What A Long Strange Trip It's Been

Cocktail Party Success

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:49:03 -0600

Yesterday, my husband and I hosted a Welcome Home cocktail party for 19 people (10 adults and 9 children - although we had six no shows) for a friend who had been working in Seatle the last eight weeks. It was a huge success!

I worked my butt off yesterday. First thing in the morning, I went massive grocery shopping for all the fresh goods I needed including the flowers for the table and whatnot. Then I totted all of the groceries from the back of my car up the steps and into the house, put those away, and then cooked for no less than three hours straight. On my feet, running around like a chicken with her head cut off. I laid out a spread with a vast variety of food since I needed to cover ages 5 to 45! So kid friendly things abounded as well as decidedly adult yummies. Now, I admit, I purchased a great deal of things premade since I didn't not have the time or the help to make everything from scratch like I normally do, so Sam's Club was a tremendous boon for me. I'll post the pictures, but here was the cocktail party menu:

BBQ meatballs
Nachos
Chipolte Little Smokies
Tequilla Lime chicken wings
Pigs in a Blanket
Mini CornDogs
Mini Quiche Florentine
Mini Quiche Lorraine
Three varieties of deli spirals / pinwheels
Bacon wrapped shrimp
Cheddar & bacon mini potato skins
Baked brie en croute
Bacon wrapped scallops
Mini chicken taquittos
Turkey pastrami wrapped around baby dill pickles with colby jack cheese
Hard salami wrapped around baby dill pickles with provolone cheese
A cheese board with a selection of four hard cheeses and a soft goat cheese
Fresh mozzarella balls marinated in olive oil with sundried tomatoes and basil
A vegetable tray with a bread bowl filled with sour cream ranch dip
Fresh strawberries and green & red grapes with creme fresh fruit dip
Roast garlic and various crackers
Roast garlic hummus and french bread
Hot buttered fresh popped - PopCorn
Cheddar goldfish crackers
Tang-pineapple punch (7up, Tang, Pineapple juice, lemon juice, and sugar)

Dessert table:
Triple chocolate carmel cake
Peach pie
Cherry pie
Pecan pie
Peanut butter cream pie
Rum cake
Cream puffs
Mini chocolate eclairs

The great thing about all of this was that I knew how many calories everything was since I was preparing it. So, when the time came to eat, I knew what I could eat based upon how much I worked my butt off earlier in the day. A minimum of three hours of cooking (my husband thinks four), breaking a good sweat, and all the walking I did paid off.

When I got up this morning, there was only a few ounces difference in my weight from yesterday morning pre-party weigh in! I did my best to not over indulge but I did eat a goodly amount of yummies - just not the ones I knew weren't worth eating for me that would slow my metabolism down. I drank at least six glasses of water over the course of food preparation and the party itself - that's low balling it - so all the sodium would flush out of me easily, and I didn't have one drop of the punch or alcohol.

I tracked everything I ate on My Daily Plate and MAN did I ever blow my calorie intake, fat intake - well of it except for carbs. YET, since I had such a work out with all the non-stop activity - I didn't include cleaning the house, setting up the table, dishes, etc - the Net Calories wasn't too bad.

So - what I am saying is I am proud of me! Still 65 pounds lost and none gained back! Life is good.

Thanksgiving Menu at Chez Robbins

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:52:20 -0600

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Now I say that in the spirit of the holiday, not in the "Thanksgiving Myth" kind of way with all the fake crap about the Pilgrims and Indians that whitewashed history wants you to believe. Don't we all know the truth by now? Well, I am not going to rehash it today here on my blog.

Today I am going to share my lovely menu with you:

De-bone whole roasted turkey with a thyme, rosemary & garlic butter rub

Stuffed inside that deboned bird will be a wheatberry stuffing made with whole organic wheatberries, long grain brown rice, and wild rice, along with celery, onions, carrots, and of course garlic. If you don't know what wheatberries are they are the grain that is harvested from wheat that are dried and pounded into flour. In this form they are super high in fiber and have a nutty taste and are extremely healthy for you.

Au Gratin Root Vegetable side dish - made from sweet potatoes, ruttabaga, turnips, parsnips, and butternut squash. I blend heavy cream and goat cheese for the gratin part. It also has various spices to it - I'll post the recipe with pictures later.

Lightly steamed green beans and yellow squash - no green bean mushy casserole or cream cheese corn for us this year! No kids - thus - healthy adult food. Matt actually sighed in some relief and said - "Please no green bean casserole" when I asked him if I should make it. So, lush green beans steamed and then tossed in a hot frying pan with a nip of olive oil and garlic before being served.

Of course we will be having my secret mashed potatoes and homemade giblet gravy. That's a given. Matt would eat nothing but mashed potatoes today if I let him Let him? Please! That's a laugh. Ten bucks says that IF there are left over mashed potatoes they don't last a single day in the refrigerator. They'll be eaten faster than I can blink!

Apricot and cranberry white wine sauce - this is not my typical sauce that I make, that's the red grape and cranberry sauce. No, this is dried apricots, dried cranberries, fresh ginger and sweet vermouth. After cooking on the stove top it comes out to be a nice chunky sauce that you actually put on the roasted turkey on your plate. This is not some chilled jelly that's more dessert than anything else. This is a celebration of apricots and cranberries and their lush flavor and general yumminess. So excuse me while I turn my nose up at that jelly stuff from the can cut into circles.

For dessert is my homemade tofu pumpkin pie - now don't turn your nose up on tofu pumpkin pie. You wouldn't even know if I didn't tell you, it tastes exactly the same. I've totally fooled people and converted many to this new classic. Here is my nutritional breakdown on my pie:

Calories	Fat	Cholesterol	Sodium	Carbs	Sugar	Fiber	Protein
180	8g	5mg	196mg	19g	0g	2g	7g

The fat and cholesterol is because I am lazy and hate making pie crust and use a store bought dough from Pillsbury. But, if you compare my pie to Mrs. Smith's Pumpkin Pie, mine has 100 fewer calories, 5g less fat, 40mg less cholesterol, 190mg less sodium, half the carbs. 10g less sugar, and 2g more protien. So yes, my pumpkin pie tastes just as good if not better and is better for you nutritionally - so there to you Mrs. Smith's

I am also going to make stuffed portobello mushrooms as a snack to eat around two hours before dinner. Just cheese and onions stuffed into half dollar sized shrooms. Don't worry, I'll post lots of pictures.

