ReaperCon, Days 3 and 4

Last one!  There's two more below this, so if you just see this, scroll down a bunch and start reading down there.

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Reapercon Day 3

After another early morning and good breakfast, I didn't have anything scheduled until 4:00 in the afternoon, so I took my time in the morning. I read the forums, considered whether or not to bring pizza or other goodies, looked for interesting games, that sort of thing. After a slow-going morning, I headed over to the con to do some stuff.

On the way in, I'm sure, I got stopped and asked about my Backpack. I got noticed for it *all the time*. People were super curious and wanted to know more about it, and I can't blame them. Its primary goal seems to be looking really, really cool. I'm going to change my Forum name to GuyWithCoolBackpack.

My first stop was to talk with Jeremy Bonnot, he's the guy that taught the 'how not to suck' class. Really nice guy, I asked him about getting smoother blends, and he invited me to just sit and watch him paint. It was very informative, and I'm super glad I took the time. I watched him paint for about an hour until they announced they were going to start the VCR teardown competition. That's where you get to break apart a VCR and build something cool out of the components. I was the only one there, at the start, and so I got to tearing it down and getting all the cool parts out. I found the head of the VCR, and pulled out the innards, and made the cool thing that I made. I'm sure you've seen pictures. It took a while, and my paint job was pretty spotty, but it was an absolute blast. I spent a lot of time working on it. Eventually a few others joined in, too. Tonya and Adam, Richard, and another lady named Lynn. There were some pretty good ideas in there, though all the paint jobs were clearly pretty rush affairs. I had a lot of fun doing that.

 

(This is my guy.  the neat metal thing in the middle spins!)

After a lot of that, I joined my color theory class. Yes, more color theory. It was incredibly useful, though. Whereas the beginner class focused on more practical rules, the more advanced class talked about visual design, composition, and other graphic design ideas that really made me think about color and where to put it in really great ways. It was a super-great class.

After that, and a little more milling around, and some dinner, it was time for the awards ceremony. My piece won a Bronze, which was actually right about what I was expecting. A lot of other people won bronzes, slivers, and golds, too. We were all very pumped. Richard, Ben's dad, actually won a Silver Sophie...completely by accident, as it turned out. But he got to take the trophy and hang onto it, and I'm sure they'll just cast another if they need it. It was neat to see one of the Sophie trophies, too. Something to aim for in the future.

After all of that excitement, I went out to dinner with Ben, Aaron, Vincent, Tonya, Adam, and a whole big bunch of other people. We had sushi, and I had a couple sets of crazy rolls. We sat around and chatted, handed around the Sophie, made jokes, and met a few new friends. A very nice ending to the eve. I got back home, did some packing, and then went to sleep.

Day 4:

Got up bright and early, got some breakfast, and packed up my stuff. Managed to get it all in one trip, surprisingly enough, and then got my stuff out to the car. A guy asked for a ride, and I said I would, as long as he would stop somewhere to get bagels for me. We went to one, but it turned out to be at a University, and it was all closed down. So instead we just drove back down to to convention, getting some donuts on the way. Yum.

I got there in plenty of time for my morning class: brushstrokes. I got some more instruction on layering, side-brushing, and plenty of other techniques. I'll have to go over my notes again to make sure I've got it all, but it was a very useful class. Anne Forester, the lady that taught it, had lots of energy, and she's actually in charge of the paints for the entire company, so she is an endless font of knowledge. She gave me some good advice on my minis, the same advice pretty much everyone gets: more contrast with highlights and shadows.

After that I stumbled into a CAV game, a mech-based wargame, and played that for a while. It was pretty fun, but large-scale wargaming isn't something I'm looking to get into anytime soon. Regardless, it was neat to learn the system, and I got some Reaper Bucks out of the event.

After that, we gathered everyone together that did the VCR build, including the guy I gave a ride to the Convention with. He had built something overnight. So we all stood up there while Reaper Brian announced the winner. I was expecting the lady that made the imps tearing through the wiring to win, especially when Brian announced that it was the one that made the judge laugh the most. But in a shocking turn of events...they gave it to me! I was genuinely surprised, and really happy! I got some cool mousesling bar-goers. I really like the mundane kind of stuff, so getting such a nice set was a real treat.

