Lust

As some of you may have gathered, I have a thing for pen and paper games. Well, really, I have a thing for games in general. But I especially enjoy games where you get a half a dozen people together around a table and play--hence why our weekly/monthly games make me so happy.

So the other day I'm killing some time over on the RPG sub-reddit, and people get to talking about customized gaming tables. It made me smile, imagining just how crazy some people can go over their respective hobbies.

And then somebody linked to this.

The first table that I came across was the Emissary.

At first glance, it just looks like a nice dining room table that can set about six people, made from actual hardwood instead of particle board. Nice, but not really anything special. 

But, appearances can be deceiving.

By day a mild mannered dining room table...

...by night a fun-tastic gaming table!

(Please pretend with me that I did not just use 'fun-tastic' as a word. Thank you.)

It can have between 4-6 drawer/desktop areas you can pull out, plus an area with extra room for your GM/DM. More importantly, the top of the table can be removed, and underneath is a dropped down space to place your maps and minis. If it gets to be midnight and people need to go home, no worries, just put the table top back in place and come back to the game at a later date and time.

Pretty nifty, and not too badly priced at $1,500. Still, not something I'm going to have taunt me in my dreams because I can't have it.

And then I came across the Sultan Gaming Table.

This is, quite possibly, the most awesome gaming table I've ever come across. Like the Emissary, it has a removable top and 'stations' for players and the DM/GM. However, these aren't some roll-out desk. These come complete with their own drawers, dividers, and map storage areas. For each player. (It sits 6-10 people.)

Tee-hee!

It also has built into it what they call a "Layer Cake," which basically allows you to lay down your maps and then place a translucent sheet of squares or hexes atop them so you can write on the maps without damaging them. Or spilling drinks on them. It also has a plain whiteboard you can place on top of that if you want to draw out the dungeon.

And speaking of spilling drinks, this comes with cup holders at each station. A small thing that made me quite happy.

The DM's station is also pretty freaking awesome, with storage for handbooks, dice, minis, and other odds and ends for the game. The sides of the table can also open up, providing a "bay" for you to roll your dice, preventing mishaps with dice killing minis.

Trust me, when I'm rolling dice, you want something protecting the minis.

Of course, all of this awesome is not cheap. The advertised price before taxes or any added features is $8,850.

Yeah, that's not happening any time soon.

Nor do I have room in my house for such a thing.

But if we ever win the lottery/get a massive inheritance/suddenly start making millions a year...

This is in no way a paid advertisement/endorsement. Geek Chic doesn't even know that I exist. I just wanted to drool and make a fool of myself in public.

Tradition

Saturday, in celebration of Rapier Wit's birthday, we went to Ted's Cafe Escandido for excellent Mexican food, and then we proceeded to the local Medieval Faire.

Our group of friends have attended this particular faire every year since '05. Not everyone can always make it (I missed it both years I was in Dallas), but at least four or five of us make it there every year.  Part of that is because it always falls the weekend before or after Rapier Wit's birthday, and thus it's become a tradition.

This year we did not dress up in full regalia, partly because it was in the 80's. However, we still had a great time. Sherri got to pet an owl this year. To be honest, I don't know how that matches up with the year she got to ride an elephant (pictured right), but she was pretty excited about it. I, however, did not pet an owl this year, because I made a poor choice in footwear so Sam and I left early. Ah well.

The fun thing about returning to the same faire year after year is seeing people you recognize from previous years, whether that be vendors, other vistors, or those participating in the jousting tournaments.

We of course had to make a stop for the huge glass bottles of root beer that are sold each year. I sometimes suspect that the root beer is why we make this trip each year.

Yes, it's that good.

Through virtue of lack of funds, Sam and I managed to resist purchasing any of the clothing that they sell there. However, I will confess that there were a couple of dresses which I lusted after.

First there was this blue dress, which immediately made me think of my halfling character, Annie. It's totally something that I could see her wearing.