Anyway, my pumpkin pie is in the oven right now, and I need to do some dishes before I take out my new mandoline and slice my root vegetables a perfect 1/8 an inch thick. I just love kitchen gizmos that save me work. Oh, and thanks Ed and Debbie for that microplane. It has saved me once again. I just love using it on my fresh ginger.

Happy Turkey Day to you all. I'd love to know what you are eating for Thanksgiving today.

It's a pound a day miracle for now!

Sat, 3 Oct 2009 09:12:04 -0600

I weighed in this morning and lo and behold, I have now lost 32 pounds since starting my medication on August 28. The last couple of days my weight has been dropping at a pound a day. I'm thankful, but wondering if this is still water weight or what. How could I be losing weight so fast? I'm not questioning it in a bad way, I'm just wondering how this is happening. My husband is convinced it is my hormone replacement therapy, and I really am starting to believe it.

The South Beach diet is helping too, don't get me wrong. I am still following phase one pretty strickly even though I am past my first two weeks. I am really enjoying the food and tastes and don't miss anything - this was the way I always ate anyway - except the bread, rice, pasta and potatoes.

It was a challenging day yesterday. Our auditors threw a luncheon for us - Italian food. YET - no pasta in sight! It was chicken parmesan with either marinara sauce or cheese sauce, mixed veggies (potatoes, squash, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli), a tossed green salad (w/tomato, cucumber, red onion, red cabbage, shredded carrots) with Italian dressing. They of course had garlic bread and chocolate brownies, but those didn't even tempt me. So, I found the smallest breaded chicken breast I could (had to be about 4oz or less) smaller than the palm of my hand with the least amount of cheese on it and only a tablespoon of marinara (who knows what they put in that), so I felt that was okay. I picked all the potatoes out of the mixed veggies and didn't eat those. They served us on those paper plates with the three sections - so, I used the big section for my salad, one of the small sections for the chicken, and the other small section for a heaping pile of veggies. To drink was iced tea with either lemon or sweetner and I spoiled myself with half a packet of real C & H pure cane sugar *hums the little song from the commerical* "from Hawaii, sweetended by the sun". It was a very satisfying meal and I felt I met the challenge well.

So that's two 'restaurant' like meals in as many weeks that I have taken on and won! Yay me if I do say so myself!

Matt went grocery shopping yesterday as I still find it tremendously hard to go shopping even with skirting only the outside of the store. The bakery is the worst. It's not that I have bread cravings, I don't really, but the bakery at Dillons is next to the deli, and the artisan sourdough bread and rye bread call to me "Have a deli sandwich made, Ali - with lots of pepper jack cheese and pickles and mustard." Sandwiches are far and away my favorite food in the entire world. I am SOOOO like Joey from Friends. There are just so many kinds of sandwiches - Italian meatball, turkey club, good old ham and cheese - mmmm veggie sub with olive oil and feta! What can I say - that Subway diet by Jared looked amazing - but didn't work for me. LOL - who can only eat a dry six inch turkey sub? Please! Have to have mayo and mustard and olive oil and cheese and all that yummy delicious stuff - that or NOTHING.

So, I am going with the nothing!

Today, though, is going to be a delicious feast for the senses. Matt found two beautiful portobello mushroom caps the size of softballs at the store yesterday, and I have had them marinating in some Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon & chopped garlic since 6:30pm last night. Tonight when I cook them for dinner, I will be enjoying some very yummy mushrooms. I have some ground turkey left over and I am going to combine the wine, turkey, celery, onion, & carrots and some tomato paste for a Bolognese sauce that I am going to put over some spaghetti squash, and eat that with my grilled marinated mushrooms and some provolone cheese. I'm sooo looking forward to THAT!

Now I need to go get breakfast though, as I slept in for once, and it has been more than a half hour since I took my hormone pill. *Sings* "I'm so rumbly in my tumbly" - - la la la.

One month weigh in -

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:08:36 -0600

When I went to the doctor one month ago today for the infection in my calf and weighed in I wasn't pleased. I spoke with my doctor, she tested my blood - turned out I was hypothyroid. I started taking the replacement hormones two days later on 08/28/09.

So - it is 09/26/09 today which is one month since I was weighed at the doctors office. I bought a high grade scale, I think the exact one my doctor has so I can be sure that I am keeping track of my weight accurately. As of this morning when I weighed in, I have lost 27 pounds. That's 27 pounds lost in one month, only half of which was on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet.

I still have two more days before my full month is up of taking the replacement hormone, so in two days, I'll weigh in and see just how it has gone. The blood test from this week came back with good news; they do not need to raise my synthroid dosage - 25mg is just fine.

My goal was to lose 20 pounds the first month. I did that. If I can lose 3 pounds in the next two days, then I will meet a 'dream goal' that I didn't think was possible - 30 pounds in a month! I'm hopeful, but as I said, it is a dream goal, so I won't be upset if I don't make that. This isn't about a single month, this is about a long haul down to my high school weight which is still a long way from where I currently am. AND THEN, about keeping the weight off permanently. I have pictures of myself from my youth around as goal pictures. I was once in good shape and I will be again - I know it!

Overall, I am very positive because I know that my underlying problem was my hormonal imbalance. Still, I didn't help by eating the greatest food known to mankind BREAD at every meal and sometimes AS a meal. I was addicted to bread, seriously. Major addicition to bread. Yet, after two weeks on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet I do not crave bread anymore. I know I am now allowed to have whole grain bread and such on Phase 2, but I don't want it - I don't need it. I'd rather have a bowl of lentils or beans, or an egg white omelet.

