Ends and Beginnings

I've had this blog for several years and I've really loved blogging here. But being a geek and being a parent are only two parts of who I am.

So I've decided to close this blog and move to one that will encompass all who I am.

If you want to follow my shiny adventures from here on out, please go follow my new blog - Chaos Mandy.

Thanks for reading!

Sickness and Sailor Moon

Image: Amazon.com

Right before Valentine's Day long ago, my dear husband (who I had just started to date at the time) bought me the best present ever for the big V-Day. It wasn't roses, candy or even jewelry  He bought me the first season of Sailor Moon uncut.

I adored it and I watched it a lot. He bought it for me right when my daily chronic headaches were starting and I didn't have a lot of ways to cope with the pain. So on those nights that I couldn't sleep, I would pop in Sailor Moon and watch that.

It's been nearly ten years since my headaches started and I still get the urge to watch Sailor Moon when I am in a lot of pain. I still have that set that my husband bought me all those years ago. It is actually now a rare collectors item - currently the cheapest you can get it on Amazon is $199. Whenever money was really tight in the past, we toyed with the idea of selling it but neither of us could bear to part with it.

Tonight I'm not feeling great so I plan on watching some Sailor Moon. It was one of the best presents my husband has ever given me. I think of him when I watch it and I'm very thankful to have a great husband who is wonderful at picking out gifts.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

The Problems With "The Hobbit"

Image: goodreads.com

I've been a Tolkien fan for most of my life because my dad is a big Tolkien fan. When I was very small, he would read to me from The Lord of the Rings. But my dad never liked The Hobbit as much and that opinion rubbed off on me.

I loved The Lord of the Rings movies and even though I didn't like The Hobbit as much, I went to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at midnight. I adored the movie - you can read my review at GeekMom - and I've seen it five times in the theater so far. But I was fuzzy on the details of what happened next. The last time I had read The Hobbit was for the GeekMom Book Club last year.

Well, I just finished my re-read and I know why my dad and I didn't like The Hobbit as much as The Lord of the Rings books. I'll pause here because there will be book / movie spoilers from this point on.
.
.
.
.

Everything in The Hobbit seems rushed and not very well fleshed out. I know that it was written to be a kid's book, but the style is so unlike The Lord of the Rings that it turns me off. I am a more is better kind of person which is why I always read all the appendixes when I read The Lord of the Rings.

The climax of the book is the Battle of the Five Armies - a battle that Bilbo spends most of it knocked out. We don't see how Thorin gets mortally injured and his death is really, really anti-climactic. I also didn't remember that Fili and Kili die too. Though their deaths in the book are summed up as pretty much, "oh yeah, Fili and Kili die because they were related to Thorin."

Also BookThorin is kind of a jackass and a jerk. I remember now that I never liked Thorin because his motivation is the gold and the Arkenstone. MovieThorin is so much more fleshed out - his motivation is reclaiming his homeland. I really dislike BookThorin and I love MovieThorin, so I'm really intrigued how the 2nd and 3rd movies are going to play out because BookThorin gets jerkier as the book goes on. Honestly, Bard kills the dragon which something the dwarves don't even try to do but BookThorin is so stubborn about parting with a little gold that is pretty much starts a war. The only reason a full war doesn't break out is because the goblins and wargs attack and then BookThorin (and I'm assuming MovieThorin as well) dies.

After reading The Hobbit again, I have even more respect for Peter Jackson. The book doesn't really flesh out the characters of the dwarves, except jerky Thorin, but Peter Jackson gave them all different personalities that helped bring the characters to life. And not just the dwarves - the Great Goblin in the book only had a few lines of dialogue before he got killed. I liked the movie version of that better as well.

I was looking forward to seeing the next two movies, but I'm really curious now how Peter Jackson is going to handle the story that is set out. Also there is very little mention to what Gandalf does when he leaves the company, just that he and the other wizards defeated the Necromancer. I'm assuming the movie will show what Gandalf does to defeat him - though it isn't a final defeat since the Necromancer is Sauron and thus will be back.