(Myself, ReaperBrian, and the Mouselings I won!)

Then was the Auction. There was a lot of neat stuff, but nothing I was planning to really go after. I figured the really cool stuff would be out of my price range, so I thought I'd bide my time and wait to see if there was anything I wanted. Also, the whole event was a lot of fun to watch. Cool things going, people winning stuff, it was a hoot. After a while, me not seeing anything particular I wanted, Tonya and Adam started bidding on some magnetic character markers that they used in their gaming. Not really having anything I wanted that badly in mind, I just gave them my tokens to see if they could win with it. Turns out they didn't need it, but the gesture was kindly received...

...especially a few minutes later, when something did come up that I wanted. A case for carrying miniatures, something I didn't have but could really use. I bid on it, and it ran up to $220, which was as much as I had. It looked like I was going to get it...until someone bid $230. Tonya just gave me some of hers, putting me up and letting me win it. Very nice of them.

Of course, as the auction went on, people had less and less money, and Vincent managed to clean up on a couple of really cool things. He got to design his own mini, got a bunch of cool figures, and then, in the greatest gesture, picked up a figure case that was going for far too cheap and just gave it to Adam and Tonya. They were quite pleased, and there were hugs and smiles all around.

Then the auction wrapped up, and I was anxious to get back on the road, in case I got to see Tyler before he went to bed. I said my goodbyes, thanked everyone I met, and many people at the company for putting on such a great event, and then got on the road. There was some really annoying traffic, but it was an uneventful drive. I got home filled with figures, painting knowledge, and really, really warm memories.

-N

ReaperCon, Day 2

More of this!  I wrote a lot

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I got up early again this morning, had a nice waffle and some other fixins for breakfast (very yummy) and then went off to the convention space to start the day. I got a nice parking space really close in (parking is at a premium out there) and walked in after everything opened up. My first order of business was to check my class schedule, I didn't want to be late again. Then I went over and got my Vampire bones box set. So excited! It was all dense and heavy and full of fun things to paint. I also got a whole lot of paint, which is good, because I'm still building up my paints at home, and also because I didn't bring any paints with me, and the paints they had available were a bit limited. I also called up Todd and eventually picked up his Vampire set. I'm excited to give that to him. After a little bit more hanging around, I went off to my first class of the day, one on Basic color theory.

The color theory class was great. It went over some basic terms, and gave some straightforward rules on how to know when colors work well on a miniature. In essence, you don't want too many colors that are too close to each other on the color wheel, they don't offer the contrast that you want. You can get around this by muting colors, making them darker or lighter, things like that. Very useful. I took my new found knowledge with me back to the paint-and-take table, where I painted up another guy too see what I could do with his color scheme. After a little bit of Struggling, I went back to Anne Forrester (the lady that taught the class, and also a Reaper Employee in charge of all their paint, she had a lot of knowledge to share) and she gave me some tips on how to make it better. I also took my frog king-and-queen to her, and she gave some tips on things to work on (higher highlights and darker shadows). Very nice.

I also took a factory tour of Reaper on this day. It was really intriguing. Reaper Brian (the production manager, big honcho at the company) took us around and showed us the process. We got to see their fancy new plastic injection machine, look at how they made molds of figurines by pressing them in rubber disks that looked like tires. Then the cut channels for the metal to flow in and the air to flow out, and then the mold was ready to go. If you make your own mini, you can even contract them out to make molds and cast copies of your mini for you. Not cheap, but pretty cool. Then we got to go back to where they cast the minis. They had hot metal all ready to go, they grabbed a mold (asked for a mini that people liked and Reaper Brian just remembered the mold number off the top of his head) and cast some minis right in front of us. We got to ask questions about the metal, the process, how hot everything got, it was all pretty fantastic to do. And at the end, he gave us some of the minis that he had casted. Very nice of him. I can see why the company has so many fans.

