The Can’t Help Its ….

That’s what I have. When I was little and having a bad day mom would say “you have a case of the Can’t help its” and I never really understood that until now. While I don’t know the “official” definition …… Can’t help its in my world anyway is basically the feeling or a phase where whatever you are doing you immediately don’t want to do but you really don’t want to do anything else either. So you walk around aimlessly from one thing to another not really putting any effort or heart into said thing until you basically just stop walking around aimlessly. It’s not the same as lazy tho it sounds that way …. I’ve been lazy before too…the difference is the effort involved. When you have the Can’t help its you at least make the effort to see that things need to be taken care of … lazy just pretends that there is nothing there to do so you can continue to be lazy. The best I can describe it by is when someone now says "you've got a case of the Mondays!" but it last all day, all week, all month until you say ok that's enough and break out of it.  

Tho I think I know why I am feeling that way. I would imagine a lot of you are in the same boat as everyone around us keeps reminding us that March was when all hell literally broke loose across the Country.

3/16/2021 marks the 1-year anniversary of my working from home (WFH – as my boss calls it) due to Big Rona. I know this cause on March 16th I was suppose to get on a plane and go to Tampa for a conference. We were leaving on Monday (the 16th) and would return home on Wed the 18th. On Friday morning the 13th we got notice that the conference was being cancelled, after spending several days trying to decide what to do. If we bailed, we paid, if it was cancelled we might get some of it back. So, we spent most of the day cancelling hotel rooms and flights (I think I still have a flight voucher that may or may not be expiring soon … who knows). On that Sunday, the 15th my boss made the call that we would work from home that week. The plan was to take it week by week, a few weeks into it and they shut down the office. We have yet to go back.

At first, I didn’t think it would work but also didn’t think it would last long so I thought ok I can do this. I just needed to focus. I always thought I was one of those that couldn’t work from home, then I thrived in it and was getting more done that I could have imagined because I realized that the distractions of the office weren’t a thing anymore. The co-worker without as much to do stopping by to chatt, the co-workers not asking me to find x…y…z… cause they didn’t know how or didn’t want to (easier to ask than do) – not being down the hall they had to find it themselves – they’d hit me up on Teams and I’d tell them how to get there … it was quite liberating. Not to mention the other mundane office things like going to lunch, fixing that Mfing printer like I’m IT, the conversation about where to go to lunch, figuring out that we are out of supplies and getting them ordered, inviting others to join us for lunch then the discussion about how they didn’t want to go where everyone else did and how did we feel about xx, calling IT when I can’t fix the Mfing printer, the coming back from lunch late - cause well it takes time for 3 or 4 people to get in a car, decide where to go, get there, order, wait for the food to come, eat, pay (seriously the hardest part most days), and make the return trip back to the office. Plus, the let’s chat about this or that when it comes to projects, and meetings endless … endless meetings that we now hopefully understand could have been e-mails. There’s a lot that goes into one’s day in an office that doesn’t make it on a timesheet guys.

My office was “technically” open, but my super amazing boss left it up to each of us to decide our level of comfort in going into the office. Especially when he realized that some of our “in the office colleagues” weren’t following the “safe at work” mandates such as wearing masks in common areas, social distancing within the office (AKA if I’m in my office don’t come behind my desk but chill in the door please), or the filling out of the “SAW form” that was supposed to act as the gate keeping by giving one access to the office if they filled it out correctly or even at all. No one seemed interested in enforcing these polices so he said to stay home unless we HAD to go in and then go, do what we needed to do and get out. I love him for many reasons but will ALWAYS love him for that alone.

