COVID-19 Update from the CPK Family Week 2

Hello friends! Hopefully everyone is staying at home and safe if possible. If you are on the front lines of this, THANK YOU AND STAY AS SAFE AS YOU CAN.

Our little household is doing as well as can be expected. As an extrovert, I'm personally struggling. By the time I actually talk face-to-face with someone other than my husband or my two year old, I may have the social skills of a caveman.

Honestly, I was going to write this and I assumed we had more to offer in the way of an update. But legitimately this is going to be some bragging as to how Breaky and I have not killed each other yet. Just kidding love, I love you!

CPKreepy 2019

It's that time of year again!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Our absolute favorite holiday (Christmas is up there, not gunna lie, but collectively as our little family, Halloween takes the cake)

We had our big Halloween Extravaganza this past weekend. For me, this marks 15 years of some sort of Halloween party. For us as a couple, this is #7. I have done everything from small, 3 person parties, big extravagant 20+ people stuffed in to a college apartment, to a mix of couples, families and kids.

This year, as Breaky had a unicorn costume already from a WePlay Valentine's Day Madness event in Ukraine. So I bought unicorn costumes for the rest of the family,  including DogCPK  

This year also marked the first Halloween in our new house. We had so much more room for festivities, kid-friendly activities, and space for adults to imbibe and play games.

Photo credit: Dylan Jeffery & (me)

Click Read More to continue with the pictures

CPKreepy 2018

Every year, my husband, BreakyCPK and I host a Halloween party. This year was no different. Except we had a few new faces, including BabyCPK! 

Here are a few pictures, picture credit: Dylan Jeffery

Another Day in the Life of an ESports Wife Baby Edition

This is the 4th installment about what life is like when Breaky is out of the country for an event.

Links to previous posts:
Blog Post 1
Blog Post 2
Blog Post 3

TL:DR the first two deal with some silly things, one post negative and the other positive, about what life is like at home when Breaky is gone. The third one dealt with what it was like while I was pregnant. News flash, things were harder while I was pregnant.

And then came the baby.

BabyCPK is the best thing that has ever happened to us, don't get me wrong. But people are not exaggerating when they say that babies are hard work. Just imagine a mini-dictator telling you exactly what you can and cannot do. Just without actual words, but screams and grunts. Need to go potty? Not if the little one needs to be fed RIGHT NOW. Want to go to the grocery store? HA. You'd better hope Amazon has it, because your phone is the closest thing you'll get to the store in the next 12 hours. Oh, and stock up on body spray, because you are very lucky if you get the minutes you need to shower.

While all that seems daunting, if you have a partner, it is manageable. One can do the dishes while the other rocks the baby. The other can shower while the other changes her.

So when Breaky said he was going to be gone for TWO WEEKS, not going to lie, kinda didn't want him to go. We are lucky in that we have an amazing Nanny who is watching BabyCPK while I'm at work. But when I get home, man, I really miss Breaky.

Here are the biggest struggles I have faced thus far

• Getting BabyCPK to nap long enough for me to take a quick shower

• When you do get the baby to nap or to bed, you realize how loud ordinary items can be. Shower curtain opening? Like a bomb landing next door. Turning on the sink? Like a rock concert. Dog barking? Nah, she sleeps through that... go figure

• Speaking of dogs, poor DogCPK has gotten very little exercise this past week. Really hard to do juggle a stroller AND a dog who loves to pull and bark at other dogs. Luckily we have amazing friends who are going to bring DogCPK on a doggy outing with their dog. 

• In one of my other posts about this, I had mentioned that strange noises were louder and more scary when I was alone. Now that I am responsible for a little life? Terrifying. Let me tell you, having the broom fall in the broom closet sounds like someone is breaking down the door.

• One pretty cool thing is that I propped up my phone while Breaky was casting to help with BabyCPK's tummy time. Figuring it would give her something to look at and hear her Daddy's voice. 

Tummy time! I didn't get a picture of her listening to Breaky. 

