictures and letting you guys know when we know for sure--so if you want to make a prediction, now's the time!<br /><br />I know Katie thinks it's a boy from the craving I've had for steak, and Jon's mom thinks so too (though I can't remember what her reason was). <a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Ursin&n=Naajaku">Naajaku</a> from our guild asked about spicy foods (Thai yes, Mexican no) and then proclaimed it to be a boy as well.<br /><br />No one's predicted a girl yet, but there's evidence on that side, too--I was apparently just as squirmy when my mom was pregnant with me (though I certainly didn't kick so hard), and not only are the oldest kids in Jon and my families female, all of his siblings that have had kids so far had girls first.<br /><br />What do you think it will be? Vote in the poll on the right if you want to guess, and let me know why you think so in the comments! :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-12231920080979764312009-10-10T11:20:00.000-07:002009-10-10T11:57:07.314-07:00Five things I love today!5. "Kid food." I'm not sure how to describe this other than as that category of foods that even a picky third-grader will be happy to eat. PB&J sandwiches, carrot sticks, apples, cheese sticks, strawberry-kiwi juice, and cold cereal. I went really nuts with the sandwiches (like I said in the comments on my last post) and we're out of bread now. <span style="font-family: verdana;">T_T</span><br /><br />4. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-M5664-Soothe-Glow-Seahorse/dp/B000W3XEQM">This</a> seahorse plushie toy. It's just adorable! Someone on the What To Expect message boards had a picture of one in her signature, and when I found it at the store it was just as cute in person. Actually, I'm more in love with the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Wonders-Soothe-Glow-Seahorse/dp/B0028QKPMW/ref=pd_sbs_t_1">pink version</a>, so I'm waiting until we find out the baby's gender to pick one up. And if it's a girl, I found this <a href="http://www.target.com/Laura-Ashley-Seahorse-Nursery-Collection/dp/B000MT40XC/">pink seahorse bedding</a> while trying to find a picture. Hmm... ;)<br /><br />3. The ladies on the What To Expect message board for April 2010. It's so nice to be able to talk to women who are going through the same part of pregnancy that I am, and they're all super-friendly and nice. I think most of us are past the panicking every other minute stage, so it's fairly relaxing now, too.<br /><br />2. Cute maternity clothes. I've been checking out a bunch online and I'm feeling a bit more positive about when I'll eventually have to switch over from my normal clothes. (I'm not showing quite yet.) Also <a href="http://www.ingridandisabel.com/bellaband.html">this</a> seems like it will be very useful. I'm actually a little bit excited for maternity wear now that I know I won't be a shapeless blob hiding in my apartment all day. (I'll be a <span style="font-style: italic;">shapely</span> blob hiding in my apartment all day. I want my energy back!)<br /><br />1. My wonderful husband, of course! Jon still thinks I'm beautiful no matter how ugly and bloated and queasy I feel, he's patient with me even if I don't have the energy to get out of bed until lunchtime and end up making mac 'n' cheese for dinner again, and he loves me even when I get one of my crazy mood swings and snap at him for no reason. He's just as excited about the little one as I am, and already talks to it sometimes (though I'm pretty sure that at 13wks he/she is still too young to pay much attention). I love this man so much!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-7355625732442668502009-10-08T16:22:00.000-07:002009-10-08T17:04:30.256-07:00Well, good.The Guppy is happy, healthy, and a little squirmy. (He/she even waved at us for the ultrasound!) Made the doctors work to get the view they wanted. Here are some of the more choice pictures.<br /><br />The first one, I think, makes the Guppy look like Skeletor:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheb1JtQ5mMEjv0SBNIKtBJVFOQKnMH5hQcJgRJdLFPKpMTSdZmwJf7hcrKTJbDUVZvBKl6swOfPLNpu896DHcbiH5PP6Wj1WfCBmMA8ewn0OmEeN1cqAeAavFSlgfzDp-9RgCQ4TUlDo/s1600-h/ultrsndoct82.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheb1JtQ5mMEjv0SBNIKtBJVFOQKnMH5hQcJgRJdLFPKpMTSdZmwJf7hcrKTJbDUVZvBKl6swOfPLNpu896DHcbiH5PP6Wj1WfCBmMA8ewn0OmEeN1cqAeAavFSlgfzDp-9RgCQ4TUlDo/s400/ultrsndoct82.