Dragon Con 2018 - Saturday

Me and Tom Cavanagh 

This is the 2nd post of my Dragon Con 2018 recaps, to start at the beginning click here! 

Even thought I wasn't going to be in the parade, we still headed down to the con pretty early. We were going to get some autographs and then leave the con to do some other things.

We got in line to meet Tom Cavanagh who plays Dr. Wells in The Flash tv series. We had to wait for a while, but finally he showed up. He was really nice, and I got my picture with him.

Next we met Mike Coulter who plays Luke Cage in the Netflix Marvel shows. He was also super nice. We got a picture with him and wow, he smelled good. He's a nice looking man and I was a little swoony after

Me and Mike Coulter

him. Thankfully Todd is not a jealous husband!

We met Catherine Tate who is Donna in Doctor Who and got our autograph. She was awesome! She is my Doctor Who companion so I was excited to meet her. We did tell her we'd be back with our daughter the next day for a picture. 

The last person we met was also a Doctor Who guest. It was Pearl Mackie who plays companion Bill Potts. She was in a separate room - same room as the 12th Doctor, Peter Capaldi. He had a long line but she didn't. We got to talk to her for several minutes and got our picture with her. She was super nice and very tall!

After that, the con was getting crowded so we headed off. We took the train to the Center for Puppetry Arts. The only issue was that the museum was several blocks away from the train and it took us about 15 minutes to walk there. I was feeling pretty tired, but we got our

tickets and went into the museum.

The first place we went was the new Dark Crystal exhibit. They had all kinds of puppets from that movie, and it was so cool. Dark Crystal is one of childhood favorites. So seeing those was really a blast from my childhood. Todd's too.

We went to the other exhibits afterwards. They had historical puppets and puppets from different areas of the world. They also had a whole section that was just Jim Henson's Muppets. It was really cool! We got to see Big Bird and Kermit and I nearly cried when I saw Emmett Otter and his Ma. I wasn't expecting that and I love that show. They also had a replica of Jim Henson's office. Just all the puppets I've ever loved in my life in one spot!

Todd and I agreed that we would need to take Emily there at some point too. It didn't take us long to tour the whole museum but it was beyond cool.

After that, we went to the mall. Hit up the Disney store and a few others before heading back. I was not feeling great so I need to rest up for our last day at the con!

Up Next - Sunday!

The Date Rape Christmas Song

image: www.misskatecuttables.com

It's Christmastime in 2018 and the Christmas song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is in the news again. A radio station in Cleveland has banned the song saying in this day and age of the #MeToo movement it's not appropriate.

Now, I don't really have any strong feeling about this song, though I have been internally calling it the Date Rape Christmas Song for a few years since if you listen to the lyrics, it's kind of rapey. At least, listening to it in 2018 it can be viewed that way.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" was written in 1944 - over 70 years ago! The world was a lot different back then. Women had a lot less freedom in general back then, and the woman in the song is seemingly making excuses in order to stay longer with her date.

Thankfully, things have gotten better for woman. We get to wear pants, and have a variety of jobs. We have a lot more freedom, though not as much as we ought to have. And we still need to worry about things like date rape. The #MeToo movement has highlighted the issues women still have today.

I don't mind listing to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" if it comes on the radio. But it's not a song I would put on the Christmas playlist I have on my phone. There is only Christmas song I hate, and it's that wretched "Christmas Shoes" song - hate that song so much!

Any radio station can do what they want. If someone really likes that song, there are a gazillion versions of it out there. And maybe before banning something, you should consider the time frame that the song was written. But, of course, if you dislike any song, don't make yourself listen to it!

Dragon Con 2018 - Friday

Because of my kidney stone surgery, Todd had to switch his days off so he had to work the Thursday before Dragon Con. We got up in the middle of the night on Friday, got our car loaded up and headed down to GA.

We got Emily dropped off at my aunt and uncle's house, I got changed into my Alice Angel costume and we were on our way down to the con by 9:30 am. I was a little worried about several things. Mostly my stamina and partly my costume. My character is from the video game "Bendy and the Ink Machine" and it's honestly the shortest, most cleavage bearing, sexiest costume I have ever worn.

But it ended up being comfortable, and my dress had deep pockets which was great. And someone knew who I was on the train down to the con! Several people during the day knew who I was, and one person even asked for my picture!

We made it to the con and walked to the Sheraton to get our badges. The walk isn't long but it involves a giant hill of doom. But we waited about a minute to get our badges, and I got to see my friend, Jessica because she was volunteering at badge pick up. We then went to disability services to get my sticker. I always get the 'seat in line, end of row' sticker and it always helps my con be better. But I could not have done Dragon Con this year without it and the many chairs that it let me sit in.

From there, we went to the Peachtree Center to get some food. They are renovating the Peachtree Center and it's a massive project, suppose to take 18 months. The seating was a lot less and the ceiling was completely open so you could see wires and tubes. Because of the ceiling it was much darker than usual. Every time we went in there, it was post apocalyptic food court, which kind of fits for Dragon Con.

After we ate, we headed to the dealer's room. I went right to the BPAL booth and talked to Beth (the owner of BPAL) mostly and got some hugs. Todd had wandered off because he knows that I tend to spend some time there just gabbing. None of my non-labbie friends were there, so I also wandered off.

When we were in the food court, I hadn't been able to eat much. The kidney stone had made me so sick before surgery that I hadn't eaten really anything for a week. My stomach was still recovering

Catherine Tate!

from that. But as I was walking around the dealer's room, I started feeling really light headed and felt a little freaked that Todd wasn't answering his phone.

But finally I got a hold of Todd, met up with him, and then headed over to the Walk of Fame, where you get to meet the celebrities and can get autographs and selfies. The Walk of Fame wasn't open up yet, but the line had formed to get in so we joined the line. As soon as it was 1 pm, the line started moving and we got in.

There wasn't a lot of people there yet, but Nick Frost was right by the entrance and had almost no line so we got his autograph. We took a lap around the room, seeing who was there and if there were signs on when other people were going to be there.

