A Few Things

This year has been crazy. Crazy busy for the most part, and that leaves me little time to blog.

We had a good holiday season - I may blog some about that. It was non-stop in early December especially. One of these days I'll have time to sit down and finish my Dragon Con recaps.

I love to write and wish I could do it more. My migraines make it hard though. Hard to think sometimes and hard to stare at the computer screen. Sadly, I can't make money at writing at this junction so I'm stuck with my tech support job.

I had a colonoscopy a few days ago because my mom died of colon cancer so young. Thankfully it was clear but the prep was awful and has given me quite the migraine since. Growing older really sucks!

I'll do a full New Year's post in a few days but I do hope to get to write more in 2018!

Dragon Con 2017 - Thursday

Image: http://atlantafashionpolice.com

For the first time in several years, we opted to take Emily out of school for Thursday. Todd really wanted to go to Dragon Con Wrestling because they were having some big name wrestlers as guests. I was fine with that because going on Thursday gives me a chance to give blood without any other con stuff really going on.

We drove down that morning and spent a little bit at my aunt and uncle's house before I put on my American McGee Alice costume and we headed on down to the con. After a short MARTA trip and a shorter line to get our badges we had several hours to kill.

A couple of people stopped me to get my picture, including the Atlanta Fashion Police which was shiny. I love it when people want to take pictures of me cosplaying!

I decided that I wanted to give blood. This was right after the hurricane had hit Texas and right before Irma was going to storm on up. The blood drive was in the basement of the Hyatt and the line to even get registered was super long.

Todd left me to get blood and I waited and waited. It was moving from line to line. First to get registered, next to do the tests / forms with the nurses so see if I could give blood and then finally to a chair for the actual blood letting.

They were giving away 1st edition copies of Battlefield Earth to everyone who was in line to donate. I opted not to take one because they were massive and I didn't want to haul it around. I did take the snacky food they kept offering since I knew I needed it. I had eaten lunch before I went to give blood but extra snacks are good.

Finally after nearly 4 hours of waiting, I was in a chair and the nurse / blood collector person couldn't find a good vein. This is pretty typical for me because my veins suck. A supervisor had to come over and she found one, but ended up having another person come over and she got me hooked up really fast.

In total, it took me less than 10 minutes to actually give the blood. One of the fastest times for me, usually my blood doesn't flow as well as it did that day. I got more snacks after plus my t-shirt and pin.

Since it took so long, Dragon Con Wrestling had already started and the room was full. I tried to get Todd to answer his phone to come to the door and get me but in the end I just wanted until they let more people in.

We watched a little more of the wrestling and then decided to head back to my aunt and uncle's house.

Up Next - Dragon Con 2017 Friday!

Michigan Trip - The Long Journey Home

Image: cre8tivecookie.blogspot.com

This is the last post in my Michigan trip report! To start from the beginning, click here!

Todd and I got up bright and early to pack up the car. My mother in law was a bit afraid that Emily would have a hard time with us leaving. I snuggled her a little before we left but honestly it was probably harder for me than it was with her. She knew her cousins would be over to play later and of course, cousins are more fun than mom and dad.

After we said our good-byes, we got in the car. Todd started driving because he knows the fastest ways to get out of the Thumb. We stopped at the mall in Bay City. They had an FYE that was having a really great sale on geeky stuff. We got a few things and then headed back on the road.

Todd took the back way into Saginaw and we stopped by 7-11 to get slurpees. Because I was still very tired and because usually Coke in slurpee form didn't bother me as much, I got a Coke slurpee. This ended up being a very bad idea.

It was my turn to drive and I drove aways before the pain levels got super high again. I managed to drive a while longer until it got too bad and I had to have Todd take over. I felt bad but he said he felt fine and preferred to drive anyway.

I slept a little and then I stayed awake the rest of the way home. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and we were both very happy to get home.

It was a good trip to Michigan to see family even though it was utterly exhausting. Hopefully next year, it won't be so tiring!

Michigan Trip - Independence Day!

This is the 4th post in my Michigan trip report! To start from the beginning, click here!

After sleeping in, we plied into my in-laws's truck because it was big enough to hold us all. We had Todd, Emily and I, my mother in law and father in law, plus Todd's brother, Scott, and his son, Austin.

Our first stop was an ice cream shop. Now, the thumb of Michigan is a strange place. There can be nothing but farms and wind machines for miles. Every once in a while, you'll come across a place like this ice cream shop which has nothing around it.

But when we got there, it was packed. This place specialized giant scoops of ice cream. I made the mistake of getting two scoops (like I usually do at our local ice cream shop) and I couldn't finish it. Emily couldn't finish her one scoop. But it was yummy!

After we finished our ice cream we got back in the truck and headed off to Caseville.  Emily and Austin had a couple of activities to choose from, and they picked mini golf. We all got balls and clubs and started playing.

We kept score for a while, but because there was so many of  us we just stopped. Emily and Austin

had a blast and Emily even got one hole in one. After we were done, we let the kids play a little in the arcade.

At this point, I was starting to not feel so well. I had been drinking a ton of caffeine in the form of Coke all week and it hit me like a ton of bricks. By the time we got back to my in-laws house, I had a raging migraine. I went directly into the guest room and took a long nap.

By the time I woke up, it was dinner time. Todd's brother had made steaks on the grill. I was feeling a little better and was able to eat dinner. Afterwards, Todd and I got our things mostly packed up and Emily's stuff into her suitcase since she was staying for another week.

I headed to bed because my head was still hurting and I needed to drive some on the way home the next day.

Up Next - The Long Journey Home

Girl Scouts Vs. Boy Scouts

The Womanly Art of Leatherworking

Some of you may have heard the news that the Boy Scouts are now letting girls join. I really don't have an issue with this, it's up to the girl what organization she wants to join, since Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts aren't the only options.

What I have an issue with is the bad rap Girl Scouts gets from some people. I made the mistake of reading the comments on the post about this that was on the Boy Scouts Facebook page. Apparently, according to some people, Girl Scouts is about arts, crafts, learning how to be a housewife, and nothing outdoors. Which is so not true, at least for the troop that I'm a part of.

