If you’re on your own, not all of these tips will apply to you, but when sharing a household with a hardcore gamer, I’ve found that a little preparation goes a long way to making sure you’re all happy.

Google Calendar
This one might seem a little anal retentive to some of you, but for Rick and I, including major game releases on our shared calendar is a great way for us to budget both our time and our monies. Rick and I both have separate calendars to keep track of personal stuff and a third shared calendar to keep track of events we’re both attending (family dinners, etc). We both have access to all three of these calendars so we always know what the other one is up to and I can deflect Rick’s questions of “are we doing anything on…” It works great for upcoming games because at a glance we can see when a game release is approaching so we can remember to pre-order it, add it to the budget for the appropriate week and plan that week accordingly.

Chores
When we both know exactly when a major release is upon us we can both make sure all of our chores are done before we bring the game home (because lord knows nothing is getting done the rest of the week if we don’t). It’s also easier to fully enjoy a game if you can see everything around you is spic and span.

Food
It took me a while to catch on to this one, but I’ve taken the extra step lately of planning more casual meals on game release nights. Something that can be eaten without utensils, like burgers or sandwiches are good choices. I also like to make sure we are stocked with healthy snack items like edamame and hummus to curb the Doritos cravings.

Busy Work
If it’s a game I know I won’t be playing myself, I usually like to have some crafts I can do while watching Rick play. For at least the first couple of playthroughs I like sit on the couch with Rick so I can get a feel for the game and see what he enjoys about it. This is a good time for me to do some knitting or create a craft for the blog so that I feel like I’m being productive while supporting Rick in his pass time of choice. It turns what could be an exercise in isolation into bonding time and helps to bring us closer together.

“Us” Time
While I pride myself in giving Rick lots of time and space to embrace gaming as a lifestyle, we both like to make sure we have some sort of activity planned for the weekend after a game is released. Whether it’s a nice dinner, or a day out and about, something that takes us out of the house, away from the TV and focused together goes a long way towards restrengthening our bond.

How do you prepare for a major video game release?

It also helps that we live within walking distance of a great farmer’s market that does plant sales all spring long. Some things I picked up pre-potted, the rest I re-potted in dollar store terracotta pots with some decorative stones thrown in the bottom to aid drainage.

My edible garden. 1. San Romeo tomato plant 2. Rosemary 3. Organic Lettuce 4. Basil 5. Spearmint Not pictured: Silver Thyme

My medicinal garden. 1. Echinacea 2. English Lavender 3. Calendula

And FRESH STRAWBERRIES!!!

Keep reading for even more delicious photos.

My tiny little tomato plant only cost me $2.50, but it already has 4 baby tomatoes on it! My secret? I fertilize with used coffee grounds.

I can’t wait to start making pesto.

Such a pretty colour.

A few more days until it’s sweet enough to eat.

Are you growing anything this year? What’s your balcony look like?

That’s right kids, I’m gonna be self hosted!

That said, things might be a little wacky looking for a week or two while I get any transfer issues worked out, but it’s all to bring you an even more awesome Gamerwife experience. If you’ve subscribed to the blog on WordPress, you will need to update your RSS feed if you want to keep getting updates on new posts, but I’ve got a nifty little button at the top of the sidebar to help you with that.

There’s a few different reasons I’m going the self-hosted route, but one of the cooler perks is that I will be able to start accepting sponsors for the site. I’m still working out the details on that, but I want to keep rates low for independent businesses and other makers of cool, nerdy things that you would like. I’m gonna wait until I’ve got all the self-hosting kinks worked out, but expect more news on this soon.

Now back to squeeing…

He is also a huge brat.

Last month he ate the second of two laptop power adapter cords (at $60 – $90 a pop) and barfed his way into a $600 vet bill. He also likes to smash things, like my OOAK ceramic kitty cup or the beautiful Japanese porcelain tea pot Rick bought me for our first Christmas together. Then there’s the meowing at full volume at 5 AM on a Sunday because he wants his breakfast, despite never having been fed at 5 AM, ever.

I can’t get too mad when he smashes things because, really, I’m the one who put something so breakable in his path in the first place. Cats can’t evaluate the value of objects (emotionally or financially). I know that a lot of this behaviour is because he is bored. He is an indoor only cat, and he only gets occasional supervised visits on the back patio. I sometimes feel cruel keeping him cooped up like this, knowing that his little paunch is because we don’t let him run around outside.

But then I go outside and I see posters for missing cats, and I think about how sad and worried their owners must be. I can’t even put myself in their shoes, the idea of Gatsby vanishing without a trace upsets me so much. And just like that, my stupid little destruct-o machine doesn’t seem so bad after all.

Besides, we were warned:

This week I let myself be tempted by a bunch of fresh produce at the farmer’s market and decided to build my menu around what I bought, not the other way around like I usually do it. I’m also very excited to dine out with my Aunt and Uncle who are visiting from BC!