I'm feeling good and that's the most important thing to me right now. Once I am down to a lower weight that will make it easier to exercise I plan on starting that. I am saving up for a tredmill. Where I am going to put it, I haven't a clue. It might be time for me to rearrange the furniture in the house to make space for it. Perhaps my husband Matt will have some ideas. Still, I am going to get one, and now I don't have to buy one of those super expensive ones that is made to accomadate my weight - a normal one will do. That in of itself makes me happy - something 'normal' about me instead of extra huge or jumbo or whatever. That was one of my goals - buy a treadmill made for normal people - and I think it is possible now.

Somehow, I am doing this all without being utterly obessive about it. I'm careful about what I am eating and was able to go to a restaurant for a business lunch on Wednesday and still lost weight eating the grilled salmon, broccoli, and a bowl of red pepper tomato soup. They of course gave me bread which I made them take off my bread plate, and a huge mound of potatoes. Not as big as Richard Dreyfuss' mound of potatoes he carved the Devils Tower out of in Close Encounters of the Third Kind but not far behind it. Seriously, there had to be two huge cup fulls of mashed potatoes if not more. Most of the plate was potatoes. I resisted the temptation imaging what it would do to my blood sugar and my body and tried (successfully) to think of the potatoes as terrorists out to destroy the peaceful harmony of my blood chemistry that I created in my body. Thinking that way totally worked. I've mentally made myself allergic to them - telling myself they are bad for me and they'll make me not feel good - which is true. It's like people who avoid nuts or strawberries because they are allergic - that's what I tell myself - they are bad don't eat them and so I don't WANT to eat them now. Same with pasta, bread, white rice, sugar. It's working for me, so I am using it. Use what works, right? As long as it is keeping me feeling good and healthy, I will stick to the mental brainwashing thing on myself.

There I go...

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:33:36 -0600

Well, it has been 25 days since I started my medication and I have lost 21 pounds so far. I am very stoked by that. Of course I have been eating like I normally did, just without bread, rice, potatoes and pasta - which apparently - makes all the difference in the world as does my medication - oh, and not drinking soda pop.

I made leek and lentil soup on Saturday and had enough for dinner that night, and lunch the next day, AND lunch today and probably tomorrow. I am planning on starting a crockpot of lentil and mushroom soup tonight for tomorrow through the rest of the week. I am trying to up my fiber intake with many more beans in the diet.

Last night I experimented with making a homemade tofu pumpkin pie. It turned out beautifully. My pie has 180 calories per slice which is between 100 and 200 calories less than a 'real' slice of pumpkin pie, depending on the recipe. Here's mine:

1 pre-made pie shell
1 1/2 cups of cooked pumpkin (use small sugar pie pumpkins not jack-o-lanterns)
1 package of silken extra-firm tofu
4 packets of the "blue stuff" I used generic Wal-Mart Greater Value brand and it tasted fine
1 tablespoon (not heaping!) of pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon fresh or jar crushed ginger root

I cut a small pie pumpkin in half and baked it at 375 for an hour to cook the pumpkin. I then scooped about 1 1/2 cups of the cooked pumpkin into a blender and added the package of tofu. I pureed the mixer, adding in the blue stuff, the spice and the root. It was creamy and fluffy-ish. I poured that into a 9 inch pie pan lined with a pre-made pie shell and then baked it for 15 minutes at 425, and then for 45 minutes at 375.

It turned out perfectly, especially since I covered the pie crust after the first 15 minutes with aluminum foil so it wouldn't burn.

I am eating it today as a part of my lunch: Greek Salad, Leek & Lentil Soup, and Tofu Pumpkin Pie...my main meal of the day! Pardon me if I seem arrogant, but, this pumpkin pie rocks!

Update from my Doctor!

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:56:39 -0600

Just got back from my doctor's office with good news. I've lost 11 pounds in the two weeks I have been on my thyroid medication. My blood pressure was 124 / 60 which is just great! She moved my calorie intake down to 1,100 from what was recommended on this website. She also prescribed a water pill for me so I can stop retaining all this water that I currently am retaining. I go back two days before my meds run out for the Levothyroxine (generic Synthroid) so they can run more blood tests and change me medication as necessary.

I have been feeling great since I started taking this replacement hormone. I didn't know I could feel ten years younger!

WOW what a difference a few days and 10 cc of blood can make

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:49:57 -0600

It sure has been an interesting week.

Tuesday morning as I was walking around my house getting ready for work, I just felt icky, and didn't want to go in. I wasn't sure exactly why, but I didn't feel right. More tired than I usually am, and my stomach was odd, and my left leg hurt in general. SO, I didn't go to work. I actually took the day off to try and feel better.

I sat down at the computer and felt an ‘oddness' - for lack of a better word - like a puffy popping feeling in my shin. I looked down and there was a huge red area on my shin in a circle, right where the corner of my car door hit me in 2003. The skin looked like it had a rash on it and it was hot to the touch and very sore. Matt strapped a bag of frozen vegetables to me and we elevated my leg. I took some Tylenol for the pain and rested. It felt a little better, and the swelling was somewhat reduced on Wednesday morning, so I went to work.

Wednesday morning at work, Kimmie from down the hall stopped by to see if I was feeling better and I showed her my leg. She got very serious and told me I needed to go to the doctor immediately. She knew exactly what it was because she got it on her arm a few years ago. Normally, I don't go to the doctor, I just deal with it and I heal, but Kimmie told me this wasn't just going to heal that it was serious.

I immediately got a doctor's appointment for Wednesday at 1:50pm and went in with Matt in tow. Here is what we found out:

I had Athelete's foot on the pinky toe, and fourth toe of my left foot which cracked and became infected, which
Created the Cellulitus that was occurring in my shin - which can be very serious if it spreads in your blood or something - totally not sure, but serious enough to warrant antibiotics for 10 days three times a day!
To make sure everything was okay, they did a blood test

So, Thursday morning I get a call from my doctor's office and they tell me I have hypothyroidism, which means my thyroid gland doesn't produce enough hormone. My mother and my grandmother both have this.

I Googled it ( https://www.google.com/health/ref/Hypothyroidism ) and this is what it said:

Overview

Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone.

50 Theatrical Productions

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:05:50 -0600

OK, here are the rules. Test your memory and your love of live theatrical productions by listing 50 musicals, ballets, plays, or operas that you have seen live and in person.

List the first 50 that come into your head.

