Randal turned one today, his sister turned 3 last Saturday. Time keeps rolling by. He’s got teeth coming in, is crawling like crazy, probably be walking before ya know it, and soon the babble will be proper words.

Get ready world, cause here he comes.

Got my necromancer fancy Norn armor AND some Asuran shades. How cool is she? She’s also finished the Canthan protector title and such. There’s a new update coming around the corner (Guild Wars turns 4, and I turn 32). It involves pets, so I’ve been leveling up my Jingle Bear. Tried to make him a Dire Jingle Bear, but came out a Hearty anyway.

Almost there. This is the last cartographer title that I need to get. The problem is that the last 1% is always the hardest. What saved me on the last two titles were quirks that let me finish up without scraping everything. I don’t think I’ll get the luxury this time.

Hopefully I can get the house cleaned up, so I can spend some time working on this.

“For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.”

Wintersday has come and gone. I spent some gold and gussied up Satine in some Wintersday clothes. Guess I found some use for all the gold I’ve been hoarding. Got loads of holiday consumables that hopefully will last me a while. Even got to play with a guildmate and friend for a bit.

Haven’t played much this week as the children needed lots of watching. Seems like I barely sat down and it was time to get some sleep. Then I woke up and it started all over again… go figure.

Christmas went well too. The kids had fun and I think my wife enjoyed herself. Good gifts all around. I even got a Nintendo DS with the one game I longed for, Chrono Trigger. I’ve been playing during my lunch break and life is good.

Thank you ArenaNet!

From Digg:
“Our design goal when creating ‘Guild Wars’ was this: ‘If I’ve got 30 minutes before dinner, will I have fun playing this game?’” says Strain.

read more | digg story

The trick is they added sunspear point awards for vanquishing areas in Elona. This is something I was needing to do anyway, so getting the points was a nice bonus. It’ll be a while before I can vanquish all areas in any of the campaigns, but it’s a start. I’m also trying to finish the cartographer title in Elona as it is the only one I am missing.

I’ll probably work on the Kurzick title too as the title rebalance has made that easier and more enjoyable to boot.

Okay, so maybe I have a couple screen shots to show off. This is from Halloween 2008. I was up at in the wee hours because one of the kids decided to wake us, and I figure it was time to sneak over to the computer for some Halloween party time!

Not only did I get both festival hats (the “Zombie Paint” mask is in the pic), but saw some celebrities (well to me anyway). The frog in the picture belongs to Gaile Gray the former Community Relations Manager for the game. It’s always cool when she shows up.

So what’s going on in the Guild Wars universe… well I don’t have time to say. Ha! Let’s see if I get around to it later.

From Digg:
BusinessWeek magazine has named Euless, TX as one of the Best Places in America to Raise Your Kids for 2009. Communities on the list were ranked for such things as school performance, affordability, safety, air quality, job growth, racial diversity, local parks, ballfields, zoos, recreation centers, museums and theaters.

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Thought I’d throw out a post just to have something on here. Bridget, the kids, and I got back last week from a trip to Illinois to visit my wife’s grandparents. That’s over 2,000 miles in my Dad’s Tahoe, which he so kindly let us borrow. Filling that monster up with gas was expensive, but better than a car rental payment + gas or plane tickets.

We survived and had a great time. Happy to back though, and even happier to get into my swivel chair in my office at work. It’s so quiet in my office, very refreshing after a week with my very vocal children. I love them to bits, but after the 50th time of hearing “What’cha doin?” you long for a moments silence.

My parents just left for a trip of their own, so our babysitters are gone. We’ll make up for it by crashing at their house and eating all their food. I’ll probably even use my old shower at least once while their out. Love that shower, small tomb of a thing that steams up like a sauna. And it has a door, not a shower curtain… oh, it’s the little things that make life good.

So please, take the time to read this New York Times article before you vote for this person.

~

U.S. / Politics
Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes
By JO BECKER, PETER S. GOODMAN and MICHAEL POWELL
Published: September 14, 2008
Gov. Sarah Palin’s visceral style and tendency to attack critics contrast with her public image, her record shows.

read more | digg story