Oh. I guess I started out that way after all.
So where to start? I have lots of skills and interests. Since I adore lists, I'll start with a list of reasonable first-post options.
- I'm a stay-at-home mom obsessed with organizing, but I often procrastinate when it comes time to do it. I love helping friends fix their household problem areas, mostly because I love to organize but also because I love getting into other peoples' business. I could talk about organizing.
- I am a total gadget geek. We have an all-Mac shop here at home, including iPhones, iPads, iPods, iPod touches, laptops, desktops, Apple TVs, and all manner of Apple software and accessories. In addition, we have owned TiVo's since their introduction (4 are on active duty in our house right now) and Husband has all the gaming consoles a family could need, plus a screaming-fast Windows setup that he uses exclusively for World of Warcraft.
- I'm a former executive/business owner with a long history in the computer industry, but I left the working world many years ago when we moved while I was pregnant with our first child. Note: Employers in new cities are not interested in hiring extremely pregnant outsiders.
- I'm a mother of three VERY different kids and have been involved in their schools through volunteering. Mostly I volunteer to boss people around, but if no one's available to boss around, I volunteer to do large-scale, complicated projects that have a definite end. Crafting the school directory is my favorite volunteer activity because there's no kid-wrangling involved.
- I'm less clever than I think I am, but I am told I am rather quirky and funny. If nothing else, I could have started with my wry and irreverent observations about daily life. "So what's with the title 'stay-at-home mom'?! I never stay at home!"
My first topic, I finally decided, is just to talk about what I'm doing today. I'm going to jump in where I am. (That was for you, fellow FlyLady fans!)
I'm not much of a gamer, but I'm way into the Zynga games. I played Farmville for a while, then graduated to Cafe World, then headed over to Castleville. I've been playing daily since shortly after Castleville began. I'm a high-level princess at this point, accomplished in making butter, parchment, Rafael's cologne, and other important crafts. If you visit my kingdom -- and I bet you wanna! -- you'll find a well-organized infrastructure and a happy group of villagers. We often need to fight the evil Faugrimm and his bizarre followers, but that's not a problem. If we hit them, they die. Given our secret source of energy obtained through questionable sources, we have virtually unlimited hitting abilities.
Today I'm starting my first-ever World of Warcraft character. WoW... that's quite a different beast from anything I've played.
- I'm not really interested in fighting, but I plan to kick butt when necessary. (As Melissa from Real Housewives/Jersey says, "I never throw the first punch, but I'm always a knock-out." Amen, sister.)
- I am scared to become addicted to this game. As a stay-at-home mom, my time is very flexible and I'm not good at managing it when there is an excellent distraction from putting away laundry.
- I hate making mistakes. But what shall I be? A gnome? An undead? A druid? A paladin? There are so many ways to go wrong.
- I am concerned with looking cool. My own image of "cool" may differ from yours, of course, which is why only a couple races are available to me.
- I am an AWESOME beginner! I think it will be hard to go beyond that, though. It will require an incredible amount of time and mental agility. Do I have enough of those?
By the way, he had to help me word that last paragraph. Apparently, "on an alliance server" is incorrect. According to Husband, each server has both horde and alliance something or other. I suppose I should stop now and study the options in the tome "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm," by Bradygames, lest I prove myself to be an idiot.
...
I know I'm missing great swaths of information and probably sound like an idiot anyway, but isn't that what this blog is all about?
Decisions I need to make in order, as near as I can tell...
- Server? For other housewives who might not be in the know, WoW has many servers around the world. A server is a regional computer network of sorts, and each server contains a complete copy of the WoW world. Within a server, everyone can see everyone else. However, the servers don't interact with each other. If you want to play with a friend in France using one of the European servers and you're on an American server, you're screwed. Never the twain shall meet.
- Horde v Alliance? Horde is considered a darker group, historically more subversive, and Alliance is the more righteous (self-righteous?) one. Which you choose leads you to the type of character you can be. Each has its own backstory, which I know thanks to the fine folks at Bradygames.
- Toon type? (Toon is how players refer to a character they're playing. "I'm on my gnome toon today.") If you're Alliance, which I've chosen, you can be Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Dranei, or Worgen. After looking at their backstories, I've decided to be a Night Elf. What were the key traits that led me to be a Night Elf? One word: RECLUSIVE. Sure, I've been typing away and telling you all my secrets, and I'm married, and I have three terrific kids, but I'm actually a loner of the purest sort. The downside? As a Night Elf I prefer "nature to conventional cities," whereas in real life, I have a deep hatred of being stuck in natural settings. A walk in the garden? Torture. Overnight camping? Never gonna happen.
- Class? This is where things get even more complicated... so complicated I can't really explain what made me choose the Druid class. Maybe it was the fact I can be both a tank (a battle leader, although I'm not sure why that appeals to me so much) and a healer (someone who's a bit behind the scenes and not engaged in the most vicious part of battles). I don't see myself as much of a fighter, but I am achievement-oriented which means I occasionally need to head into battle to get a certain reward.
When I told Husband I plan to be a ... he interrupted me and said, "Night Elf Druid?" I don't want to admit it but he's got me pegged. I should have just asked him what I would want to be. I could have saved myself a couple hours of research.
...
Since it's Tuesday morning, I'm shut out of starting my character until the regularly scheduled maintenance is finished. Husband says it's usually over sooner than the website says.
I'm going back to being a princess for a while. See you on Castleville!