• It would be nice to be able to make a full meal again, and not whip together what ever I can while carrying a baby that refuses to be put down. Pro tip? Burritos are easy to eat one-handed, just make sure you do not drip any on your baby. 

All of us that are home are missing Breaky something fierce. We are insanely proud of him as he is casting the Epicenter XL Major in Russia. I also realize how hard it must be for him to be away, especially since the little one just turned 2 months old this past weekend. 

We love you Breaky! Continue to be awesome at the event, travel safely and come back to us soon. <3 

Only When He Leaves

This sh*t (literally) only seems to happen when he is gone.

So, in case any of you did not know, Breaky is gone for a full week (and a few days) to cast the qualifiers for a Dota2 major event. I wrote two different blog posts (1 and 2) about what it is like to have a spouse who leaves all the time for events like this.

We have a pretty good system going regarding our day-to-day lives, both when he is here and when he is not. Ever since he went free-lance, it has been nice, as he takes DogCPK out for her first walk of the day before he starts streaming, and she can hang out with him while he streams. This means I can stay at work and have a working lunch. When he is gone, I go home during lunch, take her for a walk and then come home and take her for another one (or let her play outside on the lead... depending on how nice the weather is).


She needs to have at least one long-ish walk halfway through the day, or else our guard dog thinks she must protect us from scary things like, oh, cords, glasses, heels, carpet etc... So keeping her exercised is a very, very good idea. If I wrote about DogCPK's shenanigans, this blog would be more aptly called The Sometimes-Good-But-Sometimes-Naughty Geek Dog.

"Wanna play some Hearthstone? Let me sit between you and the laptop

That helps, right mom?"

But this crazy antic happened during my lunch walk and I couldn't help but write about it in my head, and it made me laugh out loud.

So. DogCPK was very happy to go for her walk today. Lots and lots of energy. Having had our dog for about a year, we know she usually is quite rambunctious right before she has to potty. Now if potty talk makes you uncomfortable, you might as well stop right there, because this story is about poo. Sorry (not really).

So, DogCPK is zooming back and forth, and I can tell a #2 is a-coming. So, as to expedite the process of doggy doo pick-up, because let's be honest, no one looks hot or sexy picking up dog crap, I get a baggie ready. She's doin' her bizznazz, and I notice that she's getting done, but there is some still kinda hanging on. I watch with eyes rolling as she darts away with not one, but two completely separate dingleberries stuck to her behind. One goes flying on to the other side of the sidewalk, as the other is still.... well.... stuck. She's hunching over, while still running around mind you, trying to get it out, all the while, I'm chasing after her with the bag trying to swipe it away.


Giving up, I pick up the two separate piles and get another bag, trying to get the berry swinging from her rafters as she is avoiding me like the plague. I don't blame her, I wouldn't want anything to do with a crazy lady with two bags that smell like my poo trying to touch my butt all while I have something stuck to my backdoor. Finally, she cowers over, and I am able to grab the once flying feces.

So now I have two bags of poo, a dog who is spooked out of her mind, and I am getting a third bag to put the other two in (because I have no idea how much, if any, poo got anywhere else), when, wouldn't my luck just have it, two joggers came flying by. I am trying to juggle the now Matryoshka doll of doggy poo-bags, with my dog making circles around my legs, while I get tangled with the leash causing me to  do this weird kind of curtsy to the nice gentleman who passed by.

Sorry gentlemen, I am taken.... because you all know I was 10 kinds of sexy right there.

Of course, this all happened on a pretty busy residential street near where we live, so I am sure as we speak someone is getting a huge number of views or likes on whatever they could record of my very sexy little dance I had to do with my dog. Because that's my luck.

The rest of the walk was uneventful. Well, except for her horrendous bark/whimpers she does when she sees another dog and wants to play. You think, if you heard her, that we were torturing her. No, DogCPK, we will not let you cross a busy intersection to play with a Dalmatian who looks like he would rather not have anything to do with you. And I swear, nice looking Dalmatian owner, I am not hurting my freaking-out-dog, she just wants to play. *facepalm*

 Who's a good girl? YES, YOU ARE!

