Beautiful Lengths

My eye was not the only thing to get cut this past weekend. Jeff has been growing his hair out for about three years now with the idea that when it was long enough, he'd donate it to charity. There are a number of charities that accept human hair to make wigs for patients with cancer. They each have their own standard length needed. So this past week Jeff decided that he had reached the proper length and made an appointment to get his hair chopped off.

On Saturday morning Jeff was a little nervous before setting off for the salon for a noon appointment. I had decided to go with him to offer whatever moral support I could. But he sat down like a champ and told them where he would like it cut. The stylist slid a hair tie up to the proper place and then using the office scissors (so she wouldn't damage her own) proceeded to cut just above the tie. Jeff might have closed his eyes once but he sat patiently while she took it all off. I bound up the hair and put it into the plastic bag (this was before my fear of ziplocs) to be shipped off. And of course I had to take before and after pictures of him. In total Jeff will donate about 9 to 10 inches of hair.

After the stylist had cleaned up the rest of Jeff's hair, his grimace of having it cut off turned to all smiles. His hair is now shoulder length and he loves the look. We left the salon with him running his fingers through his now shortened hair while I carried the bag with the pony tail. I then took him out to lunch at Famous Dave's to celebrate his new look and to celebrate his generosity. I hope his hair brings as much joy to someone else as it brought to him.

PS, Jeff is donating his hair to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program. For more information on how to donate your own hair please see Pantene's webpage or the Locks of Love page.

3 Weekends in 3 Paragraphs

I'm going to try to fill in the gaps of the last three weeks using only my weekends. My weeks have been nothing but work and writing but my weekends have been filled. The weekend of May 12th and 13th included the culmination of three years of very hard work for Jeff. He graduated as an actuary that weekend. To celebrate, Jeff's parents came in to visit. We spent Saturday at the Farmers Market, shopping, and then having dinner and playing games with my parents. Sunday was the graduation and then we spent the evening at my parents house to celebrate mother's day with both mothers. My parents cooked steaks and we had a wonderful feast. Both sets of parents, both of my sisters, and Jeff and I spent the rest of the afternoon eating, talking, and playing games. It was a fantastic weekend. I couldn't be prouder of Jeff. He's worked very hard in school and I was proud to see him walk across that stage.

Jeff's parents left Monday morning and on Friday morning Jeff and I jumped in the car to head south. My nephew Callen was celebrating his first birthday and his parents were throwing him a party. We got down to St. Louis just in time for dinner and then a movie with Jeff's parents. The next day was the party. There were quite a few people there, including some family I hadn't seen in awhile. They provided lunch and then cake. Callen got his own cake to destroy and eat. Below is one of my favorite pictures from the day, although the picture I got of the cake in his bellybutton is right up there. After cake we relaxed on the front lawn, talking and sitting in the shade. Callen wasn't terribly excited about opening presents so we helped out a bit. And then had dinner. It was one of the most relaxing afternoons I'd had in a while. The next day we had breakfast with everyone and then headed home.

This last weekend was of course the long holiday weekend. Friday night I left work for join my brother, his family, and my parents for dinner. We sat and chatted after dinner until late. The next day we met for some shopping and lunch on the patio at PF Chang's. While sitting there, a heron landed at the pond. We all had a wonderful lunch and then some book shopping (my favorite). After lunch we headed to my parent's house for nerf wars, sidewalk chalk, and fun. I have a blast playing with my nephews and niece. I got shot with nerf darts, started a pretend bakery with my niece, and decorated my parent's driveway. The next day was lunch at a taco place in town, then I went to the theaters with everyone to see Avengers. The movie was incredible. I loved the humor and the dialogue. Joss Whedon is a genius. It was one of the first action movies I've seen where the banter was not only good but actually overrode the action. It was hilarious. I hadn't been to a theater in years but this was worth seeing on the big screen. After dinner that night my brother and his family left to head home. I spent Monday reading and Tuesday at the golf course with Jeff. Four days of fun. I came back to work relaxed and refreshed. These last three weekends have been busy but wonderful. And those are my last three weekends. Trust me, my work week have been much less interesting.

