Writing

I've done a small amount of writing over the years.  I've come up with a number of picture books, worked on a novel, and have written on this blog (sporadically).  But I had never really done much with them.  One time I tried sending a few of my picture book manuscripts to a publisher, but nothing came of the attempts.

In September, I decided to try something different.  I had come up with an idea for a story about a goldfish who would like to try different things but is ultimately constrained by living in a bowl and being a goldfish.  I created some basic illustrations, put the thing together, and published it on Amazon as a Kindle ebook.  A Goldfish Wish wasn't perfect -- the illustrations were simple and the layout could have been adapted for ebook a better, but I finally had one of my books available to the public!

Once I finished my MLIS classes for the semester a few weeks ago, I took another look at other things I had written.  Two years ago, I wrote a branching story for a library program.  I used it for that program, then set the story aside.  Well, I recently talked to my boss and received permission to use my creations beyond the scope of the library, and published that ebook through Amazon as well.  Alien Abduction from the Library is a fun branching story that works very well as an ebook (though it works better in the Kindle app than on the eReaders themselves).

I don't know if I'll get anything else ready before my classes resume in January, but for now, two of my books are for sale, and it's very, very neat to be able to say that!

Cancun 2014

Amanda and I just returned from my brother's wedding in Cancun.  We had our doubts, but they were quickly washed away by the sun, sand, and salt water.

While we were there, we also took a couple of kissing couple photos.

The first one was taken on the beach next to our resort.

The second one was taken by my brother in front of El Castillo at Chichen Itza.

In short, it was an incredible trip, and a welcome break from work on my master's degree.  Amanda appreciated a week off from work, too!

Starting School Again...

So I started working on my master's degree last week.  For the past few years, when I've discussed it, I've said that I'll have to do the work, but that I didn't think anything on there would be particularly difficult.

I've found that's not entirely true.  The major difference is the amount of time I have.  When I worked on my library technician diploma, I was working at a mill, and my hours were offset from my family's somewhat.  I always had a few hours at home alone to work on things.  But things are different now.  Amanda's schedule and my schedule overlap almost perfectly, so any time I spent on schoolwork is time taken away from spending with her.

I'm sure we'll get into a smooth rhythm once I get used to being in school again, but for the moment, I feel kind of bad about it.  However, nomatter how busy I am with schoolwork, there will always be some time for Mario Kart with Amanda!  (Mario Kart 8 is awesome.)

One Year

Today marks one year since the happiest day of my life -- the day I married Amanda.  The whole wedding process was incredibly stressful, but when I saw her at the end of the aisle, the stress and worry melted away, and I just had to try not to cry.

I'm a very lucky man, and I couldn't have had anyone better to share my life with.

So after supper tonight, Amanda and I took a quick photo together. The wedding clothes aren't there, but the love certainly is.

Weddings, ho!

Amanda and I attended our second wedding in a row this weekend.  This time around, it was friends getting married.  The ceremony and reception were great, and Amanda and I even had her sister volunteer to take a photo of us together!

Amanda looked amazing in her black dress, and I didn't look entirely bad either. :-)

SLP

Amanda and I are finally watching Silver Linings Playbook.  She was interested in the movie back when it was playing in theatres, but we never made it out to see it.  So I placed a hold on the library's copy and we're finally watching it tonight.  Good movie, and my full review can be expressed in five words:

Scott Pilgrim meets American Beauty.

Am Too!

See, Mom? I do update this blog!

(Photo taken at my cousin's wedding reception)

Day Four

Today marked day four.  For the past few nights, Amanda and I have been getting out and about to go for a walk for 45 minutes to an hour after supper.  It doesn't sound like much, but we really fell out of the habit over the winter and have gained weight as a result.  So, four days is a good start, and hopefully tomorrow will be day 5, Sunday day 6, and so on!

New Glasses

Amanda and I recently had our eyes tested. Mine are still fine, and hers haven't changed. But Amanda's glasses were getting old and scratched up, so it was time to order a new pair.

Here is the first official Kissing Couple photo of Amanda in her new glasses:

Garden Carnage

Amanda and I are huge Plants vs. Zombies fans.  So when Garden Warfare came out a few months ago, Amanda was quick to buy it on the way home one night.  We signed up for an Xbox Live Gold account that night, and our lives have been more fun ever since.

After we got back from a really nice walk, we started playing.  We're currently on the couch, trading the controller back and forth, and it's awesome!

Away and Home Again

I returned home from a library conference today.  It was the first time Amanda had been apart for more than a single night (the night before our wedding) since I moved out here.

It was weird.  Even though I had a full king size bed to spread out across, I stayed on just half of it.  When I tried to go to sleep, I had a hard time because it was too quiet.  I missed hearing Amanda's soft breathing.