Gina Torres had a sign on her table and she was going to be there in a couple of hours. I had time to go upstairs for the Catherine Tate panel. I wanted to see the panel but I also really wanted to sit down too.

When I got to the handicap corral, I saw my friend Joey and her husband Matt. I talked her to her some, and got a badge ribbon from her. She had decked out her scooter with a unicorn and also had cosplay repair supplies. She had a giant D20 that I got to roll too!

I got to sit down and it was so nice. Once we got loaded into the room, I sat by Joey and her husband. When they let in the regular line, we saw more friends - Chris and Tina so they sat next to us too! It was fun! I generally don't see friends that much at Dragon Con, let along have anyone I know to sit next to.

Catherine Tate was a hoot! So funny and nice! While I had been waiting for her panel, Todd had gotten her autograph, but I would get to meet her on Sunday. I slipped out early and found Todd in line for Gina Torres.

We were in line for a while, but we were by someone I had kind of known online. Chuck, who is the mod for the unofficial Dragon Con Facebook, was in line right by Todd. I asked him if he had any of the over 40 badge ribbons (which is another Facebook group) and he did! We ended up talking him about quite a few things while we waited for Gina to arrive.

She did and we got the last autograph we needed for my Firefly poster! She was super sweet and I was super, duper geeked to meet her!

After that, Todd came with me to the con suite. He said he wasn't going to do it again because it involves climbing stairs, but I was happy to have some snacks and another chair to put my butt in.

We went back to the dealer's room, but I was shedding spoons like crazy at that point. I hadn't slept very well the night before and I was teetering on the edge of exhaustion. So we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house.

Despite the lack of stamina, I had a really good day. I basically took a shower and then passed out once. I slept for nearly 10 hours, and that helped a lot!

• Up Next - Saturday!

The Summer of the Kidney Stone

Image - dinodaloo.blogspot.com

Kidney stones kind of took over my summer, and admittedly the 2nd part of the saga was partly my own fault.

I've already written the beginning of the story in a couple of other post. The pain started when I was at Camp Thanks a Lot with Emily and then I ended up in the ER right before our Michigan trip.

When I was in the ER, they told me there was another stone just hanging out. I kind of forgot about it after the whirlwind Michigan trip, though I did go off soda and started drinking a lot of water and lemonade. I had read that sometimes lemonade can cause stones to reduce in size.

I made it about a month and a half before stone number #2 started its' journey. I had been working and all of a sudden, I had intense pain in my side again. I still had medicine from the ER, so I got logged out of work and took the medicine.

It didn't stay down, so I tried again, and again, I was unable to keep it down. It was a Saturday and Todd and Emily had been out shopping. Once they got home, we were off to the ER again. And it was the 2nd stone - they gave me medicine and another prescription and sent me home to call a urologist on Monday.

This stone was different and the pain didn't go away. I started a cycle of pain, take medicine, go to sleep once the pain was a little less, then wake up and start it again. It was wretched. I got an appointment for Tuesday, and the urologist gave me some options. The main option was to have a procedure done that would break up the stone so I could pass it, but the machine that did that was only available on Mondays.

So home I went again to go through the pain cycle. And it was only a day or two after that I got a call from the office that the break up procedure wasn't an option and I would have to have surgery to get the mega awful stone out. And I'd have to have a stent in for a couple of days.

While I was pretty upset by this news, I was also really ready to not be in horrible pain anymore. Thankfully, as the week went on, the stone moved some so the pain was much more bearable. Todd took the day off and he and Emily went with me to the hospital to have surgery. Surgery went fine, though I really hated the stent. Totally annoying and by the end, it was painful.

Also surgery took place a week and a half before Dragon Con. We still went to the con, and I'll get into how this effected my con when I write my recap posts.

Todd and Emily were great while I was dying of kidney stones. And they even got me a bear - they gave it to me after I woke up from surgery.

As of now, I'm trying to be as proactive as possible. My urologist is having me do some tests to figure out how to avoid the formation of stones in the future. My stone was strangely formed and chances are I'll have to go on medicine and cut down on my salt intake.

I'll do it, even though I love salt. I don't want to go through that again. Kidney stones are more painful than childbirth!

Michigan Trip 2018 - Part Two

To read the first post of this series, click here!

We got up bright and early, got the car loaded up and then went to Denny's with my dad for some breakfast before we made the trek across the state. We opted to not visit with my (Great) Aunt Jackie who lives in Bay City because I still wasn't feeling great.

We did stop in Mt. Pleasant / Central Michigan University but it was mostly just a potty break. We got to Todd's parents in the afternoon, and soon after we arrived, Emily's cousins came over. We gave them their birthday / Christmas presents and Emily got presents too from my brother and sister in law.

The kids played until it was time for dinner which was steaks and a variety of sides. The kids sat in the living room and the adults, including Todd's grandmother, ate in the dining room. Emily and her cousins get along really well, so they had a lot of fun.

After dinner, we went over to Todd's brother's house. The kids wanted to go swimming in their pool so they did that for a while. I got in for a bit too because it was really hot

out and I love swimming. It also gave Todd a chance to hang out with his brother for a while.

We went back to Todd's parent's house and watched some tv before heading to bed. I was pretty wiped because the drive across the state is long, especially after only have a couple of days without driving at my dad's house.

The next day, Emily's cousins (also my niece and nephew but it's easier to say Emily's cousins) spent the whole day at Todd's parent's house. They played with toys, worked on putting together the Pokemon lego-type set we had gotten Austin, and had a water fight.

The children had asked Todd and I to join in the water fight. We had these squirter things, and the kids took the long ones which held more water. Todd and I were stuck with shorter ones, and the kids, of course, targeted the adults. I got really soaked!

Todd and I quit after a while so the kids chased each other. They got bored of the squirter and switched to water balloons after a while. They all got wet but had a lot of fun.

