May I have have this Monthly Update?

Puns. hehe, what's not to love?

Okay, let me get down to brass tax (tacks?).  I haven't been posting a lot for the past couple weeks.  The main reasons for this are A: my sister and her family moved to town from Texas, and have been taking a lot of my spare attention.  B: any remaining energy has been dumped into Amonkhet, the latest set of Magic.  I also had a bout of what I've been calling the 'Texas Plague,' which knocked me out a couple days. I've recovered, and what remains is just allergies, so I'm going to try to get a hold of myself and start posting once in a while.

My sister Mz and her family moving to town is a big deal.  She's been away for the better part of twenty years, and out of state for more than half of that time.  Just under two years ago, she had a baby, which is the first niece or nephew in our family.  The baby is super smart and cute, and generally very smiley, and I've been having a great time watching her while Mz and her husband have run various errands, mostly around the subject of buying a house.  I've gotten the impression that the (still new) parents really appreciate some time to themselves, and Jane and I have been happy to oblige.   That said, I'm not as young as I used to be, so I find myself pretty drained afterward.  Additionally, Jane and I are both pretty introverted, so we often just want to shut ourselves down after a long family session.

My downtime is mostly spent playing Magic.  While I have said, repeatedly, that I need to cut back on this habit, it always seems to flare up when a new set is released.  This new set has been very intriguing, and I had a nice run of wins when it first came out.  This hooked me in, but it's been all downhill from there.  Loss after loss, it's disheartening.  Jane is going out of town for a few days, so my plan is to go to my Local Game Store (LGS) and play a draft there.  Depending on how that goes, I will close the book on this set.  Or, keep it open and play more, always more!  Magic Online makes it so easy.  

I started playing this set while I was sick with teh Texas Plague (Mz and her family were all sick when they arrived out or house).  While I was sick I also watched a few new TV shows, including 'Into the Badlands', 'Mr. Robot' and 'The 100.'   I think my favorite out of those was Into the Badlands, it had some great kung-fu movie action choreography.  Mr. Robot was a bit too dreary for my taste, and I dropped it about halfway through.  The 100 is perfectly serviceable sci-fi that has a real Young Adult vibe to it.  it will probably be a show I only watch when sick. 
  
Finally, Jane and I watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which was great.  Maybe not as great as the first one, but I could see how someone might think so.  Drax and baby Groot are the best!  Tip of the hat to the Blue people in the movie as well.  

-D