springading.com

I’m on my second cup of coffee, and I know I’m going to regret it later. The past week or so, ever since the scary symptoms I had a few weeks ago, I’ve been trying to monitor what I eat and drink, see what sets off alarms, and it seems that I’m getting reflux symptoms after caffeine. Still, it’s still early-ish, I’m tired, and I want to be coherent enough to write something before Jim gets up.

So, it’s been a week since the last post. In that time, I found that my work had ALL the wrong 2012 benefits listed for me (they basically had me listed has not having insurance at all for next year); I called the Employee Services people and gotten it corrected (our peeps are so nice, so that was a bonus); I got a small raise (WOOT); and I actually spent Saturday doing stuff.

This Saturday was so much busier than most Saturdays. I cannot lie: I pretty much do nothing on the weekends. Since Jim quit his job and went back to school full-time, I don’t even do laundry or shopping anymore. It was nerve-wracking at first, especially when bills were so tight, to turn shopping over to Jim. Still, I held back and told myself he had to learn how it worked.

And WOW. I’m so freakin’ proud. Jim struggled a little bit the first time, but he’s done great since. I always budget for $100 per week for groceries, which we never spend, but I rather overshoot. The last time he went groceries, he spent about $110. “Oh no,” I thought. “How could he go over budget?”

Um, no, Spring. That was $110 for two weeks worth of groceries.

Okay, I totally went on a tangent there. My point was, we had money left over to actually do stuff on Saturday.

First thing: Jim paid his dad back some of the money we owe him. I said that we actually had enough to pay his dad back completely, but Jim pointed out that we hadn’t even started Christmas shopping. There’s a good chance that we’ll be able to finish paying his dad off by January though.

Second, I had lunch with Tracy, Eva, and Darren at O’Charley’s yesterday. They’re some people I work with. We all used to sit by each other, but since then, Darren has been moved to a different unit, and Tracy and Eva were part of the lucky few to get selected to be able to work from home.

I was a little out of my element, since I’m so rarely social, but it was worth it, since I don’t get to see Tracy and Eva anymore. They’re doing great, loving being able to work from home. Yeah, if I ever get my own place around here, I’m totally going to look into doing that. But our work has very specific criteria your home has to meet before you can work from home, such as having your own office with locked drawers. (Keep in mind that we handle people’s personal information, so security is a must.) Needless to say, I have neither.

But I digress. Part of going out to lunch and catching up meant that I was caught up on office gossip. I know–it’s kinda weird that people who work from home know more about what’s going on at the office than I do. But at work, I pretty much keep my earbuds in all day and just work. I mean, that’s what I’m getting paid to do. So, no, I never know what’s going on. I got to learn all about it over a plate of nachos, who is getting divorced, who is having an affair with whom.

(I have to say, the big one that is apparently going around the office…it floored me because it involved someone that I would have never expected it from, someone I actually respected and thought was one of the nicest people in the world. Guess it goes to show that we’re all human, and even nice people occasionally will do awful things.)

Anyway, after lunch, I came home to Jim. We went to Hobby Lobby. I bought more yarn. YAY. Came home, played a little Fable 2. I’m FINALLY starting to get into it. The key? Actually learning what I was doing. Oh, I still don’t know totally what I’m doing, but I’m getting better, and it makes me enjoy the game more.

However, while I was playing the XBox, Jim started getting texts from his friend Ben, warning Jim that someone he detests has managed to weasel her way into their D&D group, despite Jim’s protests about her playing, despite the fact that she is very well aware that she’s not really wanted there. It would be one thing if Jim was the only one that dislikes her, but he isn’t. Not by a long shot. So Jim is pissed because, apparently, he’s the only one who has the backbone to tell her no (she originally tried to get into his Spelljammer game), and now he’s debating quitting the D&D game.

That bit of news put a damper on the evening. “Jim, let’s just do our own game when Matt’s is running,” I suggested.

“I want to play in a game, I don’t want to DM everthing!”

“Then teach me to DM!”

Jim just shot me a look. Even I knew that was a long shot. I get so self-conscious while playing. And I barely know how to play; DMing is a long ways off. As in, maybe in another lifetime…but certainly not this one.

Luckily, we were distracted by BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

“Are those drums?” I asked. We went to the window and looked toward the middle school. The band was out. “Hey–is today the Lights Fantastic Parade?”

It was, and we decided that was the perfect distraction for Jim’s gaming woes. We decided to walk, since it was in the 60s earlier that day. Maybe not the best idea, as the wind picked up by the time we got there. By the time we sat down, we were freezing.

The parade was…eh. What do you want? It’s not that big of a town. Also, the toddler behind me kept kicking me in the back. “Stop kicking the lady,” said the woman next to him, who, I deduced from the conversations I overheard, was his grandmother. His mom was on the other side and just ignored it completely. I gritted my teeth during the whole thing. Next year, we’ll bring chairs.

Anyway, during the parade, some girls were giving out flyers to a new restaurant called Evelyn’s on the strip. It looks like they’re just starting out–not a ton on the menu yet–and most of the menu was meat-based. I don’t think most soul food is vegetarian friendly, anyway. But while I’m no longer a vegetarian, I still don’t like a lot of meat.

(Sidenote: I don’t think I even mentioned the no-longer-a-vegetarian thing, did I? After being a vegetarian for 14 years, I’ve stopped. The reasons why I stopped is two fold: 1) we have saved money by having Jim and I eating the same meals–we simply couldn’t afford to keep doing it the way we were doing it, and Jim as not going to be a vegetarian, and 2) after the second miscarriage…well, I want to rule EVERYTHING out about why it’s happening. I know you can get enough protein being a vegetarian, but not the way I do it.)

Still, I don’t like much meat at all. Everyone acted like if I would “just eat a little bit of meat again,” it would all come flooding back and I’d be devouring every animal in sight. My cats would start to look good even, heh. But, nope. For the most part, I don’t like the taste of it. There was some meat on my nachos at my lunch with my co-workers (I immediately wished I had ordered it without), so I didn’t want any for dinner. I stuck with the mac ‘n’ cheese.

WOW. It was really good. It even rivaled my own macaroni and cheese, and I have to say–I make damn good mac ‘n’ cheese. (Two kinds, actually. The regular kind and the Tex Mex kind.) I can’t remember what Jim got, but he was shoveling it in so fast, I thought he was going to choke. “This is SO GOOD,” he said. “This is the BEST…Oh my god, we’ve got to come back.”

And we will. Providing that we can manage to keep funds up.

So, yeah, if you’re the Carbondale area, check out Evelyn’s, give ‘em your business. The service is really good, too.

Jim couldn’t eat everything, though (SO MUCH FOOD), so we walked home. By then, we were freezing because of the wind, and it started to drizzle by the time we made it back to our apartment. Jim hopped in the shower, and then he put in Carnivale, which we traded with his Aunt Donna for Justified. We watched the first two episodes of Carnivale, and I have to say, I think I’m going to like the series a lot. The cinematography is great, and it’s got…mood. I’m all over the moody stuff, heh.

