On the Third Quarter of 2026
Yes, yes, it’s been a while. I’ve been busy! There’s been a lot going on and you get a double post today to make up for it. Yay! Let’s check in on my to-do list.
Read 30 books - This is actually DONE! The Book List for the year is below, but I got really busy reading during our week-long trip to Lancaster this past summer. I’m currently reading book #34 for the year, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, recommended to me by my coworker Cara. It’s actually enthralling, but it’s taking be a bit to get through because work has been non-stop for about a month.
Visit a new state or NHP - Not yet, but still not for a lack of advocating. There’s been so much going on that I haven’t had time for far away travel, though we did spend the aforementioned week in Lancaster and we just spent a long weekend in the mountains. BUT we are making plans to go to Niagara Falls! We were thinking of going this fall, but I’d like us to get our passports so we can visit the Canada side when we go! Also we have upcoming plans to go to Atlantic City and Hershey!
Spend more time with family - DONE We’ve had weekly dinners with Brian’s dad and brother, I’ve been having somewhat regular lunches with my Aunt Rita and Mom, and we just spent part of the weekend with my brother Drew and his girlfriend Nary. I’d still like to keep up with this and I’m pleased that we have.
Catalog all the board games - and see how close we are to 100 - This actually partially happened! I’m still not done the catalog because I’m hesitant to count the stack on my dresser for now. I’ll actually be re-homing them shortly, since we’re currently in possession of some of Dan’s games, and he’ll be taking them back soon, so I’ll have a shelf or two free… But as of right now we’re in possession of over 73 board games! Not shocked! Still not crossing this off until I’ve fulfilled the full inventory, but it’s mostly done.
Finish the D&D campaign I started - Okay, so if past me had foreseen a 6 month hiatus, she would’ve never put it on the list. D&D is hard enough to schedule with so many people but finishing the campaign? Cute. But we’re making progress. We have the next session coming up soon (session 15) and I’ve written all obsession 16 and part of session 17. We’re currently in 3 D&D campaigns, we’ve bought an egregious amount of minis just for the fun, and we’ve been painting regularly! If things keep going according to plan, we’ll be done within the next 6 months.
Bake more often - Again, cute, but no. My mom has been baking more though! Maybe once the weather cools, she and I will do some baking.
Do something for Dad - It’s been almost three years, but maybe I’m actually making progress on this. Brian recently started tracking his exercise through a service that lets you work toward a reward and it helps plant trees. I might do this in honor of Dad. It’s not enough, but it’s a start.
The last three months have been busy. Summer was nonstop at work, the breaks were too short and simultaneously too busy, and I’ve gotten back to work with even more to do. I said today for the first time ever that it’s starting to feel like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. I’m regaining the joy at my job, because I thrive on chaos, but I can’t help but feel that some people should be more independent (and clinically competant). I’m still working pretty hard with the union leadership, still wishing my compensation at work was higher, and I’ll soon be making my first student loan payment! It’s a lot. So still, really, really, I only hope to win the lottery. And yes I have been playing… Anyway, here’s that book list I promised:
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (1/1/26 - 2/3/26; 5/5 Stars)
Twelve Months by Jim Butcher (2/3/26 - 2/15/26; 5 Stars)
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by Gerard Way (2/16/26; 3 Stars)
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem by Gerard Way (2/17/26; 2 Stars)
All Bones Considered: 52 Laurel Hill Women by Joe Lex (2/20/26 - 4/9/26; 4 Stars)
Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods (4/9/26 - 4/19/26; 4 Stars)
Komi Can’t Communicate (Volume 36) by Tomohito Oda (4/20/26 - 4/21/26; 5 Stars)
Komi Can’t Communicate (Volume 37) by Tomohito Oda (4/21/26; 5 Stars)
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (4/22/26 - 5/7/26; 4 Stars)
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (5/8/26 - 5/24/26; 5 Stars)
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (5/24/26 - 5/31/26; 5 Stars)
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (6/1/26 - 6/16/26; 5 Stars)
Yotsuba&! (Volume 16) by Kiyohiko Azuma (6/17/26; 5 Stars)
City of Echoes by Judy Lin (6/18/26 - 6/22/26; 5 Stars)
If Cats Disappeared From the World by Genki Kawamura (6/22/26 - 6/24/26; 4 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 1 by suu Morishita (6/24/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 2 by suu Morishita (6/24/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 3 by suu Morishita (6/25/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 4 by suu Morishita (6/27/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 5 by suu Morishita (6/27/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 6 by suu Morishita (6/29/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 7 by suu Morishita (6/29/26 - 6/30/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 8 by suu Morishita (6/30/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 9 by suu Morishita (6/30/26 - 7/1/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 10 by suu Morishita (7/3/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 11 by suu Morishita (7/3/26; 5 Stars)
A Sign of Affection 12 by suu Morishita (7/3/26; 5 Stars)
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (7/5/26 - 8/2/26; 4 Stars)
The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams (8/2/26 - 8/3/26; 5 Stars)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (8/3/26; 4 Stars)
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree (8/3/26 - 8/6/26; 4 Stars)
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree (8/6/26 - 8/22/26; 4 Stars)
Kya and the Secret of the Sand by Kiku Hughes (8/22/26; 3 Stars)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (8/22/26 - PRESENT)
On the Night Lights Festival
So last year, my brother and his girlfriend invited us to join them on a trip to a lantern festival. And it got rained out. And I was disappointed. So this year when our tickets were transferred to the next festival, I was really looking forward to it. Tangled is my favorite Disney movie (to the point that I’ve made my own Rapunzel dress) so I really wanted my “floating lights” moment. We went this year for a long weekend in the mountains and it had its ups and downs.
