Launch!
What do I spend all of my time doing? Well, lately it has been trying to launch a website for the new D&D campaign that I am running for my gaming group. This has been fun, mainly because I have been nerdily combining D&D with a Drupal-based website. I have had a mailing list set up for the local gaming group for years now; definitely longer than Emily has been around, probably going on three years or so. This takes the nerdiness to a whole new level with accounts for each character (yes, even some of my NPCs will have accounts), forums for campaign notes and in-game discussions, and support for each character to have a diary/blog of their very own.
The amount of time I have spent learning a little about Drupal and setting this site up still does not touch the amount of time I spend every week preparing for the game. However, I think it will be a good resource for the players as the game progresses.
Pictures of the Princess
Last week we had a friend come over for dinner. He brought his spiffy new camera and took some great pictures while visiting. It has taken me a few days, but I am finally getting around to posting links to the pictures. There are even a couple of really good pictures of Dante. Who knew he was so photogenic?
Hats off to Geof who took the pictures. They really are good 
Enjoy!
Cute Overload
I hope the internet doesn't explode from all this cuteness in one post 
I just couldn't help but snap a few more pictures of Emily this morning before she went to school. She was just too darn cute in the little purple dress and tights. Thanks for the outfit Nana!
So, behold the cute that is our daughter. Shield your eyes if the cute gets to be too much 
The last one is my favorite picture. The photos didn't turn out too badly considering I used my iPhone.
Stay tuned for more pictures. Our friend Geof was over with his spiffy new camera last night. I'm pretty sure he got a few good shots of all of us, even the dogs. I'll post a link to them when he gets them uploaded.
Until then, this will just have to do
Today’s Cute, Brought to You by Emily
Here is a picture taken of our lovely little darling this morning before daycare.
What's so special about this photo you might ask. Well, look closely at the outfit she is wearing. When we were visiting my parents over Christmas, my Mom found some of my infant clothes buried in her cedar chest. Naturally, she passed them on to me, well, the ones that would have a chance of fitting Emily. Today is the first time she has worn that outfit. I must admit, I was afraid it would be to small for her, but as you can see, it fits perfectly. She looks like a little angel. It's very special for me to see her wearing something that I wore back in the day.
Of course, the response from Jonathan and many of my friends has been the same: "How old were you when you wore this?" I'm pretty sure I was much older when I wore it than Emily is now. I will have to defer to my mother to get the real answer.
Hope this fills your cute quota of the day
Lord of Chaos
As Geof suggested, I am going to try and post as I read throughout this year. So, after watching the first three painful episodes of Legend of the Seeker, I decided that I needed to read a good fantasy series to purge the garbage that was that attempt at a TV series. My first thought was to just re-read the Sword of Truth series that "inspired" the TV series — the book series was actually pretty good. But, I forgot that I sent those home with my in-laws so that they could give them a shot. So, in a moment of desperation, I turned back to the Wheel of Time.
There were two main reasons for attempting this re-read: first, I have never read any of the books more than once and second, the final book in the series is due to be out at the end of this year or early next year. Lord of Chaos, by Robert Jordan, is the sixth book in the Wheel of Time. After finishing this, I am now around 4,200 pages into the Wheel of Time and am just over half-way through the written books. I am not going to worry about spoiler alerts with this because the book was originally published in 1995. If you have not read the series by now, you will likely have forgotten what I am writing by the time you make it through 3,500 pages to get to this book
Remembering back, I always thought that this was highlight of the series. So many good things happen. Rand founds his school for the male channelers. Egwene becomes the Amrylin seat. Elayne and Nynaeve are raised to Aes Sedai. We see more happening around the split White Tower with the rebels (the good guys) starting to move towards retaking the Tower. The White Tower, led by the usurper Elaida, takes Rand prisoner. Finally, we have the truly awesome battle to free Rand at Dumai's Wells. So, the plot takes a huge step forward in this book. That is great, since the plot is about to stagnate in the next few books.
Why do I liked Lord of Chaos? There is a lot of driving action bolstered by strong characters that are finally entering into their own in the world. However, as much as I like the Wheel of Time and have enjoyed re-reading the books, 4,200 pages without much of a break makes me tired, so I am going to put my re-read on hold while I read some new-to-me books. Next up, Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher, the first book in the Codex Alera.