Love of my Life

Years ago, Jeff broke into my phone and changed his name from the rather boring "Jeff" that I had listed it as, to "Love of My Life". He did it as a joke and it certainly worked when I tried to find him in my contacts the next time. But it's been rather long lived for a joke. Five years later, he's still listed as Love of My Life in my phone. I still address him that way when he calls. And he still is the love of my life.

My dear husband has a birthday today. I won't tell you how old he's turning this year (I'm pretty sure he'd be mad at me for that). It's been a year of changes. The next one will have even more. Jeff has shown me incredible courage and poise this year. As one of our good friends told me recently "he's really grown up a lot". He's so different now from the man I married but I love him just as much, if not more. We've lived through some incredible times together. I just hope he knows how special he is to me. Happy Birthday to the Love of My Life.

Knitting Night Image

Have You Kissed Your Llama Today?

Can you tell I'm strapped for time this week? I'll try to write something longer tomorrow. Or on the weekend if we are in town. Until then, here is one of my offbeat images to get you through the day.

Poetry Friday for an Anniversary

Jeff and I will be married 11 years tomorrow. In celebration of that fact we are traveling, our favorite thing in the entire world. He mentioned it to me Wednesday as a possibility and within five minutes we had a hotel booked and were ready to go.

We travel well together. And I think that says something. We both enjoy the slow unfolding of the road before us. We spend our time talking, watching for wildlife, and finding images in the clouds. We take the backroads, passing through tiny towns and by huge farms. And that fits us well.

We're both quiet people. We enjoy the slower pace of life. Our relationship is a slow burning incense rather than a quick fiery match. We are the best of friends and good partners. We are both sure that we don't deserve the other. And I completely adore him. I love you my dear. This is for you.

i carry your heart
by e. e. cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Old Files/Good Finds

I'm cleaning up some files on my computer today and stumbled across a list that Jeff had sent me during a bit of a dark period and I thought I'd share it with you. Those of you who know me will know that I'm generally a neurotic mess of a person. I'm constantly worrying, feeling guilty, or judging myself about something. I spend far too much time in my own head and it tends to make me a bit unhappy. So Jeff found this list on a website called Stepcase Lifehack and sent it to me. This was written by Adrian Savage and every point he offers made an impression on me.

Sorry it's so long. I thought about just putting in the titles but I think the impact is in the rest of the entries. I think it's worth a long read.

10 simple ways to save yourself from messing up your life

1. Stop taking so much notice of how you feel. How you feel is how you feel. It’ll pass soon. What you’re thinking is what you’re thinking. It’ll go too. Tell yourself that whatever you feel, you feel; whatever you think, you think. Since you can’t stop yourself thinking, or prevent emotions from arising in your mind, it makes no sense to be proud or ashamed of either. You didn’t cause them. Only your actions are directly under your control. They’re the only proper cause of pleasure or shame.

2. Let go of worrying. It often makes things worse. The more you think about something bad, the more likely it is to happen. When you’re hair-trigger primed to notice the first sign of trouble, you’ll surely find something close enough to convince yourself it has come.

3. Ease up on the internal life commentary. If you want to be happy, stop telling yourself you’re miserable. People are always telling themselves how they feel, what they’re thinking, what others feel about them, what this or that event really means. Most of it is imagination. The rest is equal parts lies and misunderstandings. You have only the most limited understanding of what others feel about you. Usually they’re no better informed on the subject; and they care about it far less than you do. You have no way of knowing what this or that event really means. Whatever you tell yourself will be make-believe.

4. Take no notice of your inner critic. Judging yourself is pointless. Judging others is half-witted. Whatever you achieve, someone else will always do better. However bad you are, others are worse. Since you can tell neither what’s best nor what’s worst, how can you place yourself correctly between them? Judging others is foolish since you cannot know all the facts, cannot create a reliable or objective scale, have no means of knowing whether your criteria match anyone else’s, and cannot have more than a limited and extremely partial view of the other person. Who cares about your opinion anyway?

