I Fought a Balrog and the Balrog Won

Lord of the Rings: Online just released a content patch that introduces a huge new raid instance of 9 major bosses, including a Balrog as the last one. "You shall not pass!"

My kinship cleared "The Rift" to the Balrog two nights ago and got our first real shot at the fella last night. I honestly think we did really well to even get to the Balrog part of the fight. It's a mind-bendingly difficult instance that isn't very forgiving of anyone's attention wandering.

Gaquin

That's as close as I can come to spelling it the way it sounds. This is what our B is calling her father, and no, it wasn't just a couple of times. She's saying it repeatedly, and clearly indicating that he is the one she is talking about.

For instance, he came out of the restroom the other day, and she ran over and shouted, "Gaquin!" He was away from the house and she sadly repeated, "Gaquin...Gaquin..." over and over throughout the day until he returned.

She's given him a name. Me? I'm just that lady who's always around, despite the fact that she did spend a long time calling me "Mama". Now I'm too ubiquitous for a name.

We also took a long, exhausting, interesting trip, which I will not jinx by talking about it. More on that as news arrives on our shores.

Screw You, Her Depot

Please observe this news on The Consumerist, that Home Depot is opening a series of stores for all of us poor, unfortunate females who lack the ability to comprehend things like nails or thermostats, or the ability to withstand a moment in front of something so unsightly as a bag of dirt or grass seed. They are calling these stores Her Depot, the store for the poor little ladies who are, of course, all scared by the big, scary hardware store.

Seriously, condescension just drips off of this little venture. Screw you if you think I don't know how to pick out a drill or a belt sander. Screw you if you think we don't possess the ability to pick up these skills if we need them. Home maintenance is something anyone who owns a home should be prepared to noodle their way through, unless you go the handyman route, which is fine too. But don't give me a dumbed-down, less "frightening" store where the little lady can pick out light bulbs without all that lumber in the corner scaring her.

Just screw you.

OMG Peep

So, I already purchased the B's Halloween costume. I got a worn-once, cute as a button bunny costume, complete with built-in head/ears/tail. She already has little white tennis shoes she can wear with it.

Then I saw...well...this.



This is not the B's costume. I just found it. It's $40. Ridiculous. Ludicrous. (want want want want)

Those of you who truly know me know how I love my Peeps. The year I was working my tail off to the lose over 90 pounds, I asked the mister to hide a box of Peeps in the house during Easter season and then serve a single Peep up to me each night. This is how important Peeps are to me. This is also the last year that we will most likely have complete authority over what the B will wear. Next year, she'll have her own preference. She'll want to be a princess or a volleyball or goodness only knows what.

So my dream of a Peeps Halloween costume is likely at an end, as no child would look at that costume and consent to be dressed in it unless they were simply too young to understand that they should scream, "No!" and run away. Sigh.

(There is an adult version of the costume, actually. I suppose next year I could make a deal with the child for us to "dress alike" and then buy both versions. I can dream, right?)

So, Yeah

So, if you read my mister's blog, you'll know by now that we lost his brother, Mike, a couple of weeks ago.

I'd also like to thank everyone who has helped us, and let you know that we are limping through as best as we can. Mike was the first person who seemed to embrace the whole crazy idea of the mister and I getting married four or five months after meeting on the internets, so he really will always hold a special place for me, as well. He never treated me like an outsider, even when it was completely reasonable to be wary of the whole situation.

I had my browser window open to this Create Post page when my sister in law called me to ask me to come over. I had started a post to bitch about some of the women on "The View" not being sure if the Earth was flat or not, because they weren't sure what the Bible had to say on that subject. It seemed really important at the time. At that point, I only had four minutes or so more of blissful ignorance until I pulled up in front of her house and saw the police car. Nothing good ever started with a police car in your driveway. Really, it was rather awful. I hope none of you ever have to drive around a corner to see something like that.

So hug each other and take care of each other and remember not to throw away opportunities to show people that you care about them. You really can blink and find the world has changed around you when you open your eyes again.