I went to visit the grandkids for a couple of weeks.  My son and his wife live in Mt. Airy, NC.  It's really very lovely up there and we were fortunate to get about 2" of snow while I was there.  It was great fun to build a snowman and sled down the hill (actually I did help build the snowman, but only watch the kids tackle sledding).

There's two girls and three boys, the oldest being 10 and the youngest just turned 1.  It's a houseful, but thankfully the kids are well-behaved (they're still kids though), so it makes visiting a joy instead of a drudge.

We didn't do too much rambling around, as we usually do, but just sitting around the house isn't bad.  My son, daughter-in-law and oldest granddaughter play guitars and mandolin (as do many of their friends), so the evenings are filled with music and laughter.

Although I do enjoy the visit, it's still good to get back home.  And my husband is thankful also....he was getting tired of eating out.

GW BETA

Last beta was opened for all, but this time those of us who have accounts have three invites available to hand out.  The event starts on March 24 and if any of you who reads this would like an invite, just let me know....it'll be first come, first served.  The first one was more PvP, but I think this one will be more focused on the PvE side.

I'm not a huge fan of PvP, but I really enjoyed participating in this event.  We got a sneak peak of the two new professions and the new Battle Isles.

ArenaNet has introduced some wonderful training areas for those who are just now dipping their toes in PvP waters and I thought it was well done.  Even with as little as I know about PvP, I managed to attain the Zaishen Elite Refuge before the weekend was out and in a PUG, no less.  It took us a while, but no one quit until everyone had completed the quest.

After reading the article in Computer Gaming World about the new professions, I decided my next character would be an Assassin.  However, after participating in the beta and testing both, I've now decided that it's the Ritualist for me.  And I'll have to admit that the only reason is I like the look of the Ritualist better.  Both play very differently and there may be a day when I have both, but I'll develop the Rit first.

Another event will be upcoming before the release of Factions.  According to Gaile Gray, it'll be announced in the next couple of weeks.  I just hope that I'm back from vacation before it starts as I really don't want to miss it.

I'm working on my second character (I know, I know....there are oodles of people who've had 5, 6, 10 already) and I'm still having fun.  I think one of the reasons is that I'm in a great Guild and we have a lot of good times together.

The Halloween Event was a hoot and I just love my pumpkin helm, as well as some of the other goodies like the ghost in the box.

And it's always fun to meet up with Gaile Grey and conga in Lion's Arch.

Can't wait til Chapter 2, especially now that they've leaked a little info on one of the new professions.

Boy, what a surprise today when I pulled up GameSpot.  I like the new format (although it will take some getting use to) but a number of features don't seem to work any longer.  I have mail inviting me to join another's friends list and a union, however I get an error page when I try to do either.

I also can't use the "all my friends" feature.  I just get a blank page.  Ah well, I'm sure they'll get the bugs ironed out.

Myst V arrived on the 22 of September and I've been playing off and on ever since.  Mainly to make it last as long a possible and mainly because these are some of the hardest puzzles I've ever come across.  Maybe the brain has just gotten rusty from playing Guild Wars, but the clues just seem to be very obscure to me and Esher is the most annoying character I've ever met!  But the graphics (and yes, having a brand new fairly high end card really makes a big difference) are tremendous and I'm loving every minute I spend in the game.

Guild Wars has not lost it's charm, either.  I know some people have played through multiple times, have defeated everything, has all the material goods they could want and are bored to tears, but I haven't managed all that yet.  Still have a few quests in Sorrow's Furnace to complete and a couple of the Titan quests also.  I just love the friendships I've made and the guild I'm in.  We really do have a great time.  Have to say, though, it pulls at the heart-strings to think what Uru could have been if it had survived.