This week has been good. It was a nice, short work week followed by Thanksgiving and some nice, lazy days off. My boss was gone last week and a couple of co-worker issues came up that I'll have to discuss with him when we both return to work on Monday. Nothing major, but one could turn into something big if it's not nipped now.

I spend Turkey Day at Heather's house with her family and some family friends. There were a total of seven other people, so a decent size for socializing. Dinner was very good and everyone had a good time talking. After dinner we played Scruples (yawn) and Trivial Pursuit that I'd picked up the day before. I won both, which was fun. (So, Seth, I never have to play them again. Just to stay consistent.) I didn't leave until about 10:30 and then had to go to perform my cat-sitting duties for another co-worker.

Friday was a very lazy day because I didn't get to bed until 2:00AM the night before, I didn't wake up until about 10:00AM. Then I read some comics (for work believe it or not) and watched some of the Babylon 5 DVD someone lent me. Then it was time for the gym. That evening I went to see a movie with an ex-co-worker and some of his friends from Wizards of the Coast. We saw Treasure Planet, which was...okay, but not quite good. Then I ran into the city to take care of the cats again.

Saturday I was up at 10:00AM because I didn't go to bed until 2:00AM again. I really wish I didn't have to sleep. What a waste of time. Anyway, a short while after getting up, Brian called from Tampa and we talked for a while. It looks like he won't be able to go to Las Vegas as he'd hoped over New Year's, so we're going to try to get together sometime in the next few months. It's kind of a pain to be friends with someone who's an entire continent away -- but I guess it gives me an excuse to travel. After we talked I headed to the gym and when I got back I talked to Seth while he made the trek from Minnesota back to Madison. Now I'm at work.

Oh, I should also mention that during everything I read, um, 58 comics. All for work. That eats up a lot of time. I wouldn't mind if all of them were good, but a pretty high percentage were. I still have more to read, but not many.

I'm trying to decide what to do this evening, but I have to run over to take care of the cats again, so it seems unlikely that I'll be able to catch a movie since it's already ten to nine.

I've been pretty good about getting to the gym lately, and I've even been lifting, which is a very good thing. Since the whole weight-loss thing hasn't been going as well as I'd like I've added ten minutes to my cardio workout in an attempt to kick my metabolism up a bit. What I really need to do now is cut back on food a little, but I have to be careful about that. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by changing things in an unhealthy way. I'll let you know how it goes.

See you later in the week. I hope I have time to update more regularly. That's been bugging me lately.

A friend sent this to me. I'm sure Seth and others will be quite entertained by it.

Check it out.

I'll be back to update more later.

Another busy week, and I know if I don't write something here now that I won't get to it until Sunday. This week went well, but I've been so busy with work and writing that I haven't even had time to answer emails from friends. (So, if you contacted me through this site I've been unable to get back to you, too. Sorry.)

Work is going well. I worked on the game I've been designing and it seems to be going well. I've also been doing a lot of legal work -- talking to some of the companies we license from, that sort of thing -- and it's all under control now. I won't have to mess with that again for a while.

Work is bursting at the seams, but we've got a new office starting at the beginning of the year. I don't know exactly where it is, but I know it's closer to my apartment. I'm going to try to walk or bike to work as much as I can once we finally move.

Tomorrow night a bunch of us from work are going to go out and hit some of the bars and clubs in Seattle. That'll be fun, and I'm certainly in the mood for it. I just hope I have something decent to wear. I'm not much of a club person, so I'm not all hip with the fashion. Wait, I remember, I don't care. It'll be fun no matter what we do.

I've been working so much that I haven't been going to the gym regularly. When I'm done typing this I'm going to go change then hit the gym. This'll be the first time since last Sunday morning. That's horrible. I think I've been off my schedule for three weeks now. Ugh. Yikes. I guess I have nothing but room for improvement. Right?

Okay, time to go. See you Sunday.

Wow, have I been busy. I've been trying to get back into the swing of going to the gym on a regular basis, but trying to do that, work full time, get a good night's sleep, and write an article for the magazine has been pretty difficult. And that article! It's about 11,000 words right now and I have a couple thousand more to go. I really wish I'd started it sooner, but (big surprise) I didn't have the time. Luckily I really like what I have so far and I'm nearing the home stretch.

I saw the second Harry Potter movie with Will on Friday. It was long, but it was pretty good. Afterward I came back to work for a bit then went home. Will stayed over so he didn't have to drive all the way into Seattle just to turn around right away in the morning to come back to work. Fine by me. Saturday I went to the gym then ran the second part of my Buffy game. It didn't go as well as I'd have liked, but it was okay. The players are interested enough that they'd like to play again sometime. Then I came to work and wrote until 1:30 in the morning. Sunday was more of the same; gym, work on the article until 12:45.

Now I'm going home and going to bed. Wait, grocery store first, then take care of my dry laundry, then bed, then work. Tomorrow night I'm going to dinner with a bunch of people from work. I'm looking forward to that. I need some downtime -- even though I don't have time for it right now. Oh, that's funny.

Ah, I also spent two hours online tonight trying to book a ticket home for the holidays. Finally I was able to find something, but I have to tell you, I have never had so much trouble before. I hated it. HATED IT! And the ticket was expensive, too!