I spent a long time after that just working on my mini, painting him very slowly and taking my time with the color scheme, before it was time for me to go to another class: how not to suck. It's widely billed as one of the best classes on offer, and I happen to agree. It was very comprehensive, straightforward, and was focused on techniques that will help you learn how to become a better painter. It was all very impressive and informative.

Oh, and somewhere during all of this (I think it was the day before) I submitted my guys to the painting competition. The neat thing is that they took pictures using their fancy lightbox (making everything look really cool) and then those pictures got displayed on big TVs overlooking the main floor. I'll admit, I sat there for a while and waited until mine came up so I could take a picture.

Oh, and during all of this, I'm making new friends. Just constantly getting into random, mostly effortless conversations with people that just happen to be sitting across the table from me, or what have you. Everyone was very, very friendly, easy to talk to, and made me feel very welcome...even though most of them actually were there for the first time too. I wrote down a lot of names and forum handles, because there was no way I would have remembered it all.

So after some more random painting (working on lining my miniature, something from the previous class) Reaper Brian and some other people from other gaming companies sat down and just started talking about how the whole kickstarter thing went. It was mostly advice about what works on kickstarter, which wasn't really useful to me, because I'm not planning on starting one, a lot of complaining about kickstarter's website (it does need an overhaul) and a few interesting stories tossed in here and there. I stayed for quite a while, then decided I was done for the day and rolled on home. I got to talk with you for a while, missed you greatly, and then actually took some minis outside and primed them. One of the advantages of the new bones minis is that you don't have to prime them, but the paint still, often, beads up and rolls around, like water off a freshly waxed car. It's hard enough for me to paint when my paint does stay where I put it. Having it move isn't helpful. I let them dry off overnight, and then reorganized my backpack and paints, and then went to sleep.

-N

ReaperCon, Day 1

I'm back from Reapercon!  Well, technically, I have been for a while.  I did some daily write-ups like I do when I'm on vacation so that I can remember things better, and since I have all of them, I thought I'd share them here.  Enjoy!

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I drove up on Wednesday, and on the way up I drove up past this big plume of smoke. They were in the process of closing down the southbound traffic, but the northbound traffic was still going, though I suspect I was probably one of the last few to be allowed through. I saw on the news later that I was probably driving past a burning fertilizer plant that exploded massively. Yikes. The rest of the drive was uneventful, though, except that the bombcast I was listening to kept having to restart. I checked into the hotel and was instantly on the lookout for people that I thought would be at reapercon. I saw a couple where the guy had a star wars figurine on his backpack. My people.

I realized that I forgot pretty much all of my toiletries, but the hotel had free backup toothpaste and toothbrush, and they also had some contact lens solution for sale. I kept my lenses in creamer holders overnight, and then in the morning I got some new cases, so I'm set. But I got up really early in the morning because I didn't want to have to wrestle for breakfast and also because I was *so excited* for the con that I didn't want to miss anything. I got my food, did my shopping, and then found Reaper HQ. It's a warehouse building on a normal road, and when I got there the sign that said 'enter here' was pointing at a closed and locked door. It was also raining, something else I hadn't planned for. But before too long, the rain stopped and the door opened for registration.

I was nervous about meeting people cause I really wanted to, but always have trouble just introducing myself. I needn't have worried, the guy right behind me, who is named Aaron, and goes by Adrift on the forums (you have to have both names) started talking me up, and I spent most of the rest of the day just hanging out near him and meeting people he knew. I've also met several on my own, though, it's really easy to just strike up conversations with people you've never met before.

After taking my time looking around the reaper HQ area, including the break room still dressed up like a pirate pub from last year, the metal bits exchange where you can trade random metal from a HUGE table of random parts, and plenty of paints and minis everywhere, I dropped my stuff off and joined a random RPG that needed some extra players. It was a hacked-together system from a bunch of other RPGs that I've never heard of, but it was easy to pick up, and the guy running it was a LOT of fun, very enthusiastic and very flexible. The setting was far more interesting.

