Monday Musings – Bootstraps Edition

On Snowpocalypse

It’s been a little quiet. There are many reasons for that, but one of them is that the Seattle area just had a big dumping of snow that kept both Brade and I house bound for 3 days. As such, rather than doing things like working on a Hagara guide or finishing one of the dozen blog posts in my draft folder, I spent some of that extra time with Brade. Amongst other things we discovered the glories of Castle and navigated our way through the first season. When he opted to play Star Wars, I spent some quality time curled up with the puppy, drinking tea and reading People. And…I enjoyed it.

Anyhow, we received 12 inches of snow, if the weatherman is to be believed – which is a ton for the Seattle area. We only lost power a few times, and in flickers, so we were fortunate on that front as many people in the area lost power for days (and some still don’t have it back). There was so much snow that after we walked the dog, we had to carry her back to the tub and use hot water to get the clumps of snow off of her feet.  Here are some pictures of what it looked like at the end of last week.

On How I’m Doing

I’ve had a few people ask me how I’ve been – and the honest truth is I don’t really know. I’ve kind of curled up into a little protective shell and I’m just trying to work through how I’m feeling. My life outside of the game has been great – and Brade has been nothing short of wonderful. However, I still feel like I’m trying to pick up my bootstraps and keep moving. A good number of people in the guild have been very supportive, which is encouraging. We’ve made a few more changes in the guild recently, and I think only time will tell how they work out. I think they have the potential to be very good, but like all things with potential, that potential has to be realized – so we will see how it plays out when all is said and done.

As for me, I’ve done quite a bit of baking the past couple of week. Which, of course, means I have to sample that baking to make sure it’s edible. We wouldn’t want to have anyone eat something that isn’t tasty would we?! Brade and I are also planning a small holiday at the end of the month, which I think will be very healthy and that I’m looking forward to very much. Just some time away for a few days, where all we have to worry about is what time to get up in the morning and where we should have dinner.

(yes, those are as delicious as they look)

On other random things.

I’ve still been plugging along with A Dance with Dragons, and I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit. I’m moving through it slowly, but that’s more because I’ve been doing a little less reading and a little more of other things right now (like having wonderful lunch chats with Keredria and Tikari, both of whom have been absolutely amazing these past couple of weeks, even if Chicago import K was highly amused by Seattle’s reaction to Snowpocalypse!). I also have a list of things in my “to read” column right now that I’m looking forward to reading, so I may have to make a few “date nights” with good ol’ George here soon.

In the couch potato field, (as I mentioned above) I’ve discovered Castle and wondered how on earth I missed this show. It’s really quite good – and I got some quality snuggle time in with Brade during Snowpocalypse as we were both drawn into the show. I dare say that the dog quite enjoyed this snuggle time as well. Did you know that petting your pets is a known stress reducer?

If some of the changes that we’ve made with the raid end up working well, I’ve been thinking about taking some classes. What kind of classes you ask? Well, I wouldn’t mind a gym class of some sort. When I was in college I took a PE class every semester just to make sure that I got out and had a scheduled exercise time. I think I’d like to explore something similar again. I’d like to do something with Brade, but I think he’d prefer a yoga type class where I think I’d rather a something a little more…active. Does anyone have anything that they’ve really enjoyed and would recommend?

I think I might like to take a class or two that keeps my hands busy – like a pottery, photography or cake decorating class. My mom used to do pottery type things with us as kids, and I still have a Dopey piggy bank that she made for me when I was a kid. I always enjoyed it when I got to go with her, so it might be something worth exploring. Something else that I used to do as a kid was cross stitch. I’ve not done it for, well, let’s just say a very long time. But my mother was very adept at it, and I wasn’t half bad, so it might be something to think about. One other thing that I’ve thought about – and you have to promise not to laugh – is picking up a Bob Ross Painting Kit and seeing how I did at making happy little trees. Just something to keep my brain and hands active, I suppose.

I’d love any suggestions people may have! If there is some activity that you love and would recommend, let me know! I have plenty of books, movies and video games – but I think I wouldn’t mind exploring outside of those comfort zones a little bit to try something new. I know there’s not a lot of “game” updates in this post, but that’s because I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to recover from the past couple of weeks – I hope you all understand. I do have intentions of getting a Hagara video up soon, and doing the guides are something that I really enjoy (and have missed a bit in all of the stress), I’ve just needed some time to sort out myself and my thoughts. I’ve truly appreciated everyone’s support, insights and suggestions. And I thank you all so much for them.