We had another yummy dinner, and then went out to get ice cream. The Thumb of Michigan is an odd place. There can be fields for miles - all that you can see besides the many windmills that dot the landscape. And then all of a sudden there is a little church or store, with nothing else near it. It's weird to me.

The ice cream place was one of these and it was packed! Of course, it was the day before the 4th and very hot out. We got our ice cream and ate it up, then headed back to Todd's parent's house. Em's cousins went home and we watched some tv before turning in.

We got up early again, because it was the day that Todd and I were driving home. Emily stayed for another week and a half - she had a great time.

The drive was pretty uneventful, though we did stop at Red State BBQ in Lexington, KY. We had eaten there when we went to Lexington Comic Con in March and had discovered our route to and from Michigan took us right past there.

They were packed but we got a seat, and had yummy, yummy bbq nachos before we got back on our way. We did see some fireworks from the highway after it had gotten dark, which was a bit fun.

It was a whirlwind trip, like we normally have but it was good to see our family!

Michigan Trip 2018 - Part One

The story of our Michigan trip starts a few days before we left. I mentioned in my last blog post that I had been suffering from cramps that I thought was ovulation related. But two days before we left to drive up to Michigan, I got very sick. The pain in my right side was off the charts and I couldn't keep anything down.

I had sat in the bathroom for a while, and when Todd got home from work, I made the decision to go to the ER. Todd woke up Emily and off we went. We spent several hours in the ER - an actual emergency came in after they had put in a room so it took them a while to get me some drugs. And the stuff they gave me at first didn't touch the pain so it was morphine time.

They did a CAT scan and it was a kidney stone that I was close to passing. So they gave me all the drugs, told me I should pass it soon and sent me home. I spent the majority of the next day sleeping but once I woke up, the pain was gone. My arms were super sore though, from all the heaving I had done, so Emily had to help me pack.

But we got everything packed up and we left in the middle of the night on June 30th. Todd drove and I napped since I was still really wiped. We got to my dad's house, got our

stuff unloaded and then went to meet my friend Rebecca - we were good friends in high school and are still Facebook friends We ate at the Russ' that was near the house I grew up in, and it was exactly the same as it was when I grew up. It was nice to hang out with Rebecca!

Once we were done with dinner, we went back to my dad's house and he was home - he had been in Bay City for the day. We talked with him and just hung out watching a movie. I was getting really tired so I ended up going to bed.

The next day, we got up and got ready to go to the beach. We swam and Emily played in the sand. Todd ended up having to go stand in the shade because even with sunscreen, his poor ginger self was

getting burnt up. As we were leaving, Emily stepped on a stick and got a sliver / cut on her foot. She was very upset about this.

We went back to my dad's house, got showered, checked out Emily's foot and got a bandaid on it. Then we went to Captain Sundae for ice cream. I was starting not to feel very good, so I skipped the ice cream. We went back to my dad's house and I took one of my pain pills because I was having pain in my side again. I took a nap and I felt much better after I woke up.

Todd and I went to the movies at the theater I spent a lot of time at when I was younger. We went and saw Incredibles 2 since Todd hadn't seen it yet. We don't get a lot of time without Emily so it was nice to go on a date night.

We turned in early again because we had a long drive in the morning to go to Todd's parent's house.

Up Next - Michigan Trip 2018 - Part Two!

Camp Thanks A Lot

Emily has been a Girl Scout for several years, but this past cookie seasons she sold her all time high and sold enough to go to the special overnight camp called Camp Thanks A Lot. A parent has to attend as well, so I went with her.

Since we only have one car right now, Todd drove us to Camp Pisgah so he could have the car while we were gone. After he left, we got signed in, got Emily signed up for an archery class and then went to take some of our stuff to our cabin. We were told the rest would be taken up for us We were assigned to the Misty Mountain area and we could pick whatever cabin in we wanted. We picked the closest one and got changed into our swim suits.

There wasn't a lot of time before lunch so we found the dining hall and just hung out until lunch was served. Since we were one of the first people in there, we finished quickly and went to go swimming in the lake.

We had to swim in the lake because the pool was closed. Since it was just a one day/night camp, they made everyone wear life jackets to swim because there wasn't time to give everyone swim tests. We were the first ones in, and Emily was a little unsure at first but then just swam and swam. The water was rather cold though, but I swam with her too.

After a bit, we had to get out because it was Emily's archery time. The archery range was pretty close to where we were swimming in the lake so it didn't take us long to get there. Emily took a couple of turns - she tried but her arrows didn't get near the target. It was her first time ever shooting a bow though and she had fun.

She dragged me back to the lake to swim some more. At this point, I was starting not to feel very good. I was having a cramping in my side. I thought I may be ovulating but it was actually a kidney stone. That would be a saga that would take over my summer, but I'll cover that in future posts.

I sat on the deck and took pictures of Em while she swam. There were other activities going on, but she wasn't interested. She wanted to swim, and swim, and swim. After a while though, she got out and we headed back to the cabin, where our stuff had been brought to us. I was surprised that they knew what cabin we had picked.

We went to the camp store and I attempted to buy Emily a small stuffy and a patch, but their credit card reader wouldn't read my card for some reason. If we go back next year, I'll definitely bring cash. They also had a slip and slide set up right next to where the camp store was, and Emily took a few

turns.

My kid though, isn't great at the slip and slide. First couple of times, she went too slow and then had to push herself down. The last time, she ran to slide but ended up going down at a weird angle and hurt herself a little.

We went back to the cabin and changed, then went to dinner. I was not able to eat dinner because the pain in my side was getting really bad. I hadn't thought to bring any pain medicine with me, so I asked one of the counselors if I could get some ibuprofen.  It took a bit because she had to go get the key for the nurse's station but I got some medicine. After taking it, I felt a little better. Dinner was still going on so we went back and I ate a little.

I had to convince Emily to go to the campfire singalong, but she went and we sang along. She didn't

want to stick around when the songs started getting slower since the sun was setting. We missed out on smores because of that, and she was a little bummed.

