Winds Blow

Glagow
Well, winter has set in it seems, and a bit early too. Storms have been blowing off and on all week. I thought I would be blown off my feet on Thursday. And Tuesday was bitterly cold--with a sweat shirt and my winter coat over it I was still cold! And this is only October! Nevertheless I can't help but find the multicolored leaves and the sky streaked in different shades of gray anything but beautiful. Perhaps an ominous stark beauty at times, but beautiful nonetheless. Watching the storm go by on Thursday was particularly breathtaking, dark gray clouds streaked with the orangy-red of sunset flying past at a brisk pace. And then the clouds opened briefly, allowing a peak at the blue above fading towards twilight before the angry dark clouds closed in again.

International Travel Kitten
So I keep thinking that I'll have to ask for thermals for birthday/Christmas this year. And then I remember: by the time those come around I'll be about ready to head to California. Now if you didn't know about this ahead of time, don't get too excited. I've been hired, after a fashion, so I won't be free to jaunt all over the place visiting. But I'll be in the Bay Area so surely I can arrange a quick visit or two! Or better yet, you can visit me. I'm very exited to be going, but I'm going to miss Ron horribly...though I won't miss the Scottish weather!

The Mysteries of Blood Sugar
I have to say one thing for Scottish winter weather though--I think it may be inadvertently helping with my blood sugar issues. I noticed from the very first winter here that I fell prey to the tendency to pack on a bit extra weight as the cold season closed in and then lost it again when summer finally arrived. Well, it had occurred to me today that I'd only had one real "crash" in weeks...and when I thought about it, I realized that I'd started snacking and grazing more with the onset of cold weather...and thus had a far more steady supply of calories. Now if only I can learn to make a habit of the frequency of eating while keeping the healthfulness and quantities down to something that won't make me balloon out, I'll be all set.

Gaming
Well, I'm GMing (running a role playing game for the non-geeks in the audience) again for the first time since...well, ages. Undergrad...2003 maybe? Anyway, I've run 2 sessions now for my group of 6 players, and I think it's going well. I hadn't intended to have so many players. In fact I hadn't really intended to do this at all, though looking back I think I came prepared to be persuaded. At the start of the school year GUGS holds a couple weeks of "one-offs" for people to try out, and then there comes the day when all the long campaigns start. It wasn't like this in my day, but I think it's a good idea overall...except for the poor souls who can't come that day. Anyway, I made sure Ron and I got there good and early. Then we got word there weren't really enough GMs this year and would we please consider running games? I had brought the Serenity RPG rule book with me which I think shows how much I was secretly considering doing this anyway. So I signed up as a GM telling myself if I got few to no players I could still just cancel it and cheerfully play in another game. Well, I put down I wanted 4-6 players and not only did I have 6 sign up, but 3 more people, including other GMs, said they wished they could play in my game. Now, to be fair, I think this is as much about the system I picked as for me and my wonderful pitch. After all, Serenity and Firefly are awesome.

So yes, now I have an intrepid crew. And they're already in so much trouble. Oh, how easily they fell into my clutches. Muahaha! Plots aside, I am struck once again by the parallels between GMing and teaching, especially a discussion section. I am certainly a more confident GM than I was 6 years ago. And, more impressively, I've kept my energy up for the whole sessions both times, even though I showed up tired and kind of down the second time. I thought my energy would flag far more. I mean, 3+ hours of near-constant talking, and constant thinking and interaction for an introvert?! But so far so good.

High School Reunion
I thought when this day came it would make me feel old. But it doesn't. Maybe I'm numbed by the shock of three pairs of my friends all having babies at about the same time. Reunions just can't stand up to that. Yes, I got the email yesterday that it's time for my 10 year reunion. Unfortunately it's taking place two weeks after I head back to Scotland!! I really had intended to go. I've been looking forward to catching up with a few people in particular. Oh, I know, I know, they might not come either, but chances are at least one of them would!