Sideshow & Syrana

Seeing as how I haven’t logged into WoW since the first weekend of July and we’re tightening our budget in anticipation of our spawn’s arrival… I decided to cancel it.  For now.

Things are very busy right now IRL.  I’m used to short breaks and hiatuses, but this is the longest I’ve gone.  I’m on a pretty epic real life quest and I’ll resubscribe when I have the time and attention to give to the game.  But right now, I’m just not playing enough to justify continuously paying for it.  My account runs out on Tuesday.  I actually went in a few weeks ago to cancel and thought I might pop in a bit before the end of my sub… but nope.

Will I complete Loremaster of Kalimdor before Cataclysm drops? Who knows.  I still would like to…

Will I be back for Cataclysm? Hell yeah, but maybe not right away.  It depends how it lines up with the arrival of babygirl.

Do I play anything anymore or am I just a fuddy duddy now?  I still play some games.  Once the weather gets cooler I’ll spend more time in the computer room again rather than loungin’ on the couch with the laptop.  Otherwise my gaming staples right now are on my iPhone: Words with Friends, Carcassone, and Civilization Revolution.

My sense of time passage has become very skewed.  The hours at work seem to drag on forever.  My evenings during the week are gone before I know it, as are my weekends.  In the back of my mind I think need to get a post up, been a few days.

And that’s where the problem is.  I keep thinking it’s only been a few days or a week.  When I sat down to write the Sims Saturday post yesterday, I was honestly surprised that I hadn’t posted anything for almost a month.  But, with my body running hotter than normal due to my 24/7 bun oven, it’s often difficult for me to spend much time in our computer room.

That means less gaming and less blog posting.  Yes, yes, we have a laptop, which is what I’m typing on right now.  But then I don’t have access to all of my screenies and such.  Plus, there was something about physically sitting in front of my computer desk that tied to my motivation and muse.

So, anywho, here’s a bit of an update.

I haven’t played very much WoW since I completed Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms.  I really want to finish Kalimdor before Cataclysm is released, so I keep hoping I’ll have enough time yet.  I even missed out on my favorite in game holiday, Midsummer Fire Festival.  My baby draenei priest alt got to complete the fires of Eastern Kingdoms thanks to Gertbee’s chopper and patience to drive me around.  I still had to split that up into 2 separate sessions… and I procrastinated until the last weekend of the holiday before finally going on.

I had planned to take several characters around to honor/piss on fires.

I’ve also been playing some Sims 3 Ambitions.  I like it and find the new professions fun: ghost hunter, tattoo artist, stylist, firefighter, architect, etc.  Again, haven’t been able to play as much as I’d like due to being hot (only so much the A/C and fans can do for that room, I’m afraid), but it’s been entertaining.

Then there’s Facebook “games” again.  After a 5 month hiatus from touching any of them, I started playing FrontierVille and Family Feud.  I was playing them daily.  Recently it’s slowed down again.  I haven’t touched Family Feud for a couple weeks and it’s been about a week for FrontierVille.  I must say though, FrontierVille is a huge step up from FarmVille and is moving in the direction of being more of a game than just clicketyclickclick.

At some point I’ll be able to spend more time in front of my desk again.  But for now, most of my internet connectivity is via my iPhone or the laptop… that way I can lounge on the couch, put my feet up, and have a fan blowing on me.  Ahhh, bliss.

(Sidenote: And of course, you are always welcome to find out what’s going on IRL with the spawn-on-the-way.  Although, I don’t write on that one nearly as often as I’d like to, but it’s more frequent than around here lately.)

I think the lil one will love these, don’t you?  I mean, I didn’t buy them for myself….

I started a new alt blog for those who may be interested.  Ok, ok, so I started Yet Another Alt in WoW, too.  But this post is to tell you about the new blog.

Remember how I said I wasn’t going to turn this into a mommy-to-be blog? Well, that’s why I ended up talking Sideshow into setting up this one for me!  (It’s even got an honest-to-goodness REAL “about” page! *gasp*)

Couldn’t help it…the urge…. it overtook me.  No, we won’t be closin’ up shop here.  Yes, I know my posting has been a bit erratic and it will likely remain that way for …. who knows how long.  But sometimes… isn’t it nice to not have a major bombardment of unread posts in your feed reader?  That’s what I thought!  Yes, you are welcome. 

Anywho, check out the other one if you want.  I don’t forsee gaming crossing onto the baby blog very much.  It’ll be more likely that some “how having spawn affects gaming” will continue to crop up here.

But I’m an emotionally charged woman who needs more baby outlets right now.

I need to go drain some souls to gather my sanity…

Wow, the sale of tickets for BlizzCon 2010 is upon us.  And I say….Good luck to you!  Last year was a bit nerve wracking as we tried to get tickets, so I really do wish everyone good luck to get tickets if you so desire.

We won’t be going through the crazy queue this year.

I know, I know, after last year’s BlizzCon I was already talking about going back… even if only for the meetups outside of the convention.  However, due to the little one on the way, we won’t be able to go.  Last year it was so hot in August, going in October would have been nice… but… I won’t be allowed to fly and will be gettin’ ready to pop.

Now, if any of you want to get this lil’ one a cute plushy from the convention, that would be awesome. 

Also, the holiday weekend (travel and time off) threw off my sense of what day of the week it is… #iblamepregnancybrain

Forsaken!

Now, if only we could determine for sure if Baby is waving, throwing the horns, or flipping us off…

(No, we still don’t know the sex yet.  Should know what kind of gear Baby’s equipped with at our next ultrasound in 4 weeks.)

