Guys, do you realize we are almost half-way through the year? July 2nd is the 182nd day of 2014. I thought it would be a good time to check in and see where I am.
You may recall an ealier post this year about my goals for 2014. My motto this year is “Living Intentionally”. I’m awfully afraid I’ve not lived up to what I set before myself, so let’s take a pulse, shall we?
Here’s a refresher and update on my goals.
Live Intentionally – 2014 Goals:
1. Donate 150 of my personal hours through volunteerism.
2. Go on a mission trip. (I’m using the term “mission” here to mean volunteerism.)
3. Donate resources to:
a children’s hospital
a wounded veteran’s organization
a missions organization
Heifer.org
4. Take my child to the beach.
5. Continue to live a healthy lifestyle
So where am I?
1. I think I’ve logged around 5 hours. I’m failing miserably at this one. I joined a volunteer meetup group, which is great, but I’ve not volunteered for anything. I only realized this weekend that a lot of the time I will not sign up because it’s not convenient for me. I’m going to work to change that attitude and get busy giving away my time.
2. Yeah, uhm. I inquired about a trip to Honduras, but I was too late to get a spot as the payment deadline had passed some weeks before. In the end, that turned out to be a good thing for me because several weeks after that inquiry I lost my job and would not have been able to afford to pay for the remainder of the trip. I’m still looking for a trip however; the job situation has resolved itself, thankfully, and I’m still intending on going somewhere. My biggest challenge here will be financial.
3. Accomplished!
4. Scheduled and being looked forward to by both of us! Bring on vacation!
5. This one’s tricky. I’ve not been actively working on my health, but I have been maintaining. I am still drinking loads of water, but my diet is in need of improvement. I haven’t been cooking at home as much and I’ve been relying on convenience foods. So while my weight and vitals are good, I still have improvements to make in this area.
So there you have it – I think I’m at about 50% in terms of my goals. #2 is the one I’m most concerned will not be met. I’ll keep trying though – every day is a chance for improvement!
It took me longer to get my legs back under me than I expected, but as promised here is the conclusion to my epic Supernatural weekend. (Let’s just say I will DEFINITELY go to another convention sometime soon!)
Here’s my photo with Kim Rhodes, who is just awesome. Seriously, what a funny and sweet lady she is. I just love her!
I left my last post just as we finished up the first part of the costume contest. For the Castiel part, of course Misha came out to judge and he asked each person to identify which Cas they were dressed as. One person said he was “Destiel Cas” and Misha claimed to not know what that was, so he recruited a fem!Dean from the audience to join Destiel Cas on stage to show him what that meant. The two kissed (consensual!) and the crowd went wild!
Then we settled down for Misha’s panel. I was in line to ask him a question so I can’t say that I remember a lot about what was asked or the answers he gave. I was behind the person who asked him to look into the audience and say “We’ve got a gif for that”, which of course, it now breaking the Internets as we speak!
I debated on whether or not to talk about my question in great detail on my blog, but after finding a video of it, I am incredibly proud of my courage to ask and delighted with the answer that Misha gave. Many people came up to me afterwards and gave positive feedback; I even heard that some people discussed it on tumblr and were emotionally moved by it. I’m glad. The naysayers that shared their negativity and wank can cram it. I’m old enough to not have to give a fu…
Here’s what I asked:
“We’re around the same age and we have kids around the same age. I’m a single mom though. Do you have any parenting advice or wisdom you could share from a dad’s perspective on raising kids?”
Misha was floored that we are the same age (actually Baby Misha, I’m just a little older than you!) and he tipped his hat to how hard it is to be a single mom. I was not expecting either of those reactions! We bantered for a bit and he teased me about coming to a Supernatural convention and neglecting my child.
But his answer was really great. He spoke of an older man in his neighborhood who took him and his brother under his wing and provided guidance and wisdom to them and his advice was to find people like that to surround my child. I’m lucky that I have a solid and wonderful base of people who do exactly that (shout out to the ones who read this blog – you know who you are!).
My question starts at 15:52 and runs about 4 minutes. I got 4 minutes of talking time with Misha Collins! Whoop!