Emily has been a Girl Scout for three years now. We've gone camping every year (sometimes several times a year), we learn outdoor activities, hiking is a big thing in our troop and we are gearing up to do some awesome STEM stuff. In fact, our Juniors were making little robots last meeting.

Admittedly, our troop is awesome and yes, as a leader, I'm biased. But Girl Scouts is all about being girl led. Our girls have a say in what we do each year and what badges they want to earn. Our Brownies are working on their First Aid badge right now.

Yes, some troops may be more arts and crafts than outdoors. And if you don't like your local troop, join Boy Scouts or Campfire, or any other similar organization. And you can also start your own troop. Ours is only 4 years old.

Scouting is fun for both boys and girls. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts both have advantages and flaws, but if you find a good troop it can be life changing!

Michigan Trip - The Trek Across Michigan

This is the 3rd post in my Michigan trip report! To start from the beginning, click here!

We got up early and finished packing up. We got on the road after getting some breakfast and made a trek that I made dozens of times when I lived in Holland.

Our route took us right through Mount Pleasant, the home of my alma mater, Central Michigan University. We stopped and went into the bookstore so I could get an alumni sticker. We also wen to the big seal that is in front of Warriner Hall to take pictures.

We stopped in Bay City to see my great aunt Jackie for a little bit. Going to her house is like stepping through a time warp. It hasn't changed much since I was a child. Aunt Jackie herself is the same as she always is and was quite happy to see us.

We got back on the road and after several more hours of driving we got to Todd's parent's house. All told it was a five hour drive, so we were a bit tired. But once we got unpacked, we got changed because we were going to do family pictures.

Todd's brother, his wife and their kids, Amber and Austin, came over. Emily hit it off with her

cousins, who she hasn't seen since they were all toddlers. Austin had brought Pokemon cards so he and Emily played Pokemon.

The photographer came to the house and we did family pictures both inside and out. The outside pictures were the best, but they all were really good. After we finished with that, we had some dinner and then got changed to head to Scott and Lisa's house.

We gathered out in the front yard, sitting in chairs while we waited for it to get dark. The kids ran around the yard playing with a toy that launched in the air then the kids would try and catch it. They also did sparklers and we had smores!

Once it was dark Scott set off a bunch of fireworks. It was a very good show and the kids oohed and aahed and cheered for the fireworks. It was quite late by the time we were done, so we headed back to my inlaw's house to go to sleep.

Up Next - Independence Day!

My Ghost Adventures - Whispers

Image: oreramar.deviantart.com

To start at the beginning of this series, click here!

It's been a while since we had any ghostly activity in our house, but the ghost scared the crap out of me the other day. 

It was a very windy and rainy day, we were getting the remnants of Hurricane Irma. It was after I had put Emily to bed and I was sitting on the toilet doing my business. All of a sudden I hear a voice! 

I couldn't make out what she said, but it was definitely a female's voice. She said several words, and then I booked it out of the bathroom and turned on the hall light.

It freaked me out so badly that I didn't go back into the bathroom until Todd got home from work. Both Todd and I think that the storms gave the ghost enough energy to speak. I hope she wasn't saying "Die, Mandy, Die," though I doubt that.

This does confirm what Todd and I have thought for years. The ghost in the bathroom is a woman. Sometimes, I wonder what her story is, being stuck in our crappy bathroom. But I'm not going to research our house until we don't live here anymore - which may be a very long time!

Michigan Trip - Beach Day!

This is the 2nd post in my Michigan trip report! To start from the beginning, click here!

After sleeping for a good long time, we got up and headed to the beach. Emily was so small last time we were in Michigan, she didn't remember going to the beach. She was especially excited to play in the sand.

We headed to Tunnel Park in Holland, and I swear it was like stepping back in time to my childhood. Since it was before noon, the beach wasn't too crowded. Todd went into the water first but declared it was way too cold to swim in. Emily waded in with him a bit but then played in the sand.

I finally went into the water, and Emily came with me. It was cold at first but it warmed up for me. We swam for quite a bit, with Emily bouncing in the waves. After we played in the sand for a while longer, we went to the other side of park to have a cookout.

My dad and Todd cooked us hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. While they were grilling, I took

Emily to the playground. She played and then rolled down the big sand hill a couple of times just like I did as a child. She was covered in sand from head to toe.

We ate our food, packed up and headed back to my dad's house. Right away, Emily was tossed into the shower. She shed so much sand in the bathroom, I had to sweep it up. After the rest of us got showers too, we just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

Our plan had been to go to dinner and then go to Captain Sundae for ice cream. We went to Bob Evans for supper and while we were eating, the skies opened up and it started to pour. We were trying to decide how we would fit in Captain Sundae the next day, but the rain stopped as we were finishing up.

We decided to go anyway, and it was pretty dry while we had our ice cream. Emily was thrilled, with the ice cream and the play area that was a ship! After we finished, we headed back to my dad's house. We watched some tv and I got as packed up as I could.

Up Next - The Trek Across Michigan

Summer Adventures - The Drive-In

One of my favorite memories as a kid was going to the drive-in. My mom would always buy us new pj's since we would nearly always fall in asleep in the car. I honestly don't remember any movies I saw, but the experience of sitting in the car to watch a movie was awesome.

There is a drive-in that shows new movies about an hour away from my house. We've passed it a few times over the years on the way to Charlotte, but we'd never gotten there. Finally I decided that Emily and I were going to go this summer.

A few weekends ago, the Sunset Drive-In Theater was showing Despicable Me 3 and Spider-Man: Homecoming. This kind of killed two birds for me because I had promised to take Emily to see Spider-Man once she got home from Michigan.

The gates opened at 7 pm and I got there about then. Since this was our first time, I wasn't sure how fast it would fill up. It was pretty empty when we got there so we got a great spot right by the bathrooms and concession stand.

We had a few hours to kill so we checked everything out. They had a Despicable Me 3 coloring contest so Emily sat down and colored a picture. They also had a Despicable Me 3 photo booth and one for Spider-Man too.

As the sun was setting, we got some popcorn. We got some other snacks as it got closer to movie

time. Before the movie, they gave out some prizes. Emily didn't get anything big but she got a little Despicable Me 3 poster and some Minions stickers.

To hear the movie, we had to tune into their radio station which was a bit different. But it worked well. The drive-in filled up quite a bit before the movie started. After Despicable Me 3 finished, quite a few people left. We stayed to the end.