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390383897120115954" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The second picture is a nice cute profile view that affords an excellent view of the Guppy's brain and spine. This is the view they were trying to get--it took nearly an hour until the baby squirmed into the right position. Looks good to me!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU6ah8QRSQz1CMF6Fzfe9VpMtlVgC7FAQaE6j-a9KJFpsUlaKPeDsCMuIlHoXjT4fUNthcY_7-EkfoSXaK6CWDb6cRap9gMJJHvVYB7xAFelHQOhdUhfq16jNYdes_kop36mjyy05N0hY/s1600-h/ultrsndoct81.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 319px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU6ah8QRSQz1CMF6Fzfe9VpMtlVgC7FAQaE6j-a9KJFpsUlaKPeDsCMuIlHoXjT4fUNthcY_7-EkfoSXaK6CWDb6cRap9gMJJHvVYB7xAFelHQOhdUhfq16jNYdes_kop36mjyy05N0hY/s400/ultrsndoct81.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390384031803435682" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The third picture, near as we can tell, is an overhead shot. Maybe? I don't know, but once again, a good view of the Guppy. Some of the other pictures that weren't printed out had good shots of the arms, legs, etc so we know that the Guppy is well-formed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQu9-s9Rwa47iLlVQXGT3mjcT2gASm-kguPirwLem-2q-bzv4Dhhw7Q-eoVFHxUNsuP4pP0if4o6zRah_jkNsgmPSh9lfh0sJAORv2Z51DA0c5a_8SnZzjeDMWNcKX9YjzRsPJpLQ9nM/s1600-h/ultrsndoct83.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQu9-s9Rwa47iLlVQXGT3mjcT2gASm-kguPirwLem-2q-bzv4Dhhw7Q-eoVFHxUNsuP4pP0if4o6zRah_jkNsgmPSh9lfh0sJAORv2Z51DA0c5a_8SnZzjeDMWNcKX9YjzRsPJpLQ9nM/s400/ultrsndoct83.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390384327778658418" border="0" /></a>Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02810460134036259725noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-54871854158244774652009-10-07T09:20:00.000-07:002009-10-07T09:53:42.940-07:00What a night!Tuesdays are raid nights, specifically 25-mans. I've been really pumped for raiding this week, since thanks to an enchanter guildie coming along for several runs of regular Trial of the Champion, I finally have my <a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=47898">pretty, pretty axe</a> enchanted with Berserking. (Yay!)<br /><br />Anyway, it was a pretty crazy night. We started out with Onyxia, nearly wiped when about a third of the raid got DC'd by whelps and hit by Deep Breath (I think that's her special combo attack), and somehow managed to one-shot her anyway. Jon ended up tanking in phase three after Ony tore through the rest of the tanks (he was assigned to whelps, but luckily we didn't get any after she landed) while I switched over to using my Maelstrom Weapon procs for Chain Heals and doing as much damage as I could at the same time. It was crazy, fun, and I did die twice, but it was totally worth it to see the look on Jon's face when the <a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=49498">Sharpened Obsidian Edged Blade</a> dropped. He's been crazy about that model since forever, he says, and it was a huge improvement over his current weapon. He was a little nervous (running-into-walls panicky) because one of the newer raiders had higher loot priority, but it turned out the guy didn't have the minimum EP required to roll on loot, and so Jon won the sword and had it enchanted almost immediately. Grats!<br /><br />25-man ToC was next, and since we had a few people who hadn't been in there before, it did take a couple wipes before we got the Beasts encounter down. (I love that Icehowl is skinnable!) The rest of the raid was much smoother--we one-shotted Jaraxxus and I got to upgrade my necklace to <a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=47272">a shiny new ilevel 245 one</a> with no yucky Armor Penetration on it. (Of course, I spent most of that fight face-down on the floor with the rogues, as someone didn't think to move his Legion Flames <span style="font-style: italic;">away</span> from us.) Faction Champions we also got down in one attempt, though a very long one (time for two Bloodlusts /shame), and Twin Val'kyr took two. Anub'arak we one-shotted, and a couple mail pieces dropped--a sidegrade belt that I passed on, and some <a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=47319">sexy pants</a> with Armor Penetration. I did think about rolling on them (I still had high priority since the necklace was cheap) but we had a couple Hunters in the raid, and there's got to be someone similar without the ArPen for me, right?<br /><br />We finished up with VoA, and there's not much to say about that, except...