The Dragon's Cave

WORDS meme, Yoinked from kathrishali Kath posted five words that he thinks best describe me, and I am required to post them here and explain what they mean to me.

Dragon: My online presence is a dragon persona, so this one is pretty obvious. The next question is, however, "Why a dragon?" I have always been fascinated with dragons, and the dichotomy often presented by popular fiction about them. Some portray dragons as evil, destructive beasts, while others portray them as wise, stoic, powerful creatures who often stand somewhat aloof from humanity, while still others portray a division among dragons where some are evil and some are good. I find that I identify with dragons being stoic and standoffish; willing to help out when needed, but otherwise keeping to themselves and their close circle of kin. Dragons are often not trusted nor accepted within civilized society; they feel that they don't fit among mainstream cultures. Yet when they come to the aid of others, they are honored by those who were helped.

teddy bear: I've always had one teddy bear or another for as long as I can remember. I no longer sleep with a teddy bear (my wife is more cuddly after all), but I still have my teddy bear from my youth, sitting on the head of the bed next to my wife's teddy bear. :)

kids: I am proud to be called father by my children, even though being a father is one of the most challenging things I have ever done. I love watching my kids grow up, learn new things, and make new discoveries. I just hope and pray that I can be the father that they deserve.

gaming: Gaming has been a part of my life since I was old enough to use an Atari 2600 controller. I was much more of a player when I was a child, but when I first saw the movie TRON, I realized that I could have a career doing this kind of thing! After a few years in the field of Information Systems, I was able to land a job in the gaming industry, and I've never turned back.

zebras: I'm certain that Kath put this one so that I could sing my praises for Lauren, his Zebra alter-ego. Even so, I have always had a deep love for equines, Horses and Zebras in particular. They are noble, beautiful, powerful animals, and I cannot help but feel a sense of awe and love when I come close to one. I think this likely came from my mother, who also has a deep love for horses; she talked about them often while I was growing up, and even took me horseback riding when I was around 8 years old.

Well, I haven't posted here in far too long. Long & short of it is that work has really picked up lately, and I've been working 10+ hour days for more than a month now. Here's the news in a nutshell:

1. We are now allowed to announce what game we're working on. I'm part of a team building a PSP version of a fun little game called Fat Princess:

IGN Article

2. Went to E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), the biggest video game convention in the world. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring. Our game was demo'ed at the convention, and it was awarded one of the best at E3!

Best of E3

3. For those of you who may not know yet, Kimberly is pregnant with our fourth child. We are VERY excited about this! Though we'll be happy with either a boy or a girl, we're both hoping for a girl (after having 3 boys, ya know...)

When I first found out that Kimberly was pregnant, this image popped into my head, and I had to draw it out:

Well, I have now completed con badge commission #3, this time for my friend Richard Renard. His character is a Tiger/Fox crossbreed who loves to play the Nintendo Wii.



I'm pretty excited with all of the art opportunities I'm getting recently. I've had a lot of chances to flex my amateur art muscles. I hope (maybe?) I can start working on doing my own online comic in the near future. Heck, enough friends are telling me that I should go for it, what am I hesitating for?

I'm just nervous, I guess. I've seen plenty of bad online comics; poorly drawn, poorly laid out, poorly written. I'm sure I can do better, but I worry that someone out there is going to see my work as 'just another poorly done comic'. I want to rise above that. I don't want to have fame & fortune and be placed among the best comic artists of the day, but I do want to be 'good enough'.

I just saw this picture on my kitty's blog--this is a date we had earlier this month, when we went bowling.

We haven't been on an actual 'get out of the house and go do something' kind of date for months. I'm afraid the two of us are home-bodies; we'd much rather just stay in and do fun things at home than go out and spend money. However, this was a really fun experience for both of us, and I think we ought to do actual 'go-out' dates more often.

The other night, I came home to the smell of pizza. I heard my wife cry out in dismay as I came in the door, and I saw her pull a blackened pizza out of the oven. Apparently, the cooking timer had gone off, but she hadn't heard it until it was too late.

So, she pulled another pizza out of the freezer and popped it into the oven while she let the burnt one cool so she could throw it out. While it was cooling, I snuck a pinch of the toppings, to see if it was still edible. It was!

