WoW: Folami's First Tier 11 Raid Attempt (Blackwing Descent)

Warning: Lots of WoW nerd-ery incoming with technical terms that'll be over many non-WoW players' heads.

So after some, ahem, off-stage drama in the guild, the raid leader position has been put in the Guardians' hands since there was no one left to run for the position during the elections. Tonight, I log on and am immediately asked if I'd like to try a normal tier 11 raid since my item level is decent and I've gemmed everything (Note to self: Need enchants). After nervously agreeing, we teamed up and hit Blackwing Descent and did pretty awesome.

I died once on our second attempt at Maloriak right as she was dying because I got hit with a jet of flame and hit the S-key instead of strafing right or left like a moron, but still I'd managed to avoid dying up until that point and we downed Maloriak on that attempt (seriously, I was the only one to drop on that attempt and did it two seconds before she did). I was rather proud of my ability to follow direction and stay out of the yucky stuff you're not supposed to stand in. After that, one of the trash dropped a sweet new wand for me that not only finally replaced my green wand (ugh) and earned me the Superior achievement, it also pushed my item level to 346. That means I can do ZA/ZG runs if I can work up the courage (with a guild group, sure, otherwise, lol no).

We wiped twice on Atramedes and then had to call it a night since some people were getting tired and had to get to bed (it was about midnight), but we're going again tomorrow starting around 9:00 PM, which is a perfect time for me since Sam will be at work and that's when the kiddo goes to bed anyway. I'm really hoping tomorrow we can get to Nefarian (yeah, I dream big), and if we down him, I'm praying he drops Shadowblaze Robes. I really, really hope that happens. So far in instances I haven't had much luck when it comes to cloth armor drops. (It seems the MMO gods in charge of drops hate casters when I'm around.)

Have I mentioned, I picked an awesome guild to join when I first purchased WoW?

So, Angellis, Augar, Tygor, and others, you guys rock and am glad you invited me to tag along. Look forward to seeing y'all tomorrow night for another attempt. Plus, Thalian of the guild Horde to Death, you were awesome and even though I have no position of authority, I echo Angellis's invite that if we have room you ought to join us again. Awesome healing.

And Now for the Requisite Maternal Bragging

This being the second week of school, the students in the kiddo's class have been doing some assessment testing for reading and math so the teacher can figure out where everyone's strengths and weaknesses lie. Plus, she can design classroom groups to benefit students who might be lagging in one area or another. I have to say the kiddo's scores surprised me in unexpected ways.

On reading, he scored a 2.3 which translates into being at a "second grade level plus three months" and in the fifty-eighth percentile nationally. So, he's right on target for his reading level, which came as no real shock to me. What I didn't know is that he also had a math assessment, and today I learned he scored a 2.4 on and put him in the seventy-first percentile nationally for his grade. Now, at the end of kindergarten, he tested somewhat low in math and after last year, he was able to keep up though I was under the impression he was still a little behind. This assessment told me differently, and I have to admit it was quite surprising to see him performing better on math than reading. I was always the opposite on my test scores (math was always my weakest subject). I mean, it's not a huge difference either way and I know this wasn't exactly rigorous testing, but it was nice to see he's managed to catch up in math. I suppose I should have taken a hint when we did math homework this week that included word problems and also picking out the greater number and he flew right through it. Those are two things he had a little difficulty with last year due to his trouble processing language sometimes.

Also, he had his first spelling test of the year today. The teacher did accidentally mark one word correct that was spelled wrong, but other than that he got every word right plus the extra credit. His first test score was 109, and so we're starting the year off on the right foot, I think.

The other good news is that his teacher told me last week he had no trouble talking to her right away (usually he takes a bit to warm up to a teacher) and that he was initiating conversations with his peers. This was something that was worrisome last year, and he seems to be saying he's playing with others at recess so far. I'll speak to his teacher again this week to make sure he's still excited about socializing, but I take this as a positive sign and that he's continuing to improve with regard to his language delay.

I expect we'll hit a few rough spots about mid-year when the material becomes a little more challenging, though I'm not as anxious about it as I was after learning this.