Risk Legacy: Game 4

I'm finally doing a post from my brother's stay two weeks ago!  Game 3 resulted in changes during set up, which we got to experience in game 4.  We now take turns picking from several options to gain an advantage in one area while losing the advantage in another.  Kylen and I made our clan choice top priority, Ryan started with extra cards he could turn in for men, and Greg wanted first pick at his starting location.  He was last, but picking his starting location first gave him way more of an advantage than any of us imagined.  He dominated most of the game, having begun in Australia where he got an extra man above the bonus (from having named the continent in a previous game).  It's the easiest area to hold, which left him plenty of men to expand and conquer.  For his reward, he chose to name a major city "Guinea Pig Island" in his beloved Land Dad-Under.  The rest of us could only upgrade a territory.

We opened TWO envelopes!  Both had a LOT to digest, so we'll be going through them at the beginning of the next game.  The most exciting discovery was a new clan!  We decided to take a break on Ryan's next visit and play a round of Settlers of America, but game 5 of Risk Legacy should prove very interesting.  =)

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day gift each year is for the boys to do yard work and plant flowers in the front, mostly petunias.  Between inclement weather and lack of time, it usually gets delayed several weeks.  This year though, Saturday was perfect.  We spent the morning purchasing flowers and hanging baskets for the porch.  The boys helped weed, Greg assisted with planting, and we all got plenty of fresh air and sunshine . . . just in the nick of time!  The weather turned muggy and overcast the very next day, but when summer returns, our yard will be ready!

The church we've been attending hosted a special bell choir from a Bible college.  It was an interesting experience!  I couldn't see very well from where I was sitting and hoped to get a closer look at their set up, but they were almost finished packing by the time I reached the front.  One of the musicians noticed my curiosity and was kind enough to chat with me.  I was surprised to hear that many of the students learned everything this year, some even how to sing!  That's pretty impressive considering how well they performed!

Afterwards, we went to the same brunch buffet at the Coeur d'Alene Resort that we visited for Valentine's Day.  We appreciated being seated next to the windows again!  The weather was fairly humid and warm, so we didn't feel like carrying our full bellies far, but we did manage to make our way along the boardwalk until the bridge.  I took a few pictures, we drove home and called our parents, and I opened cards from my sweet boys.  It was a happy Mother's Day!

Settlers of America

I am still struggling with my breathing issue, though there might be a slight improvement.  I've begun asking folks to pray again.  This is something I REALLY don't want to live with the remainder of my life!  In the meantime, I'm trying to keep everything as calm as possible, mostly staying home, and not having people over (other than my brother!).  During one of my worst weeks, we played a LOT of games to help distract my mind.  One of those was Settlers of America, and what a fun game!  There are plenty of similarities to the original Settlers, but we were surprised by all the differences.  It was a LONG game, which made it even more awesome that Kylen won!  Somehow, he did extremely well in resources and held that advantage the whole way through.  Greg and I were struggling just to keep up!

Prayer Works! Update On My Breathing

First, I want to express how grateful I am to all the friends and relatives who prayed for me.  It is very rare for me to be that discouraged from symptoms related to my illness.  Beside here and those who talked to me on the phone, I also asked for prayer at an online homeschool forum for moms and at co-op last Monday.

Beginning Tuesday, I have seen some improvement each day.  My breathing isn't normal yet, but it is livable.  I can talk well instead of needing to just say a few words before I take a breath.  I yawn and take deep breaths much less often, and my lip is almost completely healed.  I am praising God for the improvements and lessons learned through the experience.  :-)

I saw my autoimmune disease doctor yesterday.  The good news is that it seems unlikely this is a problem with my lungs or heart, since it isn't making me tired when I get up and go about my usual daily routine.  The bad news is that it's not a normal reaction to anxiety.  Confirming my research, breathing problems related to an anxiety attack usually resolve themselves quickly once the person is calm.  No matter how calm I was, it didn't seem to make any difference.  The anti-anxiety pills I took a couple times made me very calm but didn't improve my breathing either.

I will be getting my 6-month blood work done soon, and they have added the thyroid.  Thyroid abnormalities can cause anxiety problems.  I am also moving up a breathing test I already had scheduled to early rather than late June.  For now, I won't be taking anything for anxiety.  We will see how the blood tests turn out and see if my breathing goes completely back to normal.  If not, I may see a lung specialist.  In the meantime, I am working on handling stress better, focusing on the present instead of next year, month, week, or even next hour!  I am a planner, so it is foreign for me not to be thinking ahead all the time.

One thing that surprised me through this ordeal is how common anxiety attacks are!  I have been surprised at how many people have told me they understand how scary it is, because they've had anxiety attacks as well.  Thank you again for all the prayers!  For now, I am releasing everyone from praying for me on this, since there are much bigger things out there to focus on.  But if you think of me, pray that my breathing will return to normal and for me to handle stress better.  Blessings!  =)

Risk Legacy: Game 3

Our third game of Risk Legacy made up for my dismal experience last time: I won!  Unlike the previous two games, we all kept to ourselves in the beginning and focused on building our armies.  At some point, Ryan was gaining an advantage with rapid expansion in Asia, and Greg went after him.  They spent the remainder of the game trading insults and territories.  This was a "fortuitious circumstance" for Kylen and me.  The nice bonuses they earned from large areas of conquered land went into funding their war against each other, while Kylen and I peacefully and slowly grew our forces with the help of our small continent bonuses (Africa and South America respectively).  Ryan always got his Australian bonus, and Greg was able to hold North America a few rounds.