Emily was clad in pj's but she did stay up until the end of Spider-Man. I do think she passed out as we drove away.

It was a lot of fun! Next time, I may bring my own drinks and just get popcorn there. Hopefully we'll get to go again this summer!

Overwhelmed at Large

Image: ericafinds.com

I'm very liberal and I make no secret of that. I'm horrified by the current administration as they try to wipe out all the good that the previous administration tried to do. I try to be an ally as best I can to LGBT+ people. I think everyone should have the same rights and freedoms. And the whole healthcare mess, well, that one scares me the most because of my poor health.

But, I see posts on social media often about how everyone needs to be calling their representatives everyday about a variety of bills. How cisgendered white people aren't doing enough to build up LGBT+ people and POC. How we must resist with every fiber of our being every moment of the day.

Ok, maybe not so much that last one, but it's overwhelming. I use resistbot when I can, but that only really formats and gets your words to the right place. You still need to write several cohesive paragraphs about what you want your representative to be doing which can be hard sometimes.

So I have guilt that I'm not a good enough liberal. That I'm not doing enough for the causes. That I'm not a good enough person because I don't have the ram in my head to resist every day.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like this so I thought I'd put it out there. I know a lot of my issues stems from the fact that I have a boatload of anxiety on a normal day. Lately, I keep having panic attacks for no good reason. Maybe the reason is just the world we live in right now.

I'm also introverted, living with chronic pain and still need to have enough energy to work and to parent.

Yes, it may sound like excuses but it's the truth. I don't think that people should stop posting about things people can do. Just maybe ease up on the idea that everyone must be doing said things. We all need a break sometimes.

Dragon Con 2007 - Part Two

This is my trip report from my very first Dragon Con, originally posted on my livejournal. For Part One, Click Here!

Saturday we got up rather early again, since one of my friends was had to be out and about early because he was in the parade. I got into my costume, which was my Summoner Yuna costume, and I needed some help as well. 

Another friend and I headed down to get a good spot and watch the parade.After the parade we got food and headed back to the Hyatt for the panel with Ellen Muth (who starred as George in Dead Like Me). Lunch was yummy and the panel was very interesting. 

Unfortunately, by this time, I was starting to feel badly, as the pain in my head started to grow. I didn't really want to put a cold pack on, mostly because that would detract from my costume. Eventually I did have to put one on because the pain was pretty bad.

We did some wandering, went to the Walk of Fame (it was crazy in there!), and then made our way to Peter S. Beagle's reading. He read the prologue and a few chapters of his new book, "I'm Afraid

You've Got Dragons" which was very interesting, the book doesn't come out until next year, but I really want to get it when it does come out. 

I separted from my friends and ended up in the room with a migraine that was about a 7 or 8 on the scale of 1 to 10. I spent a good portion of the afternoon/early evening in the room laying down.

I did drag myself out of bed because the showing of "The Last Unicorn" with Peter S. Beagle doing commentary was that night. We there about an hour early and it was a good thing because the room they were showing the movie in was tiny! We did get in, and we got seats. They turned lots of people away, which was sad. 

The movie was great, and it was very interesting to hear the commentary from Peter.

After that, we headed back to the room - I was still feeling pretty crappy. We did get some food and then watched the Dawn costume contest that was on Dragon*ConTV, as we ate, and then crashed not long after that.

Sunday we actually got to sleep in a little. And I had thankfully slept off my migrain! 

I went to the Stars of Harry Potter panel, and I just managed to snag a seat. Unfortunately, I was too far away to get any good pictures. It had the actors that played the Weasley twins and the actor that played Neville. It was very interesting.

After that, I ran into my friends and we all watched Tom Smith, who does Filk, play a short show in the lobby of the Hyatt. I knew what Filk was, but this was my first time really listening to it. It was very amusing. 

I went to the art show for a bit and then met up with another friend because we both wanted to go to the Star Trek: The Next Generation panel. We did food runs and as my friend had returned with her food, the line started moving. The panel was in the biggest panel room, and it still got filled to the brim. The panel had the actors who played Data, Dr. Crusher and Riker. Brent Spiner, who played Data, seemed very bitter, and none of them really wanted to talk about Star Trek that much. It was an okay panel, but I had been to better ones.

The actor who played Riker did come out into the audience before he came on stage. He was really close to us. 

After that, we went to another panel, I think it was one in the writing track - I don't really remember it that much and then we came back to get in line for the Ron Glass panel. 

This line was the worst of all weekend. We ended up standing in line in the outside area where all the smokers came to smoke. I'm really allergic to smoke, so this was not fun. Plus, the line didn't move, and didn't move, even though most lines started moving about 15-20 minutes before the panel started. My friend went to ask at one point why the line wasn't moving, and she was angrily told that they were trying to clear the room and get the people in wheelchairs in. The line didn't move until 15 minutes after the panel started.

The panel itself was good - Ron Glass didn't sit down once!! 

Afterwards, I went to the Walk of Fame which was much emptier than it had been. There was only one person in front of me when I was getting Ron Glass's autograph. He was very nice, and I got a couple of pictures.

I then saw that James Marsters, who played Spike on Buffy, was there, so I got in line - there was only one person in front of me there too. I got my picture signed and we talked for a minute. He was really nice too. Alas, no pictures of that.

I went back up to the room to put my newly autographed things away, and headed to the dealer's room. I mostly wandered for a while, and the only thing I really bought was a Harley Quinn print for Todd. We had gone to the dealer's room on Saturday I think, and I had gotten the "Done the Impossible" DVD, which is about Browncoats, and something I had wanted to see for a while. And I got a Browncoat lanyard as well. I honestly did not spend hardly any money on stuff at Dragon*Con.

After that, I went back to the room and found my friends vegging out before their big dinner with Peter S. Beagle. I had been wishy-washy on if I wanted to tag along or not, because I knew it would be expensive, but I also knew it would be a cool experience. So, I ended up deciding to go.

It was a very cool experience, and the food was expensive, but really, really good. I didn't have that much to add, but still had a good time. 

We got done with dinner just in time to head to the Hyatt for Tom Smith's concert. The room was packed but it was a very good show!

