Sexy Drood...

In my currently unmotivated life, dealing with kids who always seem to be ill these days, I escape to the World of Warcraft where I have leveled my Night Elf Druid, Badra, to 70 in The Burning Crusade (BC). I also have a flying mount and can shape shift into flight form -- perks of the expansion. Now if I could just earn the 5000 gold to get my epic flight skill, I could not only get an epic flying mount, but I could also begin my quest for the druid epic flight form. You have to love Blizzard: they frown on people (and even ban those who are caught) who spend their hard-earned cash to buy gold while simultaneously promoting it by over-pricing some game skills.

Whereas I was once one of the awesome healers for our guild, Paradox, shortly after the release of BC, I respecced Feral to do some serious ass-kicking. After finding out that there are end-game dungeons that require a feral druid to tank, I decided that I would be one of two druids in the guild to remain feral. I also have pretty awesome damage per second (DPS) in cat form. Some healers, who let my health drop below 40-50%, struggle to get me back up to full health. This is good because it means I have A LOT of hit points. It's bad because, if they can't get my health back up to at least 80%, I die...and that can easily become a 10 gold repair bill.

Another change came when guild drama got out of hand in February. I swear sometimes passions run higher than in, say, Passions. At any rate, devoted Paradoxians, like myself, moved the guild from the Perenolde server to Ravencrest and made a new home. Ravencrest is also a lot less populated and makes for smoother gameplay.

While it is highly addictive, World of Warcraft has served as a relaxing escape from life's realities lately.

I don't regret moving to Memphis; I'm near my family and my husband is closer to his, but the new climate is taking it's toll on the health of our kids. Damian, poor little man, is already allergic to just about everything in nature. He's had tonsillitis three times in about two months. Alexandra is also sick again. Gabrielle had her battle with tonsillitis as well, and is starting to get congested again. I would probably handle it better if health insurance had kicked in when we were originally told it would. Previous experience taught me that most company insurances start after the ninety day probation period; if you're lucky, it starts up right away. It was a rude awakening to find out that our insurance wouldn't start until the first day of the month following the end of the ninety day probation. Yay, right? Because my husband didn't officially get hired until Feb. 3. If he'd been hired at the end of January, we wouldn't have had to wait nearly an entire extra month for insurance. Needless to say, we've had to pay out of pocket for our kids to see a doctor and get necessary meds.

That, in itself, is enough to drive any normal person insane. But for someone like me, who is already paranoid, neurotic, and anxious, imagine the impact this has had. I'm positive that my hair is grayer in the few months we've been here than in the years it took to get the few white wires I had before. But I wouldn't know for sure because I try to keep my mousy brown covered in more interesting reds. At any rate, getting my kids adjusted to Memphis climate and culture, both physically and emotionally, put a pause on my own goals, which are also changing. Reading the most recent National Geographic article "The Big Thaw" doesn't help matters much.

I completely believe in reincarnation, but this starting over business is the pits.

What did I get myself into?