All of us had big armies left at the end.

My faction had the special ability of my capital always being fortified.  The plus 1 on both my defense dice discouraged any attempt at invading.  Kylen decided to try for Greg's capital and began making his way north.  I had a sizable army in Europe that I'd built in preparation to strike a capital, but I held back due to everyone's daunting fortifications.  Kylen eventually left one of his border territories weak, and Ryan swept in to capture his capital.  If he hadn't, I would have!

Kylen and I had started with an extra victory point (red star) since we hadn't won before.  Each capital is worth a star, and you can also trade in cards for them.  Greg and Ryan traded their cards for men.  On my next turn after Ryan's big invasion, I traded in cards for my third star and used my European army to take Kylen's capital from Ryan.  He rolled very poorly, and I was able to get my final star.  For my reward, I followed in the footsteps of my two predecessors and chose to name a continent. I christened South America "Rivendell," an Elven outpost from Lord of the Rings. 

My army on Kylen's capital.

Here is where we came to a thrilling moment!  If the other three players chose to name a minor city, we could open up our first secret envelope!

There are six secret containers, four being envelopes.

Ryan decided to carry the animosity between him and Greg beyond the game and insisted that he would only name a minor city IF Greg would draw a smiley face on his hand.  Ryan and Kylen had revived their hand face silliness during the game, and this was Ryan's way of getting in a little good-humored jab.  Greg, being the stubborn man he is (we're perfect for each other!), wouldn't hear of it.  Much conniving ensued, and I even attempted to forcibly draw a face on his hand myself.  He fought me off valiantly, but Ryan at last consented to get even by naming a minor city "Smiley Face On Greg's Hand Island."  He then took a picture of it with his phone while proclaiming loudly that it would be on record for all time.

"Smiley Face On Greg's Hand Island"

As winner, I nominated myself official secret envelope opener.

It had quite a pile of cards inside, some of which will result in major changes to our future games!  Very exciting, but I'll wait until the next Risk Legacy post to talk about them.  =)

Anxiety and Viruses

I've had a rough couple of weeks health wise.  I was having trouble managing stress, and it culminated in an anxiety attack.  This was the second big one I've had, and both times my breathing was affected for a week or two afterwards.  This time the breathing problems really got to me, which added to my stress.  I woke up Sunday morning with half my bottom lip full of blisters.  I'm not the type to run to the doctor, but I decided to go.  They tested me and found out the blisters were from a common virus that causes cold sores.  It lies dormant most of the time but can be triggered by stress.  I could barely eat or talk for a couple of days, and even drinking was difficult due to the swelling.  It can take two weeks to completely go away.  They gave me horse pills that are an anti-viral which should hopefully help the healing process along.  I can't swallow anything remotely big.  Greg has to cut them into about 10 pieces, and I swallow the pieces one at a time.  This happens twice each day.  Add my other daily pills (main one being FIVE vit. D capsules each day - have to take the 1000 ones because anything bigger gets stuck in my throat), and that's a lot of annoyance.  At least it's forced me to drink more water, with all the guzzling to get all the pills down.  I've stayed home, because I look a sight!  Plus, it's contagious.  Plus, my breathing made me not want to do anything.  Praise God, my lip is definitely better today and my breathing is slightly improved.  I would appreciate prayers that my breathing returns to normal soon and for me to handle stress better.  Both of these things are a big deal right now.

The first time I got an anxiety attack, it was over something big.  Mostly though, I get stressed easily over small things.  I've always been that way to a certain extent, but I'm starting to realize I may need to take it more seriously.  Some of the trouble is my illness.  My body doesn't handle stress as well as someone with normal health, and I have worked hard over the years to address that by limiting my commitments and scheduling down time.  Some is probably due to my OCD/perfectionistic tendencies.  I have prayed lots but perhaps not as much as I should.  Sometimes I think my personality would need to change completely.  I'm the sort of person who moves a lot when I'm standing, I get up and down and pace while on the phone, and I can be very eccentric.  Is that a nervous problem or just my personality?  I think for me to be completely calm all the time would mean I'd have to become a different person.  Just to clarify, not a more godly person.  I don't think this is a sin issue.  I'm talking a different kind of person.  I like to be creative and occasionally obnoxious.  It's how I express myself.  I honestly don't know how I could trust the Lord more than I do, and I certainly don't have any sinful tendencies holding me back.  Yet, something needs to give.  I'm sure the Lord doesn't want me suffering from anxiety.

The doctor recommended anti-anxiety medication or counseling.  I don't like the idea of medication, and I can't help being offended by the idea of counseling.  This isn't depression.  I'm an upbeat person.  Maybe too upbeat but certainly not depressed.  The Lord is my healer and councilor.  At any rate, something needs to change.  I'll have to pray about what that needs to be!

Mario Wall Decals

We FINALLY got the rest of our Mario decals up in the basement!  It looks amazing, and we had a great time deciding how to arrange them.

 

 

 

Gotta have a pipe coming out the window.

Kylen's idea to make the center block higher so it looks like Mario is hitting it.

I wanted a pipe from the ceiling, and Kylen thought of the Goombas.

 

Greg thought it would be neat to surround the mushroom with bricks.