After that, we tried to peek into the Pirate Party, but it was full, so we just went back to the room, and watched some of the costume contest before going to sleep.

Monday was most just packing up and driving home. That was the first and last time I was at Dragon Con until Monday. That first Dragon Con has sparked a decade of memories and fun times!

Dragon Con 2007 - Part One

I realized that this year was going to be my 10th Dragon Con. So I'm a little nostalgic on how it all started. We moved to North Carolina in 2005, but after Dragon Con had already happened. In 2006, I didn't go because of going to Michigan for my wedding. But finally 2007 I got to go for the first time.

I stayed with friends and Todd didn't go because he didn't have the time off because that was the year we took our honeymoon. I wrote about the experience in my LJ. Here are some of the highlights!

The drive was fairly uneventful, and we arrived about 5-ish to the Marriott. We tried to check in, but had to wait for my friend Kathleen to arrive. We filled up the time by hanging out with another friend, Nicole and her husband - they were fun to hang out with. We also grabbed dinner, and got our badges. Oddly enough, the line didn't seem that bad to me.

After we got our badges, Kathleen had arrived, and we were able to get into the room. It was a fairly standard hotel room with two double beds (which I think we were lucky to get, because we had been told earlier that only king rooms were left), and it had enough room for me to set up my blow up bed (I brought this because I'm an odd sleeper and that way Kathleen and I could each have our own bed.)

We were on the 41st floor which was very cool, though the elevator rides did make me dizzy almost every time.

Friday dawned very, very early - mostly because the alarm went off at 7:30. I was awake quickly, mostly because I'm used to getting up this early, and I quickly got into my costume, which was my Hogwarts costume.

It was a very hot costume, and I didn't wear it all day. Everyone else got ready and we went downstairs to find out where open gaming was since friends I was staying with were running a one-shot sword and socery Hero game set in Via, which is a world we play in every other Sunday.

Apparently open gaming was not available at that time, so we just took over a table in one of the gaming rooms, expecting to be kicked out. We must have been truly early birds because we weren't bothered at all.

After the game, we headed over to see the stars of Buffy (which included James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Elisabeth Rohm and some random guy who played a demon on the show).

Before the panel though, my friend Alic walked with me to the Hilton to try and find Trader Vic's, where the Bpal meet & sniff was going to be later that night. I thought I had a fairly good grip on how to find it, but alas I was wrong. More on that later

I parted ways with everyone, and went to the Andromeda panel that had Kevin Sorbo and Gordon Michael Woolvett. Gordon Michael Woolvett had a prop from the show and he passed it around. It was neat and I got a fairly good picture of that.

Next up was the Firefly panel - I got in line, waited and managed to get a very good seat because I was alone. Though as the room filled up, I noticed my friend Carmen looking for a seat, and I happened to have one next to me, so we got to sit next to each other.

Unfortunately, Ron Glass was late, so the panel was just Mark Sheppard. It was still a very good panel, and the closest I was for any panel all weekend.

After that, Carmen and I went on the search for Trader Vic's. We got some conflicting directions, and the fact that it was just confusing to find didn't help. We did manage to find it.

We also stopped at both our hotel rooms. I was dying because my costume was so warm, and I had planned on changing before the meet & sniff anyway. So I was very glad to get out of that costume.

Directly before the meet & sniff, Carmen and I went to a Harry Potter panel called "Mourning Potter". It was about the characters who had died and the end of the series in general. It was a very interesting panel.

We then went to the meet & sniff, which was fun - though I have no clue who any of the people were except a couple.

Now, I had had a donut in the room before we left for the game, and we had stopped in the con suite right after the Buffy panel, but I hadn't eaten anything else all day, and everything I had eaten was not good food. I had planned on getting something from Trader Vic's but nothing on their menu looked good, and it was expensive. Carmen got a chicken caeser salad that was very small for what they charged. And she had to get it to go, since the service was slow, and we had wanted to go to the Buffy Horror Picture Show at 10 pm. I had planned on stopping at the con suite after the Buffy show.

We left the Hilton at a little before 10, but managed to make it to the Hyatt just after 10 when we came across a huge line. We asked what it was for, and we were told it was for the 11:30 pm show of Buffy. The line was already really long, so we joined.

This was the longest time I stood in line all weekend - since we had an hour and a half before the show started. It was okay, we talked to some of the people in line. The strangest thing was two cups, at different times, came soaring out of the sky. Luckily they didn't hit anything but the ground.

Finally the line started moving, and we did get in. Though tons of people were turned away from what I heard.

The show itself was great - the audience, including me, sang along with the songs, and a good time was had by nearly all. The only annoying thing was the guys behind us kept talking, and one of the guys behind us was very drunk and got up at one point to find a bathroom to get sick in.

After the Buffy show, Carmen and I parted ways (and I didn't see her the rest of the weekend, which was sad), and I found my way back to the Mariott. I pretty much went to bed because I was exhausted. I didn't ever even eat anything else.

Up Next - Part Two!

Doctor Who Thoughts

Image: reddit.com

I've been a Doctor Who fan for many years. I haven't seen any of the Classic Who episodes, partly because I'm a completeist and I know some of the early episodes have been lost. Also because that's huge undertaking. The amount of Classic Doctor Who actually stopped me from watching it because of that undertaking, but friends convinced me to start with the new seasons starting with the 9th Doctor.

It took me a few episodes to get into it, but soon I loved it and it's one of my big fandom now. The 10th Doctor is my absolute favorite. 9th is my 2nd favorite and while 11 gets on my nerves sometimes I adore his companions, Rory most of all. I honestly haven't seen a lot of 12. I only watched his first season and a lot of that got lost in my memory because of the seizures I had. I'm doing a rewatch right and hope to have caught up by the time the Christmas special comes out.

For those who don't watch Doctor Who, the Doctor is a Timelord, an alien time traveler. When he or she dies, they regenerate into a new form, letting a new actor take over the part. All the Doctors have numbers that the fans use to refer to them, except for one which is the War Doctor who didn't have his own season, just an episode. 

Since I've been in the fandom for many years, I've seen how fan react to the news of a new version of the Doctor. The chart I've shared above sums it up pretty well, but that seems to be intensified with today's announcement. 

For the first time, The Doctor is going to regenerate into a woman.

