2016 Out.
So LJ, here we are at the end of another year. Currently I'm sitting at home in my workshop since I'm off for the holidays. We just finished cleaning up after Christmas and was preparing the house for our New Year's Eve party. I had a couple hours to catch up on LJ; work hasn't been easy enough where I could slip in an update on a slow afternoon. Where did I last leave off?
Oh, yes. Haunting.
As the second week of October drew to a close, we were well into our 6th season acting at Pennhurst Asylum. Being that Halloween wasn't too far away, Deb and I scrambled to decorate the house and yard. At our place, 'decorating' for Halloween means we just rearrange most of our year-round decorations to make the a wee bit more creepy than normal.
..and this was before we decorated! (I kid, I kid). Gotta love those Autumn colors.
No Halloween season is complete without a run to the pumpkin patch, so Deb and I drove over to AGA Farms (American Gourd Association?) to pick out a few for the yard.
This year at Pennhurst, Deb and I decided to only work on Fridays and Saturdays as Doc and Jane. We were originally scheduled off for Thursdays and Sundays, but we found ourselves doing some fill-in haunting on a few of our days off. The first room I worked this year was the Morgue. I promised myself I wouldn't scream my throat raw, so I went ahead and screamed my throat raw. The following Monday I had to take a sick day from work. As the week went on, I was feeling better in the days leading up to my birthday. Deb and I went out to dinner with Dad at Otto's Brauhaus for some sausages and beer. Deb and I both took the day of my birthday off, and she treated me to breakfast. She also went ahead and made a special arrangement for me at the haunt - I was to play a clown in the tunnels that night. When we arrived at the haunt, one of the clowns volunteered to give Deb her role, so we got a chance to play together. I always wanted to try a clown role at a haunt, but I never had the opportunity until that night - man, did we have fun. Deb gave me a copy of Mansions of Madness for my birthday. It is a cooperative Lovecraft dungeon crawler board game that uses the iPad to run the story and the monsters. Our group has been playing it on and off since October, and it's quickly become my game of the year. The next day, Deb took me out for my birthday dinner at the local Mexican place. Overall, turning 38 wasn't so bad!
"Don't be a sourpuss! I've got room for you in my trunk."
Haunting season carried on until the final weekend, which I started out as a quarantine doctor in the Asylum attraction before returning for three more shows as Doc and Jane. Despite all of the uncertainty that came with the new owner and management at the haunt, Pennhurst had a great 2016 season. We're really looking forward to see what Boomer and the build team has in store for us next year.
That's a wrap.
Pennhurst had its final show before Halloween, which fell on a Monday this year. We spent the holiday at home, recuperating from the haunt. We had a big bowl of chocolate, a DVR full of shows to catch up on, and no trick-or-treaters. Some haunts, like Shocktoberfest, remained open another week, which gave the two of us the opportunity to enjoy being on the other side of the rope the following weekend. Shock was OK, but you can tell they were understaffed as the season drew to a close. The following few days we dedicated to cleaning the neglected house and yard. We spent three days and nights cleaning, down-decorating, and de-leafing.
The 6th of November marked the 11th anniversary of the Pirates of the Lost Cause, so the crew met up for our annual dinner at the Hibachi Buffet. A couple days later was the election, in which a narrow electoral majority of our country decided that rather than intellectual elites, we should have a half-witted, thin-skinned Scooby Doo villain in charge of the most powerful nation on Earth. 2017's going to be interesting.
I was starting to have a difficult time at work in mid-November. Since all of our work is being moved to the new Counterfeits lab, I switched back to manufacturing atypical investigations. Familiar territory, yes, but very time-sensitive and quite stressful. There were a lot of days I was leaving work late and questioning the direction my career was heading. I got a chance to meet up with the new forensic lab director and give him a tour of our lab. I think I might have a chance getting one of the new bench jobs when it opens next year. We'll see. For now, all I have is hope to get me through the work day.
Markland hosted Fall War a week late this year, so we were able to make it down to Page's Farm with the Pirates for a weekend of camping in November. Most of the crew came out, and we had a frosty boozed-soaked good time around the fire. It had been nearly 2 years since we were able to make a war, and it felt like an overdue reunion.
Freya enjoyed a visit from Auntie Cthulhu.