The only other character that is fleshed out at all in the book is Bilbo, since he is the main character. MovieBilbo is much more heroic already than BookBilbo since MovieBilbo decided on his own to go on the adventure and BookBilbo had to be pushed out of his door. I don't really dislike BookBilbo, but the constant "I wish I was home" got a little grating. I adore MovieBilbo (honestly both of them - Martin Freeman and Ian Holm) because he is a little awkward, but tries his best to help the company along.

The character I like best from both the book and the movie is Balin. He has always been my favorite dwarf and the movie solidified that for me. Yes, Fili is awfully nice to look at (and it makes me a little sad that he and Kili are doomed to die for no good reason), but Balin is wise and loyal but still has a sense of humor. I love Balin.

Anyway, that's just to rambling thoughts on The Hobbit. I'm starting to re-read The Lord of the Rings next, which I've probably read over 20 times.. And after that, I'm going to finally tackle The Silmarillion which I have not read before.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

Christmas!

We had a pretty laid back Christmas this year. We have family in GA that we usually go see on the holidays, but it was a really long day when we went down for Thanksgiving. Because I had to work an extra long shift the day after Christmas, we decided to not to go anywhere for Christmas.

I had to work a short shift on Christmas Eve and then there was a little time to relax before going to church. We took some time to take pictures under the tree and then left about an hour early for church.

We went to the 5 pm children friendly service. It was already getting packed when we got there, but we managed to snag our usual spot. By the time the service started, it was standing room only.

The service was cute - it was the children's choirs telling the Christmas story along with lots of Christmas carols to for us to sing. Emily didn't know most of them, but she sang with gusto when it came time to sing "Away in the Manger".

Once we got home, Emily got to open her one Christmas Eve present which was her Christmas pj's. Then we watched the Christmas episode of "Phineas and Ferb" before going to bed.

Santa came and brought all of Emily's presents. Then Todd and I watched the original "Miracle on 34th Street" on TV. I knew Emily was going to be up early, so I went to bed once the movie was done.

Emily did get up around her usual time at 6:30 am. We roused Todd for a little bit so she could open her presents.

She got lots of things she had asked Santa for, but the one she was most excited about was the Jake and the Neverland Pirates Pirate Ship. Though now that it is over a week after

Christmas, she plays with her Doc McStuffins puzzle that was a last minute addition from Santa more than anything.

Todd got some sleep after presents and Emily played with her toys. At 10, we watched the Disney Christmas Parade which is more a 2 hour long Disney commercial than a parade. But Emily and I enjoyed it, especially since this is the year we are going to Walt Disney World. While the parade was going on, Todd started lunch which was a ham dinner with all the fixings.

We talked to Todd's parents and his grandma and we talked to my dad and his wife. Then after Emily got up from her nap, we Skyped with Todd's parents, sister-in-law and Emily's cousins. It was a lot of the kids showing each other what they got for Christmas, but they enjoyed being able to see and talk to each other.

It was a pretty laid back holiday and I enjoyed it. It would be nice to go back to Michigan or even down to GA for the holidays but that gets really hectic.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

Good Riddance 2012!

Me... falling on ice

2012 has really been a bad year for me for a lot of reasons. It's been a year where I had to cut people out of my life, a year where I started having panic attacks, and just not a lot good happened this year.

2013 is shaping up to be a great year. I'm gainfully employed from home. We are going to Disney World in October. Todd found a horror con in Charlotte that is taking place the weekend after my birthday that has Bruce Campbell as a guest that we are going to go to. I'm also planning on going to ConCarolinas and of course Dragon*Con.

I think that 2012 might be out to get me though. Right before Christmas, I was carrying Emily to the car. I tripped and fell hard on our carport, which is made of cement. I managed to protect Emily so I took the brunt of the fall. I was very sore for a few days and my left arm was still a little bit tender.

Yesterday I went to see The Hobbit and I was walking through the covered parking garage when I slipped and fell on a tiny patch of ice. I think someone dumped their drink and it froze. I fell again on cement and now both my knees hurt as well as my left arm again.

