Ruth spent part of the week in Dallas with her Business Scholars group. They took tours of a few companies including Pizza Hut headquarters.  Ruth had some exciting and educational experiences and made a lot of new friends. 

Since the weather has been so nice and things are slow mid-month, Chuck took a day off work this

week to take a 150-mile motorcycle trip down south to see the new fall colors and enjoy the open road.  I haven't been able to ride with him because of my bad back.  I got my MRI done this week and am waiting for the results.  

This weekend we celebrated the end of summer by spending a day at our local fun center.  Jared liked the go-carts and Ruth liked the 3d ride. We pooled our tickets from the arcade and got a Magic 8 Ball.  

My cosplay adventures didn't end with FanX last weekend. I had two HEROIC events this week, one for a PTA fundraiser and then on Saturday we marched in the Brazilian Festival Parade (pictured).

I also got to the Orthopedic doctor this week, who after taking xrays, thinks I have a herniated disk in my neck.  I'm now waiting to get in for an MRI to confirm that.

Fan X 2018

All year I've been volunteering with the FanX Street Team, and I've also done a few cosplay events for them, and I was asked to speak on a panel.  They pay me for each event with one ticket to comic-con so by the time we got to FanX this year I had seven 3-day passes, enough for the whole family to go.  Horray!!!

On Thursday I spent half of the day working at the HEROIC booth.  We were taking pictures with kids and taking donations for a women and children's shelter. 

Later on Thursday Ruth joined me and we went to some panels. Ruth was dressed as Tracer from Overwatch. I road Trax home dressed as Batgirl and only got a few strange looks. 

Friday will be one of those days that will be remembered as one of my best days.  Kate and Ben came down and we spent the day at con dressed as Star Wars characters. 

On Friday afternoon I was an official panelist where I talked about the technology I used in some of my cosplay pieces.  We had over 100 people attend - I was blown away. 

We sat in on some celebrity panels that day, including David Tennant of Doctor Who fame and some dude that was on The Office.

We were stopped often for pictures, and we had a blast visiting the Star Wars costuming club booths and taking advantage of their photo opportunities.  

Some of the Star Wars club people were really excited to see our cosplays and asked to take pictures with US!

Kate's magic moment happened when we approached the Droid Builder's booth and an R2D2 came speeding towards her, whistling and shaking with excitement.  

Ben we pretty excited to have a blaster battle with Boba Fett.

Quaid joined us on Saturday and was a good sport dressing up.

Kate and Ben made their own cosplay by hand sewing, buying stuff at thrift stores and generally being really resourceful and clever. Ben was the only Hercules we saw during all 3 days of con. 

Chuck doesn't mind getting dressed up if everyone else is. He looked handsome in his steam-punk tails. 

I wore my Hawkgirl all day on Saturday.  The wings are amazingly light and comfortable. Even with my bad back they were not a problem. 

Jared also came with us on Saturday. He doesn't like to dress up, and he doesn't like to get his picture taken, but he did consent to this picture so I could prove to the world that he was with us.  Thank Jared!

We spent Saturday walking the vendor floor and going to a few more panels.  I stood in line and asked Caity Lotz a question about her charity, which was super fun for me. Our official photos from Saturday haven't been released yet.  I'll post them next time.

Happy Birthday, Chuck!

We celebrated Chuck's birthday this week by going out to dinner, walking around the Halloween store trying out all the displays, playing Overwatch, and eating peach crisp.  In addition to a few gifts, Chuck also bought us a new/used motorcycle trailer (we had sold the first one we bought). 

So it looks like I'm going back to the orthopedic surgeon.  Chuck calls it my "year of pain".  I woke up with intense pinching pain in my upper spine three weeks ago that is not relieved no matter what I do.  A visit to the chiropractor was not helpful.  Last week I went to my family doctor who put me on steroids for a week.  That did nothing, so he is sure that it is something skeletal. He wonders if it is related somehow to my frozen shoulder (on the opposite side).  So on Tuesday, I'll be making an appointment with orthopedics to get some scans done.  At least I've paid off my deductible already.