SO, I told my wife that I would be eating burnt pizza for dinner. Turns out that it was really only burnt on the outer surface, and it was just fine underneath the blackened exterior. While my wife & boys ate the good one, I set to work eating the blackened one. Here is the result:



Believe it or not, it actually tasted pretty good! My oldest son Jeffrey even asked for a slice, but he wasn't brave enough to finish it.

I've recently had the chance to see a few movies that I've been wanting to see for a long time.

Bolt, the new movie from Disney, continues Disney's return from movie mediocrity into the realm of enjoyable and memorable films. Many of us were somewhat turned off by some of Disney's 'flop films' in the past, and we had decided that Disney's glory days of excellent filmmaking were over.

Bolt restores my confidence that Disney knows how to make a good movie. They are not nearly back to the standard of excellence that they had long ago, but they are certainly on their way back up.

The movie tells an intriguing story of a dog who was brought up in a TV show world, with such care taken to convince him that the TV show is actually reality. In his world, Bolt is a super hero, with fantastic powers given him by the father of his owner, a young girl named Penny. Using Penny's smarts and Bolt's amazing strength, speed, eye-emitted laser bolts, and shockwave-inducing super barks, the pair struggle to stay out of the clutches of the Green-Eyed man and his minions, while trying to rescue Penny's captive father.

When one of Bolt's TV show plots leads to Penny being captured, Bolt's rescue attempt mistakenly ends up getting him shipped to New York City, where he is left to fend for himself in the real world. The remainder of the film follows Bolt's grapple with the reality that he doesn't truly have super powers, and his struggle to return to Penny in Hollywood. Through his self discovery and the aquisition of a few unlikely friends, Bolt discovers that he can still be a hero.

I was intrigued by the new and different storyline in this movie--it was a fresh take on the self-discovery plotline. I was also very impressed by advances in computer-generated animation; Disney has done the fur in this movie extremely well. I was particularly amazed by the realism of Bolt's wet, dripping fur during a scene where he was caught in the rain.

Another thing that excites me about this movie is the fact that it was not done by Pixar. Of course, now that Disney owns Pixar, all of their movies are published under the Disney label. However, Pixar's stories and characters are developed entirely in-house, independent (as far as I know) of Disney's oversight. Bolt, along with Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons, marks Disneys triumphant entry into the world of computer generated films, showing that they can still tell a good story while mastering the new technology at the same time.

Conclusion: While still not up to par with some of their classic movies (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Robin Hood), Bolt was a very enjoyable film, restoring my confidence that Disney can make a truly memorable movie experience.

I'm here at work just for this morning. At noon today, I'll hop in the car and drive the 7 hours up to San Jose to attend Further Confusion.

I spent last night packing and finishing the tail for Xaqtly, and didn't get to bed until 12:30 AM. UGH... and I wanted to make sure I had a good night's sleep. Do the best I can, I guess.

Regardless, I'm VERY excited to go up to the convention! I'll get to see lots of friends, comic artists, artwork, shows, and more. Plus, since I'm on the staff this year, I get to eat for free, and I only pay half for con registration. Not a bad deal at all. :)

I'll be up in San Jose though next monday, and I'll drive home that afternoon. I'll be posting pics when I can.

During the months following our company's separation from Green Screen, we have been working diligently to secure game project contracts. As of last week, we had two definite, signed contracts, and a 3rd that looked like it was all but a done deal.

Yesterday, however, our company owners gathered us all together and informed us that the 3rd project fell through over the weekend. As a result, our company only has two projects to work on, and thus cannot afford to pay the full staff. Six of our employees were let go yesterday, out of the blue.

Our company owners looked really haggard, as if they had been up all night agonizing over this decision. I don't envy them the choices they had to make, and I ache for my co-workers that had to be let go yesterday. This has got to be one of the worst times (that I can remember in my own lifetime) to lose a job! It appears that the gaming industry isn't so "recession-resistant" as experts once thought.

By some miracle, I still have a job. I honestly don't fully understand why my team lead Mike was let go and I was kept on. While I am very grateful to still work at SuperVillain Studios, I am very nervous about the future. Granted, with two definite, signed contracts, the projects will be there and the money will come in. Furthermore, with a leaner staff, we are in a much more sustainable position to move forward.

Lay-offs always make me nervous, though.