However, the one that really got my heart pounding was this gorgeous outfit:

I make an excellent pirate wench, for the record, and this dress would be perfect. Alas, it was not meant to be.

The other outfit which we came across that excited Adorable Nurse in particular was this awesome steampunk outfit:

Adorable Nurse has a not-quite-obsession with steampunk, so she had a grand time seeing all of the steampunk-style items for sale at the faire.

Here you can see Adorable Nurse modeling that rocking hat. 

Isn't this completely awesome? I love the detail work on it!

Of course, Adorable Nurse had to show it to her husband, Walking Hyperbole.

Doesn't he look distinguished? If only he had a cane with a sword in it....

Out for Delivery

On Monday I mentioned that we ordered our new computer parts over the weekend. Like any true addict, I've been checking the tracking number every thirty minutes or so.

Which, coincidentally, is about how often I've been checking Words with Friends.

(Tangent: I don't remember ever actually playing Scrabble in real life. I have vague memories of playing Up-Words as a child, but that's as close as I ever came.)

I bring this up because, as of 6:19 this morning, our computer went out for delivery. If this is like when we had the TV shipped to us, it will probably show up close to five this evening. However, because I'm paranoid, and hopeful, I've had the front door open, listening for signs of arrival. Every time someone drives by, I go up on point, hoping it's the new computer.

Alas, it has failed to arrive as yet.

But soon! Soon my precious will be here...

To all things there is a season

Beeeeeeep. Be-beep.


Beeeeeeep. Be-beep.

Grey-green eyes met mine, a hint of panic in them.


Beeeeeeep. Be-beep.

My hands clenched around the cup of coffee I held, mouth tightening into a thin line. This was not how I expected my Saturday morning to go.


Beeeeeeep. Be-beep.


It's dead, Jim.

Okay, I didn't really say that, but those were the words that flashed through my brain as that awful sound continued.

Beeeeeeep. Be-beep.


Finally, Sam couldn't take it any more and turned Frank, his beloved computer built from scratch, off.

The silence was almost worse than the beeping.

"Let me go see what I can find out," Sam said, grim lines appearing at the corner of his eyes.

As he went into the other room to do some research, I closed my eyes, breathing in the soothing steam off my coffee.

It's going to be okay, I told myself. We've fixed Frank before, we can fix him again.

I don't know how long I sat that way before Sam finally returned.

"Well, from what I can tell, that particular sequence of beeps means the video is out. Whether that means the card or the motherboard...." Sam shrugged with one shoulder. "Let's hope it's the video card, because if the motherboard is out, well, if we have to replace the motherboard, we'll have to replace everything. Frank is too old..." Sam trailed off.

Taking a deep breath, he continued on, "...Frank's components are just old enough that they're incompatible with the newer motherboards."

Please, please let it be the video card.


*    *    *    *    *


"Just think, honey! You're going to have twice as much video memory. Photoshop'll work like a dream," Sam enthused as he set about switching out the video cards.

"That'll be nice," I agreed, not quite as enthusiastic. I had what felt like a band of Mexican jumping beans doing the Macarena in my stomach.

Sam chattered on as he switched out the cards, occasionally tapping out some upbeat rhythm on the table with his screwdriver.

I kept myself busy taking care of morning chores that'd been neglected in our mad dash to the city to fix Frank.

Finally, the moment of truth arrived.

Sam flipped the switch.

I held my breath.

Beeeeeeep. Be-beep.


What followed was a string of colorful metaphors, the like of which I care not to repeat in this setting.

Beeeeeeep. Be-beep.


Sam quickly turned Frank back off.

With a sigh he plopped down on the couch, head in his hands. I walked over and began absentmindedly rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's okay, darling. We can rebuild him. Faster. Better. You'll see," I said.

It's going to be a long couple of months.