We went back to our cabin, and we had several cabinmates. The girls in our cabin were all younger than Emily but she hung out with them some. But she had brought some books so she was happy to hang out in the top bunk and read until we did lights out.

Now the area we were in, had a circle of four or five cabins with a fire pit in between. Some of the other parents had started a campfire out there, which was fine. Our cabin did lights out about 10 pm, but the people outside were extremely noisy. Yelling kids, and we could hear the parents talking as if they were right next to us. This didn't phase Emily at all, she conked right out. Probably because of all the swimming.

But one of our cabinmates was a little girl who kept complaining to her mom that she couldn't sleep because of the noise. I wasn't sleeping at that point either, mostly because I still wasn't feeling great. But I was just playing on my phone, waiting for the ruckus outside to settle down. But that other mom went out several times to ask the others to quiet down, finally they did after a while.

I slept poorly. Partly because of the kidney stone and partly because my old body doesn't handle camp mattresses very well anymore. One of the other moms had brought a twin blow up bed to put on her bunk - I need to do that if we go next year!

We awoke the next morning and I was really sick. I spent a good deal of time in the bathroom thinking I was going to start throwing up. While I was in there, my sweet child actually packed up 95% of our stuff! I was really proud of her.

I managed to keep down some more medicine and we got breakfast where Emily ate about a whole pig's worth of bacon. We then hauled our stuff down the hill to wait for Todd to arrive. He got there sooner than I thought he would, thankfully, and was able to buy Emily her stuffed animal and her patch so she was very happy.

All in all, it was fun... for Emily. I had bits of fun here and there, but mostly I was sick. But I'm glad we went. Emily worked very hard to sell enough cookies to get to go, and she had a blast!

Kids and Dragon Con

Dragon Con 2012

Dragon Con is coming up at the end of this month, and 80K+ people will descend onto downtown Atlanta. And some of those people will be kids.

I, of course, am the mom of a child. And even though Emily is 9, she will not be joining us for Dragon Con this year. There are several reasons why we choose not to bring her. For one, Dragon Con is overwhelming for adults and I know that it can be for kids as well.

You see, Emily has been down at Dragon Con a couple of times. The first time, we brought her down for the parade when she was 11 months old. She was ok, until the Netherworld (a local haunted house) float rolled on by. She got scared and just started wailing, so we headed out.

The 2nd time was when she was 3, almost 4 years old. She came down to Dragon Con with us to march in the parade. She did really good but soon just got tired and cranky. Todd took her back to my aunt and uncle's after the parade and we decided then that she would have to be much older before she returned to Dragon Con.

In the years since, she's gone to quite a few smaller cons. Lexington Comic Con, SC Comicon and ConCarolinas just this year. And she does great there, but still we choose to leave her with the kind local relatives who watch her while we are at the con.

I personally don't think little kids belong at Dragon Con. It's just too much, and I'm sure that it's hard for the parents to juggle the things they want to do while taking care of their kids. I'm sure there are people out there who disagree with me. I'm also one of those people who would never bring a baby or toddler to Disney World.

If you choose to bring your kids, be warned. It's crowded, there is tons of walking you and your kids will have to do. There are going to be spots where it's going to be hard to get a stroller through, especially if it's a big one.

Other things to look out for are costumes that show a lot of skin and some costumes that could be scary to kids. Most cosplayers wait until after dark to wear their racier costumes, but there is still some that might not be entirely appropriate for kids during the day. Just depends on your parenting style and how sensitive your kids might be to scary stuff.

For parents who want to go to Dragon Con, but have to bring their kids, I'd recommend getting a room in one of the host hotels or someplace close. That way you have somewhere to go when your kids start getting overwhelmed and cranky. Otherwise, get familiar with the Kaleidoscope track that has lots of programming geared towards kids.

And next year, we will have the child in tow for Sunday only. I think she may be a teenager before she gets to come on Saturday, unless she wants to march in the parade with me. She wants to go, but she doesn't really understand the scope of what Dragon Con is. Especially the way her dad does Dragon Con - running around to get autographs and look at the dealers room all the while going fast without stopping for a lot of breaks.

Just things to consider if you are thinking about bringing your kids to Dragon Con!

A Church Divided

Image: churchgraphics.blogspot.com

Last Sunday, my church had a big party celebrating the retirement of our senior pastor. There were tears and laughter, as we had a full church for service and then a full room for the meal afterwards. It was bittersweet, especially since Pastor Mark has been Emily's pastor her whole life.

And now, our church will get an interim senior pastor and we will start the call process. May not seem like a big deal but for me, it brings up bad memories. Because when I was not all the much older than Emily, this exact situation tore the church I grew up in apart.

When my parents moved to Holland when I was fairly young, we joined Peace Lutheran Church. It was a great church that my family loved. But the senior pastor was getting older and finally when I was in high school (I think), he retired.

The new pastor that was called was very different. He introduced a lot of pomp and circumstance that we had never had before into the services and in general left a bad taste in people's mouth. I wasn't very privy to the ins and outs, but I do remember my mom saying that she was just angry all the time going to church because of the new pastor.

Enough people agreed with my parents, which caused the church to split in half. The people who left, including my family, left the ELCA (one of types of Lutherans) and formed a brand new Missouri synod church called Christ Our Savior.

Starting a brand new church is really hard. I'm sure it was more stressful on my parents and the other adults, but as a young person it just felt strange. We had no home for a while because we had to rent space before we could raise enough money to build a new building. And one we had a space, it took a while for it to feel church-y and home-like.

And there was quite a bit of drama that sounded the 2nd church as well, having to do with different pastors and the like. I don't remember a lot of the details because it was years ago.

In the end, I have a very uneasy feeling. I hope that my current church is able to find a pastor that fits in well with our congregation. We've been lucky to have Pastor Mark for 22 years, and now there is unfortunately a big hole. I pray for my community because I don't want to go through having a church divided again.