I had some vacation time to burn, so I took the week off leading up to Thanksgiving. Similar to April and September, I was struck by another productive/creative streak and spent a lot of the time on my 3D printers and plotter. I designed and printed some game organizers, and I finally got around to weeding out the 98th vinyl for the haunted powder room. Deb got it up and the room reassembled just in time for the holidays. We also tackled the leaves one last time. We found that raking them to the center of the driveway and then mulching the shit of out them was the best way to go. So, so many leaves.
Boxes. It's the real reason I got into 3D printing. I love organizing things in boxes.
PS: Arkham Horror LCG is another game I've been playing a lot. It's a cooperative deck-building like my perennial favorite, Lord of the Rings.
It took 9 months from concept to the final decal, but the Haunted Mansion wallpaper project is complete!
Deb decided open the house to family once again for Thanksgiving, so she cooked a feast for the second year in a row.
Hartmann/Healy Thanksgiving
On Black Friday, Deb and I met up with Eea in Bethlehem, and we shopped around at night before stopping at the Colony Meadery for some flights. We walked out with enough mead for even the coldest of Winters. We followed up with dinner at an Irish pub. The next Day we drove down to Royersford for a craft fair hosted by my cousin's daughter. Deb set up shop and had a few sales before the day wound down. The next day we went out antiquing and I found another crate for my den.
Well, it's more like we stumbled out of the meadery, but you get my point.
December was suddenly knocking at our door, and the sounds of jingle bells on every single f**king TV ad reminded us that Christmas was soon around the corner. We ran out for fresh wreaths, pulled the decorations out of the attic, and set about to Crimmusing up the house. Plenty of online shopping and planning followed. The next weekend we met up with Eea at the Lehigh Valley Zoo to check out their light spectacular and sip some hot cocoa.
I am not Clark Griswold...
...more like Gomez Addams.
Lehigh Zoo was incredibly cold, but very pretty.
And so December, the great beast of consumerism and solstice rituals trundled on. I hosted a special gaming night for my Tuesday night crew and treated them to a game of Greed - a surprise pollyanna in which everyone was given new board games to play. A few days later, the annual Chexing commenced - I made my usual 12 batches to be given out as presents and taken to parties.
Coincidentally, we started watching Breaking Bad around this time.
The weekend before Christmas we went out to see the new Star Wars movie, then headed up to Eea's place for the Pirate holiday party and gift exchange. It was good to see the crew, our extended (and growing) family. That weekend we also started (albeit late) planning vacation for our 5th wedding anniversary in January. While we originally planned on returning to Jamaica for our 5th, but the room we wanted had booked up when I checked in September. We were able to get a good deal on a package at Disney, so we're headed back to Florida right after the new year. We sat down to make all our reservations and pretty much schedule the whole trip to the hour - Disney's more of an operation than a vacation when you come to think of it. Regardless, we're both very excited to return to our honeymoon spot after 5 years.
Speaking of vacation, I had even more unused time to spend, so I ended my work year on the 20th. I spent the couple days I had to myself finishing up my shopping and wrapping gifts. Deb's last day was the 22nd, and we drove down to the Red Cedar for our Coffee Crew dinner and gift exchange. The next day we were back on the road to Oley for a pre-Christmas dinner with Deb's brother and his family. I knocked back a few gallons of rum and looked through monster manuals with the nieces. Then we played Exploding Kittens. So proud, so proud.
Deb and I had a rare gift of Christmas Eve alone together at home. We broke out a huge bin of LEGOs and watched holiday movies late into the night. We woke up together the next morning and had Christmas at home with just us and the cats. We exchanged presents - Deb hand-painted me a Kubb set to look like the 13 dwarves from the Hobbit, which was amazing. I gave Deb a much-needed replacement for her aging laptop (i.e.: so she could play Minecraft again). We ate some of her homemade blueberry pecan coffee cake, then visited the parents for dinner and gifts.
The boys at Christmas
Deb and her big gift
Deb put a lot of time into my Kubb set. Kubb is a lawn game similar to horseshoes, but is played with big wooden dowels and copious amounts of mead.
We made sure the squirrelies had a good Crimmus, as well.
The days following Christmas we toyed around with our gifts, then went out shopping for calendars, as dictated by tradition. I started an attempt to put together a LEGO pirate ship I got a gift when I was a kid, and we both worked on a WV Beetle model I got her for a present. We also sat down last night on the beanbag chairs in the den and played Minecraft together. It's been a very relaxing end to the holiday season. We have one big thing left this year - We're once again hosting a New Year's Eve party here in Bedminster for friends from both of our crews.