I had to think about all the people I saw at Center Arts in Humboldt County, in London, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. I was very lucky to be enrolled in a Shakespearean drama course when I was studying in Guildford, England and went to see many plays both in Stratford-Upon-Avon and in London with the awesome Royal Shakespearean Theater. The experiences I had at the Barbican Centre are unforgettable.

(In no particular order at all)

Les Miserables (musical)
Phantom of the Opera (musical)
Blood Brothers (musical)
Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
Hansel und Gretel (opera)
Swan Lake (ballet)
The Nutcracker (ballet)
Angry Housewives (musical) (best song ever - Eat Your F*cking Cornflakes, do what Mommy Tells You)
Look Back In Anger (play)
The Cherry Orchard (play)
Three Sisters (play)
A Dolls House (play)
King Lear (play)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (play)
Pericles, Prince of Tyre (play)
Breathless (play)
The Rocky Horror Show (musical)
Grease (musical)
Die Fledermaus (opera)
The Beggar's Opera (opera)
Into The Woods (musical)
Something Funny Happened On The Way to the Forum (musical)
Secret Garden (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West) (opera)
The Medium (opera)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera)
Susanna (opera)
The Merry Widow (opera)
H.M.S Pinafore (opera)
The Pirates of Penzance (opera)
Hair (musical)
Jesus Christ Superstar (musical)
Elektra (opera)
Ruddigore (opera)
Faust (opera)
The Mousetrap (play)
The Iceman Cometh (play)
The Importance of Being Earnest (play)
Death of a Salesman (play)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (play)
WildCard by Michael Fields of Del' Arte School of Physical Theatre (musical)
Love's Labours Lost (play)
Hamlet (play)
Macbeth (play)
Romeo and Juliet (play)
Fiddler on the Roof (musical)
Pilobolus (dance)
Die Zauberflöte (opera)
Suor Angelica (opera)

The story thus far...

Sun, 9 Aug 2009 17:47:48 -0600

This is a recap of the campaign thus far...here is who is involved at different points throughout:

Silent Rose - a female pixie ranger & cleric of Florinda, the goddess of Nature. (played by Michelle)

Regar - a male goblin battle mage, worshiper of Fou, the goddess of the Moon. (played by Kyle)

Torag - a male Firbold (giant-kin) cleric of Pryden, the god of Strength. (Played by Matt)

- a male Wemic paladin of Dalnoth, the god of Dragons. (played by Joey)

Nicholas - a male human rogue, worshiper of Tutell, the goddess of Guardians. (played by Joey)

Marconus - a male human mage, worshiper of Socier, the god of Magic. (played by Matt)

Silent Rose was born in a large rose bush community inhabited by many pixies who enjoyed the sunshine and the cool coastal breezes in their forest home on the western shores of the island of Bläha, third largest of the Elven Isles. She grew up in relative peace and security, beloved by her family and by many of nature's wild animals in the area of her rose bush home. In particular, she there were two animals she was the most friendly with, a wolf she called Grey, and a falcon she called Soarer. As she played with her friends in the forest she learned many skills that would eventually lead her to a life of a ranger - a protector of the animals and forest. It was after her decision to dedicate her life to the protection of nature that she first met the goddess of Nature, Florinda.

Florinda appeared to her one day as Silent Rose made her daily patrols of the woods, checking on Grey's den and new pups, and Soarer's nest and new chicks. It was a glorious Spring day. Florinda, taking her avatar form of a human female, was walking through the woods and could feel the sense of harmony and balance that Silent Rose had nurtured there. Seeking out the source of the well being, Florinda found Silent Rose. After that first meeting and many subsequent ones, they became friends, and Florinda blessed Silent Rose for her efforts on behalf of the plants and animals of the forest.

Years later, Silent Rose was awoken from her sleep by a voice in a dream, possibly bordering on a nightmare. The voice told her that Florinda was in trouble and that she had been taken captive while in her human body and was being held by powerful magic that she could not overcome. Florinda was, in fact, missing from the heavens and her absence made all the plants and animals saddened and somewhat unhealthy. Silent Rose set out to find Florinda and help her friend.

Meanwhile, a goblin named Regar now wandered alone on the plains afraid for his life. He was too smart for his own good. The members of his tribe did not trust him because he could summon magic to his call. The tribal members feared that Regar would try to control them, as all magic users were untrustworthy. It was a common superstition of the goblin race, and poor unfortunate Regar was the victim of that circumstance. Bound and gagged, and then tied to a stake, Regar's goblin brothers nearly killed him when they lit the pile of wood that was stacked around him on fire. Regar pleaded with his goddess, Fou the goddess of the Moon, to save his life. He pledged to bind himself to her direction until such a time as she saw fit to release him. As the flames began to lick at Regar's meager clothing and at the sides of his face, all of Regar's hair caught fire. His head looked like a torch of brilliant yellow and orange flame. His tribe began to whoop and scream as they thought they had vanquished the blossoming mage, but lo and behold, Regar felt no pain, and didn't really burn. His hair wasn't on fire, his hair had become fire! The fire ate away his bonds and he stepped through the flames to confront his attackers, once his kin. Without realizing what he was doing, Regar controlled the fire that once was meant to kill him, and he bid it destroy his enemies. The fire consumed his tribe while Regar looked on amazed at his luck. Fou then descended from the heavens and Regar fell to his knees thanking the Lady of the Moon for her blessing and aid.

