Atropa Belladonna

~ Raven (a.k.a. Nightshade)'s Weblog ~


These are the ARCHIVES of SEPTEMBER 2006. For more archives, visit the Archives page. For the current Weblog entries, check the Main page.


Tues, Sept 26, 2006 (9:45am) with comments added at 1:17pm

Mornin'

Just to give people an update, Kalen is fine - she & her Dad came back from Calgary on Sunday (although much later than originally planned) and we've kept up with regular doses of antihistamine for the past 2 days. No further problems. She's as lively and energetic as ever. And when you ask her how her trip was, she doesn't even mention the trip to the hospital. Instead, she's all bouncy and hyper and "I got to play with Claire! And Mark! And Thomas! And we ran! And we played! And there were chocolate cupcakes at the party! Can we go back there? Can we?!? Now?!"

I think this experience scarred me more than her.

Anyways... speaking of scarring... we had an excellent 7th Sea game last night (I was guest-GM ) and I got to traumatize one of the characters by destroying his family heirloom sword. It was cruel of me, I know, but he'd been whining about the sword for the past several months, about how it wasn't very good, and he was going to have to learn a new swordschool just to weild it effectively. So, really, he wanted someone to rid him of this burdensome sword, right? But he was devastated when his 5 point blade was shattered by the mechanical monstrosity they were battling. He did take some solace in finding a new blade among the rubble & fallen bodies in the ancient ruin where this occured (a much better blade, I'd like to point out) but now he is wallowing in oceans of angst.

I love being a GM.

Actually, despite the fun I had with that, it wasn't my favorite part of the adventure. For the past 4 sessions, the players (aka the good guys) had been teamed up with an NPC (in this case, a bad guy) to go rescue the NPC's father from some Syrneth ruins. They were sure the bad guy was going to backstab them as soon as they resuced the old man, but they played their parts honorably and finally found the object of their quest. The bad guy, who was sure the good guys were going to try to backstab him before he could backstab them, was delighted to find his father, alive. He was ready to put aside old grudges, and be friends with the party (particularly because there was one female in the party who he'd forged some bonds with over the course of the arduous adventure). Unfortunately, his father started in on him about how the party was evil, and had to be destroyed, and let's use this ancient evil artifact to destoy the homeland of the party's leader! His son argued against. There was a beautiful moment where the two bad guys were locked in heated debate, and the good guys were examining the ancient evil artifact... and then the party's leader (Jeff) pressed a button of sorts and blamed it on his wife.

That was priceless.

Of course, after that, the evil artifact (having been activated) began to self-destruct and bring down the ruins with it. Everyone fled for their lives, with the bad guy trying to help the good guys escape, and the bad guy's father trying to save only his own life, and general chaos all around. When the dust settled, the good guy's wife was very mad at him, and the bad guy's father was mad at him, and the bad guy was trying to make plans to run off with the beautiful woman from the party before his father could intervene, and the party was trying to "rescue" her before either of the bad guys could take her away from them. Alas, in the end, the bad guy had to help his beloved escape with the rest of her party in order to save her life. But the players have won an ally in a very dangerous game.

And we all got to bed very, very late.
Tues, Sept 26, 2006 (1:15pm)

Jennn has this Public comment:
Comments : Oh! And I got to kiss Raven! That should count for something special, I think. Don't you? Though it could have definately been a better kiss if all those people weren't watching....
Tues, Sept 26, 2006 (1:17pm)

Raven has this reply:
Yes, less people might have made that particular kiss more... memorable. Yvgeni can really spoil a romantic mood, can't he? Damiano is going to have such a headache when he wakes up.


Sun, Sept 24, 2006 (10:45am)

Speaking of Peanut Allergies...

Kalen is, as I type, in a hospital in Calgary, after having accidentally ingested peanut butter.