And this news has gotten all the reactions from people. Most of my friends have been thrilled, some have been happy and others are in a 'wait and see' mode. Most of the 'wait and see' people are because they don't really like the actress, Jodie Whittaker, which is a valid complaint. I'm personally thrilled - she looks doctor-y and I honestly try to give new Doctors a chance.

But I'm a glutton for punishment, and I read the comments on several pages, included the BBC's Facebook post about it, and boy, people were angry. Even without seeing her speak a single line, people have declared that Doctor Who is doomed and dead and that this move is beyond awful. All because she is a woman. Some people said this was a dumb pc move, some complained that now their young boys wouldn't have a good fictional role model (perhaps the most eye-rolling of all the comments) along with the many, many rage quit posts of "I'm never watching Doctor Who again!"

A lot of the comments were from men but some women too. The anger and venom people were posting was not unsurprising but to me, a little sad. The Doctor is an alien, and other Timelords have changed from male to female in the past. Crying that this will ruin the series seems a bit premature to me. 

In the end, it's just a TV show. I'm looking forward to it and I know a lot of other people are as well. In addition to a new Doctor, there are new show runners as well which I think will make this very interesting indeed.

Michigan Trip 2017 - Travel and Horror Con

It's been a long, long time since we've been up to Michigan to visit family so over 4th of July this year we make the very long trek to the state of our birth (at least for Todd and I).

My dear husband is always coming up with interesting ideas and he got one related to the drive up to Michigan. The drive sucks, it's long and mostly boring. But Todd found a horror convention, Days of the Dead, that was happening in Indianapolis the day we were driving up. It only added on like a half hour to our trip and there was some interesting guests there so we decided to get ticket.

I tried to sleep before we left and so did Todd, even though he got home from work at 11 pm and we left at 2 am. Neither of us got any sleep. I managed to sleep a little in the car but Todd was just high on caffeine.

Once the sun came up, Emily woke up and so did I. We stopped at a rest area and I changed into my Alice costume. I'm unable to go to a convention without a costume. Emily also was wearing her Chewbacca costume which is just pj's anyway.

Sadly the main person we wanted to see had canceled. That was George Romero and he canceled for health reasons. Once we got in and got our wrist bands, we found Matthew Lillard who was in Scream and Hackers, as well as being Shaggy in Scooby-Doo (both the live action movies and in recent cartoons).

His line wasn't too long so we got in line. Emily was a bit shy but she was very geeked that he pulled her aside and talked her in the Shaggy voice. The lady who had my phone to take a picture with us and him actually got a video of it put a couple of really cute pictures. We all got hugs from him (even Todd!) and got our picture taken.

We wandered around the halls. It was a mixture of dealers tables and celebrities doing autographs.

Being a horror convention, there was a lot of somewhat scary stuff but Emily was doing fine. We found the other person we wanted to meet, Lita, who is one of my all time favorite wrestlers. She was really nice and we got a picture taken with her too.

Todd had told Emily she could have $20 to spend at the convention. My kid found the table that was selling Pokemon stuffed animals in the middle of all that horror stuff and had to get one. I got some stickers for our car.

We were only at the convention maybe an hour but it was fun. It was nice to get out of the car and walk around for a while. I did nearly scar my child for life. They had a haunted house set up and I had Emily take a picture with it. Next to it was a giant pumpkin with Michael Myers standing there. I didn't realize that it was a cosplayer and not a statue. Freaked Emily right out! I felt so bad!!

After we got to the car, we went to White Castle for lunch which was yummy and then got back on the road. I was going to drive but Todd decided he was fine and actually drove the rest of the way to my dad's house.

It was supper time once we got there and my dad took us to this pizza buffet called Pizza Ranch. They had fried chicken and a great salad bar in addition to the pizza. It was really good!

Once we got back to my dad's house, I was exhausted and so was Todd. Emily, who had gotten the most sleep, was not so we let her stay up with my dad and they watched the first Harry Potter movie. Both Todd and I passed out as soon as our heads hit our pillows. It was a really long day.

Up Next - Beach Day!

Summer Adventures - Carowinds

One of my goals this summer is to experience some things Emily hasn't ever done before. Our first summer adventure ended up being Carowinds, an amusement park a couple of hours from where we live.

I work from home at a company that is based out of Texas, but there are only a few states were they hire at home people. They usually do a company picnic in the summer and a Christmas party, but I've never been to either mostly because of timing. But when it was announced that the company picnic for the Carolinas and GA was going to be at Carowinds, I jumped at the chance.

I got a ticket for me and a guest (which was Emily) for free, plus they provided lunch! I had been wanting to check out Carowinds anyway, and to do so for free made it extra awesome!

Emily and I got up bright and early that morning and drove there. We got there just before 10 am when the park opened. We easily found the tent with the person from my job who had the tickets, and we entered the park.

When we got inside, there were several Peanuts characters waiting. Emily met them all and we got pictures. It was a good thing because we never saw the characters out and about for the rest of the day. Sadly, Snoopy wasn't there so we didn't get to meet him.

Most of the people who were there at opening headed to one of the many roller coasters, but we headed all the way to the back of the park to ride on the Plants vs. Zombies ride. We had no wait and it was an ok ride. You got on these bike things after you picked either to be a plant or a zombie and then you shot at your enemies. The bike thing would jerk and move sometimes. It was fun to do once but neither of us wanted to do it again.

From there we went and rode on Boo Blasters which was another shooting game. The ride vehicle took you through a haunted house and you shot at things. I liked this ride a bit better, in fact we rode on it twice before moving on.

We then rode the bumper cars and did a ride in the Planet Snoopy section which was all Peanuts themed rides for kids. The park was starting to fill up a bit and we had some time before lunch so we decided to ride the white water raft ride. The line was long, and much longer than I had thought when we got in line. But finally we rode, and it was fun!

From there, we went to the picnic area. We had to show our tickets which had a lunch voucher and we found the pavilion my work was at. I didn't know anyone there because no-one from my team had come, but there was yummy food. There was hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, potato salad, cookies and a variety of drinks. We ate up and then headed back to the car to drive to the water park section of the park.

I was a little unsure about how much Emily was going to like to the water park because she doesn't know how to swim and still isn't thrilled with water on her face. She's much better than she was when she was younger but she still doesn't want to go underwater.