For the convention, they came up with a story about a hell-bound slice of Victorian London hosting a dark carnival of the damned. They came up with factions, too, the Carnival, which are all crazy legions of hell, animal trainers, strong men, that sort of thing. The League, which are traveling adventure-types, out for the forces of good. The street thugs, urchins, cutthroats, dockworkers and other Victorian unsavories. And my faction, the stickmen, which are crazed doctors and their monstrous experiments that are looking for the secret of eternal life. Your faction, both in the RPG events using this world and in the actual convention, gets points for particpating in things, and whoever has the most points at the end of the con, and the end of the RPG stuff, wins. Pretty neat little thing. Anyway, the RPG was great, I got to play a Frankenstein monster, I hit a lot of things very well.

After that I went over to the paint-and-take, where you can pick up random miniatures, paint them, and then take them home. It's very nice, and that's where I got the mimic I sent you a picture of. I painted him for a while, and then got some lunch, all while chatting with random people that were coming and going at the table.

Sonic was there, yes, the drive-through place with the onion rings that you don't really like much anymore. They brought a frier, and some hot plates, and a bunch of food, and they stayed open from lunch all the way through dinner. The food isn't *amazing* or anything, but considering that most Convention food is actively junk, the fact that it's pretty decent is high praise.

Anyway, after some more painting and some more eating, I realized I was a little late for my first class. I considered just skipping it, so as to avoid embarrassment (copping out, as I do) but decided to be bold and walk over. I strolled right in, apologized for being late, and jumped right into class. The guy teaching it was Lazlo Jakusovski. If the name sounds familiar, it's the guy that did the Hot Lead DVDs that I was watching that Todd got for me. He was a good teacher, and seeing his technique was a really big help, it gives me a lot to work on, which is pretty good, actually. I messed up the technique on the example minis they gave us to work on, but I understood why I was messing it up, at least, so I have some hope of improving.

After the class, I went back to the painting table to hang out with some new friends, a sensation that was really quite pleasant. I worked on my mimic some more, and then when everyone was going to head off for dinner, they asked if I wanted to come along, and of course I said yes. We got in a few cars, and I carpooled with Adam and Tanya. Adam really, *really* reminds me of Kevin. You remember Kevin and Clarissa in Albuquerque? Adam has the same long hair, same beard, same nerdy shirts, same warm personality and everything. They were fun to hang out with. Anyway, we drove down to Bjs, which is part of a Brewpub chain that they actually have down in Austin, too. We've never been there, though. Anyway, we got there first, and then I went off to the bathroom. When I came back, everyone had arrive, and they were all standing around a 5-year-old who was playing some dungeon game on his Ipad, and everyone was entranced. My people! (Yes, the dad was there too, he kept his eye on us, but he could tell we were all just really being nerds. Totally harmless.)

We had a great dinner and cracked a lot of jokes, told stories, compared convention plans, and generally had a really nice time. I made a great joke about how scatterbrained Aaron was being when he got hungry, and that became a running joke for the evening. I also saw a tiny baby bunny outside of the window. I guess they just live in the city around here. So cute!

When we were done with Dinner, I drove Tanya and Adam back to the hotel. They said they were going to be up for a while, working on some painting. They also asked if I had some 'Green stuff' (Epoxy modeling putty) and I did, and they were very glad for that. They also asked if I had some superglue, and I had some of that too. In exchange, they let me use their paints. I worked some more on my guy, admired their pieces for the competition, and then got sleepy and decided to call it a day. I got to sleep a little after midnight, and had a great, great day.

-N

First 5K of the Year

Matt and I ran (or "ran") a 5K this weekend.  This was Betty's idea, she was going to walk a 5K in Concrete to support the local Lion's Club Booster, and since I'm trying to find ways to support family and friend's communities efforts, we decided to go.  I thought I might walk, but the weather was wet, which made me think I should "run," you know, to finish "faster."

Let's discuss my running quickly. (Or maybe just briefly, since my running quickly doesn't come up much.)  At various times in the past, I've thought, "I should run," and this idea is almost immediately rejected by by lungs and legs. A coworker has been running, and since we have this fitness challenge, at work, I thought I should go with her.  She runs really slow.  And you know what, if I go really slow, I can run.  Or jog.  Or possibly wog.  You know those skinny late-middle aged women who get all decked out in high visibility fluorescent spandex and then go for runs so slow, you wonder why they are even wearing work out clothes?  I'm a little slower than that.  And I'm totally ok with it.