5. Give up on feeling guilty. Guilt changes nothing. It may make you feel you’re accepting responsibility, but it can’t produce anything new in your life. If you feel guilty about something you’ve done, either do something to put it right or accept you screwed up and try not to do so again. Then let it go. If you’re feeling guilty about what someone else did, see a psychiatrist. That’s insane.

6. Stop being concerned what the rest of the world says about you. Nasty people can’t make you mad. Nice people can’t make you happy. Events or people are simply events or people. They can’t make you anything. You have to do that for yourself. Whatever emotions arise in you as a result of external events, they’re powerless until you pick them up and decide to act on them. Besides, most people are far too busy thinking about themselves (and worry what you are thinking and saying about them) to be concerned about you.

7. Stop keeping score. Numbers are just numbers. They don’t have mystical powers. Because something is expressed as a number, a ratio or any other numerical pattern doesn’t mean it’s true. Plenty of lovingly calculated business indicators are irrelevant, gibberish, nonsensical, or just plain wrong. If you don’t understand it, or it’s telling you something bizarre, ignore it. There’s nothing scientific about relying on false data. Nor anything useful about charting your life by numbers that were silly in the first place.

8. Don’t be concerned that your life and career aren’t working out the way you planned. The closer you stick to any plan, the quicker you’ll go wrong. The world changes constantly. However carefully you analyzed the situation when you made the plan, if it’s more than a few days old, things will already be different. After a month, they’ll be very different. After a year, virtually nothing will be the same as it was when you started. Planning is only useful as a discipline to force people to think carefully about what they know and what they don’t. Once you start, throw the plan away and keep your eyes on reality.

9. Don’t let others use you to avoid being responsible for their own decisions. To hold yourself responsible for someone else’s success and happiness demeans them and proves you’ve lost the plot. It’s their life. They have to live it. You can’t do it for them; nor can you stop them from messing it up if they’re determined to do so. The job of a supervisor is to help and supervise. Only control-freaks and some others with a less serious mental disability fail to understand this.

10. Don’t worry about your personality. You don’t really have one. Personality, like ego, is a concept invented by your mind. It doesn’t exist in the real world. Personality is a word for the general impression that you give through your words and actions. If your personality isn’t likeable today, don’t worry. You can always change it, so long as you allow yourself to do so. What fixes someone’s personality in one place is a determined effort on their part—usually through continually telling themselves they’re this or that kind of person and acting on what they say. If you don’t like the way you are, make yourself different. You’re the only person who’s standing in your way.

Coed Sports

First things first, I have to say a few words about my poor husband. Poor Jeff has been sick and suffering for the last two weeks. He's been coughing, wheezing, and in pain. What started as a cold has been getting worse and worse. This morning we finally decided that he should go to the doctor's office. And not surprisingly he came home with a diagnosis of bronchitis. I've had bronchitis enough times in my life to know exactly how miserable it is. The constant coughing, the chest pain, the shortness of breath. So I have to say, considering all of this, he's been a real trooper. Hopefully the meds he got will help. Until then at least they will help him breathe.

Because of his illness, we decided to take last night easy and stay home. I caught up on some writing, helped him with a paper, did my exercises, and watched the women's basketball final. For those of you who missed it, UConn won, not surprisingly. Although early in the game that was a bit in doubt. Halfway through the game Jeff said something that got me thinking. He wondered how UConn (the women's winning team) would do against Duke's men's team. How would the best women's team in the country do against the best men's team? It's a game I would happily watch for no other reason than to see what happens. I know that men and women tend to play different styles of basketball but I would be interested what would happen. How would the scoring go? I would bet that many others in the country would be willing to watch a game like that as well (Hint, hint NCAA!!).

That question got me thinking about a conversation that Jeff and I have occasionally: Why are some sports or activities still sex segregated? Particularly sports where strength doesn't matter. Like bowling. Or darts. Or archery. I know that physiologically there is a strength difference between men and women. But I think that many women have become just as strong if not stronger than some men. A Sport Science episode compared the hit rating for a male and female boxer. The punches were identical in terms of force. But even for sports where strength isn't involved as much, there is little competition between the sexes. We are finally starting to see a more coed approach to racing (auto racing that is) but even that is unusual. I would love to see how some of the women golfers would do against the men golfers. So I'm asking, is it just that it would be hard for a man to be beaten by a woman? Is it still the old mistaken stereotype that women can't compete with men? What do you think?