Anyway, it’s after 11 now. I probably should see if Jim wants to wake up, since he doesn’t like to sleep in too late on the weekends. Not sure what we’ll be up to today. Sadly, no Walking Dead tonight–yeah, that mid-season break is kinda lame–but I guess I can just use that time to knit more dishcloths with the yarn I bought.

This will be short–our TV shows (Once Upon a Time, The Walking Dead, and Hell on Wheels) start in 10 minutes–but I hope everyone had a good holiday. My four day weekend was great, full of my favorite things: knitting, Dollhouse, Dexter, video games, and, of course, Jim. I’m kinda bummed to have to start another week working 11 hour days.

Oh, well. One thing I wanted to mention. I know I’m not the only person who has quit World of Warcraft because of money reasons. (Although I think I’m one of the few whose laptop just can’t handle it anymore.) Over the weekend, I decided to check out Runes of Magic, which, I had heard, is very much like Warcraft, except free.

So I downloaded it. And I can attest that it is very much like Warcraft, which I was happy with. Granted, it also overheats my laptop the way Warcraft does, but at least I’m not losing $15 a month for a game I can’t play. Because I can’t play more than 15 minutes before my laptop shuts down on me, I haven’t gotten very far in Runes of Magic–my toon is only level 6 or something like that–but this is what I’ve noticed so far:

• Music. It’s just not that great. Put it on mute and let good, old fashioned Pandora do the mood-setting for you.
• You can only play either a human or an elf, from what I’ve seen so far. That kinda sucks.
• However, there is way more customization of your character. I love that.
• You get a ton more gold in the starting quests–I think my girl already has almost 2,000–and you get dailies up front. Also, you get a mount up-front–but you “borrow” it.

Normally, I do most of my posting either on Wednesday or Friday nights, since that’s when Jim is usually out with his friends. But Friday night, I got caught up in blocking more of those squares for the baby blanket I’m knitting, listening to the Geek Girls Network podcast, and playing Facebook’s Sims Social.

If you know me at all, that last one should sound really weird.

Jim looked at me like I had grown another head when I told him I was trying it out. Previously, all he’s ever heard me say about The Sims was that it looked stupid. I’ve decided to give it a shot because 1) I desperately want a new game to fill the gaping hole that Warcraft left behind, 2) everyone claims it’s so great, and I really shouldn’t knock things I’ve never tried (unless it’s LARP–everyone should get a freebie on that one), and 3) it’s FREE.

The FREE really got me.

The Sims Social, however, has not.

“I don’t think I’m doing it right,” I complained to Jim. “I’m just clicking on stuff. She eats. She plays her guitar. She even goes to the bathroom. What am I supposed to be doing?”

“You’re doing it,” Jim said flatly.

That’s it? There’s nobody to shoot? I can’t even build additions to the house–the one part I think I would like in the game–because you have to have friends play it, and I refuse to send friend requests for a game. Argh! And what’s even worse is that these Sim people are NAGS. I logged in last night, and my Sims girl’s little happiness level had dropped, she was sighing dramatically, and hinting that she wanted to go visit someone. “Tough luck, bitch!” I told my little Sim chick, and I forced her to go play on the computer instead. If I have to sit at home alone, so do you!

Needless to say, it didn’t take too long for me to log out, hunt down Angry Birds, and play that instead. Smashing snorting little pigs is way more satisfying.

Anyway, that’s been the theme of my week: games. Honestly, that’s been the last few weeks–trying to find a game that I can’t put down. I’ve played some Fable II, and now my character has a husband and a kid. By the way, a game that includes the sex noises for making said baby? Yeah, I’m not a fan of that. I was with Jim when he was helping me marry my character off to another man, so he was also there for the wedding night. I was a little embarrassed.

(For someone who loves dirty jokes, I’m oddly prudish about such things. Weird, I know.)

Still, I’m not finding myself addicted to the game. I’ll go weeks without playing it. I’ve been spending a lot of time searching for other games that I think I would like on the XBox 360. So far, here’s what I’m eyeing:

Dance Central 2

Shut up and dance!

Honestly, any of the dance games, since I’m too ignorant to really know one from the other. I remember I used to love Dance Dance Revolution, but alas, being in a second floor apartment means jumping around isn’t a good idea. I’ve been looking some of the videos up on You Tube, and this game doesn’t look like it has too much jumping, but it still keeps you moving. Acceptable alternatives: Just Dance 3 and Zumba Fitness. I’ve heard that Zumba is a ton of fun.

Alas, I need a Kinect for these games. But if I had one, I would also totally get number 2…

Rise of Nightmares

Rise of Nighmares...or Rise of Barf?

I’ve heard that this game is really gory. Nothing to get you out of the dancing mood like an axe in the face.

To be fair, I don’t know if there are any axes involved. I just know there’s blood. Lots and lots of blood.

Anyway, the idea of a horror game with the Kinect intrigues me. However, I’ve seen some pretty bad reviews of it, so I’m thinking that for this game, I’m gonna wait until it hits the cheap bins.

Assuming I ever get a Kinect to play it with, anyway.

So are there any non-Kinect games I want? Oh, yeah. And Jim’s gonna kill me, but here’s one that I think looks like it has promise…

Final Fantasy XIII

She will cut your FACE.

My knowledge of the Final Fantasy games mostly comes from the anime community, back when I used to go to the ACen conventions. Anime fans love this stuff. They just eat it up. And even though I had never played the games, I always recognized the characters. How could I not? People cosplay them everywhere.

So, one day, back in the days of my Playstation 2, I picked up Final Fantasy X-2.

I was not impressed.

However, I had also heard that X-2 was not the game I should base my impressions of Final Fantasy on. I’ve heard the others were better. Couple that with the glowing review I read just last night of Final Fantasy XIII–and the super awesome graphics, which I’m a sucker for–I’m thinking that I’m definitely willing to give it another shot.

Of course, all this depends on me actually getting enough money in the savings to feel comfortable enough spending some on non-essentials. It took me three weeks to fork over two bucks for lotion, just because I figured I could live without it, so I shouldn’t be spending that money. The car still needs new break pads and an oil change; Jim’s dad still needs to be paid back. Until then, I’ll stick with my knitting. Yarn is only, like, 5 bucks.

And the XBox just cannot beat a deal like that.

*Note: I just realized that I totally stole the title “Gamer’s Paradise” from Jim. Somehow, I think he’ll forgive me. I hope!

I am beyond stressed. Getting s’mores at work today didn’t even help.

Oh, yeah, we TOTALLY got s’mores. My job can be so awesome sometimes.

But still. Stress! There’s the recent stuff, of course, that I’ve dwelt on enough and don’t feel like dwelling on anymore.  Unfortunately, the doctors keep me dwelling on stuff by having me come into the office to check to make sure those pregnancy hormones are going down after the miscarriage. Initially, my levels were something like 1400, and by Monday, they dropped to 400. Weirdly enough, if I took a pregnancy test right now, it would probably still come up positive.