Pro: Such a cool experience! Seeing so many floating, lit lanterns is undescribable, so I have photos below. It was absolutely magical!
Con: The venue felt rather unsafe. From the use of fire everywhere (expected) to the general lack of security and bag checks, to the over2whelming amount of people. It had my head on a swivel and it was hard for us to really relax.
Pro: An excuse to get away! This was about 2 hours north of home, up in the mountains, so we booked a hotel room and stayed the weekend!
Con: That hotel? Pretty crap. It marketed itself as a “resort” hotel for adults only. Which meant it had a casino and race track but not much else. There wasn’t even a pool! Our room was also pretty boring. To top it off, the staff overall seemed miserable! Would not recommend.
Pro: An excuse to hang out with my brother and his girlfriend! I’ve really been pushing to see family more, and spending time with them over the weekend was nice.
Con: We didn’t spend enough time together. Part of this was miscommunication and bad timing, but part of this was because we spent more time driving than expected.
Pro: Far away means lots of beautiful views! The mountains had a lovely “rain in the fall” quality. The weather was lovely and we got to see a lot of cool sights on the way.
Con: I did so much driving. We got gas twice over the weekend (and it ain’t cheap, even for our little car) partially because of how far away the mountains are, but partially because we goofed on our way back from the festival. My phone froze so Brian typed in the address on his. Only our hotel shares a very similar name with something else in the general vicinity. Sort of. After the festival ended, we accidentally drove 45 minutes south instead of 40 minutes west. And had to drive another hour to eventually get back to our hotel. Cinderella and her pumpkin made it just as midnight hit, but man I’m in need of a break from driving!
Long story short, the trip could have been improved. But it was a cool experience and I’m still happy we did it! Enjoy the photos.
They gave us “Golden Tickets” to redeem our lanterns!
Brian took a lot of great photos. This one was from his phone.
And this one was from his camera. It’s a little blurry (I was moving around) but he rarely takes pictures of people. I have to savor it when I get it.
On the Second Quarter of 2026
Well… Here we are again. Another solstice, halfway through a year. Let’s get into it.
Read 30 books - I’m doing better on this part. I believe I’m almost halfway through to 30 at the halfway point in the year… A full book breakdown will be listed below, but I’m aiming to have finished 5 books just on the two-week hiatus in between school sessions.
Visit a new state or NHP - Not yet, but not for a lack of advocating. There’s been so much going on that I haven’t been able go convince Brian to travel.
Spend more time with family - DONE (Though I will note I’ve been actively working to spend more time with my mom, and I’ve spent some time with my sister-in-law lately too.
Catalog all the board games - and see how close we are to 100 - So this did not happen over spring break. And probably won’t happen over summer either. Honestly I forgot this was on the list.
Finish the D&D campaign I started - We just had our first session in 6 months last weekend! I’ve missed D&D so much. I already have the next session and a half planned (13 and 14 out of 21-ish total) but the campaign probably won’t end this year. It’ll likely push, schedule pending, into the new year.
Bake more often - Not recently, but it’s something I’ll try for.
Do something for Dad - Not yet. Tomorrow’s Father’s Day and I’m enough of a mess just thinking about it.
