It's been a while!

If anyone is still out there reading this, thanks for sticking around!

It's been crazy for me the past week or so. I'm covering some vacations at work, so my hours have been all over the place. Still, I have some resolution to my guild problem. After trading messages back and forth with my class leader, I decided to transfer Asara. So if you're looking for her, she is now named Caelatria over on Cenarion Circle. I did make another Asara on Malfurion, just to keep the name in case I ever decide to go back. Or who knows, when Cataclysm hits, I might re-level her through the new quests. I even made her look like she used to before the barber shop came out, so it will be like completely starting over.

So far, I'm happy I made the move. The new guild is lots of fun, and very supportive. She's already been to 10-man Ulduar with them, as well as plenty of heroics. Believe it or not, they roll on loot in raids, no DKP to worry about, they just go and do what they can do. I like it. She's been busier in the past two days on Cenarion Circle than she has in the past two months on Malfurion.

The only sad note is that I got absolutely no response from my guild master about any of it. I have told him multiple times in the past that he's the main reason I stayed at all, and he had nothing to say. It's like he and my class leader have switched personalities. Over the years, my CL has been very quiet. He hardly ever spoke, even in chat, except to do MD assignments or something, unless directly addressed. My guild leader and I had a very open friendship, always joking with each other and whatnot. Now my GL is silent, and I've talked more with my CL over the past week or two than I have in the entire time I've been in the guild.

There have actually been quite a few people leaving in the past week. My CL is quitting the game entirely, that was a big shock. I had been teasing him recently about how he never named his pets, so I asked him that before he quit, he name one of them and send me a screenshot for proof. Which he did, lol!

That's about all the news for now, just life as usual at home, though Andy is getting ready for first grade! We just got a list of what he'll need in the way of school supplies last week, which was kind of a bummer. I really like the curriculum and whatnot of the school he attends, but sometimes they seem like they're a bit behind the ball, especially when it comes to communicating with us. I mean, Meijer has had school supplies out for weeks, so of course by the time we get there to pick up his stuff, a lot of the things he needs are out of stock, or there are only a few left to choose from. We didn't even know when his first day was until hubby called last Monday.

Ah well, we'll get him situated soon enough.

I might be done.

Yesterday I was involved in some drama on Asara's guild forum. It really drove home to me that this isn't the guild I joined any more. SI has evolved into a hardcore progression guild. The people who are active in it now have little time for fun, and even less time for some random casual friend of the guild leader who used to be a staunch raider.

This morning I sent a message to my guild leader and my class leader asking for their input. I'm not having fun in the guild any more, I think maybe it's time I moved on. I've agonized over this for long enough, I need to just make a decision and get it over with. I'm losing sleep now over all this, and that needs to stop. I'm guessing that at this point my guild leader is probably just tired of listening to me whine and will be glad to see me go.

I just want to play and have fun, is that so much to ask?

WoW I've got things on my mind...

I'm not sure what to talk about first! I guess I'll just start typing and hope that I get where I'm going in the end. Be prepared for a long post! :)

Yesterday when I got home, hubby was working on some Loremaster quests on his druid. So I hopped on Asara and started working on quests in the Draenei starting area, trying to get to Exalted with Exodar. While I was doing that, people were actually talking in guild chat, and I chimed in a few times. Mostly goofing around, which felt good, as I've been very out of the loop with the guild lately.

After a while, hubby asked if I would come tank a couple of heroics on Saraabi. We recently left the small family guild that we'd joined for a much larger and more active one, in hopes that we'd be able to run more instances and stuff. He'd gotten three DPS from the guild, and just needed a tank. I was a bit loath to leave Asara, because I finally felt like I was clicking with people again, plus I was (mostly) having a good time running around pwning the heck out of low-level quests.

I finally decided to go, but only for a couple of heroics. I was tired, and tanking requires quite a bit of concentration, I didn't want to let the group down too much because my attention was wandering. So we decided to run Utgarde Keep and Utgarde Pinnacle, since they're very close together, and I'm comfortable with both, having run them before. We got an achievement in Utgarde Keep for not letting the first boss cast Ice Block on anyone, and quite a few people said grats and good job. I hadn't even realized that he hadn't cast one! The rest of the instance went quickly, and the end boss dropped plate pants that I already have, and a lovely tanking ring that I didn't have, but won.

So we moved on to Utgarde Pinnacle. Had some trouble getting in (stupid instance servers), but finally made it. Things went well, we lost the rogue on Svala Sorrowgrave for some reason, but that was it. No problems on the other bosses, including the end boss, who was nice enough to drop a Red Sword of Courage for me. So as much as I protested going in the first place, in the end I was really glad that I had gone. Plus the group of DPS-ers we ran with was super friendly and nice. They were all already friends, but they tried really hard to include us. There are a lot of people in the guild like that, actually. They'll grats people for the silliest things, like catching 500 fish. But you don't get an achievement in this guild when people are on and not see a bunch of green text congratulating you for it.