Shades had taken our darling daughter with him yesterday when he went down to Calgary for a family reunion. (I stayed in Edmonton to take care of 2 sick boys, plus a work shift I was unable to switch off). I guess the party went pretty well - they stayed overnight, and in the morning enjoyed some breakfast before getting ready to come back to Edmonton. Kalen, however, unknowingly ate oatmeal with peanut butter on top.

Luckily, she began having a reaction immediately, and complained that her mouth was sore and tingly.

Shades took her to the hopsital (he had an Epipen on hand, but I don't believe they needed to use it since the reaction wasn't progressing too fast at that point) and she was treated with injection(s?) there. She threw up twice (yay!) and is feeling much better. She is under observation at present. They'll come back to Edmonton later in the day, assuming all goes well.

Scary. But thank God for quick reactions, and smart parents. And for quick and easy access to Health Care, too. Say what you will about the state of health care in this country, it's still one of the best in the world.

Wed, Sept 20, 2006 (1:45pm)

YAY!!!! One of my children is NOT deathly allergic to peanuts!!!

In fact, according to the allergist, Jasen doesn't need an epi-pen for anything! We don't need to strip out the carpet, or install a "visitor shower" on our lawn, or seal him in a bubble or anything. We will, mind you, need to keep an eye on him around dogs and cats, and make sure he doesn't forget to wash his hands after petting them. Oh - and keep him away from horses! (Did ya hear that, Shades? Cancel the Pony for Christmas!) He also displayed a slight reaction to almonds and pine-nuts, so the allergist recommends we keep some Benadryl on hand.. just in case.

Yeah. I've got Benadryl. It's in the cupboard next to the other kids' epi-pens.

The doctor also commented on Jasen's current chest cold - he says he sounds wheezy (If he thinks Jase is wheezy now, he shoulda heard him last night around midnight, while I was giving him Ventolin by nebulizer!) and suggested he might possibly be asthmatic.

Did I know much about asthma, he asked.

Uh, yeah. I got that one down pat.

Because we might need to make some lifestyle changes, he cautions me. Especially if it turns out that Jase has seasonal allergies (we didn't test for those - just food allergies) or gets a lot of colds. We might need to, oh, have some ventolin on hand, or something, and be careful about going on vacations, because some places could be bad for asthmatics, and we might need to know where the nearest medical facility is when we travel.

Yeah. Really. I think we've got it covered.

It looks like Jasen is the healthiest kid in our family.

Tues, Sept 19, 2006 (8:25am)

Yar har!

Avast, me harties... It be Talk Like a Pirate Day. Me good friend along the mighty Pacific coast bin an' forwarded me this fine link, ta help ye celebrate yer day:

        How to Talk Like A Pirate

Shiver me timbers! It be time ta git the wee ones off ta thar learnin'. Fair ye well.

Wed, Sept 13, 2006 (11:35am)

Still enjoying having all my kids in school. Not getting much "personal time" out of my 2 "free" hours per day, though - so far they've been filled with an IPP meeting (yesterday), meeting with the Principle & Vice-Principle & Special Needs Co-ordinator of Connor's school (today) and (coming up tomorrow) attending a Fine Motor Skills Assessment at Jasen's school. At least I'm not having to schedule babysitting for every meeting I go to, now!

S'all for now. Gonna see if I can fit 15 mins of SIMS2 in before I have to get kids from school.

Mon, Sept 11, 2006 (9:15am)

No kids.

There are no kids. None. In my house. At all.

Zero.

I am alone.

It is quiet, except for the hum of the computer, the quiet bubble of the fishtank, and the breeze blowing through the window, carrying with it the occasional car noises from the street. Normally, this kind of quiet is very bad - it means that someone is up to something. But not today - today, it means they are all in school. And my house... my house is empty.

I think I will crawl into a corner and shake for a while, like a hostage recently rescued from terrorists.

And then, when I recover, I will throw a wild party!

Bah - I can't throw a party in house which looks like this. It's cluttered and toy-strewn and crunchy-floored and dirty-walled and so very very lived in. It must be cleaned.

And so, on my very first day with all the kids off to school, I shall celebrate by going into a mad cleaning frenzy.

