Birthdays and Wrestling

A couple of weeks ago, my dearest husband got another year older. Generally he doesn't care for his birthday but since he shares a birthday with my dearly departed mom, I make him celebrate. Earlier in July, I had heard a commercial on the radio that the WWE was going to have a show on his birthday in Asheville.

I had to buy tickets for his birthday. They weren't very expensive and I knew he would enjoy it. Plus Emily is old enough now that she could come with us. Todd and I's 2nd date was at a WWE house show, and that was also the date where Todd asked me to move in with him. So wrestling has been a big part of our love story.

The show took place on the campus of UNCA. Todd and Emily got in first because I ended up having to go back to the car to take my purse back. Their security was tight to the point that it was a little ridiculous, especially since I wasn't the only one who had to walk back to their car to put their purse back.

But finally I got in and found our seats which contained a Todd and an Emily. Our seats were very good considering how cheap the tickets were. We had some time before the show started but they were showing clips on the big screen from previous shows. Plus Emily and Todd went to get some snacks.

Finally it was time, and the show started. I wasn't sure how Emily would react. She's seen some wrestling on TV with us, but live shows can be quite loud sometimes. But she got really into it! She would pick a favorite wrestler or tag team and she would root loudly for them. Sadly for the first view matches she picked the heels so her people didn't win.

Todd and I have been watching WWE for long enough that we know the wrestlers and have our favorites. But Emily didn't find a favorite until the middle of the show. She really, really wanted to see some women wrestle. And finally she got her chance. She loved watching the women wrestlers, and she loved the Women's Champion, Sasha Banks, right off the bat. She kept talking about her for the rest of the show.

There was an intermission, and a few more matches before we got to the main event. We luckily got to see Dean Ambrose, who is currently the World Heavyweight Champ, wrestle against Chris Jericho. It was a great match!

Emily stayed awake and entertained the whole time. She cheered and yelled a lot! She also fell asleep on the way home because it was way past her bedtime.

We had a good time though. It was a great way to celebrate the birth of my husband!

Browncoat Ball 2014 - Friday

My home Browncoat group has been the Greenville, SC for about seven years now. Greenville is about 45 minutes from where I live, and there was not an active Asheville group at the time. Last year, we decided to try and bid for the Browncoat Ball. Many of us had been on the planning committee for the Charlotte Ball in 2010. We got the Ball and after a year of planning, the morning of October 17th dawned.

I was the first one to arrive since we had a small window for Todd to bring me and unload my stuff since Emily was in school. Once everyone else on the planning committee arrived, we unloaded everything and got setup.

The afternoon was pretty quiet. People started trickling in and a lot of people went down to do the zip line. I went down late in the afternoon. The worst part was climbing up to the tower because it was just a rope net and while I had a safety harness, it was hard climbing up there. Once I was up on the top of the tower, the actual zip lining was a lot of fun.

After that, it was time for supper. It was a Wash inspired luau complete with hulu dancers. The food

was really good - pineapple and chicken skewers were a highlight for me. After supper was done, I went on the night hike. We did little activities during the hike and it was really interesting to try to adjust our eyes to the darkness.

Fire dancers were next and they were really great! They did several dances with different objects on fire. They were very cool under fire (pun intended!) even when one dropped a fan. Luckily they were also very prepared - had heavy blankets to put each fire-y objects out.

After that, a lot of us went into the gaming room. I finally got to play Cards Against Humanity - which is basically Apples to Apples for adults. We played for hours - rotating out players as we went. I did pretty well for my first time playing!

I finally headed to bed around midnight. I made myself go to bed because I knew I had to be up early the next morning.

Up Next - Saturday and the Ball

A Presidential Neighbor

Image: wikipedia.com

I live right outside of Asheville, NC - we moved down here 9 years ago this September. It's a beautiful place and the weather is great. I love living here, though living in Asheville itself is expensive.

There are several celebrities who have homes in Asheville. Andie MacDowell used to and Edge from WWE currently has a home here. Looks like our newest celebrity is going to be a presidential one.

President Obama has visited Asheville quite a lot over the span of his years in the Oval Office. He says he likes it here, especially the bbq from 12 Bones. So it didn't come as a surprise to hear that the Obama's have purchased a home in Asheville.

It hasn't been confirmed but my husband, Todd has been saying for years that he thought they were going to move here once he was done being president. Looks like he was right.

I've read a lot of mixed opinions about this. I think it has to do with how people feel about him as a president as far as wanting him to live here. I'm personally indifferent though I do wonder if anything will change around here if the Obamas do become Asheville residents.

I do know that I'd still prefer to run into Edge at Ingles rather than any of the Obama's!

Spring Has Sprung!

After the horrible winter we had, I am very glad that spring has finally arrived to my part of NC. The weather has been nice enough that we can go outside and enjoy our yard again.