ConCarolinas 2018

I love ConCarolinas, it's one of my favorites cons to go to. Todd doesn't like it because there aren't enough people he wants to get autographs from, though he did consider having me go on Sunday to get Adam Copland's (aka Edge from WWE) autograph. In the end, Emily and I just went for Saturday.

Like at SC Comicon, Emily and I were cosplaying as Pikachu (her) and Anna from Frozen (me). My choice of costume was pretty much because it's the most comfortable to make the two hour drive to Charlotte.

We got there around 9:30 so we had time to get our badges and head to the dealer's room. Since the dealer's room didn't open until 10 we hung around in the hallway talking to the SCA folks. They told me that there was a chapter of the SCA in Asheville and how to go about contacting them. I've been interested in the SCA for years, but it always all seemed overwhelming. But I did send an email and joined the local chapter's Facebook page. I've been to a couple of fighting practices, and hope to actually suit up and fight next time. But I digress.

Once the dealer's room opened, Emily hemmed and hawed about what she wanted to spend her money on. And then she saw that one of the booths had a tiny kitty that you could hold for a dollar - it was for an animal shelter. So I paid a dollar and she went into cat heaven.

After her cat time was done, she ended up buying some Pokemon cards. One was a big set that the

guy had discounted because the packaging was torn. It was a really good deal.

We left the dealer's room to go play D&D. The game we were scheduled to play in was for higher level players, but there weren't enough people signed up who had high enough characters. So one of the DM's ran a different game. It was two adults (including me) and then three kids. The other two kids were Emily's age and it made for a really fun game.

Emily played a wizard and at one point in the game, she put a rock to sleep. She was very proud of that. We ended up killing the rock as well.

From there, we took another swing around the dealer's room, and I paid so I could cuddle the kitty. Emily petted the kitty as I held him, and was in kitty heaven again. We also took a picture with the Ghostmobile that they had outside. Just as we went out there, the sky opened up and we got a little wet. Someone was nice enough to take our picture despite the rain.

We had some time before my friend Mikey's show was going to start so we went to see Valentine Wolfe play. I hadn't heard them before, but they were really good. Lots of dark, gothy rock that was really awesome.

Once they were done playing, we moved up to the front row since that's where Emily wanted to sit and listened to Mikey's concert. He always puts on such a great show!

After that, we were tired so we headed home. It was a lot of fun but I definitely want to stay the whole weekend next year. It makes for a very long day with four hours on the road.

SC Comicon 2018

I was really excited to see that Cary Elwes was coming to a nearby con in Greenville, SC but since it was right after Lexington Comic Con I didn't think we'd be able to go. But my wonderful husband surprised me by buying a photo op with Cary Elwes at SC Comicon for my birthday.

Cary Elwes is an awesome actor. My favorite role he's done is Westley from The Princess Bride mostly because that is one of my all time favorite movies. He doesn't do a lot of conventions either so I really wanted to meet him.

Since I work on Saturdays, it was easy for me and Emily to go on Sunday (sadly Todd had to work). But my Sunday School teaching partner was out of town that weekend, so I had to teach Sunday

School first. Since I wanted to get down to the con as quickly as possible because Emily also had youth group that night, Em and I wore our costumes to church.

I was Anna from Frozen so it was just a fancier dress than I usually wear to church and Emily was clad in her Pikachu costume. The kids in Sunday School thought it was a little funny. But once Sunday School was done, we got in the car and headed to Greenville.

Once we got there, we went straight to Cary Elwes' booth. We had to get a ticket showing we had bought a photo op to get in line and his booth was completely closed off so no passerby's could see him.

We didn't have to wait too long, and finally we got inside for our picture. He talked to us for several minutes and was very sweet, especially to Emily, as we talked about The Princess Bride. 

After we got our picture, I ran into several people I knew and chatted with them. Emily spent the money she had brought on Pokemon cards, and then we got some pictures with cosplayers. Batman, Boba Fett and some Ghostbusters!

We took off after that, since Emily needed to change before youth group. But it was a fun afternoon!

The Death of Movie Pass (Updated 8/1/18)

Another Update! Yesterday, I got an email from Movie Pass with a kind of apology about how things were going. Mostly they said that they were going to start reducing the movies that were available to see - like with Mission: Impossible, as they adjust the business model.

Yesterday, when I opened my Movie Pass app, it said that there were no available showings for the rest of the day... at 5 pm in the afternoon. It's 2:30 pm as I write this, and my local Regal has Hotel Transylvania 3 and The First Purge available to use Movie Pass with. That's it!

It's a far cry from the days of  "See a movie everyday" that got me to subscribe in the first place. Even though there was no mention in this in the email from Movie Pass, they are also raising prices from $9.99 a month to $15 a month.

Yesterday, I canceled my membership through the app. Though we shall see what happens on my billing date if it was actually canceled. I've heard some horror stories online about people having issues canceling the service.

I'm sad to have to cancel but the service just isn't worth it. And for $5 more a month I can do AMC's plan that gets me much more for the money. Though I will probably wait to sign for up that until the end of the year, to see if Regal comes up with their own program.

Update (7/28/18) A few days ago, Movie Pass was all over the news because their service was down due to them having no money. They took out a loan to get it back up and running, but they have to start paying it back early August.

I think their death is possibly going to come next week, if they can't raise the money for the loans. From what I've read on Facebook, pretty much every movie this weekend has a surge charge of $5 and they have the new Mission: Impossible movie blocked so no-one can use Movie Pass to see it.

I still have my subscription because I'm waiting to see how things shake out. But if they keep going the way they are, I'll probably cancel before my next payment due date.

-------------------------------------------------

At the beginning of the year, I wrote a post singing the praises of Movie Pass. Sadly, the company has pretty much killed what was a great service.

Things have been going downhill for a while. Right before Avenger: Infinity War came out, they changed their terms of service so you could only watch a movie once using your Movie Pass. I'm the kind of person who watches movies as often as I can in the theater and honestly being able to do that was a selling point for me to get Movie Pass in the place.

I've never had a problem with my app or the card, but their Facebook page is full of complaints of people having issues with both and not getting any sort of response from their customer support, which isn't good.

