The month in review

I've been ridiculously busy lately, which is why I can go for more than a month without updating. But there's plenty to talk about, so here's a nice little recap.

We did Go Play Northwest in the middle of June, which was a weekend of indie games. I ran a Best Friends game (The Girls of Hogwarts), which turned out to be utterly ridiculous. But that's my favorite sort of game to run. (Of course, I finally read books 3 and 4 of the Harry Potter series over the past week, and discovered that my major plot was similar to something that happened in the books!) I also got to play some games I had not played before, and generally enjoyed them.

The following weekend we had fun at a tapas party with some of our gamer friends. I made chocolate chip banana bread, which was very popular, but all of the food I tried was incredibly good. Lots of little dishes, and lots of chit chat. We also did a quick visit to the zoo, which we found is very nice first thing on a Sunday morning. It's not too crowded, it's still cool out, and it's a good way to get some exercise not at the gym. We're hoping to do this more often when our schedule permits, since we do have a zoo membership. :)

I had a long weekend for the Fourth of July, but that was also the weekend that I had to ship Jeremy off to Kansas for his writer's workshop. He left on the 4th, and I spent most of that day and the next day in my studio, working on sewing projects. I got some designs figured out, and also had fun with making handmade labels for my stuff. I'll have pictures of the new stuff after this coming weekend, when I've wrangled a couple of my teenaged friends (well, technically they're 20 now) into modeling for me. I need the pictures ASAP, so that I can apply to vend at SteamCon. *fingers crossed*

While Jeremy was off doing writer things, I got to spend some time crafting at Black Door Studio, and learning about referreeing for the Jet City Roller Girls. Yeah, I totally needed another hobby, I know. :) But they were looking for skating and non-skating officials, and I think I'm going to try to do the skating side of things. Wish me luck. :) I haven't skated in 5 years, but I'm picking out skates tomorrow night. The good news is that the season has already ended, so I will have some time to get my skating skills up to par before the new season starts next year. And if I discover that I am absolutely a wreck on skates, I can get involved with the non-skating side of things. :)

I spent last week in Kansas City for work, and got to spend some extra time with my sister and her family. I took my nephew to Steamboat Arabia, because he had been asking to go for a while. It ended up that I took him by myself, rather than with my sister and niece, but it worked out surprisingly well. I told him that since he did so well, we would try to do other things like that when I have extra time in KC. But we'll see if this is like the way that kids behave themselves the first time they get a new babysitter, and then start pushing the boundaries... my nephew is pretty well behaved though, so we may be okay. :)

After that, I headed out to Lawrence, where Jeremy had been staying, and got to meet some of the folks he had been workshopping with. It was REALLY hot in Lawrence, and I wasn't there much more than 12 hours before we had to head back to KC to fly home. We made it back safely, and had an apartment full of cats in need of love. But they're always in need of love. :) I got to spend yesterday at home to get caught up on chores and such, which was very nice. I even made a semi-elaborate dinner. I'm so domestic when I have time. :)

We've already got a bunch of stuff planned for this week, and then I'm off to Kansas City again on Sunday. No rest for the wicked. None at all.

Monday again!

So coming off of a great weekend, some Mondays seem really dreary. I think the sunshine today is helping today to feel much better than an average Monday. Either that, or I'm just enjoying the calm before the inevitable storm. We're having dinner with Jeremy's grandparents tonight, and then we have a free night tomorrow. Then there are only 7 days in July with nothing on the calendar. Goodbye, free time! :)

The weekend was Go Play Northwest, which was a gaming convention for indie games. I got to play in some okay games, and I got to play in some really wonderful games. It's hard to pick a single one as my favorite game, and nearly all of the games had at least some elements that were a whole lot of fun for me. I also know I missed out on getting to try some games that I would have liked to have played, but there just wasn't enough time to play them all. I'm sure we'll go back next year, though, since it's local. :)

Of course, it's got me amped for working on my games for Ambercon Northwest, which is just another thing I've got to figure out how to plug into my incredibly ridiculous schedule. I only need game write-ups by the end of August, and then the actual games by the beginning of November, so that's helpful. I also need to kitbash together a couple of systems to end up with systems that I like... ah, the joys of diceless gaming for someone who's always used dice. :)