Fou explained to Regar that he now possessed a special affinity with fire, and that it would do his bidding. His hair would forever burn as it did now, but it would be a mark of her blessing on him - he was never to try and cover it. Fou then told Regar that she needed his help. Her dearest friend, Florinda, the goddess of Nature, was missing from the heavens. Fou explained that she could not search for Florinda while on the planet in her weakened avatar form because she needed to stay in the heavens and answer the prayers of her followers, just as she had answered Regar's that night, as well as claim the souls of her followers who had passed into death so they would not end in the Void. It was an important task that Fou was setting, for Florinda was very dear to her, and a very needed and necessary goddess. Fou was also concerned because while Florinda was absent, who would answer the prayers of Florinda's faithful, who would grant her clerics power, who would collect the souls of her departed? Fou told Regar that the goodly gods, particularly of the Pantheon of Nature were banding together to help manage in Florinda's absence, which was straining all of them, as Florinda had many worshipers and was the primary goddess of their pantheon. Fou directed Regar to seek out a cleric of another pantheon, who would be unaffected by the Pantheon of Nature's current discord, to help find Florinda and return her to the heavens. Regar swore he would, and set out with nothing on his back but burned rags, and nothing in his backpack but the singed remains of his spellbook. Little did he know that Fou had already arranged with two other gods of different pantheons for their assistance. It wasn't that he didn't trust Regar. She didn't know if he could withstand the torture capable by the clerics of the wicked gods who were causing all this trouble, and she didn't want to put his willpower or pain threshold to the test.

In the Rainbow Mountains, shrouded in the thick mist, the giant-kin cleric Torag, the Firbold, walked in harmony with his god, Pryden, the god of Strength. Here on the peaks in the north of Bläha, Torag had recently succeeded in routing a dirty band of gnolls who were desecrating a giant-kin shrine to Pryden. As a reward for Torag's dutiful service, Pryden came to thank the young Firbold in person. Pryden appeared to Torag, seemingly stepping out of the mist and the mountain at the same time, in the form of a Stone Giant, his favored avatar. After a lengthy discussion on the desperate situation happening within the Pantheon of Nature, Pryden directed Torag to set off on a quest to free Florinda. The Pantheon of Might would aid Nature, for the cause behind all this trouble was the wicked goddess Kariya, the goddess of Disease. Pryden despised Kariya and had so for millennia. When Fou of the Moon had sought his aid, initially, Pryden thought to rejected her pleas, feeling at last Nature would loose strength and the Pantheon of Might would rise in the rankings and his powers would grow. Yet, when he learned that Kariya was behind this incident and that her powers would exceed his should her plan succeed, he agreed to help Fou. Now, down on the planet wearing his blue flesh, Pryden knew it was the right thing to do, and not merely for selfish gains. He saw that the plants and animals of the planet seemed sickly and he knew that if Kariya won this battle, that even his giant worshippers might fall prey to her devious diseases if the girding brews made of nature's wild herbs were poisoned and weak. Weakness! Something he desperately loathed. Kariya was the embodiment of weakness, he filthy diseases sapping the strength from even the most muscle bound. Yes, it was decided. Torag, one of his most brave and most steadfastly devout clerics, would free Flordina and set things to right. Pryden directed Torag to seek the plains and a Fou worshipper named Regar.

On this sweltering day in the late Spring, a proud young male wemic of chieftan descent returned to his cliff home above the high plains of Bläha. Four years he had served in the weirs of Wyrmhelm, learning his religion and his war craft from the most revered paladin in the known world, Paragon Argentis, father of the god of Dragons, Dalnoth. The saga of Paragon's tremendous success during the recent episode of heavenly expansion was legendary even though is it was less than two decades old.

A former paladin of Brundin, goddess of War, Paragon had rejected Brundin's teachings and was selected by all the other goodly gods to be the Herald of Change, and eventually, through the testing of many adventures meant to hone Paragons will and focus, during the acquisition of the gods' artifact keys of making, the new god Dalnoth of Dragons was born from Paragons own heart and soul at the peak of the holy mountain, where the citadel of the gods meets the celestial staircase. There, with the planet's own magical power driving the expansion of the heavens, Dalnoth was born - an amalgam of all of Paragon's experiences, and a new race of creatures poured forth. Dragons now roamed Rorschach thanks to Paragon, Herald of Change, fulfiller of the prophecy, and father of a god.

Many traveled from across the Realms to see this most mysterious man and to learn from him. Even a young wemic from the middle of nowhere on a sparsely populated island of Bläha had sold all of his possessions for the pilgrimage to Wyrmhelm on the Gold Coast. Accepted by Paragon, and Paragon's dearest friend Alex Didindoit, the young wemic gave up his name and devoted himself to the noble creatures of Dalnoth, dragons, and to their most pious and chivalrous paladin, Paragon. Now known as Servant of Dalnoth, the wemic was most pleased to learn that he had been given a god quest. Dalnoth had appeared to him in a dream just before dawn, and commanded him to seek out those who would help him free the goddess of Nature, whom and been captured. Dalnoth did not tell his Servant who was behind this ordeal. He merely hinted that ‘she' was a wicked goddess. His Servant felt only Brundin would be so bold, due to his abject hatred of goddess of War thanks to Paragon's training. The ‘wemic-with-no-name' sprung into action, leaping from his cliff home and bounced his way across the plains in search of his Dalnoth-promised allies.

Okay - that was the poetic version of the beginning of the tale. Here is the breakdown of what happened:

