OK, so I forgot to post this Monday morning and a bit has happened between the time I wrote it and now. As a result I'm going to start with the latest news and then pick up with what I had written last week.
To begin with, my Aunt Dianne passed away this week. In point of fact, she passed away very suddenly last Sunday. She was feeling bad in the morning, so she called a neighbor who works with EMS. Shortly after that they called an ambulance and rushed her to the hospital. She died about an hour later with heart issues. It certainly underlines the fact that we're not promised tomorrow. Either way, the funeral was this past Wednesday and it was a lovely service. Dad did the eulogy and he did a really great job. He honestly is a very remarkable man in a lot of ways :)
In more lighthearted news, we went over to the Middleton's for dinner this past Tuesday. We really enjoyed it and the children had a great time. Craig is the preacher at the Aiken Church of Christ (Something about me attracts preachers. Had you noticed Josian?) and Kelsey loves children. So Craig and I can talk Bible and Rachel and Kelsey can talk babies. We're planning to hang out a bit more soon. Neither of them has every fired a gun. I hope to help them correct that some time next week, lol.
Anyways, this is what I had before other things came up: There are many times in life when we can see what we want just over the horizon. I've been very blessed because I've not only been able to see a brighter future just over the next hill, but I've marched along in a pretty bright present in the mean time. I happen to be in one of those times right now. Things are good for me at the moment. My wife, my children, and I are all in good health. We're all together and happy. And it looks like there are even better times ahead. :)
It's been almost nine months since we came back to the US and that means it's only seven months before we plan to head back to Dominica. This time I'm hoping to have a good bit more money. I love that little island, but I also love sleeping in the cool. I want to ship some A/C window units down there before we go back, lol. I also want to make sure we get a washing machine and dryer lined up before we get there this time. We go through a lot of clothes when it's just us and our kids, add in Mom and Dad E. and whatever other guests visit while we're down there and it's basically a mountain of dirty laundry each week. Rachel generally washes a few loads a day. Not having a washing machine is just no fun.
I also think I want to look into getting a car or bus or whatever we would call it. Brother Freddy is happy to give us a ride wherever we want to go whenever he can, but his work schedule can be crazy. I want to be able to hop in the car and go without having to worry about whether or not we're getting brother Freddy up after only three hours of sleep, lol. Plus I can leave the bus with Dilian when we're not down there and he can use it as a Church bus, which would probably help the Scotts Head congregation. Either way, all things considered it's worth our getting a car for down there even if we're only going to be there three months out of the year.
And here are some pictures:
In other “count down” news, Lord willing Worlds of Magic will be in “Early Access” by October. I may have explained before, but in case I didn't, early access is where you start selling a not-quite-finished game on Steam. It allows you to generate a little money and helps bring in testers for the final polish. So, I'm hoping to be able to get a check by early November. That would be a real blessing because we really need it. This will also line us up for a before-Christmas release. Needless to say, that would likely be very good for the game.
Anyways, I suppose that's enough looking forward in anticipation. The here and now is going very well. Every work day we seem to get a little closer to beta. A new alpha build of WoM should be out later this week (I'm writing this on Sunday, by the time I post this the new build may be up) and that's certainly good news. We're refining the battle board and there's now a save game feature. It's not quite finished, but Adam (the programmer who's implementing it) says it should be “fully featured” by the end of the month. All things considered we're making good progress each week.
We're supposed to be playing D&D today. So far everyone's been having a really good time. I've even gotten into the spirit of working on the campaign and that's something I haven't felt up to in years. (Believe it or not, it takes a good bit of work.) One of my “other projects” is all about role playing, so it's good for us to be getting “back in the saddle”. It helps me keep my imagination fired up.
In any event, that's enough for today. We're in a calm spell and there's not a great deal of news. I may have a little more to share next week. It all depends on how this new build goes and what we learn from play testers that can actually save their games, lol. Either way, for the moment at least, goodnight from South Carolina!
