The highlight of my Geek Week was having my son ask me to play D&D miniatures with him. This week, I also:
* played in the twice-a-month Keep on the Shadowfell campaign. The DM didn't like the standard Skill Challenge system (even with the errata) so we tried out an alternate skill challenge system, Stalker0's Obsidian which can be found in the Enworld forums.
* completed Act I of Diablo 2. Yes, I know, I'm soooo late to the party.
 * started reading Jack Vance’s Dying Earth (which I got through BookMooch).

My son, let's call him Spider-boy, got some book store gift cards for his birthday and the family trooped out to the store earlier in the week. He chose a few books and used his gift cards while I picked up the D&D Miniatures Start Set (using my own money, of course)

We got home and we tore into the package playing with the quick start rules (a one-on-one battle between a Human Fighter and a Yuan-Ti) and then played a few more rounds with the figures in the set.

For last night's game we're used some additional rules over and above the quick play rules but we kept things pretty simple. Spider-boy noted that the miniatures battle game was like Pokemon battles (where you get to assemble your team of critters, send them into battle and pick which powers to use, there are stuns, paralyzes etc). I responded by saying that that was a very sharp observation though Pokemon is more like D&D. That got him thinking.

Before each game, my son picked a battle map and we selected our forces. I had also picked up a few boosters during the week to expand our selection.

For our first game last night, Spider-boy picked the temple ruins in the jungle (or was it a dense forest?). I sent my Hooked Horror against my son's motley team: a Dan Elven Archer and a Grick. Though I promptly dispatched his Grick, my Horror was no match for my son's Battlemaster.

Having felt the thrill of success, Spider-Boy wanted to take on another challenge. This time, in the caverns surrounding a Dwarf Outpost, Spider-boy's Angel of Valor, Dwarf Battlemaster and Elf Warlock took down my bad-guy war band composed of a Drow Spiderguard, a Deathjump Spider and a Tiefling Warlock. My son was keen to use the Angel of Valor's Lightning Strike ability - which electrified and stunned the Drow and Spider. I managed to take down the Angel of Valor but by then it was too late for little band of baddies.

My son even made sound effects and gestured to describe what was going on. Most Excellent! 

And you can't put a price on the expression on his face when I labelled the box of minis: Dad's and Spiderboy's D&D Minis.

sage_mum and the kids flew into town a couple of days ago. I did not see them for nearly 2 months (50 days, to be exact). I can't believe how much the kids, especially my one-year old daughter, have grown. 

When I left my daughter was a toddler; now I feel that we have a little girl. She's sooo precious. I bought her a little dolly as a welcome-to-BC gift. The look on her face as she kissed and hugged the toy baby was priceless.

A few days before the family flew out of Toronto, I spoke to my son (aka Spiderboy) on the phone and asked him how he felt about moving to British Columbia. He said "Ok... I'm just a little bit anxious".  Since he arrived, Spiderboy is enjoying spending time and playing with his older (10 year old) cousin. When we visited my in-laws for a month last summer, my son was very fussy, Spiderboy wouldn't socialize and was being meanl He would wake up in the middle of the night kicking and screaming. I'm glad that my son is more sociable this time around. Spiderboy is so chatty.

I'm really happy that the family is back together. Sanity is restored... for the moment. ;)

We will be renting a townhouse in one of the outlying suburbs of Vancouver. It is a fantastic neighbourhood and the house is within walking distance of the inlet, parks (including the best waterpark in the Lower mainland), amenities like a sports club, pool, etc), grocery store, coffee house and other shops. It is probably a 10 minute walk to the commuter train station plus another 25 minute ride into downtown. That's a 30 minute difference (one way) from my commute now. So I'll be reclaiming back one hour from my day! Hooray for sleeping in! And I get to see my kids earlier in the evening!

I've wanted a Nintendo Wii since last Christmas, but I'm foregoing electronic entertainment in favour of more active things like getting a bike and hitting the trail.

I haven't had much time to socialize but I making a few work-friends. I haven't gone for Friday after work drinks like I used to with the buddies back in Toronto but I attended the monthly work-sponsored social activity at a pub around the corner from the office. (Can you say run-on sentence?). They had a couple of free drinks and door-prizes including a hockey jersey. I didn't win but it was fun. It was a great way to blow off a little steam and get to know the other folks in the company and chitchat about something OTHER than work. I would like to go to the next social event.