Changes Part 3 -- God's Provisions

Having come up with a plan and implemented it, we discovered that we could do more than we had originally hoped for. We were also learning a hard, yet needed, lesson. The simple fact of the matter was, we had a great deal of abundance right after we were married, and we squandered it. We were poor stewards of what God had given us. Had we lived as wisely and frugally then as we were forced to do so now, we likely could have gone 6 months before even having to start worrying. As it is, we were being made to rely on God. And God provided.

We went to KC for Thanksgiving, and stopped and visited my parents on the way up and back. It was an excellent trip, and one we desperately needed to make, if for no other reason than to just get out of town for awhile. When we made it back, Sam did his two gigs--neither of which he was paid for. Both were through OCU, and the bureaucracy there to get paid is atrocious. Once again we were faced with a situation where money we had counted on in our budgeting suddenly wasn't there. However, Sam also picked up a job playing for Hanging of the Green at our alma mater, and it was going to be a hefty paycheck, so we weren't overly worried. My parents came down, and all of us went back to Shawnee to see the performance and just enjoy Christmas cheer.

After the show, we went back to meet up with Sam, only to find out that the check that he would normally have had waiting for him on his music stand wasn't there—we wouldn’t receive it until after Christmas. So, yet again, the rug was pulled out from under our feet. Thankfully, God provided for us through both sets of parents. They really came through for us, and I hope to one day be able to do the same for our children.

Time and time again, God showed us that if we relied on Him, He'd always come through. Thanks to such kindnesses, we were able to get through December. Another plus about December was Sam going on Winter Break. We finally got to have our honeymoon--three weeks of just basically the two of us in our apartment.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we continued to do the two-week menus and shopping. I revised my schedule, so that instead of doing particular duties each day such as sweeping or dusting, I assigned a particular room to a day. I also decided that I'd do what I called my "Daily clean," wherein right after breakfast I'd always do a certain list of chores: empty the dishwasher, wipe down the counters and stove, wipe the table, pick up general clutter, clean the litter box, make the bed, pick up clothes, wipe down the sink/counter in the bathroom, and check to see if the trash needed taken out. It sounds like a lot to do, but the thing is that after a couple of days, I had it to where I could get it all done in about 20 minutes. And that 20 minutes makes a HUGE difference.

After that I'd do my thorough cleaning of a given room--vacuum/mop, dust, disinfect, etc. All in all, it would take a grand total of about an hour to do my daily and room cleaning together. Then came the job hunting activities. In the afternoons, when not working on Christmas, I’d organize some part of the house—closets, drawers, cabinets, etc.

I was very happy making our apartment into a home, but I also continued to look for a job. I got an interview with a temp agency, which wanted to place me into another call center situation. However, the tests they wanted me to take, and the regulations for the business (very strict regs), discomforted me, and Sam was weirded out by the whole situation as well. So we decided that I wouldn't do it.

About this time we took another hard look at how we were living. The simple fact of the matter was that while we were tight on money, we were the happiest we'd ever been. I began to slow down in my job hunting. I did fill out a few more applications, the last of which was Wal-mart. In all of the time I'd been doing this, the call backs I'd gotten were all from smaller businesses or adverts I'd seen on Craig's List. Not one of the big retailers/companies had gotten back to me. I kind of figured that if anyone would hire me, it would be Wal-mart, so I submitted an application to them.

To this day, I have not heard back from them.

Fast forward past the Christmas blizzard of '09 (a separate post for another day) and the trip to Wellington to the beginning of the New Year. I sat down and built a menu for the whole month, and we went and did all of our shopping in one fell swoop, aside from things like milk and eggs, which wouldn't necessarily last a month. So far we've managed to stay in our budget of $200 for the month (or $50 a week) for both groceries and household supplies, such as toiletries, paper products, light bulbs, etc.

Sam and I also sat down and discussed the changes in our lifestyle. We found that, frankly, we both liked and enjoyed having me home and not working. As Sam put it to me, "It's not like you sit at home and just surf the internet all day. One look at our apartment shows that." In many ways, I feel like I've become, instead of a Stage Manager, a Family Manager. I keep the house clean, I provide meals, I plan the grocery trips, I track receipts and purchases, I balance the checkbook, I keep track of bills... and by doing so, Sam is free to concentrate on finishing his Masters degree and worry about getting gigs and providing for us. Sam told me just this afternoon: "Frankly, I think I have the easy part."