We started small. There was a little kids area that had a small water slide that we went down several times and then we went to one of the wave pools. Emily loved this so much! She loved jumping in the waves and letting them push her back.

As we walked around we found another kids section but this was for bigger kids. There was about eight different water slides and we went on most of them. And on one of these, Emily's head actually went under the water. I always had her go down the slide first and then I went after her. She didn't freak out and she was really excited to tell me that once I went down the slide.

After another stop by the wave pool, we got changed out of our swim suits and drove back to where we were before. We spent about 3 hours in the water park.

Once we were back in the regular park side, we stopped and got some Italian ice as a snack. We did more rides, mostly at Planet Snoopy. Some of the rides were kid only, so I just watched from the side and took pictures.

I did make Emily ride the Carolina Skytower which is a ride that takes you up really high and you slowly go around in a circle to see the park and the Charlotte skyline in the distance. I really enjoyed it - it was very relaxing.

We had supper at Chick-Fil-A and then Emily rode more Planet Snoopy rides. We even rode on a kiddie roller coaster that was very exciting. I was out of spoons at the end and just let her ride to her heart's content while I watched. We ended up leaving at 9 pm, an hour before the park closed, because I was beyond exhausted. Of course, 11 hours in an amusement park will make one exhausted even without chronic pain.

All in all, it was a fun day! I'd like to go back and maybe even get season passes next year.

Up Next - The Drive-In

Women Are Capable

Image: www.lisajohnsonfitness.com

This is a bit of a rant, brought in part by an interaction I had at work as well as the current climate of our country and world.

Women Are Capable! We can work, we can lead, we can do more than be mothers. We can be mothers and work or stay at home. Every woman is different and NONE of us are lesser than men. No matter how many men think we are lesser.

I work in IT, which has been a man dominated field. But I'm good with computers and I'm good at my job. I never thought of myself as extremely techy until I started working in IT, but from the people I've had to help over the years, I am very good with most things techy.

Doesn't stop people from telling me I don't know what I'm doing. Usually older men who sometimes call me 'honey' and 'sweetie'. Usually these fellows don't know what they are doing, as in the case I had today.

This dude totally was mansplaining me the entire call as well as talking down to me. I had to tell him to do something about five times before he would listen to me and do what I told him to do. In the end, I couldn't help him because of his lack of computer knowledge. Didn't stop him from thinking that he knew it all.

It's 2017 for goodness sakes! Women are strong and capable. Please, treat us like we deserve to be treated, as human beings at least.

ConCarolinas 2017

ConCarolinas is one of my favorite cons. It's small but has a lot of activities. And a lot of my friends attend which makes it a lot of fun. ConCarolinas was actually Emily's very first con when she was only 8 months old! But this year we did a few new things, including staying overnight at the hotel for the first time.

Emily and I got up early on that Saturday morning and make the trek to Charlotte. We made good time but when we pulled into the hotel, I noticed that there were no parking spots anywhere nearby. I pulled the car up to unload it and made the decision to pay for valet parking. That was a great decision because we left the hotel several times to get food.

The bellhop loaded our stuff onto a cart and took it to our room. It only took a minute for us to get our badges and we got down to the dealer's room just before it opened. We went around the room and Emily exercised great control until she saw Pokemon cards. She had to get some! The only thing I bought was some decals for my new car.

After that, we went back to the room so I could change into my Tightrope Girl costume then hurried down for the costume contest pre-judging. Thankfully I was first to be judged, because both Emily and I were pretty hungry at that time.

I changed again (this became a theme for the day) and we went to get lunch at McDonald's. We had a bit of time, so we went down to the pool for a bit. It was really relaxing and nice to cool down because it was hot out!

After that, I changed in my Princess Leia costume and we went to the gaming area to play D&D. We had a lot of fun, and Emily's character helped us a lot in the combat with her sleep spell! Next year, hopefully we can go down on Friday and play in more D&D games.

Once the game was done, it was time to change back into my Tightrope Girl costume and go down to my friend Mikey's concert. It was great, though I did have to run back up to the room because I had

forgotten my gloves. I had to leave early to get lined up for the contest. Thankfully it was in the same room so I just got Emily settled in a seat in the 3rd row and left my purse and glasses with her.

This was my first costume contest I've ever been in so I was in the novice category. There were some other great costumes there too. I had no idea what I was going to do on stage and I started to feel really nervous.

In the end, I pretended like I was walking a tightrope and then posed in my pose for a moment. It was really fast. Then it was time to go back to the waiting room to wait for everyone else to have their turn on the stage.

Once everyone was done, they had us all come out on stage. We stood there while they read off the winners of the film festival as the judges decided who won. The novice awards were read off first and to my great surprise, I won 3rd place!

The best part of the whole weekend was when they read my name off, a tiny blur in the 3rd row jumped to her feet, her hands thrust in the air as she cheered for her mommy. It was awesome!

The other winners had great costumes too. A Newt Scamander cosplayer won best in show and he deserved it - his costume was really great!

It was about 6:30 pm once we got done with the costume contest so I got changed again. We went and got Cookout for supper. We watched Disney Jr. on TV as we ate and then we headed back to the pool for some night swimming. I was pretty beat by that time so we didn't swim for too long. I let Emily watch some tv while I got things packed up to make things easier in the morning.

The next day we got up and went swimming again for a bit. Then we got everything packed up. I went to the valet / bell hop station to get some help. I figure if I'm paying for valet parking they can come up and get our stuff. 

I knew it may take a while, and so did the guy at the valet station. He told me he would send someone up as soon as possible. Sadly, I had to call down several times before someone came up. It took over an hour. By that time, Emily was convinced that we had to live there now.

We got our car which they did pack up for us, and went to get some lunch. After lunch, we went back inside to do one more spin around the dealer's room. There was a booth that had geek-inspired sweets so I got Emily a Pokemon sucker and a BB-8 cookie.

As we were leaving the dealer's room, I rounded a corner and realized that Emily was gone! I freaked out as I paced the hallway not wanting to go too far away. My friend Mikey happened upon me mid-freak out and he went to the dealer's room to look there. All of a sudden, Emily reappeared! She had gone into the bathroom and had thought I was following her. I had lost her but she didn't know she was lost.

