So much to tell you! I feel like a kid on crack, I'm all hyped up and have no idea where to start all of the goodness that has happened lately.
Most of that was completely sincere, there was really only a little sarcasm involved.
So, last weekend, Jero and I went to The Emerald City Comic Con (I can hear you laughing, you know? You all just wish you were as awesome as us!) Oh, wait, I think I have to back up a little.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
So, the week before the Con, I had to get a new car. This is how that all went down. I was a hundred bucks away from paying off the VW (adios Vasil) and Jero made the suggestion that while we could still get any money for it, we should trade it in. I would normally feel really bad about the idea of trading in a car with the type of oil leak mine had without disclosing it first, but we were taking it back to the same lot who sold it to me that way to begin with. So, meh, car karma is a total bitcharoonidoonie.
How do I know it's a bitch? Well, just thinking of looking at cars made Vasil totally crap out on me. The day we were going to the lot, the check engine light came on and it began to die at every stop light. Seriously? Fate is one fickle, fickle...for my safety I think I should stop insulting the powers that be.
So, I had my eye on a Jeep. I had talked about it at work, explaining that it would be nice to try and get a car I actually wanted rather than whatever I could get into. I have missed our Jeep terribly since we got rid of it, and I thought, I only drive eight miles a day, gas mileage isn't really that big of an issue for me. Plus, having a car big enough for the puppies would be handy again.
Monday rolls around, I leave my car at home so Jero can clean it out while I am at work, and I take his Toyota to work. When I get there, I show my coworker the picture of the Jeep online. She listens to me go on and on about it, then she looks at me and winces.
Me: What? Do you know which one I'm talking about? Is there something wrong with it?
Her: I already have a deal working on it for my son.
I handled it well. I wanted to freak out. She wasn't even considering the frakking lot it was on on Friday. That rig wasn't even a blip on her radar. Now, if you know me, you know that I have a hard time with this person. She scares the crap out of me and I really avoid confrontation with her. I told her that I guess I would have to look at the others I had in mind first. She then kept telling me to just go look at it. Whoever got into it first would be the deserving person. I kept telling her that if she had a deal working on it, I was not about to take it out from under her. She then tried to quietly call the lot and put it on hold.
Things only got worse when Jero showed up that afternoon and told me that once again, my trade-in had gone belly up and I HAD to find a car that day.
I did find another Jeep. It was gorgeous. Seriously the most luxurious car I have ever been in. It was the same price as the other one, slightly older, with less miles. But it was a V-8. I may only drive eight miles a day but that means I'd kill about a gallon of gas a day just going to and from work. I am totally a girl when it comes to car shopping though. I fell in love with that sucker and I wanted it. The lot, however, wouldn't work with us. They basically wanted half down and that just was not going to happen. I stiffened my upper lip and strode out of there with my head held high.
And two tears silently rolling down my cheeks.
We drove to another location for the same dealership (the one holding the other Jeep for my coworker) and I began to realize I was not getting into an SUV. I ended up getting a great deal on a Saturn station wagon (because station wagons are cool) which is nearly TARDIS blue. And once again the car karma fairy came down and bit someone in the ass. Hard.
My coworker's son is still fixated on this Jeep. It is in terrible shape mechanically and the dealership doesn't even know what's wrong with it yet. I have not told her about the other Jeep. She was in such a hurry to screw me over that I will let her make her own bed. I feel slightly evil, and a bit bad about it, we'll see how long I hold out before I tell her to check out the other one.
Okay, onward. I was going to post a picture of the new car, but it's now dark outside. Poop.
So, last weekend Jero and I went to the Con. I had only just decided to go. The day fee wasn't cheap for us, and food in Seattle is so expensive. But, I really wanted to see my nieces and nephews and get away from Spokane and any obligations for 48 hours.
We wanted to get there in time to hear Wil Wheaton speak. However, it took us 40 minutes to go .2 miles. You did notice that decimal right? Point two miles. So, we ended up getting our badges just in time for his lecture to be full. Three thousand people heard him speak, apparently! Wowsa. I don't know how I feel about knowing that I am not the only woman my age who has been in love with this man since we first laid eyes on Gordie in Stand By Me.
Sigh.