Let's just compare that to Matt's running.  Matt, my dearly beloved, wear a heart rate monitor when he runs.  He will occasionally let his bestie talk him into going into a 5, no oops, 8 mile trail run up a mountain. When Matt saw last year's times for this 5K, he simply said, "I'm pretty sure I could beat that." 

Needless to say, Matt and I never run together.  Matt thinks running together would be nice, but I am much happier running and suffering on my own then listening to his chipper banter about how he is almost warmed-up while I'm already too out of breathe to tell him I don't want to talk about how wind sprints might help me.  It's one of those secrets to our happy marriage: we don't run together.

But, we can run at the same event.  This was an out and back kind of race- run away from the school 2.5K, then come back 2.5K. IT was paired with a 10K, where lean people would run out 5K, and back 5K. Now, I'm a "running my own race" type, but I was hoping to see racers returning, since this would indicate that at least someone made it near the halfway point.  I finally saw some kids running back (yes, actual children), eventually followed by Matt. As he passed, he rolled his eyes and said, "I forgot to turn around." When I got back, 45 min from the start time (a personal best, thank you), Matt was there to greet me.  I got a participation ribbon (Woo!), and we went to get some water before watching to see Betty come in.

We compared notes: I was not passed by the 83 year old trail walker, but I'd been dropped by most everyone else who ran.  After he forgot to turn around (because he was keeping up with people running the 10K), he had to run pretty hard to make up the time.  He had to pass several children, and a guy with one leg.  He has been hoping to post a personal best (since he is in great shape from Mt Bike Racing this winter), but that was not to be.  I finally asked him what he did with his ribbon, and he sheepishly pulled out his SECOND PLACE MEDAL from his pocket.  Yup, second place, behind a 15 year old, and in front of 12 year old and a man running with a blade in place of his foot.

One More Box

Mom and Dad moved the last of their stuff into the Monroe house recently.  While I haven't seen how that is going on their end, the fall-out has been some mid-day deliveries of chairs (the green Papa chair) and rugs at my house.  So I picture it's going great.

Before they left town for Adventure Round 2, we celebrated Seattle's Restaurant week- Price Fixe at restaurants we normally don't have occasion to frequent.  It was a nice chance to catch up before they are gone for a month or something, and to trade a few things.  They brought Nana (to spend the night and convert my garden to a thing of weedless beauty), and "another box of things. Maybe from Nana's?" Now, I am happy to be the only one not downsizing a house, but there has been no small number of boxes of tchotckes that were never worth the effort to ship, and I really thought we had weeded all those out.

Nana and I sat down for a cup of tea last night to see if either of us could figure out if there was anything of value in the box.  Turns out- Bonanza!

This was the box with the last few missing things.  Nana's recipe box has been AWOL since the move.  It was in the box.(!!)  Papa's nearly exotic fleece barret.  In the box.  Classic children's books, a 1950s cookbook and some VHS labeled 1989 Preecs Children.  Papa's Right of Way Association Plaques. His Boy Scout (leader) award. Awesome.

But most of the box was pictures.  All manner of pictures.  Pictures from the last few decades of domestic and foreign travel.  Nana's high school graduation photo.  Her Kiwanis Award (for service). Grammie Jean's baby book (not aging as well as she did). Papa's 65th high school reunion photo.  There is no shortage of cool stuff and rainy afternoons in that box. Next time I make noise about "nothing to blog about" remind me to pull some stuff from the box and start collecting stories.

Before I really get started on it though, I wanted to share this little gem of a newspaper clipping. (Transcript follows for future search ability.) I would love if someone could fill in the ~30 year time gap between the estimated date of the clipping and the postmark.

