Monday, April 21, 2014

Easter Weekend Fun!

I hope you all had a great Easter! He is risen!
 
I'll just jump right on in.
 
We started our Easter weekend with a delayed Passover Seder with Husband-Man's family (he was raised Jewish. Did you guys know that? Have I told you that?).
 
Michael helped lead the seder with his PawPaw and Husband-Man. He is such a cool kid. Nerdy, goofy and adorable. Utterly likeable. And he loves his PawPaw.

Pops and M. Seder buddies!

On Saturday morning our Lodge (Elks #8) had an Easter Egg Hunt for kids and they asked Husband-Man to be the Easter Bunny for the second year in a row. Michael was on hand to help manage the kids and when it was discovered that he had a Spider-Man hoodie he was pressed into service as Spider-Man.
Spidey was unable to convince G that the Easter Bunny wasn't going to eat him. At least the first time.

 

It took some time and patience to get G to be willing to sit on the EB's lap. But finally after he "bribed" the EB with some candy (I'm not sure what he was thinking...maybe that if the EB ate the candy he wouldn't eat G...I don't know. He's 2 and a half. Who knows what goes on in that mind of his.) he finally acquiesced to sit on his lap. But he was in no way happy about it. Check out that face. It's my favorite.
 
We woke up on Easter morning and had a great time looking through the baskets left by the EB. Michael got some new Spidey comics and a cool Spidey keychain and an Adidas SackPack that he's beeing wanting for a while, along with candy and a chocolate bunny.
 
G chewing on a worm from his basket.

Bunny wabbit.
 
G got a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse camera (It doesn't take real pics) and a fishing game. Along with a Mickey plush dressed as the Easter Bunny. Sooo cute. Plus of course the candy and such. Not too much though. I'm trying to reduce the amounts of unhealthy foods we are eating.
 
I didn't get pics of their baskets either because I was too busy having fun playing the fishing game with G. Trying to take a stance of less is more. If I spend all my time taking the pics then I won't really have the memories of playing with him will I. I'm picking and choosing.
I chose to play yesterday.

After our traditional egg hunt in the yards (M had 8 camo eggs he had to find and G had fun colored ones and I do have video for that...I just have to figure out how to get it from FB to YouTube.) we went to the Zoo, for the fifty thousandth time. What can I say. We love The Louisville Zoo.

G rode the train for the first time after asking to the last few times we've been there. He sat really still and seemed nervous through the whole ride. We sang the Dinosaur Train song for him and Dinosaurs A-Z and announce the "time tunnels" and everything. He was still uneasy about it.
 
I didn't bother trying to get pics because I was more worried about keeping him feeling safe and secure. I have no idea why he was so nervous but I think we'll hold off on doing that again for a while. Poor sweetie.  
 
But I got some sweet shots of him on the slide at one of the playgrounds.
 
This is my favorite. He was squealing WEEEE! The whole time.
G loves Kipper as well and uses a lot of Kipper's words. "Ready. Steady. Go." and "Wee hee" and "Way Hey". Kipper is such a sweet show. If you aren't familiar with him...check him out.

Michael met up with his prom date again while she was dining on salad. Apparently their date is still on. We'll see if that lasts.
 
Last year they met for the first time.

This year they renewed their acquaintance. It's love.
We ended the day with me having a huge headache (I think it's allergy related because it's still here this morning.)
 
I spent the evening cuddled up in bed with G and watching Pride & Prejudice and Emma while he looked at picture books and flopped around, willy nilly. It satisfied my need for intelligent and sweet and his need for snuggles.
 
I hope your Easter was wonderful. We didn't go to church, we never do, but we celebrated in our special way and acknowledged the sacrifices made and the joy of the resurrection.
 
 I hope you have a blessed week!
 
As always; Don't forget to be social. You can find me on Facebook here and follow me on Twitter @InANutShelley. You can also find me on Instagram as InANutShelley. Can't wait to hear from you.
 
Smooches!
Shelley 

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Fandoms...Got one?

So..I'm a nerd. My name is Shelley and I am a fan.

Last year around the end of May, Husband-Man was out of town for business and M and I were looking for a series to watch on Netflix to keep us entertained.

We landed on Doctor Who. Our lives changed.

No kidding, we watched 7 seasons of this show (each season is anywhere from 12-15 episodes) in less than three weeks. Husband-Man would call and we would be impatient with him because it meant we had to stop watching. We were junkies. I'm only a little ashamed to admit this.

