Crunchy

Big Brother 8 is finally over. Blah. Back to Meerkat Manor. Blaaaaaah. Danielle is such an annoying little skank.
Anyway, not a lot going on around here other than enjoying baby time and doing a lot of reading. I finished a reading the Hammered series and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a nice fix for my ever growing habit for more modern sci-fi. That isn't to say I won't ever pick up a Heinlein or Bradbury up again because reading those guys is a whole different experience of sci-fi. I've grown so tired of the bad fantasy novels that I had to just try some new stuff. To be honest, I'm just tired of the genre a little. There just doesn't seem to be anything very original, or at least nothing I've found. I've been trying to stay away from books and authors I've already read the past year or two just to force me to read some refreshing (I hope) stuff. It's paid off pretty good so far with some really good stuff. Just to pass on a really great sci-fi trilogy, give The Risen Empire a shot. It's an awesome story that's well told with just enough sci-fi crunchiness to not be too overwhelming to the story. It's gotta be one of my favorites so far other than the whole Revelation Space series. It's a little heavier on the crunchy factor but the whole massing story makes it well worth it as does the characters that he develops. I swear good sci-fi just goes down better and leaves you wanting more. So now I'm stuck without a book to read and all my books in one massive pile that would be downright dangerous to dig through. I reeeeeeaaaally need to get my bookshelves made. Arg. Until then though, I guess I'll just have to make a trip to Half Price books with Marcel and read some more RPG stuff. *sigh*
All this sci-fi on the brain really got me thinking more about that Gamma World game I've been wanting to run. After pouring through the D20 Gamma books though, I couldn't help but notice how much more detail could be added to the game by using GURPS instead. Third edition, of course. I still haven't really decided which system but I'll prolly go with familiar first before I tackle the D20 modern system. Anyway, I'm off for now. All this talk of crunchiness got me cravin a big bowl of cereal. Mmmmmmm...

Early Morning Blog...

So things are beginning to settle down now that we're getting back into a groove again. With me taking Marcel to school during the week I'm up pretty early these days. I usually let Lana and Olivia sleep in and use these few hours to WoW it up. Today I thought I'd blog a little despite the drumming headache.
I think that having us both at home makes all the world of difference with a baby in the house again. With the both of us home taking care of her, everything about her becomes fun. There's no burden of worrying about who's going to work at what time, we nap with her during the day, and she's never without attention from one of us. It's really amazing watching her level of awareness increase with each day. We'll catch her now and then watching tv, or reaching for the butterflies on her bouncy seat. She still sleeps a lot but she does stay awake more and more after eating. She's got such pretty eyes. She'll sit there and just look at ya after she's eaten and it's hypnotizing. You have to wonder what she's thinking about when she stares at you like that especially when she slips off to sleep. She sometimes makes little excited chirps in her sleep and I can't help but wish I knew what she's dreaming about. She's an instant cure for insomnia too. Simply cradle her on chest and wait.
We have been watching a lot of television these days. Meerkat Manor is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows along with the HD Discovery channel. Add to the mix our need for Big Brother 8 and our viewing habits have become oddly voyeuristic when you think about it. Lana refuses to watch IFC with me now thanks to a slew of sad movies.
We've been straying a little bit outside the house more and more. Yesterday Marcel and me took Olivia along for a few errands while Lana stayed home and did a little work on the laptop. She stayed awake for most of the car drive, looking at herself in the rear-facing mirror but then dozed off in the stroller. Marcel and me jammed out to some God Smack, Queen, and Johnny Cash. I thought it would be a little weird with Marcel so much older than her but I've completely flipped on that. There's nothing like watching them together to know how much he loves his baby sister. He's so careful picking her up, we talk all the time about what she might like when she's older, what games he wants to teach her, and how he'll show her all sorts of stuff. He's an amazing kid. I know every parent probably thinks their kid is the best but to be around Marcel is to know you're in the presence of someone who truly cares about everyone around him. Their going to be so good to each other and for each other and I guess that's the greatest thing a parent can hope for. I'm a lucky man.

Hey, a big thanks to everyone. I don't know what I would have done without our friends and family who were there for us every step of the way during Lana's pregnancy. We keep meaning to send out individual thank you's but we've been a little preoccupied. ;)
Hopefully I'll be getting them out in the next week with us getting back to a regular schedule and things going back to normal. Lana's become the incredible shrinking woman. She's lost all her prego weight in a matter of a week. I keep hoping I'll drop the extra fifteen pounds I put on during her pregnancy but I have the feeling I'll have to actually work at it.
Well, I'm off to watch some cartoons. :)

Oh, I've added a few more pictures in the Olivia!(link now defunct) album.