I'm surrounded by new toys! And I don't know which one to play with first!

My new spindle came a week & half ago.  Guild Wars 2 launded on Friday.  Today, I got my new iPad.

I'm overwhelmed.  Good thing I took two days off to play with everything!

Guild Wars 2 is so amazing!  The GW2 team did a fantastic job.  Everything is so detailed and there's so much to do and explore.  I could see myself playing this game for a very very long time.  There were a few lag issues but it's not enough to bother me or stop me from loving this game.  WoW's Mist of the Pandarians should be coming out in about a month...I don't think I'll be getting that soon.  Sorry, Blizzard, I've jumped ship. 

I finally finished spinning the sample fibre that came with my spindle.  It wasn't a large sample...I'm just that slow.  I actually plyed it back on the spindle as well...something I've never attempted before.  The yarn is really ugly but it's spun and plyed.  That's more than I've ever done on any other spindle!  I've started spinning some fibre from Sweet Georgia and it's going well.  Found the perfect case for it - it's one of those hard shell case you put small cameras in.  Perfectly padded to nestled a spindle and some fibre.  :)

I really had a tough time deciding on whether to get the new iPad or go for the new Asus Transformer.  Both are great but in the end, it was that I had all the apps on my iPod Touch.  Just from a few hours playing on it today, I wondered how I could ever existed without one before!  ALL my photoediting apps work!  I knew my old iPod Touch wasn't capable of running a few of the updates for my apps but I had no idea what I was missing!  Everything downloaded and I was like a kid in a candy store...going through all my apps and thinking WOW! It does that?!

I have to admit that big white screen for drawing is so very daunting.  

Tomorrow is back to work and another hell week.  I really need to win the lottery so I can stay home and play all day long.

SQUEEEE! AND DOUBLE SQUEEEE!!

21 1/2 hrs to the launch of Guild Wars 2!  Normally, I don't get this excited about any games nor do I care if I played the Beta or not.  Usually, I prefer not to play the beta because it ruins the game for me.  You see everything in the imperfect version.  Not much is left when the game actually launches for real.  Guild Wars is so not like that.  The beta was fantastic!  There is so much to do, it's going to take me a very long time to play this game.  It's like everything I didn't like about WoW fixed. Tomorrow, after work, we're going out for dinner.  Then I'm going to plunk myself down in front of the computer and play until my eyeballs fall out.  I can because I'm a grown-up.  :)

Double Squee!!

I'm going to get an iPad!  I'm going to wait until September to see the new release and decide what (and if) I want an iPad.  I've heard rumours that the new iPhone is a bit bigger this release and that might mean the new iPod Touch would be bigger too.  Wasn't sure if I wanted an iPad - too big for me to carry around.  I love the portability of my iPod Touch but really do wish the screen's a bit bigger.  Something bigger than the Touch and smaller than the iPad would be so perfect!  Despite my love for my iPod Touch, I don't want an iPhone.

My concern is that if the iPad is too big, would I use it as much as I use my Touch?

Busted!

2 more sleeps to go!

Note to self:

Staring at the countdown clock will not make the time go any faster.  Friday is going to be hell day...especially the last few hours.  Guild Wars 2 will launch and all will be right in the world. 

Meet Pink Ivory

Is it possible to love an inanimate object?  I love my new Jenkins Lark. It's a tiny Turkish Spindle.  A little thing, weighing in at 27 gms and barely 6" tall. 

I love spindles and while I don't have as many as some people, I do have a few.  I don't spin on them.  I love them for the beauty of the wood and the craftsmanship.  You can tell they're all made with love and a lot of care.  In the hands of a decent spinner, I'm sure they will produce beautiful yarns.  In my hands, not so much.  I just don't have the patience to master this skill.  After a while, I'm frustrated and go back to my wheel, just to prove to myself that Yes, I do know how to spin.  After half an hour, I have this:

Pink Ivory Lark

The spindle is light and very easy to spin.  I love the small size.  I'm already planning a carrying case so I can take it with me.  If there's a spindle out that that would inspire me, it would be this one...until the next shiny thing comes along.  :)


And now for something completely different:  Cheese.  I love fresh cheese.

