blech!
i've had this sick feeling since yesterday. i originally thought it was due to the crappy breakfast i had (coffee and a butter-laden scone), but the more i talked to people at the b-day party yesterday and at work today - i'm thinking (and dreading) it might be the start of a summer flu. my sister-in-law couldn't come to the party yesterday because she was sick, my sister was feeling icky, and i believe more than one of those tiny spawn running around yesterday was actively sick or getting over being sick or possibly in the incubation period. it started with having a really bad gurgle-y stomach, but i woke up with crap in my chest and the back of my throat. i also have that sick-taste in my mouth, which will not go away.
i believe i had the flu at the same exact time last year. i distinctly remember going to my niece and nephew's birthday party with a fever and sweating profusely beneath my terra-cotta hippy shirt and white peasant skirt. *sigh* i'm wearing that same shirt today... :(
+_+_+
so yes, yesterday was my niece and nephew's birthday party. i believe the same kids came this year as last year. it was neat to see them one year older. it's even neater to see how much more advanced my niece and nephew are compared to all their other friends. i still saw kids grunting and pointing, rather than SAYING what they want. when, either my niece or nephew will tell you flat-out: "i want that and then i want this. i want those in that exact order." it helps when your family doesn't talk down to you.
in any case, we had fun watching 4-yr-olds play musical chairs and dance the hokey-pokey. like last year, we had a piñata which took a LOT of effort to break. much more effort than 10 preschoolers. i offered my batting services and loosened it up a bit. they finally let one of the bigger kids give it a few good whacks and finally broke it open. i was reminded, while watching this, of the birthday party scene in parenthood where gil (steve martin) ended up having to use a chainsaw to get the thing open. luckily, it didn't come to that and all the kids got their cookies, fruit leather and tiny toys (no candy).
my sister kept the same gift-giving format as last year: no gifts, but bring a wrapped book for a book exchange. that way everyone gets a gift and my sister's kids aren't left with even more stupid toys than they already have. i saw some really awesome books; books that i wouldn't mind reading as an adult. :) i really like this idea. not everyone can afford to get the birthday girl AND boy overpriced toys, but a book? everyone can afford a book.
+_+_+
in WoW news, this weekend i participated in my first full-clear of kara. it was fun and i even cheered a few times. the last boss we fought ended in a spectacular wide-eyed manner. everyone had died, we thought we were finished when we saw the tank die. the boss had only 3% of its health left and all who were left were 2 healers and a rogue. thanks to some quick healing of the rogue to keep her alive, slick moves on the rogue's part AND plenty of DoTs on the boss, we prevailed. it was awesome. i cheered like it was some kind of sporting event. :) our raid leader took a screenshot of our group afterwards, exclaiming that it was just that awesome of a fight. despite the crap i've heard from other people about our guild leader, he is a really good raid leader. he knows exactly what he's doing and is very knowledgeable of all the fights involved. he also is a proponent of being prompt. we started AT 8pm last night and saturday night. we didn't stick around so that one of the guys who wanted to come showed up, we got someone in his place and ready to go as soon as 8pm struck. i liked that. it made it so that marshall and i didn't have to bow out before the last boss. we were able to get the majority of the harder bosses in kara down in about 3 hours. not too shabby at all, i'll say. the only reason we couldn't do more the night before was our healing power. one of our healers JUST turned 70 and was poorly geared. all buffed - *I*, a warlock, had twice as many hit points. i know all he needs is better armor, but he just couldn't cut it. one swipe from any of the bosses we fought and he crumpled. but last night we had 2 really great healers and TONS of DPS. that made for very quick fights and our coordination was great. so yeah, i was really happy with my WoW progress. it actually got me excited to play my warlock again. even with all the fun i had with people from our old guild, i have a feeling we wouldn't have been able to do all that as smoothly as this weekend. we did really well. :)
+_+_+
i got what can easily be described as a blog or journal entry from my godfather last week. he recently made the decision to opt for early retirement from his job. he simply wasn't happy with his new boss and all the changes that were being made. he stuck with it for 3 years, but it was just getting to be more than he could handle. so, he's retired now. but, he also pass the test and received his certification to teach golf, which is something he's been striving to do for a while now. i'm really happy about that - the man loves golf. so, currently he's searching for a job with a golf course to work in the pro-shop. he hopes, one day, to become a golf-pro, which i know he'd be awesome at. he's so easy-going and the way he talks and explains things would definitely make him great. in any case, he decided to send me his musings on early-retirement life. what it's like not having to go to work in the morning, being at home while his wife is at work and then still being at home while his wife socializes with her friends through all the various things she does. it was really interesting, plus i love his writing style. i decided to put together an early-retirement playlist. the twist is - all the music is from my collection. i'm not including music that may be his particular tastes. i thought it'd be interesting to hear his take on it. plus, i can provide a nice explanation of my choices, which is something i love doing anyway. i love writing about music and songs.