Do I miss Breaky? Yes. He is a wonderful husband and a great Dad to our dog. I miss him greatly because he is also my best friend. But I am looking forward to the day that I will not have to wash my hands 80 times when I get back from my walks because miss-poos a lot can't seem to figure out how to poop correctly. 

Disclaimer: I love my dog very, very much and I know this was not her fault. How could I stay mad at this face: 

CPKreepy

What happens when you get a bunch of geeks together for Halloween? 
It gets CPKreepy

Halloween 2016 was a great success. Below are some pictures of our Annual Halloween Extravaganza as well as some instructions as to how you can make your own fun and scary Halloween party!

Costumes are a must! 

Jon Snow and the Mother of Dragons. Oh, and my dragon :) 

Photo Credit to Dylan Jeffery and Hollicakes

Out for a stroll

Photo Credit to Dylan Jeffery and Hollicakes

Doctor Pepper 

American McCree and Witch Mercy

A penguin and her keeper

Pumpkins are also mandatory. We included a pumpkin carving contest to spice things up. 

It's Mike! 

Reaper here...

Photo Credit for all pumpkins to Dylan Jeffery and Hollicakes

Decorations must be hung with care to create a really good scare! 

Photo Credit to Dylan Jeffery and Hollicakes

Photo Credit to Dylan Jeffery and Hollicakes

In the cave, the creepy cave, the dragon sleeps tonight! 

Photo Credit and cupcake credit to Panman and Hollicakes

Shrimp brains! Yum! 

Hey girl, heeyy! 

Overall, I think it would be safe to say everyone had a wonderful time. Here is to making next year just as awesome. 

Happy Halloween 2016

Happy Halloween! 

From Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen and a Dragon

Just Your Standard Update-Life Happened

How is it already August? Where did the summer go? Oh wait.... Couldn't possibly be that we spent most of it outside playing an augmented reality game? No.....

Well, maybe. That, plus a bunch of other randomish things that I feel are worthy of including in a blog post, but are not a singular blog-post worthy topic.

So, here we go.

Yes, I am still playing Pokemon Go! * TEAM MYSTIC * Even got myself a Pikachu!

For all of my good catches/hatches, following my Instagram account would be a good place to start. Also too many pictures of DogCPK. You've been warned.

I am still playing, despite some people rage quitting because of reasons too lengthy and exhausting to ruminate here. I find it as a great addition to my walks. Motivates me to walk to work when I normally wouldn't. It is good at convincing Breaky to go on walks with me and DogCPK, when normally he would want to stay indoors. Overall, I may be enjoying it for different reasons than others, but it keeps me/us active, and that's what matters.

Breaky got me an early Christmas present due to an Amazon Prime sale. I got a new tablet with a keyboard and stylus. I actually started drawing again, this time on a tablet, which is a new experience for me. Working on a drawing of the very own DogCPK and will share when I am finished, or am at a point to share progress.


I have been on a huge "home improvement" kick, in which I take projects I have been waiting forever to do for reasons that usually revolve around pure laziness, and actually doing them. This weekend, we were supposed to start building a fence, so our dog can not get tangled in her line, plus, yay home value! But last minute, plans changed and we are not handy enough of a pair to do it ourselves, so I endeavored to finish painting part of our porch, getting an umbrella for our table, and painting a garage door and two window boxes the color I wanted. Doesn't seem like a lot, but to us, it was a huge deal.

A lot of our home improvement ideas come from one of my many Pinterest Boards. If you follow my blog, our wedding a year ago included a lot of ideas I pinned to our wedding board. Also included on the board pretty prominently is my Halloween board. Ever since my sophomore year of college, I have done some kind of Halloween extravaganza. I will not tell you how many years it has been, as that would give away how long is has been since I was in college, and that is painful to think about. Let's just say it has been a long, long tradition.

