Me at WBC

World Boardgaming Championships 2007, originally uploaded by Eric E Haas.

See that slightly woman shaped black blob just left of center in the picture above. That's me at WBC. It's not a very good picture. It makes me look like a brunette. You can tell it's me by the shoes and the black lace covered box on the table. The box is actually my purse, but Malloc dubbed it the tardis. It can hold a lot of game supplies and still have room for a lipstick and beer. Also I'm not that fat. I'm wearing a coat. It was effing freezing in that room.

On our way to WBC

We actually got on the road before 11:30 am this morning. We are not morning people, and when on vacation I usually sleep until 10 am. We had two minor set backs that nearly threw us off schedule.

1. Huge pool of water in middle of kitchen floor. Moment of panic that it was a plumbing leak. Relief that it was just spillage from Z trying to set up the cat's water bowl contraption.
2. Z couldn't get her boots on. Told her to just carry them into the car and keep trying while we drove. That somehow did the trick and suddenly she was able to get them on by herself.
   

So we got Z to my mom's in time for her to be taken to her lesson so we didn't have to drive 20 minutes in the opposite direction before starting our trip. No time for tearful goodbyes since I was a bad mother and had forgotten to do Z's hair, so Mama hustled her into the bathroom to do up her braids. And any parent who hasn't once hustled their child into the car with no shoes on and uncombed hair is just plain lying.

I only forgot two things. I remembered them when we hit the PA border, but now I have forgotten what they were. I'm not stupid, just wicked disorganized and tad forgetful.

I used the 7 hour drive to re-read some game rules. I had just finished reviewing all the rules for "Fury of Dracula" from the point of view of playing Dracula, when Al announced that he wanted to try being Dracula. So I gave him a Dracula lesson while he drove. Then I had to start over reviewing the Hunter rules for myself. I also got through "History of the World" and "Warrior Knights." I'm just going to flail through "Warrior Knights" when we play. I know people who can read rules and understand their strategic implications. I'm not one of them.

Tomorrow - peaches and "Fury of Dracula"

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Packing for Vacation

Okay, now I'm just procrastinating. I should be packing and getting the house in order. So far I pulled out the games we are taking and stacked them on the dining room table and made a pile of clothes in the middle of my boudoir. Then I got sidetracked trying to decide which lipstick to pack, and painted my nails. See, this is why I always forget stuff. Al is giving me a hard time about needing to bring 4 pairs of shoes for a 5 day trip and says I can't put any in his suitcase. But I do get points for finding our badge holders. Yay me!

Countdown to WBC

We are hitting the road to PA on Tue. I have to get my act together and get organized. I have packing anxiety. I always forget to pack something important, like prescription meds or a bottle opener. Last year we had to go on a church key hunt. You would think that in a room full of gamers, at least one of them would be able to open a bottle of beer without a church key. I guess none of them were drummers or bass players. After some hunting, we finally found a dollar store that not only carried a wide selection of kitchen utensils, but also sold dice, glass beads, zip lock bags and rubber bands. I picked up some scissors, tape and soap too while we were there. The soap at the hotel was too flowery.

So far the games that I am bringing, subject to change, are:

Fury of Dracula
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Betrayal At House on the Hill
Funny Friends
Villa Paletti
Cosmic Encounter
Fairy Tale
Grave Robbers from Outer Space
HellRail
History of the World
Lord of the Rings
Primordial Soup
RoboRally
Arkham Horror
King Put's copy of Puerto Rico
Rheinlander
Evo

game list updated 07/27 with KP's requests.
game list updated again on 07/27 with Al's requests.


Game Dates:

Wed Night: Fury of Dracula

Fri or Sat: Warrior Knights

WBC

Peter and I finally got our shit together and finalized our plans for WBC. We got our hotel reservations at the Continental, which is directly across the street from the Host. Al and I stayed there last year, and it was great - dark quiet room with a king size bed and a refridgerator, and free breakfast. Peter stayed at the Host last year and was pretty miserable with the noise from the convention, plus no free breakfast. So we get Continental reservations on the phone, and both of us make our reservations. The lady was amazing. Despite our total spaziness, and our needing to reserve two different rooms, with different bed configurations, on two different credit cards, and our passing the phone back and forth, she was able to keep it all straight.

Our final plan is that we will all meet up at Peter's house on Wed. night for a game of Fury of Dracula. If Strider isn't in town, Peter is going to ask a friend to join us so we will have a fifth player. We'll spend the night at Peter's and head to Lancaster on Thursday, which is only about an hour away. Brenda will join us on Friday or Saturday. We will all drive up to CT on Sunday.