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfKm8yTLWNeuxU-T0CD8mmEXm-awG-qlrVAMlJ_4s2kwcy9jK0b0-06MDGT0lwbHIAuIiUDSiSanhTJkFc9vlwgnTkWJwSGXlxAOWvxD1WUiMZNWE0zf0PyiTy8CtkCG9Obfuqo4Rlvs/s1600-h/WoWScrnShot_100709_000941.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDfKm8yTLWNeuxU-T0CD8mmEXm-awG-qlrVAMlJ_4s2kwcy9jK0b0-06MDGT0lwbHIAuIiUDSiSanhTJkFc9vlwgnTkWJwSGXlxAOWvxD1WUiMZNWE0zf0PyiTy8CtkCG9Obfuqo4Rlvs/s400/WoWScrnShot_100709_000941.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389898986068583570" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=44083">WHEEEEE!</a><br /><br />It dropped off Koralon, and somehow I rolled 100 (which has happened maybe once before in my entire time of playing WoW) and no one else did even though I was sure they would and I had my fingers crossed under the desk and I won it!<br /><br />The raid leader offered to buy it from me, but by that point I'd already used it and was babbling excitedly to Jon about how I'd always wanted a passenger mount and how I couldn't wait to get outside and use it. I'll admit that the rest of the raid was kind of a blur...<br /><br />(I wouldn't have sold it anyway, though. I've seen the mount drop only twice, and there's no way I'd ever win it again. You just can't give up that kind of opportunity, and besides, now I can give my friends' lowbie toons rides when I run them through stuff!)<br /><br />I also managed to finally get up to Revered with the Knights of the Ebon Blade (though that wasn't a raid drop, so it doesn't quite fit this post) before crawling into bed and falling asleep. It was a good night. :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-8829759458860763952009-09-29T12:22:00.000-07:002009-09-29T13:02:37.991-07:00Turtle Sunday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw18XO7TB5y76i8k5x_lotLaJhQ6oN-qqDymHUvjFyLH9bhGQEkwnVlVUebuI0IZ2QcsrSU6vxTZPsz3UgxDvWnltGM4cyA80h6WTb19qo_FB-z5XLIxj9defhsg8AeMa_eXLhRQf21I/s1600-h/turtletraining-small.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCw18XO7TB5y76i8k5x_lotLaJhQ6oN-qqDymHUvjFyLH9bhGQEkwnVlVUebuI0IZ2QcsrSU6vxTZPsz3UgxDvWnltGM4cyA80h6WTb19qo_FB-z5XLIxj9defhsg8AeMa_eXLhRQf21I/s400/turtletraining-small.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386972026864242930" border="0" /></a><br /><br />If I could, I'd tame a Druid. Not just because it would be really, really awesome--I'd want a pet Druid because at least he'd be able to tank.<br /><br />Hawrt is only two levels below me, but can't tank at all. I had a black raptor to match my mount, and he didn't do much better. Normally this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but I've been a bit spoiled in the past--both of my level 80 toons quested with Jon's tanks, and I've gotten used to being able to take on any quest mob I run into, elites included. Schen has been leveling up with Jon's Warlock, though, and it makes me feel very, very squishy.<br /><br />So, Sunday afternoon after the two of us had barely managed to take down <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=29664">Ragemane</a>, my Troll set off on a quest to find a new pet--one who <span style="font-style: italic;">could</span> tank.<br /><a href="http://www.wow-petopia.com/"><br />Petopia</a> was my starting point, of course, and I settled on a rare bear named Ursol'lok because the name caught my eye. When I got to Ashenvale he was nowhere to be found, though, and I was getting impatient. I wanted to get back to questing so I could hit 75 and go do the Brewfest boss. I was about to give up and tame a normal, boring bear when I remembered that BFD wasn't too far away. Maybe a turtle or a crab would be a better choice... after all, I'd heard good things about <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=26064">Shell Shield</a>.<br /><br />Ten minutes later I had a shiny new green turtle named Desdemona.<br /><br />I've <a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/talent-calc.xml?pid=21&tal=01320021320000100020&bm">specced</a> her for heavy tanking--the next couple points I get will go into Pet Barding and Taunt--at the expense of any damage-increasing talents. I'm hoping that Misdirect and her Growl will be enough to keep threat, and I don't plan on using her in any AoE situations so Thunderstomp shouldn't be needed. So far I've only needed her for normal questing, and she certainly has not been taking much damage, so I'm feeling optimistic. I'm excited to see how she does against elites.