I hope I don't fall again soon and I'm so glad that 2012 is almost done!

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

Preschool Christmas Program

It's been a super busy holiday season this year, especially since this is the first year I've been back to work. So I'm a little behind on my posts.

Emily started preschool this year and she had her first preschool Christmas program. Since she goes to preschool at our church, the program was about the birth of Jesus.

I had to work in the morning so Todd and I got there right before the program was going to start. The church was packed but we managed to snag a seat on the end in the back.

Each class paraded into the church and sat down. The oldest class, which was the kindergarten class, got speaking parts and acted out the nativity. Each of the other classes got a song to sing and were dressed up as different parts of the nativity scene.

The youngest classes went first so Emily's class was in the middle of the program. They played the part of shepherds and sang "Away in the Manger" which was very adorable. Emily had been singing the song all the time at home, but I think she got a little stage fright and didn't sing much.

The whole program lasted less than a half hour but it was super cute. After it was done, the kids went back to their classrooms where we could pick them up (since we have to sign them out). Then there was a cookie reception in the fellowship hall with a special guest.

Since we had been sitting in the back, we were one of the first to get out of the church and pick up our kid. So she was one of the first kids to see Santa.

I know some Christians don't do Santa but we do and it was refreshing to see him at the reception. The kids were really excited and lined up to see him. This is the first year that Emily actually sat on Santa's lap without having either Todd or I be right next to her.

Once she saw Santa and got her candy cane, we had some cookies. Every family brought cookies (including us - I had made chocolate chip cookies the night before) so there was a ton. Emily had a really good time, especially when one of her friends came and sat with us.

She's been experiencing a lot of firsts this year and this one was great. She was adorable and so were the other kids. The local news station even came and did a story on it. You can see the video at their website if you want - Emily is shown a couple of times.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

I'm Going To Disney World

I'm going to Disney World! In October 2013 :)

Disney World is my favorite place in the whole world. I love it so much. When Todd gave me the option of Vegas or Disney World for our honeymoon, it took me about five minutes to decide.

Three months after we returned from our wonderful Disney honeymoon, I became pregnant. This was when I started dreaming about taking Miss  Emily to Disney World.

Now when we were on our honeymoon, we saw what a pain in the butt hauling around strollers was. So we decided that we would wait until any child we had was out of strollers. We also decided that 6 would be the magical age for a first trip to Disney.

Emily is currently four, and her birthday is in October. Because of the cutoff for kindergarten in NC, she will still be in preschool next year. So I talked Todd into doing Disney next year because it would be easier to take her out of school.

Last month we booked our trip and we will be driving down to Disney World on October 11th. We are staying in the newest Disney resort, Art of Animation, in a Finding Nemo family suite.

I'm very excited, though I keep crying at Disney commercials  The one on the big screen when I went to the movies last week made me sob. Todd thinks I'm crazy, but this is Emily's first trip so it's super special.

Don't be surprised at a large amount of Disney posts in 2013. I'm really looking forward to this trip!

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

A Day at the Zoo

My in-laws came to visit from Michigan for Emily's birthday and one of the things they wanted to do was take her to the zoo. I did a search and the closest zoo was in Greenville, so that is were we went Monday morning.

Emily loves animals so we knew that the zoo would be fun for her. The Greenville zoo isn't super big so we were able to see it all in a couple of hours. The first animal and the last animal we saw was the elephant. The elephant was not facing us so we got a good view of his butt. Emily kept making stinky elephant butt jokes the whole day. We got a little better view on the way out, but didn't get to see her straight on.

They had a lot of neat animals from snakes to lizards to birds to monkeys to the very pregnant giraffe. Emily liked the monkeys the best because she thought they were funny!

Here are some pictures from our day at the zoo!

Monkey!

Daddy and Emily looking at fishies

The zoo had a bunch of Halloween decorations up

Emily with her grandparents

Emily loves the zoo!

Pregnant giraffe!

She loved the playground they had!

Monkey! Emily said he was in time out
because he was facing away from the other monkeys.

Big cheetahs!