On a more positive note, I have nearly completed the arctic fox tail that my friend Xaqtly ordered for the convention. I closed up the main body this morning, cut and formed two belt loops out of denim, and was stitching one of the belt loops to the tail when it came time for me to go to work. I will finish it this evening, for certain.

I'm pretty happy with this tail--it's thick, soft, and fluffy, like a fox tail should be. :) I hope he likes it.

I have just completed my very first convention badge commission! This is very exciting for me, and I feel like I did a fairly good job on it. Xaqtly is pretty happy with it too.

HOLY COW. So much has happened in the last few days as far as art goes; it's left me blinking in disbelief.

Over the weekend, I decided to make good on my new year's resolution to be more consistently productive. So instead of playing games all day Saturday, I pulled out my sketch book and pencils, and went at it. After a couple of hours, I had drawn my character Brewster in four different expressions.

I scanned it into Photoshop and began the whole ink-by-mouse process again, only to get frustrated. Once again, I was reminded how difficult it is to hold the mouse steady and re-trace the lines that I had just sketched, and how the inked lines never ended up looking as good as the pencil drawing. I decided to forego the inking process and simply used the straight pencil lines for the picture. Another hour later, I had it all colored, and I was pretty happy with it.



It got me thinking. What if I had a digital pen and tablet (like a WACOM)? Then I could sketch directly into photoshop, and I could ink using the pen instead of the mouse. I had thought about using a WACOM tablet before, but for the first time, I started seriously thinking about it.

I resolved to ask the artists at work if I could borrow one. As luck would have it, there was one lying around at the desk of an artist who had left the company last month. The art lead said I could borrow it as long as none of the other artists needed it. So, I now have a WACOM tablet at my desk (Intuos 3 model, 8" x 6").



I was a bit apprehensive at first--I didn't know how it would feel 'drawing' on a tablet while focusing on the computer screen in front of me. Some folks have told me it's hard to get used to. However, as soon as I started using it, it felt completely natural! I was pleasantly surprised.

As a test, I asked my good friend Leonato if I could use his character as a test subject for my first WACOM project. I happily sketched, inked, colored, and shaded all in Photoshop, and came up with this:



It was just for fun, and to learn how to use the WACOM. But shortly after I posted it, my friend Xaqtly dropped a bomb on me. He asked me to draw a convention badge for him!

For those who may not know, badges at these conventions are often highly elaborate and professionally done by skilled artists. Fans have been known to pay upwards of $30 for a con badge commission. How could anyone consider me to do a con badge? Needless to say, I was flustered, nervous, and excited at the same time.

I agreed to do the badge, and I've been working on it quite a bit today. (We're waiting on a code/asset drop from the developer right now, so work is sort of in a holding pattern at present; I've had some time here at work to draw.) I was amazed at how much of a difference this tablet makes! It is so easy to sketch right into the computer, then ink with a PEN instead of a mouse. It is a simple matter to vary the width/weight of my inking lines, simply by applying/releasing pressure on the digital pen.

So far, I've been able to sketch, ink, and apply flat color to Xaqtly's con badge. Here's the work in progress:



NOW, great big sigh. I don't know if I could ever go back to scanning a sketch into photoshop and then inking with the mouse. I want to get a tablet for myself now... Time to start saving my nickles and dimes, I guess.

Happy new year to everyone! The general consensus I'm getting from everyone I've talked to is that 2008 was a bummer of a year, and that they hope 2009 will be better.

Hope nothin'. 2009 will be better.

That said, I wanted to send out my happy new year wishes to all of my good friends who take the time to read my inconsistent babblings on this blog. It's great to know all of you and hear from you!

Here are a few of my resolutions for 2009:

1. Be more productive and *regularly* productive. I can be really good in spurts, whether it be writing, composing music, making artwork, or other such, but I was really inconsistent during 2008. I want to discipline myself to be more consistent.

2. Be more outwardly focused instead of being selfish. I think that is probably one of the biggest reasons why I find myself getting frustrated with things more easily lately. If my goal is the happiness of others, instead of continually seeking to make things comply to my own standards, then I think I will be a lot easier to live with.

