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!

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!

A Global Community

Last night, I was doing something fairly normal. Emily had been bugging me for a few days to play Kingdom Hearts so she could watch and try to read some of the dialogue. While I was trying to beat a boss battle, something horrible happened in Paris.

Once I got online, while Emily was getting her pj's on. I started reading about it. My Facebook feed was filled with pictures of the Eiffel Tower, words of comfort in French and the Twitter hashtag for people in Paris to use to find somewhere safe to go.

It reminded me of a day many years ago. I was in my last year of college, and I was playing a video game because I didn't have class until later. One of my roommates came to my door to tell me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.

Even though I don't live in France, last night made me feel a little like it was 9/11 all over again. I thought it might just be me because I've been feeling anxious and out of sorts this week. But when I posted my feelings on Facebook, several friends said that they felt the same.

Thanks to the internet, I have friends all over the world. Granted most of them live in the US, but spread out. I do have friends across the pond and in other countries. My friends, even though I only know most of them via the internet, are very important to me. In one group, a friend posted that she loved us all. The feeling was quite mutual, for I love my friends very much even if I've never met them in person.

We are becoming a global community thanks to the internet. We can share our sorrow for the lives lost in Paris, and huddle around the computer to get information. But we can also use this internet to comfort one another in times of tragedy. We share our joys as well.

I'll have more to say about the goodness that can come from social media later. But I'm very happy to be part of a global community. It has allowed me to become friends with some awesome people I would never have met without the internet.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Image: ooligan.pdx.edu 

Yesterday, Emily and I went out to eat dinner somewhere we had never eaten before. It's a bar and grill close to our house, but for some reason we never went there before. Todd worked on the 4th of July so his work gave him a gift card as a thank you, and he gave it to me.

Most of the bar and grills around here are more grill than bar, but this place was more bar than grill, which brought back a ton of memories of my childhood. Yes, I spent a good share of time in bars as a child.

I was born in Bay City, Michigan and that's were most of our family was on both my mom and dad's sides of the family. We lived there until I was about six years old, an then we moved to Holland which was on the other side of the state.

My mom was very close to her family so we would make the three hour trek back to Bay City at least a couple times a year. My mom's sister worked in a bar during the day shift, so usually our first stop when we got there was the bar to see my aunt. I remember being not too much older than Emily is, sitting at the bar sipping Sprite with cherries in it.

As I got older, my mom's brother started dating a woman who owned a different bar. We spent several Christmases there. It had 'Inn' in the name and one year we got to tell some people that there was no room at the inn!

That 2nd bar was the first place I ever got drunk. I was over 21 and with my parents which proves what kind of a nerd I am. When in college, I didn't go to many bars. The Wayside a few times to dance, but I was never a big 'sit in a bar and drink' kind of person. I don't see the appeal.

But there are people who do that. There was also a couple of people at the bar when we'd visit my aunt even though it would be early afternoon. The place we went to yesterday also had a few people huddled around the bar, just talking and hanging out.

 I haven't been to a bar in years because I haven't had a drink of alcohol in years. But it was like Cheers and it is a throwback to my childhood to walk into a place like that.

In the Days Before Internet

We liked books in the olden days

I work in tech support so I hear all day long how awful it is to be without internet. I know that we live in a world now that we are so dependent on the internet that when it goes down, it's a crisis.

Personally, I love the internet but I'm old enough to remember a time without it. I was born in the late 70's and didn't get online until I was in college. A friend on Facebook posted a link today - 20 Questions I Have For People Who Were In Their 20s Before Cell Phones & Internet. I thought I'd try to answer the questions as I remember to the olden days of the 1980's.

1. How did you make plans? My non-internet days were mostly high school and college. So you'd make plans either at school or via the phone. Not hard but could be more time consuming than now when trying to have to work with your friends' parents' schedules too.

2. How did you CANCEL plans? Again - there was a wonderful thing called a phone. And answering machines!

3. How did you know who was calling you before you picked up the phone? You didn't. It was phone roulette. It could be your mom or a bill collector, and you wouldn't know. Now by the time I got into college in the 90's there was caller ID. Growing up in the 80's though, you just answered the phone. Didn't think about who might be on the other end.