After UP, I went back to Asara for a little while before actually going to bed. I was sooo close to Exalted with Exodar, I felt that a couple more quests would probably do the job. Guild chat was a lot quieter because most everyone was in Ulduar. About a half an hour later, ping! Asara has earned the Achievement "Ambassador of the Alliance"! Woo! And.. one person said grats in guild chat. One. Person. Not even one of the people I'd consider a good friend, either.

See the contrast? It really bothers me that people I've been playing with for almost my entire WoW career can't be bothered to take two seconds to type /g grats! because they're so busy with their "srs bsns" raid and people I've been playing with for less than a week do so as a matter of course, regardless of what they themselves are doing at the time. They could have a macro to do it, but the point is, they do it.

Asara's guild used to be like that. I mean, there weren't achievements or anything back then, but the environment was much more friendly than it is now. There was an effort made by the officers to include people, there were social events, everyone just seemed a lot closer. Things have changed quite a bit since those days. Maybe they don't do those things any more because the majority of the guild doesn't want them. Maybe the majority of the guild is only there for raiding now, I can't really tell. There are a lot of newer people, most of whom were recruited to raid, so I guess that might be true.

It kind of hurts, to feel like such an outsider among people I've known for such a long time. Having Saraabi in this new guild is just illuminating the differences more and more clearly. This feeling isn't new, in fact I've talked about it with Asara's guild leader once before. His solution was to wait things out until I can raid again, because then I'll be included in raid chat and people can get to know me better. So that's.. maybe in a couple of months. Maybe never.

They only raid on nights when I have to work the next day, and I don't think I'm comfortable with that any more. Plus they outgear me so much, I'd likely be waitlisted even if I did sign up for a raid anyway. Saraabi and Lumae's new guild, though, they've already invited us to 10-man Ulduar. Someone asked me about it the other day, and I said I'd have to see, because we're 3 hours ahead of server time. But she said they raid it on Friday and Saturday nights. I'm tempted. I really am. I'd have to go as DPS, so I'd have to work on Saraabi's Ret spec, but I think it would be fun to go.

We'll see.

Many Many Accomplishments!

Phew, it's been a very interesting evening. After I got home from work, the heroic instance bug bit the hubby pretty hard. So we hit up Heroic Violet Hold and kicked its tail, with a couple of interesting moments due to encountering a couple of bosses I'd never tanked before. No wipes, though hubby died once and almost couldn't get back into the instance!

Once that was done, we got a group together for Heroic Utgarde Keep, which was the daily. Again, we rocked the kasbah, finishing up the entire instance before my buffs ran out! Since we were doing so well, we headed up to Utgarde Pinnacle, and wiped that place clean as well. No drake, but also no deaths.

Hubby and I were on a roll, so after dinner I decided it was time to conquer my fear of the timed run of Heroic Culling of Stratholme. We grabbed some DPS and headed out. It was messy, but we got through the first two bosses and headed for the inn. We destroyed the dragons in there, and moved on to the part that made me the most nervous... the gauntlet. With about 8 minutes left. I have to say that I could not have managed it without hubby here. He was my cheerleader and my hero. I kept asking him, am I doing ok? And he'd say yep, you're doing fine, just keep pushing through, as long as I'm at half mana or so I can keep up.

And suddenly, we were through it. With six minutes left on the timer, we rushed the boss, and took him out! Mal'ganis was basically an afterthought, I tanked with one hand and cleansed sleep with the other, and he was a goner. And at the end of it all...

Kidlet Cuteness

On the way to Andy's friend's birthday party on Saturday, we were talking about rain and storms and stuff, and the following gem came out of the back seat.

"One time when Aunt Beth was outside cigaretting, I went with her and splashed in the puddles in the driveway!"

Hubby said.. "I never knew cigarette was a verb!"

Skatchamagowza.

What a night!

 

I think I woke up five times last night, both from thunder and from my kids' reactions to it. Andy came in the bedroom scared once, Emily didn't seem to be fazed by it, or if she was, she stayed in bed anyway. I wish it had knocked out the power, so I could have gotten some extra sleep!

 

We had quite the busy weekend. My cousin Sara just graduated from high school, and had her graduation party on Saturday at my uncle's house. We met up with my parents and my brother and his wife and daughter there. The kids went home with Papa and Grammie, and as everyone knows now, hubby and I headed out to the bar and had a totally awesome time.