In other news, we're doing a bunch of new projects at work. The one I'm most excited about is a Dungeons & Dragons game for the PC, hopefully to be released in 2010. This will be the first PC game that our studio has worked on. HOWEVER, there's still a slight hitch--while we've been working on this project for a little while already, we still don't have a formal, signed contract with the publisher who has asked us to do it. We keep hearing that the contract is thiiiiiiiiis close to being signed, but we still haven't received any news that ink has been put to paper.

So (sigh), there's still a chance that this project may not work out. In the mean time, we've halted work on it until we receive something more definite, and I've been put on a smaller project to do a fun, team-based downloadable game for the PSP. Yes, BIG SIGH that I get to work with Sony again, but hey, it's a project, and this contract is actually signed.

This past weekend was pretty good--got a chance to see some friends of ours get married. Congratulations, Will and Caley!

Saturday night, Kimberly and I took the kids out to Corona to see my great Aunt and Uncle, Sally and Keith. Sally is my grandmother's little sister. Well, to put things in perspective, my grandmother passed away back in 1991, and Sally is still going strong (she's 91, while Keith is 94). We don't know how much longer Sally and Keith will be with us, but for their age, they are remarkably healthy! Walking around just fine, no problems communicating, Sally doesn't even wear glasses, and Keith is still driving a car.

We had a great evening as they took us to Mimi's Cafe for dinner, and then we went back to their place to chat for a while. We had some great conversation while the boys played outside in the backyard. I was amused at what happened when they found out that there was a bowl of chocolate-covered raisins on the coffee table--every few minutes or so, one of them would come back in, take a handful, and go right back out to play.

Sally and Keith are such sweet, humble, friendly people. They're the kind of couple that I hope Kimberly and I can become when we get into our twilight years.

Yesterday (monday) was a day off from work, because our company had their annual Christmas party on sunday night. The bosses knew that the guys would be up late (and some would likely get drunk), so they told everybody to take a breather on monday. Even though I didn't attend, I was given monday off along with everyone else.

I spent most of yesterday playing World of Warcraft, getting my hunter up to level 73. I'm really liking the Wrath of the Lich King expansion! The quests are varied and interesting (I was using a hunting hawk to nab turkeys yesterday), and the new continent is rich with story, characters, and plot. For those of you who may not know, I'm a sucker for a good story, especially in a video game, so I'm having a ball. :)

Also, my birthday present arrived yesterday--bought 'Advance Wars: Dual Strike' for the Nintendo DS. :D

*siiigggghhh....*

Our year-old male cat has been missing for two weeks. After being gone for a week, I feared the worst, but still hoped that he would show up at our back door some morning.

However, yesterday, a neighbor found a black cat paw (just the paw) out behind her backyard fence. We had secretly feared that he had been caught by the coyotes that come around at night, and it looks like that's what might have happened.

My poor boys were heartbroken, and both Bryce and Jeffrey fell asleep with us in our bed last night (never done that before).

Poor Maxxie... I hope he didn't suffer.

Wow... the last couple of days have been both a whirlwind and a nice, relaxed, low-stress holiday.

I came downstairs on the morning of Thanksgiving to discover that my wife had already been up for several hours. She had been working in the kitchen to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to help out, so I asked what I could do; she said, "It's already all done."

My jaw dropped!

"Mashed Potatoes?"

"Already boiling."

"Turkey?"

"In the oven."

"Stuffing?"

"Already done."

"Who are you and what have you done with my wife?!"

Seriously, folks--she was amazing. The dinner was delicious, and we have some excellent leftover turkey and "fixin's" in the fridge. We also had pumpkin pie.

I discovered later that day that she had written an entire blog post mostly about *me*. I was very humbled and honored. What can I say? I am truly grateful to have Kimberly as my eternal companion. She loves and gives, and I know that she wants me to be happy.

I honestly don't know what I would do without her--she's become my PR representative. I'm somewhat of a hermit, at least socially. Given my own choice, I would prefer to stick to a small group of close friends or just spend time alone, and not really care what happens out in the neighborhood or community. Kimberly, on the other hand, is a social butterfly, and she really helps me to get to know (and heck, even make friends with) the people that live out their lives not more than 100 yards away from mine.

Yesterday, we had... pie. And pie. And more pie. I like pie. :) Kimberly made yet another pumpkin pie, an apple pie, and a (surprise!) cherry cheesecake. We allowed the boys to have pie for breakfast, and they loved it! Jeffrey asked me this morning if he could have pie for breakfast again... sorry buddy, only on very rare occasions.

