Holiday Ups and Downs

Things that suck:

I'm just now recovering from what is probably the worst cold/sinus infection I've had in a very long time. Still feeling rotten, but at least able to function now.

My daughter has been with her mother in North Carolina for the past week and a half and I sorta miss her.

It's been cold, wet and disgusting outside for days.

We ended up dropping $200 on fixing a couple of cracked window panes and I had to pay a cable bill that I thought we'd covered already.


Things that don't suck:

My daughter is coming home today!

We aren't completely broke.

I finished the rough draft of the prologue for my novel.

I got some writing done on a short story project.

I got some seriously cool swag for Xmas/Yule, including Fallout: New Vegas, Assassin's Creed 2, the last season of Avatar: the Last Airbender, the latest season of Doctor Who (on Blu-Ray), the entire Cowboy Bebop series and the feature length movie! I'm going to be busy on the tv for awhile. :)

I also got a pair of steel finger gauntlets for when we fight German Longsword.

My wife really liked everything I got for her. (Yay!)

Overall, the good outweighed the bad, I think. I hope y'all can say the same! Joyous Yule and Happy New Year!

Solstice Eclipsed

There was a spectacular lunar eclipse that occurred last night. It just happens that today is the Winter Solstice, as well. But, I didn't wake up at 2:30am to look at the celestial show. It was overcast in my area, so there was no point. Also, I have a nasty cold and woke up this morning with the worst sore throat I've had in a while. Even without being sick, I had no plans to celebrate the Solstice in any proper fashion. Instead, I dragged my sick butt out of bed and went to work today. Oh, yeah, the magic of life has definitely ebbed. I feel almost completely bereft of the spark that used to drive me to seek beauty and wonder. The grim, cold, ugly world has won. How sad.

The Monday After

There's nothing quite like going back to work after a four day weekend. My body always gets used to sleeping late and when it comes time to get up at 6am again, well, lets just say that I'm paying my dues right now. It doesn't help that I spent most of the weekend sitting on my butt watching tv or playing Fallout 3. Damned, bloody, addictive game. So, lack of physical activity plus my natural proclivity to sleeping through the morning equals a screaming headache, stabbing pain in my back, nausea and a deep desire to crawl under my desk to hide. Glorious. Oh, and I didn't even manage to work on my novel like I told myself I would. I'm such a slacker. On a brighter note, I did almost reach level 20 in Fallout. Go me.

Unabundant Profundity

I feel like I should have something profound to say right now. In an age of Facebook and Twitter, there is pressure to always have something witty to post. Sadly, most days it simply requires too much effort to come up with something original and clever to amuse my hordes of fans. I don't want to post things that are inane or boring, so I end up not posting. Of course, this post is inane and boring, which is a paradox that may very well cause a logical infarction in the fabric of the Internet. Um... nevermind.

Regrets

"Merciful Father, I have squandered my days with plans of many things. This was not among them. But at this moment, I beg only to live the next few minutes well. For all we ought to have thought, and have not thought; all we ought to have said, and have not said; all we ought to have done, and have not done; I pray thee God for forgiveness." - Ahmed Ibn Fadhlan, The 13th Warrior

An Outrage!

Just wanted to share this in as many places as I could. It should go viral so that everyone can properly express their outrage.

Rich Vail Fund Manager Hits Cyclist and Runs, Gets Off Because Charges Might "Jeopardize His Job"

This Week

This week has been pretty slow. Ysabel has caught a sniffle, so we haven't been as active. Plus, our weekly DnD game got cancelled for the first time in a long time. I've been home in the evenings every day this week! Catching up on my rest, watching tv, messing around with stuff that I've been putting off at the house. It's been kind of a nice change of pace. I hate when my wife is sick, but the rest is doing us both a lot of good, I think. Of course, she still has grad work to do, which is a bit stressful and there are some other things I could be doing that are "productive", too. But I'm not going to worry about that right now. The pace is sure to pick up again, but in the meantime, I'll take the break.