Yeah. Weird. But since the levels are still not around the 0 mark, I’ve got to come back in a couple of weeks to get blood drawn again.

Anyway, leaving early the last two days = make up time today, which is just time over that is straight pay and not overtime pay. I HATE THAT. I like my overtime money. I like it a lot.

But back to stress. Today was  just a bad day at work, s’mores be damned. I learned a new workflow that I thought would net me more closures, but then they turned around and said we couldn’t use it. The tech who told me was so bummed about it, she needed one of my Jolly Ranchers to cheer her up, heh. Apparently, the s’mores didn’t cut it for her, either.

And then Jim kept texting me because he was freaking out. He was trying to get signed up for fall classes and found out that he’s not eligible for financial aid this year. I’m not surprised; I warned him that once we got married and they figured in my income, he probably wouldn’t be eligible because I “make too much money.” HAHAHA. Anyway, that wasn’t shocking, but they turned around and told him they “wouldn’t do” government loans either. Huh? What the hell?

Oh, and by the way, they told him, the money is due tomorrow.

I was pretty pissed about this. When Jim submitted everything, the e-mail he got said that the financial aid office was supposed to get ahold of him if they needed anything else. They did need other stuff. They did not get ahold of him. And they were only now telling him this because he went down there to ask them about it, and they were telling him the day before the due date. And it was looking like he wasn’t going to be able to go to school for the fall.

So, Jim was freaking out. I tried to reassure him by telling him that he could just dedicate himself to writing until the spring semester. He kept texting me, though, and it was freaking me out because I know that Jim hates that he’s not working, and the only thing that has been keeping him sane was knowing he’d be in school full time soon, and that going to school does, in fact, contribute to our household’s future. I worried another six months of no work and no school would drive him into depression.

But then he told me that his dad paid for it. His dad is telling him that we’ll only owe him half the money, since he helped pay Jim’s siblings’ college.

But…new stress. I hate borrowing money. This is especially how I did not want to start my marriage–borrowing money from my father-in-law. So now I feel compelled to pull even more overtime to get that paid off ASAP. Jim tells me not to kill myself over it, but…I don’t know…Jim’s mine to take care of now, ya know?  MINE.

And then there’ s stress that comes with the fact that Jim and I are fighting more than usual. Even though I know it’s been totally the clash between the pregnancy hormones and the Chantix, it still sucks. Luckily, Jim will be done with the Chantix in about a month, so that should help a lot. And, of course, my pregnancy hormones are dropping. I should be back to “sane” level fairly soon.

But I had to admit something else entirely that had been bugging me for a while to Jim last night. Jim has one big hobby, one thing he loves that keeps him going these days: Warhammer 40K.

And I hate Warhammer 40K.

There. I admit it. And I do. I’m not even sure why. I’ve tried to like it. I listen to Jim talk about his games. I listen to strategies. I look at how he’s painting his little army guys and how he’s adding modifications to them. They’re very cool.

But I hate them. I hate Jim’s little army guys. I think they’re boring. I think they’re cocky-looking little assholes that are overpriced and suck up too much of Jim’s time and energy. I hate hearing about the guys that Jim plays with. Some of them are complete dicks, and about what? Because they have no legitimate lives, so they can dedicate themselves to the stupidest hobby on the planet?

Ugh.

Jim is a good husband–a little too good at times–and immediately offered to quit playing. Which, of course, is dumb. Why do guys tell you they want you to talk about how you feel about something, and when you do, they automatically go into “fix-it” mode? Do that, and I won’t say anything again! Just because I hate Warhammer doesn’t mean that Jim should quit his favorite hobby. That’s dumb. It’s just how I feel about it; it doesn’t mean it’s right or logical or anything.

Really, where it’s getting to me is that I’ve been trying to fit in my overtime around this gaming schedule, and I’m getting resentful of it. When I have to pull a couple of insanely long days just to make sure I get off work as early as possible on other days for these stupid little army guys that I don’t even think are interesting, I get a little annoyed.

So I think Jim and I have agreed that I’m not going to try to “fit in” my overtime around the gaming anymore. The overtime comes first. We’ve  got bills to pay. Still, I’ll try not to pull the nearly 11 hour days on his gaming days. I’m not a complete asshole. But Jim’s going to the comic book store an hour later than he usually would have isn’t gonna kill him, either.

Here’s hoping that’s the case, anyway.

One day I’m gonna write a happy post again. I really am.

Hey, did I forget that I (for the most part) wrapped up scarf #1?

Scarf #1.

Yup. This is my scarf that I made to get me back in the swing of knitting. And, of course, is one of the five scarves I’m making to satisfy my goal at work. I still feel like my tension is off, and some things are not as easy as I remember (namely binding off), so the next one will probably be knitted too. Except that I’ll work some purls in there as well.

And since we’re in picture sharing mode, I thought I’d post this one:

Anime girl.

Thanks to waybackmachine.org, I found an ancient doodle I did while waiting for my ex-husband to get up and get dressed one morning. And I thought it was lost forever. I know I didn’t keep it. I mean, who keeps their doodles?

Waybackmachine.org, that’s who.

Anyway. All’s well here. It started off rocky on Monday. Actually, it started last Friday. I was crabbier than usual, which didn’t really let up over the weekend, and Monday, when I sat down to work, I realized I was in an abnormally bad mood–seriously, I’m in a good mood most of the time–and that what I really needed was a “me day.” Since Jim’s and Karac’s game folded, Jim’s around all the time. And while I love him, as I’ve mentioned a bazillion times before, I require more alone time than the average person. So, on a whim, I requested PTO for Tuesday. To my surprise, it was approved.

And it was glorious. Tuesday, I did nothing but surf the Internet, watch TV (Charmed! Supernatural! Angel! The Last Unicorn!), knit, and eat cookies. And, apparently, that is exactly what I needed because I was in a much better mood the rest of the week, even with overtime. Jim and I even skirted some sensitive topics later that week, and when he started looking nervous, I said, “Relax. I’m not mad about it or anything. Just want to talk.”

So, yeah. My “Prevent a Mental Breakdown Day” was so successful, I’m thinking of making it a regular thing. That is, unless Jim does another game with his friends. Because if I get Friday nights alone to recharge again, I might be okay with just that.

On that note–gaming, that is–Phil is talking about starting up a Birthright game, to which he invited me last night. I thanked him because that was nice of him, but I’m going to see how it pans out. If they need more players, sure, I’ll play. Jim is always wanting me to do more stuff with him and his friends, and I’ve heard that Phil runs good games. But Phil’s game would also be a good opportunity for me to have my alone time if Jim goes to it alone, and frankly, I think the guys enjoy having “guy only” time. I would, too, if I were them. No having to watch what you’re saying or doing or edit past stories because someone’s girl is there? Yes, please.