[ To Talk of Many Things . . . . --By D.H.P.
I have been deeply moved by an act of innate honesty of my fellow man . . . . at all times of course, most of us are careful with out money for the needs it must supply . . . but at Christmas time with this business of gift exchanging, it becomes of particular importance . . . last week a lad of small fry age was entrusted with a sum of money . . . . and somehow lost a bill of large denomination from his pocket . . . . it was a tragic occurrence, so much so that he was plunged into deepest despair because he felt he had ruined Christmas for his family . . . the following evening a little ad appeared in the daily newspaper that "folding money" had been found . . . . On inquiry it was determined that from the spot it was found and being in the amount of the sum lost, it could be no other than the small fry's bill . . . every offer of recompense was refused . . . . the finder of the bill was glad it could be returned to its owner . . . . I think that is a wonderful thing . . . . that a man would find a piece of paper money in the snow and advertise to locate the rightful owner. . . . and at the holiday season time too, when everyone can use a little extra coin of the realm . . . . and truly Mr. William B. Preecs of Pacific Northern Airlines, who must be possessed of the pure meaning of the Christmas Spirit may enjoy his holiday knowing he has lightened a heavy burden from a little boy at Christmas time.]

[Enveloped post marked Baltimore MD 212 12 Nov 1986 from the Thunder Hill Rd House to the Everett House] 

He's growing up

I am also not blogging very much, and I also have an excuse. I have a two-year-old. I haven't had him for that long, but you'd be surprised how often that excuse comes in handy. “You look tired.” “Well, I have a two-year-old.” “You want to come out to the game?” “No, I have a two-year-old.” “Noel, can you help us with a project?” “Sorry, two-year-old.” “Noel, could you pass the ketchup?” “TWO YEAR OLD.” It's a magic bullet.

We kept Tyler's actual birthday pretty low-key. We took him out to the ice rink, one of his favorite weekend diversions, met up with Natalie and Brian and grant out there, and had a great time. Brian had taken a class in ice skating when he was in college, and then hadn't been on skates in the intervening 10 years, so I was better than him for, like, two minutes, tops. Grant got accustomed to the skating pretty quickly, and between the myriad of adults, we were able to cycle through skating children enough to give our backs a periodic rest. Tyler is getting to where he can stand on his own two feet, though he doesn't cover much ground, and mommy is never more than a few inches away.

After skating, everyone came over for pizza and ice cream cake. Did you know that Tyler doesn't like pepperoni on his pizza? What kind of kid am I raising? He was also able to blow out his own candles, which, when you remember that there aren't very many of them, isn't as wild an accomplishment as it might sound. We got him some random presents, neat shirts, cool toys, a book or two. Kid stuff. He thought it was all pretty great.

Easter also happened. We hid some eggs around the house, stuffed with random small things and fig newtons. Those were a hit. We also went out to the park for the big neighborhood easter egg hunt. Got some candy there, too, and got to see a fire truck up close.

And, then, of course, there was Disney Land.

I am...not a big fan of Disney Land. For the price you pay for the tickets, it seems like there's a surfeit of fun and an overabundance of standing in line. There were some definite highlights, and Tyler is still talking about “Mr Toad Ride.” Recalling how it was “Kinda scary.” and “Flashy lights”. Dumbo, Small world, teacups, all hits, though. Also, instead of heading back to the hotel, Tyler just fell asleep on my shoulder for half an hour while I carried him around. That's the thing you can only really do if you're a dad: that critical combination of comfort, upper body strength, and willingness to put up with a lot of discomfort to get some really good cuddles out of your kid.

Nana and Grandpa were also a lot of fun for Tyler. He got lots of hugs and kisses, many nice pictures, and many many smiles. He was a wonderful model grandson for his elders. He did keep waking up really early, though. Stayed on Texas time. Made it so that we got lots done before his morning nap, though. The second day we went to the Long Beach Aquarium. Tyler got to touch a stingray and see some really pretty birds up close. After that we went to the La Brea Tar pits, which I never did see while I was in LA. But it was pretty great. We also got to see the big squad of people that we started Raytheon working with, most of whom have kids of their own. Some nice family-reunion sized pictures came out of that.

The one tragedy was when Tyler, being a toddler, tripped and smacked his forehead on the chair I was sitting in. It swelled up really spectacularly, but a quick application of ice seemed to do it a lot of good, and the bruise it turned into didn't seem nearly as bad as we thought it was going to be. It's nearly healed up, too.