So I have just been rolling with it. I don't get to see a ton of movies because my husband works a lot and I can't get a Movie Pass for Emily because you have to be 18 years old or older. I did see a lot when she was in Michigan and it was nice to have the Movie Pass then.

But then Movie Pass rolled out surge pricing. Basically if a movie time has surge pricing they are going to charge you an extra $3 to $4 to see that movie. And that's just for a 2D movie and some of the movies are month old or older. They don't seem to have any rhyme or reason why certain movies are surged.

As you see from the picture above, Hotel Transylvania 3 at 10:45 pm is surged. A kids movie at a not kid friendly time. And people are screaming on the Movie Pass Facebook page about it, as tons of people post pictures of empty movie theaters that they had to pay surge pricing for.

Looking at my app right now, Ocean's 8, The First Purge and Uncle Drew are the only movies at my local Regal that aren't surged. I've been to the movies late on Sundays since I don't work on Mondays, and usually the theater is pretty empty.

Movie Pass's parent company's stocks keep dropping like a rock. When I looked it up right now, they are at 10 cents a share. I can imagine that the company will be folding soon and that this surge pricing is a last ditch effort to keep the door open.

Personally, I refuse to pay surge pricing. I'll use it for movies that don't have surge pricing. Hopefully Regal Theaters will roll out something like AMC's A List where you get to see 3 movies a week of any kind for $20 a month. I'd honestly just switch to AMC but the closest AMC theater is 26 minutes away and I don't think they have recliner seats. But if Regal were to do something like this, I'd cancel Movie Pass right now.

It's probably a moot point anyway. Movie Pass has done things in such a way that has gotten it so much bad will from the public that nothing they will do will probably keep them in business. So pour one out for Movie Pass. It was great while it lasted!

Lexington Comic Con - Sunday & Final Thoughts!

This is the 3rd and last post in this series, click here to start at the beginning!
We got our stuff packed up and into the car before we headed back to the con for a bit on Sunday. We had a long drive home in front of us, but Todd wanted to get more autographs and Emily wanted to check out the game room.

We got to the con again before it opened and we got in line. We were much closer to the front of the line than we had been the day before. As soon as they let us in, Emily and I headed to the game room

A very nice young man asked us what game we wanted to play. Emily said "Munchkin" but that needs 3 or more players so he joined us for two games of Marvel Munchkin. It was a fun game though a little different than the normal Munchkin. We had a good time and once we finished up, Todd was waiting for us.

We did one more loop around the dealer's room and then headed out since we had a five hour drive back to NC.

It was a very fun con. The layout that resulted in the crowding could be better. It also was a really bad idea to put some vendor booths right in the middle of the autograph area. That help keep things crowded.

I'm glad that we left early on Saturday because reading the comments on their FB page, it got crazy busy in the afternoon.

But we had a wonderful time and it was well worth going. If they have a decent guest list next year, we will probably return!

Lexington Comic Con 2018 - Saturday!

This is the 2nd post in this series, click here to start at the beginning!

We got up bright and early on Saturday because we wanted to be to the con before the doors opened. There was already a line just to get into the convention areas so we got in line. Sadly none of the food places were open so we didn't get breakfast.

Once the doors opened, we got in pretty fast. We did have to go through metal detectors, which slowed things down a little. We booked it over to the autograph room and got in line for Chuck Norris.

His was a prepaid, so we just had to show the ticket from when Todd paid for the autograph online. The line was long but it moved fast. Chuck Norris was super nice, shook our hands and talked to us for a minute. He was sweet to Emily which is always a plus in my book.

From there, we got more autographs. We met Ric Flair who was also super nice. It was great to see Dragon Con last year for health issues. We saw Pauly Shore but opted not to get his autograph.

him after he had to cancel his appearance at

We met Lou Diamond Phillips and got a picture with him which was awesome. The same for Rey Mysterio who is only a tiny bit taller than I am. It was starting to get really crowded so Emily and I went off to go see the Powerpuff Girls panel.

Before we went to the panel though, we stopped and got some snack food because Emily spent the entire time we were in the autograph section complaining she was dying of hunger. We took our food and found seats in the back and ate while we waited for the panel to start.

It had the voice actors for the original three Powerpuff Girls plus the voice actor who played the Professor. It was a great panel especially since they would launch into different voices they did as they talked about it.

After that, we met up with Todd and got the heck out of there. It was starting to be beyond crowded and we were all hungry. Todd had found a BBQ place online when he was looking at things in Lexington, so we headed there.

It was called Red State BBQ and it was a hole in the wall kind of place. But the food was so good. Emily got BBQ nachos and it was huge so we ended up having to take it back to the hotel with us. We were all stuffed when we got done.

We headed back to the hotel and went swimming for a long time. Todd joined us this time which made Emily very happy. Once we were done, we went to the nearby convenience store for some snacks.

The rest of the evening we just vegged in our room watching "Ghost Adventures" on TV while Emily played with her toys. I read all the complaints about the overcrowding at the con and the insanity with the crowds that had happened after we left.

All in all, we had a great day, partly because we left the con before the crowds reached their peak.

Up Next - Sunday and Final Thoughts!

The Build A Bear Kerfuffle

Emily at Build A Bear a few years ago

We are a family who loves stuffed animals. I was never a doll person as a kid but I loved my stuffies. I still even have my Pooh Bear from when I was a kid. Emily and Todd both share this love, so we have made many, many trips to Build A Bear Workshop over the years.

I was vaguely interested in the "Pay Your Age" promotion they had going on. It wasn't something I was able to do though because Emily is still in Michigan with her grandparents. I didn't have to work yesterday and I wasn't feeling great, so I watched the whole thing unfold on the internet.

After promoting the hell of it on social media, I'm not sure why Build A Bear wasn't prepared for the onslaught of people. Especially because parents love a great deal since kids and their toys are expensive.