Mommy gets a picture with the birthday girl

"Look mom, a goat!"

Duck!

One last pose before we left

Elephant butt!

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

The Costume Party

I love Halloween so I was thrilled when my daughter was born in October. For the last few years, we had been doing park playdates, but that didn't turn out so well last year. So when I asked Emily what kind of party she wanted this year, I was so excited when she requested a costume/Halloween themed party.

Since we live in NC, the weather is usually okay for an outdoor party. We got Emily a big swingset over the summer and our yard is plenty big, so the party was going to be at our house.

Emily started preschool this year so we invited the kids in her class as well as a few other people. My in-laws drove down from Michigan to make the party complete. As the day dawn, it looked like rain and actually did rain a little so we set up the food table in our carport. I also brought out some toys for the kids to play with in case of rain.

The party started at 2 pm and it wasn't too long before the first kids starting arriving. It was sprinkling so they started playing in the carport. But once most of the guests had arrived, Emily wanted to show her friend her swing set so off to the backyard they went.

Emily was dressed as Snow White and one of her friends also came as Snow White. I also was Snow but we didn't get any pictures of me. All the kids were in costume which was very adorable. We let the kids play for a while and then we had food.

I have several Halloween themed cookie cutters, one that is in the shape of a bat. So Todd used the cookie cutter to make hamburger patties in the shape of bats. He called them bat sliders. We also had veggies, fruit and lemonade and even ice cubes in the shape of pumpkins and skulls.

Emily loved the Halloween pinatas at Walmart so we got her one for her birthday. She picked out the ghost and we gave each of the kids the change to break open the pinata. The kids didn't make a dent into it, so my husband tried. He overestimated his strength and cracked it open with one swing. Thankfully it didn't hit anyone when it fell and the kids had fun filling their bags up with candy.

Once everyone ate and we cracked open the pinata, we got the cake out and sang 'Happy Birthday'. The cake had one of Emily's favorite princesses, Tiana, on it. It was very colorful and pretty yummy.

It was then time for presents and Emily got some help unwrapping them. She got lots of lovely things but her favorite was the Disney Princess Little People Castle from her aunt and uncle.

The party broke up at the point but Emily played a while with the kids that could stick around. She declared it was the best birthday party ever and I think it turned out pretty well!

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

Dragon*Con 2012 - Friday

Usually my husband and I head down to Atlanta early on the Thursday before Dragon*Con so we can get our badges. Usually the badge line takes several hours to go through and that way we weren't missing any of the con.

But this year, I had just started a new job a few weeks before so I had to work until 5:30 that Thursday. Thankfully, I now work from home so we could leave as soon as I got off work. It was about 5 pm when my boss let me go and we were able to get on the road to Atlanta.

Thursday was just the drive down to my aunt and uncle's house. We got to their house around 9 pm which didn't leave us any time to get downtown. So it was early to bed since my husband and I wanted to get down to the con early.

Now I had heard many things that badge pickup was streamlined, but my husband was pretty pessimistic about it. He still thought we were going to be in line for hours. We managed to get down to the con around 9 am and then we waited for a whole five minutes to get our badges. It took us longer to walk through the queues than it did to actually get our badges.

This gave us quite a bit of time before my panel. We headed to the Hilton to see if there was any autographs. The Celebrity Authentics line was long but we got in it so Todd could get a ticket to get Sebastian Roche's autograph.

From there, we met up with my friend Nicole. We went to the food court to have some breakfast. We chatted and people watched until it was about a half hour before the "Are You A Geek Parent" Panel.

I had worked with th Kaleidoscope track folks for months to put together this panel with some of my fellow GeekMom authors. Author and geeky dad Bryan Young also sat on the panel. When we got to the Kaleidoscope track room, the room was about half full. We actually started the panel a little early because the room was full.

My lovely husband took video of the panel until my memory was totally filled up. He left at that point to head back to the Walk of Fame. He told me later that there were about 10 people outside, waiting to see if they could get into the pane.

The big highlight of the panel was being able to meet GeekMom Ruth and GeekMom Patricia in person. And it was just a really fun panel to be involved with. Afterwards, we got a picture of the three GeekMoms, then I had a rush off.