Alaskan Goal

As if I wasn't in enough of a hurry to be walking again, I now have a great goal to work towards. My parents are taking an Alaskan cruise in July and have invited us kids. My plan is to go if I'm walking well enough. A cruise is exciting enough but I've always wanted to see Alaska. I simply couldn't pass up the chance to go.

I've been working on rehabilitation for a bit now but I'm doubling my efforts. I do flexion exercises every night for about a half an hour. I'm increasing that to an hour now. I'm putting the suggested amount of weight on my foot so that I don't have as much of a transition once the crutches are gone. I want this recovery to go as smoothly as possible. This is just added incentive.

Jeff won't be going with me on the trip which is a source of guilt and sadness for me. It's been years since I last traveled without him and I'm not completely comfortable with the idea. I'm feeling guilty about the fact that I will have this fantastic experience while he'll miss out. And I'm sad that he won't be with me. I'm sad but not enough that I'm going to pass up a chance to see whales, glaciers, bald eagles, and the beauty that is Alaska. A trip is just what I need to be excited about getting better. I'm already doing research about our ship. And a family trip is even more exciting. If only Jeff were going it would be perfect. Well, that and walking.

For Jeff

Ten years ago today, Jeff and I got married. When I think about the number of years it seems like forever, but it feels like it has gone by in a flash. It hasn't and last night Jeff and I sat down to think about all the things that have changed in our lives since that day, a full decade ago. I was 22 year old, fresh out of college and he was 24, young enough that we still had problems renting a car for our honeymoon. We have gone through multiple jobs, multiple homes, multiple returns to school, and many fabulous vacations. We've been together through thick and thin. And I love him.

I tried this morning to find a poem (since it is Poetry Friday) that told him everything I wanted to say. But nothing really works. Poetry tends to be about new love, new lust, attraction. Not ten-year old love. Not love that has lived together for almost 4000 days. Not love that has grown comfortable with itself. I thought about that on my way to work this morning. And came up with this. Not good, not really even workable, but my feelings nonetheless.

I was young,
certainly way too young
for walking down an aisle in white.
A fairy tale moment,
of Cinderella finding her prince.
Trembling with love,
and lust,
and promises that had yet been spoken.
And you were young,
young enough that you seemed unfazed
by words like "I do" and "forever".
Barely a man, in tux and tails.
I was white, and pearls, and heels
and I was in love.

I stood this evening in jeans,
t-shirt, flip-flops,
A smear of ink on one of my cheek.
Champagne replaced by coffee.
Momentous replaced by mundane,
A life of mornings and evenings
often the same.
Ten years on and the pearls are gone.
But without the momentous,
without the artifice,
without the heels and parties and thrills,
I find I love you far more than I did,
the day we married.
And I have to wonder if the fairy tales were false.
Love is not one instant flash of passion
Real love is a gathering of days.

Poetry Friday

I'm early for Poetry Friday but again I'll be traveling this weekend. Again I'll be out of internet contact. There will be no posting until Monday.

But I had to share this. I've been tough to put up with lately and Jeff does an amazing job. So this is for him.

Your Laughter by Pablo Neruda

Take bread away from me, if you wish,
take air away, but
do not take from me your laughter.

Do not take away the rose,
the lance flower that you pluck,
the water that suddenly
bursts forth in joy,
the sudden wave
of silver born in you.

My struggle is harsh and I come back
with eyes tired
at times from having seen
the unchanging earth,
but when your laughter enters
it rises to the sky seeking me
and it opens for me all
the doors of life.

My love, in the darkest
hour your laughter
opens, and if suddenly
you see my blood staining
the stones of the street,
laugh, because your laughter
will be for my hands
like a fresh sword.

Next to the sea in the autumn,
your laughter must raise
its foamy cascade,
and in the spring, love,
I want your laughter like
the flower I was waiting for,
the blue flower, the rose
of my echoing country.