Fresh goat cheese

I found a place that sold fresh farmer's cheese.  Really yummy stuff.  Then I discovered how easy it was to make your own (recipe found online).  It was one of those "what do you have to lose except a couple of bucks worth of milk?" moment.  Half an hour later, I have cheese.  Rather, I had cheese.  Most of it is gone now.  Great on bagels and crackers.  I would make this again.






Things I'm thankful for:
1.   Very thankful that the Boy and his friends made it to San Francisco with no problems.  Got an email from him that all is well and they've checked in their hotel.  The mom in me will worry until he's home.

2.  Four more sleeps to Guild Wars 2!   Rumour has it that it's going to launch 3 hour early.  That means Friday night at 9pm PST!  Glad I live on the Westcoast.  :)

3.  New spindle toy to keep me occupied for the next couple of days. I'm really looking forward to GW2 launch.  Usually I don't like playing the beta because it's usally kinda wonky and it spoils the game for me.  But there is SO much to this game that I don't think I would be bored with it for a very long time.  It makes WoW blech in comparison.

No Fish

It's been a busy week at work. I also started and finished my painting class this week at the Port Moody Arts Centre. I had so much fun! It was three consecutive nights - Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday. The instructor was hilarious! I've learned something really important - I don't really like working big. We painted a canvas each night - they're really not that big, according to the rest of the class but it was huge for me. They were approximately 10"x12" each. Towards the end, I was just slapping on paint just to cover the darn things! Athough, I really enjoyed the class, I'm not sure it's something I would keep doing...at least maybe not on canvas.

On the second night, we did an underwater painting. Using stock photos to inspire us, we had to create an underwater scene. I won't hurt your eyes with my "masterpiece" but when I got home that night, I worked on a digital version of the painting. I think this one turned out much better than the actual painting.  According to the Sketch Club stats, the digital verson took 3 hours and 43 minutes to do. By the way, the fish are hiding. 

Things I'm thankful for:
1.  It's Friday!  It's been busy as usual but my new saying is "any day you have time to eat lunch is a good day!"  I've been making time to go outside and wander around in the sunshine almost everyday this week.  I love downtown Vancouver in the summer.

2.  My sister.  We did our annual trek last week and visited the Vancouver Aquarium with the kids.  When I say kids, I really mean Young Adults.  This is our 15th Annual Trek!

3.  Hubby.  I love the fact we're an old married couple.  :)

*Sigh* Back to work tomorrow

It's been a great week.  I could use another week off.

A lot of time was spent watching the Summer Olympics.  A lot of time was spent on sketching on Sketch Club. A lot of time was spent on photo editing on my cell phone.  A little bit of time was spent on the beta test for Guild Wars 2.  There was shopping, puppy playing, and the Annual Trek.

I was hoping my new spindle would come in the mail by now but I guess not.  Oh well.  I have another  couple of days booked at the end of August.  I'm looking forward to that.

Thankful for:
1.  A beautfiul week off.  There was a thunder storm one day but it was much needed to cool things down.
2.  I'm thankful that I'm not allergic to sushi.
3.  The kids still wanted to do the Annual Trek this year. 

A state of being

This picture was taken in the spring of this year during a walk along the dike near Colony Farms.  It was a cool and foggy morning, with the light just perfect for photos.  I edited the hell out of this in Sketch Club.  Hahahaha!  Who needs Instagram?!

Friday Was A Super Exceptional Tremendous Great Day!

A good day is a sunny Friday before a long weekend. A great day is that Friday is also the day before a week long vacation. A super day is when your boss says “it’s a long weekend…let’s shut down at noon today.” A super exceptional day is when you just found out that the Monday boots you bought on sale two days ago are now reduced by another $50.00! A super exceptional tremendous great day is when you go back to the store, they give you a store credit for the difference and you see the wizard shoes you also wanted are now marked down even more! And they have the colour you wanted in the size you needed!!
It was a super exceptional tremendous great day! :)

Summer Shower

Thankful for:
1.  We had a very much needed quick summer rain shower.It has cool down the air quite a bit.
2.  A week off!
3.  Washed puppy.