And that brings things up to date. We're headed out to coffee tonight, and then back to preparations for the party. 2016 is out, and 2017 is on its way.
Oh, yes. Haunting.
As the second week of October drew to a close, we were well into our 6th season acting at Pennhurst Asylum. Being that Halloween wasn't too far away, Deb and I scrambled to decorate the house and yard. At our place, 'decorating' for Halloween means we just rearrange most of our year-round decorations to make the a wee bit more creepy than normal.
..and this was before we decorated! (I kid, I kid). Gotta love those Autumn colors.
No Halloween season is complete without a run to the pumpkin patch, so Deb and I drove over to AGA Farms (American Gourd Association?) to pick out a few for the yard.
This year at Pennhurst, Deb and I decided to only work on Fridays and Saturdays as Doc and Jane. We were originally scheduled off for Thursdays and Sundays, but we found ourselves doing some fill-in haunting on a few of our days off. The first room I worked this year was the Morgue. I promised myself I wouldn't scream my throat raw, so I went ahead and screamed my throat raw. The following Monday I had to take a sick day from work. As the week went on, I was feeling better in the days leading up to my birthday. Deb and I went out to dinner with Dad at Otto's Brauhaus for some sausages and beer. Deb and I both took the day of my birthday off, and she treated me to breakfast. She also went ahead and made a special arrangement for me at the haunt - I was to play a clown in the tunnels that night. When we arrived at the haunt, one of the clowns volunteered to give Deb her role, so we got a chance to play together. I always wanted to try a clown role at a haunt, but I never had the opportunity until that night - man, did we have fun. Deb gave me a copy of Mansions of Madness for my birthday. It is a cooperative Lovecraft dungeon crawler board game that uses the iPad to run the story and the monsters. Our group has been playing it on and off since October, and it's quickly become my game of the year. The next day, Deb took me out for my birthday dinner at the local Mexican place. Overall, turning 38 wasn't so bad!
"Don't be a sourpuss! I've got room for you in my trunk."
Haunting season carried on until the final weekend, which I started out as a quarantine doctor in the Asylum attraction before returning for three more shows as Doc and Jane. Despite all of the uncertainty that came with the new owner and management at the haunt, Pennhurst had a great 2016 season. We're really looking forward to see what Boomer and the build team has in store for us next year.
That's a wrap.
Pennhurst had its final show before Halloween, which fell on a Monday this year. We spent the holiday at home, recuperating from the haunt. We had a big bowl of chocolate, a DVR full of shows to catch up on, and no trick-or-treaters. Some haunts, like Shocktoberfest, remained open another week, which gave the two of us the opportunity to enjoy being on the other side of the rope the following weekend. Shock was OK, but you can tell they were understaffed as the season drew to a close. The following few days we dedicated to cleaning the neglected house and yard. We spent three days and nights cleaning, down-decorating, and de-leafing.
The 6th of November marked the 11th anniversary of the Pirates of the Lost Cause, so the crew met up for our annual dinner at the Hibachi Buffet. A couple days later was the election, in which a narrow electoral majority of our country decided that rather than intellectual elites, we should have a half-witted, thin-skinned Scooby Doo villain in charge of the most powerful nation on Earth. 2017's going to be interesting.
I was starting to have a difficult time at work in mid-November. Since all of our work is being moved to the new Counterfeits lab, I switched back to manufacturing atypical investigations. Familiar territory, yes, but very time-sensitive and quite stressful. There were a lot of days I was leaving work late and questioning the direction my career was heading. I got a chance to meet up with the new forensic lab director and give him a tour of our lab. I think I might have a chance getting one of the new bench jobs when it opens next year. We'll see. For now, all I have is hope to get me through the work day.
Markland hosted Fall War a week late this year, so we were able to make it down to Page's Farm with the Pirates for a weekend of camping in November. Most of the crew came out, and we had a frosty boozed-soaked good time around the fire. It had been nearly 2 years since we were able to make a war, and it felt like an overdue reunion.
Freya enjoyed a visit from Auntie Cthulhu.
I had some vacation time to burn, so I took the week off leading up to Thanksgiving. Similar to April and September, I was struck by another productive/creative streak and spent a lot of the time on my 3D printers and plotter. I designed and printed some game organizers, and I finally got around to weeding out the 98th vinyl for the haunted powder room. Deb got it up and the room reassembled just in time for the holidays. We also tackled the leaves one last time. We found that raking them to the center of the driveway and then mulching the shit of out them was the best way to go. So, so many leaves.