+_+_+
it's freezing in our office. the alternative is this icky muggy hot soup that's outside. i have my heater on under my desk, all the same...
i believe i had the flu at the same exact time last year. i distinctly remember going to my niece and nephew's birthday party with a fever and sweating profusely beneath my terra-cotta hippy shirt and white peasant skirt. *sigh* i'm wearing that same shirt today... :(
+_+_+
so yes, yesterday was my niece and nephew's birthday party. i believe the same kids came this year as last year. it was neat to see them one year older. it's even neater to see how much more advanced my niece and nephew are compared to all their other friends. i still saw kids grunting and pointing, rather than SAYING what they want. when, either my niece or nephew will tell you flat-out: "i want that and then i want this. i want those in that exact order." it helps when your family doesn't talk down to you.
in any case, we had fun watching 4-yr-olds play musical chairs and dance the hokey-pokey. like last year, we had a piñata which took a LOT of effort to break. much more effort than 10 preschoolers. i offered my batting services and loosened it up a bit. they finally let one of the bigger kids give it a few good whacks and finally broke it open. i was reminded, while watching this, of the birthday party scene in parenthood where gil (steve martin) ended up having to use a chainsaw to get the thing open. luckily, it didn't come to that and all the kids got their cookies, fruit leather and tiny toys (no candy).
my sister kept the same gift-giving format as last year: no gifts, but bring a wrapped book for a book exchange. that way everyone gets a gift and my sister's kids aren't left with even more stupid toys than they already have. i saw some really awesome books; books that i wouldn't mind reading as an adult. :) i really like this idea. not everyone can afford to get the birthday girl AND boy overpriced toys, but a book? everyone can afford a book.
+_+_+
in WoW news, this weekend i participated in my first full-clear of kara. it was fun and i even cheered a few times. the last boss we fought ended in a spectacular wide-eyed manner. everyone had died, we thought we were finished when we saw the tank die. the boss had only 3% of its health left and all who were left were 2 healers and a rogue. thanks to some quick healing of the rogue to keep her alive, slick moves on the rogue's part AND plenty of DoTs on the boss, we prevailed. it was awesome. i cheered like it was some kind of sporting event. :) our raid leader took a screenshot of our group afterwards, exclaiming that it was just that awesome of a fight. despite the crap i've heard from other people about our guild leader, he is a really good raid leader. he knows exactly what he's doing and is very knowledgeable of all the fights involved. he also is a proponent of being prompt. we started AT 8pm last night and saturday night. we didn't stick around so that one of the guys who wanted to come showed up, we got someone in his place and ready to go as soon as 8pm struck. i liked that. it made it so that marshall and i didn't have to bow out before the last boss. we were able to get the majority of the harder bosses in kara down in about 3 hours. not too shabby at all, i'll say. the only reason we couldn't do more the night before was our healing power. one of our healers JUST turned 70 and was poorly geared. all buffed - *I*, a warlock, had twice as many hit points. i know all he needs is better armor, but he just couldn't cut it. one swipe from any of the bosses we fought and he crumpled. but last night we had 2 really great healers and TONS of DPS. that made for very quick fights and our coordination was great. so yeah, i was really happy with my WoW progress. it actually got me excited to play my warlock again. even with all the fun i had with people from our old guild, i have a feeling we wouldn't have been able to do all that as smoothly as this weekend. we did really well. :)
+_+_+
i got what can easily be described as a blog or journal entry from my godfather last week. he recently made the decision to opt for early retirement from his job. he simply wasn't happy with his new boss and all the changes that were being made. he stuck with it for 3 years, but it was just getting to be more than he could handle. so, he's retired now. but, he also pass the test and received his certification to teach golf, which is something he's been striving to do for a while now. i'm really happy about that - the man loves golf. so, currently he's searching for a job with a golf course to work in the pro-shop. he hopes, one day, to become a golf-pro, which i know he'd be awesome at. he's so easy-going and the way he talks and explains things would definitely make him great. in any case, he decided to send me his musings on early-retirement life. what it's like not having to go to work in the morning, being at home while his wife is at work and then still being at home while his wife socializes with her friends through all the various things she does. it was really interesting, plus i love his writing style. i decided to put together an early-retirement playlist. the twist is - all the music is from my collection. i'm not including music that may be his particular tastes. i thought it'd be interesting to hear his take on it. plus, i can provide a nice explanation of my choices, which is something i love doing anyway. i love writing about music and songs.
+_+_+
it's freezing in our office. the alternative is this icky muggy hot soup that's outside. i have my heater on under my desk, all the same...