I admit that some days I was more productive than others. However I also admit that I have not missed an hour of work since this happened, not even a vacation day. Well that’s not true I took one day off to take dad to have a procedure done at the hospital (sat in my car for 6 hours waiting on him to come back out – I did have two calls about submittals I was working on but basically just played on my phone. Then I also took half a day when I got the first vaccine shot (I get my 2nd shot later this month!). Otherwise I’ve been at my PC logged in and working every day for the last year. It’s starting to catch up with me guys. Hence my Can’t Help its” diagnosis. I’ve talked here before about how the second my feet hit the floor I’m doing something for everyone around me that my energy to do anything for me is dead. My downtime is now “taking a shower.” Unless I’m in my bed someone is pulling on some part of me asking me to do, to help, to see, to get, to take care of whatever. Part of me is hoping the 2nd shot sends me to my sick bed for several days just for the “break” but I also know that that will be in a critical work moment and won’t be able to do that. My father had the 2nd shot about 3 weeks ago, my mom is a week into her 2nd shot. So I think they would be ok if I did but it would give me a great excuse to lay in bed for a day which is really all I want for Christmas Charlie Brown!

In Feb I realized that I needed to do something about my weight and get serious about it. I started an aerobics/cardio program that I found on youtube and it was really great for about a week. I have a reoccurring knee injury (from high school Volleyball) that flares up from time to time and in Feb it flared up HARD. I am not talking about it was just a little sore I am talking about being unable to put any weight on it at all. I was this close to going to the doctor when I made a sudden movement not thinking when my mom’s biscuit bowl was about to fall off the counter (and we can’t have that her biscuits are that good) and my knee popped. It hurt yall. I cried, my dad came from the other room to check on me, mom was reaching for the phone to call 911…  it was that bad yall. Then I went to move and realized I could use it again. It still cracks and pops every time I move it but it doesn’t hurt anymore. So that’s helping. I still don’t fully trust it but as long as I keep it a little bit bent I can function with it now. Being in pain that long didn’t help my state of mind. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do things at that point I physically was unable to do things.

I am hearing rumblings that we will be heading back to the office soon even if we aren’t ready … frankly I’m happy they have given us this long cause I really didn’t see them doing that. I figured the second they were legally able they were going to call us “home” and I guess they kind of are. I refuse to even discuss it until after my 14 days after my shot. 

So a few goals for the next few months. 

• Safely transition back to working in my office 
• Getting back into the habit of dressing like a normal human who must go out in the world (AKA no sweat pants)
• Sleep .... good lord I need to get back on a normal sleep pattern STAT 
• Going to see Golden in May even if we do nothing at all I want to breathe the same air as her (she had both shots of the vaccine about a month ago) 
• Not having a panic attack at the thought of leaving my house 
• Watching the Auburn Tigers at the SEC Gymnastics Championship (I won't be there in person but in spirit for sure!) 
• Getting a freaking haircut (the first place I plan to go after my 14 days btw) it's been OVER a year officially now guys, i'm thinking closer to a year and a half
• Get my 2nd shot and getting through my 14 day period before having to function in the world again
• Feeling comfortable enough to really be around my co workers again 
• Convince my brother and SIL to get the vaccine ASAP
• Watch the freaking Olympics .... I need the Olympics to happen this year ... Invicitus has already been cancelled .... I NEED the Olympics ... at this point I'd even listen to Tim Daggett instead of muting my phone
• Continue to not get sick ... and hopefully the rest of my family can say the same 

Those are the things I hope to accomplish between now and May 2021. Nothing that will set the world on fire for sure but things I need to focus on right now. 

Wish me luck that I get off my arse and get it done.

Marcy

PS I was going to add fun pictures throughout this but my PC was like nah we are good and wouldn't let me :( 

Baby Talk

I don't know what it is about Holidays that make me want to write. Maybe it is that 8 hour span where I don't really have anything to do, or nothing expected of me maybe it's just that my brain wants a vacation so .… I was looking earlier for a "writing prompt" and didn't really see any that jumped out at me as something I wanted to take forward. So I opened up word and just touched my keyboard. This was the result ….. I have no idea where it came from. I'm not a mom … I don't have a 3 month old, I don't even know anyone with a three month old but when I started typing this is what came out.

~~ Baby Talk ~~ 

She felt human after emerging from the shower, clean hair, fresh clothes, she felt like she was ready to conquer the world again. She was grateful to the man who made this happen for her. As she walked through the house she couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was. That had not happened in over three months. A small part of her started to panic but the other part of her said calm down I’m sure everything is fine, but her pace quickened as she got into the Livingroom. Often, she finds them snuggling on the couch, dogs at their feet or being used as pillows. She popped over the back of the couch, but found nothing not even a dent where they were previously snuggled up.

Before she went into full panic attack mode she decided to look around maybe she just missed them. She backtracked to the bedrooms thinking they have to be back here, they just have to be, but upon entering her new son’s room she found it empty and sickeningly quiet. The toys from last night still in the floor, nothing in the crib, nothing new in the wastebasket. Even the rocking chair mocked her by being unnervingly still. They were gone. The baby’s room faced the driveway, she looked and the car was there. Where in the world did they go she wondered as her heart started to race a bit more than she would like.  

Her brain told her that they were fine, and she knew that to likely be true, but it didn’t stop her head from also coming up with the alternative. Whenever they were not where she was she missed them with a ache she never thought she’d have, especially when she couldn’t hear them playing - sometimes that was enough to calm her down - sometimes. She knew being a new mom was going to have its challenges, but she always felt like that was one that she really didnt need to worry about. These panic attacks whenever he was out of her sight was something she didn’t anticipate and didn’t know how to stop. She was working on it, but it wasn’t easy. She yelled for the dog but didn’t hear the familiar sound of the nails on the floor boards that would usually calm her nerves. They would always lead her to her son. Now her heart wasnt just racing, she was also having trouble breathing.

She walked into the kitchen to grab her phone from it’s charger prepared to call her husband when she noticed the backdoor was open. Unlike him to leave the door ajar like that, her brain took note. She went to the door and rushed out and around the corner stopping when she heard her husband’s voice, finally, talking to the baby, dogs running around. They were deep into conversation and she didn’t want to interrupt. Now that she knew that they were ok she wanted to eavesdrop a little bit as her heart started slowing down her breathing returning to normal.

She loved to listen to her husband talk to their infant like he was a grown up. He would often tell him about his day, talk to him about who was around, or just explain random things to him like football rules, or how to work the remote control, why they have a record player but no records that kind of thing. She asked him once why.

“I was sitting there holding him one day just starring at him but not really interacting with him. He was looking at me like he expected something and I felt I wasn't delivering.  So,  I decided to talk to him but didn’t really know what to say” he told her. "That’s when it hit me that it didn’t matter what I said just that I was saying something for him to get used to my voice. It wasn't like he would know what I was talking about anyway." So now he talks to him about anything and everything.

“So what you need to do is water them, but not over water them, they don’t like a lot of water, their roots will rot." He said as he weeded a section of the garden, "Then you have to replace them all together. It’s much easier to just lightly water them in the morning. Plus, your mom loves these flowers. They give the house a nice smell but don’t overpower the rest of the garden so you want to keep these alive if at all possible. The biggest threat really is the moles, but that’s why I have this wooden barrier around it. That helps keep the moles out, but frankly a mole is going to go where it wants unless you trap it and get it out of there. That requires special equipment and gets a little messy.”

Then she watches as he stands up, dusts off, picks up the carrier and moves a few feet to the right setting it down then getting back on the ground himself.

“Now these over here they are annuals and you could set them on fire and they would still grow, but don’t set them on fire. They are awfully close to the house for that. What I mean is they are very hard to kill, even a mole can’t really get at them. They are very pretty in the fall but in the summer are kind of an eye sore, they do add a bit of green to the garden during the summer. So, they have their place during summer too. You have to remember the pay off for fall or you are libel to just pull them up. Mom’s not as wild about these as I am, but again that’s what makes it all work. The balance of this garden, every thing is planned out and it works.”

He stands up again to move to another part of the garden and sees her spying on them,  Hey darlin it was too nice a day to be inside, so we decided to play in the garden." She smiles and he smiles back, “Oh wow look what we have there, it’s that elusive mommy smile!" At that moment she burts into tears.

He snatches up the carrier and moves to his wife, “oh crap babe I’m sorry …. Here take him he’s getting a little red anyway." He kisses her cheek and walks back towards the garden "I’m going to grab a few tomatoes and we’ll make lunch!” she looks down at her little man.

“I…..I didn’t mean to make you guys stop. I shouldn't have come out here. I’m so sorry, I’ll go back inside” and she sets the carrier back down facing her husband and rushes inside still crying, fighting back a sob at this point.

He stands there for a second dumbfounded but picks up the carrier and follows her. “Mom’s a tick emotional, I mean it’s not easy to pop a small human out of your body without all haties breaking lose.” He sets the carrier on the kitchen counter, and turns on the faucet to wash his hands then the tomatoes. He know she can hear him from the living room and continues to talk to his son, “See mom’s have it tough after the birth cause they are suddenly being torn into like 26 directions and they don’t know which way to turn. If they turn left then the right might collapse and if they focus on the right the front might go down and don't even get me started on the back or the other 20 something sides. They always are concerned about what they aren’t doing even if what they really want is to focus on what they are doing. Mom’s ... they are silly.” He says as he takes the carrier and the fresh tomatoes to the middle island and takes out a chef’s knife to start slicing them up. “See it’s easier for a dad, dad’s job is simple. Make sure everyone is safe and taken care of. We are expected to go to work, bring home money, take care of the house, take the pictures, and provide entertainment for said family.”

He grabs the bread and starts spreading it with mayonnaise as he continues, “but mom’s they are expected to do all of that, literally provide food, and so much more and it’s sometimes overwhelming.” His son starts to cry, just cause that’s what a 3 month old does, “now now … don’t get me wrong mom loves you. You are the greatest thing we have ever done, but sometimes mom needs a break she just doesn’t know how to ask for said break, sometimes she isn’t aware that a break is even needed or an option.” As he gently rocks the carrier to calm his son, “so it’s also my job to remember to give mom that break without making her feel like I’m taking over, or saying she can’t do it all.” He leans in closer to his son, “truth is mom can do so much more than she gets credit for that if I’m not careful she’ll do my job too, then why will you guys need me?”

He plates up the sandwiches and walks into the living room handing his son to his wife and putting the plate in his lap.  He kisses her forehead, “I love you!” she smiles at him, “thank you” as she takes her son into her arms.

“Now let me tell you about your dad He is smart about a lot of things like the garden, and fixing things. He built most of your toys by himself with minimal cussing. He has almost mastered diapers and bathtime, and reads the best bedtime stories ... we are the luckiest people on the planet because we have him and no one can do his job like he can.  I say we keep him. What’s your vote?” then she looks over to her husband and they share a kiss as their son watches on, then he starts to fuss a little “I guess that makes it unanimous, you are stuck with us!” he smiles at her, "I want that in writing" taking a bite of his sandwich watching the love of his life being held by the other love of his life. 

----

So there you go. Short, a little sweet, and at times too much so. Hope you had a good 4th doing whatever it was you wanted to do with your holiday!

Marcy
@beaslma

DRAGON CON DAY 2

Today has been all about missed connections. From not being able to connect to the interwebs to not being able to connect with a stupid bus, it’s been one giant day of not being able to connect, even within our own group. Let’s start at the beginning. The alarms went off around 6 ish …. Far earlier than any one human who is on vacation should be getting up. One of our crew arrived last night and had to pick up her badge and we wanted to be there right at 8 so we could get good spots for the parade at 10.  Last year we watched it on TV at the hotel mostly cause Saturday’s at Dragon Con are just …. Well ….. stupid. All the locals turn up on Saturday for the parade and have day passes which creates this gridlock of people throughout the area. With SEC football playing this weekend, the Falcons playing this weekend (well yesterday) and many other things happening in the Atlanta this holiday weekend Saturday becomes a cluster of people and not all are nice. We were talking earlier today about how the last 3 years everyone has been really nice and really inclusive and this year there is this underlying layer of …. I don’t know how to describe it …. Like you know one wrong move and it  could all just pop off with very little warning. We have since decided that this is due to the number of people here for the first time with a feel of entitlement that they have not earned yet. This is the biggest crowd ever for Dragon Con and it’s been very clear that Dragon Con, and the host hotels in general, haven’t been prepared for it. I mean some of these hotels have been beyond trashed and I've felt really bad about it.

Photos from today’s parade can be found on Golden’s twitter account, some of my favorite pictures from today can be found below.

  

 

  

This is the BEST parade hype man in the world. He'd find random kids in similar costumes, and bring them together, below is his "Footlong hotdog" :D he really made the waiting on the parade to get to us time go by fast. He was having as much fun as we were. At one point he pulled a tiny Storm Trooper out into the street to help him hype up the crowd. The kid had so much fun it was awesome to watch. Volunteers for Dragon Con are just the best. 

   

 After the parade, we went through the vendor hall which is several floors of all the things to buy, look at, and see. Stan Lee was signing merchandise today at the Vendor Hall which made the people like 15 deep instead of the usual 10 deep. Dragon Con PSA #1 --- I get that we all cosplay and love dressing up in awesome things we have created but can we all agree that there is no place for that shit in the Vendor Hall. I mean if you have on fairy wings that took you 6 months to create and go into the Vendor hall and they get messed up that’s on you. Don’t bitch people out cause they brushed up against your stuff in the 2-way-2foot hallways of the Vendor hall.

Anyway … using the technique taught to me recently by the boss man has made my panic attacks this year very minimal. I’ve nearly had a few but was able to beat them back down and focus on my breathing and made the panic attack not seem so bad. I already texted him thanks for that. While in the Vendor hall our crew of three often became a crew of two as one of us would wander off while someone stopped to look around. At one point I just left the vendor hall and texted my crew saying I was at the elevators, take your time, as I sat in my awesome chair.

After the vendor hall is when the missed connections came full circle. We waited on a Shuttle Bus for nearly an hour before saying screw it and called Uber. Uber has been our savior this trip which has been great but also sad. The last few years the Dragon Con Shuttle was one of the best parts of the Con, those drivers were awesome. This year we can't even get the drivers to stop let alone have a conversation. It's been real disappointing. We know the Green Line exists cause we caught it on Friday but haven't seen it since. Like it's some Yetti in Sasquatch territory. Like we know it exists but no one believes us because we have no documentation of it. We stood there with two ginger haired young ladies and got really angry when the Purple Line bus, which we had decided we were getting on cause Green Line had said screw it and gone to get a samache, drove by waving at us like we were just saying hi, when in all actuality we were saying, “Hey jerkoff stop your bus so we can get on it!” It's not like we were trying to flag them down in the middle of the street we were at the Dragon Con Shuttle Bucket but he didn't give a damn. We finally called Uber and I felt bad cause we had to leave our Ginger friends behind. I accidently clicked the small car (as I always do having a small crew) and we wouldn’t all fit. I really felt like an asshat. I can see their hotel from my hotel so we could have made it work …. But yeah they have their own cell phones and life and can make shit happen if they need too right!? I do hope they made it home and are not still down there waiting on that bus.

The temperature this year hasn’t been too bad there’s even been a few instances of “I’m cold” uttered from someone’s mouth, and it might have been me. Usually the weather is so hot here it’s suffocating. I reserve the right to bitch about the weather later if I want to but for now know it’s starting to feel like Fall.

Saturday ended with us having dinner at Hard Rock and by dinner I mean we ate food sometime after 10pm, then walking to the Marriot to watch all the pretty and hang out. We saw DJ MC Chris do his thing, an impromptu dance party, lots of naked, and even a couple who I’m pretty sure said screw it getting back to the room is too far let’s do what we have to do in the middle of a room like no one could see them. Bless them I hope they had protection. If one has a Baby at Dragon Con do they have to name it after the hotel?! We rolled back into the hotel around 3 am as Day 2 flowed into Day 3.

Happy Con

Marcy
Golden
M

Nearly time for Dragon Con !!!!

It’s officially two weeks away from Dragon Con which starts Friday Sep. 1^st and runs through Monday Sep. 4th (AKA Labor Day Weekend).

Two weeks from now I’ll be wandering around downtown Atlanta looking for a place to put my awesome chair that Golden got me for Christmas/Birthday and people watch that is in the shade or better yet downwind from a very powerful air conditioner after watching the DragonCon parade lead Stan Lee, the 2017 Grand Marshall, through the hot and humid streets of well…downtown Atlanta.

Those of you not new to this Blog know of Golden and I traveling to Atlanta for the last few years to people watch, cosplay, and see all the pretty things and people that Dragon Con has to offer. Actually Dragon Con was the first thing featured after we started this blog so long ago. This is year 4 for us, tho I honestly don’t remember when we were not going. Golden is better at Cosplay than me, I like to blend into the wall and look at all the pretty. I can’t imagine people wanting to take my picture and also the aforementioned humid/hot weather makes a costume feel … well …… like a lot of freaking effort. See we are never lucky enough to be in a host hotel, no matter how hard we try, which means we either rely on Uber or the Dragon Con Shuttle buses and costumes just aren’t practical. That’s not to say Golden hasn’t made a good show of it over the years, but yeah I’ll just wear my jeans and nerdy shirts instead.

  

This year the forecast is showing 40% chance of rain but here in the south that could mean that it’s raining at the front of the hotel but not the back, or that it will not rain at all … really it’s a guessing game so put your jacket in your backpack and be prepared for anything. That’s the best advice I have for DragonCon. The first year we went, Golden had a plan, and written out schedules of things to do and we quickly became overwhelmed and did very little on the list. Do all the things, quickly changed to … well we can do that next year I guess. If you come with a plan it will quickly be destroyed, have a vague idea of what you’d like to do but remain flexible. That’s the best way to enjoy the Con with minimal stress … well except for in the tunnels between host hotels on a Saturday. On that day take extra anxiety meds and be prepared to be claustrophic, but know it will only be temporary. That’s not to say Panic Attacks aren’t a thing, and I’ve had more than my share at Dragon Con but find a corner, find a chair, get some water, breathe it out and then … get back out there. You only live once right?

So many fun things to do …. Just a few options are listed below:

·       Dragon Con Blood Drive: I encourage all my fellow Dragon Con members to give blood this year. I myself won’t be giving after passing out last year and face planting on the sidewalk (due in part to high blood pressure which hopefully is now in check after several doctor appointments and the insane heat that is Atlanta in late Aug/Sep) resulting in new glasses, a busted and bloody face, and a massive headache that lasted for days. Golden has insisted that I not give this year, as has my boss, the rest of our Con group, and well my family. I guess I’ll listen, but only cause I know others will step up in my absence … right?! Please and thank you. Give Blood… Save a life.

·       The Dragon Con Parade is a MUST view .. it’s a great way to see all the pretty in one place. It will take place Saturday Sep. 2^nd and start rolling at 10am. So either be in place by then or just stay your respective hotel and watch on TV (that’s what our lazy bones did last year – it wasn’t too bad). I had to admit being out there with everyone watching it all walk by just gives you a feeling of community like nothing else.

The parade begins at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Linden Avenue, then heads south on Peachtree, east (left) on Andrew Young International Boulevard and north (left) on Peachtree Center Avenue. It will end on Peachtree Center Avenue between John Portman Boulevard and Baker Street, in front of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Then everyone heads to the food court, like for reals the food court becomes as crowded as the crosswalk between hotels so be prepared to stand in line. There’s a lot of line standing but it’s typically worth it.

·       Fan Tracks: Check out the Dragon Con website for a list of fan tracks because they most definitely leave no one out. There’s a track for everyone. The Britttrack is celebrating 20 years of fun which includes a ton of “British” themed panels (Dr. Who, Sherlock, Harry Potter, music etc.,) each year we have attended the Yule Ball, which is always a good time. The first year of DragonCon we stumbled upon a Dr. Who panel discussion which was really interesting. Their schedule is tentatively posted here, cause everything is subject to change even as you start the last day of the Con. Another panel about cussing the British way is happening this year. It always makes for a fun time.  

·       The Hall of Fame is a great place to people watch. It’s located in the Marriott hotel in a bank of ballrooms and is the place for meet and greets (tho note that often they will have you line up else where and then march through the con with a guide to get your meet and greet on). That keeps the lines from blocking walkways and makes for interesting conversation as you wait in line. Ask Golden about the overzealous Pop Art guy we met while waiting to meet Felicia Day. The end result was that I’m not allowed to talk to people anymore. Ha! The times for the Hall of Fame are crazy weird …. And by that I mean the first year we went to Dragon Con it always seemed to be closed. Typically it’s open from about 10am – 5pm, sometimes later, sometimes earlier. It’s posted people look it up it’s definitely a must walk through area. Plus air condition. I tell you that air condition and chairs will become your new best friend at the Con. Trust me on that. For the entire list of featured guest click here.

People that I’m interested in seeing this year include (in no real order) Melanie Scrofano, Zachary Levi, Nathan Fillion, John Barrowman, Julie Benz, Jewel Staite, Matt Smith, Frank Conniff, William Shatner, Bill Corbett, Alton Brown, Don Rosa, Sean Gunn, Wallace Shawn, Tad Stones, John Cusack, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Nick Blood, Elizabeth Henstridge, Casper Van Dien. That’s just to name a few and Dragon Con is still announcing guests. My favorite part of the walk of fame is how artist, actors, actresses, writers, gamers, Puppetters just hanging out and they are all in one room just being awesome!!! I really love when voice actors are sitting there and bust into the characters on the poster behind them and I’m instantly 9 years old again in front of my TV reliving my childhood. It’s a fun feeling one I can’t wait to feel again. Also if any of the above have Social Media -- let's be real they all do -- follow them cause it's fun to see the Con through their eyes.

·       Good Eats Panel - This year … for some reason … Alton Brown is coming, which is totally cool and I’m thrilled about it but confused as well. I mean ok … he is a culinary geek and so he’ll fit in, plus he used to (may still) live in Atlanta so it makes sense but yeah weird too (which might be the very definition of Dragon Con now that I think about it). He’s doing a Panel in the Marriott Atrium Ballroom on Sunday at 4 (which means Golden and I might have to split off as she heads to the Wynonna Earp panel also happening Sunday afternoon). Alton is getting ready to do a Good Eats Reboot which makes this culinary fan so excited. I do hope he gets “W” to join him but Itchy or Twitchy, or his “neighbor chuck” would be fun too. Wonder what Elton is up too … and of course his mom (ABs sister whose name escapes me at the moment .. MARSHA! … so many possibilities I just hope the more recent version of Mr. Brown (Angry Alton from Cutthroat Kitchen) stays away tho BA might be fun.  

·       The Dragon Con Comics and Pop Art Alley is always fun and located near the Vendor Hall. Among the Con goers there are artist of plenty that show up to display their illustrations, sculptures, paintings and it’s fun to see these artist and their points of view on the world around us. Look for it it’s worth the effort to find.

·       If all that were not enough there’s a freaking arcade guys ….. like old school arcade games we all grew up with wishing we had one more quarter, as well as board games and other gaming rooms to enjoy!!!!

I haven’t started packing yet, well mentally I’m making the list of the things I’ll need, chargers for all the electronic things, hotel reservation printouts, my Dragon Con post card, a jacket, a hat, the lap top, headphones, MP3 player (for night time when I NEED sleep but can’t shut off the Con goers in the hallways) bathroom stuff, geek t-shirts, my Dragon Con post card, my camera, cards for the camera, flash drives, my dragon con post card, power strips for the hotel, comfortable shoes, money, and of course my Dragon Con post card, but haven't put a single thing in a bag yet. Seriously don’t forget the post card, I can’t STRESS that enough.

I should start napping now to prepare my body for the Con, tho every year long about Sunday the Dragon Con Coma hits me and hits me hard, it never fails. I am ok with that as long as the Con Crud stays well away from my crew this year, but it never does. Ha!

How about a Dragon Con roll call ... if you will be in Atlanta hit us up so if we should see you we can give you a high five. I might even let you borrow my chair ... insert your laugh here ... get your own chair!

