Happy birthday, DestoFante!

I celebrate today one year of blogging. And I celebrate, indeed, in a subdue manner, as I have not been very active posting, in recent weeks. After a nearly flawless move at the beginning of May, it took a few weeks to get settled in our new apartment. Then, there were the obvious preparation to welcome DestoFante Jr. into this world later in August [to this regard, I am glad to report that Mrs. DestoFante is doing very fine, and we are very excited about the major change in our life, by now a few weeks away.]
Professionally I have been busy, too -- which is good, considering how lucky I am to have a job, during these trying times for the American economy. And finally, when I am able to have a little time for my wargaming hobby, I'd rather spend it doing something, rather blogging about it!
Anyway, today we crossing the ideal line of 1 year of activity -- 365 days of sharing ideas and annotations. And this should be the right time to welcome and thank all my visitors, 3,600+ according to the counter on the website, who spend some time reading, commenting, and sharing information on these pages. Some of you have turned into good friends, which made the experience all the more enjoyable. Definitely, maintaining a blog has turned into a good "discipline device" for my hobby activities.

So, what lies ahead?

As we enter into the summer season, I'd like to regain some momentum in three/four projects that have commanded my attention over the past several months. I have enough ships to actually play some WWI naval engagements. I have a well-developed WSS project, in which several units may soon be brought to completion, and some actual gaming is not too far in the future. I have a near-completed Sudan/Abyssinian project also nearing completion. I have some fun ideas to jump-start activities the now dormant Republic of Lopongo. And a bunch of minor periods to which I may pay occasional attention: Napoleonic (that, actually, should not be considered "minor"), modern Middle East, Vietnam; WWI; Italian Risorgimento.

There is still considerable uncertainty about how the baby will affect my wargaming habits. One guess: I will step back from more time-consuming activities, like painting, and step up more fun pursues -- like actual gaming. This means that I will soon explore the route of painting services for my miniatures. I already have a couple of names on my list.

And now, off to cut the cake with one candle. Happy birthday, DestoFante!