Ah, young nerds :)

Many many years ago, my hubbie started running a game for the children of some of his gamer friends. These girls (and a couple of boys) were around 10-12 years old at the time. We still game with a couple of them, who are now in their early 20s, and another of them is our regular catsitter.

Now there's a new batch of kids, belonging to other gamer friends. So on Saturday, he started running Star Wars for three kids, ranging in age from 11-15. Because there are only three kids in the group at the moment, he let me make a character too. Whee! :)

The kids are actually brilliant, though. Two of them have gamed before (one of them has had me as a GM before), but not with people their own age. The oldest one had never played anything other than card and board games, and she took to gaming like a fish to water. There was one point where my character talked us out of combat (we were pretty outnumbered), but other than that, we tried to let the kids do what they wanted to do. It took them about ten seconds to figure out that if no one ever went to the bog, and there was rumored to be a bog witch hiding there, she was probably a Jedi. And she was, as it turns out. :)

So yeah, we only get to play this game about once a month, but I think it's going to be a fun addition to the gaming schedule. And since one of the kids lives some distance from us, her dad is going to hang out during the game and help with NPCs. That is gonna be hilarious. :)

Yay for new stuff! :)

Of course, the new stuff is made better by the fact that I also traded away old stuff in getting the new stuff. :)

Sunday was our first Inter-EtsyRain Swap and Shop, which meant that a bunch of us brought stacks of our crafts, supplies, and whatever else we had lying around, and had a mini-craft show. So I unloaded some supplies that I knew were just taking up space, and also traded a few of my finished things for some more supplies and other stuff.

All of my scores were really wonderful, but I think my favorite trade was for a Star Wars purse that Kayce had made. She had decided not to list it because of the Star Wars logo, and I have to say that I was happy that I found it on her table. I asked if she'd be willing to trade, and she said she'd send Robbie (her son) to look at what I had brought for the trade. So I showed him what I had to offer, and he decided that he wanted a yellow fish, and that was all. I suggested that maybe Lyssie (his sister) might like a fish too, so he picked a pink one for her. I figured less fights if they each had a fish. :) (Yes, I do come from a family with multiple children... however did you guess? :) )

I also had a partial trade with Meghan for a needle felting kit, which I have determined is WAY too much fun for me. You mean I get to stab something repeatedly and I'm MAKING something while I do it? Rock on. Thus far (*knock on wood*) there has been no stabbing of myself, and I call that a victory. Of course, I haven't really made much yet. I'm mostly just experimenting and seeing what I can make. Then I'll think about calling it something. :)

And I made one outright purchase, finally picking up some of Marlo's Totes 2 Go, which are seriously the most clever things ever. I got a set with a dark blue background and lots of brightly colored planets, which was the best compromise I could think of between stuff that Jerome and I would both like. He said he felt like a dork carrying one of them from the car to the apartment, but we got all of our groceries into those 2 totes and a big bag that was made for me a while ago, brought home no plastic bags, AND saved 15 cents for bringing our own bags. Yeah, I know that 15 cents really isn't much, but it's something. Over the course of a year, it'll add up. And we don't have more stupid plastic bags.

Aside from the felting kit, the only other supplies I got were all things that are destined for specific projects. Cream colored yarn for crocheted roses, baby colored yarn for the next baby afghan I need to make, and some more fabric that will go into my amazing gypsy patchwork skirt. That thing is going to be crazy when I get it done. :)

Kids have the neatest ideas... :)

I spent several hours yesterday sitting beside a 5 year old boy (and his mom) at I Heart Rummage, watching him draw all sorts of pictures. I actually traded him a crocheted cupcake for one, and paid him 10 cents for another. :)

The one that I paid him for was of a drawing of a cupcake stand or shop, but it was so neat to see how he drew from things on my table when he was drawing it. I have crocheted cupcakes with cherries on the top; he made some with cherries, strawberries, blueberries, and one with a crown. Of those things, I have all but blueberries somewhere at my table.

I'm sure that those of you with kids see this sort of stuff all the time, but I only observe other peoples' kids in action. So I'm easily amazed by this sort of stuff. :) (Of course, by the end of the four hours, I was happy that he would be going home with his mom, and that I would be going home by myself. I love kids, but I don't think I could cope with one of my own. Parents similarly amaze me. :) )

Anyway, work is keeping me plenty busy today, so off to do more of that. :)