But it's not like its drudgery, or I'm his servant. I genuinely enjoy and have found a peace taking care of our home that I've never had in anything else I've ever done--and that includes theatre, which I greatly love. I find it fun to figure out how to make our budget work, how to take care of household dilemmas, and re-organizing everything so that we have an efficient household.

This is the biggest change of all, for me. Never in a thousand years would I have thought of myself as a homemaker. I was taught my entire life that I had a responsibility to go out into the workforce and earn my respect and honor that way. Staying at home, taking care of a house--those are things that either "lazy," "unqualified," or "dumb" people do. No one explicitly told me this, but it was very apparent in the way people talked about it, in the expectations teachers, friends, family, and society have of me. Never in a million years would I be "Suzy Homemaker."

But you know what? I'm working harder now than I ever did at AT&T. The aches I have at the end of the day from hauling laundry back and forth between the apartment and our laundry mat, or from scrubbing the bath tub, or moving furniture to vacuum, prove that. I am working on accounting our family budget. Every day I have to wrack my brain to figure out how to fix and improve things with nothing more than what I have on hand.

Also, because I have the time to devote to making our meals and planning out what we eat and need to make said meals, we are eating better and healthier than we ever did when I was working. We have tasty, homemade meals every day. And because it's from scratch, we're not eating nearly as many chemicals and preservatives as we used to--nor do we intake nearly as much sugar, even with my baking treats for us every week. As a result, between the time I was weighed when we had H1N1 and when I weighed myself at Christmas, I've lost over 15 lbs.

It amazes me. I'm still myself, but I've grown and learned so many things in the past three months, that in many ways I feel like a completely new person. Every day God is teaching me something new about myself, my relationship with Sam, my relationship with the world, and my relationship with Him.

That's it. That's what I have to share with you, my dear friends. I wanted to expound somewhere the changes I've discovered within myself, and I wanted to trace for my own benefit where each of the changes occurred. Do I suddenly think that every woman should be a stay at home wife? Absolutely not. Do I think our lifestyle is the only one that works? Again, absolutely not. But I'm happy with it, and content with what God is doing in Sam and I's lives. And I hope, as time goes on, to share little tips and tricks I have learned. Maybe. If I have the time. :-)

"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."

--Thomas Moore

Changes Part 2 -- The Experiment

So to recap thus far: no job for me, savings wiped out by car issues and illness, Sam had a reduced income from what we had had, and I was spiraling towards depression since I was unable to find another job and felt guilty for my parting of ways with AT&T. Allow me to state, unequivocally, that it's a good thing I have an amazing husband. At this point, I think many couples would have been at the yelling and accusing part of the equation. Thankfully, God blessed me with an understanding husband, who told me on numerous occasions he still thought it a good idea that I was gone from AT&T, even if it meant things were tight.

About the second week of November, I privately decided I could not continue the way I had been. I was spending all of my time either looking for jobs or playing on WoW. My sleeping schedule was in disarray. My house around me was in disarray. My finances were in disarray. My life was in disarray. And Christmas was coming.

I knew we weren't going to have much in the way of disposable income for Christmas, but I wanted to make sure I had good gifts for the people in our lives. So I started looking around the 'Net for cheap, homemade Christmas gift ideas. In doing so, I came across two different site types which would be integral in changing my thought processes. The first were "Frugality" sites; these were website dedicated to finding ways to save money and be good stewards of said money. The second types were "Homemaking" sites; these were websites for men and women who for whatever reason didn't have jobs in the workforce, but instead stayed home and took care of it.

As I read through the sites, several things crystallized in my mind.

1. I needed to build myself a schedule. No more going to sleep "when tired" and getting up "when I woke up." No more spending all day, every day at my computer, either searching for jobs or playing computer games. I needed a list of things to do each day and a set time to do it.