To clarify: No. I do not believe that the nBSG saga is REAL. My Spurious Theory must be taken in context; the context being: it is fiction. Not reality.

I can't believe I have to explain myself.

The joys of being married to a non-geek. :)

Today is my 19th day as a British Columbian. I haven't been around these parts for a while. It's not that I don't have anything to say. Quite the contrary - there's quite a lot to tell. I've just been caught up in the whirlwind of mental and physical stresses that comes with moving to a new city and starting a new job.

The first week of work was, needless to say, hectic. The company I now work for is one of the faster paced companies out here. I felt overwhelmed, struggling keep my head above the water and there were times I literally felt out of breath. There were a lot of new people to meet, trying to feel out the specifics of my new job, learning new aspects of the investment industry and learning new technologies.

The stress was wearing down my defenses as earlier this week, I was fighting off a weird kind of cold. It wasn't your usual nose or throat infection. It was more like an ear infection and the passageways from my nose/throat to my ears felt plugged up for a couple of days.

I miss the kids and sage_mum. A lot. Being separated from my family isn't easy. In fact, it can get downright depressing on some days.

The good news is that I am slowly starting to feel better with the move. I get to speak with the wife (and occasionally, the kids) on the phone almost every day so that helps a little. But there's no substitute for proximity.

Work-wise, I felt the second week at my new job went a lot better. I was actually able to accomplish a few things and I'm in the final stages of finishing one of my projects.

I am also learning to live with my in-laws. My original plan saw me staying with my in-laws for a couple of weeks max - just enough time to find my own place to live in while waiting for the family to join me here in Vancouver. One, it's definitely less expensive to stay with my in-laws. The other consideration is that I am hoping that the house sells quickly so the family can fly over here in short order. I wouldn't want to find my own place only to move out a month later.

The house has been up for sale for almost a week and a half. There seems to be a good amount of traffic. Last Monday, our agent held an open house that was exclusive for brokers. The house saw an average of two sets of house hunters every day. It has been a bit stressful for the wife and the kids to be out of the house a lot.

How is British Columbia? It rains a lot. I really ought not to be surprised.

More to follow.

We're making some headway on Goal 1.1 Fix up the house:
Last weekend, sage_mum and I said good-bye to the bright, beautiful saffron walls in our living dining rooms. After some prepping, sanding and priming, we slapped on a brand new coat of "Almond Bisque" paint on the living room.

Spiderboy (my son) asked why we were painting over the walls. sage_mum said the first thing that came to her mind "Because, the orange is too SHOCKING!" which prompted a scowl from me. I wasn't too happy with that response as my son is a serious young man and internalizes a lot of things (gee - I wonder where he inherited that from 8-| ) and he really doesn't understand my wife's sense of humor. Later on, when I asked Spiderboy what he thought of the new color on the walls he said "It's too SHOCKING!"

The wife being the ever efficient, busybody that she is, continued on without my help to paint the dining room.

The office area of the basement is getting really crowded as I packed another eight bankers boxes of books (including three boxes of the kids' books) and some board games. I also admitted to myself that I won't be doing a whole lot of miniatures painting (more info on this brand of geekery will be coming in the next few days) and packed a 3 cubic foot box of the little plastic and metal soldiers.

Here is the last (and certainly not the least) of my Big Three goals for this year.
Big deal #3 Spend more quality time with La Familia.

I guess the key word here is more. Some things I want to do:
3.1 Take the kids on a fishing trip
3.2 Take the kids camping overnight.

Why not do a combo of 3.1 and 3.2 on the same trip?

3.3 Go on a family vacation to one of the following cities: Montreal, Washington D.C., Seattle (or somewhere else along the Pacific coast).

This is already in the works: the initial thought is to visit the wife's relatives around the Washington D.C. area during the week of Victoria Day.

3.4 Treat the wife to a nice date at least once a month, if not a little more often.

Having two small children, it can be difficult to find time to go out for one-on-one dinners and take the wife to see the sights and shop.

3.5 Cook a special meal for the wife.

Chicks dig candle-lit dinners and guys who can cook. It's a cliché because it is true. It’s been a long while since I’ve cooked up a special dinner and maybe I've been because I've been watching a lot of Food TV - go Iron Chef America! The last time I made some basil chicken, the wife was pregnant with out first child. She threw up. I’ll try not to make something as aromatic the next time. :D