I'm a reader of comments when something like this explodes and it was interesting to read them yesterday. People were pissed, and that's putting it mildly. The amount of people who felt Build A Bear owed them something was astounding. And the people who waited in line for hours, the longest time I saw was eight hours, was crazy.

In the end, Build A Bear closed their stores because of safety concerns and then they sent everyone in the club (including me) a coupon for $15 off. I thought that was pretty awesome because now Emily can go and get a new bear once she gets home. And since she's 9, it will probably be close to the "Pay Your Age" price.

I learned that is is better to sit on the sidelines and watch than battle the crowds. And in this case, everyone wins because the $15 off is quite generous since some of the bears are less than $15.

Did any of you go to Build A Bear yesterday? Tell your story in the comments!

Lexington Comic Con 2018 - Friday!

Us and Tara Strong!

Todd is always searching the internet for new cons and rare celebrities to meet. He found Lexington Comic Con and once they announced that Chuck Norris was going to be a guest, we knew we had to go.

So on Friday, we got up at an extremely early hour so we could be on the road by 5 am. The trip took about 5 hours and we went right to the convention. They were doing badge pick-up early and then the convention opened up at 1 pm for the people who had bought three day passes.

It took about two minutes to get our badges and then we got our free bag and free t-shirt that came with being a three day badge holder. From there, we went to our hotel. Sadly, our room wasn't ready so we went to find food.

There was a Cheesecake Factory not far away so we went there. Emily was very excited! We got there as they were opening so we got seated right away. We had lunch plus some cheesecake, then headed back to the hotel. Thankfully our room was ready so we hauled our stuff in and I got changed into my Princess Leia costume. Then it was off to the con.

We got a little lost trying to find the entrance to the autographs but once we found it, we started to look around for who was there. We got Ludi Lin's autograph first - he was the Black Ranger in the new Power Rangers movie.

From there, we got a picture and autograph from Ingvild Deila (Princess Leia from Rogue One), a picture with Doug Jones, a picture with Judith Hoag (who was April in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the mom in the Halloweentown movies).

The highlight for Emily was meeting Tara Strong who is the voice of Twilight Sparkle (among many others). She even did the voice of Twilight for Emily who was a bit star struck.

We did do some shopping too. Emily spent all of her money right away but she did get some good deals. She got some Monster High and Equestria Girls dolls as well as a bunch of Beanie Boos. She also had to get a horse stuffed animal since we were in horse country.

We left the convention around 4:30 and got Cookout for dinner. After we ate, Emily asked to go swimming. Todd was dead tired at this point so he didn't swim but I did with Emily for a bit. We passed out quite early since we wanted to get to the convention before it opened in the morning.

Up Next - Saturday!

Mad Monster Party 2018

Originally we weren't planning on going to Mad Monster Party at all. The guest list was ok, but we had met a lot of the people there. But then a few weeks before the con, they added a guest we had to meet. Mick Foley!

Mick Foley is a former WWE wrestler and one of Todd and I's favorites. Todd grew up watching him wrestle and he's quite the character from what we've seen.

So we decided to go for a day on Sunday. We got up, I donned my American McGee's Alice costume and Emily was in her new Pikachu costume. The hotel that Mad Monster Party was in this year is the same one as ConCarolinas.

We got there, got parked and headed inside. Got our wristbands and headed downstairs where the con would be happening. We were herded into a line and noticed that it was unusually dark. Since there were some lights (emergency ones) it took us a few minutes to realize that the power was out. Going to the bathroom by the light of my cell phone was interesting!

Apparently something had caused the substation to go down and we were standing in the dark for about an hour because there were no lights in the rooms. But finally the lights came on and we were let in.

Mad Monster Party is set up kind of weird - there are a couple of big rooms with guests on the walls and dealers in the middle. This isn't a great way to control crowds so I'm not sure why they do it this way. But we went through both rooms to try and find where Mick Foley would be. He wasn't down yet so we did some looking.

Emily bought a cat purse she saw right away because she is unable to save her money at all. It was cute though. We got some pocky and other japanese snacks from a vendor who was doing deals because he wanted to get rid of his stuff. Todd got a couple of autographs from people in horror movies - one played Jason, I think, and he was really tall. The other, I'm not sure who he was exactly.

Finally we saw Mick Foley and we hurried over to his table so we were first in line! We actually got to chat with him and his assistant while they were setting things up so we got extra time. He thought Em was pretty cute!

We got an autograph with him and then a picture. He let Todd hold his championship belt, which Todd said was quite heavy! It was really a great experience to meet him because he was super nice and well worth the drive.

After that, we did another circle around the rooms and then headed out. We went to lunch at PF Chang's and then went home! Thankfully our next convention won't be so fast - we are heading to Kentucky this weekend to spend three days at the Lexington Comic Con!

Dragon Con 2017 - Sunday!

Alton Brown!

This is the last post in my Dragon Con 2017 recap! To start from the beginning, click here!

Sunday is generally my favorite day at Dragon Con. It's a bit less crowded but still there is a full day's worth of stuff going on. We got down to the con and went to the dealer's room. I hung out at the BPAL booth for a while, just chatting with friends. I got to meet my friend Jodi in person for the first time - it was awesome!

After getting some food in the con suite, I went to wait for the Alton Brown panel. I got there over an hour beforehand and the disability area was full to the brim. I did get a seat to wait and Todd opted to skip the panel and head off somewhere more quiet.

The panel was awesome, especially since it was announced that Good Eats was coming back. I love that show and I'm excited to see new episodes. I did slip out of the panel early because I wanted to do the panel right after which was a Doctor Who panel. The disability area was jam packed again and this time I didn't get a seat to wait.

After the Alton Brown panel let out, we were funneled into the room. I got a seat on the end of a row. The panel was the Pond Family Reunion - sadly the actor who played Rory had to leave the con early so it was just Karen Gilliam and Alex Kingston. They were highly entertaining though and it was a great panel.

From there, we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house. We hung out with them and my dad. The next morning, my dad took us out to iHop before we got on the road. The trip home was uneventful and we were happy to be home. Dragon Con was a great time for us as usual and we are looking forward to going again this year!