And in the last bit of Tyler news, some neighbors down the street are moving out, and they asked us if we wanted an extra kid bed. Well the timing worked out great, and after buying a mattress, some spider-man sheets and a Mario Brothers blanket, Tyler is, at this very moment, sleeping in a Big Boy Bed. We also purchased a waterproof mattress cover and a guard rail. Not to keep him from escaping, to keep him from falling out. Kid likes to sleep in corners, and I've definitely found him facing the wrong way in his bed more than once. He's still small enough, for now, that he can sleep sideways in the bed.

The first night in the big boy bed actually went really well. We had been building it up for a while, he got to see us assemble it, and then night came and we put him in bed, tucked him in, and he just waved goodbye and said “goodbye mommy”. Then slept like a log all night. What a good kid.

The only thing I'm up to that is not Tyler-related is REAPERCON! As many of you know, Reaper is a company that makes Miniatures, and I supported a program last year where you preordered a whole bunch of miniatures and got hundres of them for a great price. They're in the process of shipping out now, but last year when I bought into the deal, I decided I should try to see if I actually like painting minatures. I do rather a lot.

The company, named Reaper, has a once-a-year painting convention where there are classes, paints, minatures, board games, and all sorts of fantastic things to do. I have signed up for four classes, amd going to pack up my stuff, and then wednesday evening I drive up to Denton, TX, for 4 days of paining and relaxing, all while Jess takes care of Tyler for me. She's really nice to me.

So, what, is that, 10 paragraphs about Tyler, and one about me? Yeah, that ratio seems about right.

-N

Barely news

It seems silly to blog when I see my primary readership regularly.  Mom and Nana already know we tried to go to the tulip festival, but instead spent all day looking at PACCAR trucks and eating salmon waiting for the rain to pass before giving up and going home.  They know that because they were there.  Even the stuff we have been up to that didn't include being with the family, they know about because we see them often enoguh to talk about it.  Cool, right?

But, this means I have to come up with other content for blogging.  Matt is off at another race today.  He'll be leaving town next weekend for a work trip (to South Carolina and Ohio, he is not excited). Work is getting a little busier for me as we approach a major deadline, but only so busy that my manager finally said it's time for us all to start working a couple extra hours a week.  To me, the difference between 40 and 45 hours a week is negligible, but I understand that they have been very cautious to ask these things, since at this time last year the entire team was regularly working 80-100 hours a week.

Cooking for the shelter at The Landing has gotten me excited to find some new recipes for cooking for smaller groups. So far that hasn't translated into making food, but I think it might.  Speaking of the other blog, the project has been going along ok.  It's been fun for me to try to find new venues to get involved in the community, but it's pretty clear that it's a big goal, with a (comparatively) short timeline.  Raising $30,000 might take me longer than a year, unless I can find more clever ways of getting other people involved.  So far we are approaching 10% in 2 months (awesome!), but at that rate it will take me closer to two years to complete the project.  Of course, it would still be worth doing, even at that pace. But, I still wonder what I can do to get there faster. Anyway, if you've been volunteering/donating, please let me know because I am keeping records so I can see how this project is coming together.

First "event"

So just like after the Superbowl when the hero is asked "what are you going to do now?", we're going to Disneyland with Tyler and those people he travels with. But before they arrive today, we took in a Dodgers/Giants game at Dodger Stadium. I got the tickets online, didn't understand that they were so expensive because we were entitled to a free buffet of real food, not just DodgerDogs from the vendors. This was explained to me by a cheerful young couple seated next to us. Cut to the 6th inning. There's a break, the stadium crew is out with the"Kiss-Cam" for the Jumbotron, Connie is out of her seat, I'm watching the screen, suddenly all the faces around me turn my way. The camera is on my seat mates, the right field screen says "Carla will you marry me?", the left field screen is my neighbor on his knee with a ring and me looking confused on the side. They get their moments of glory and I get to see myself 50 feet tall. Connie misses it all but we explain it to her over and over again when she returns.  Not a bad night, Dodgers lose but the Mariners win. So it's off to see the Mouse tomorrow.