Laugh at the night,
at the day, at the moon,
laugh at the twisted
streets of the island,
laugh at this clumsy
boy who loves you,
but when I open
my eyes and close them,
when my steps go,
when my steps return,
deny me bread, air,
light, spring,
but never your laughter
for I would die.

Recharging

This won't be long. My brother was in town this weekend with his family and I am completely worn out after playing with the kids on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning. Add that to the fact that I have seen my parents everday since Thursday and have been on the go since last Tuesday. So I need a bit of down time to recharge.

We did have a blast on Saturday though. We met everyone for lunch and then me and the boys ran around the front yard shooting nerf darts at each other, which was the most fun I've had in a while. And good exercise. In the afternoon I stayed home while most of the guys went to see the new Star Trek movie. But even then I didn't get to relax. My nephew Keith decided he wanted to stay home with me so we played with his Star Wars miniatures and then looked at everything under the sun through a microscope. I even grossed him out by slicing open my thumb to get a drop of blood for him to look at. I loved that I could gross him out. But when dinner came that night he wanted me to sit next to him.

I went out to breakfast with Jeff on Saturday but didn't make it to the library that day (a newly formed habit that I love). Other than that I have not had a meal with just him and I since last weekend. Last night after seeing them my brother's family off at about two, we went office supply shopping and then I went walking with a friend. When Jeff said that I was signed up for Naxx that night I begged off. I sat in front of the TV like a pile of goo and tried to draw.

So tonight will be quiet. I just need some time to recharge. Sorry about the rambling. I'll try to have something better tomorrow.

Found Photo

I was digging through the numerous photos I've saved on my hard-drive at work and stumbled into this one. I hadn't seen it in a while. And the memories come flooding back. Jeff and I were driving around Providenciales (Turks and Caicos islands) and found this lonely stretch of road that wound up onto a hill. We were surrounded by luxury homes on this dirt one-lane path but no people. We stopped, set up a tripod, and took this shot. There was not another soul to be seen and behind us this beautiful blue sea. It's one of my favorite pictures of the two of us. Just thought I'd share. Amazing trip.

Distance

Sometimes distance sucks.

It's really hard to be far away and be helpless. Last night Jeff got a call that his dad had collapsed and had been taken to the hospital. They think it was just his blood pressure but he was kept overnight for observation. I'm optimistic but still worried for him. And mostly I feel helpless. I so want to help, want to do at least something. But with six hours distance there was little we could do last night. And I think that really bothered Jeff.

When Jeff came up here to go to college, he left all his family down in St. Louis. After graduation he stayed up here and met me. As much as he hates to admit it, he's been an Iowan now almost longer than he was a Missorian. We get down to see family about two or three times a year but it never really feels like enough. Most of the times it is only for the weekend and those two or three days are often a whirlwind.

So today I'm worried. Jeff has said he'll call me when he finds something out and I know he's anxious to hear. But waiting by the phone is not quite as comforting as waiting by a loved ones side. We had discussed going down in two weeks but now we might push that up. Sometimes the only way to make a true connection is face to face. Until then our thoughts and prayers have to make the six hour journey down south. Get well soon, Dad.

The Only Thing More Boring Than Fishing Is....

My WoW readers are probably now incredibly frustrated. It has been weeks since I wrote anything WoW related. I haven't mentioned the heroic UP or heroic UK runs I've done recently. I haven't mentioned the somewhat regular heroic VH runs. I haven't even mentioned the very interesting regular Old Kingdom run I ran to help Jeff's shaman healer out. I haven't touched on these mostly because my focus this last week has been much more ordinary. I've been fishing.

I decided not to level my cooking or fishing at the same rate as my character leveling. I was just excited to get to the upper levels and be able to instance with the rest of the guild. I worked on my tailoring and enchanting but didn't bother with the lesser professions. And it didn't really hurt me while I was leveling. I didn't need the food. Now I'm looking at instancing and raiding and realizing that a steady supply of buff food wouldn't be bad. So starting with a fishing of 50 and a cooking of 100, I've been traveling (painfully slowly) through the older continents and leveling my skills.