2. I needed to get the house under control and keep it under control. In general, since I moved out on my own, I'd been pretty good about keeping up with the house--typically by having a big cleaning day 2-3 times a month. But this meant that in the weeks between cleaning binges, the house would get pretty wild and overwhelming. I decided that if I was going to be home a good deal of the time, then my home should reflect that fact.

3. It was time to accept the fact that I would get a job when God wanted me to, not when I wanted to. As such, we needed to look at what we were spending money on each month, and figure out how to reduce the bills. It wasn't going to be pleasant, but it needed to be done. This also meant finding ways to reduce home expenditures--food, household products, etc.

4. Lastly, but most importantly, I needed to start relying on God and letting Him get us through this, instead of constantly worrying about it and making myself sick with stress. He feeds the sparrows in the air, and clothes the lily in the fields. He wasn't going to let us starve.

By the time Sam got home from rehearsal that night, I had skeleton of a plan, and by the time we went to bed that night, we had given it some meat as well.

I drew up a schedule for myself for the following two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. I would get up when Sam did to go to classes and allow an hour and a half to do morning ablutions, make us breakfast and coffee, and then pack him a lunch and send him off for the day. Next would follow an hour and a half of intensive job hunting/applying. At the end of that time, I would spend an hour cleaning something specific around the apartment. (i.e. today I dust, tomorrow I vacuum, etc). If Sam had a short day and was home for lunch, I'd cook us lunch and then spend the rest of the day hanging out with Sam. Otherwise, I'd make a sandwich for myself, and then spend to afternoon working on projects. In this case, those projects were Christmas presents.

We also determined what we could cut out of bills. iPhones had to go--couldn't do the $60 a month data plans. Texting needed reduced. Time to cancel the WoW subscriptions. And so on, and so forth.

Oh, and absolutely NO MORE EATING OUT.

We had already cut most of the eating out, but there were times when we still fell off the wagon, for the simple fact that it was habit. I'm ashamed to admit it, but even though I'd worked hard on making sure we had lunches to take to work with us, when I was at AT&T we probably ate out of 4-5 nights a week. When you consider that for the two of us that meant the bill was typically between $15-$25, we were spending over $100 a week. Obviously, that was no longer feasible.

By this point I had seen several websites about doing menus and doing grocery shopping based off of said menu. As such, since I was already doing the schedule experiment, I decided to make up a 2 week menu and buy groceries to match those meals. I also decided that, as I'm a fairly decent cook, I would stop buying pre-packaged foods such as macaroni and cheese and instead buy the components and make it from scratch. I also dug out my bread machine and decided to make my own bread.

By the time all of this was taken into account, I took my regular two week grocery bill of ~$100 plus two weeks of fast food at over $200, and reduced it down to $46.00.

Now, admittedly, I had a metric ton of foodstuff in my kitchen that just never registered in my brain, and when I built my menu for those two weeks, I based it around what I already had. However, it completely amazed both of us how much we were able to save by making that simple decision.

Armed with our plans, we commenced upon the next two weeks. During that time, I made a startling discovery--I enjoyed keeping my house up. It was hard to get myself into the routine, but I liked how much better the house looked. I also enjoyed cooking meals and taking care of my husband. My kitties were happier because I was up and about and playing with them, talking to them, and cosseting them once I reached the point in the day when I could sit and relax a bit. I found myself constantly attacking the challenge of how to reduce what we spent. I have always reveled a bit in problem-solving, and this was one of the most interesting problems I've had to solve in a long time. Finally, I enjoyed making things for my friends and family. Since I started working on everything so early (for me), I was able to take time and make things properly and with attention to detail, instead of blazing through it all like I normally would.

I also continued looking for a job, and managed to score a handful of actual interviews in that time. I'd had another business request an interview with me, but they sent the request via email and asked for it the same day. I, of course, did not come across said email until that evening.