Sleep. Sleep. I must have sleep.

Mom and Grandma left yesterday morning after four or five days of fun and adventure out here in the Seattle area. I would have posted something sooner, but I didn't spend much time here at work and I've spent the last day or so playing catch-up and trying to get an article or six written for Campaign.

During the visit we went to Pike Place Market on Friday and walked for a bit to check out the stalls and stores. We also swung by the space needle and took a ride to the top. I hadn't been up there and it was pretty cool. They have "fun facts" and "games" peppered throughout the viewing deck to keep you entertained. I'd like to get back there sometime to investigate those more. For now I'm happy to have gone.

Saturday we drove to Tacoma to see the Museum of Glass. Also very cool. I really liked the hot room. In this room they had a college auditorium set up so that spectators could sit and watch the people on the "lecture floor" make something from glass. We watched them make a goblet. It was very, very involved. After our taste of culture we felt we needed to stop by the Muckleshoot casino on the way home.

Sunday was a fairly lazy day. We checked out some stores and relaxed. I think Grandma has Mom addicted to crosswork puzzles from this trip. Grandma was already addicted.

Monday I went to work for a bit, then picked them up for sushi at Sushi Land. Mom didn't like it so much, but she was a trooper and at least tried it. Grandma kind of liked it, but nothing really caught her fancy. It was their first time though, so I can't blame them. I didn't like it after my first time either.

Tuesday was were up early and I dropped them at the airport. Then it was time for work. After work I stayed to work on the article for Campaign. Oh, and I picked up a very good special edition of LIFE featuring info on mobsters and gangsters. It has lots of great pictures and very succinct info about the big wigs of the time.

Oh, I was given a copy of d20 Modern and it's very good. I spent most of the weekend reading through that so I could write the article using it. I also plotted out the next session of my Buffy game for this Saturday.

No gym for me until I wrap up my writing. Too bad, 'cuz I want to go.

Now I go to write some more!

Mom and Grandma made it in at about 4:30 today and things have been fun. We picked up their bags and drove back to my apartment. It was funny to listen to them talk about what a big city this is -- especially since we weren't even in the city. They really don't like the traffic and I can't blame them. Luckily, with all of us in the car we could use the HOV land (High Occupancy Vehicle lane, for those playing at home) and it took us much less time to get home that it took me to get to the airport. After we dropped everything off at my place we ran over to Target to get some pillows for them and then had dinner at Chantanee. I was very proud of both of them for being willing to try Thai food. We ordered way too much because I forgot how little they eat and how much food you get in an order. Oh, well, I guess we'll have leftovers. Grandma really, really, REALLY liked the Thai iced tea. Who can blame her? Then they were off to bed at 9:00, so I came out to work to write a bit, but ended up talking to a couple of the people that were working late. It was a lot of fun.

Jumping to other things. I stayed late last night to get things prepared for a playtest of the game I wrote last week. It went very, very well and will only require a bit of fanagling to get it to work. I'm very happy with how everything went and I'm really glad everyone liked the game. We had a blast playing it and there were very few points where we had to stop and ask questions. Very cool.

This morning I went to an annual physical at a new doctor. He seems very nice and very good. As is always the case when I go to the doctor he gave me a physical and then said, "You're in perfect health, you're just a little heavy." I love to hear that and dread it at the same time. If I'm in such damn good shape, why am I so out of shape? It's weird. He was amazed to hear how much I'd weighed and how much I'd lost, but the thing he was most amazed at was my blood pressure. I noted on my medical history that a couple of years ago I had borderline high blood pressure and when they took my pressure today it was 124/82 which is about as healthy as you can get for a 33 year-old guy. It's always fun when you can stun a doctor. I guess is illustrates just how effective a good diet and exercise program can be.

Tomorrow Mom, Grandma and I are going to have some breakfast, then come to work so I can show them around, then head into Seattle to the Pike Place Market. I'm not sure what else we'll do, but I think the plan for the weekend is to hit the Museum of Glass, and possibly the Space Needle. I'm not sure what else we'll do, but I have a good list of things. Mostly it'll be good to hang out with them.

Now I'm going to go home, read a little and go to sleep. They'll be up early.

The rest of the week went much better than Wednesday afternoon. Thursday was Halloween, so many in the office dressed up for that. In the afternoon we went to see The Ring. Some people thought it was really scary, I was not one of them. It was an okay movie, but I never would have paid to see it on my own. On a scale of one to ten, I give it a 4, maybe a 5, but I'm not a horror movie fan, so I'll err on the conservative side. Watch it for free if you can, otherwise, skip it.

I went to a party on Friday evening at the house of a woman that used to work with me. I had a very good time. It was a little subdued, but the people were a lot of fun and very friendly. Saturday I had a "date" with someone I'd been talking with online for the past couple of days. I don't think that's going anywhere. She's nice, but there's nothing there. Today I received an email from the British woman I saw last week at the party. She said she'd like to go out, but only as friends. Figures. Oh, well, I'm looking for friends, too, and she seems like a lot of fun.

Now I'm at work doing some writing and research for an article or two for the next issue of Campaign. I have to get as much as I can done this week before my mom and grandma show up. I'm looking forward to their visit.

I found this really cool site on word and phrase definitions. I heartily recommend it.