We went and told Mikey that we had found her and then headed out. After stopping at 7-11 for slurpies, we headed on home. It was a very fun weekend (except for the losing Emily part) and I look forward to next year's ConCarolinas!

Wonder Woman

No spoilers for those who haven't seen it - though if you haven't seen it, go and see it! It's awesome!

I loved the movie, it was excellent, but I also am loving the fact that I was able to take my daughter to see a movie that I wish was made when I was a kid. I loved the Wonder Woman tv show when I was small.

I do admit that I did tear up during different parts of the movie, in part because Emily was sitting beside me watching Diana kick all kinds of butt. I felt similar things when we went to see Ghostbusters last year, which both Emily and I liked quite a bit.

I'm very happy that my daughter is growing up in a time where she can see women being able to shine as the stars of their own universe. Wonder Woman does fall in love, but she still had her own drive and her own goals.

Basically, Wonder Woman made me so happy as a geek, as a woman and as a mom. My husband did see it as well, and he really enjoyed it too. So go see Wonder Woman!

2nd Grade Field Trip!

I don't volunteer at Emily's school a lot because I never know how I'm going to be feeling from day to day. But Emily really wanted me to volunteer for the 2nd grade field trip to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, so I did.

I took Emily to school. The other parents and I helped out in the classroom until it was time to go. I actually carpooled with some friends of mine which made the trip a lot more enjoyable.

Once we got there and everyone was unloaded, we hiked up to a small amphitheater. We were led in acting out one of Carl Sandburg's poems, which was cheesy but fun, by one of the park rangers. Then the classes split up and went to different activities. I had four kids I was in charge of, including my own and one of Emily's friends.

Our first stop was the goats. They divided the class in half and some went to pet the goats. We stayed and the kids got to try milking a fake goat and then they did a milk bottle craft. They learned about the different kinds of goats Mrs. Sandburg raised.

Finally it was our turn to pet the goats. All the adult goats in the section we went to were female. And there was also a bunch of baby goats, two that were only a week old! They were super cute and Emily loved petting them. She was very gentle with them too, which made me happy.

Once our time was up, we went to our next activity which was hiking around the lake. It wasn't a hard hike and the kids kept looking for snakes. They were sad they didn't see any, but they did get to see a cool waterfall.

The last stop was to learn about butterflies. They watched a short video and then did a few activities about the life cycle of butterflies. There was a craft there too, but we were running out of time so they only got to color their butterflies. Emily's teacher said they would finish it at school.

The kids went on the bus and the grown-ups piled into their cars and we went to a nearby park for lunch. After everyone ate, the kids got the chance to play on this really cool playground. I was starting to feel wiped so I just watched to make sure no-one got hurt.

After getting back to school, I took Emily because there was only a half hour left of school. It was fun, though we did quite a bit of walking that made me sore. But Emily was very glad I could come which makes me glad I did it!

Girl Scout Day at Chimney Rock

I try to do just about every Girl Scout activity that is offered through our troop because I know that Emily would enjoy it. So when Girl Scout Day at Chimney Rock was announced, I signed us up for the day activities and the camp out in the evening.

It was tent camping and I haven't tent camped since I was a teenager. I wasn't looking very forward to it but I loaded up our car and headed off.

We got there about 9 am and some of our troop was already there. Even though it was morning, it was already starting to get really hot. I had a small cooler in my car for our lunches and the chocolate for smores. I left it in there because we were going to do activities first.

There were a bunch of other troops. The event had been limited to 200 girls, I think, plus parents and siblings. We had a decent amount of people with our troop so Emily had a lot of friends to play with.

The first part of the day was doing different stations. We started at the "craft" which all the parents agreed was the lamest craft ever. Apparently ever year, Chimney Rock has a special animal they showcase. This year, the animal was the spider. So the craft was to make a spider web necklace.

But all it was, was that all the girls were given a piece of metal (about as thick as a small paperclip) and they were suppose to bend it to make it look like a spider web. Needless to say, nobodies looked like a spider web. Sadly the person leading the craft didn't give a whole lot of instructions.

Once we were done there, we went to the next station which was all about things animals leave behind. Tracks, poop, etc. This one was more interesting, though I missed some of it by going to the

restroom. But there was a fun activity at the end where they girls had to try and guess what an animal was by looking at its fake poop, tracks and then the skull. We had some form of plant eater.

Our next station was the snake station. The guy leading it was very into snakes, and told the girls about different venomous and non-venomous snakes. He had several of the non-venomous to show the girls, one of which that bit him! But at the end, he let the girls pet one of his snakes. Emily didn't though, she wasn't very into that.

Lastly was another station about animals. I honestly was starting to lose spoons as this point in the day so I didn't pay a ton of attention. But the ranger in charge had a tame possum that everyone could pet. Emily decided that she now wants a possum as a pet!

By this time, it was super hot out and it was lunch time. My car was like a hot box, but our lunches were still cool. Our troop had set up our chairs under some shade and we all ate. I didn't really want to get up after sitting in my comfy chair but next was the Jr. Ranger program.

All the girls who came to the event got a patch, but those who wanted to become Jr. Rangers got a 2nd patch and a certificate. Emily wanted to do that so we headed back to the main pavilion. They split the troops in two groups. Ours learned about trees first and how important they are for their oxygen but also for all the things we use that are made of wood.

Each troop then got to plant two seedling trees into cups that we were able to bring home with us. I'm not sure where our troop decided to plant our trees but it was a pretty neat thing that we were given those.

After that, we switched and the girls were given a talk about what it means to be a ranger. They were given their patches and certificates and got a picture with the ranger. Our troop leader took the patches so they can be awarded at our next awards ceremony.

Emily had wanted to try the climbing wall so we headed there next, along with one of her friends.

While the girls waited in the long time, I chatted with the troop leader who is a friend of mine. We stood in the shade because it was still so very hot.

Some of our troop hadn't done the Jr. Ranger program or the climbing wall and had gone up to the peak of Chimney Rock which apparently involves walking up 500 stairs. I'm glad that I hadn't done that for a variety of reasons.

After the climbing wall, we went back to where we were going to set up camp to relax. As we were sitting there, the sound of sirens filled the air. We never got the whole story beyond someone had gotten hurt on one of the waterfall trails. Our folks had to hike all the way down, because the shuttles weren't running but they made it back to camp.

