I'm back from an intentional hiatus.  The early part of this year was gearing up for my wedding March 17th (St. Patty's Day).  I'm happy to report that everything has gone well, and Christina and I are now happily married.  We honeymooned in St. Lucia for a week, and had the most relaxing vacation.  Pictures of the wedding and honeymoon will follow.  Married life isn't much different than single life, except now I have a wonderful woman to come home to at the end of every day.  I don't think that will ever get old. 

Needless to say, I haven't been gaming much lately.  In March, I played exactly nine games, an all-time low since I've been logging games played on BGG in 2005.  One of those games was on my honeymoon, when Christina and I tried out the 2-player Settlers of Catan Card Game.  (we both enjoyed it)  The other 8 games played were during my bachelor party.  Rather than the drunken Vegas trip I was hoping for, I opted for a day of games & poker with Dallas friends.  It was a great day with some fun games, culminating in a 3am game of Tichu.

Some other news from Dallas:  our Borders gaming location closed.  For those that don't know, there's a group of gamers called the Dallas Gamers that has traditionally met up at the Borders bookstore at Coit and Arapaho.  Each Tuesday night, the group would draw anywhere from 20-30 people to game in the cafe at Borders.  People would trickle in after 5pm and go right up until the store closed at 10.  I've been attending for the last 2 years.  But in March, our group was notified that the Borders would be closing, and the Dallas Gamers were without a home.  The email discussion list was aflurry with activity, and it was ultimately decided that we would start meeting in two different locations - an East and a West location.  Both locations wound up being hosted at long-time Dallas favorite, Cafe Brazil.  This is a local chain of restaurant that offers a bistro-type feel, and encourages student & artist types to hang out and drink their bottomless cups of coffee.  So far, it's been a great fit.  I heard last night that on the first Tuesday we were there, Cafe Brazil had their biggest Tuesday night of business ever.  We make sure to tip well and order food, so the restaurant has an incentive to welcome us.

Although I'm going to miss Borders, the new location seems to be perfect.  I'm a little disappointed we split into two locations, and I'll miss some of the gamers that head to the West location.  However, last night we had a healthy crowd with around 20 gamers by the end of the night.  And the best news, they're open until midnight, which means 2 extra hours of gaming.

That's all for now.  I got to play two new games last night - Himalaya and Leonardo Da Vinci.  I'll give some thoughts about them soon.  My new goals for Q2 2007:  Write more on the blog, and start taking pictures of game nights again.