So yeah, it’s been a weird three months. I feel like we’ve just been going through the motions for the most part. I’ve been throwing myself into work, which has been great for me but also awful for my burnout. My team is incredible, but I can feel myself losing my joy at my job. I’m really thankful for this reset. I also recently took a leadership position outside of work (no pay) that I fear may have been more than I wanted it to be, so that’s an added level of stress. I honestly just wish my pay would correlate for the amount of effort and expertise I contribute, but that’s a lot to ask. Really and truly, I only hope to win the lottery. Maybe I should start actually playing… Anyway, here’s that book list I promised:
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (1/1/26 - 2/3/26; 5/5 Stars)
Twelve Months by Jim Butcher (2/3/26 - 2/15/26; 5 Stars)
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by Gerard Way (2/16/26; 3 Stars)
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem by Gerard Way (2/17/26; 2 Stars)
All Bones Considered: 52 Laurel Hill Women by Joe Lex (2/20/26 - 4/9/26; 4 Stars)
Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods (4/9/26 - 4/19/26; 4 Stars)
Komi Can’t Communicate (Volume 36) by Tomohito Oda (4/20/26 - 4/21/26; 5 Stars)
Komi Can’t Communicate (Volume 37) by Tomohito Oda (4/21/26; 5 Stars)
The Duke and I by Julia Quinn (4/22/26 - 5/7/26; 4 Stars)
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (5/8/26 - 5/24/26; 5 Stars)
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn (5/24/26 - 5/31/26; 5 Stars)
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn (6/1/26 - 6/16/26; 5 Stars)
Yotsuba&! (Volume 16) by Kiyohiko Azuma (6/17/26; 5 Stars)
City of Echoes by Judy Lin (6/18/26 - CURRENT)
On “Betrayal at House on the Hill - Legacy”
So it took a while, but we finally finished yet another legacy game that we bought for our friends as a present for Christmas 2024. We focused on finishing our last legacy game before moving on to this one, and “Betrayal” with its 13 rounds and lengthy gameplay, took well over a year to finish. So let’s discuss!
Background
Betrayal at House on the Hill in its own right is a fabulous board game with dynamic elements. The base game has 3 editions (we own the latter two) outside of the legacy edition, and it has compelling gameplay that changes each time (see more below). It’s one of our favorite games to play with people, so naturally we got it for Chris and Matt for a present. If you like history and horror, this mashes up cultural timepieces with classic scary book and movie elements to pit players against tons of challenges in order to win. The legacy version adds new challenges, changes and shapes the narrative as you go, and has thousands of dynamic elements mixed in. This game typically takes an hour to play a round, not counting set up and rules-reading, so be prepared for a time commitment!
Gameplay
Normally, Betrayal at House on the Hill involves player characters exploring a haunted house one tile at a time, discovering rooms and items, encountering bad omens, and starting events until something called a “Haunt” happens (aka the main plot point of the game). These haunts are dependent on what room and what card caused them, leading to dozens of different story options. Sometimes one player is the bad guy, sometimes everyone is pitted against each other, and sometimes its players versus the game itself. The plot is pretty straightforward, but it leads itself to a lot of repetition. In this legacy version, you play as a member of a family and there’s an overarching plot throughout several decades worth of gameplay. New plot points and gameplay options are slowly introduced throughout the game, leading you to shift your focus away from just discovering the house and fighting challenges. After time, some cards, characters, and locations are added or taken away from your story, leading to incredible levels of customization.
Endgame
The game ends after the 13th round (year) and is pretty anti-climactic if you haven’t been playing the game well. Without spoiling things, the players must work together to save the house and the world from a big bad that you uncover as the rounds progress. If you’re successful (as we were), you get a semi-good ending. No clue what happens if you aren’t successful… but I assume it’s mean and sad. There are no winners or losers in this game, though your character can die at the end of the round, so some of us had characters last several decades and some of us burned our way through a new vessel each time.
Final Thoughts
So, it’s fun, but it’s a lot. It’s a huge time commitment, it takes a long time to play, sometimes the plot points are a little convoluted (like why would we travel through the Otherworlds when there’s a whole house to discover??!!) and sometimes you just can’t win. That being said, I really do love the fact that no two games are the same, there are a lot of opportunities to lie, cheat, steal, plot, plan and gamble, and no matter what you do, the odds are usually against someone. I like the permanent aspects of the game like naming your family and the ghost tiles. Being able to name items and heirloom them, make your mark in the board quite literally, and change the course of the game permanently is really cool. Some things like the otherworld and the Helm, which make the legacy version unique, are really pointless and leave a lot to be desired. The mini figures are great, but for the price, you’ve got to love this game’s predecessors to feel okay with the hours and cash you sink into this behemoth. We haven’t replayed it after finishing, but I’m sure it lends itself to a cool game to pick up and play after your initial legacy run is over, which is a boon in itself since it’s pretty costly. Overall, it was a cool game, but it took a hell of a long time and dedication to make it to the end.
On the First Quarter of 2026
Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.