Here's the problem. It is boring. Imagine watching a fishing show for hours. Now imagine that every time you catch a fish you are only one sixth closer to your level. For every six fish I catch I get a level. That number will increase as I get higher. That's a lot of fishing and a whole lot of boring. I'm seriously debating just leveling my cooking to 450 with bought supplies. But then again I've never been patient for grinding. This has been my first chance to prove that I can dedicate the time to making my character better. I've even stopped grinding rep in an attempt to get these skills up.

Now I've never been a big believer in the achievement system. It seemed like an evil plan by Blizzard to keep their 80 players interested in something. Jeff has become a huge achievement fan (achievement whore is what I call him). He worked to get his Loremaster and his World Explorer. I get the occasionally one but I don't normally push for them. But as I work on fishing (cooking is much easier), I realize the beauty of achievements. Now that I'm on the old continents, I might as well uncover my maps. Oh and I should solo some old instances. I could even make money selling old cloth on the auction house. And perhaps, if I make enough money, I could just buy my stupid fishing skill.

A Lion In Winter

I love going to the zoo in the winter and particularly with our zoo (Blank Park Zoo). A couple years ago the zoo opened an indoor section which is very nice. Since then it has started staying open on nice days in the winter. So yesterday was beautiful here so Jeff and I went out for breakfast and then went down to the zoo. It was pretty busy but still not summer busy. And as always visiting the zoo in winter was magical. 

This trip I didn't have my camera but I figured it wasn't a big deal. I was wrong. The new red pandas stuck their tongues out at us. The birds were close enough to let them eat out of our hands. (we didn't feed them but we were close enough to) And the lions were pressed up against the visitors glass (mostly to avoid the snow). We watched an adorable gibbon grab leaves through her bars and eat them. And I found a bizarre little lizard that I spent at least 20 minutes just watching breathe. (Axolotl for those interested) 

The great thing about the zoo in the winter is that the animals are bored so they look forward to the few visitors they get. One year we went for my birthday (November) and my mother was able to play with the tigers. It was so cute to watch her run on her side of the fence and this big beautiful tiger to run on his side of the fence. The indoor tiger would put its paws up on the glass to greet us. A llama nearly followed us around the zoo. It was amazing. Here's Jeff with our new friend.

Over the years we have almost always made a trip to the zoo in the winter. And we have taken some beautiful pictures. And video. This is a video from last year's trip where the otters were amazingly active. Too much fun. Ignore the commentary...not my most eloquent moments. :-) 

Current Sacrifices for Future Rewards

The phrase "current sacrifices for future rewards" has been used in my house for a long time now. It reminds me that I need to give up a little with the possibility of a better tomorrow. We used it the first time when Jeff went back to school for pre-med. We were living on one small paycheck and eating a lot of mac and cheese and ramen. 

When we were both working I went back to school for my masters. I did it in my free time and that was my big sacrifice. For two years I had no real free time except for a two week break between each semester. I graduated finally in December of 2007. And we started saving immediately for a trip. I had wanted to go on a cruise to celebrate finishing school. We cut back on discretionary spending and again invoked the phrase. The trip, as my long term readers remember, was amazing. And for a while we were both working. 

The phrase has been used again this week. Jeff has decided to go back to school for actuarial science. He'll be going full time and again we'll be a one paycheck family. But this time around I'm doing better so there is much less sacrifice that way. Instead the sacrifice is in movement. My sister, last night, pointed me to a fun job that might be interesting. It's a little out of my comfort level but would get me back into the library world. But the problem is I'm doing too good right now. In order to survive this upcoming period (our current sacrifices) I'm going to have to stay where I'm at. And today I'm okay with that. I'm excited for Jeff and excited about the changes his new job will bring to our lives. And I'm excited that we're taking another step towards future rewards.  

A Bear in His Natural Habitat....a Studebaker

Again big bonus points for recognizing that quote. 

I had to post this. With all the holiday stress I needed to post something fun. Jeff will kill me for it but it really does fit him. That is where I see him 90% of the time he is home.

Independence Day!!!