Boxes. It's the real reason I got into 3D printing. I love organizing things in boxes.
PS: Arkham Horror LCG is another game I've been playing a lot. It's a cooperative deck-building like my perennial favorite, Lord of the Rings.
It took 9 months from concept to the final decal, but the Haunted Mansion wallpaper project is complete!
Deb decided open the house to family once again for Thanksgiving, so she cooked a feast for the second year in a row.
Hartmann/Healy Thanksgiving
On Black Friday, Deb and I met up with Eea in Bethlehem, and we shopped around at night before stopping at the Colony Meadery for some flights. We walked out with enough mead for even the coldest of Winters. We followed up with dinner at an Irish pub. The next Day we drove down to Royersford for a craft fair hosted by my cousin's daughter. Deb set up shop and had a few sales before the day wound down. The next day we went out antiquing and I found another crate for my den.
Well, it's more like we stumbled out of the meadery, but you get my point.
December was suddenly knocking at our door, and the sounds of jingle bells on every single f**king TV ad reminded us that Christmas was soon around the corner. We ran out for fresh wreaths, pulled the decorations out of the attic, and set about to Crimmusing up the house. Plenty of online shopping and planning followed. The next weekend we met up with Eea at the Lehigh Valley Zoo to check out their light spectacular and sip some hot cocoa.
I am not Clark Griswold...
...more like Gomez Addams.
Lehigh Zoo was incredibly cold, but very pretty.
And so December, the great beast of consumerism and solstice rituals trundled on. I hosted a special gaming night for my Tuesday night crew and treated them to a game of Greed - a surprise pollyanna in which everyone was given new board games to play. A few days later, the annual Chexing commenced - I made my usual 12 batches to be given out as presents and taken to parties.
Coincidentally, we started watching Breaking Bad around this time.
The weekend before Christmas we went out to see the new Star Wars movie, then headed up to Eea's place for the Pirate holiday party and gift exchange. It was good to see the crew, our extended (and growing) family. That weekend we also started (albeit late) planning vacation for our 5th wedding anniversary in January. While we originally planned on returning to Jamaica for our 5th, but the room we wanted had booked up when I checked in September. We were able to get a good deal on a package at Disney, so we're headed back to Florida right after the new year. We sat down to make all our reservations and pretty much schedule the whole trip to the hour - Disney's more of an operation than a vacation when you come to think of it. Regardless, we're both very excited to return to our honeymoon spot after 5 years.
Speaking of vacation, I had even more unused time to spend, so I ended my work year on the 20th. I spent the couple days I had to myself finishing up my shopping and wrapping gifts. Deb's last day was the 22nd, and we drove down to the Red Cedar for our Coffee Crew dinner and gift exchange. The next day we were back on the road to Oley for a pre-Christmas dinner with Deb's brother and his family. I knocked back a few gallons of rum and looked through monster manuals with the nieces. Then we played Exploding Kittens. So proud, so proud.
Deb and I had a rare gift of Christmas Eve alone together at home. We broke out a huge bin of LEGOs and watched holiday movies late into the night. We woke up together the next morning and had Christmas at home with just us and the cats. We exchanged presents - Deb hand-painted me a Kubb set to look like the 13 dwarves from the Hobbit, which was amazing. I gave Deb a much-needed replacement for her aging laptop (i.e.: so she could play Minecraft again). We ate some of her homemade blueberry pecan coffee cake, then visited the parents for dinner and gifts.
The boys at Christmas
Deb and her big gift
Deb put a lot of time into my Kubb set. Kubb is a lawn game similar to horseshoes, but is played with big wooden dowels and copious amounts of mead.
We made sure the squirrelies had a good Crimmus, as well.
The days following Christmas we toyed around with our gifts, then went out shopping for calendars, as dictated by tradition. I started an attempt to put together a LEGO pirate ship I got a gift when I was a kid, and we both worked on a WV Beetle model I got her for a present. We also sat down last night on the beanbag chairs in the den and played Minecraft together. It's been a very relaxing end to the holiday season. We have one big thing left this year - We're once again hosting a New Year's Eve party here in Bedminster for friends from both of our crews.
And that brings things up to date. We're headed out to coffee tonight, and then back to preparations for the party. 2016 is out, and 2017 is on its way.