Monday: Corn, Edamame & Black Bean Salad with Focaccia
Tuesday: Dinner with My Aunt & Uncle
Wednesday: Teriyaki Mushroom Sauce with Grilled Salmon & Asparagus
Thursday: Rosemary Chicken Breasts with Roasted Potato and Radish Salad
Friday: Tofu Cutlets Marsala with Zucchini Rice

Lewis and Olive cuddleball courtesy of James R.

Wanna have your favourite feline featured in a Caturday post? Send an email to mariko.mcdonald@gmail.com

Since this week’s Friday I’m In Love is also an E3 wrap up, we’re gonna start off with a list of the walkthroughs and trailers that most caught my eye:

Dishonored – You can be a fish!

Assassin’s Creed III – Naval battles! Consider this girl sold.

Tomb Raider – She has a bow! Bows are hot.

Beyond: Two Souls – Ellen Page + Quantic Dreams + Sony = Beautiful

Star Wars 1313 – M Rated Star Wars game? That looks good?

The Last of Us – Mature, brutal, emotional, post-apocalyptic action.

Other Links You Might Like:

On a not-video-game-related note, this heartwarming animation of a infographic proposal will melt away any cynicism the cavalcade of sequels at E3 may have evoked. via Dilek Ozcakir

In need of new tunes? Chiptunes = WIN just released a new compilation featuring 51(!) artists. Preview the whole thing for free online here. via Dolly Dahl

And finally, amidst all of the pomp and self-aggrandizing of E3 comes a BBC story about harassment of female video game players to remind us of how much further we have to go. via Kate Tsoukalas

Like the new format? Lemme know in the comments.

Since my mom has been working so hard over the last year, caring for my dad after his stroke, selling their house and buying and setting up their condo, I decided to make her a little spa kit to help her take care of herself.

The kit contains two facecloths knitted from organic cotton yarn, using the sand stitch pattern from Tricksy Knitter. All four of the patterns listed on the site are in the “beginner” to “easy” range, so they make great projects to teach yourself knitting. I also included four crocheted face scrubbies for make-up removal and spot treatments. I’m terrible at crochet, so I’ve been blessed with a plethora of wonky “prototype” scrubbies for myself, which is fine because they still work great even if they aren’t that pretty.

And of course the piece de resistance is my magical face oil. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a firm convert to the oil cleansing method and I remember my mom commenting on how nice my skin looked when I visited in Vancouver, so I figured she’d like to give it a try herself. Since we have the same skin type I just made up a batch of the oil I use myself, which I’ve included the recipe for below.

I have typically oily Asian skin with dry spots around my nose and forehead and the occasional bout of adult acne, so this is the formula that works for me. If your skin tends to be more oily, you’ll probably want to up the castor oil content; if your skin is drier you’ll want more olive or argan oil. Play around and find which combination works best for you.

GamerWife’s Magical Face Oil Recipe:
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 tps Castor Oil
1/4 tsp Argan Oil
5 Drops Tea Tree Oil
2 – 3 Drops Rosemary Oil

Mix everything together and store in a dark glass container.

I also included a small card with the instructions for use, which you can download here to put in your own kit. To finish things off, I wrapped everything up in a gorgeous pouch I found at the dollar store (can you believe it was only $2?!)

For more information about the oil cleansing method, I highly recommend checking out this post from Crunchy Betty, which is a great site for DIY beauty in general.

Now all I need to do is make something for my dad…

See, the plan was to go on a once in a lifetime trip to Tokyo, Japan. In lieu of tradition gifts we’d even set-up a honeymoon registry so that our guests could contribute directly to our trip. But then the Tsunami happened. And we quit our jobs. And I decided to start a business. And, and, and…

But now that we’re on a little bit better financial footing and things in Japan seem to have calmed down, we’ve set a tentative date for our trip of Fall 2013. To keep us focused on our goal, I’ve decided to start making little bits of art to commemorate every week we stick to our budget and hit our savings goals. This week I put together a little framed piece of a doodle Rick made me when we started brainstorming our trip. Since one year is also the “paper anniversary” it doubles as a frugal anniversary gift Rick can keep on his desk at work to keep himself motivated and focused.

Here’s how I did it:

First up, gather your supplies. You’ll need a memory (could be a doodle, a ticket stub, a receipt, or any other piece of paper that holds significance for you two), a pencil, scissors or a paper cutter, double sided tape or a glue stick, a cheap frame, and depending on the size of your frame, some decorative paper or fabric to serve as a background.

Use the pencil to trace the size of the glass onto your background and cut it out using the paper cutter or good sharp scissors.

Trace the back of your memory with double sided tape or your glue stick, being careful not to go too close to the edge.

Line up your memory over the background, using a ruler (or your eyeballs if you’re lazy like me) to make sure the background space is even on all sides. Carefully smooth down the memory and place your art into the frame.

Ready to display and inspire!