<br /><br />Meanwhile, she's been growing on me. I didn't expect to like a turtle--they're big and clunky and ugly, and my ideal Tenacity pet is still my Night Elf's ghost hydra--but she's got personality. Maybe it's just the ridiculous name. Whatever it is, I did something I've never tried before and spent about an hour yesterday customizing her emotes with the <a href="http://ammunition-company.zirkel-des-cenarius.eu/en/pet-emote/faq/">PetEmote</a> Editor, since the default options didn't really do her justice.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqda5K_Z73RBrJ1E6bnnPVxXeZRB261jg1Z2MfckhuRkcps05hnQf5insLaC7JxaiCuLZ1wudnWoS8aOkR8aAhYt3foZjQFXOZ_BMK0g-fQ5mEyD-Ti0ipVf9EGuqeoM7ui2U2-tJgssQ/s1600-h/turtleemote.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 12px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqda5K_Z73RBrJ1E6bnnPVxXeZRB261jg1Z2MfckhuRkcps05hnQf5insLaC7JxaiCuLZ1wudnWoS8aOkR8aAhYt3foZjQFXOZ_BMK0g-fQ5mEyD-Ti0ipVf9EGuqeoM7ui2U2-tJgssQ/s400/turtleemote.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386980574942013282" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I may be a little crazy, but at least I'm having fun! :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-46518140068105482372009-09-26T04:55:00.000-07:002009-09-26T05:34:34.638-07:00To The Asshat Outside My Window:Yep, you woke me up. Kudos, I guess. Check that one off on your Dickwad Bingo card.<br /><br />It's all right though, I understand. It's hard to find something interesting to do at three in the morning. It's not as if the liquor store across the street is open all night, or there's a Denny's in the area. And don't worry, I know sleep isn't even an option--with your IQ, you'd probably just choke to death on your own drool. I totally get why you'd feel the need to hang out under my window shouting profanities at your buddy for nearly an hour, then amuse yourself by trying to wake up "the people in the apartment with the window cracked open, lolz." I even get why your friend sticks around with you, drunk, pill-popping, maggot-brained delinquent though you are: Huge asshole, big mouth... Let's just say I'd be careful about what I drink if I were you.<br /><br />No, I didn't call the cops. I'm the understanding sort, remember? You would have just run away into the bushes like the scared little rabbit you are, anyway. I'd run too if I'd been stealing and ingesting my mom's hormone supplements. No, instead I lay there and attempted to get on with the sort of things that <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span> like to do at three in the morning: Sleep, not have a headache, etc. Obviously my attempts failed, probably because I'm not quite such a determined and charismatic individual as you. It might have worked better if I had attempted to inflict my sleeping upon the whole neighborhood, but I digress.<br /><br />Instead of sleeping, I decided to be productive, and come up with something fun I could do to while away the long minutes next time you and your special friend decided to visit. I scratched my head, and I stretched my toes, and I came up with a lot of really fun ideas! Unfortunately, there would probably be legal consequences for offering free, laxative-laced cookies or installing a giant live-capture trap, so I was forced to examine options further down my list. I was planning on going with a giant print of goatse, lit up in my window for all to see, but then I remembered that my husband has a very delicate disposition, so that idea had to go. Besides, I wouldn't want you vomiting on the sidewalk (any more than you already have, at least). After much thought, I finally settled upon a solution I'm sure you will agree is classy, charming, and quite agreeable (much like yourself).<br /><br />This morning, soon as the sun rises, I shall be paying a visit to the local Goodwill. Specifically, I will be looking for the largest speakers they have (though of course I won't purchase anything under three feet tall, so I may have to turn to Craigslist).<br /><br />I will install them facing my window. I will wait. I will be ready.<br /><br />You will come, I know you will. You will be loud, boorish, and utterly obnoxious.<br /><br />And then, my fine young man-child, I will introduce you to my good friend <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu_moia-oVI">Mr. Astley</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-83506738464543747342009-09-21T13:18:00.000-07:002009-09-21T17:16:26.286-07:00No new news.Yay! We just got back from the doctor's office, and the Guppy's heartbeat sounds good and strong! There was even a little market there where we got some excellent plums and cherry tomatoes afterward, so I got to see a big, happy smile on Kate's face all the way home.