Three years coming up

Wow. It's almost been three years since I started TGW. Thanks for putting up with the posts about hemorrhoidal treatments and stuff. I hope that I've been able to entertain a little bit at least. Unfortunately, I didn't get to finish the jdorama over the weekend. I ended up with too much on my plate. With any luck, I'll be able to get through it this weekend. My daughter and I have our recital next weekend so nothing geeky will get accomplished then. However, after that, my schedule frees up quite a bit. Maybe I'll be able to get through quite a few series this summer! Wish me luck!

Game review: Virtual Villagers 4: The Tree of Life

Virtual Villagers is one of my favorite games. The fourth game in the series is titled The Tree of Life. Your tribe (from the previous games) is sending out 5 villagers to check out some strange happenings on the island. Instead of randomly assigning you villagers, you get to choose your party. Once you arrive at your destination, you find out that the Tree of Life is dying. It is your job to figure out how to heal the tree. As usual, the gameplay has not changed. All of the commands are exactly the same as the previous incarnations of the game. However, this is not a bad thing. Experienced players can skip the tutorial and jump right into the game with no problems. At the same time, the controls are easy enough the beginners can pick them up quickly.

Besides, the best part of the game is the puzzles. Each version of the game gives you a variety of puzzles for your islanders to solve. It's usually something that will advance your tribe's abilities. For example, "build nets to catch fish" will help your villagers bulk up their food supply. It is so much fun to figure out exactly what you need to do in order to finish all of the puzzles. Meanwhile, there are still collectibles for the children to gather. I haven't finished most of the collections yet, but there is usually a reward once each collection is complete.

I would say this game is aimed at fans of The Sims or other simulation games. Though, if you really enjoy puzzles, you might like this too.

Memorial Day

A few weeks ago, I won a contest where the prize was a cream that was stated to be a good eczema treatment. Both my daughter and my husband have a slight problem with eczema so I had them try it out. It doesn't seem to be too bad. Granted, I'd prefer that they never had the problem to begin with, but I suppose putting cream on the spots is a decent solution. And before I forget:

Happy Memorial Day. Let's keep all of our fallen soldiers in our hearts today.

Tired already?

Everyone seems to be against the 'sitting around and watching jdoramas' ideas. It's almost 5PM and I'm exhausted. I did too much for one day. I guess it's a good thing it's a three day weekend! In my little bit of downtime, I saw an article about the FDA warning users of alli and xenical diet pills that they may cause liver failure. See, this is why diet pills freak me out. Yes, I want to lose some weight...but I'd like to keep all of my organs functioning the way they should. There is just no easy way to get skinny.

Health insurance sucks

Health insurance annoys me. We used to pay a ton of money each month and then have to pay more money when something happens. Isn't that the point of insurance? To pay for things when they happen? When my windshield cracked, my auto insurance paid to have it replaced. I only had to pay like $50 or something. So why isn't it similar for our health? Supposedly a health savings account can help you spend less on premiums, but I don't understand them enough to figure out why. Luckily, my husband got a really awesome job that pays for our health insurance so we're not laying out hundreds of dollars each month for it. Now we actually have the ability to get forward in life. I'm very grateful for that.

No Rain

The weather is finally getting nice around here. There's been quite a bit of rain lately and, frankly, I'm tired of it. I'd like to be able to get some nice patio furniture and just sit outside soaking up the sun. The rain ruins that. Not to mention that it also ruins my husband's garden. Some of our strawberries are already splitting from too much water. Go away rain!

Upcoming Plans

There will be a video game review coming up in the next few days. I just want to play the game a little more to really get the feel for it. Sorry I'm so slow! I'm also going to attempt to get back into watching jdoramas this weekend. It's been so very long since I'm really sat down and watched anything. I have RH Plus waiting for me. It's a show about vampires. Hopefully it's a really good show about vampires. Though I don't think any of them will be doing the hot 'vampire in a tuxedo' thing. Ah well. That is my goal for this weekend. Finish that entire series.

Audiobook suggestions?

As I said last week, I'm working on shedding a few pounds. I think I'm doing a bit better on the food side. However, the exercise side is much more difficult for me. I don't have room in my house for fitness equipment, though I would really like to have a home gym one day. So I guess I'm left with just walking around town a few days a week. It gets really boring though. I did hear a suggestions about listening to audiobooks while walking. I'll have to look around to see if I can find any good ones. Suggestions?