I walked as fast as I could to the Sheraton to get in line for The Guild panel. The line was out of the hotel and wrapped around the building. It was very hot but thankfully I had stuck my Kaylee parasol in my bag. It was my original parasol that I painted and it is starting to fall apart. Thankfully it still opened and make it a little cooler while standing in line.

Even though the line was long, I made it into the panel. It was the first time the entire cast of The Guild  had come to Dragon*Con. It was a really great panel, but I left earlier so I could meet Todd at the walk of fame.

I didn't get as many autographs as I did in years past. But I got the entire cast of the Guild, Adam Baldwn (finally!!) and Katee Sackoff. Todd got several others, like John Rhys-Davies, so we have lots of new additions for our wall of fame.

I thought that the dealer'r room closed at 5, but my dear husband told me that it was open until 7 and that he also knew were the BPAL booth was.

Slight tangent here. I've been a fan of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab or BPAL since 2004. The owners of the Lab, Beth and her husband Ted, have been active on the fan forum so I've known them online for 8 years. But since they are located in CA, I never got to meet them in person. So I was really excited to finally meet them.

Todd showed me right were the booth was then headed back to the walk of fame. I geeked out at the BPAL, introduced myself to Beth, got a hug and got to smell the Halloween scents which were so lovely. It was great!

By the time I was done at the BPAL booth, I had missed the start of the next panel I was going to so I went to the food court for some food. Todd had been at wrestling but he wasn't too into it so we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house.

Next up, Dragon*Con 2012 - Saturday!

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

September 30th - In Pictures

7 years ago today, Serenity was released in theaters. 

6 years ago today, I married my wonderful husband, Todd.

5 years ago today, I celebrated my first anniversary in Epcot.

4 years ago today, I was extremely pregnant with Miss Emily.

(picture from a few weeks before the 30th)

3 years ago today, I was SAHM to an 11 month old.

2 years ago today, I was a college student/SAHM

1 year ago today, I spent my 5th wedding anniversary away from my husband.

Emily and I flew to Texas to attend my cousin Sarah's wedding.

As you can see, September 30 has become an important day in my life. Though there were a few years that we didn't do much of anything.

Today is the first anniversary that Todd and I have had that we've both had the day off since our 1st anniversary / honeymoon. We aren't doing anything very exciting though Todd is going to make a turkey dinner which I'm really looking forward to.

It's been a great 6 years of being married to the love of my life. Here's to many years more!

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

First Day of Preschool!

Yesterday, my baby started school. Yes, it's only preschool but  it makes me a little melancholy that she is growing up.

Even though she could have started preschool last year, things were just too crazy for us with me still being in college. Plus she'll have another year of preschool since her birthday is in October, so she doesn't make the cut-off for kindergarten.

Her preschool is at our church, which is great because it's a place she is already familiar with. She is enjoying it so far, at least she keeps wanting to go back.

She goes for three days a week for a couple of hours. It's a great start to get her used to going to school.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

How To Find Me At Dragon*Con!

I'm getting ready for Dragon*Con! This year I'll be on a panel as well as live tweeting for GeekMom. You can follow me at @ChaosMandy at Twitter.

On Friday, August 31, I'll be on the GeekMom panel.

It will be at 1 pm in the Kaleidoscope track room (Marriott Lobby: Marriott L405 - L406). The title of the panel is "Are you a Geek Parent?" It should be a lot of fun!

On Saturday, September 1, I'll be in the parade.

I'll have Emily with me and both of us will be cosplaying as Snow White. We will be marching in the Kaleidoscope section!

On Sunday, September 2, I'll be a judge for the Whedonverse costume contest. 

It will be at 4 pm in Westin International DE. I can't wait to see all the shiny costumes!

I'll also have the GeekMom Pony with me - I'll be taking a lot of pictures of her around the con. I hope to see some of you at the con!


If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

I Miss You, Mom

Me and my mom

10 years ago today my mom lost her two year battle with cancer. I woke up around this time on that day and I just knew she was gone. My dad and her dad were at her side when she passed away.