I’m not going to mince words here. This year sucks. I don’t know how many people read this or who cares about what I have to write, but it seems like 2026 should quit while it still has a chance. The first three months, while not entirely over (I’m writing this a touch early. Maybe we’ll win the lottery and the pendulum will swing), have been a real nightmare. My goals for the new year were really straightforward:
Read 30 books - I’ve barely read
Visit a new state or NHP - Very funny. No time so far.
Spend more time with family - Even funnier. I’m just going to preemptively cross this off now. DONE
Catalog all the board games - and see how close we are to 100 - Maybe over spring break.
Finish the D&D campaign I started - That’s on hiatus for the moment.
Bake more often - I did bake 2 cakes in under 24 hours.
Do something for Dad - Not yet.
So. Let’s recap. In January, Brian’s mom Kathy passed incredibly suddenly. It was totally out of the blue. She was “feeling a little funny” for so long (maybe a few hours, maybe a weekend) that she asked Bill to take her to the hospital. She woke Dan up before they left to let him know they were going, but nothing seemed serious. They even stopped at Wawa for a coffee and some snacks on the way. And by the end of the morning, she was gone. Cardiac tamponade. So sudden that nothing could be done. But they tried. All of the siblings rushed out to Jefferson Torresdale. Dropped everything at work. Got there as fast as they could. Brian and Dan and Meg thankfully got there all at the same time. More of us, myself included, trickled in as fast as possible. And there we were. Left with shock and confusion and anger. No idea what to do or how to do it. We scrounged up enough money and held a funeral. Family connections worked in our favor and even though we didn’t have life plans and for the most part were too stunned to process it all, we planned a funeral anyway. For those of you who were there for mass, for the most part Brian and I were not hysterically crying up front. But we were trying to contain raucous laughter as thee priest was chewing the host (*cronch*cronch*cronch*) or when Brian was complaining about their microphone’s audio quality.
So yeah. Since the end of January, life’s been busy. Trying to figure out finances and passcodes and paperwork when you’re left no clues is hard. Dan’s been cleaning and packing and searching. Meg’s been helping too when she could. Brian’s taken a trip to city hall for paperwork and their Aunt Patti and Uncle Mike have been helping with trips to doctors and banks. We recently coordinated enough of an effort to move Bill and Dan out near us, where they’re all on one floor and can start over, but also be closer by to have more help from Brian and Will. So much of February, once the funeral was over, centered around putting the pieces together and setting Dad and Dan up as much as possible in the new place. Now that they’re here, I can confirm I’ll be seeing family a lot more often. It’s nice, but I worry for how it’ll impact Brian’s free time in the future. Since we’ve been so busy, both of our D&D campaigns are paused. We barely have game nights with Chris and Matt. We did, especially during the two massive snowstorms immediately after Kathy passed, start playing more video games. We started a guild in BCC Classic and have over 130 characters to hang out with. We’ve both gotten Nintendo Switch 2s in the past month, because when your credit card is already really high because you’re helping out other people, making it a little higher to reward yourself is sometimes justified, so we’ve been playing Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, Pokopia, and some GameCube classics. I haven’t been reading as much, but I’ve taken it upon myself to try to read a chapter or two a night when I can. This year I’ve finished the following:
The Grimmoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association (Caitlin Rozakis); 12/15/25 - 1/1/26 (Rating: 5/15)
The God of the Woods (Liz Moore); 1/1/26-2/3/26 (Rating: 15/15)
Twelve Months (Jim Butcher); 2/3/26-2/15/26 (Rating: 15/15)
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Gerard Way); 2/16/26 (Rating: 8/15)
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem (Gerard Way); 2/17/26-2/19/26 (Rating 6/15)
All Bones Considered: 52 Laurel Hill Women (Joe Lex); 2/20/26-CURRENT
So realistically I’ve only finished 5 books this year. Not exactly on pace for my 30. But we’ll see. Two series I quite enjoy, Komi Can’t Communicate andLore Olympus, finish this year and I’ve been purposely holding the last few editions to read when they’re all published. We had a birthday party for Kathy at the start of March, and I baked both a delicious pineapple upside down cake and her infamous kitty litter cake, so I guess that’s helped me bake more often. I’d still like to try to bake once a month if I can.
And that’s about it. Life has me tired. Work is hectic as always and refuses to settle down, though taking so much time off doesn’t help. I’m having a hard time finding the happy and the calm in life. Bad and sad things keep popping up everywhere; both in my personal life and in the world news. My anxiety, which I always knew I had but has never been an issue, has been crippling in the past two months. I blame this on the constant feed of “what if something bad happens and I can’t do anything” that’s now running through my head and the inability to turn it off. Sleep alludes me. Both chores and fun are hard to pursue. But I’m pushing through as best as I can for now. It’ll get better. Life finds a way.
-G