Oh, yeah, I guess it was sort of because I kinda turned 35 yesterday.

I got tagged by my friend Brigham over at digrat.blogspot.com, so here we go:

The Rules
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post (same deal as #3).
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random things about myself:

1. I am an avid Dungeons and Dragons player. I've been a dungeon master since I was in Junior High (20 years ago!), and I'm really enjoying the new 4th edition rules.
2. I've known Brigham since we first met in church back in 1985. We attended a lot of things together: church, boy scouts, dances, and college, and we were best men at each other's weddings.
3. I have a birthmark on the back of my right leg that is relatively large for a birthmark (nearly an inch at its widest diameter).
4. I was selected to be on the convention staff for FurCon '09 in San Jose.
5. I keep a Jango Fett pez dispenser on my desk at work.
6. For some reason I have very little interest in ever watching the new Batman movie, "Dark Knight".

I tag YOU:
-kimbooly
-richard_renard
-redstar918
-kbaccellia
-kathrishali
-mwalimu

Wow, just got word that Chris Yost over at the Foxx Den has posted chapter 7 of my story, 'A Little Life.'

Take a look!

Yesterday, my family and I finally got to see WALL-E for the first time. WOW, I was fully impressed! I'll get to the story line later, but the visuals were just stunning, especially the starscapes that we saw as WALL-E was flying along holding onto the side of the probe ship. I was a bit envious when he was able to reach up an actuated arm and touch the ice particles in Saturn's rings!

Pixar has done it again. They have taken an inanimate object (a robotic box in this case), and made me love it. WALL-E is the last operational unit of an army of clean-up robots that was left on the earth to take care of the remains of human waste and garbage while the bulk of humanity boarded a gigantic spacecraft and went to the stars to wait for the clean-up to complete.

700 years have passed since humanity left earth, and the majority of the WALL-E robots have broken down and stopped functioning. The WALL-E unit that we see in the movie is the last remaining unit in operation. Through hundreds of years of working in relative isolation, combing through humanity's discarded garbage, WALL-E has developed a number of quirks, such as a knack for self-repair, friendship with a cockroach, and a love of classic musical theater productions. Through the years, he has spent his time doing his job--compacting garbage into neat little cubes, and stacking them up into what has now become towers of trash. Everything changes one day when the human colony ship sends a robotic probe to earth, searching for signs of re-emerging vegetation in hopes that humanity can return.

I won't reveal the whole story here (even though most of you have likely seen the movie already), but I will say that I absolutely loved it, and would be happy to own this movie in our home. Pixar has taken two robots and given them each a soul, such that the audience can't help but relate to the both of them on various levels. WALL-E is such a sweet, innocent, curious robot that one could nearly mistake him for a human child.

The social commentary in this movie is clear, though--even clearer than in previous movies (Cars, for example). If humanity continues to pollute the earth and neglect to care for it, it will eventually become unlivable.

The short film at the beginning of the movie had me holding my sides with laughter, too--if you haven't seen it, get ready for some silly magic that you won't forget! :D

I have been hesitant to post about this issue in the past, because I have no desire to offend anyone nor create a flame war. However, I have realized how truly important this issue is, and I feel that it is morally imperative that I speak about it in the online community.

The issue I refer to is Proposition 8 on the California ballot for this November. For those of you who do not know, Prop 8 is an amendment to the California state constitution which will define marriage as between one man and one woman. In the year 2000, the people of California voted for this very definition by a 61% majority. However, earlier this year, the California Supreme Court overturned that vote by a margin of 4 to 3, opening the door to same-gender marriage in this state.

I fully support Proposition 8, and plan to vote in favor of it on the November ballot. It is an effort to re-establish the will of the people of California, and to re-affirm the institution of marriage as it has been defined throughout history.

I have a good number of online and offline friends who oppose proposition 8, be they homosexual or otherwise. I enjoy chatting/corresponding online with them, and I value their friendship. About a month ago, several of my online friends found out about my support for this proposition, and I was immediately bombarded with debate, accusation, and disbelief. I was told that I was supporting discrimination, hate, and bigotry.