But the big question is what Breaky and I should be for Halloween. We were thinking something Overwatch related. Thoughts? Suggestions? Last year we were Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas


Lastly, a HUGE shout out to my little sister, who just got her first full-time teaching position. 6th Grade Math in a public school in Michigan. I am so incredibly proud of my sister, who was my maid of honor at our wedding, and my best friend. She will be amazing, and all of those kids who will have her as a teacher are extremely lucky.

Pokemon Go or No Go? Decision Time

For those uninitiated, Pokemon Go is a free-to-play mobile game that allows players to capture, battle, train and trade Pokemon in the "real world" in an "augmented reality." Meaning, you have to walk around neighborhoods and your area to get Pokemon, Pokeballs, eggs, etc....

Honestly, I had no idea this was even coming out until I saw a bunch of stuff on Reddit about it. Then I came home and Breaky had downloaded it and was playing. So of course we went for a walk and he was showing me how it worked and what he was catching and all that fun stuff. He also got a picture of one of the Pokeballs and DogCPK:

But then I listened to the news about all these horrible things happening to those who were playing it, like people walking in to the street and getting hit by cars, or getting robbed for their phones because they walked in to the wrong neighborhood. The media has also spun this so for every pro-Pokemon Go post I see on Facebook, it is followed up by a negative post by a curmudgeon griping about how prowlers and thieves will use this as an excuse for being outside your house, and how kids should be at libraries instead of playing video games or how now parks are too crowded and everything is the end of the world. (Side gripe: you cannot complain about how your problem with video games is that it makes kids fat and lazy because they are sitting inside all day and then turn around and bitch because now they are playing video games outside and getting exercise. GRRR).

 But I also saw how much fun everyone else was having with it and the local Pokemon Go Facebook group Breaky had organized. I was torn. I also use Fitbit, and this would be great to get my 10,000 steps in a day! So I asked my Facebook followers if I should play or not.

It was a resounding "yes!" which made me realize that maybe I was being sucked in to the media machine that simply spit out the negative to get viewers to listen or to click and giving the Facebook drama fire more fuel.


So I downloaded it.


I am close to level 5 and have caught a bunch of Pokemon on my walk to and from work, which passes by 3 checkpoints, including one in front of my work place. DogCPK loves it because all of the sudden she is going on so many more walks with both of us and she gets to stop and sniff everything while Breaky tries to catch the 232th Rattata (omg I think I spelled that right on the first try!)

























I came up with several points and suggestions that would allow me and hopefully others to enjoy the game while being safe and courteous. This is from a perspective of someone who watched people play and listened to the media.

1. Always be aware of our surroundings. You may have heard about some of the more dire things from the media I had mentioned above. Where there are good, fun, normal people, you will have ill-intentioned jerk-face people. Balance is needed, but that doesn't make it any easier. Be cautious, but still remember to be appropriately friendly. Do not be a jerk.

2. Being outside means we are increasing our chances of experiencing life in its uniqueness. Read about the teen that found the dead body? Usually those kinds of discoveries are left for joggers and hikers, not gamers. But now that we are out and about, realize that life and the outdoors is full of surprises and real-life drama and heartbreak. Maybe someone finds a dead body, but maybe you find a 20 dollar bill!

3. Do not drive and play Pokemon Go. I REPEAT DO NOT DRIVE AND PLAY POKEMON GO. Similar to driving and texting, it just is not worth it. I don't have many "rules" when it comes to my relationships. But I will throw your damn phone out the window if you are driving and trying to do anything with your phone. Please just wait until you are safely parked, then walk around to those checkpoints and Pokemon. Meeting people while walking is a lot better than meeting the undertaker. 