For those of you who haven't watched it I'll try to explain it a bit.

The Doctor is the main character. He is an alien from a planet named Gallifrey. He looks like a human but isn't. He has two hearts instead of one and is very old. The Doctor, when mortally injured, can regenerate and change his body and appearance.

This is why you will often hear people refer to Number 9 or 10 as their favorite Doctor. At the time of this writing there have been eleven Doctors (with eleven different actors portraying him since the early 1960s) and we were just introduced to the twelfth in an episode that aired on Christmas Day. We've only seen number twelve for total of maybe 5 minutes, probably less, so we have no idea what he is going to be like and personally, I AM EXCITED to find out.

The Doctor travels in a spaceship called The TARDIS.

TARDIS = Time And Relative Dimension In Space.

The TARDIS has been The Doctor's constant companion through the 50 years the show has been on. The TARDIS is sentient but has no way of communicating with him other than to take him to the places she decides he needs to go. The TARDIS looks like a Police Public Call Box and is blue. You've likely seen pictures of it.

The Doctor also travels with companions. He meets people in his travels and decides to take them with him on adventures. He's had many companions in the run of the show and people have favorite companions the same way they have favorite Doctors. Each new companion teaches The Doctor something even as he is doing the same for them. The companion in the show functions as an audience surrogate. We, the audience, are in the role of companion on The Doctors travels.

I can tell you that M and I have watched the series from The Ninth Doctor through the Eleventh and that we each have our favorite. I love Number Nine. M loves Number Ten. My favorite companion is a tie between Donna Noble and Rose Tyler. I identify with both of them. I see myself in them.

So...go watch Doctor Who and I'm happy to engage in a discussion with you about the nuances and theories. I love doing that.

Moving on...

I'm also addicted to a few other shows, books and things that are considered nerd-ish.

Game Of Thrones anyone? Tyrion, Khaleesi, Jamie and Brienne are my favorites. I can do without Jon Snow (at least for now) and his brooding. I don't find that interesting. But boy is this new season getting good. Eh? (looking for some discussion here as well...bring it on.)

Harry Potter...I met Harry when I was in my early twenties and I was forced to read him by my MIL. She liked him and thought I would as well so she gave me her books and waited. I read them all and then waited two weeks for the fifth book to come out, curled up in a corner in the fetal position. Worst wait of my life. I've since gotten better at dealing with the wait between books and seasons of the series I love. I blame J. K. Rowling for this.

Harry meant a lot to me and was technically my first fandom. I escaped to Hogwarts with him every time I read his stories. His journey from abuse resonated with me. His family hated him because they didn't and wouldn't try to understand him. Been there. Sadly I have no magical powers. But Harry made me feel like I did. Every time we kicked Voldythingy's butt it was a kick in the butt to anyone who ever doubted me. Powerful stuff there.

Harry was my number one love. Harry is my homeboy. Harry, Ron and Hermione kept me company and fed my imagination in ways that only opened me to more and more and more.

It blows my mind that there are people in the world who see only darkness and the devil in Harry's story and to those people I can only suggest reading the story. Understand the real depth of the Christianity that runs through it. Harry was always a path to God for me. The core of Harry's story is that love is the greatest power in the universe. I'm pretty sure that was Christ's message as well.

*Climbs down from high horse*

Husband-Man and I were chatting about this the other day and he thinks my passion for my fandoms is hilarious. I cosplay. I throw premier and season finale parties for Doctor Who. I debate theories on what is going to happen, what could happen, what I want to see happen. I find joy in other people who think the same way. They are my people. We are one.

(Shout out to my FB groups Fifty Shades of Geek and The Doctor and The TARDIS - Group)

The best thing about fandoms is that they accept anyone. Anyone at all can love The Doctor or harry or Game of Thrones. Anyone can find meaning, anyone can relate, anyone can fantasize. Fandoms don't discriminate. Your crazy is our crazy. Your love is our love. As long as you keep it civil and play well with others you are welcome. Joffreys, Daleks and Voldythingys, need not apply.

Do you have a fandom?

The Walking Dead?

Doctor Who?

Twilight?

Harry Potter?

Game Of Thrones?

Where do you dream of going? Who do you walk with? Who have you learned from?

Share in the comments. Let's discuss.

Don't forget to be social. You can find me on Facebook here and follow me on Twitter @InANutShelley. You can also find me on Instagram as InANutShelley. Can't wait to hear from you.

Smooches,
Shelley