Hey all, I’m going to just kinda ramble in this post a bit.  Hope ya don’t mind.

This week has been a bit nutso IRL.  Last week was too, but it’s always even more crazy when trying to get as much work stuff done as possible before taking some vacation time around a holiday weekend.  It’s been hectic and draining this week, but now I get to relax a bit before rejoining the rat race.  (And believe me, it will be crazy when I return to work since there’s a lot I could not finish before leaving.  Blarg.)

Yesterday was nice… it was the start of Sideshow’s and my 5 day weekend.  Yesterday was doubly special because it was our wedding anniversary.  A little later today, we’ll be traveling out of town to visit my parents for a few days.  So, it will likely be a bit quiet around this corner of the blogosphere for a few more days.

But that’s alright because I’m sure you have cookouts or projects or something you have planned for at least part of this weekend!

One of the bummers about this past week being hectic is that I haven’t gotten much WoW time… I only need 2 more quests to complete Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms! Uhh! So close!  ….still need another 30 for Kalimdor.

Funny, I thought Kalimdor would be easy to finish off because it seems filled with so many Horde zones and I’d have to search more to complete Eastern Kingdoms.  But noooo, I’m finding the complete opposite to be true.  Although, there seem to be more dungeons and raids in the Eastern Kingdoms…. which have plenty of quests that count towards Loremaster.  In fact, I still have a TON of Eastern Kingdoms quests I can do – easy to locate ones!

Whereas… I’m struggling to find more Kalimdor ones.  I’m hoping some of these leftover Eastern Kingdoms quest chains will take me back across the sea to count for some Kalimdor turnins.  I mean, it is quite likely since I’d seen a few chains bounce back and forth already… some counting for one continent and some counting for the other.

*Looks around* Ya know what… I think I should log in and finish off Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms before we hit the road… so I can make sure to have that special screenshot.

This comic from Penny Arcade is a great bit of gaming humor surrounding babyproofing.  As Sideshow and I assess our home for babyproofing needs, we are relieved that we don’t have any Frostmournes laying about.  However, there are inflatable Frostmournes at my parents’ house…

Hmmm, the link is not working for this awesome “Quote of the Day” post from Syp at Bio Break…. but it’s still in my reader….

“See the cute little piggy?  The cute little piggy?  I’m gonna take his SOUL!”

~ My wife [Syp's wife, that is] playing a warlock in WoW, while narrating to our son in her lap

Seriously, that will SO be me.

You know this to be true.

Quick note – this is intended to be amusing even if it is true…. and it’s Friday.

1.  Frequent AFKs for bio breaks.  Sometimes 30 minutes apart, sometimes 45…sometimes an hour.. sometimes 15 minutes.

2.  AFKs for food.  Frequent snacks are a must.  Sometimes leaving the house is required to get what I’m seeking.

3.  AFKs for water.  I drink lots of water now.  No more nectar of the gods (aka Mountain Dew), except on a rare occassion.

4.  AFKs to stretch.  Things ache and staying in one position too long is unbearable now.  Good-bye 8 hour gaming marathons.

5.  Frequently getting lost.  What was I doing? Where am I? What game is this? Pregnancy brain results in confusion and being easily distracted.

6.  Forgetting I’m logged in while alt-tabbed to baby sites.  (What is with the compulsion to read about everything that might go wrong?!

7.  The desire to farm heirloom items for baby IRL.  Well, at least the desire to acquire mats and to craft items for baby.  (Unfortunately, my crocheting skill level is veryvery low.  Baby might just get a washcloth instead of a blanket.)

8.  The inability to stay awake past 10:30pm on any given night, especially Friday night.

9.  Thinking of first words to teach baby, such as “zugzug.”

10.  Logging into WoW to give my parents updates on how the pregnancy is going.  Typing is less tiring than talking on the phone…. and easier to escape to the bathroom!

Sideshow and I have an announcement.  We feel it is time to share this news with everyone (and I suspect it will further explain my hiatus and reduced posting beyond all the work hullabaloo).

We are -or rather, I am- expecting.  For those of you that are still confused: I’m knocked up, preggers, with child, etc.

That’s right, there was a reason for all the cutesy screenshots lately.  Now, just mix the two photos together from last week, and if it creates something adorable… that will be our child.

I am sorry to have kept this secret until now, but what perfect timing… to end the first (and scariest) trimester just as Children’s Week begins.  No, this doesn’t mean I’ll stop gaming or blogging.  Just, those things will be more sporadic than in the past, understandably so.  And, no, I won’t turn this into a mommy-to-be blog.  (Although, don’t be surprised at some baby updates along the way.  No fussin’ either.  These hormones can’t be controlled once the rage rises.  Got it?)

Oh right, we need a screenshot…

I know, it’s hard to decipher this thing.  Heck, it’s tough for me and it’s my baby’s first screenshot! (Well, it is a screenshot…)  The big round part is NOT the baby, it’s the yolk sac.  The tiny little blur between the arrows is the baby at 6 weeks.  We’re 6 more beyond that and it has grown, but we haven’t had a new ultrasound yet.  We did hear the heartbeat for the first time this week though!

*squees*

Anywho, yes, in another 8ish weeks we’ll be having another ultrasound so we can tell if we’re having a Horde or Alliance baby.  At that time we’ll be able to tell if the baby is wielding a battle axe or simply wearing a sissy robe.

Also, I realize this baby has been created by a Blood Elf and a Forsaken.  Let the Undead baby jokes commence!