But I'm home again, and it was wonderful to come home to her!

The Real Birthday

So, Amanda's real birthday ended up kind of disappointing.  Amanda opened her final gift from me this morning, but then it was off to work like any other day.  Then later on we got the news that our nephew is in the hospital with pneumonia.  That put a damper on the day fairly quickly.  He's doing okay now, though he'll be in the hospital a few days longer.

So instead of a birthday party or being taken out for supper, Amanda and I stopped briefly at Arby's on the way home from the hospital.  We like Arby's, but it wasn't much of a birthday celebration.  It made me very glad we celebrated early on Monday!

Another Birthday

Wednesday is Amanda's birthday.  I have to share her on her birthday with her family because it will be Scrabble night, and I won't have time to do much special anyway.  So I decided we'd celebrate a bit early.  I bought Amanda some balloons, cooked one of her favourite meals, let her open two of her gifts early, and baked a cake.

I made a fairly basic cake (I ran out of time after doing a bunch of cleaning/rearranging/running around), and then went to work decorating it.  When Amanda saw it, she commented that she liked the friendly alligator on it.

...My cake decorating skills could use some work.  Also my Yoshi-drawing skills.  Still, I thought it turned out pretty good given how quickly I did it!

Endings and Beginnings

It's spring, and it's time for new beginnings.

I've neglected this blog shamelessly since our wedding.  But when I scrolled through it tonight before coming to bed, it reminded me how much I enjoyed writing it at times.  This doesn't necessarily mean I'll be updating every day, but hopefully I'll update more often than my current one-a-month pace.

So first with the endings.  Today was the final day of business for Wiseowl Toys, my parents' toy store. Back in 2002, my brother and I spent a fair chunk of our Thanksgiving weekend at home helping to apply varnish to the first of the shelves that would hold so many toys for so many years.  It was time to close though.  Nearly twelve years is a long time to work 9+ hour days for six days every week.  In that entire time, the longest break my parents we able to take was five days to come up for our wedding last summer.  It's time for a break.  The people of Williams Lake will be sad, I'm sure, but they had one of the greatest toy stores I've ever seen for nearly twelve years.

In another ending my current boss will be leaving the library at the end of next week.  She's been covering the maternity leave of another staff member, and found a new position she'll be starting shortly.  It's strange though.  My original (and permanent) boss is coming back, but at this point, I've worked for my current boss longer than I've worked for her!

Now for another beginning.  Amanda and I gained weight this winter.  Poor health and a ridiculous amount of snow made it tricky for us to keep active all winter.  But now that the weather is nicer, we're going to turn things around.  We started today by walking to buy groceries (roughly a half hour walk in each direction).  I've got tomorrow off, so I'll try to get out for a lengthy wander (or maybe a swim), and I'm sure we'll get out for a walk tomorrow night.  With a bit of discipline and a little luck, maybe we'll have beach-ready bodies when we go to Tyler and Irina's wedding in November.  I can dream, can't I?

Finally, what would this blog be without a picture?  Amanda and I took this photo together a few weekends ago in a mirror at Bouclair Home.  Amanda is wearing one of my hoodies, but the colour suits her quite well, and I caught her referring to it as her hoodie a few times since then.  But when she looks so cute in it, how can I complain?

Prediction

This has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the blog.  Be forewarned.

I just predicted something to Amanda, and I'd like an official record of my prediction.  I've heard the rumours that we'll learn the mother has died in How I Met Your Mother.

I tend to believe those predictions.  However, I also predict that we'll learn that in "present day" (2030), Barney has also died, and that Robin and Ted are planning their final years together.  The arguments that kept them apart in the past will no longer exist.  Ted will already have had children, and Robin will have travelled the world.  They'll both be in their 50s, and there won't be any reason for them not to be together.

Anyway, that's my silly prediction.

Busy Week Behind Me

Last week was busy.  Between Family Literacy Day, Chinese New Year, and other things, I was hopping for a fair chunk of the week.

But things were also good.  I was able to spend time working on the artwork for the Summer Reading Game scoreboard.  Last year, I used level 1-1 of Super Library Patron, my take-off of Super Mario Bros.  This year I'm making level 1-2, and have updated the visual design to look less like the original Super Mario Bros., and more like Super Mario Bros 3.  It's been fun so far, and I'm hoping the scoreboard will be a hit like last year's was.

Oh, and Amanda and I went to the hockey game last night. The Storm lost in a shoutout, but we enjoyed ourselves, which is all that really matters!

Sunny Saturday

Amanda and I have been out and about all morning enjoying the sun. We agreed that tomorrow (when it's -13) would be better for laundry.

We took this photo downtown while walking.