Stay safe out there and let’s have fun and not add to the death toll tally that GDOT seems to think needs to be across the interstate - no that's not stressful at all GDOT ... really it's not ... totes is. 

Marcy @beaslma

Golden @theonlygolden

#SayWhatMG

Crimmus gave me a panic attack!!!!!

So … I had a slight panic attack today. Not one of those where you have to put your head between your knees, or that someone calls an ambulance for you but one of those where it all hits you at once and you realize there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it but your blood pressure builds and your heart starts beating super fast. What caused this panic attack you may be asking yourself dear reader it was a coworker announcing to the room that Christmas is 2 weeks away. Literally. Two weeks from today we’ll all be sitting around with new stuff and full of holiday “spirits” of various kinds and … um…. I’M NOT ANYWHERE NEAR FINISHED WITH MY SHOPPING LIST!!!!! Hell this year I didn't even have time to make a freaking list!

Golden isn’t a concern, I won’t even see her it appears until sometime in May if not later which makes for a Sad Marcy! I’ve picked up a few things (one I’m thinking about sending to her early but don’t tell her !) but I have time for her. My oldest nephew wants Money … which I understand where he’s coming from he says he’ll just go “buy what he wants.” He’s a picky teenager who likes name brand items. I refuse to pay more for a pair of headphones based on the name that I do for my car once a month. That’s just beyond insane. My youngest nephew hasn’t been any easier, and I’m with these kids all the time. What do you do when you aren’t around them for months or years at a time? Like his other aunts … what the hell are they getting them? My mom for once was the easiest on my list. I haven’t taken care of dad yet but he’s a few gift cards away from being done.

My oldest nephew seems to be at that point where he’s finally getting that things are expensive and feels “bad” asking for things. I keep telling him that Christmas is that time of the year where you ask for the things you WANT not the things you necessarily need. Plus they are forgetting that fact that just cause they ask for it does not mean that they will get it. That's a concept they still are trying to grasp. :D

See the thing is … and this isn’t really a problem… but everyone in my world is at the point in their lives when if they want something they just … go get it. It’s a good problem to have really but yeah frustrating as hell as well. There’s also that annoying moment where someone says “hey what do you want for Christmas” and your brain fails you and worlds do as well. You could have seen something two seconds before that you were like I’d love that and someone says that question to you and it’s gone forever.

So why the stress you may ask other than of course the 2 week deadline. Friday we are having our department lunch for Christmas, then our firm Christmas party  Friday night. So I can’t go then. On Saturday we are going to have Christmas with my dad’s family, so no shopping there; then Sunday unless I bail on church there will be very little chance for shopping then as well. Then all next week I have work, which is shaping up to cause another panic attack before the end of the year, but that’s another post. Basically I'm screwed. I'm going to be that asshat at the gas station going heck yeah people need this plastic snow globe with BP in it. I could say I should have started earlier and while that’s true I just can’t Christmas shop before Halloween and then I think Christmas is super far away and don’t really do it. Then thanksgiving comes and goes and it’s like O.M.G. Christmas is almost here.

Like I don’t own a calendar … ok my calendar is still on September so that’s not quite as helpful as you’d think it would be. I don’t know why I do this every year but this year has been truly brutal. I HATE shopping … but more than that I HATE wrapping up the crap I’ve shopped for. I always end up using like 4 times the amount of paper that I need. It ends up looking like a crazy mess and my mom gets upset cause I don’t use bows. I think they are a waste of time but she insists so I put one on her packages.

So I guess the point of this is that I need the universe to slow it’s roll, I need it to crawl off of Golden’s back and I need to get a time machine and use it to go back in time and kick past me in the ass for putting me in this predicament …. But then again that’s future Marcy’s problem …. So I’m going to go grab a bag of chips and chill before I have to get up and do it all again tomorrow.

-marcy

 

PS if this post seems a little manic it's pretty much in line with how I'm feeling at the moment so just run with it okay! I don't need the added stress of knowing that I stressed you out. Everything is spinning super fast and just needs to slow the fuck down!