Despite that, we were feeling more upbeat about our situation than we had in months. Best of all, we'd managed to scrape and scrimp enough that we were able to go to KC and see Sam's sister and her family for Thanksgiving. Sam also had a couple of gigs lined up for after Thanksgiving... yes, things were looking up.


Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt

Day Eightteen--Nala's Last Chance

For the record, this post may be considered TMI. Feel warned.

As some of you may or may not know, for the past month or so we've been having issues with Nala deciding that she doesn't like to use the litter box any more. At first we thought it may be that we weren't cleaning the box often enough, so we started doing it twice a day.

That didn't work.

Our second attempt was to try using a different litter/deodorizer in case there was something about it Nala didn't like.

Dreamers.

Next we put down aluminum foil in the place where she was doing her business, because Sam had read that cats don't like the sound of their urine hitting the foil.

The internet lies. Lies I tell you!

Then Sam tried using some deodorizing cleaner from PetCo that was supposed to convince her "hey, don't use this spot any more!" After awhile it seemed to be working. And then this morning we woke up to find she had pissed on the tile in the bathroom. Twice.

At least we had upgraded from carpet.

Tonight we've made a last ditch effort and purchased one of those automatic kitty litter boxes, so that it cleans itself after the cat uses it. If this doesn't work, it may be time to find Nala a new home.

Here's hoping it finally works.


"I've been imagining Techie trying to explain to Nala all day why the gods are angry at her."
--Sam

Day Four -- Things They Never Think to Warn You About When You Get Married

Married life has been a wonderful experience thus far, and I'm very glad and grateful that I married Sam a little over two months ago [Editor's note: I originally wrote two years. Wonder what that says about me?]. I knew going in that it would be a terrifying and exhilarating experience, and despite all I had heard and read there would be a multitude of little things that can only be learned through said experience.

One of those terrifying things that no one thinks to warn you about is grocery shopping.

Oh, it may not sound terrifying, but trust me, it is.

You have to understand, by the time I married Sam I had been living completely on my own for about three years, give or take, and completely used to shopping in a specific way. I'd make up menus for the upcoming week or two, figure out what exactly I needed to purchase to make meals for said week and have a handful of snacks and drinks. Then I'd allow an extra $5 to $10 for an impulse buy (depending on how tight my budget was), and never allow myself to spend more than my set amount at the store (typically between $60 and $80 for two weeks).

That was then.

Now, now it is an adventure in trying to rein in constant impulse buys. It's not that Sam can't stick to a budget--he's very meticulous when he sets his mind to it--but he brings out the "oooh shiney!" personality trait in both of us. And heaven help us if we make the mistake of shopping while hungry. We've never crested the $200 mark, but there have been times I thought it a possibility.

There's also general food choices to consider. Sam, bless his soul, still has a bachelor's tendencies at times. There are days when he still thinks it's completely okay to live on nothing but Ramen, chili, rice, crackers, cookies, and juice. I, on the other hand, at least try to buy healthier foods and make complete meals instead of just meat and and a side dish. It's two completely different walks of life.

Also, Sam easily consumes about twice as much food as me on a daily basis (which is completely understandable as Sam has about 13" of height and over a hundred pounds of weight more than me). Dishes I could live off of for two or three days thanks to leftovers are now eaten in the first sitting. I've had to learn to basically double all of my recipes if I want to have leftovers for lunches.

This means grocery shopping can become a wee bit stressful for me, as I spend the entire time mentally keeping track of everything we buy and trying to persuade Sam and myself that we really don't need to buy an extra large tub of coffee this time (though we will need to get it next time). Not that I would trade it for anything in the world--I completely love and adore my Sam!

Anyway, this is why you're not getting anything deep and insightful, or silly and humorous tonight. Because, that's right, we just the entire evening planning, shopping, and unpacking groceries.

But the extra $1.50 for the Special Dark Chocolate Hersey's Syrup was totally worth it.


"Ever consider what pets must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!"
--Anne Tyler