I didn’t get to stay long enough to pick up my Misha photo so I’ll have to share that in a few weeks when I receive it.
Next up were autographs with Matt Cohen, who is just the cutest little thing, and Sebastian Roche, and Misha. The convention organizers wouldn’t let any of the stars do personalized autographs, but at least we got to speak with them a bit and make eye contact and it wasn’t as rushed through as the photos.
By this time I was on a pure adrenaline rush, so when it was time for the cabaret, I think I lost my shiznit! It was fun. Each star came out and sang but Gil McKinney stole the show.
Oh, did I tell you I inadvertently made a pass at Gil? If not, I did. I rode down in the elevator with him that morning and I asked him how his first time at convention was going. He said it had been good so I said “So what you’re saying is that we were gentle with you.” Then I immediately realized what I said and follow up with, “Well, that didn’t come out right, did it?” He just chuckled and said that he wasn’t awake enough for it to register so it was okay!
Gil was a music major in college (me too Gil!) and he serenaded us with John Legend’s “All of Me”. (YouTube the video.) It was beautiful. Gil is beautiful and so sweet! And kinda shy!
After the Cabaret was the After Party. I was dancing but not on the dance floor and I was doing something with my hips when I bumped into someone. I had hardly turned around before I was enveloped in a strong set of arms…which happened to belong to Matt Cohen! He told me I needed to take that shaking booty onto the dance floor!
I’m not even sure how I managed to get any sleep that night.
Jared & Jensen
Because I purchased Gold tickets, I got to have two panels with Jared and Jensen. They come across as so down to earth. Jared is the outgoing one and I appreciated that he really tried to answer everyone’s questions thoughtfully, unlike Sebastian who didn’t answer any! Jensen seems so shy but you can tell that Jared really brings out his sense of humor and they play off of each other. I can’t really remember specific things they said other than Jensen saying that Dean was so far gone there was really nothing that could be said to turn the boat around.
Here’s my photos with Jared and Jensen.
The one with Jensen just makes my heart so happy. It’s like his prettiness just rubs off on you and you can’t help but look pretty if he’s around!
Being hugged by Jared is like being wrapped in a big fuzzy blanket! Honestly his whole hand could cover my face. He’s so personable though, you just forget that he’s a celebrity and get lost in his hug!
We had another panel with Jared & Jensen and then with Misha & Mark. I was truly impressed by Mark Sheppard. He is like sci-fi royalty to me – he’s been in everything! I’ve seen interviews with him where I thought he came off very stand offish but in his panel he was very open and friendly. When I went to take my picture with him, I (inadvertently) “Hello, sweetie!”, which I honestly didn’t mean to do but he was so sweet I couldn’t help myself. He gave me a big hug in the photo – I’m eager to get it to see how it turned out!
In Misha’s photo, I stepped up and said hi and then asked him to dance with me! So we did a tango move! I’ll post when I get it.
One other thing that really stuck out – when I got Jensen’s autograph, he made eye contact with me and it was like he looked right into my soul. That man has some very attractive eyes! I know he does that to everyone during the autograph stint, but it really does make you feel special. I thanked him for taking time away from his family to do this convention for us and he looked up at me, first with a surprised look, then he told me thank you and met my eyes. No wonder Dean has such a beautiful soul – you can see it in Jensen’s eyes!
By the time I finished all of that, an announcement was made that the Jensen and Jared photos would be ready around 8, so I grabbed a quick dinner and picked up my photos. I was so tired and still had a 2-hour ride to make so I decided to leave early and missed Rachel Miner’s panel. I heard about 5 minutes of it and she seemed so nice. I wish I could have stayed.
I also missed Mark, Rob, and Richard’s autographs by leaving early. Next time I go I will make sure to stay Sunday night too so I can go to everything on the schedule.
In Conclusion:
This was the single best weekend of my life. I made some great new friends and was continually amazed at how sweet, friendly, and kind all of the Supernatural fans were. I sincerely appreciate how respectful they are of the stars. It’s because of that behavior that we fans get to have such up close and personal contact with them!