Anyway, I’m going to get going because I hear lots of thunder. Not sure what the posting schedule will be like next week, as Jim will be starting school full-time on Monday (yesterday was his last day at work!), so he’ll probably need the computer more for papers and stuff. That’s okay. More time to crochet and knit and read the books from A Song of Ice and Fire series, right?

Everyone keeps asking me how married life is going. Usually, I answer, “I haven’t screwed it up yet!” Then they laugh and walk away.

Here is the truth: Married life, so far, is so awesome and amazing, it’s beyond words.

I know what you’re thinking. I’ve only been married two weeks, right? Well, I will have you know that with my first marriage, I knew something was wrong within the first week. By five months, I was already considering divorce. But I hated the idea of divorce, so I pushed on. I pushed on for twelve freakin’ years.

Just a note: It’s probably not a good idea to marry to someone that you hadn’t seen in seven months because he joined the military. Military is good about giving you discipline and all that, but it does change you.  By the time I realized this, it was too late. I was married to a man that I no longer knew.

But forget all that. That’s old stuff. The other night, I started to tell Jim about how I had been worried, but everything is different with this marriage–this is what marriage is supposed to be. I was about to say more, but he stopped me. “I know it’s different,” he said, smiling. “I’ve never seen you so happy. It’s very reassuring.”

I’m hoping the first couple of weeks are an indicator of things to come.

Speaking of being happy, this reminds me of Melme’s last post. She mentions that currently, she lacks the desire or energy to do anything she usually enjoys, and I joked about it being depression because I was like that through most of my adult life. It is one of the signs of depression. I don’t think that’s Melme’s case–I hope it isn’t–but I know it was in mine. And I realized the other day, I must be happier because now I want to do EVERYTHING. Now, I want to do so many things that I don’t have time to do. I remember several years back, moaning on my Myspace that I had lost interest in all my old crafting interests, but it wasn’t like I had replaced them with new interests. I simply wasn’t interested in anything.

But now? I just tried writing out my current obsessions, and it got so confusing, that I’m going to have to put them in a list format for readability:

• Crocheting the Lego Pirate Ship blanket. This one, believe it or not, is actually nearing the final stages. IT IS HUGE.
• I just started knitting a scarf. Hello, knitting, how I’ve missed you! How this project came about: We have something called a “DAP” at work, which is a personal goal. We will be rated on it, and it will count towards our yearly review. They said it can be anything; our company wants to emphasize the importance on self-improvement of any kind, and that can be outside of work. In fact, they encouraged it being personal. Some people chose weight loss; many chose to read more books; me, I said that I have a hard time completing projects, so I wanted my DAP to be to complete 5 scarves by the end of the year. Then, I’ll donate them to charity. People seem to think my DAP is a cool one, and I cannot lie: I’m exited about it.
• All things related to A Song of Ice and Fire series. I’m finding it harder to put the books down. I’m still only on A Clash of Kings, but when Phil was over, I kept sneaking away to read it. (Well, I also snuck away for a nap. I’m not very sneaky; Jim and Phil knew exactly what I was doing.) I’ve also become a huge fan of the subsequent HBO series, Game of Thrones. I’m loud enough about it that I got an IM from a co-worker the other day, asking me about it–and have managed to convert him into a fan too.
• Learning to sew. I can’t sew, but I do have Sewing for Dummies that I keep flipping through, while eyeing my unused sewing machine, trying to figure out how that monster works. I already know I want some nice, heavy curtains for my bedroom. Also, sometimes, I sneak and watch sewing videos. I think I’m good at sneaking about this–I’m pretty sure Jim has no idea.
• Cross-stitching. I WILL conquer the shaky hands and the permanent blur in the left eye! I WILL.
• Websites! Ah, an old love of mine. The problem? I don’t have the software I used to have to create images. (I used to have Dreamweaver for actually creating websites, but I don’t need that–I can code by hand, even though it’s been a while.) I really want to update the look of this blog. Also, Jim and I have an itch to take my other URL, chaoticspring.com, and do some stuff with it. Except for that, we’ll need some contributers who are good at writing genre fiction. We already have a couple people in mind.
• Getting back to writing. Not unrelated to the last bullet point. I don’t know how well I would do at genre fiction. Heck, I don’t know how well I’d do at writing. I’ve always been complimented on my writing, but my stories were always just me working through my own issues. (Unsurprisingly, I wrote a lot about women in unhappy marriages, heh.) But now, I’m SO happy, I’m stuck. And I don’t know if I have what it takes to write anything other than literary fiction. But I want to try.
• Gaming. Okay, more Jim’s thing than mine. But his and Karac’s Marvel game recently (and abruptly) ended, so Jim has mentioned to me that he would like to run a Deadlands game–and he wants me in it. And, honestly, it wouldn’t hurt for me to be a  little more social, get to know my new husband’s friends better. Jim’s shooting for the fall, I think, but this time, I’d like to actually flip through the books prior to the game starting so I have an idea what it’s all about.

I also woke up thinking about how I needed to finish leveling Alsana to 85…and how I would like to try my hand at Jim’s XBox games. But you see how, with the size of this list, and the mandatory overtime we’ve had all week (including a divisional Saturday yesterday), I haven’t had time to do much with any of them.

Speaking of having no time, I really need to get this day started. It’s already after 10. I’m sure Jim would like to be up by now, and I really need to do laundry at some point, too. Preferably, before Game of Thrones!

By the way, if anyone else is looking for a short series to lap up, I highly recommend Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Oh my god. OH MY GOD.

Okay, how about talking about non-wedding stuff? Well, first let me get this out of the way: With the exception of shoes, I have my entire wedding outfit. Kind of a cream-colored shirt with a little lace. The shirt is kinda pleated in the front. I’ve got a brownish (?) sweater to go over it, then there’s a belt that came with the shirt, and a white peasant skirt. Honestly, I don’t know if this all “goes” together, but Jim swears it does, and he’s probably better with clothes than I am. I mean, hey, he used to LARP. I figured that while the rest of us non-LARPers might find it a strange hobby, LARPers probably have a better sense of fashion than the rest of us, since dressing up is something they do in their off-time.

At any rate, the point is that Jim likes it. So it doesn’t really matter if it does or doesn’t go together, now, does it?

Speaking of LARP, here’s an example of a crazy-small world: The woman behind me at work was looking at Facebook during her lunch. She told me she was looking at pictures of her niece–dressed up as a vampire.

Light bulb. “A vampire?” I repeated.

“Yeah,” she said, sounding almost a little embarrassed. “She plays some game…”

“Vampire the Masquerade?” I asked. “Does she LARP? Live action role-play?” I explained when she looked confused for a moment.

“Yeah!” she said.

I explained to her that my fiancé used to do it when he was younger. She admitted her niece was in her 30s, and I reassured her that plenty of older people did–it’s just that Jim mostly liked it when he was younger and not so much now. She seemed to be more confident once I told her that while, yeah, I think it’s an unusual hobby (and, admittedly, one I like to make fun of on occasion), truthfully, it’s not much different than those Civil War enthusiasts doing their thing or dressing up for Halloween.

