Saturday, March 26, 2011

Almost another new month!

Well, it's been a bit since I posted. Nothing too exciting has happened, I'm over WoW completely at this point. A friend of mine did talk me into trying Rift though, but after less than a week playing I figured out that it's just the same thing. I'm trying to adjust to having a free life, where I don't have to wake up every day and log onto xyz video game at some point. Since I don't work, MMOs were what gave me structure and it's hard to figure out what to do with my life when that's gone, as sad as that sounds. The rational person would be like well go get a job! I probably should, but for many reasons I probably won't. Reason 1: I have a phobia of driving. I think a lot of this developed when my grandfather helped teach me to drive and would yell at me every time I made a mistake. I can get through it when I absolutely have to, but it scares the crap out of me. Reason 2: I hate working. Not because I'm lazy or don't want to do something with my life, but it makes me feel trapped. Reason 3: My husband doesn't want me to. We want to have a child in a few years, and we both want me to be a stay at home mother (we both were raised by rather absent parents). Those may not sound like good reasons to some people, but... It's not like I haven't worked before, for a short while I was the one working while my husband was struggling to find work. That's part of the reason I want to become a writer, because it's something I could do mainly at home. Having a crazy love of books and not being the worst writer in the world doesn't hurt either :-P

When I was younger (12 or so) I had so many ideas for stories, some of them were so strong that to this day I still remember them in vivid detail. I've started so many books only to stop working on them. I think my problem is that I'm afraid I'll finish one and it won't be any good. Typing that makes me feel silly though, because if I don't even finish one I lose by default. A nonexistent book can never be good! I've always been a perfectionist though, failing at something is one of the worst things for me! I really need to just buckle down and work on it, good or bad. I can always fix it and improve it with time!

It's been a busy month on top of all of that going on inside my head. Jake's parents came to visit for a weekend, and ended up putting up a new shed for us. Our old one was pretty much junk when we moved in. This was at the beginning of the month, and we still haven't been able to paint or caulk the darn thing! It's been raining and snowing almost nonstop since. This week our washing machine finally died, so tomorrow we get to go pick out a new one. I bought an exercise bike to use indoors when I can't go outside and I've been trying to get back in shape. My goal is to use it everyday for at least a mile, and work up from there. It's embarrassing but I gained a bunch of weight when I started playing WoW. Sitting at your computer and not moving tends to do that to you :-P I've already lost 40 lbs before even quitting though, so it's just time to keep going and lose the rest! I'm going to write the other reason I've been MIA in another blog as it's a super long story. But I'm still alive!

7 comments:

  1. O M G....*LEAPS ON HEATHER FOR A HUG*
    You are so much like me it's hilarious!!
    I have a driver's license. But do you know when I got it? Age 35. I was TERRIFIED to drive all my life because of my father's insane driving. Also I have always been afraid to use a stick shift and my family was always, "automatics are for losers!". Oddly enough, my driver's trainingclass in high school didn't show up on my class schedule and I know I was enrolled in the class all semester! I took the driver's ed class but only found out about the training class at the end of my last semester in high school. It was actually a relief to me because I didn't want to drive anyway!

    After a few years of being pressured by my family, I paid for a driving course and got this greasy-haired jerk who asked me on a date after the first session--um...NO THANKS! I got some practice but no confidence and I didn't sign up for another course after the three sessions were over. As far as I was concerned, I'd rather WALK!

    Whenever I went on dates, I would be picked up. Boyfriends always drove and accepted my feelings on the matter or kept silent. My ex of 10 years and I decided to try to teach me to drive, but after a few attempts of me being freaked out and him getting angry with me, we dropped it.

    When I broke up with my ex, I realized that I *MUST* learn to drive. I met my husband and together, we picked out a car that felt comfortable for me--a blue Ford Focus--and he taught me how to drive without making me feel like a loser. I gained confidence and learned how to park and do 3-point turns and deal with freeway traffic and the whole nine yards...and finally, I took the DREADED driving test...and I passed with flying colors!!! :D

    Even though I have a drivers license, I rarely drive. Only when I absolutely must, because I really don't like it. I'm a good driver though, which makes me feel good. Steve makes me drive every six months or so because it really is important that I keep my skills up.

    Anyway, I have more comments to make about your post but, lol...I just wrote a book already on one part, so I'll make more comments later!

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  2. Re: RIFT
    I've seen ads for that all over the place and was curious--not enough that I'd want to play, but I was happy to see your comments about it, as it confirmed what I figured: WoW clone/wannabe.