<br /><br />It's been a good day today. In WoW news, nothing too exciting, the guild seems to be caught up on General Vezax in Ulduar, although 10-man Trial of the Crusader we've gotten cleared through. Maybe someday I'll even get a new shiny pair of boots.<br /><br />I've been playing some other games, too, most notably one called "League of Legends." This one's still in the Beta process (ooh, my first closed beta!) It's just recently been ... well, I can talk about it now without the thugs coming to break my kneecaps. It's based on the Warcraft III Defense of the Ancients map type, one that's been very popular, and I've even had fun playing it before now. The heroes all look very fun, with unique characterization, looks, skills and voices; the only catch, oddly enough, is that it's an online game.<br /><br />Most of the appeal with online is playing with friends. Random people online are rude, inconsiderate, unintelligent and often unskilled. This comes from around 12 years of experience playing online games (remember, just because someone is up to Jedi rank in X-Wing vs TIE Fighter doesn't mean they can play like a Jedi.)<br /><br />That's all I wanna say for right now, maybe next time I'll tell you about my first impressions of Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal.Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02810460134036259725noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-9379770661643027312009-09-19T13:13:00.000-07:002009-09-19T15:00:58.493-07:00One Night In Ulduar<div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">One night in Ulduar makes a Shaman humble<br />Not much between despair and ecstasy<br />One night in Ulduar and the melee tumbles<br />Can't be too careful with your company<br />XT dropped a Gravity Bomb next to me</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">"Kate, wake up!"<br /><br />"Mmph...g'way...Nesingwary Moon Laser...grmph."<br /><br />"We're doing Ulduar and we need you to come DPS. Wake UP!"<br /><br />"Gimme back my blankets!"<br /><br />"No. Now get up and go get a drink while I log you in."<br /><br />Grumble, grumble. "Fine. Hate you."<br /><br />"Okay, the computer's ready. Just hop on vent and let them know you're logged in."<br /><br />Stare blankly at screen.<br /><br />"Guys, Tana's on, go ahead and invite her!"<br /><br />Minutes pass.<br /><br />"Tana, are you going to log on?"<br /><br />"'m logged on 'ready."<br /><br />"That's funny, I don't see you online..."<br /><br />Mumble.<br /><br />"What was that?"<br /><br />MUMBLE.<br /><br />"What do you mean you're not in the guild??"<br /><br />Grumble. Accept guild invite. Accept raid invite. Accept summon.<br /><br />"Okay, now the first boss is Flame Leviathan. Everyone knows this fight, so we're going to be trying it with four towers up. Demolishers tanks choppers cannon pyrite Leviathan BOOM!"<br /><br />Confusion.<br /><br />"Uh, guys, she hasn't done this fight before."<br /><br />"Just have her get in your siege engine and shoot stuff."<br /><br />Okay, shooting stuff I can handle.<br /><br />"Autobots, transform and roll out!"<br /><br />...<br /><br />We're all gonna die.<br /><br />-------------------------------<br /><br />I should probably take this opportunity to confess: I consider myself a raider, if not especially hardcore, but until last night I had seen the inside of Ulduar once. It was on my Hunter, back before bombs were nerfed so they wouldn't go off during XT-002's Tympanic Tantrum, and it was a miserable wipe-fest. I was brought in because it was a pure melee group, then kicked because I couldn't solo all of the adds before they reached the boss.<br /><br />I cleared 10-man ToC with Jon's guild before setting foot in Ulduar again. Yes, I skipped an entire tier of raiding.<br /><br />Last night was a great opportunity to get caught up, and I had a blast:<br /><br />Flame Leviathan was much more fun that I expected from the whiny descriptions I'd heard in Trade Chat right after Ulduar was released. I got to ride up top in the gunner's turret of the siege engine Jon was piloting, and since my biggest complaint about vehicle combat is the steering, I really enjoyed myself. I'm a Hunter, I shoot things. Okay, so I was actually on my Shaman, but I had fun, darnit. We ended up going for two towers instead of four, but it was still fun.<br /><br />Next up was XT-002 Deconstructor, my old nemesis. He was surprisingly weak compared to what I remembered, and no one died to bombs. We didn't quite have the DPS to try for hardmode, but I'm not complaining.