pyat

Last night was the first night since last Thursday I didn't attend or host a party. Tonight is sassy_fae's birthday party, tomorrow is commanderteddog's Office Move/Sushifest, and thence into the interminable winter's night of nog, chocolate, meatball buffets, shortbread and overcaffeination that ends sometime in early 2010.


I have photos below the cut of the various events. For those who don't care, have a picture of a sleepy squirrel that I snapped this morning at Gage Park.


Oh, hi!

( Photos of humans! )


And now, back to the squirrels!

Yesterday we went to a family Christmas party for my mother's side of the family. The girls had a lot of fun (as did we), and there was an excess of good food. One of my cousins and his wife have been watching my Youtube videos, and were very flattering about them.

***

Elizabeth has been wanting to play a roleplaying game for some time now. She's been drawing characters - usually princesses with swords - rescuing people from prisons and fighting wizards. She insisted she wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons, though she's also talked about Star Wars and Mouse Guard. I was fretting about systems, and appropriate content for a little girl, etc., but after the Christmas party I decided to just go ahead with it.


_{Complete with homemade bracers.}

I dug out a 1999 fast-play adventure for AD&D. Maybe not the best system to start on, but the fast-play adventures had the advantage of having a range of pre-generated characters. In addition, AD&D really doesn't require much comprehension of rules on the part of the player. They just have to know how to read a die. Everything else can be managed by the DM. Elizabeth did a good job. The game lasted about an hour, and she wanted it to go longer. She realized very quickly that she was helping to tell the story from the perspective of her character.


_{Chrissy finds a door. Theodora regards a dead rat warily.}

Elizabeth took the part of Chrissy, a 2nd level fighter/catperson princess. velvetpage was Theodora, a 2nd level human Magic User. They were friends, walking through the woods to find a wicked goblin who'd stolen a magic ring from a friend of Theodora's. They stumbled across a ruined tower in the woods, and fought a pair of Rodents of Unusual Size in the rubble. Chrissy got bitten in the leg, but fought on. Theodora was bitten twice, but managed to take out the second rat with a magic missile.

They crept down a semi-secret tunnel in the side of the hill. Theodora spotted writing on a door inside the tunnel, and led the way. Foolish mage! She fell down a hole, and had to be fished out by Chrissy. The door was inscribed with the words, "Scriptorium: DO NOT DISTURB THE MONKS." The duo ventured through, and saw a dry, dusty room tracked with footprints. In a dim corner, a cloaked figure hunched over a writing desk. Ignoring the injunction on the door, Theodora wandered over to question the monk, only to find an animated skeleton who attacked her. They were able to smash it into pieces without much effort.

They were now faced with a locked iron door, which Theodora opened with a scroll of "Knock". Inside, they found a water damaged library, and a pair of goblins arguing over a golden ring and a stack of coins. Chrissy asked Theodora to put a magical whammy on them, and Theodora did so, casting a Sleep spell on the thieves.


All in all, a very successful little venture, and Elizabeth has been asking for another game tonight.

(Also, for those wondering, Elizabeth is six years old.)

Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas, which means that yesterday was Sinterklaas Eve. We marked the occasion at my mom and dad's house, with my older sister Krista and her husband Ryan.


There was a lot of Indonesian food - chicken satay, nasi goreng and rice.


And special mugs for the girls.


The holiday figure of Zwarte Piet can be vexing. I think it depends on whether you choose to believe in the "Moorish chimneysweep saved from an unjust death sentence" backstory or the "black-skinned slave used to frighten bad children" backstory.


There were riddles!


And small presents.


Hi, mom! Thanks for hosting!

And, today is another holiday! The Geeksgiving Dinner, which this year is being hosted by wggthegnoll and ruiskafleck.

The funeral for Erin's grandfather was today. It was a large event, and I met dozens of people I've not seen in many years, folks from the church I attended as a child. The ceremony and visitation sparked a lot of thoughts, which I hope eventually to write down in some coherent way.


As the casket was loaded into the hearse, retired and current members of the Canadian Staff Band (Erin's grandfather was a founding member) pounded out the Salvation Army march, Montreal Citadel. Erin's grandfather, uncle, father, and several members of her family played the same march at our wedding, on kazoos.


Tomorrow, of course, is Halloween. This pumpkin isn't going to carve itself.

Today was a busy day, but also one suffused in cool golden sunlight, with friends, family and good, and a lot of brisk walking. This past week has been terribly productive, yet also filled with naps and warm baths and three excellent gaming sessions run for three different groups of friends.

I remain conviced that walking away from my job was the smartest thing I've done this year.

In the morning I took Claire to her gymanstics class and walked back from Ottawa street. We saw a traffic accident and a street market!


This afternoon I took Elizabeth to the birthday party of doc_mystery and mrs_dm's daughter. I hung around with them for a bit, then struck off on a random ramble through the Dundas Valley. Dundas is insulated from Hamilton by geography, and Willet Hill in Dundas is one step further removed. You access it by walking up a steep, curved road.




I admired the fall colour and explored the old cemetary, and the view eastward to Hamilton.







After this was Thanksgiving Dinner at my mother-in-law's, always a warm and pleasant event, with lots of good company and delicious food. I even wrestled with my 3 year old nephew! It is odd to think that I even have a nephew, and will, in a few years, be recognized as the weird old Uncle Pyat.

Go away.




velvetpage made a crackling good fire.

(Posting from a roadside BBQ/gas station/firewood/shower )

I had an unusual treat for lunch today. My parents were in Toronto, dropping an aunt off at the train station, and we managed to get together at the Spaghetti Factory. It's probably been about 25 years since I was there with my folks.


I love my mum and dad. :)


And my dad took this photo of me, because my head contains lead. :)

A very good day! I slept in till 9 AM, and was woken by my daughters jumping on my head. They presented me with a card and a copy of the Tintin comic, The Secret of the Unicorn. Whereupon I spent the next couple of hours playing with the girls.

Around lunchtime we decided, entirely out of the blue, to go to the Metro Toronto Zoo, and then Killman Zoo, and then the African Lion Safari.

So, naturally, we ended up with season passes to Marine Land in Niagara Falls.


As noted by velvetpage in a Twitter message during the Walrus feeding.

( Enter a cool blue world. And meet the Polka King. )


After that, we went for supper at Applebee's in Niagara Falls, and I had an enormous steak. Then a leisurely drive through St. Catherines, and home again.

Best Father's Day I've had, so far. Thank you velvetpage, and Elizabeth and Claire. I love you all very much.

Our Aunt Amy died early this morning, aged 99. Her husband of 77 years, Frank, passed away a few months ago. The funeral is Friday. I'm home today, looking after the girls while my mom takes care of things, but I'll be in the office tomorrow.

This morning Claire was talking about "my big sun," which is a large painting or flat sculpture on the side of a building, en route to Aunt Amy's home. She was wondering where it was, and decided we were too far away to see it. We'll have to drive her that way sometimes, just so she can still see it from time to time.

Elizabeth noted that Aunt Amy, who was missing a finger, could not get manicures. After a pause: "And she can't get pedicures any more either because she's died!"

Amy and Frank were old as long as I've known them. I used to sit beside them and my grandpa every Sunday morning, from the ages of 7 to 17. They had a few acres in the country outside of town, and I always enojoyed visiting. I'll miss them both.

While Elizabeth was in school, Claire and I went down to the beach.


Sand is fun. :)