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  3. Working vs. Not Working: You know, sometimes I wish I didn't have to work because at those times I just feel like fooling around all day long. But on the other hand, working can give you a sense of purpose and can be quite liberating as well. For you, I might suggest that you do have a job after all! Your current job is being a wife and home keeper. That's quite a job in itself if you are putting in the effort. Your upcoming job will be to add "MOM" to your current position, and that will be more than enough!

    In my opinion, I believe that one parent SHOULD stay home to care and raise their child or children. What a HUGE job! When I was much younger, I thought parents should both work, but once I got some perspective, I realized that isn't the best idea. Now I feel that kids raised with a stay-at-home parent who is present and guiding them in healthy ways gives them a better chance to succeed in life.

    Oh, and I used to think it was really cool when I heard about parents and kids playing WoW together. OMG...WHAT A BAD IDEA!!! That's like handing a crack pipe to them and telling them it's fine!

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  4. Oh man, your driving horror stories sound worse than mine! It's great that you eventually learned though, it's important to know how even if you don't ever really use it. Ugh, it's creepy that the instructor hit on you though, talk about unprofessional. I'm also pretty good at driving surprisingly, not so great at parking but! The day of my driving test I couldn't find the slip of paper for the class that everyone in NY has to take to get their license. I was freaking out and bawling, but I had one more lesson before my test and the people I took lessons with were the same people that I took the class with, so they called the teacher in and he wrote me a new slip. I was so grateful, but it just added to all the stress about driving!

    Rift isn't a bad game to be honest, it's actually a lot better than WoW community wise. People seem to be a lot older (than 12 :-P). I seem to be able to play it a lot more casually than WoW so I may end up playing it semi-casually. Partly because they have a necromancer class that my husband is in love with >.> It's not WoW, but it makes me realize that WoW isn't even a game that's worth playing anymore, and that helps me not miss it at all.

    I think there should be one stay at home parent too, if they can afford it. I know some people can't, and that doesn't mean they won't do a good job raising their children; but I'd prefer to be there. I totally agree about the kids and parents playing WoW or any MMORPG together being a bad idea. They can be played in moderation but they make it far too easy to play too much and neglect your other responsibilities. It's incredibly irresponsible to tell your child it's ok to get lost in a fantasy world for 5+ hours a day!

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  5. Nice ending to your driving test story, how nice that you were able to get a new copy of the required documentation.

    Good to hear that Rift isn't pulling at you very much....oooooh, a necromancer! I wanted to get my warlock, Puppetmaster, from 61 up to 85 and deck her to the gills because it's such a fun class...but geez...when you play WoW to the level that Steve and I did, we weren't satisfied unless our characters were dressed to the nines and got to do everything and I didn't HAVE 25 hours a day, last time I checked! It also didn't help that I really enjoyed learning to play ALL of the classes. What a time sink. Yoiks.

    Interesting...you think Rift is a better game? Or is it better because it's different and different is good?

    /agree on the WoW + kids bit. Absolute insanity.

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  6. I don't know if I'd say it's a better game. It's kind of early to say, it's hard to compare any game to what WoW was because it had the time to get established. But I do know that I have been having more fun in Rift than I had in WoW. What is nice is that there are basically four classes, because each role can have 8 souls which are sort of like talent trees. So for example the rogue can be a hunter like class, or like the rogue class in WoW. You start off picking three souls in the starting area, then later you can pick up the other ones and respec to the new ones. So there's a lot more freedom in that sense. People like to say it's like WoW, but I don't think it's really fair to the game. It has a similar UI and it does have dungeons and battlegrounds, but any modern game does. But hands down my favorite thing in the game is the artifact system. There are little shiny things on the ground that you find and pick up, then you place them in sets (some can go into more than one set). They're not terribly uncommon but you do have to keep an eye out for them and some of them are tricky to get to. When you complete a set you get a token which lets you get a mini pet or a few other vanity things. I like cutsey stuff like that :)

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  7. Oh boy, Rift does sound like a lot of fun! :) Just what I don't need! And I was a total pet/mount/achievement junkie!

    Beware Heather...Rift sounds like it has the potential to suck you in. Not yet maybe...but give it time. Remember, you didn't get sucked in right away to WoW. It took time to get a grasp on you. Not trying to be a doom-seeker here, just a gentle reminder to be careful. MMO's are our alcohol/heroin/crack.

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