<br /><br />Razorscale was fun in a crazy sort of way. I was told to focus on the "big shirtless dudes" and had a bit of trouble figuring out which dwarves had shirts on and which ones didn't. They're made of metal, it's tricky! I cheated and spent my time interrupting the casters instead. <.<<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">--This is the part where Blogger ate half of my post so the next couple boss descriptions are going to be short cause I don't want to write everything out again.--</span><br /><br />Ignis was a big pair of feet with fire everywhere. He didn't seem too complicated, but he picked me up and killed me so I guess it's a hard fight after all. I couldn't even use my healthstone. :( <br /><br />Assembly of Iron (which I shall refer to as the Three Bears) we tried first on medium-hard mode, which did not go well, and then normal mode, which we somehow survived. Baby Bear turned into a GIANT LIGHTNING SPIDER at the end. 0_o <br /><br />I was a little behind the rest of the raid when we got to Kologarn, so I didn't get to see him do his <a href="http://www.aspectofthehare.net/2009/08/in-which-pike-goes-on-a-raid-boss-grand-prix-now-with-more-ulduar.html">pop-up book thing</a> but that was okay because the fight was so FUN! As melee I didn't get to see much of the eye lasers I was warned about, and I didn't have to do anything about the crazy packs of adds, either--all I had to do was beat on his arm til it broke off, then hit him in the stomach for a while until he decided he'd had enough of that and grew his arm back, and then it was back to the arm again. The really fun part was that he and his arm had low enough health that I felt like I was actually making a difference, unlike certain bosses that just take FOREVER to die *cough*Anub'arak*cough*. About halfway through, Jon told me to start using Chain Lightning instead of Lightning Bolt, and thanks to that and the efforts of one of our DPS DKs we killed both arms and the body all at the same time and got a nifty achievement!<br /><br />Auriaya was a little disappointing after all I'd heard about the crazy cat lady--the pouncing kitties didn't seem to cause much trouble at all. We just stacked up in a corner and went wild. The trash leading up to her made up for it, though--basically you play monkey in the middle with big balls of lightning. It's been a long time since trash was fun, and I really enjoyed it.<br /><br />Hodir was the first of the "big" bosses we did, and he totally beats out Kologarn as my new favorite fight. We wiped on our first attempt--a bunch of people got frozen--but I at least got a nifty achievement for picking up all of the buffs at once. We downed him on our second try, and it was just crazy. I love fights where the positioning really matters, had a ton of fun running in and out and around trying to stand in the spotlights and on the ice and avoid the glowy blue circles. Near the end, I somehow got aggro--scary scary! I held out for a couple seconds, popped my wolves' Twin Howl to taunt him off of me, got him back on me as soon as it wore off, and then the tanks got him off of me and we killed him. It should have been embarrassing, but it felt pretty awesome. I was all RAWR I ARE SHAMAN TANK. :D<br /><br />Thorim was our last boss of the evening (though I could have kept going much longer), and also pretty fun. It took us a few tries--the arena group was having a lot of trouble and they ended up with six people while the other four of us took the stairs--but we finally got to the part where we could fight the boss. The gauntlet was super fun, especially once I got the hang of the giant fireballs, but Thorim himself was kind of boring. The zappy feet were just confusing, and he didn't seem to have any fun mechanics like Hodir. (And the IN THE MOUNTAINS line was not nearly as epic as I had been lead to believe. They should have had <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=646#comments">Mr. Smite</a> do his voice!)<br /><br />Anyway, that's probably as far as I'll get this week--tonight Jon and I are going over to his parents' house to have dinner with the family in celebration of <del>them finally getting rid of his little brother</del> Brian leaving for college (Gratz Bri! :D) and while I'm sure the guild will finish up the rest of Ulduar while we're gone, family stuff comes first.<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-53856611804314623812009-09-10T23:48:00.000-07:002009-09-11T00:34:19.947-07:00Shaman goes ARGLEBLARGLEBLARGH!