This post is really for Jeff because today is a special day for us. An anniversary of sorts. Nope not the day we were married, or engaged, or met. Many people would be offended that we celebrate this anniversary. But it means a lot to us. Today is Independence Day. Five years ago, on a Friday just like today, Jeff got himself fixed.

Most people would be shocked that I would A. talk about his vasectomy and B. celebrate it. But it took me a long to time to get to the decision to let him have it and we still claim that it was the best $80 we ever spent. (And I love that insurance covered it). Today is special for me because it provided us with independence. I no longer have to worry about what would happen if I got pregnant. I have time now to dedicate to the things that I want to do. I can relax on the couch and read a book all afternoon without having to worry about what the kids need. I can play WoW until 2 in the morning without having to deal with small children the next day. I know that for a lot of people that sounds selfish, and maybe it is, but this is the only life I get. I want the time to use for the things I enjoy.

One of the King Arthur stories that really left an impression on me was the story of Gawain and Dame Ragnall. I won't tell the whole story here but in order to save Arthur, Gawain agrees to marry a hideous witch. The witch had challenged to two men to find out what women want and when they failed to do so, he is forced to marry. On their wedding day, the witch offers Gawain a choice. She can be beautiful during the day, when they are with people, but hideous at night when she is with him. Or she can be hideous during the day, but beautiful at night for him. Gawain asked her to make the choice, saying she had to live with the results. And that she revealed is what women want, Choice. I have to agree. I love being able to choose what to do with my hours.

So tonight Jeff and I will go out to some beautiful restaurant, where the linens are starched and the food looks like it was prepared by artists. We will probably buy a bottle of white and toast to our freedom. We'll talk about movies and politics and WoW. And I won't have to cut up anyone's food. I love my life. Viva la independence!

Gratuitous Cat Shots

Jeff needs a picture published in order to post one somewhere so you get a gratuitous Jeff and Misty shot. 

And right as I posted my previous hummingbird video I looked over to see the cat doing this. I had to get a picture. Lucky it's just water. 

Stratholme

For my non-Wow playing readers I'm again sorry. This post will mean absolutely nothing to you. For the Wow readers, you still may not care.

Last night was my first attempt at Stratholme. I have been needing to work on my enchanting but haven't had enough materials to do so. I've become too high level and my skill is too low level. So the only solution is to go into a lower level instance and get stuff to disenchant. Jeff has been begging me to do this one for a while. At first he tried to solo it for me. Not going to happen, even for him and his killer cat, Misty.

So last night we decided to try. We got home from our bridge party around nine. (Yes I play bridge, no it's not hard, and no I'm not that old. I like to get that out of the way early) So we didn't even start the instance until 9:30. And we were having trouble. Now most of these trash pulls are 6 or 7 mobs. Most of them aren't elite but they are only a couple levels below me. We made slow progress with a couple deaths. (none of which were my fault I'm happy to say.) Jeff did really well but I'm a slow killer. I need a lot of time to bring down a target. Time, I didn't have. For all you players, imagine a slow kill with those rats. I hate those rats.

As we got to the opening of the Scarlet Bastion our friend Lon came on. Lon and his Paladin to save the day. With the three of us, we plowed through. Now we had to finish. He would easily take on 5 or six. Before it had just been Jeff and Misty trying to take on that many and keeping aggro for him was tougher. We cleared room after room. And then we hit the mini-bosses. And the loot started dropping. I filled my bags with greens and blues until I couldn't hold anymore. I started DEing them as fast as I could but we were moving quick and I was trying to keep up. Some bosses dropped as many as three blues. One of them dropped a purple. It was loot heaven.

That was when I looked up at the clock. Right before the last boss I look up to see that it is 1:00 a.m.. Yes 1:00 on a work night. I cursed at Jeff a little, alternating it with thanks. After the last boss went down I cleared out my bags. DEing everything, no fun auction sales for this poor warlock. Finally about 1:30 I logged off and headed for bed. My first shot at Stratholme was fantastic. So much loot and a lot of fun banter for the three of us. A good night. Now if I can just stay awake until dinner.

photo from www.graymaneshaven.com