 

The next morning, I picked up Andy from my parents' house, because one of his friends from school was having a birthday party that afternoon. Emily stayed there, because my parents were taking everyone to the beach. Andy had a good time at the birthday party, because it was at Chuck E. Cheese! He won quite a few tickets, and played several games. Afterward we took him out to the movie theater to see G-Force. We arrived just in time to catch the 3-D version, and he really liked it. Hubby thought maybe we should have taken him to see GI Joe instead, but I think we made the right choice for him. It didn't impress me much one way or another, there were a few funny moments, and I was totally surprised by the true identity of Mr. Yanshu. Other than that, it seemed to be a standard kids movie.

 

Last night after the kids went to bed, hubby and I watched the second episode of Defying Gravity. I really liked the premiere, but now I'm not so sure how I feel about it. It felt like they said a lot without really saying anything, most of the episode was focused on the little HALO patches that were developed to keep sexual tension at bay between astronauts during long missions. I'll probably watch a couple more episodes over the next two weeks, just to see where it's going, and if all the setup they're doing with the plot is actually worth it when they reveal just what the heck is happening.

 

I think tonight I'm going to bed early.. I need to catch up on some rest!

drunken posting is FUN

So we just got back from the bar and I am having a very difficult time writing properly 'cause I had like half of a bottle of wine at dinner, and then some Captain and coke and then shared some pitchers of beer with hubby. We went to Olive Garden for dinner, which is where I had the wine, and the steak crostado or whatever, which wasn't as tasty as I thought it would be. Definitely not nearly as good as the mezzaluna we had last time, so it won't be getting a WoW character named after it.

After dinner we went to the Shamrock, where I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were having karaoke. I sang the Time Warp, and also um.... Everybody's Fool by Evanescence, and What's Up? by Four Non Blondes, and Everything About You by Ugly Kid Joe, and Broken Wing by Martina McBride. The best part was when I was singing What's Up, because I was pretty tipsy, and I was really getting into the song. People in the audience were waving lighters around, and then they put those away and started waving their glowy cell phones in the air. I felt pretty cool.

Now I gotta go, hubby's waiting for me in the bedroom. (wink wink)

BYE BLOG PEOPLE!

(this post brought to you by hubby's laptop's backspace key, without which this post owuld olook more like this I swear honest. I thin i hit it more than an y other key on his keyboard while tyinpg this.)

This is madness!

Two posts in one day!

*hands out brown paper bags to those who may find themselves hyperventilating*

No, really, I just have some things to think about with regard to my pet situation in-game, and I'd like to write about them here and see if I can't coax a couple more of you lurky-type people out to help me with this whole thing.

The Problem:

3.2 is here, and brought with it a new Spirit Beast. He is blue and sparkly, and, well.. new. Which makes him very want-able for me. That whole SHINY thing.

The Arguments:

He's rare, just like the other ones, so not a lot of people will have one. I'm guessing Beast Mastery is still going to be the redheaded stepchild of the Hunter Spec family for a while, which cuts down even farther on how many people will actually be out there looking to tame him.

He's a Spirit Beast, and not a cat, which adds to the whole "different" feel.

He's a Spirit Beast, and my stables already hold the other two. He would totally be a "vanity" pet, because he uses the same skills as the other two. Plus he wouldn't see raids or instances unless somewhere down the line the whole pet family gets a buff. Devilsaur is still topping the charts as Best DPS Exotic, so Chompy will always be by my side when I go through an instance portal.

(side note: I totally don't get the people going all OMFG WTF about the set of skills this guy has. Yeah, he's not a cat MODEL, and he has Prowl. So what? If you've quested in Hinterlands, plenty of stealthy wolves out there. Plus, the pet family name is totally Spirit BEAST not Spirit Cat or Spirit Wolf, so none of the Claw/Bite arguments hold water for me either. The pet family has these skills. Blizzard chose to give the first two examples of this family cat models. So what.)

In order to tame him, I have to give up someone who's been there for quite a while. Let's go through the choices, shall we?

Chompy the Devilsaur: Not happening. See above comment re. Best DPS Exotic pet. Also my only level 80 pet at the moment.

Beauregarde the Chimera: Probably candidate #1 for replacement, except for the fact that I spent four days camping the silly thing because it was purple and gorgeous. Has not been out of my stables for more than showing off in ages. Still level 75. Rare, but I could possibly camp him again and re-tame him should I change my mind later.

Leshya the Grimtotem Spirit Guide: Also not happening. This guy is totally not replaceable AT ALL since Blizzard hotfixed the mechanic that allowed him to be tamed in the first place. Still level 75, but also a regular wolf, and the only pet available to me should I ever spec out of Beast Mastery.

