dunhaven; ic community.

In case anyone was wondering, I may have gone a little overboard on monograms. I can see that now that all of my hoards of things have finally been unpacked and displayed.

Any other parents out there having difficulty adjusting to the fact that school is back in session? I had grown accustomed to the summer hours of being able to go home and have lunch with J. Pretty sure he's officially finding it weird that I'm so excited about helping him with homework, though. Please just let him think I'm cool for a few more years.

As I'm sitting here preparing for the first day of school, I find myself distracted by a very important question: would it be more exciting teaching at Hogwarts, or more exasperating? I feel like it would be a little bit of both, and I suddenly have much more respect and admiration for certain individuals than I already had before.

TOBIAS

I was thinking [...] maybe it would be nice if you got the first day of school experience with Emi, if you want it. I love being a part of it, but I also want to share it with you, so if you wanted to have the girls the night before and morning of [...] I know Emi would love it.

In case you didn't already know, today is the most special of days because, on this day many years ago, the one and only Everett Marshall was born. Since they have yet to acknowledge my petition to make the celebration of his birth a national holiday, I'm taking it upon myself to invite all of you Dunhavenians to help me honor this wonderful, beautiful, compassionate, and all-around standup guy by coming in to Stella's today for one of two specials.

The first is the #boyfriend which is two liege waffles topped with Nutella, fresh berries, whipped cream, cookie butter, and chocolate drizzle.

The second is the Birthday Babe which is a large waffle boat with birthday cake, two large scoops of whipped cream, strawberry and chocolate drizzle, chopped pecans, celebratory sprinkles, and two cherries on top.

Better yet, 100% of profits from these two specials will be donated to Voices for Virginia's Kids in Everett's name. ❤️

So please come see us! And even if you're not feeling Stella's Famous Waffles today, don't forget to wish this handsome man the happiest birthday. 😊😊

( Cut for images! )

In case there was any question, Dunhaven, I've got really unreasonably adorable kids.

Happy Tuesday, Dunhaven. We'll make it through this week yet.

REI

I have Hana news. Good news, I should say.

WHO: Tobias Parker, with brief cameos of Emi and Hana Parker
WHEN: Evening of July 29
WHERE: His home
SUMMARY: Tobias has the girls for the night and he and Hana make significant progress.
WARNINGS: Just feelings

( 'Night night, Daddy.' )

I'm so sorry for any inconvenience the lack of food truck has been for anyone the past couple of days. I've made the decision to park it for the remainder of the week, but it (and the wonderfully beautiful and talented Eve) will be back in service on Monday. Until then, everything we serve in the truck (and the aforementioned wonderful Eve) can be found at the brick and mortar Stella's. Thanks for your patience, everyone.

TOBIAS

[...] Hey.

TEXTS TO REI

-- Are you free today?
-- I'd like to see you the girls.
-- [...] And you.

TEXT TO JUN

-- Are donuts from DC for those in need an every Monday occurrence? Because they should be.

From my random Facebook feed to your screens, you're welcome. And on that note, I've heard that eating waffles at Stella's adds +5 to badassery.

How's everyone's Monday going so far? Do I need to bring donuts back from DC for anyone?

ASH

I didn't dream last night, did I?

XING

So...I've got news for you that will be incredibly shocking and unexpected, I'm sure.

LUCY

What are the odds that me dating again could still garner bad press at this point? It's been long enough, hasn't it? I mean, your answer won't change anything, either way, but I'm just wondering how much extra work I'm going to need to apologize to you for.

For the first time in years, I went to the grocery alone and did you know that it's not only possible to finish the entire trip in less than two hours, but you can also actually get through the checkout without having to return a dozen random things from the store to the cashier? Because I didn't know this, and I have to say a huge thank you to my the girls' dad for spending the day with them while I discovered this whole new majestic world of running errands.

TOBIAS

Want me to bring dinner with me when I pick up Emi and Hana? Also, someone else is sharing my dreams, if you didn't already see it. He's

ZOYA

I have to tell you something semi-important.

HELLO, Dunhaven. Several things:

1. Despite my reservations, we returned from Ireland. You're welcome, Noah.

2. Due to higher education calling one of us away, we have an open spot in our D&D group! Though we can continue on as we are, I wanted to see if anyone might be interested in filling this opening. Right now is a good time to get involved in regards to the campaign; we've been sort of on hiatus thanks to wedding/E3/honeymoon taking up most of June and when we start up again we'll be sort of diving into a new leg of adventure, so it would be easy to incorporate someone new. What more, we're going to take advantage of the two famous geeks in our midst and start recording our sessions for podcast format and potential livestreaming. If you're comfortable with that, are available Tuesday evenings, and want to get involved in a group with some truly amazing and creative players (their DM is just so-so, really 😉), let me know and we can chat!

3. This is old news, but as I've been away it might not have been obvious, but I have ended my time working at Roll of the Die. I had been working there since I moved to Dunhaven in 2015, but it's just gotten hard juggling the weekend hours with everything else I've had going on and it seems like a sign. I will probably still hang around during tournaments and will be leading some D&D sessions, but strictly on a volunteer basis.

4. Yui's gotcha day was while we were honeymooning, so to celebrate now, here is a picture that I took today of us looking super cool as we came home from the dog park. ( Cut for image! )

HOW does summer always seem to go by so quickly? I think I need a last hurrah summer trip sometime before classes start up in August. Sora? Finn? Anyone?

FINNLEY

We need to finalize your Bachelorette Party plans, sis!!!

FINN

Can I talk to you about something?

TOBIAS

Hey, so. How are you settling in?

Now that I've seen my girls, I feel as though it's safe to actually use this network and say hello. It's been a while since I had a permanent address in Dunhaven and it feels pretty good, all things considered.

How is everyone? I wouldn't mind some life updates.

TEXTS TO TOBIAS

-- Happy Father's Day, Tobias.
-- The girls are so lucky to have you.
-- And I'm so lucky to have you as my partner in parenting.

TEXTS TO ZOYA

-- Today is one of those days when the regret feels even more pronounced.

( instagram post! )