So, things are maybe getting back to normal after the 5 inches of snow shut down most of Virginia for a week. The kids were off of school for five unplanned days, my office was closed one day (though I still ended up working – yay telework…not), all kinds of activities were cancelled for everyone, and UPS is currently a week late in delivering my Game of Thrones season four blu-rays.

The highlights of the week were the visit from the plumber to fix the toilet after I wasn’t able to successfully snake the drain, the fact that the no-longer blocked toilet was slow because it got cold enough to slush the drain pipe (record-breaking low temps here – luckily, we didn’t suffer burst pipes like several folks I know), and the kids going a little stir crazy and my lovely wife going a little nuts as a result.

But thankfully, everybody’s back where they’re supposed to be today, as the roads are finally clear, at least for the moment. We are, however, all a little stressed out, or dealing with the results of stress.

Had a decent weekend, though. Saturday was the scheduled date for the now-legendary Dinner & Dungeons & Dragons event that I throw into our church’s charity auction every year: I cook lots of food, and have winning bidders over to the house for a rousing afternoon/evening of dice rolling, monster killing, and general silliness in an informal one-shot adventure. I had to make this year’s event special, as bidding got fast and furious, with seats at the table going for a lot of money. This year’s adventure involved retrieving a piece of arcane scientific equipment from a group of cultists. Lots of fun was had, even if it did basically become a total Munchkin/Murder Hobo fest, with most of the characters not even getting names. Still, we all enjoyed ourselves, especially Andrea, who hadn’t played since college, and was getting an evening off from toddler duty. Also, I made a six pound Bacon Explosion, which is something I do maybe once a year, when I want to feed a lot of people. This thing is ridiculous, but tasty.

Otherwise, I got some stuff done around the house, had a nice video chat with Elizabeth from Antimatter about life, the universe, and the publishing industry, and finally chorded out a song for my friend Wendy, who has graciously agreed to give my kid some guitar lessons (because who wants to learn the basics from your dad?).

Might do some neat friend/gaming stuff over the coming weekend, and will hopefully take delivery of those GoT discs so I can catch up in the evenings. Damned weather.