Jan 4th

Not much to report today.  Mostly, just worked.  The girls headed to Fat Cats and had a good time there.

However, to actually have some content, we have the first painting (beyond mine) from DMNS.  Here is Alora's "Ducks and a Donut".

Ducks and a Donut - Alora Folmar

Jan 3rd

Visited the Dr today to see about getting rid of this cold which I've had since Dec. 8th.  Have some antibiotics and an inhaler.  Hopefully they do the trick.

Otherwise, just another day.  Marie went back to work (school).

I did pick up two books at the library yesterday: Chasing the Moon (A. Lee Martinez) and Snuff (Terry Pratchett).

I enjoy both of their works.  Both are comical, but different.  Terry Pratchett's books are funny and continuous series.  Just the whole world he created are great.

Martinez is off the wall.  His humor is out there.  Your never sure where he is going next.

Books I'm looking for and hope to read this year are:

C. S. Friedman - Legacy of Kings.  I've read the other two in the series, but can't remember enough of the second, so I'll probably have to reread it.

Jan 2nd - Visiting Customers

Today I visited a few customers.  Got MS Outlook working, sped up a PC, and did a few other PC related activities.

Tomorrow Marie goes back to work (school).  Otherwise, not much happened.

Denver Art Museum

Yesterday we went to the Denver Art Museum.  Marie had a coupon for a free family visit, so we all went.

Before it all we went to visit "The word room".  They had changed it so instead it was a painting studio.  All of us grabbed a picture, paints, and started painting.  I'll post the other's works later, but mine is here:

Marie, my crafty little wife, enjoyed painting so much she is going to look into studios around here.

After painting, we headed to a great exhibition by El Anatsui.  Love his work.

Unfortunately I'm still fighting a cold and began to get really run down.  I found a chair and sat down.  The ladies made a Mayan Chocolate Cup, and they received free Mayan Chocolate.  We tried a piece and let me tell you, Mayan Chocolate has a neat tingly aftertaste.  Kind of like chocolate mixed with hot pepper!  I liked it, but the girls had mixed reviews.

By this time I was getting exhausted and it was time to go.  I went to bed when we got home, even though it was only 1630.

In other news I've begun a new blog: Folmar Funnies to cover the funny stories of my family. It can be found here: Folmar Funnies.

And I've restarted my Games Strategy and Tactics blog.  After almost a year of no updates, I received over a dozen emails, several comments, and over 22,000 new page views.  I guess someone is interested in what I have to say, so it is back.

Busy bee

Well, my birthday is coming up this week and I'm making a "New Birthday's Resolutions".  The list is as follows:

1) Keep my blogs up to date, particularly the personal one!

2) Find employment (still working on it),

3) Enjoy myself more.

February Activities

This February we attended a few events courtesy of MacaroniKid: 

1. Phineas and Ferb Live - Loads of fun for all the Phineas and Ferb fans, of which I count myself a member!
2. MonsterJam - Loads of fun for my girls.  Monster trucks really don't appeal that much to me, but my girls love them.  The drivers really are a hoot, however, and neat people to meet.
3. Baby and Kids expo - The 'MacaroniKids Publishing Moms of Greater Denver Metro Area' had a booth at the expo.  The girls and I swung by for a few hours and had a good time walking around.
4. Brian Kowalski Ships Out - A friend of mine, Brian Kowalski joined the navy this February so we said goodbye and good luck to the man.  He's a great guy and one I hope the navy doesn't change too much.  It was sad to see him go, but he felt it was what he needed to do and we all wish him the best.
5. Arionna was diagnosed with Dyslexia - And so we have been wroking on trying to help her out with different ways to teach her and get the assistance she needs at school.
6. Arionna Tested Out of Math - Yes, little Miss Dyslexia from above blew the math portion of the test right out of the water.  Without guidance she figured out multiplication, division, and in my office I've shown her simple algebraic formulas.  She has an amazing little mind with a quick grasp of abstract concepts.  So she has trouble reading, but she is certainly intelligent!