“I’m of the opinion that life is too short to worry about what other people think of your hobby. If you want to do something and it’s not hurting anybody, then you should do it.” I paused. “Except for child molesters. They shouldn’t do what they want.”

She laughed. I think she was relieved I didn’t think her niece was a weirdo. And, c’mon, her niece is married woman with a baby and works as a NURSE. Which, as we all know, is one of the most hardest, thankless jobs ever. Dude. If ever there was a woman who needed a way to relieve stress, there you go. The woman helps to SAVE LIVES. Let her pretend to be a vampire.

That being said…I wouldn’t be caught dead doing it, heh.

(I did see the girl’s pictures as a vampire, though. Very pretty. I tried to find out if she was someone Jim knew, but as it turned out, she wasn’t.)

Okay, so that was…quirky. Let’s keep going on the game front, since we’re on that topic, anyway. Jim’s and Karac’s Marvel game was cancelled two weeks in a row. Ben is threatening to quit. (I can personally attest to this because I heard said threats when Jim and I met him and the Boyscout–er, Matt–for dinner the other night.) Jim is worried that if Ben quits, the game will fold.

I’m of two minds of this:

1) Yay, I will get Jim for Friday nights.

2) Boo, I won’t get my time alone.

Jim lately has been feeling torn between hanging out with his buddies on Fridays and hanging out with me. I have gotten to where I miss him, but I don’t know. It seems to me a little bit of missing is good for a relationship. Also, I don’t want him to lose all his old friends just because he’s with me.

Jim’s finally come out and admitted he would like me to game with them sometimes. It would make things easier on him; he wouldn’t feel like he has to choose. To which I’m always, like, “Dude. I have never made you choose.” In fact, most Friday nights, he debates whether or not he should skip, and I always convince him to go.

I sometimes do miss the D&D game we had, but Marvel? Not really my cup of tea. Also, I think the boys enjoy having a girl-free night. It’s probably healthy for them. Much like it’s healthy for me to have my alone time. Sooooo…yeah, I gave Jim a lot of non-committal grunts, but I just don’t see that happening.

NEXT–I got a haircut. My hair was so freaking long. The last time I got it cut was before Jim and I even started dating–over two and a half years ago. I don’t think he’s even realized how much shorter it was back then. At any rate, it’s still long, but there’s a few inches off it. Also? I got bangs.

Bangs

(By the way, I originally wrote this without the picture. Then I realized I couldn’t really complain about my hair if I didn’t show you what I’m talking about. Oh, yeah–and my hair isn’t really that straight. That’s all thanks to a flat iron.)

Honestly, I wouldn’t have opted for the bangs. They’re too much trouble. Jim, however, thinks bangs are cute, so I got them. And…I’m not sure how I feel about them. For one, I told the girl that I didn’t want a lot. If I had to get bangs, I wanted something, you know, kinda wispy.  What I got wasn’t wispy, was way shorter than I wanted it, but Jim seems to like it, and let’s be honest. It’s not like it’s not going to grow back.

It’ll probably just take some getting used to.

What else, what else…OH. GAME OF THRONES WAS AWESOME. I love the casting so far. And this reminds me of Kyle and Zach, since they’re the two from whom I had first heard about this series–I wonder if they watched it? Or, more importantly, if they liked it?

Probably. There were a lot of boobs. You know how guys are about boobs, heh.

Okay! When I start talking about the plethora of cleavage on TV, I think that’s a sign that it’s time for me to quit writing. Until next time!

(Which, admittedly, will probably just be tomorrow, haha.)

I figured I should post now because 1) I feel like posting, and 2) Jim is still asleep. I have an easier time concentrating if Jim isn’t around while I’m writing.

A couple of things. One, I’ve been having some off-the-wall dreams. Yesterday, I slept until 11:30 (!) and had a dream about killer bubbles. Trust me, it was way more eerie in the dream. Upon waking, though, I was like HA. Funny. Then last night, I had a dream that Jim and I were too broke to go on our honeymoon because I had found out that I owed the government a bunch of money after doing my taxes.

Okay, that dream was brought on by the fact that over the weekend, I was pushing off doing my taxes because I kept thinking, “Well, I shouldn’t owe money” (I’ve never owed money) “but WHAT IF?”

Luckily, I’ve already paid for some of the honeymoon stuff up-front, so HA. No matter what the taxes come up as, it’s already done.  Yup,  the first week of May, we have a room booked at the hotel of our choice and tickets for two awesome-looking shows in Branson. At first, I was ehhh about the idea of going to Branson for our honeymoon, but now I’m stoked. Yeah, I said it. STOKED. We wanted something that wasn’t too far away and not too expensive.  We nixed anything anything that involved going outside of the United States (too expensive), Florida (too expensive, too far, too typical, and we’ve both been there), and any place which would involve driving through areas where we would feel obliged to visit with family members. I love my family, but seriously? No visiting any family on our honeymoon. That’s our rule. The honeymoon is all about US.

Also, I should mention, no Internet, so you all will get a break from me the first week of May. Now, I have brought up the subject of possibly bringing the laptop with for writing, since we both find writing enjoyable on its own, and it’s not like we’ll be tempted because (for some reason unknown to me) our laptop’s wireless capabilities quit working a while ago. Jim’s balking at the idea. He’s really for no computer at all. But I think we need other downtime things to do when we’re not reading, swimming, or having lots of loud, rambunctious, newly-wedded sex.

Hey. You were thinking it. And you know we’re gonna be doing it. Why deny, friends, why deny…

Anyway, like I was saying: Jim and I are getting excited about going to Branson. The hotel we got was our top pick (smoking room, indoor swimming pool), the shows we’re going to see look great, and I’ve already discovered there’s something called the Victorian Village I want to check out while I’m there. And I’ve already decided I’m blowing my diet while we’re there because I am not dieting on my honeymoon. If I have to start over when I come back, then so be it.

Oh, I forgot to mention that–I’m on a diet. Started  last week. Not nearly as bad as I thought I would be, which should clue me in as to how much of my eating was mostly just stress eating and not eating because I was hungry. And Jim’s been good. See, at first, it was hard because Jim would request that I get my (new) favorite chocolate stuff (marshmallow 3 Musketeers), knowing full well that it was my favorite,  and while I can easily avoid most foods, that is hard for me to resist. Anyway, I had to have a little chat with my man. His view: “You’re really not that big. I don’t see why you can’t eat this.” My view: “You are blinded by love. The scales say I AM that big.”

Seriously, for a skinny guy, Jim has a very skewed vision of weight. I have gained forty pounds since I moved to Carbondale in 2003. Forty pounds is a lot of weight, especially considering that I’m barely five feet tall. But Jim just doesn’t seem to see it. He hasn’t noticed that twenty of those pounds came along after he and I started dating, either. In fact, he’s always complimenting me on my body.

(Aside: I sent Jim this picture via text on Friday night while he was at game, and he texted me back that I was the prettiest girl in the world. If I were the type of person who said squee, I would do it then. But I’m not, so I won’t, and don’t you do it either–I want to punch all squeers in the face.)