Torag, Regar, the Servant, and Silent Rose all meet and discover their common goals, setting out to find Florinda
After weeks of searching and countless encounters with all types of monsters, a ruined wizard's tower and a trapped demon within reveals that Florinda is in a modified Forcecage suspended above Lake Small Fry
Our heros arrive at the lake to find that Florinda is indeed in a Forcecage over the lake, but when they arrive, a trap is triggered and the cage begins to lower into the water
- As the cage lowers, a thin adamantite wizard's tower appears and lightning is hurled from its tip at the heroes
- Then, eight mutant women appear from within the tower to do battle:
  - A once beautiful elf that had been mutated into a partial insect, with eight horn like feelers protruding from her head. She had the power to cause the protrusions to grow in length so that she could rip them off and use them as arrows in her mighty bow
  - A woman who was somehow the crossbreed between a fire elemental, an elf, and possibly an assimar. She was a flying flaming form of feminity.
  - A woman with elvish features but a lion like tail, eyes and claws that wielded a wicked long sword and could spring way like a dexterous cat on steroids.
  - A woman with elvish feature except for her goat like horns protruding from her head and cloven feet. She could have been a tiefling, yet our heroes didn't stop to ask.
  - A blue skinned woman with huge bat like wings and the ability to call lightning form the heavens who wielded a sword made of lightning
  - A beautiful human female with black hair and almond shaped eyes seemed unharmed and not mutated as she arose from the waters, until her eight octopus legs appeared and began to drag Florinda's Forcecage down faster into the water.
  - A beautiful and yet hideous pale skinned human woman with four arms and hour legs, hair like black spider webs and multiple shiny black eyes crawled out of a trap door in the ground next to the tower, and finally
  - A lovely naked human female who seemed to be fleeing the tower, until her legs lengthening and twisted, and fur sprouted from her bare skin - a werewolf through and through
- The battle raged as the champions took on the eight mutant women and finally succeeded in defeating them
- The wizard in the tower appeared and summoned a gateway to the heart of Dalnoth's volcano right over Regar and Silent Rose, just as they were freeing Florinda from the Forcecage.
- Florinda's body was killed, but her spirit was now free to return to the heavens where she regained her powers.
- Silent Rose's body was vaporized, and although Regar had fire affinity, that wouldn't save him from the magical magma that came from Dalnoth's volcano.
- Florinda returned to the planet with Silent Rose's soul and Regar's soul (wih the blessing of Fou) and gave them to the Servant and Torag
- Torag, and the Servant - who incidently defeated the Lightning woman only to have her regenerate and agree to be his lover due to his prowess and ability to defeat her (so twisted and wrong on so many levels) - took the souls that Florinda had given them in a special magic jar to the nearest town.
- Silent Rose was reincarnated into an elf, and although she misses her pixie form, her elven form is more suited to her new role as a chosen Cleric of Florinda.
- Regar was reincarnated as a man, and was very sad not be a goblin
Now reunited, the four adventures were about to go back to their homes when Pryden appears to tell Torag thank you for saving Florinda, but also to point out that this rescue hasn't stopped Kariya.

Pryden explains that he has lost contact with his temple in Shunnen on the island of Luzja, and that there is something that is blocking him from seeing Shunnen or from appearing their in avatar form. He directs Torag to find out what is behind this, and put a stop to it. He also tells him that there is a possibility that magical dead zones are appearing, which means, Sorcier, the god of Magic may be under attack.

Torag and his new friends leave Bläha and set out for Luzja by boat, arriving at the town of Narthym. From Narthym the set out to Shunnen. During this route, they are attacked by clerics of Kariya who are indeed spreading a wicked new disease. Narthym is filling with deceased people, too many for the clerics of the goodly gods to heal repeatedly, for the disease seems to come back even to those that have been healed of it. It comes back in a newer deadlier form. After the attack, Torag begins to realize that one of their weapons that he was nicked by passed on a curse, and he is now becoming a wererat. The only known cure for breaking the wererat curse of a Blade of Kariya, is having a cleric of Kariya remove it - and that simply isn't done. Torag has one turning of the moon before he is taken fully by the curse, and now the chase is on.

Our heroes follow the clerics that attacked them and Narthym across the plains of Luzja and finally arrive at Shunnen. They are met with a hail of arrows fired by none other than the goddess of Kariya herself. A gigantic battle ensues, and the clerics of Kariya are defeated, and the goddess' avatar defeated by the Servant of Dalnoth. Torag's curse is lifted mysteriously, but there isn't time to discover how or why. The entire town of Shunnen is dying from disease. Pryden declares that this town is now quarantined.

Each of our heroes falls ill, except the Servant of Dalnoth and his electric woman. Finally, Regar, Silent Rose, and Torag each slip into a coma. The Servant and his woman spend many weeks traveling with their friends' diseased bodies back to the town of Narthym. There for many months they wait until the healers tell them there is nothing they can do. Dalnoth appears and tells his servant that he must go to T'getit for barbarians are attacking a lawful city he had under his protection. The Servant begins to refuse for he will not leave his friends. Dalnoth raises the spirits of his Servant's friends out of their sick bodies and grants them new ones carved of his own flesh so that they may travel temporarily with his Servant. The Servant is happy and takes his friends with him to battle the lawless Barbarians. While gone from their bodies, Regar, Silent Rose, and Torag have a great adventure with the Servant, and they discover the uses of the whirling blades of death. Yet, slowly, the enchantment of Dalnoth's flesh wears away, and they leave the Servant with his electric girl one night and are again bound in the comatose bodies on the island of Luzja.

Meanwhile, Marconus, the son of Xander Dane, the Ranger Protector of Luzja, has decided to take up studying magic, moves to Isothian, and works in the library there. He meets and then weds, Sali, a traveling half-ling bard. He moves with Sali, and her family, to the hidden lava tubes of the high mountains on Luzja's eastern shore. It was easy for him to leave his new life in Isothian due to the tragic events that befell his beloved library and the head librarian he worked for. Theft of the Tome of Lingee was most disturbing as were the increasing reports of people being stolen and sold into slavery. Some whispered of an ancient dark power that was rising in the west and north. Marconus, never one for battles or mysteries, headed to the mountains for a life of quiet contemplation and magical research among his beloved Sali's happy half-ling family.

Finally, the sickness that has left them comatose for TWO YEARS passes and Regar, Torag, and Silent Rose awaken. They are in Narthym and are given all sorts of gifts by the healers who have been studying them for the last two years. There are many sick people who are there and the three heroes donate their now mystical blood to help fight the disease that still rages in Narthym, their blood heals a young boy who only recently came to Narthym for aid. He was sent by the elders of Pender, as small town on the east coast of Luzja, to bed for aid from Narthym. The town has been ravaged by undead, the grossly diseased bodies of the fallen of Pender are returning to spread the plague. Pru, the young boy, offers the town's meager sum of 10 gold pieces to each of the heroes. They agree, more out of the principal of the issue at hand than for the gold. Reequipped by the healers and by the thankful recently healed populace of Narthym, they set off for Pender, leaving Pru in safe hands in Narthym.