4. How did you rid of the fear that is calling people? Personally - I didn't. I don't like the phone and I don't like calling people. I made the minimum amount of calls a person could make growing up and was extremely happy when texting and email became a thing you could use.

5. How did you find out information about people before you went on dates with them? You asked their friends. Most of the people I dated in my life (which isn't a lot), I met either through friends or through clubs / activities.

6. How did you find people to date in the first place??? Like I said above - you'd meet people through friends, through clubs, through classes.

I met my first boyfriend through a sci-fi club my college best friend and I tried to start. Other people I dated were from my group of friends. And Todd was my college best friend's husband's childhood best friend. I didn't need the internet to find dates and I didn't date that much.

7. How did you keep tabs on exes? You didn't - which isn't a bad thing!

8. How did you keep tabs on what your entire graduating class from high school was doing? Again, you didn't. I got Facebook after I got out of college and it was a trip to see what everyone from high school was doing.

9. How did you look for jobs? Paper want ads, signs in business windows, bulletin boards, word of mouth. I didn't use the internet to find a job until I was out of college.

10. How did your parents get in touch with you when you were out? You didn't unless you needed to. There was pay phones all over back then. I didn't really do much beyond go to friends' houses or the movies, so it was not a concern. My parents knew where I was.

11. How did your survive waiting for meetings, appointments, trains, or anything without being able to pass time by pretending to look busy on your phone? Personally I daydreamed. I'm a writer so even as a kid, so I had no issue entertaining myself quietly when need be.

12. How did you do ANYTHING at work before email? Now, I didn't have a job before internet. Even my first fast food jobs had connections to be able to ring things up. But I'm guessing it was very long and tedious to do office work.

13. How did you tell co-workers (or someone else you were meeting) that you were going to be late when you were stuck in traffic or stuck on some disabled subway car? You didn't. You'd explain when you got there. If the person you were meeting wasn't there, you'd just call them once you go home. Honestly majority of the time, this was a non-issue.

14. How did you sign up for classes at the gym? I never used a gym until I got to college. The classes I signed up for were actual college classes. I took fencing, which was a blast. But I'm assuming that you'd go to the gym or call.

15. How did you know where you were or where you were going ever? This is something I struggled with because I'm not great at reading maps. Until the internet came about and mapquest, I didn't really venture out of my comfort zone.

16. What did you have to do if you broke down on the side of the road? I never broke down on the side of the road or was with my parents when they did. But if you did, you'd walk until you got to someplace with a phone.

17. How did you always have change on you to use these pay phones? When I was younger and had my first job, all I had was cash. And with cash comes change. It's just something that people always had in their wallets.

18. How did you research anything for school? There is wonderful thing that is called the Library. When I was in high school, that's what we used. In college when the internet was used, most teachers would not allow internet sources for papers because the internet was too new. So still off to the library so research the old fashioned way.

19. How did you find out about the weather? You'd watch the evening news. Every night, my parents would watch the news and about halfway through they would show the weather forecast. You could also look outside for current weather.

20. How did you stay in touch with friends? All my friends were through school so it wasn't hard through the school year. Otherwise there was still this wonderful invention called the telephone.

I do understand how strange it must be to think about no internet but we weren't completely in the dark ages. The author of the article seems to forget that even though we didn't have smart phones or cell phones, we did have phones. We had access to knowledge via the library and the television. We had books and games to amuse ourselves.

Now I do love the internet. I'm obviously using the internet right now to write this - I'm also working from home via the internet. It's made life better in a lot of ways but we did live and happily so without being tethered to the internet.

The Need To Be Right

Image: becominghiseve.wordpress.com 

I come from an unique generation. Having been born in the late 70's, I spent my childhood without the internet. But when I hit college, I 'found' the internet and have been a fan ever since. The internet is a great thing but it has led to some odd behavior in people.

Because you aren't taking to someone in front of you, trolls came about. But not just trolls, normal people feel the need to argue a point to death in order to prove that they are 'right'.

Admittedly in my many years on the internet, I've done that a time or two. But as I've grow older, I haven't seen the point. Most of the arguments end in an impasse because both sides feel the need to be right. And sometimes the need to be right can transform a normal person into a troll.

I'm on a lot of different Facebook groups for all my different interests. One is for Christians who are all geeks, Someone posted there how they had been arguing with an atheist about the existence of God.

This seemed completely pointless to me. We Christians can't prove that God exists, it's a belief we have. We've felt His Hand in our lives. An atheist hasn't felt that so they believe firmly that there is no God. It's not something that they could even have found a middle ground on.

I have lots of atheist friends as well as friends of other religions. Trying to prove that I'm right and they are wrong seems like a way to lose friends. Sadly the internet, for all it's good things, fosters the want in some people to browbeat them into believing what they want.

Later that evening, I posted the start of my newest cross stitch project in the cross stitch group I'm in. It is a kit that I've been wanting to do forever and a friend gifted it to me.

I started it at the tippy top of the fabric because I've had issues with kits and running out of room. So I wanted to make sure that I had enough fabric. This is also the most complicated chart that I've ever done, so I've been putting off starting because I was intimidated by it.

After stitching a little bit, I posted on my cross stitch group. Basically a 'Yay I started' and a picture. And then I got the 'advice' I didn't want. Several people told me that I was doing it "wrong".

I told them that I was doing it this way, and while I appreciated the advice, I was going to do it this way. Most of them stopped with the advice, but a couple didn't. One in particular was very fervent in proving how wrong I was. It got to the point that I had to get the group owner involved.

As it's my project, I do have the right to stitch it they way I want, but this person's need to be right pushed her over into troll territory. Even after the owner stepped in and posted for them to leave me be, she had to continue trolling.

It's a strange internet phenomenon because you wouldn't scream at a person in real life about how wrong they are. It does happen over the phone, but it wouldn't generally if you were calling someone you knew.

Being right is nice, I suppose, but I think more people need to realized that there are other ways to do things, and other opinions. In our diverse world today, there are many things that aren't just right or wrong.

Things I Am Thankful For

Yes, yes, I know it's almost Christmas and Thanksgiving was a while ago. But I do have a lot to be thankful for and I was stuck in the hospital during Thanksgiving.

Firstly I'm thankful for Todd. He's not a perfect person (no-one is, of course) but he's awesome and caring and perfect for me. He was there for me when I got sick (whenever I get sick) and of course, is a great dad to Miss Emily.

Todd was there for the entirely of my vast and many illnesses. We started dating right around the time when my daily chronic headaches started. He drove me home in a snowstorm from the east side of Michigan to the west because I couldn't drive due to a migraine (I had other friends who drove my car but Todd and I hadn't been dating that long).

And of course I'm thankful for Emily. She's a burst of sunshine in a grey world of disease. I don't think I would every be suicidal but sadly I do understand why people made that decision. But my little girl brightens my world and it's such a joy to watch her grow.

My family is also something I'm very thankful for. They have been really great with all of this health stuff even from Michigan and other places. My aunt Sue and Uncle Gary came all the way from GA to visit me in the hospital. My dad, his wife and my inlaws and my sister and brother in law have been very supportive and helpful even all the way from Michigan. I'm very blessed by a wonderful family!

Thanks to the internet, I have friends all over the word. Of course I'm super thankful for all of them. Especially my GUSP girls (you know who you are!) who have listened to me whist I was in bat shit crazy mode. My friends have really helped me get out of the dumps and keep my spirits up. And yes, even though I've never met most of my friends in person they are still very dear to me.

My job can be stressful, but I'm thankful for that as well. I'm thankfully that I didn't get fired after being in the hospital for 10 days. I'm on many chronic pain support groups and I've heard horror stories. More of why I'm thankful can be found in a previous post but I am super thankful that I still can work and recover at the same time.

Finally I'm thankful for my church. The first time I left the house after I got out of the hospital was to go to women's choir. A friend picked Emily and I up since Todd was at work. I felt so much more human and it was nice to be among people again. While I was in the hospital and for a couple weeks after, I was on the prayer list. And my pastor called me a few time as well as asked how I was in church. Church is pretty much the only reason I leave the house right now and it really is a blessing.

I may have forgotten some things, but I'm thankful I'm alive, out of the hospital and able celebrate Christmas!

Being Invisible

Emily with Chronic Pain Bear

I'm going to start this post out that I'm not writing this to try and get sympathy. I just wanted to share some thoughts about how having an invisible illness can make you feel invisible sometimes.

I've talked about this a lot - how I suffer from daily chronic headaches that often turn into migraines. I'm sure a lot of people think it's probably no big deal. There are a lot of people who don't know what a migraine is, that it's much, much more than a bad headache. Because of this, it's not in the same ranking as other diseases out there.

Case in point, my husband got diagnosed with MS in January. It's a horrible debilitating disease, but at this point, he's ok. He's noticing some small things, but he hasn't had an episode in over a year. He did what he had to do - he changed his eating habits and started exercising. He's lost 50 to 60 pounds and is in the best shape he's been in since I've know him.

Me on the other hand, my pain levels have gotten worse. So much so, that I had to go to the ER a few weeks ago. I muddle through but there isn't anything that I can do because no treatment I've tried works. Can you guess who's health issue worries our loves more? Can you guess who gets more questions about the state of health? Hint, it's not me.

I don't begrudge Todd all the inquiries about his health. I worry about him too, but I live with him so I see that he's in much better shape that I am. For me, I'm just invisible.

I'm on several Facebook groups with other people with chronic pain. It seems like every week, someone is talking about how their spouse has left because they couldn't deal with the constant pain of their significant other. I'm very lucky to be married to Todd - we started dating when my pain first started. We've been together over a decade and our marriage is still strong.

Emily is also a blessing to me. Even though I probably should not have put my body through a pregnancy, I'm thankful every day for my little girl, even though I've been told that I shouldn't talk about my illness with her at all. She knows about my chronic though and I think it makes her a more compassionate person.

I also try to be a more compassionate person. I have several friends who suffer from chronic illness, and I try to keep up with how they are doing. I know how isolating it is to have a disease with no cure.

In the past, I've lost several friends in part because of my chronic pain. Even two so-called best friends. I know that my pain makes me flaky sometimes, but I'd love to be invited to things. If I feel well enough, I love getting out of the house and doing fun things.

My situation is complicated by the fact that I have to bring Emily with me just about everywhere I go because Todd works 2nd shift. She's old enough now that I can at least go to choir practice and Emily will sit quietly and color. But I tend not to go to the variety of geek stuff around town because Emily may be bored. I would love to be able to game again but I don't see that happening. I'd love to play board games, but most of our games really don't work well with just two people.

It really is a first world problem but it is one that it compounded by the fact that I'm invisible. If I keep having to cancel, I stop getting invited. I fade into the woodwork and am not thought of - at least that's how it feels.

When someone gets sick with something that is even vaguely treatable, it seems like people will flock to them. Keep up with their triumphs and their defeats. When someone has chronic pain, people are there at the beginning but then they fade away. I know it can be hard to deal with seeing a friend whose in pain, but think about how that friend must feel.

Now, I didn't really write this for myself. Yes, I get lonely sometimes. The vast majority of my friends live in the internet and I don't get out of the house a lot. But a lot of that is my own choice or a product of the situation I'm in right now with only one car and a husband who works 2nd shift.

But if you have a friend who has a chronic disease - something that they will be dealing with the rest of their life, try and remember to include them. Text or send an email to see how they are doing every once in a while. Try to keep them visible instead of letting them fade away.

BPAL and Me

Ten years ago today I did something that changed my life forever. I didn't know it was going to change my life, it was a simple thing that I did. Ten years ago today I joined the forums at bpal.org.

The BPAL forums are a fan run site for fan of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab - a company that makes the most glorious perfume oils. I had never been a perfume wearer until a few weeks before I joined the forum. But the perfume oils didn't smell like anything else I had every smelled before with perfume. I was hooked right away.

Back in those days, forums were one of the most popular ways to chat with people online. Facebook was still in it's infancy, Twitter didn't exist yet and while there was still MySpace and Livejournal, forums were there too for individual topics. These days, the BPAL forum is the only one I visit on a regular basis. Most of my other interaction is via Facebook groups.

Now you may be wondering how a fan run forum could change my life. It wasn't the forum, per say, it was and is the people there. The people on the forum are awesome and kind and honestly my best friends. Not 15,000 of them, but a few.

The forum-ites have been there for me when I was getting married, when I was pregnant, on my low days and on my good days. I've met a few in person, at meet and sniffs and Dragon Con, but most of my dear BPAL friends I've never met outside of cyberspace.

One of those friends is actually the owner and genius behind Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab - Beth.

Beth, me and Emily at Dragon Con 2012

She's been a member of the forum since I joined and it's been great getting to know her through the years. I got to meet her in person at Dragon Con a few years ago and I see her every year there now. She is a wonderful person and her creations are wonderful.

I feel another bond with Beth because our daughters are about the same age. I get to see her daughter through Beth's Facebook posts and I'd love if Emily and Lilith were able to meet someday.

My collection of the actual perfume has gotten smaller over the years. My body has turned against it - whenever I put any on my skin, it morphs into an awful floral and gives me a migraine. I have to use solely scent lockets now because my skin hates me. But Emily has her own small collection of smellies - she loves putting it on, though she kind of over does it because she's five.

This summer the forum went down for several months and it was hard on all of us. There are several BPAL Facebook groups, but it wasn't the same. Someone actually created a temporary, bare bones forum for the interim, but it wasn't the same either. Once the actual forum reopened, it was like coming home.

That action I did ten years ago today was a simple one but it really changed my life. I'm so thankful for all the great friends I've made. Here's to another ten years!

Five Reasons You Should Attend the Browncoat Ball

October starts next week and while many people's thoughts are on pumpkins and ghosts, my thoughts turn to shiny things. That's because there is only a few weeks left before the Browncoat Ball!

The Browncoat Ball started ten years ago by the Chicagoland Browncoats with a goal of bringing Browncoats together to share their love of the show Firefly. The Ball has moved from city to city every year ever since then.

This year, the Browncoat group that I'm a part of is bring the Ball to Greenville, SC. It's going to be a very fun weekend and I'd thought I'd share some reasons why you should attend the Browncoat Ball.

1) Murder Mystery! 

For the first time in Browncoat Ball history, the Ball is going to host a murder mystery! From the Browncoat Ball website:

After the death of Rance Burgess, life changed a lot on Lowther. With no leader, Rance’s gang of thugs disbanded and that desolate moon became a better place. Better, but still no place Petaline Andrews wanted to be. After taking over the bordello and re-naming it Nandi’s, she was ready to leave this moon behind her. She took the girls, her son and an unexpected business partner, Belinda Burgess, to town of Missed Fortune on Planet Deadwood to start over. The women pooled their money and bought the Leland Hotel and Saloon which serves as the new home for Nandi’s. As is the way of the ’Verse, trouble tends to follow them that don’t deserve it. It wasn’t long after their arrival that trouble found them by way of a murder.

It's going to be a lot of fun. One of the first events I ever attended with the Greenville Browncoats was a LARP - it was an awesome weekend of Firefly fun and I made some great friends. I'm looking very forward to playing in the mystery over the weekend!

2) Carnival and Vendors 

I have to plug this part because it's the section that I'm in charge of for the Ball. We are going to have several vendors, including myself, as well as Firefly themed carnival games! It will be happening on Friday so everyone can have something fun to start the Ball with!

3) Mikey Mason

This is one of the things I'm looking forward to most. Mikey Mason, a geeky comedy rock star, is going to emcee the whole weekend as well as perform. I've missed him performing live a bunch of times, so finally I'll get to see him perform.

4) Adventures and Entertainment

Beyond the Ball and the Murder Mystery, there is going to be loads of entertainment. Fire dancers, musicians, belly dancers and more will be performing. There will be zip lines, gaming, fencing classes and more. It's going to be a weekend of non-stop Firefly fun!

5) Meeting Fellow Browncoats

One of the best parts of the Browncoat Ball is hanging out with other Browncoats. People come from all of the country and beyond to attend this yearly gathering of Firefly fans. I've only been to one other Ball - the 2010 one in Charlotte, NC, but I still have friends that I met at that Ball. 

All of these reasons and more are why you should consider coming to this year's Browncoat Ball. Check us out at Facebook and come to the Shiny-est Murder Mystery of them all! Also check out the video teaser at YouTube!

Camp Fire Girls

Emily wearing my Camp Fire vest

A few days ago a high school friend posted that her mom had passed away. I was a little startled and sad to see that I knew her mom. She had been my leader when I was in Camp Fire Girls and it brought back a lot of memories.

I joined Camp Fire Girls in elementary school. I had briefly been a Girl Scout but my parents switched me to Camp Fire for some reason. I really loved everything about Camp Fire. I learned all kinds of crafty things, made friends and got to go on camping trips.

Every summer, I'd go to day camp for a week and have an overnight stay at the end of the week. We'd cook out over fires and make crafts. I remember one year I made a really ugly clown doll that I named Fred. I still have him - he's in Emily's room in her sea of stuffed animals.

Like Girl Scouts sell cookies, we sold chocolate bars. I'm not a great salesperson even back then so I was never a top seller. But one year I really wanted to go to the special weekend camp out for the top sellers. My mom drove me all around town to sell in different neighborhoods. I still remember one of the streets was Elm Street. I got to my goal and got to go on the special camping trip - it was a lot of fun.

I loved Camp Fire so much that I stuck with it until my freshman year of high school. The only reason I stopped was because I wanted to do the school plays which had rehearsals that conflicted with the Camp Fire meetings.

I have a lot of fond memories and I'm a little sad that North Carolina has no Camp Fire councils so Emily will never be a Camp Fire girl herself.

Perks of Working From Home

I work from home doing tech support. Even though I sit in my home office, usually in pjs, it’s very similar to the other call center jobs that I’ve worked. I have co-workers that I talk to over a chat program and I have a set schedule.

My boss is very flexible about moving my schedule around if need be. If I get sick during the week, I just work on my day off. If I want the weekend off, I work longer hours during the week. Yesterday was Emily’s preschool Sharing Feast and I got to work a shorter shift to attend.

It was so cute to see her with her friends during the short program beforehand. And we got to eat lunch with some of her friends and their parents, which was nice as well. If I was working another job, it would be harder to take off without using vacation time.

There are some downsides from working from home. But as I watch it snow outside my window, I’m glad that I don’t have a commute and that I can be there for Emily’s school programs. 

The Browncoat Ball is Coming to Greenville!

I’ve been a Browncoat since the first episode of Firefly aired. It took me until after I moved to North Carolina to get involved with a Browncoat group. There wasn’t a group in Asheville, but there was one in Greenville, SC which is about 45 minutes away. I started going to meetups in Greenville and made some great friends.

I also got to meet some of the Charlotte, NC Browncoats too and went to some of their gatherings. In 2009, it was announced that Charlotte would be holding the Browncoat Ball in 2010. I signed up to be on the planning committee. It was a lot of work but it was a ton of fun especially at the Ball itself.

I’ve wanted to go back to a Ball since then, but I haven’t been able to. This year, the Greenville Browncoats put in a bid and got the Ball for next year. I’m on the planning committee again and I’m so excited!

2014’s Browncoat Ball is going to feature a Firefly-themed murder mystery. We are already have a Facebook page up if anyone is thinking about joining in the fun. It’s one of the best shindigs of the year and I’m looking forward to helping make it really shiny.

Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always – A Children’s Book

Image: http://us.penguingroup.com

Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always is a new children’s book by award-winning author and illustrator Tao Nyeu. This book is comprised of four short stories revolving around the ups and downs of friendship of two underwater creatures, Squid and Octopus.

Friendship is a complex subject and it can be one that is hard to grasp for very small children. As kids get a little older and form their own friendships, Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always can help mirror some situations kids will get into as they make friends. The stories cover subjects such as how to deal with disagreements, being there when your friend is upset, and what to do if you are a little different.

Emily has had several best friends in her short life, and she is able to relate her friendships with the one that Squid and Octopus have. Tao Nyeu‘s illustrations are very cute and really helps to bring the message of friendship in the stories across.

I would highly recommend Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always, especially for preschool and kindergarten ages.

Note: I received a copy of this book for review purposes.