Back to my point. This skewed vision he has of weight, it’s not just me. He doesn’t really seem to think people are fat until they reach something like the 400 pound mark. Unsurprisingly, Jim isn’t much into thin women, lol.

Anyway, I reminded Jim that 1) I’m well on my way to becoming diabetic–look at my health thus far–and 2) he had an uncle who died because of obesity. I hope I’m not saying too much here by admitting this (I’ll edit this post if Jim does mind), but Jim blames his uncle’s wife for it. His uncle was constantly trying to lose weight, and she’d mess up his diet by giving him cakes. One could say that his uncle always had a choice in the matter, but still? Shitty thing for his wife to do.

Anyway, when I reminded Jim of that story, things changed fast. Jim went out and bought soups for all my meals (that is in part because of my tooth extraction), but he made sure they were all both vegetarian and low-calorie. When we stopped by McDonald’s earlier this week, he didn’t even ask what I wanted to drink; he made sure I had water. And, again, because of my tooth extraction, he asked for them to put it in a coffee cup, since I can’t drink from straws right now.

As a result? I’ve already lost 6 pounds!

Okay. So, there are other things, things more interesting than my diet, which I know is of no interest to anyone but myself…once upon a time, I had mentioned possibly going to Gen Con. Jim hasn’t mentioned it at all, so I’m not sure we’re going. My thought is that we’re not because we’re doing our best to knock out the credit card debt. Our goal is  to have it gone by next year. Once it’s gone, Jim is going to quit his  job  and just go to school full-time. Poor guy–taking 5 classes and working 4 days a week while co-running a game with Karac is wiping him  out.

And on that note…our Werewolf game is postponed indefinitely. It was supposed to run on Saturdays, but both Jim  and Karac keep getting scheduled to work on Saturdays. That, and Jim usually needs to catch up on homework then. It’s really too bad because I think I’m really going to like it, but hell, I like just having Jim to myself on Saturdays, too. (Although, Phil, if you’re reading this, you’re always welcome to come over. Just don’t mind the mess.) But my guess is that we’ll pick it back up during the summer.

That’s okay. I can wait. Because right now, I have this to read:

A Game of Thrones

That’s right, A Game of Thrones. Oh my god, guys, a fantasy writer that knows how to write. I will neither hide nor deny it: I am a writing snob. Before you go thinking that I have no right to be a writing snob, I have to point out that my blog-writing is  vastly different than my fiction-writing. And while there are lots of good fantasy stuff out there, most of those writers are good story-tellers, which is not the same as knowing what to do with the language. There is a difference.

By the way, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with just telling a damn good story.  In fact, I think our society needs it. But I personally love it when I have a writer that knows how to use foreshadowing, alliteration, imagery, all that good stuff that does more than tell a story, it plays with the reader’s imagination…SIGH. Love it.

Anyway, George R. R. Martin knows what he’s doing. I’m impressed.  We just bought the first book a couple weeks ago, and Jim’s has already started on the THIRD book. Have you seen the size of these books? Jim is single-handedly the fastest reader I’ve ever known, surpassing even my mother, who, I have to say, it pretty damned fast when she wants to be.

So, yeah. Read them. I’m really excited for the HBO premier  in April because (gasp!) I think I actually have HBO! (I’m not sure. I don’t really watch much TV, so I’m not sure what all I have, but I’m pretty sure Jim said we have HBO.) On that note, I’m going to leave you with a trailer to get you all excited:

Enjoy!

Well, I started a post about how I was having second thoughts about documenting the Werewolf game, but I decided it sounded too whiny, so I deleted all of it. Suffice it to say, the reason why I’m having second thoughts is because I might not make all of the games, plain and simple.

Yesterday, I went into work early to do some overtime. Pulled out my MP3 player from my purse, like I always do, and found a little notecard folded next to it. On it was Jim’s handwriting:

Even if I’m asleep, I’m probably dreaming about you. I love you so, so, so much. Have a good day. -Jim 

I read the card, think that my man is quite the romantic, and secretly hope that whatever he is dreaming about, it’s better than my dream of having a bunch of rapists for neighbors and having to beat them off me with a shovel.

Not even an hour and a half in, my sister Jennifer called to let me know that she needed to go see a patient. Since she’s a hospice nurse–and on call–when she needs to see a patient, it’s usually pretty urgent. Luckily, I had warned my supervisor of the situation the day before (her husband took a job out of  state, Jim and I are the back-up babysitters), so he’s already aware of everything. So I left. I had fun watching the kids, though. I cannot deny it. I helped Trinity clean up her room with Seth, doing the Rocky theme song as I tossed clothes to the kids so they could put them in their places. Afterwards, they roped me into blowing up balloons for them in exchange for “please” and kisses. I came home with a sticker on my shirt and stamps on my hand.

Oddly, during that entire time I was there, I barely saw the oldest, Damian. He spent the entire time cleaning his room, yelling from the other side of his door that his room was “atrocious” and not to come in. Jennifer later told me that he didn’t want me to see how bad his room was. He’s definitely getting older; he’s getting embarrassed way more easily.

Anyway, watched the kids, Jen came home. Started to leave twice, but Jen got a couple more calls, so I would then hang around to see if she needed me. (She didn’t.) By the time I left, it was 11:05. Since my original plan was to leave work at noon, there was no point in going back to work.

Raced to Kroger, picked up snacks for the game, came home. Jim was already on the sofa with his coat on, waiting. Told me Phil was on his way. There was a flurry of calls and texts the second I had walked in. Karac couldn’t get out of work. Ben had to stay home because they were delivering his computer, and they wouldn’t be open the next day. Matt would have to leave at three anyway.

Decision: Game cancelled. Jim called Phil. Phil was already in our parking lot and starving. Poor guy. So the three of us instead went to McAlister’s. Mmmm, Cheese Spud!

After that, the day was decidedly less eventful. Jim and Phil read Werewolf books on the sofa while I started dozing off in the rocking chair. Finally, I threw in the towel, kissed Jim, and went to take a nap. When I woke up, Phil was gone, and Jim and I spent the rest of the night eating way too many snacks and watching Justified and Babylon 5. Justified is totally a man-show. Jim just loves it. We both remark on the lead guy’s name being Raylan, similar to Jim’s “Raelan” in our D&D game. (Obviously, spelled differently.) And Babylon 5, of course, has one of the best scenes ever:

I’m gonna taken Delenn’s advice and be somewhere else. As in the store. We’re almost out of coffee, and I’m pretty sure without it, I just might die. Minbaris be damned.