Dragon Con 2017 - Saturday!

This is the 3rd post in my Dragon Con 2017 recap! To start from the beginning, click here!

Dragon Con Saturdays always start out the same for me, heading to the parade staging area. I always love the parade but I was especially excited because I was a Disney Princess. Anna from Frozen, to be exact.

I talked with some people and got ready to go. We were on the underside of the parking area where the parade is staged so it was nice and cool. Finally it was time to go, and I had the parade of my life! Being a Disney Princess in the parade is beyond awesome! I got to high five a bunch of kids and see the wonder in their faces as they saw us come down the street. I even got a sweet hug from a tiny little girl. It was quite the experience!

After the parade was over, I headed to the Walk of Fame and got to get my picture with John Cusack! He is one of my favorite actors and one of the bigger names Dragon Con has gotten over the years. It was awesome!

Usually, we leave right after the parade but there was an early afternoon Matt Smith panel I wanted to see. So after a trip to the con suite for food, I got in line for the panel. Because of my chronic migraines, I get a sticker that lets me sit in line and then get an end of the row seat when we get in there. Being able to do this makes my con much more manageable!

I always pick an end of the row seat like I'm suppose to. We honestly all get decent seats since disability people are the first in the room, but some people like to try to get right up front when that isn't what is marked on their pass. During the load in of everyone else, a lady who was suppose to have found an end of the row seat and tried to get up closer was in tears while cursing out the con staff because they had made her move. I'm glad they did because there is no reason to abuse the pass. It says right on there 'end of row'. Some people need different seating, depending on their disability but most are end of row peeps like me.

The panel was great and I was glad I stayed to see it because I wasn't going to pay the expensive prices to actually get a picture with Matt Smith. After it was done, I went to the food court and met Todd. The con was really crowded so we headed out.

We went to a mall that is nearby to my aunt and uncle's house and as we got to the car, I realized that I hadn't brought a change of clothes. So I was Anna in the mall, which is a little funny.

The people at the Disney store loved my costume though! It was kind of cool to be in costume in the mall not on Halloween. We had lunch at Steak and Shake which was a place neither of us had ate at in a long time. Then we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house to hang out with my family since my dad was in town.

Up Next - Dragon Con - Sunday!

MoviePass!

I love seeing movies in the theater. It's just a great experience to see stories play out on the big screen. We are a movie family in general which is why we own hundreds of movies (slowly getting our library on digital) and go to the theater as often as we can.

Out of the three of us, I might be the biggest movie freak of the family because I love seeing my favorites multiple times in the theater. I've already seen The Last Jedi three times (twice opening weekend!). I saw the Lord of the Rings movies so much in college that I ran out of people to come with me. Thankfully, I like going to the movies by myself!

I had heard, before Christmas, about MoviePass. For about $10 a month, you can see one 2D movie a day. Most of the movies I see are 2D anyway so I thought about it for a while. Now I had read online that some people were very unhappy with MoviePass, mostly because of cards never showing up. But I decided that I would try it out.

I paid for it a few days before Christmas and I got the card earlier this week. Today was the soonest I was able to get to the movies and I was a little nervous that it wouldn't work. Basically you have to have the app and the card. Once you get to the theater, you pick the movie you want to see on the app and click 'check in'. From there, you have 30 minutes to buy your ticket with the MoviePass card.

When I got to the front of the line, I gave the cashier my rewards app for the theater I was at and the MoviePass card, and held my breath for a minute (yes, I am a worry wart). The cashier ran it like a credit card and I got my tickets plus my rewards points for the theater! It was so simple!

Today I enjoyed Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, tomorrow, I'll probably go see Star Wars again. Next week, maybe Pitch Perfect 3! There are tons of great movies coming out this year and I can't wait to see them all! I would highly recommend MoviePass to anyone who loves movies!

Dragon Con 2017 - Friday!

This is the 2nd post in my Dragon Con 2017 recap! To start from the beginning, click here!

Friday dawned very rainy but I still put on my very white Princess Leia costume because I had a photoshoot. Todd and I headed down to Atlanta fairly early and got some breakfast at the food court.

While we were eating, I saw from several people I know on social media that the dealer's room was doing a soft opening several hours early. We headed over there, and we got soaked! Thankfully, I had some clothes underneath my costume so I wasn't indecent. Plus my dress dried quickly.

There was a soft opening of the dealer's room and we were let in not long after we got there. The place was so empty it was great! I found the BPAL booth and got all the things I had promised to pick up for people. It was a good thing I did because one of the Dragon Con exclusive hair glosses actually sold out within an hour of the scheduled opening of the dealer's room.

After shopping a bit more, I left Todd and headed over to the Westin for the Princess Leia photo shoot. Someone had the idea to have this photo shoot the day Carrie Fisher died, and it was a

wonderful time. I didn't end up staying the whole time though - the pictures ended up great!

I went back to the dealer's room for a bit and talked to some friends. Then I went to the Marriott  because I was on back to back panels for the Kaleidoscope Track. A massive panel was getting out the same time I was trying to get to my panel and it was wall to wall people. Finally I did make it to the Kaleidoscope Track room.

The first panel was Cut the Cable, which we did years ago. It was a fun panel! The 2nd was Beauty and the Beast - Animation vs. Live Action. The room was pretty full and we had a lot of audience participation too. I love doing panels for the Kaleidoscope Track - it's a lot of fun!

From there, I met up with Todd at the Walk of Fame. I got my picture with Josh Segarra who was the villain Prometheus who was super nice! After that, I waited for the Arrow panel, very thankful to have seat to wait in the disability section. The panel was great and I met with Todd at the food court once it was over.

We headed back to my aunt and uncle's house and my dad had arrived. He had come down for the weekend to spend it with Emily (mostly her, my aunt and uncle too since my uncle is his brother). We hung out for a bit before heading to bed.

Up Next - Dragon Con - Saturday!