Please understand: this proposition has absolutely nothing to do with discrimination nor hate in any form, despite the efforts of the opposition to label it as such. It simply seeks to preserve an institution that has been central to human civilization since before recorded history. It does not remove any rights nor privileges from same-sex couples in any way.

I want the online community to know of my support for this proposition, and I want to spread the word to my fellow Californians who value the institution of marriage.

NOTE: Again, I have no desire to start a flame war here. I welcome objective discussion; not debate nor flaming. (For reference, I define discussion as the mutual, friendly sharing of ideas with the intent to inform, understand, and learn. Debate is defined as two parties firmly established in their own positions, each attempting to discredit and debunk the opposition.) Please do not push me on this; if I see any attempts to debate or flame, those posts will be screened/deleted.

This morning at my sons' elementary school, they held a special flag ceremony in memory of the attacks of September 11th, 2001. When those attacks occured, my oldest son Jeffrey was 2 years old, and my 2nd son Bryce was just an infant!

Jeffrey dressed up in his cub scout uniform and joined a throng of cub scouts, boy scouts, brownies, and girl scouts as part of the flag ceremony. It all went very well, with one of the boy scouts directing the color guard to raise the flag to half-mast, then leading us all in the pledge.

Once the pledge was recited, the school administration put in a CD to play some patriotic music (as they normally do). HOWEVER, the song that came out of the loudspeakers was "Yo Ho Blow the Man Down." I was momentarily surprised, wondering just how patriotic a sailor's tavern song could be. Then many of the students started laughing, no doubt because they recognized the tune as the theme to 'Sponge Bob Squarepants'. They must've grabbed the wrong CD.

Needless to say, the song was quickly squelched, and one of the students led us all in singing 'The Star-Spangled Banner'. Much better.

As I drove to work with my carpool today, we discussed 9/11, and what my children know (if anything) about it. I realized that I haven't told them much about it at all, and I'm wondering if I should at this point. Granted, Jeffrey is 9 years old, and he's certainly gaining some maturity and responsibility. However, Bryce is 7, and Nathan is nearly 4; I don't know if their little minds can grasp/comprehend the severity and enormity of the events surrounding that day. Jeffrey, on the other hand, might be old enough to begin to understand.

We need to tell them eventually, because the history books certainly will, sooner or later.

Wow. Just this morning, I took a red-eye flight from Salt Lake City, UT to Santa Ana, CA, and now I'm here at work. I haven't been home yet--not looking forward to the messes my cats might have made...

Last week was a lot of fun. I took my family up to a cabin in Idaho, where we spent the week with Kimberly's extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses, nieces, nephews, etc.). Kimberly's mother planned out a lot of fun activities for us.

I got to go paint balling for the first time in my life! Eight of us dressed up in combat fatigues with helmets, guns, visors, etc., and went out to a field and played capture-the-flag. When the first game started, I saw my father-in-law guarding the enemy flag clear on the other end of the field. I figured I couldn't hit him from that distance, but I took a few 'high arc' shots anyway. On the third shot, I heard him cry out, then yell 'Ya got me!' COOL! I didn't find out until later that I nailed him right in the facemask--left a huge paint blotch all over his visor, and he couldn't see!

I got my payback a few minutes later, though--while I was crawling among the trees, my brother-in-law Bryan popped up and beaned me right in the backside. OUCH! :D

On tuesday night, there was a pie eating contest. A bunch of guys got to eat a 12-inch pie without using their hands. And guess who won? Yeah, I did! I was the first (in fact, the only) one to finish my pie. My son Bryce stayed at my side the whole time, encouraging me to finish, and even pushed my head down into the pie tin at one point.

Thursday night, the whole family took a horse-pulled carriage ride for an outdoor barbecue dinner. I was enchanted with the horses, and I was vividly reminded of how beautiful, powerful, and elegant horses are. At the end of the evening, the driver allowed some of the children to sit up on one of the horses for a picture, and he even let me do it!



This morning, I kissed Kimberly and the boys good-bye, and I came back home to go to work. My family will stay in Utah until the end of August, and then come home so the kids can start school. SO, I get to be a bachelor for the next couple of weeks.

We've done this before--Kimberly usually takes the kids out to Utah every summer while I stay home alone for a few weeks. It's fun for the first day or two, then I start to miss my family.