You guys will have to forgive me–it’s been over two months since this game as real-life cropped up between then and now, so getting this post written is going to take some effort, as I’ve forgotten a lot since then. And, if you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you’ll know that this game has since ended. I’d recommend skimming over the last installment prior to reading this; I know I had to. But a quick recap: We left Iema, Natalia, and Sunshine in The Dump, a place full of wood “bushes” that turned out to be the corpses of children. We were then attacked by their killers (splinterwaifs) and after a long, difficult fight, we manage to kill most of them and run the remaining off. And now for the last game…

Icetor the 15^th (continued)

Iema, Natalia, and Sunshine are still standing in the wood pile, exhausted after their fight. Iema casts Detect Magic and find a glowing “pot” of money–and a dead body. It is not a body like one of those wood “bushes” that we had found earlier, though. Jim says the body is decayed, has nice clothes, and a necklace that has the symbol of St. Barius society, which was bigger during the Godstorms. There aren’t as many people wearing this symbol nowadays, and when you did see it, they were mostly found on guards.

Iema and Natalia try to figure out what they know. Most of the murder victims were crushed, shredded…murdered by something very powerful. These splinterwaifs, though, are more for shooting, well…splinter-things, things that some people mistook for arrows. Obviously, the splinterwaifs, as terrible as they are in their own right, are not responsible for the murders we’re investigating.

We consider that one of the victims that was nearby The Dump had both an “arrow” in him and had his arm torn off. We conclude that the man had the misfortune of getting between both the splinterwaifs and whoever was killing everyone. Damn, talk about rough luck.

We walk back to the Burning Inn. On the way, Iema takes off his herald’s cloak. He’s decided to stop pussy-footing around with Burne Layward, and if the only way to make the guy talk is to put aside his symbol of his service under Julium, then that’s what he’s going to do. We get to the Inn. Iema sits down. Natalia remains standing, watching Burne warily.

Iema sits down, tells Burne that his story doesn’t add up, there is no way he had made such a huge mistake about what was in The Dump, and blantantly accuses Burne of knowing what was really going on. Burne at first tries a lame attempt at blaming the Corporal, then tries to change his tune.

“You know what?” he says. “Let’s start over. C’mon, I’ll buy you drinks.”

Iema, ever the polite bard, accepts his offer; Natalia, ever the rude druid, flat-out declines. Good thing because Iema takes a sip–and starts choking.  Fortunately he makes his Fortitude save, so the poison doesn’t kill him.

Combat! (My favorite part.)

The place breaks out into a frenzy. Four guys pull out longswords and flip over tables. Before she can react, Natalia gets hit by four arrows. She yells for Sunshine, who is nearby outside, hoping that her dire hawk will hear her. I don’t even remember if she does, though. What I have in my notes is that Natalia turns into a dire bear (of COURSE) while Iema starts hacking away at enemies. Eventually, we’ve bloodied several and run the rest off, but we managed to get Burne held down. While he’s being held, Iema goes around and calmly starts straightening up the bar, remembering to give the bartender 15 gold to go toward the damages.

Finally, Iema dispels whatever it is that’s keeping Burne held. Burne decides to tell us what he knows. The kid that we had heard died was actually the fourth murder. There was another murder even before what others knew about, but it took place outside of town. We get a name and an address for a contact named Al’menna from Burne, he admits that everything he’s said about the Corporal is a lie, and he begs us not to turn him over to Corporal Murstas.

We head off to this new contact, who confirms the rumor of that the first murder actually took place outside of town. Iema asks if anyone new was coming in, and Al’menna confirms there was a very nice family who came had been fleeing their old town because of–get this–some unresolved murders taking place. But these aren’t any old murders. Whatever is doing it could crush animals.

Iema and Natalia surmise that the killer could either be someone in the family or someone following the family. I remember at this point, having a weird feeling of déjà vu, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Al’menna then tells us that the child victim actually knew the family’s little girl. In fact, he had a crush on her and teased her all the time.

Natalia perks up. “Little girl?” She glances at Iema, who seems to be thinking the same thing she’s thinking.

We got back to visit Madwyn, who seems surprised in our sudden interest in this family, telling us they were very nice people. Still, she hands over the address. On the way, Natalia and Iema try to figure out what it could be. Let’s assume they are, indeed, “very nice people.” How were the murders tied to this family? Natalia suggests poltergeists. Of course, I don’t even know if poltergeists exist in D&D and thought maybe I was being dumb for even suggesting it, but if Jim and Phil thought it was dumb, they kept it to themselves.

Good thing. I’m usually the one getting their drinks for them. Yeah, stay on my good side, boys, ha.

So we get to the home of the girl and her family. The house is dark. The door is off the hinges. This doesn’t look good. Iema has a new ring that he uses to light up the area around us.

“I smell blood,” Sunshine offers.

Based on the damage, we can tell whatever it was was bipedal. It’s obviously huge because it’s crushed through the door. Natalia turns into a wolf, and she smells that same smell of blood and fecal matter. There are human parts everywhere.

We go back outside. Again, the smell is everywhere. We can overhear the Corporal nearby, and we call him over, explain what we’re doing.

This entire time, something is nagging me. Something about all this feels very familiar. I remember someone thinking this was the ghost of “Druid Jack.” Whatever it is, it’s big, super-strong, bipedal, crazy-protective, enough where it could mistake a little boy’s teasing for something more serious–

“OH,” I say. “OH. I bet this is–I bet–it’s–ARGH. What’s the word? What are they called again? IT’S A GRAY RENDER.”

Phil is impressed that I figured it out; Jim admits that he thought I would have figured it out sooner.

 In character, Natalia voices her suspicion, and then we’re all really moving because you don’t want a gray render running around loose in the town. We spread out. Natalia casts Greater Magic Fang on Sunshine because we really can’t afford for her to miss. We start roaming through town, trying to figure out where something as large as a gray render could be hiding. We’re go through alleys littered with small, dead animals–no doubt, leftovers from the render’s meals–and end up standing by a statue.

A bum sees us. “You outta be careful.”

We turn. “What?” one of us asks.

He scoffs. “Statues around here come to life.” We look at each other. He insists, “They do! I just saw one in the park.”

We remember something: Aside from blood, Natalia kept smelling fecal matter when she was shapeshifted. The park the bum is referring to houses a large stone vent that goes to the sewers. Iema calls for the Corporal, and we race toward the park.

Sunshine flies high up overhead to see into the tall vent, then lands by us. “Yup,” she says. “The fan inside is busted.”

I don’t even remember how we call got up and over. I mean, I assume Natalia and Sunshine flew, but I don’t know about Iema and the paladin. Once inside, though, we find some weird things. We see symbols with lines radiating from the center. Jim says it looks like the moon eclipsing the sun, which is the symbol for Tharix, god of crazy people and doomsday cultists. We go through a lake of poop (that’s my oh-so-poignant description in my notes, ha), and we notes that it looks like there’s been a fight. Two cultists are dead. One is still alive, but there are entrails behind him. His eyes are gouged out. Behind him, there is a message written in blood: I have seen death, and it is mine own.

Leave it to doomsday cultists to be drama queens.

Iema spots the little girl. She is freaked out. Jim asks Phil if Iema is going to calm the girl down. Phil sighs, mumbling that he has a feeling that he’s going to regret this…Attempting to comfort the little girl, he puts a hand on her shoulder.