Sidhe the Spirit Beast: Loque'nahak. The first Spirit Beast I tamed, and totally a fluke that I even managed to get him in the first place. I blogged about taming him, and personally, I think that story is one of the best things I've ever written. Rare, but again, re-tameable. Level 78, because I was working on leveling him when the patch containing Gondria came out. To release him would feel like a bit of a waste, as he counts for the rare-killing achievement, and if I'm not going to have him as a pet I may as well have killed him instead of taming him.

Zingarnor the Spirit Beast: Gondria. Currently level 79, and of the two cat models, my personal favorite. He was relatively easy to find, but his name has some history, and I couldn't transfer it to the new wolf because the first Zingarnor was a cat, and it just wouldn't feel right.

The Plea:

I can't decide this on my own. I've got a problem with doing things on impulse, and should I happen to fly over this guy before I've totally decided one way or the other, it would be extremely difficult for me to resist releasing the chimera and taming him. Advice pleeeease??!

Zergfest is GO!

Last night I was spodding around on Asara, doing the cooking daily and whatnot, and also buying a Tome of Cold-Weather Flying for Mezzaluna. (Flying on a carpet is awesome, by the way, even if it is one of the slow ones.) Hubby was on his druid over on Cenarion Circle, and someone was putting together a group for Karazhan in Trade. So I hopped over to Saraabi and we joined up. It was the most interesting group I'd ever seen. Six paladins, two warriors, a hunter, and hubby's druid. Four of the paladins were ret, one was holy, and Saraabi, of course, is prot. We lost the holy pally before we even got started, so hubby was left to heal the whole thing himself. The hunter told me I was going to be MT, because nobody else was volunteering. Not to mention half of the group was 70, and the other half was 80, nothing in-between.

So we get there, and start getting the group together, and one of the paladins starts pulling trash, before everyone was even in. It set the tone for the whole thing. I was off-balance from the start, considering I was told I'd be tanking, and this other paladin hardly let me have threat. He was in Ulduar gear, and I'm barely geared for heroics, so whatever. I just kind of wandered around after them all, because they were pulling faster than I'd ever seen. We did the whole instance that way. The only boss I actually tanked was Moroes, and that was just because one of the warriors charged one of the trash packs next to his table and pulled them, so I taunted him off.

I was very proud of hubby, he kept up like a trooper. We destroyed all of the bosses up to Prince. By the time we got up there, we'd lost another paladin, and the hunter was dc'ed. She'd started having connection problems after Curator, and never really got back in. I felt bad, since she had been the one to put the group together. So we get to Prince. Seven melee DPS and hubby healing. The first attempt didn't go well. Some of the group didn't know the mechanics, and so a lot of them died on the first Shadow Nova. I knew what was going on, but having only done the fight as ranged DPS, and that having been almost a year ago, I had some trouble adjusting to running out on enfeeble. It didn't help that DBM didn't load anything for any of the bosses.

After the first wipe, the 80 ret paladin that had been leading the charge never released. He got rezzed four or five times, but never came back. So there were five of us. The second try went as well as the first, but the third try.. that was pretty awesome. I got hit with the first shadow nova, but hubby rezzed me, because I was right next to him. Lived through one more, and got hit with a second. The other paladin had gone down as well, so it was down to hubby and the two 70 warriors. One was tanking, the other was DPS. They dragged Prince all over the place, before the non-tank warrior went down. Hubby was totally on top of his game, healing when needed, and popping out of tree to drop a Moonfire and a couple of Wraths on whenever he could. And, amazingly, the two of them managed to get him down. Hubby finally fell at the end, but the warrior blew all of his cooldowns, and down went Prince. Very impressive to watch. The warrior's helm token dropped as well, Prince's nod to a fight well fought, I suppose. :)

We spent the rest of the night watching TV, an episode of Heroes and one of Leverage.

And now it's Friday, and I can't wait to get the weekend going! This work day can't end fast enough. See you all on the other side!

I prefer "unique"

Hubby and I recently signed up for Netflix, not sure if I mentioned that before or not. (Hey, when you only post once or twice a week, you forget things, OKAY? GOSH.)

He picked out some random movies for our initial queue, and I started thinking about ones I'd like to see, that we could intersperse in the existing list, so we could maybe alternate between movies I wanted and movies he wanted. This morning I sent him the following list.

The Swan
Casablanca
Saw
Brave Little Toaster
Armageddon
Breakfast at Tiffany's

The email I got back said simply:

"The Brave Little Toaster?? Really?!?
Only you, honey.."

And that's the way I like it. :)