But first, I think I have time for a quiet, uninterrupted cup of coffee.

Fri, Sept 8, 2006 (10:00am)

We interupt our regularly scheduled lollyblogging to bring you a public service announcement.

Many of my regular weblog readers are familiar with Boston Pizza on Whyte - one of our local hangouts, and one of the places which has put up with our annoying gamer habits for well over a decade. We've had good servers and bad over the years, but a few of them have stuck with us, and actually seem happy to see us every Thursday. One of those remarkable servers is Julie.

Julie wants her regulars to go to BPs online and fill out a survey. She wants to show her co-workers she has more internet-accessing regulars than they do, and that she can kick their butts in this contest. So, if you have ever been to BPs on Whyte, or know who Julie is, then click the following link and fill out this survey for her. Hey - even if you don't know her, or have never been to BP's, but you intend to maybe go there if you ever get the chance, then you are welcome to fill in the survey with made-up information, so long as you imagine yourself having had a great experience there, and fill out the survey accordingly.

Go to Boston Pizza Guest Satisfaction Survey and use the following information:

Store number: #153
Transaction number: 0200 (or check your actual bill, if you were there)
Date of Visit: 09/07/06

Enjoy!

Sat, Sept 2, 2006 (10:00am)

Lists, today...

First, a list of Reasons why I have not been updating my weblog:
  1. Forums
  2. Mailing Lists
  3. Back to school prep for 3 kids
  4. Cute children (and other hazards of parenthood)
  5. A recent Sims 2 expansion

Things I want to be updating my weblog with, but haven't gotten around to:
  1. A write-up about my Mom arranging a meeting with a drug dealer, in a parking lot. No, really. She did.
  2. A post-GenCon write-up about the Ladies of Hack meeting I went to, with Myke, which I want to conclude with an open invitation to the gamer (and non-gamer) women I know to come over and play HackMaster with me on Fridays.
  3. Cute kid anecdotes
  4. A review of Weiss Kreuz (the anime series I'm currently watching) including the comment that people should only watch the first 15 episodes. Really.
  5. A tidbit about discovering that someone I know sells stuff on eBay as a hobby. This wouldn't come as a shock to most of my friends, I realize, since many of them have dabbled in eBay themselves. However, most of my friends do not have "MD" after their names, nor do they bring in more for a day's work, than a month of eBay sales could net them. But still... it's a hobby.
  6. Another episode of Cooking with the Con-man, wherein the host of our show demonstrates on how to prepare apples for Apple Pie.

- - -

(We interupt these list to bring you a cute kid anecdote. 'Cuz it's short. So there.)

Raven: Kale! I asked you to calm down a bit. Don't you have a MUTE button, kid?

Kalen: Nope!!!

Raven: Okay... how about PAUSE?

Kalen: No, silly. I'm not a dog. I have hands, not paws!

- - -

Many things I intend to do as soon as all my kids are in school for at least 3 hours/day:
  1. Sleep in. Or rather, go back to sleep after getting the kids to school.
  2. Update my web page(s).
  3. Visit various people for morning coffee, including: My Mom, My Auntie Anne, Opa and Oma, Star, Cam, Jen, and several others I've forgotten.
  4. See if I can get back into making Wine.
  5. Take over the Laundry duties again (I actually enjoy doing laundry... but Shades does it right now because I don't have the time).
  6. More sewing!
  7. Read more books.
  8. Answer my backlog of email.
  9. Clean the frakkin' house.
  10. Sleep in some more.

A list of SprayParks I have visited with the kids, over the Summer:

- Kilkenny Spray Park (NorthEast Edmonton)
- Beaumont WaterPlay Park (Beaumont)
- Milwoods Spray Park (Milwoods)

I want to add "Kinsman Spray Park (Sherwood Park)" to the above list, before the Summer is out. Does anyone want to come with me, on Monday, Probably mid-morning-ish?

Last updated goodness-only-knows-when. These are archives, after all.