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOoECMkkQzFtsLCIm-P_aBVfolnZLjB1fNeHNrvU0qMu4LVoOEoTa88pJbOE6KQHSHPiKKNg0cEoQp0Gb7n21xEUGoEVqV0MP8O6exLJk0skwC2qUgAKgS-FMRX0KyKXLVhnjD-kunz0/s1600-h/slashflex.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOoECMkkQzFtsLCIm-P_aBVfolnZLjB1fNeHNrvU0qMu4LVoOEoTa88pJbOE6KQHSHPiKKNg0cEoQp0Gb7n21xEUGoEVqV0MP8O6exLJk0skwC2qUgAKgS-FMRX0KyKXLVhnjD-kunz0/s400/slashflex.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380109299415048882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />/flex<br /><br />Things have been going quite a bit better since my last post--Tana is now kitted out in almost full epics (still got a blue ring and trinket in there, but the <a href="http://www.wowarmory.com/item-info.xml?i=37390">Meteorite Whetstone</a> is darned sexy), I've been doing 2.5k and up pretty consistently depending on the fight, and I went and bought a helm enchant from the Wintergrasp vendor so I don't feel quite so silly anymore. I've run Vault of Archavon on 25-man, including the new boss (I hate Koralon <span style="font-style: italic;">so much</span>), and was alive when each of the bosses went down. People who died halfway through tried complaining about not getting Bloodlust, and I was able to point out that I was still sated, and so would they be if they didn't suck at not standing in the fire. I mean, I'd never done Kory before, and even I figured it out after our first five wipes. Not that hard.<br /><br />(Yes, I refer to bosses by cutesy nicknames. I can't imagine how this could possibly come as a surprise to anyone.)<br /><br />Anyway, while I had trouble breaking 2.5k DPS in there, the fights were rough on melee, and I know that I was doing my best simply because I didn't die and made sure the melee were covered by my totems at all times. I even won some nifty new pants--Elemental stuff, but as the only Shaman remaining, I got them by default, and they're going into my rather minimal healing set for emergencies.<br /><br />Naxx 10-man was a lot better--I was breaking 3k on some bosses, top 3 for DPS on some of them too--though unfortunately we never made it to Patchwerk so I couldn't get a really fair estimate of my real raid DPS. I still had fun, though, and if the main group hadn't failed so hard at switching on Four Horsemen I would have been able to call myself a real Shaman tank: I was assigned to the back of the room (as Resto of course) and did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. We wiped repeatedly because the front group refused to switch bosses when the tanks did, though, getting up to about 8-9 stacks before dying. We ended up just calling it a night after the third attempt since no one was really awake enough to focus. I'm hoping I get another chance at shammytanking next time, though!<br /><br />So, now that I'm feeling a bit more positive, here's what I'm looking at:<br /><br />1. I need a new weapon. Yes, skill > weapon damage (I watched another Enhancement Shaman with Angry Dread barely manage 1.7k DPS--if you're not going to <span style="font-style: italic;">use</span> it, give it to me! <.<) but I feel like I'm reaching the limits of what I can do with Greed and Pride. Besides, I want to replace my weapon chains with Accuracy, and if I'm going to shell out the gold for that, I'd prefer it to be on something that's a little higher quality.<br /><br />2. I need rep. I was originally going to go Resto at 80, so I'm Exalted with the Wyrmrest Accord, but I never bothered to get my KotEB rep up past Neutral. I've been Enhancement long enough that there's not really any excuse for me not having ground it up to Revered yet--sometime this week I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go do the opener quests.<br /><br />I'm going to start in Zul'Drak, though, so I can pick up a few stacks of <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38698">Bitter Plasma</a> for any healers who don't bother to bring drinks and then beg for water. Yummy!<br /><br />I also need to get my Sons of Hodir reputation up. I'm doing a bit better on that, though, as I'm already nearly to Revered. I killed the Wild Wyrm on my own for the first time today, hooray!<br /><br />3. Enchants. I've got almost everything covered already, but my cloak and chest still need to get zapped. I just keep forgetting. >.<<br /><br />4. I want to see if I can tweak my spec to pick up <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=51524">Earthen Power</a>, maybe even just one point. I've been in a few situations, not just PvP, where I could definitely see it being useful. For that matter, my Enhancement spec could probably use a bit of fine-tuning in general--it hasn't changed since I was leveling. I just hope I don't end up having to give up instant Ghost Wolf!