Yesterday, Emily rode her bike around the neighborhood while I walked with her. Then she played on her swing set for a while I soaked up the sunshine.

Today we'll be going to Carrier Park in Asheville to take part in the Easter Eggstravaganza - Emily is really looking forward to it. And thankfully the weather will be beautiful out.

Spring isn't my favorite season - my seasonal allergies get really bad in the spring. But after the long, cold winter it's a welcome change.

A Low Key Birthday

Yesterday was the day of my birth. Even though I'm pushing 40, I still like my birthday quite a bit.

I was a little bummed because we canceled our plans for this weekend but I still have the cold that never seems to end so it's probably good we aren't going out of town.

Instead we did some things around town. First we went out to dinner at one of our favorite Chinese places and had yummy, yummy sushi. After that, we headed into Asheville to go to the Hop.

Emily and I used to go to the Hop all the time when she was a baby for a meeting with other moms. I hadn't been there in years but it was still the same. We had some ice cream and Emily played in the kid's section

until it was time for the Multiverse's Game Night.

The Multiverse is the local geek group. Because of Todd working 2nd shift and me being on Emily duty, I hadn't been to any of the meetups yet. But we decided to give it a try last night.

They had videos set up as well as board games. It was themed to the 80's so it was a lot of old school games. Emily and I played an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game with a little boy and his dad - it was a ton of fun!

Once we got home, I got Emily to bed. I sat down and watched some of Iron Man 3, but I was beat so I went to bed early.

It was low-key but fun. I got a lovely present from a Bpal friend of mine that had BPAL, a travel mug, notebook and other things. I also got a card and Saving Mr. Banks from Emily and Todd.

Here I come, year 37! Here's hoping it will be awesome!

Fletcher Tree Lighting Ceremony

We live in a fairly small town that is between Hendersonville and Asheville called Fletcher. Not much is here but we do have a park that’s about five minutes from our house. The Fletcher Parks and Rec department does several activities throughout the year, like the Halloween Carnival we went to in October. I got an email a few days ago about a tree lighting they were having and decided to take Emily to it.

The event started at 6 pm so it was already dark out. Earlier that day I had gotten Emily some glow sticks and she had fun waving them around as we walked to the ceremony site. She told me on the way that she wanted to help light the tree and I told her that probably wouldn’t happen.

We had brought some can goods for the drive they were having so we dropped those off first. Then we got some hot cocoa and cookies to munch on while we listened to some kids singing. Once the singing was done, the mayor came up and said a few words.

Then it was time for the tree lighting and they asked for a child to help the mayor light the tree. I told Emily to raise her hand if she wanted to do it. She raised her hand and waved and she got picked! She was brought up on stage and asked her name, and then she helped the mayor turn the tree on.

I was a bit bummed because my flash wasn’t working great on my phone so I didn’t get a picture or video of it. And she was blocked by a pole when she was actually turning the tree on. We did get approached by a reporter asking Emily’s name and age. The only news article I’ve found this morning online doesn’t mention her though.

After the tree was lit, all the kids were invited on stage to hear Twas The Night Before Christmas. The kids were pretty good until they saw Santa arrive behind the stage near the end of the story. Emily got off the stage once the story was done and I got a quick picture of her by the tree she had lit. Then we got in line for Santa.

Emily waited very patiently for Santa, running around a bit but staying close to me. It took a while but finally it was her turn to meet Santa Claus. She went right up to him, sat on his lap and told him that she wanted a My Little Pony toy. She got her candy cane and we head off since the event was winding down.

We both had a good time. Luckily, the rain had held off until later that evening and it was pretty warm out too. Emily told me when we were on the way to the car that she told me that she was going to get to light the tree – and she had been right!

The "War" on Christmas

This past weekend was Asheville’s Holiday parade. On the local news’ Facebook page, there is always a ton of posts complaining that the parade is a Holiday parade and not a Christmas parade. I’m a Christian and I celebrate Christmas, but I never understood the whole war on Christmas thing.

There are tons of Christians out there celebrating Christmas every year, but there are lots of other people too that celebrate other winter holidays. I’m not a big fan of trying to push my religion down people’s throats. I’ll talk about it if people want – my former best friend was agnostic and she had a lot of questions about my religion and what I believe. I answered them all honestly, and I think it gave her a lot to think about.

But I like the use of ‘holiday’ because it’s inclusive. I may say Merry Christmas, since that’s what I celebrate, but I wouldn’t mind if someone said Happy Hanukkah or Blessed Yule if that’s what they celebrate. This country is supposed to have a freedom of religion, so lots of people celebrate different things (or in some cases, don’t celebrate at all).

I wish all Christians would try to be more Christ-like and inclusive to people who aren’t just like themselves. I have plenty of non-Christian friends who I care for dearly and I hope all my friends have a great holiday season.