Saturday: Gaming and Spies and Mexican, OH MY!

Saturday began with an early-ish start and our easy-peasy trip to NCSU for the gameday kickoff. Our first game was our friend's Spycraft game. I had played in the first two chapters, and my ass kicking Techie does not disappoint. (I killed the electricity and rerouted the calls to 911 and the electric company from the house to my phone and could answer. It was AWESOME!)

(Our awesome GM....I can not say enough about how great a game this was.)

We then left with a group and went to have some Mexican food. It was good. I am still not sure I got what I ordered, but it was yummy. Not only that, I got to catch up with friends of ours that we very rarely see.

Then, because our afternoon GM had to cancel, my (super talented) husband ran his Repo Man game. Let me tell you, this game is fun. This game had me laughing so hard I couldn't keep the camera straight...

I played a 1980's Las Vegas Stripper (yes, you read that completely right.) who had the IQ of the gum she was chewing. I can't tell you any of the best lines or scenes, because Mr. is running this for a few more conventions/ gamedays in our future.

We all had such great chemistry as a group. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard during a game! Mr. also said that is the most fun he has ever had running a gameday/convention game. It was so much fun!

After the game, we all went over to our Hosts' house and we ate BBQ and drank and played Rockband. Below, Mr. and our friends Rel, Bubba and Mik form a super group for a song.

After it was back to our hotel, where we read and crashed to watch some SNL!

Friday: Party Time!

We slept in Friday morning and then began the 9 hour trek down to NC.

America is gorgeous country. Virginia is especially gorgeous, but I drove that stretch, so no pictures! (YAY 70 MPH speed limit!) But I got to enjoy the foliage! And the many landmarks we look for on the way... such as the CHURCH ON FIRE!!! (Awesomest church name ever!)

Then we got to our hotel...and let me tell you the reception was so great! We were tired but by the time we got done with the rounds of hugs and checking in... I felt revitalized! We got help unpacking, cleaned up and headed down to the little get together that had been going on!


They were smackin' the Kracken... rum that is!

We played tons of catch up, as many of us hadn't seen us since before the wedding, so we got a chance to hang out. By the end we were either buzzed or drunk and things got silly!


The night ended with a trip to the Waffle House and some Cookout burgers. Thus setting the pace for our crappy eating over the course of the next couple of days!

Thursday Night: Away we go!

So Thursday we got home and packed the car. Once we were done saying goodbye to the Nacho Kitten, we were off bound for adventure! I began the trip, mostly due to my knowledge of the Mass Pike Traffic flow!

As such there is only one real photo to share! It comes from our hotel in Jersey, where we stopped to sleep.

Look at what they were hosting:

Vacation was Bliss!

So the Mr. and I went this year to the tri-annual North Carolina Gameday over the weekend and we decided to make a vacation out of it. We left after work on Thursday night and were gone until Wednesday night!

This mini-vaca was not just to North Carolina, but also to our Nation's Capital, Washington DC!

It was awesome! As Kick Buttowsky says, "It was Epic!"

It was also much needed. As Mr. said, he can't remember a gameday with that many great games that everyone loved. We couldn't remember the last time we laughed that hard in a game.

It also reminds me that we should have a retirement community where all we do is play games and crack jokes.

I was trying to figure out how best to deal with the awesomeness of this trip without showing all 300 photos. (Which are available for viewing on Facebook.)

I think I am just going to start at the beginning and pick a couple pictures for each day that tell that day's story!

Starting with the next post!

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

To all the support staff out there... You who get the coffee and call that guy back because your boss doesn't want to talk to them. You who work overtime to make sure your boss looks great at that meeting the next day. You who don't take lunch because you are too busy to leave your desk.

Today is for you!

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

Congratulations Liz and Kennon!!!

A week and a half ago, our friends Liz and Kennon had their little boy Archer! This cute little bundle of joy came into the world and gave his Mommy, Daddy and family (and extended family) a scare. But after a week in NICU, I am happy to report that this bundle of joy is home now! We get to meet him next week when we are traveling home from gameday! (We are very excited about seeing this wonderful family all together in person!)

Congratulations Liz and Kennon!!!

Welcome to the world Archer!!!

Cookies!!!!

Our house smells so good right now as I am working on cookies. They won't be baked until Wednesday night, but even the mixing of the ingredients is an incredible smell!

And the dough tastes as yummy as it smells!

Pax East Day 3: The end of the weekend of fun

There aren't too many pictures today, but that doesn't mean that there was less fun.




We got up and raced to the T station, and got to the convention center shortly after 10. I grabbed the other 6 comic books and then headed on to the Exhibit Hall. The hall was going to be our focus for the day, so we could try some new games, and get demos of others.


Our first stop was to the Civ V demonstration. Mr. went and stood in line for Red Dead Redemption. I waited and chatted with the people behind me. About an hour later, I had a spot at the last demo of the day. I went to wait for Red Dead Redemption with Mr. and after an additional half hour we were in.



While we were waiting for Red Dead Redemption, we saw a happy cooling robot:

Red Dead Redemption was awesome. The authenticity was awesome, the graphics were great and the aim was better than a lot of games out there. Definitely looking forward to that.

We wandered the Exhibit hall, saw the new control-less X-Box and tried a Wii game involving Afro Ninjas. Then we stopped by the 3-d gaming booth. It was incredible! I am in awe of technology sometimes.

After that we grabbed lunch and did a little shopping and we went to a panel called "Save my Game", which was not as good as it could have been. I think it was because any game system that was not the new one was not given a serious answer that they deserved. The sad thing was is that people in the back cheered them on. Seeing as we play Pathfinder now, this may have made the aggravation of their annoying behavior more apparent.

After, we grabbed an SNES in the classic console room and we played a little Mario. Mr. had never played Mario! We both had fun and when the half hour was up, it was time for my demo of Civ V.

It was worth the wait. I am hoping to get my computer fixed enough to actually run the game. And the designers were so excited about it that you couldn't help but be excited too.

When I left the demo, I saw the empty exhibit hall and became sad. Boston, for only 3 days, had become a geek mecha. We met so many new people, connected with the people who create our favorite games, and met up with old friends. Sure it would happen next year, but that was 363 days away.

Mr. was sad to see it end too.

How did we mourn this loss? By getting nachos and burritos at the Cactus Club before taking our swag home to remember the awesomeness that was the first PAX East.

Next up for us... NC Gameday... But more about that later... I have a game to prepare!