Here is a brief run down of what happens:

The travel to Pender takes 17 days in which they encounter
- a merchant who has been setting traps using decapitated medusa heads to turn unsuspecting travelers into amazingly ‘lifelike' statuary that he is selling for a might profit in Isothian
- a band of highway men who are ambushing peddlers
- a troop of gnolls that are fleeing the romantic advances of a lonely hag in the hills below Mt. Carmel
- Regar prays to Fou and she appears and grants him his wish to be made a goblin with flaming hair again
- a Red Dragon who is out looking for loot to put in its hoard so that its newly acquired aging potions will take it to Wyrm status from its mere Adult status - although, it was a huge Adult red dragon because is was born of Scion lineage dragons.
  - Just as our heroes are about to turned to ash, Pryden appears and stops the dragon's breath from consuming them
  - Next Dalnoth appears and smites his own creation because it was evil and trying to attain age and power through trickery
  - Dalnoth grants Torag the dragon's meat and blood as compensation
  - Torag harvests all of the dragon fired glass from where Pryden was standing when the breath was turned, then dips it in the dragons blood, creating red stained windows for a temple he is going to build to Pryden when he retires. He stores the windows, blood and meat in his gigantic bag of holding
They arrive in Pender, rescue a man and his wife from an angry mob
They destroy the undead that were set upon the town because the mayor had desecrated the grave of the wife of a local wizard and cleric of an unknown goddess. When the wizard/cleric is defeated, and his mace falls to the ground, a vortex is opened to what appears to be a different plane of existence, and an arm comes out of the vortex and grasps the mace, taking it back to the other plane.
A woman is found floating in the creek next to the town, and through the combined powers of the heroes she is somehow brought back to life. Now known as Mardy the Reborn, she vows to protect Pender.
Now on their way back to Narthym, the three heroes are summoned into the heavens for a private meeting with their gods.

Here is the crux of the meeting...Florinda relates to the heroes the absolute truth of the creation of the universe and Rorschach. Everyone, including Fou and Pryden, are stunned. The secret of Ombra is revealed and can only be revealed while shielded within Florinda's home plane in the heavens. She binds all present to an oath that they will not tell anyone on Rorschach for fear that knowledge of Ombra and her dark sisters will increase their worshippers and the two that are currently trapped in the Void.

Florinda then tells the heroes that there are multiple places on Luzja where she, Fou, and Pryden cannot scry or appear. They haven't brought it up to the other gods for fear of reprisal for not sharing the truth of Ombra faster. The three gods tell their most loyal servants that the quest is not over, that Kariya is trying to assist Ombra by wiping out hosts of the goodly gods followers with diseases, and Brundin is attempting to do so with war (thus the barbarian attacks on Dalnoth's cities). Everything is interrelated and it is all becoming clear. If the heroes don't stop Ombra's dark justicars (her evil clerics) from gaining power then Ombra will fully materialize from the Shadow Plane, and with the help of Brundin and Kariya - they will rip open the Void, freeing the two imprisoned goddesses - Ombra's sisters- and the well of universal magic and creation will again be accessible to the triune goddess of Stary Chaos who will dominate as they did before two of them were sealed in the Void - oh, yeah, and the wicked race of Caerci cat people will potentially enslave all humanity again.

This is way over Torag, Regar, and Silent Rose - they don't understand half of what Florinda told them for they have never heard of Stary Chaos or this well of universal magic and creation. They had always been told that Verdith, Flordina, Ordith, and Massey were the original gods born from the magical chaos of the universe. This rattles them to know that the truth of the origin of the universe has been hidden, but they understand the desperate situation. They set off immediately to find these ‘blind spots'.

Pryden sets them down just outside of a blind spot he cannot enter on the slopes of Mt. Carmel. The heroes investigate to find that it is nothing more than a special temple to Runyen being built to house all of the Dwarves on Rorschach. All the Dwarves on the whole planet are moving to Luzja, where the deepest wells of adamandite and mythral have been found, enough to last all the Dwarven craftspeople for millennia. The heroes are sworn to secrecy once it is discovered that they are wandering around the mountain. The Dwarves will eventually let the world know about this place, they just want it to be a huge surprise when they do. They allow the heroes to travel on to Mt. Carmel and seek information on more blind spots from Dwarven cartographers.

Leaving Mt. Carmel for a blind spot just south of the Dwarven enclave, the trio stops at an expanse of mountains filled with lava tubes. Here they chance on Marconus Dane and Sali his wife who disclose to them that they didn't know that Marconus' ring was the cause of a ‘blind spot' right where they live. It is then deduced that Marconus' father's home, and his mother's home in the hills are two more ‘blind spots' - granted powers from the gods of Sorcier and Willet - Magic and the Hunt. The heroes take Marconus' news of slave trading, diseases, and the robbery at Isothian - piece all the clues together and find that everything is pointing to a resurgence of power in the quarantined town of Shunnen.

The teleport from Marconus' blind spot in the mountains directly to Shunnen, as they knew the town well from their days battling Kariya there, and from their prolonged quarantine before they fell into their comas. They arrive to find a huge purple pulsing magical shell around a structure. The attack the shell and the structure defeating the lone Greater Caerci cleric of Ombra that has been left.

During the ransacking and searching of this new temple to Ombra the find:

Six humans who are alive, but quite obviously being prepared for sacrifice
Three dead humans being bled over buckets for blood sacrifice on two different alters in the temple - one of the male bodies turns out to be the husband of one of the survivors and the father of the only child survivors
Two rooms filled with ancient Caerci manuscripts
A piece of a star on a special pedestal
A star shaped summoning room
A giant room with wall covered in the story of how even though Brundin was the cause of the Stary Chaos goddesses fall, and the reason they were sealed into the Void, she made a bargain with them that it would only be fore 500 years, and that she would let them out if they would share their power with her
A mysterious blue metal is found that blocks all types of magic - the rest of the rooms of the temple have been made impervious to its effects, except for the rooms that the captives are in and the ceiling of the captives rooms, which is what is causing the blind spot over Shunnen
Pryden can now appear because the cleric who was channeling the powers of the metal is dead. Pryden takes the library of scrolls and leaves (he goes to the Dwarves who are working to solve the problem of keeping the Void sealed)

The heroes take care of the captives for a few days and attempt to take them to Narthym. When all their strength returns four of the six captives do not wish to go to Narthym. The female Druid, leaves via plant walking and travels to summon Xander Dane to Shunnen. The sailor from Onpletin decides he wants to get back to the sea and takes off south by himself before the heroes realize he was involved in the slave trade that brought the captives there in the first place. Cristo, the loner, wants to return to his home town of Ayrath. The crazy woman who sold her family into indentured servatitude to the sailor only to be sold as slaves to the Greater Caerci cleric wants to go with Cristo. The little boy, her son, knows his mother is crazy and wants to stay with Torag. Pernal, a young man from Logath who was stolen from his parents agrees to go to Narthym since it isn't that far from Logath, and he could be home in a few days walk from there.