4. We need to watch where we are going and be courteous to people's privacy and property. We do not need the media outlets and people my parents' age to have more ammunition about our generation being zombies buried in our phones as it was the end of the world. Enjoy your walk. Take those pictures of the Pokemon in weird places. Just please look up more than you are looking at your phone. Also, if there is a Pokemon in someone's private property, either get permission to be there, or just keep walking. I do not care if it is the most rare one in the world. I don't need more of my former teachers griping about how "kids need to stay off their lawn".  We can't win. I don't want to hear about it. Be smart. Oh, and do not walk in to traffic. Seems like silly advice, but I, on several occasions will look up from my phone and be a lot further along than I thought I was. Didn't run in to traffic, but it could have happened. 

5. We probably shouldn't play during work (depending on where you work). Please be aware that your employer may not want to pay you to catch Pokemon in an augmented reality. If you are not exactly sure if your employer is cool with it, chances are they are not. Save it for breaks and lunches. Walking lunches are the best anyway! 

6. Don't get discouraged. Have fun!  All the negative news, disclaimers about safety, rude comments, scary stories and just plain bad media coverage shouldn't deter us from enjoying ourselves. I often feel personal shame and guilt if a gaming community I am a part of gets negative media attention because of one or two trolls or a bad decision or two. Let us not let a few bad stories ruin it for everyone else. Let's make this gaming experience great for everyone! 

A Happiness Hangover

I will admit it, I am used to planning things and being in control  Putting it out there, not the best at letting the reins go. So this weekend when my husband, sister and friends planned a birthday shindig, I was going nuts. I wanted to know what was going on and have a hand in planning things. I am glad I did not. It was absolutely fantastic and I was genuinely surprised and touched by the effort that they put in to making me feel special for my 30th birthday. 

Long story short, they planned a cabin weekend (my family has a cabin up in northern Michigan) and about 11 people total were able to make it! Well, 11 people and like, 4 dogs. :)

DogCPK chillin on the couch up north

So as a result, I have a happiness hangover.

Similar to if you did some drinking (which we may or may not have done a lot of too.....), you have a great time, and then when it is over, you are sad it is over and that you didn't enjoy it more when it was happening. In this case, instead of a headache and an upset stomach after, I am exhausted, covered in bug bites, a small sun burn and a weird dread and sadness of having to go back to the real world. Too bad a happiness hangover doesn't have a "hair of the dog" equivalent to it. 

Upnorth, we didn't have internet or cell phone service. For a bunch of gamers, that was a little difficult, but the dogs and board games were a great distraction.That being said though, I am sure everyone is just as excited as I am to jump back in to Overwatch! 

Thank you to everyone who helped make my 30th birthday one of the best ever! Love you all!

Have some cake. It is not a lie. (but no, really, I had a ton of cake this weekend. Loved it)

Adulting is hard

Adulting is hard.

Take for example these two conversations my husband and I have had within the past 24 hours:

Husband (H): Babe, do you know where my keys are?
Me: No. Have you tried your pants pockets? Bedroom table? Kitchen?
H: I've checked all of those
Me: hhmm.... Do you need me to come home and help look for them?
H: Nah. I'm sure I'll find it
Me: You came home last night, greeted Lily and then joined me in the kitchen while I was making dinner.....Did you maybe leave them in the door
H:














Me: HAHAHAHAHAHA



not 4 hours later:

Me: You are not going to believe what I've done
H: Oh God.
Me: I brought a bag of Lily's treats with me to work. I had them in my pockets from leash training.
H: Lol
Me: I wondered why I smelled like dog.

Couple notes. Lily is our dog. Hence the leash training. Weirdo.

Also, I refuse to use "lol" I can't do it. My husband does. I will not use it in my blog except to quote him.

If that doesn't give you a pretty darn good look in to our lives, I don't know what does.

Clever Girl

Quick blog post about our day so far. 

DogCPK (aka Lily) some how got out of her collar and made it a chew toy. How? No clue, we weren't home. But I did notice that she was a little more subdued than usual when I came home, like she had done something she knew she shouldn't have.

I don't know whether to be impressed or angry. Since it happened and I can't change it, I'm just going to be impressed. 

Here's the picture of the evidence left over: