Browncoat Ball - Friday

I left home pretty early to get to Charlotte on Friday. I got my stuff stowed in the hotel room, and waited for the staff meeting to start.

After the staff meeting was done, I got the Shiny Space Bazaar's table assignments figured out. I, then, got my table set up.

I spent the next 4 hours at the Bazaar - I had a good time chatting with the folks from Washed Up Mermaid. I bought a few things too!

I sold most of my parasols, and some of my other stuff. I made enough money to cover my expenses for the weekend, which was my goal.

After the Bazaar was over, I picked up my stuff, went up to put a long sleeve shirt under my clothes, and went down to help get things sorted out for the Luau.

It was cold outside, but the Luau was a lot of fun. The food was super yummy, especially the strawberries and chocolate! We got paired into crews and we played a 'getting to know you' game which was so funny.

The band was great, and the entertainment was as well. I did end up running up to the hotel room to get my coat because it was really cold.


After the Luau was over, I sang one song for the Karaoke - but it was too cold to stay. I went upstairs to get warm and change into my pj's before heading down to Susannah Ravenswing's concert. I love Susannah's Firefly inspired songs, and the concert was great. And the room was packed!

After the concert was over, I went straight to the hospitality suite for the PJ party. This room was also packed! I only made it through Jaynestown - which was super fun to watch with other people who have seen the episode as many times as I have, before I went upstairs to go pass out!

Stress

I've been not blogging as much as I wish I could. I've been really busy and super stressed out.

Between school, caring for Emily, trying to make money through my at-home job, and working on several committees, I'm spent. I'm also trying to keep the house clean-ish along with losing weight.

Things should be better after this month is over, but with Emily's birthday in two weeks and then the Browncoat Ball the weekend after, I'm just feeling stretched to nearly the breaking point.

LARP!

Long ago, when I was in college, I used to LARP every weekend. It was White Wolf LARPs of the 'rock, paper, scissors' variety, and I loved it.

I love roleplaying in general but I really loved LARPing - costumes + rping = WIN!

But after I left college, I had a hard time finding a new place to LARP. I went to a White Wolf Vampire LARP in Grand Rapids once but it wasn't a great fit. And there was the Firefly one-shot weekend LARP I was a part of in April 2008.

But other than that, I haven't LARPed since college. But my cousin's wife (who is a great friend) has been telling me I should come down to GA some weekend to LARP. And I've been wanting to, but I was afraid that Emily wouldn't be able to cope with being gone from me.

I finally took the plunge this past weekend, and I had an awesome time. It is a boffer-style LARP and I was an NPC, so mostly I fought and died all weekend. It was so much fun.

Miss Emily did great for my aunt, so I'm already planning on going to the next event in November. I'm super excited!

As much as I love being a mommy, I do really enjoy having time away from her to reclaim my Mandy-ness and to spend time doing things for me. And it is good for her to be away from me too.

Dragon*Con 2010 Trip Report - Thursday

I had planned on spending most of Wednesday night finishing up my costume and finishing packing, but Emily kept waking up every hour, and ended up just sleeping with me.

As a result, I forgot to set the alarm and didn't wake up until 7 (we had wanted to be up at 6:30) - so we got out of the house later than we intended.

I spent the majority of the 3 hour trip sewing and I still didn't finish my dress!

We got to my aunt and uncle's house at about 12:30-ish, and hung out for a few minutes before Todd and I left Emily in the capable hands of my cousin's wife / good friend and we headed downtown.

MARTA ride was easy as usual and we got to the Sheraton about 2. I had hoped the lines would be less crazy due to the early opening, but,  it was only slightly better. We didn't have to wait outside at all but it still took about 2.5 hours.

After we got our badges, and I got my parade ribbon, we went to the food court and had some lunch dinner. We ran into some friends too, which was fun :)

We headed back to my aunt and uncle's house as we were planning on getting up early to get down to the con early the next day. Plus I had sewing to do - I finally finished sewing the layers I had pinned on Thursday night.

Kids and Dragon*Con

I love my little girl, and I hope she'll be a geek someday. I have no issue with taking her to smaller cons like ConCarolinas, but I won't be bringing her to Dragon*Con anytime soon.

But this year at Dragon*Con, I saw kids at every turn. Teeny, tiny babies and toddlers, along with older kids who probably actually enjoyed the con.

My husband and I talked about the little kids at the con at length as we waited in lines, and felt very good about our decision to not bring our toddler since she doesn't like standing still and zombies freak her out.

We figure when she is 5 or 6 we'll let her decide if she wants to come down to the con, but until then I'm so glad we have relatives we trust to take care of her while we get our geek on.

Temper Tantrums

My little girl has always been very sweet, especially out in public. But as we get closer to her 2nd birthday, the terrible 2's keep cropping up.

Temper tantrums have been happening a lot in my house. Usually when we don't do what she wants. I think there is a language barrier since she isn't talking a lot yet. Though she understands a ton because she can follow directions and the like.


I try to have as much patience as I can, though it gets wearing after a while. Especially since I've been suffering from bad migraines this week. But both my husband and I are determined to not give in to the tantrums and try to distract her to get the tantrum done. If she is really bad, we put her in time out.

Tonight was tantrum central due to the fact that Emily resisted taking a nap all day. So by the time it was nearly bedtime, nothing make her happy.

Now, tantrums at home I can handle because no-one can see my cranky child, but when we went out today, Emily decided to roll around on the floor and cry. I felt mortified. I tried distraction, but in the end we had to leave.

I hope this phase ends soon!

Wrestling Geek

I'm not just a Browncoat, I'm also a fan of professional wrestling. I got into before I met my husband, but he is the one who is into it more than me.

My husband's birthday was this past Saturday, and there was a TNA House Show in Charlotte - TNA is a wrestling company, and a House Show is a show that isn't broadcast on TV.


Since the show was in Charlotte, we needed to find someone to watch Emily, especially since we didn't think the show was going to end until 10 pm or 11 pm. I was worried because Emily doesn't sleep well for anyone but me.

But my husband and I had a great time at the show - we got a bunch of autographs, and as the picture shows, we got our picture taken with Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy.

At home, my friend, Nancy, babysat for Emily. And apparently Emily was very good! And she went to sleep for Nancy no problem!

It was great because now my mind is a little more eased as we get closer to the Browncoat Ball when I'll be gone all weekend.