Cristo and the crazy mother, named Carrie, leave for Ayrath. The heroes begin to travel north, but several encounters with odd weather, and the general danger of things surrounding them leads Torag to believe that Vance, the boy, should be teleported to Narthym. The boy doesn't want to go to Narthym, he wants to be with Torag. Torag decides to send the boy to live with Marconus and Sali while he is busy mopping up this mess about Ombra. Regar teleports Vance there with a note from Torag, then teleports back to their camp. Then he decides to try to teleport Pernal to Narthym. Unfortunately, his spell doesn't go off as planned and they appear a mile from Narthym and several dozen feet in the air too boot. Pernal falls and cracks his skull on a rock and begins to bleed out. Regar regains consciousness and teleports them back to Torag and Silent Rose. Torga heals Pernal and puts him in a deep sleep so he can rest. During the night though, the camp is attacked by a Red Dragolich who kills Pernal in his sleep and nearly kills Torag and Silent Rose. Thanks to Florinda though, and a god-call made by Silent Rose to get Florinda there, the Dragolich is destroyed buried under a mountain of holy direct, forever entombed on now the only mountain that stands like a dagger point into the sky on the plains just east of Shunnen, in the Cope-Pisciotta River Valley.

Meanwhile, Nicholas a trap tester who has been working for the Dwarven vault and lock makers of Mt. Carmel for the last five years is sent on a journey by the Dwarves to find out about this mysterious blue metal they have heard of, as news from Ayrath is that someone there knows where to find some. Nicholas travels south by the river and meets Xander Dane just as he is coming out of the mountains. They spend a cordial night together is discussion, as Xander tells Nicholas that he is being summoned to the west coast on urgent matters. Nicholas heads south and encounters a roving band of Ogre Magi. He kills two and the others take gaseous form and flee. He starts to bury what is left of their meal (a human female on a spit) when the charcoaled and crusty human moves and reveals she is still alive, yet her tongue has been cut out. Nicholas rushes her to Ayrath to the Temple of Velergin - god of Healers. She is fully healed and restored. Nicholas discovers she is a spell caster named Elsa, who was traveling in the company of a woman name Carrie, and a man named Cristo. Cristo sold Carrie and Elsa to the Ogre Magi to save his own hide. Nicholas locates Cristo in a pit of a bar down by the docks, and after learning there is a pricy bounty on Cristo's head, convinces the drunken Cristo to commit suicide. The bounty is given to Elsa at Nicholas' request, who re-equips herself for her wizard craft.

Just as Nicholas and Elsa leave the guild house where she has acquired scrolls and a blank spellbook to try and rebuild her own spellbook lost to the Ogre Magi, an odd flickering occurs...

All the worshipers of the gods doing battle on Luzja appear in a large circle surrounding the gods avatars, transported from wherever they were on Luzja to this spot at this moment. The gods doing battle are:

Brundin

Kariya

Mauvais

Ombra

Against

Florinda

Tutell

Fou

Pryden

The mortals flicker and fade in an out as the gods draw upon their worshipers faith for strength. The evil gods begin to loose though, and one by one they and their worshipers ‘pop' out of the circle fleeing the battle. Finally, Flordina, Tutell, Fou, and Pryden are victorious as Dalnoth arrives and they overpower the evil gods. All the goodly gods worshipers are thanked for their faithfulness and sent home, except for Nicholas, Torag, Regar, and Silent Rose. Elsa, who does not worship a god at all is stunned by what she witnessed. She doesn't know why she was brought there, but she is beginning to believe that their really are gods and that she should probably pick one to worship or her soul could real end up in the Void.

Tutell retrieves a special devise from her worshipers who came to her call and then sends them back to Mt. Carmel, their home. Thanks to the Caerci library delivered by Pryden, the Dwarves were able to create a device to mold the blue metal, if Nicholas can find some. Torag steps forward, as does Regar, and gives Nicholas the metal they seized from the Caerci Temple to Ombra.

Everyone realizes they are now alone - the gods have left - and they are standing in the middle of the blackened land on Luzja that can only be one place - the Dead Zone. Eager to turn the metal into a magical lock that no magic can ever pick or destroy, Nicholas explains to the heroes that he is on a quest to keep some door sealed. The heroes realize that they are on the same quest. They begin to search for the next ‘blind spot' that is being caused by Ombras Dark Justicars and prevent the door to the Void from being opened.

Everyone then realizes - Ombra has materialized fully on the Prime Material plane.

The week that promised hope and then crapped on us

Sat, 8 Aug 2009 09:16:06 -0600

This week started off to be something of a surprise. Monday wasn't bad, although by the time I got home with dinner I was a little miffed. To recap:

Monday - I had brought my laptop home due to a meeting that I had on Thursday evening and I had just forgot to take it back to work on Friday. Well, I forgot to take it into work on Monday as well. Unfortunately, I had a training scheduled that day and had to borrow a laptop from the laptop cart. It bombed out twice during the training and the girl that I was training ended up having to sit at my desk using my computer. I don't like that at all. Also - I forgot to bring Matt's paycheck with me to deposit. Tried to close July at work, but a journal entry was pending - so oh well. Went to Wal-Mart and did a quick grocery shopping thing - bread, fruit, veggies, lunch meat, and roast chicken for dinner.

Tuesday - Went well. Silly auditors asking for things that they told us weren't due to them until 08/17 - they suck. Closed PnG for July though. Overall a good day. Forgot Matt's check again, but remembered to bring the laptop back to work.

Wednesday - More of the same stuff at work unsurprisingly. Forgot Matt's check AGAIN! Still in relatively good mood.

Thursday - remembered Matt's check!

Friday - good day at work, come home to find out Matt was laid off - again!