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-24494078325568207692009-09-05T21:34:00.000-07:002009-09-06T01:49:25.009-07:00It's a Guppy!About a month ago we discovered that we are going to have a baby! Kate and I were very excited, but also a little scared and nervous. We made an appointment with a doctor as soon as we could, much thanks to the Salem hospital, btw for sneaking us in and also pushing our appointment back from 8:15 to 1:15 when we asked nicely.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The doctor had good news for us and some good pictures, too, so here they are.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGiFpjKQB_gp2U6AuSffo76EDp_xvojmHJGHySZ4oUArSaDV58fD37VfHpws7J4af0sypH90PK6ZnpeSKZ-zZMeF3Ydr-GQABo01V3baL341eUH0rciLdXioNfzxskx5lgQPxeoUDBU0/s1600-h/us1.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGiFpjKQB_gp2U6AuSffo76EDp_xvojmHJGHySZ4oUArSaDV58fD37VfHpws7J4af0sypH90PK6ZnpeSKZ-zZMeF3Ydr-GQABo01V3baL341eUH0rciLdXioNfzxskx5lgQPxeoUDBU0/s320/us1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378273122087689586" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's the first picture; the darker area is the womb, and the smaller blotch inside it is the baby.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vVpS-t-HhqVPGKl0V1qYSsT0DKda_uLil0P-kbxlsYSxlQLotq5N2Z-V_RcQO_zSTKybLHe6RlAn5ViwcIlw9n4ELBpN6ceXlVXl8Igd6GiUDFfeE0CwgTIjrWg_Zta_j2yhMzW3YoU/s1600-h/us2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vVpS-t-HhqVPGKl0V1qYSsT0DKda_uLil0P-kbxlsYSxlQLotq5N2Z-V_RcQO_zSTKybLHe6RlAn5ViwcIlw9n4ELBpN6ceXlVXl8Igd6GiUDFfeE0CwgTIjrWg_Zta_j2yhMzW3YoU/s320/us2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378273370856525458" border="0" /></a><br />This second picture is from another angle (the CRL1 and CRL2 at the right of the screen are the measurements of our little one), so far about 16 mm long. From this the doctor deduced that she is about 8 weeks pregnant.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DE616gNec2JdSNA20Y0aAWSOkJCW2sDq4c040K8VQ704QoDPSClx_qAXDVpEShivOt395q8qPwTjj4WOHQKxfvtFVXrRTMhw_AVvjnodmrUV1Zldj_hzhyphenhyphen3LFCV1Mg9pPRJhMYtsff8/s1600-h/us3.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DE616gNec2JdSNA20Y0aAWSOkJCW2sDq4c040K8VQ704QoDPSClx_qAXDVpEShivOt395q8qPwTjj4WOHQKxfvtFVXrRTMhw_AVvjnodmrUV1Zldj_hzhyphenhyphen3LFCV1Mg9pPRJhMYtsff8/s320/us3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378273436576433858" border="0" /></a><br />OK, OK, I'll stop now; we wanted lots of pictures, so sue us! But we're very excited, and not at all willing to discuss names until we can at least deduce the gender.<br /><br />(Note from Kate: It's not going to be named Aragorn, Link, or Samus. We promise.)<br /></div>Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02810460134036259725noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-865851156950541268.post-79905630627256714612009-09-03T12:00:00.000-07:002009-09-03T12:00:03.087-07:00Grumpity grump grump.I'm trying to enjoy my Shaman.<br /><br />Jon wanted to transfer his pally to Ursin, and I insisted my shammy not be left behind, so I only have myself to blame for it. I feel as if I have to play her more to justify going to the trouble of transferring her.<br /><br />(Really I just think they're a cute couple and didn't want to split them up.)<br /><br />It seems like no matter how hard I try, I have trouble breaking 2k DPS. With the number of AoE pulls in Northrend dungeons, its understandable that I lag a bit behind, especially given my gear. I mean, I got my first Emblem of Conquest last night. I still have a green necklace. My gear sucks.<br /><br />But I think I must suck too. I've seen Enhancement shamans pulling off crazy high DPS. I may just need to use my cooldowns more, and melee positioning is hard so maybe that's the problem (though I don't die, and I have plenty of expertise). I'm pretty sure it just comes down to skill, which I don't have.<br /><br />I don't even have crazy awesome luck to make up for it, though, like the BM hunter I did yesterday's daily Heroic with. Couldn't break 1k DPS (including pet) to save his life, was not in Viper, and basically had no excuse to fail as hard as he did. He made my barely-2k DPS look good... while the 5k DPS Elemental shaman sat in the back and laughed her tusks off at both of us.<br /><br />He had Skoll, of course.<br /><br />Life is horribly, horribly unfair. :(Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0