Iliya is bringing his gf back with him from Bulgaria so he is moving out to move in with her (The typical reason for moving out of Beachhead). The house decided to throw him a going away dinner. Steph made an amazing baked brie with Texas on top. The rest of the food and drink was good, and it was a lot of fun to chat and cook with everyone. I will miss Iliya being around all the time.
We played another round of Tzolk’n with most of the expansion material included. I had a great time since I got the clan that could take on debt. It made the game a lot more interesting for sure. Had I gotten a little more aggressive and bought the wonder that Adam wanted, I would have won. As it was I was able to get a very close second.
Adam had a bunch of people over for his annual Latkes party. They were super tasty, and I got more than my fair share. We also did a white elephant gift exchange. I brought a tiny quadcopter that I picked up at Fry’s. I was glad when it was the first gift to get stolen and locked. I biked through the rain for 45 minutes to get that quadcopter since the next day shipping from Amazon actually meant 5 days. I got some of the Playdo like sand, but I can’t leave it out around the kitties, as they would poop in it. Steph got a machete. The party was nice, and I enjoyed talking to everyone there.
I liked the magic system in this book, and the way that the glass magician can use mirrors to teleport. The end of the book with the ability to change medium, and how she decides not really to share it is a strange spot. The bad guys were a little too evil for my liking, but I understand the series is meant as a bit lighter fair than the books I’m used to.
I read the first two books in the series and I liked them. The magic system was a little too expansive, and ill defined. The story line was really nice, with all the different moving parts coming together. Some of the talents made for very interesting scenes. I thought the main character was a little overpowered in many situations, as well as petulant to almost any authority figure. This was especially annoying when he kept saying how loyal and respectful he was since he was raised by the monks. I look forward to the continuation of the series.
The flights back were mostly uneventful. I was tempted to take the voucher in Atlanta and spend a night with the family, but I was very ready to get back. Steph’s parents picked us up from the airport, and we got back to our places without any issues. The kitties were super happy to see me, and I cleaned up the house a little before going to sleep. They woke me up a number of times during the night to get pets, and Archer has kept doing to a smaller degree. They have also be super cuddly and wanting to be with me all the time. I really enjoy them.
The night dive was my favorite dive in Belize. We went to the protected area Hol Chan, and saw a lot of things. There were a ton of rays, an eel, a massive hermit crab in a conch shell, an octopus, and a lot of fish following us for food. The red snapper was eating other fish that we shined our lights on. There were a bunch of fish following us that were interested in the worms congregating around the lights. I stayed behind and played with the group of smaller fish by trying to stay really still and watch them eat the worms. I got one worm in my ear, and it wriggled around for about 15 seconds before leaving, it felt really strange.
We took a day trip to the Lighthouse reefs, which includes the Blue Hole. We did one dive in the Blue hole and two dives on the reefs nearby. There was a nice break for lunch at one of the nearby islands, which was a habitat for the red footed boobies. The video below is a summary of the three dives, about 2 hours, taken down to about 6 minutes. The dives on the lighthouse reef were nicer than the dives close to San Pedro, with more fish, and more interesting formations.
The island for lunch with the red footed boobies had a few giant iguanas, frigate birds, and massive hermit crabs. The hermit crabs weren’t as big as the one we saw on the night dive, but still about the size of a baseball.
We had a great time diving near San Pedro. Steph did a total of 7 dives around the reefs there for day dives that are compiled into the video below. We picked out all the good parts, so from the 7 45 minute dives we have about 10 minutes of video. I didn’t do all the dives because I had headaches for one, and ear issues for another.
It's an Exciting World 