Everyone who wasn't camping headed out and the rest of us set up our tents. Once the tents were set up, the girls moved from tent to tent as they played. While unpacking I realized that the marshmallows I had brought for smores had melted into one huge marshmallow. I hadn't even thought about them melting so they had just been in my car.

We lamented the marshmallow melting but also the fact that we didn't have a campfire. The parks had set up rings around the meadow where we were camping but there wasn't enough for each troop to have one. One wasn't near us so we went ahead and had dinner while trying to think of what we could do get a fire.

In the end, one of our moms went and asked the park ranger in charge if we could make our own fire ring. The ranger said 'sure', gave her big rocks to make the ring plus some fire wood. The girls got twigs and fallen branches to start the fire and soon we had our own roaring camp fire!

Thankfully another parent had brought marshmallows that weren't melted so we got to make smores. The girls were thrilled. As it got to be dusk, another troop invited ours over for a dance party. They

were playing music from their car and had glow necklaces they gave out. Emily had a great time getting her groove on!

It got darker and finally it was time to head to bed. Emily fell asleep right away but I got maybe two hours because I was extremely uncomfortable. In the middle of the night it started pouring, but thankfully we had borrowed a very good tent so we stayed dry.

In the morning, it was still raining on and off. I was exhausted and had a monster migraine. We packed up the car quickly, mostly because I had put everything we weren't sleeping with in the car the night before. We got home around 7 am and I took a shower and passed out.

While I didn't have a ton of fun, Emily did! She loved playing with her friends and petting a possum. Next year, we may do it again but we may not camp. We'll see!

Rough Holiday

Yesterday was Mother's Day, which is always bittersweet. But usually it's not too hard. My mom has been gone for 15 years and I am the mom of a sweet little girl. But yesterday was rough. I think it was partly due to that time of the month compounded with perimenopause.

Todd and Emily were very sweet to me. I got presents and ice cream. We had also gone out for Japanese food on Saturday, to avoid the Mother's Day rush. But as the day waned on, the sadder I got.

But I know I wasn't the only one having a rough time yesterday. Lots of friends have lost their moms due to death or toxic relationships. As people age, holidays morph and change. Mother's Day was fun when I was a kid, but I didn't experience a lot of loss until I was grown up.

If you had a rough day yesterday, be gentle with yourself today!

Concert Memories - Red Hot Chili Peppers

This is the 5th post in my Concert Memories series! To start at the beginning, click here!

This one is really out of order but since it's recent I wanted to post about it! A week and a half ago, Todd and I dropped Emily off at a friend's house for a sleepover and then we headed off to Charlotte.

We got into Charlotte early so we could go eat at Cabo Fish Taco. We've eaten there before and really liked it. We originally heard about it because it was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

After tooling around the city for a bit, we got to the Spectrum Center early and were one of the first in line to get into the building. We found our seats, which were pretty decent for what we paid and we just waited for the show to start.

A drummer started things off, and it was good but I'm not a huge fan of just drums. Mostly because it leads to migraines. Of course, I knew going into the show that I was going to be hurting something awful once it was over. The price one pays when one has chronic pain.

The opening act, BabyMetal, came on. BabyMetal is a Japanese group of girls who wear school uniforms and play hard rock. I actually have one of their albums and it's pretty fun music. I usually listen to them when I'm working out.

Their set was ok, but they were singing in Japanese so it made no sense at all. Plus everyone was sitting down in our section except these two guys in the front who were in the handicapped section. They completely blocked a couple of peoples' view and didn't care at all.

Finally it was time for the Chili Peppers to come out and their show was so worth the migraine I had later! They played a ton of favorites and quite a few songs from there new album. Flea is my favorite of all the band members, even more so than the lead singer, Anthony Kiedis. Both of them were jumping around the stage the whole show and took off their shirts at different points as well.

There was a screen behind the stage that showed a variety of things. Sometimes it was video of the band, and other times it was weird images that made me feel like I was on a bad acid trip. Several of those images flashed, and I would have to hide my head in Todd's shoulder because it was making me super dizzy.

They finished up and the crowd cheered and cheered for an encore. Todd wanted to leave, he didn't think they were going to come back on but I wanted to wait. I was right and they came out and played a couple more song, finishing up with Give It Away. We got out of there after that, and managed not to get stuck in traffic which was pretty awesome!

I spent the car ride home feeling pretty miserable, but it was worth it. One of the best concerts I've ever been to. The only one that beats it is the Korn / Evanescence (and a bunch of other bands) show we saw in 2007.

Up Next - 3rd Eye Blind!

Concert Memories - Huey Lewis and The News

Image: www.zimbio.com

This is the 4th post in my Concert Memories series! To start at the beginning, click here!

I don't remember exactly when we saw this concert, but I think I was in high school or perhaps the first few years of college. It was a summer concert at one of the county fairs, that much I remember.

My parents were big Huey Lewis fans and so am I, so we were all excited to go. Sadly, we were seated waaaaaay in the back so we could hardly see the band. The speaker system wasn't that great either, if I remember correctly, and there were rude people around us.

Sadly, this was probably the worst concert experience I ever had. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either. Which is sad, because I love their music!

Up Next - Red Hot Chili Peppers!

Concert Memories - Barry Manilow

Image: www.tennessean.com

This is the 3rd post in my Concert Memories series! To start at the beginning, click here!

The next few entries of this series may be out of order. My memory for dates hasn't ever been very good but it's gotten worse since my seizures happened a few years ago. Plus with Barry Manilow being in the news, I wanted to write about him first.

I'm pretty sure I was in college when I got to see Barry Manilow live in concert. If I remember correctly, I went with my mom and my sister. I can't remember if my dad was there or not. The concert took place in Grand Rapids.

Barry Manilow was one of the musicians that I listened to a lot as a child. His songs were fun and sometimes really beautiful, in the case of I Write The Songs. His stuff is very 70's and of course my favorite of all his songs is Mandy. 

Seeing him in concert was awesome. He played all of his hits and put on a great show. I believe he had a bunch of dancers and lights for Copacabana. I sang, danced in my seat and was highly entertained. If I had the chance to see him again, I would!

Up Next - Huey Lewis and the News!