Employment Hunting

The job hunt continues apace.  Not much to report, other than rejections.  There was one position I really felt qualified for and called the recruiter up.  Sent in my resume and the recruiter said "It doesn't sound technical enough".  So, I adjusted the resume and after about the third back and forth the recruiter announced, "This looks perfect!".  The Hiring Manager's first response upon seeing my resume was "Appears too technical".  Sometimes you just can't win...

Well, that is all for this week.  I'm going to try to post a list of "upcoming events" at the beginning of the month.  If your at any of the events, let me know and we can meet up!

MagnaCon III

Been silent these past few weeks.  Need to get back in the habit.  I will admit the majority of my "blogging time" has been taken up by my other blog: Games Strategy and Tactics.  I'm posting three times a week there and between it and my job search, not much time left over for the personal blog.

This weekend, yesterday, we had MagnaCon III in Denver.  This event supports the Monday Night Gaming Group which meets at the Whittier Center.  All proceeds go to the Whittier Community Board to support the center.  Attendance was good, around 50-60 people.  Denver is a gaming mecca, having many groups spread out throughout the city.  Many of these people I know, but only manage to see once or twice a year, often at conventions.  Attending MagnaCon allowed me to mingle with these great people and catch up on their lives (Congratulations to Sarah and Travis on their upcoming new addition!).

The focus of MagnaCon is "epic" games: games which take a longer than usual time to play so they don't hit the table as often.  I saw Twilight Imperium (the very definition of "epic"), Starcraft: The Board Game, and many games of Eclipse.  Towards the evening the games shifted to shorter games: Chaos in the Old World, Discworld, Citadels and others.  Overall it was a great time!

Many people deserve credit for contributing to this year's successful event.  So, in no particular order: Dave Jones, Jeff Slagga, Nate Hayden, Eli Moreland, Brian Kowalski, Scott Lewis, and so many more.  I'd like to offer special thanks to the following people:

V.M. Livingston: The original 'founder' of MagnaCon, although she was unable to be involved this year.

Jeff Slagga (and Wife!): For picking up where Veronica left off and organizing a great event.  He shouldered the responsibility fo orgna

Dave Jones of Time Well Spent:  Dave both ran the dexterity games in the back (I'm awful at them, but many people love them...particularly the kids!) and offered many games as giveaways from his company: TimeWellSpentgames.com.  There were some great games offered and the raffle was probably the only time the room was in rapt attention!

Great job to all of you and I look forward to attending again next year!

Saturday- Building Toys, then watching Toy

Computer is back up and running, so its time to catch up on the blog.

Arionna and her Snowman

Alora and her Snowman

 This last weekend was a busy one.  The girls and I headed to Lowes for Build and Grow clinic, then over to Home Depot for their clinic. Lowe's had the second portion of their train and both Arionna and Alora hammered it out.  For Arionna, being one-handed, I held the train.  This became a game of nerves as I held the train steady while she whacked it with all her might.  Fortunately, her aim was true and I still have all my fingers intact.

Home Depot had a snowman napkin holder.  This one was incredibly simple to put together: four screws and it was done in 5 minutes.  Home Depot did have some paints for the snowman.  Both girls did a really great job and now the two snowmen napkin holders adorn our dinner table, doing their job.

Lowes and Home Depot gives patches and pins after completing the project.  Since they are also provided safety goggles, my girls decided to do their version of "Johnny Depp visits Lowes".  Yep, below are my two little "Build and Grow Pirates".  They are funny little girls.

Barbie and Ken: Great Skating

Buzz and the Aliens

That evening we went to Disney On Ice Toy Story 3 courtesy of Marie's Macaroni Kid.  I've attended several Disney On Ice shows and I must admit this was the best one to date.  Normally the shows don't get very risky with regards to the skating portion, but during the Ken and Barbie section they did several jumps, spins and other elements which were very good.  The show itself was a typical fast overview of the Toy Story plot.  Still, it was well done.

The Potato head couple

There is no Toy Story without THE CLAW!

And it this was just Saturday!  Tomorrow was Arionna's Birthday...

My favorite: Slinky Dog!