I miss my mom everyday. Even though I was 25 years old when she passed away, I wasn't really grown up. I had graduated from college less than a week before she died - an event that she managed to attend. She was very proud of me.

But my mom never met my husband - though she was in the same room with him once. My college best friend married his best friend and we were both in the wedding. That was how we met. But we didn't start dating until after my mom had passed.

And of course my mom never got to meet Emily. That probably makes me more sad than anything because my mom was so looking forward to having grandkids. She would have adored Miss Emily.

I am a Christian so I believe that my mom is in Heaven. She does come to visit every once in a while - I feel her presence sometimes which gives me some peace. And I will see her again someday. But for  now, I miss my mommy and wish she was still her.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

Phineas and Ferb Jello!

I have been neglecting this blog, and I'm sorry about that. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to update it more regularly. I will warn you all that there will be an extra amount of Disney related posts since we are going to be going to Disney World next October.

We watch the various Disney channels quite a bit. One of my favorite shows that Emily really likes is Phineas and Ferb. It's one of the best shows on TV.

This weekend, we were doing some shopping in Walmart. I was getting jello to make some for Emily when I spotted a Phineas and Ferb jello mold. It was only a dollar so I bought it. Tonight I made up some jello.

Phineas, Ferb, Perry and Candace

Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Agent P

It turned out great and I know that Emily is going to be so excited to eat some of the jello for snack time tomorrow.

If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

The Best Present My Husband Ever Got Me

Image: Amazon.com

My husband has bought me a variety of things over our nearly six year marriage. But the best thing he ever bought me was one of the first things.

It was fairly early into our relationship and we were still living in Michigan. And we were still living apart at that point. But we would try and get together as much as possible.

We were in Midland, MI and looking in a store that sold used DVD's and video games. I was really into anime at the time and my husband (then boyfriend) pointed out the first season of Sailor Moon that was uncut.

I had always been interested in watching Sailor Moon. I had seen some of the wretched dub when I was much younger and didn't know what anime was. But by this time I knew that the dubbed version had been really butchered from the original. So when he offered to buy it, I jumped at the chance.

I think my birthday was close and this DVD set became my birthday present. And I watched the heck out of it as the months went on. This was because soon after, my daily chronic headaches started.

I've talked about my headaches before, but I'll recap a little. I got very sick with an ear infection that my doctor misdiagnosed for a month. I ended up in the hospital and permanent damage to the hearing in my right ear. I also had a bad headache. All my other symptoms cleared up except for the headache. I've had that same headache for almost ten years now.

After my headaches started, it was the worst time in my life. I was in constant pain and didn't know how to deal with it. But I would spend many of my sleepless night watching Sailor Moon. It helped me through that really hard time in my life.

We didn't know it at the time, but Todd had bought me something very rare and valuable. ADV, which know longer exists, only released the first two seasons of Sailor Moon uncut. And stopped making them soon after that they were released. So they are hard to find and expensive to buy.

When I went to look on Amazon for the picture above, the prices were starting at $559.95 for new, $210 for used and one collector's edition for $1,500.00! When money has been tight in the past, Todd and I discussed selling it, but I don't think I'd be able to bear to part with it.

So while Todd has bought me many shiny things in the past, including my wedding ring, the best present is my Sailor Moon DVD's.


If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!

Getting Back In The Swing Of Things

Three months ago, I went back to work after being a stay at home mom / college student for three years. I knew that there would take some time to get used to working again, but I never thought it would take this long.

Granted, these three months have been really unpleasant for me thanks to issues in my personal life. But finally I think I'm starting to get back in the swing of things.

I exercised for the first time tonight since I went back to work. I've written eleven GeekMom articles so far this month, which is more like the number I wrote when I was still a stay at home mom.

There is still some things that I need to work on, like my novel which I have barely edited. This blog has been neglected as well. And I do need to find more time to just relax and decompress. It's an ongoing adjustment as I find that groove again.


If you like my blog, please rate it at Top Mommy Blogs!