Whoosh. That would be the sound of speedy, angry gray renders coming to attack us, by the way. Yes, gray renders, as in plural, as in one very large one and one smaller one.

Okay, that, we didn’t see coming.

Natalia immediately shifts into dire bear form, then starts a spell to summon an earth elemental. Meanwhile, Iema is fighting like crazy, and poor Sunshine is being smashed by one of the renders.

Suddenly, we hear a grinding sound. “What’s that?” Natalia asks.

We crane our necks, while trying to keep an eye on our attackers. Finally, we spot bricks that are starting to pop out of the walls. Jim reminds us that Natalia had summoned an earth elemental. Well, the elemental is coming from the walls. We watch in horror as a brick-man pulls himself from the walls. The ceiling above us starts to groan.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Natalia says, kicking herself for not predicting this. Iema scoops the little girl up and starts to run.

Natalia is hard-pressed to leave a fight and Corporal Murstes behind. The smaller render charges the earth elemental. Natalia’s creation then faces off both it and the larger render.

“Get to the tunnel!” Murstes yells.

The larger render is still fighting the earth elemental. Natalia grabs Sunshine and start to head out. Before she can turn around and find out if Murstes is behind us, she sees that Murstes has summoned a glowing wall between himself and us, effectively keeping the render and elemental from getting out–and locking himself in with the two.

“What are you doing?” Natalia demands.

“Go.”

She hesitates a moment. Iema has already gotten the girl out; after a moment, Natalia and Sunshine flee as well, and they get out just before everything collapses. The little girl is in shock. We decide what she needs is someone familiar, so we go back to her house, pick up the money in the safe that we found there, then take her to Madwyn’s, give the woman the money and the girl, and explained what the culprit was.

Next, we go to the guardhouse to let them know what happened to Corporal Murstes. They seem busy. I don’t remember what exactly they were doing; my notes say they’re “caught [doing something] revolutionary.” Don’t ask. I’m sure if the game continued, we would have found out. I can guarantee you that Jim’s got all worked out, and it probably will have an effect somewhere in Valt and the next game.

At any rate, we don’t care too much about it right now because suddenly, somebody breaks into the room, yelling that there’s a monster in the street. Natalia is surprised. That thing survived the cave-in?

The desk guard runs out to start ringing warning bells, and they start closing the town gates, effectively shutting down the town. We’re about to run out, but we’re suddenly halted by fire coming through the door. Men with black sacks on their heads burst in with firey swords, Burne in the lead. Why the hell did we let him go? Burne yells to burn the place down.

ARGH, WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS. Natalia quickly gets back in her dire bear form because that’s the form that gets shit done. Iema casts Improved Invisibility on himself and joins the fights. One of the guards jumps up on the desk, downs a potion, and starts breathing fire on the attackers for max damage. While Natalia is grappling one of these idiots, she hears a thunk outside as something hits the window.

“Ow,” she hears Sunshine’s muffled voice from outside it.

Oh, geez. That bird.

Iema, still invisible, sneaks to one guy and guts him, but he isn’t getting past everybody. Jim rolls for one of the female attackers and announces that she has made her listen check. So she figures out where Iema is and attacks. Luckily, she misses. Natalia kills one of the other attackers when Sunshine suddenly bashes through the window.

Iema swings around on the woman who had pinpointed him and manages to kill her. Other guards swoop in around him to surround Burne, grab him, and throw in a jail cell.

Finally, with Burne out of the way, we can focus on our main concern: The very large gray render that’s on the loose. Around us is chaos. Aside from the fight we just had, one guard is yelling to block the gates to keep the render from escaping, and another has just run in to call out that it’s on one of the docks. We hurry that way.

There is a brief debate among some as to whether or not to let the little girl die, figuring that once she’s gone, the threat will be gone, too.  And we picked…what do you THINK we picked? We’re not letting a little girl die! It’s not her fault this crazy thing is attached to her! Are you freakin’ nuts? Iema starts heading out toward the boat and gets about 10 feet before the render starts hurling iron at him. A piece strikes the bard’s shoulder. His whole arm goes numb. Iema gets hit a second time and drops. Both Natalia and a guard make a beeline toward Iema, but the guard gets there first and heals him, enabling Natalia to refocus on the boat, the gray render, and the little girl. She proceeds.

We see that it’s worse than we thought. We thought at least the smaller render had died. It, in fact, had not. Both the renders were on the boat. The smaller one charges at Natalia. Iema quickly manages to grab the Wand of Cure Serious Wounds from Natalia because he’s just about out of spells–and because Natalia, seeing that she’s about to get attacked, is going to shift back into dire bear form. (Quick thinking on Phil’s part, by the way.) So Natalia shifts and starts clawing, Sunshine sweeps in and does her thing, and the lieutenant fighting with us manages to get the killing blow in on the little render.

Everyone then turns to focus on the larger gray render. This fight is much uglier. Iema is killed during it, his legs torn off. Natalia manages to finish off the gray render, collects her friend, and then goes to find a cleric to resurrect him.

Easier said than done. It turns out that not all clerics are willing to just resurrect people. This cleric wanted a good reason to  resurrect Iema, and when Natalia failed to provide one (aside from “he’s my friend and I’ll claw your eyes out if you don’t”), the cleric refused to help.

So Natalia has to use her reincarnate. She was hoping not to have to do that because the chances of him coming back as an arcling were pretty slim. Still, better alive…So she casts. Iema comes back as an owl.

Sunshine eyes the owl hungrily and hops toward him.

“SUNSHINE,” Iema says. “It’s ME! Iema! YOU CAN’T EAT ME.”

“It’s really a drow pretending!” she says, hopping closer. “I’m not falling for your drow tricks!”

Natalia gets in the middle and orders Sunshine to back off. Sunshine reluctantly obeys. We had back to Julium’s, give our report, and go to bed.

Now here’s where I really have to rely on my memory because I didn’t take any notes beyond this point. I believe it was the next morning when Raelan finally comes along and transforms Iema back into an arcling. (Wizards are so handy to have around. When they’re not being annoying.) We go to find Madwyn to discover that when the renders found her with the little girl, that they had torn her arm off. Natalia feels guilty about that (after all, we’re the ones who left the little girl with her, assuming that the renders had died, and thus, had made her a target), so we find someone to try to fix her arm with a spell. Unfortunately, the dice gods were not with him when Jim rolled for that NPC; it went horribly wrong, and her arm ended up growing out of her side. She, of course, is horrified. Determined to get her arm fixed, we go to Raelan, since he has surgery skills. He teleports us to his castle and fixes her arm to some kind of monster arm. It’s not as nice-looking as her old arm, but this arm can do all sorts of things that her original one couldn’t do. To her credit, Madwyn doesn’t complain. Instead, she admires Raelan’s work.

And that’s where the last game ended: Us standing around a woman with a monster arm, and a young wizard throwing his arms up in the air, declaring himself a genius.

It’s as good an ending as any, I suppose.