The stars of the show are so comfortable and down-to-earth. They are just regular people who happen to be on TV. Each one has a story and in some small way we each have a commonality with their story. I was also a music major in college, like Gil; I recently had a life-changing medical emergency, like Rob; I also have a 6 year old daughter, like Kim; I’m the same age as Misha; like Jensen, I identify strongly with Dean’s sense of loyalty to his family; Jared and I both play kinda rough with our kids. Each of us has something to share and we’re more alike than you might think.
If you are a fan of Supernatural, I strongly encourage you to save your pennies and go to one of these conventions. You will not regret a single minute of it. If you’re not a fan of SPN but of something else, find one for your interest and go. Hands down, one of the best experiences you could ever have!
I haven’t forgotten you my lovelies! I only got home late yesterday and the last day and half of convention was mad! I promise to finish the story later this evening, once I’ve gotten my feet back under me. But until then, here’s a basic summary.
First off, I am so tired that my vision is blurred and I can barely see what I’m typing. Lawd!
Yesterday started with an Osric and Gil panel. Gil is new to the con world and hasn’t worked with Osric before on set. They both thought it was an odd pairing and it kinda was. Someone in the audience told them to hug it out, so they did. Osric said, “Oh great. Another guy I have to go on my toes for.” And Gil, who has been a bit reserved about this whole con thing says in reply, “Better than your knees!”
Sebastian Roche was up next. His panels are labeled “for adults only” and now I understand why. Even before he took the stage, he was making obscene hand gestures on the projector! He answered about zero questions, although he did let three people ask questions. He just didn’t answer but instead gyrated around stage and sorta sang and rambled. He made up a song, we’ll call it, “I Know You’re Ready for My Jelly” and he asked how many people were virgins and then asked which hole. We learned that his favorite word is motherfu…and that he really can’t complete an entire sentence about something before he’s off to the next thing. It was entirely too entertaining and raunchy.
Here’s my picture with Sebastian:
I attended the live webcast of Misha’s TSA America, which was an exclusive event to raise money for Random Acts. The first short starred Daneel Ackles and was inappropriate in so many ways. The second short was by far funnier and will be the subject of may a fan manip for Destiel purposes.
During Richard, Matt, and Rob’s panel we learned Richard and Robbie Thompson (one of the writers) are very good friends. A fan asked if the little eye wiggle in Meta Fiction was a yes or no on Gabriel still being alive and Richard said that it is Robbie’s intention that the answer is yes and Gabriel is still alive.
I have mixed feelings about that. Gabriel is a great character and it would be fun to have him back but I kinda want him to stay dead. His death was meaningful and to bring him back takes the impact away of how he stood up to Lucifer. Although, if Gabe isn’t dead then maybe Balthazar isn’t either and he can come back too!
Here’s my manwich with Richard and Matt, who were super sweet and great huggers!
The costume contest was great. There were a lot of entries. Here’s the winner. I’d say this girl is on fire.
That’s all I have time for this morning. I will try to post later today about Misha’s panel and my question, along with the Cabaret party and after party.
Today is Jensen and Jared’s panel, Misha and Mark’s panel, and then photo ops with Jensen, Jared, Misha, and Mark. Another exciting day ahead!
I haven’t been out of this hotel since yesterday and I’ve lost count of the days. I woke up thinking it was Tuesday.
So let me just say up front – there will be a Part Duex to this Part Un because I am beyond freaking exhausted and I have to go to sleep and I have too much to tell!
BUT…
The absolute highlight of my day was ASKING MISHA A QUESTION in his panel!
It was an epic day.
Tomorrow I’ll try to update you on today and tomorrow and I’ll post my Kim, Seb, and Richard/Matt photos, along with their stories!
I started out by doing a bit of sight seeing. Since my hotel was literally one street away from the back of Arlington National Cemetery, I started there, followed by a hilltop view of the Pentagon, and ending with the Air Force Memorial.
Isn’t that spectacular?!
Around noon I wound my way over to the convention hotel and eagerly awaited the festivities to start.
Richard Speight opened us up, with the first guest being Osric Chau. He cosplayed Braveheart. I’d share the main stage photos but the lighting is terrible and my photos are blurry.
Osric was cool. He is such a fan girl! He has such a crush on Mark Sheppard too!
He told us about his first job working at a grocery store. He said they paid him $6 a hour and made him clean the meat room. Gross! It would take 1 1/2 hours for him to do it, until they told him he was taking too long and he needed to do it in 30 mins! He pointed out that that would mean they’d paid him $3 to clean the room where meat was processed. Ewwww gross. So he said he turned in his two week notice and then said he was taking vacation to France the next day and would be gone for two weeks! Too funny!
Here’s my pic with Osric:
I literally have no clue.
Then came Kim Rhodes. Om my gosh, I was not expecting her to be so wide open, but I love it! She is funny, witty, smart and just as bad ass as Jody Mills. She told us her “starfish story” – anytime she’s confused about she has to do, she throws her arms out to the sides, tilts her head back and yells “Find a happy place! Find a happy place!” I am so totally using that the next time I get stressed!
Kim has a 6 year special needs daughter and I have such respect for her. I’m the mom of a 6 year old girl too and I know first hand how tough that is, so I can totally relate. You can tell that Kim is so comfortable with herself – I think she is my new hero. Move aside Misha!
I didn’t make it back to the photo op room in time to pick up my photo with Kim. After hearing her speak, I just had to meet her. She was super sweet and is a big hugger and it was great!
The fabulousness continued with Gil McKinney (Henry Winchester). This was his first con and he was a bit gun shy but he got into it. The memorable moment was him telling us that at age 15 he used to take girls back to his house to watch Aladdin because he thought the girls would make out with him while watching it! Of course then he told us that it never really worked that way! He also ‘fessed up to liking The Little Mermaid!
Chad Lindberg (Ash) was last up tonight. I had no idea how into the paranormal he is. He brought all sorts of gadgets with him and showed us how they work. He had a ghost box or a spirit box. Basically a device that scans high frequency radio signals at a high speed to try to detect paranormal activity. He turned it on and started asking questions. He asked if there was a spirit here and I kid you not, SOMETHING said YES, clear as a bell. That is giving me chills just thinking about it.
He also told us about a time he was on a ghost hunt and was challenging a spirit. He asked what it was and that it replied a demon (boy that is freaky). He said three days after that he was at home and the back of his neck started hurting and burning. When he took a look at it in the mirror there were 3 scratch marks down the back of his neck! Oh my goodness!
He also said that although he’d never been to New Orleans, he wanted to go because he believed that some of the people there, when you look in their eyes, you can tell that they are not human. Now I’ve been to NO and that place is creepy I’ll give him that…but I’ll admit that it freaks me out to even for one second believe there are things other than humans roaming the Earth. Supernatural indeed!
And once again I have to give a huge shout out to the SPN fandom. I keep meeting new people and talking to some of the folks I met just yesterday…I was invited to have dinner with a new set of friends. This has to be the warmest, loveliest group of fans I’ve ever met. I am utterly amazed at the kindness and friendliness of the crowd.
The evening was supposed to end with a karaoke party (which I can still hear going on!) but I elected to skip. I have a dear friend from college that lives in Arlington that I haven’t seen in many, many years and we scheduled a dinner together this evening. It was a wonderful way to end this awesome day.
Tomorrow is jam packed with even more good things and I can’t wait to post. Misha’s panel is tomorrow and I’ve got a few more photo ops and autographs to get. There’s a party tomorrow night and an after party after that so I hope I’ll be able to sneak some time in to give you an update and photos of what’s been happening.
The day started beautifully…I hardly ever get to sleep in so what a pleasure to wake up a little later than normal and not be in a rush to go somewhere or do something this morning!
I thought about trying to get some sight seeing in today. The convention schedule is a little less hectic and other than Osric and Kim, there aren’t a lot of other things I want to do there today. I’m in Pentagon City and literally within walking distance of the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery so it seems a shame to waste the opportunity.
Imagine my surprise when I pulled back the curtains of my hotel room to let in the sun and saw this.
Wow.
I can check that off the list and I didn’t even have to leave my hotel to do it. Awesome.
I’m planning on making another post this evening, once I’m done with Osric’s panel and had gotten his and Kim Rhodes’ autographs. I hope to have some fun things to share with you!
God bless my knack for going in the wrong direction in life most of the time.
I’m in Arlington, VA for the Supernatural DC Con. From my home, it’s a little over a 4 hour drive, assuming the traffic cooperates which it never does once you reach the outskirts of Northern Virginia. I grew up here so I should know!
But I made it here in less than 4 hours yesterday! I only hit traffic once I got on 395 and even then it cleared quickly.
I totally flubbed planning for this trip. When I bought my tickets, I didn’t realize that photo ops with the stars weren’t included. Rookie mistake. And I only realized this last week! So I went online to buy the photo ops I wanted, mostly Misha, (but Jensen too!) and both were sold out. Sadness, panic, and chaos ensued. To make up for my apparent dipstickiness, I went ahead and purchased photo ops for Jared, Mark, Sebastian, Matt, Osric, and Dick. Cause you know, nothing makes you feel better after a blunder than dropping some major cash.
But alas, I couldn’t get it out of my head that I was going to miss Misha. As in, taking a picture with him was the entire reason I booked this trip to begin with!
Lucky for me, Misha’s schedule changed and the convention added more photo ops for Sunday, only you had to buy them when you got here.
And pre-registration started yesterday.
But I wasn’t scheduled to arrive until today.
Sadness, panic, and chaos ensued!
But in the end, it all worked out. Lookie see what I got!
Oh and I got one for Jensen too! Whoop!
And the best part, even better than getting the tickets I was after, was meeting so many friendly and helpful Supernatural fans. Everyone I spoke with was eager to help me – one even offered to let me crash her photo op with Misha if I couldn’t get a ticket! How friggin’ cool is that?! The Supernatural fandom is so awesome.
Look for more posts from me about the weekend! Can’t wait to share all I see and do!
I won’t give you the long, boring story of my absence. I’d actually like you to continue following and reading my blog…which, if you do, you know that I am a huge fan of Supernatural. And you might also know that for a good while this season (currently Season 9), I haven’t been exactly enthusiastic about the show. Well, trust SPN to pull up in the 9th inning and take over all the bases! The last few episodes have been really good and my love of the show sparked once again. The latest installment, 9×18, has so many parallels, subtext, underlying stories, connections, and so much foreshadowing that I’ve been drowning myself in analysis since it aired. By analysis I mean both of the show and internally of myself. Dean is my mirror.
And like Dean, I’ve known guilt, anger, shame, love, and death. And like Dean, I have used humor and denial to avoid facing the pain. But unlike Dean, when I faced Death, it inspired me to grab at life and never let go.
Two years ago, almost to the day, I woke up in the cardiovascular ICU at one of the biggest hospitals in our region. I was grey to the sight and cold to the touch. I was on so much morphine that staying awake for more than 15 minutes was a challenge. There were tubes everywhere. I had two IV lines and an oxygen cannula and a pulse monitor and a heart monitor.
But the story doesn’t actually start there.
When I was a child, my mother took me and my sister every weekend to visit my grandparents, her parents, who lived just over an hour away. You could set your watch by our Saturday trip there and back.
At 16, newly christened with a driver’s license, my mother bravely agreed to let me drive to my grandmother’s house on Saturday. As we were getting ready, I felt a stabbing pain in my stomach, but it went as quickly as it came. I thought nothing of it.
We headed out on our weekly pilgrimage with me behind the wheel.
About 20 minutes into our drive, my right side began to hurt. At first, it was just uncomfortable, kind of like a cramp in your side. I tried wiggling around in my seat to get more comfortable, which made my mother nervous, of course. The new kid driver wiggling around in her seat while driving 60 mph in a 2000 pound weapon.
The pain got worse and I told my mother, but within a few minutes it became clear to me I couldn’t continue to drive. I immediately pulled off to the side of the road and got out of the car. That’s when the nausea hit and the pain tripled. I was no longer able to stand up straight.
My mother panicked, but somehow managed to get me back into the truck and sped off. We made it to the hospital in my grandmother’s town in record time, way less than an hour.
When I woke up many hours later, my mother and the rest of my family were there with me. I had suffered a kidney stone attack but was fine.
Fast forward about 20 years. That’s when my second attack happened. Painful but manageable. I spent a few hours in the emergency room and a day at home.
The doctors told me at the time that it was very unusual to have an attack so young and even more unusual to not have another for 20 years. But they warned me that people who are susceptible to kidney stone attacks likely have another or several more within 5 years. And they warned me that any of the dozens of stones I had could get stuck and block my bladder which could lead to death. Surgery to remove them was the best option they said.
Now look, I’ve been in the hospital a grand total of twice in my life. Once to be born and another when I had pneumonia at 2. I’ve never had surgery, never broken an arm…cause other than this kidney stone thing, I’m healthy. What are the chances that I’m going to face death from a kidney stone? Really?
I remember at the time thinking to myself that the doctor was trying to use scare tactics on me. What I didn’t realize at the time was just how close she came to predicting my future.
And so it happened that two years ago, I went to the emergency room for a kidney stone. They did what they do – hooked me up to IV, gave me pain meds, and took an xray to locate it…except they couldn’t. The next few hours were a blur. What I remember is suddenly being sick to my stomach, not being able to get my breath, and fading in and out of consciousness. I vaguely remember being transported by ambulance (which I thought was the life rescue helicopter) from the localized emergency room to the actual hospital. When I woke up, my parents were there and I was being prepped for surgery.
It was two days later when I woke up that I found out what had happened to me.
A kidney stone had become lodged in my bladder and was blocking everything. The fluid I was given in the ER backed up onto my lungs, when then increased the pressure on my heart causing my heart to race and my blood pressure to sink. Because all of the fluid was backing up into my system, I developed sepsis. Sepsis can kill and kill quickly. So that, with the pressure on my heart and a deadly low BP, I was hours, or maybe an hour away from death if the doctors didn’t get the situation under control and fast.
Just the day prior to this, I had run for 30 minutes. I’d been training for a 5K and lifting weights.
The next day I was in ICU. Fighting for my life.
It can happen that fast.
I spent 5 days in ICU. I was by far the youngest person on the floor, by at least 20 years, and two people lost their lives during my stay.
I have literally faced Death and overcome.
But the difference between me and Dean Winchester is that while we’ve both faced Death, I came out determined to live my life, for me. Screw everyone else.
And let me be clear – I don’t mean that I don’t care about anyone else. I do. I love my family and my daughter and my friends more today that before this entire experience. I cherish them more than I could ever have imagined doing so before. But what I mean is they do not control or run my life. No one gets to tell me what makes me happy or what I can and can’t do. I am 100% in charge of my direction on this Earth and I’m going to steer my ship, without bowing to the call of others.
I do not live for them. I live for me.
I pray that Dean Winchester will learn how to live for himself because, and I can say this from personal experience, it is freeing and wonderful.
We are just 49 days into 2014 and it’s taken me that long to form my goals for the year. It started with a phrase: “Live Intentionally”. I quickly adopted this as my motto for 2014, a way to guide my actions to meaning in the coming year.
So what is my intention in 2014? Phrasing it that way broke down the barrier I’ve struggled with for years – answering the question “what is my purpose?” That is a difficult question to answer. It bears weight. The answer must matter. It must be grand. Bold. Beyond measure. It must be permanent and extend beyond this moment. But when I start to think about my intention specific to this year, I realized it could only be my intention for this moment in time, and then the question “what is my purpose?” became much easier to answer.
At this very moment in time, I am drawn to four different areas of concern: sick children, wounded veterans, missions (volunteer) trips, and feeding the poor in Africa.
Once I identified my concerns, it became clear what my intention needed to be: use my privilege in life to give back to those groups. Live my life with the intention of giving back. So formed my goals.
Live Intentionally – 2014 Goals:
1. Donate 150 of my personal hours through volunteerism.
2. Go on a mission trip. (I’m using the term “mission” here to mean volunteerism.)
3. Donate resources to:
a children’s hospital
a wounded veteran’s organization
a missions organization
Heifer.org
4. Take my child to the beach.
5. Continue to live a healthy lifestyle.
I’m very excited to have taken my motto for 2014, “Live Intentionally”, and formed specific goals around it, goals that I firmly believe I can and will accomplish this year.
justjezzasays 