We walked around Artist's Alley for a while. Jero had his portfolio evaluated by a man who decided to tell me to support Jero in quitting his job so he could do art full time. I smiled on the outside. I would gladly support Jero financially, without hesitation. I know how talented he is. I am the one who gets livid when he's undervalued for work he is asked to do by people. I am the one telling him that his time is NOT free, and he is one of the best artists out there, so he better start feeling like one! But, I also like to not be homeless. I make good money for Spokane. But I am still not quite at 40 hours a week. There are no extra jobs out there for me to supplement with. Jerk.
Ha! Maybe I let that guy get to me a little. I just wanted to scream at him that he already makes money with his art. Telling someone to quit their job is ridiculous in a time like this.
On the up side, he kept telling Jero how talented he is. As a matter of fact, that was the consensus with everyone who saw his portfolio. They love his lines, they think his original work is compelling and interesting. You know, all of the things I have known since I was 15. Way to finally catch up, World!
After a snack, and sighting two amazingly well done Klingon, a really bad Spike and Buffy, and about fifty Cat Women dressed in the sluttiest, worst versions of her EVER, it was time to get in line to meet Wil Wheaton.
I quickly made friends with the ladies behind us who, like me, were letting their 12 year old nerds show. I hassled a young gentleman dressed as a strikingly awesome version of the Doctor (Matt Smith) that I had seen all day into letting me take his picture.
I mean, seriously the best Doctor at the Con.
I then got to see Wil Wheaton go into the men's bathroom.
I'm just going to let you all soak in that awesome for a little while.
Oh, yeah, he was with the Weasley twins!
I just stopped typing to clap and squeal.
When he emerged from the restroom, the girls behind me and I started to cheer and applaud. What did Wil Wheaton do? He didn't keep walking thinking we were all a bunch of freaks, he turned around and TOOK A BOW!
I swear, that man is so damn cool.
We waited in line for about two hours before getting to meet him. I was actually shaking when I bought one of his books to have him sign. His wife laughed. I said something that made him laugh but I can't remember what it was because all I could think was, I just made Wil Wheaton laugh! Then the 12 year old inside of me fainted and had a wet dream.
Then Jero handed him this:
This is Sheldon as Batman, Leonard as Robin, and Wil as The Joker
My honey seriously rocks. Wil Wheaton called it awesome. Twice.
By the time we finished talking to him, I was just stupid with giddy.
We went back up to hand out more of Jero's portfolios, and that is when we had one of the best experiences of the Con. We actually stood and talked to Matthew Dow Smith for over an hour!
If you do not know who he is, I will tell you, but then you just better know his name from now on. He draws for the Doctor Who comic (he does a whole hell of a lot more than that, so just check out how hard he rocks on his website). He might just be one of the neatest fellas I have ever met.
He was so down to Earth, funny, and very modest. He considers himself not to be an artist. Ahem. He's wrong. Jero and I were talking about him the next night on our way home, and we both wish we could see the world from his unique perspective.
He gladly accepted one of Jero's portfolios (even asked him to sign it) and then gave Jero the best advice he had gotten all day. Told him to find his own niche. He loved Jero's character for a comic he's been working on called Freaks, and told him he needed to find a way to see other things from that unique point of view. He then told us that comics will not make you rich, so draw what you love and stop when you don't love it anymore.
Just so cool.
We met a lot of really awesome folks that day, and Jero got some really good feedback. He's always been great at networking, but it was fun to be along for the ride.
I have more to post about the beauty of my nieces and nephews. But I think I better wrap this one up with the abbreviated version of blowing out a tire about 70 miles from Spokane.
We limped home at 30 MPH because the new car only has a doughnut for a spare, and got home around three in the morning. My alarm went off at six. Fun times.
It was worth it to meet the people we got to meet, see my family for the first time in years, and spend some alone time with the love of my life.
It's always hard going to Seattle. I always let someone down by not being able to see them. But there are only so many hours in the day, and Jero and I spend so many of ours here, sharing a space with my mom, that I don't think I would have changed a thing about how the weekend turned out. The day at Con was just for us. To geek out together and pimp him out to some awesome guys (that came out more wrong than it sounded in my head) was what we needed. I think I will end this with a picture of the coolest costume there.
Listen up, slutty nerd ladies, this is how you dress for Con. It's not about being one of a hundred Poison Ivy "look-a-likes" with your bums hanging out of fishnet stockings. Though kudos to the one gal in the awesome Harley Quinn get up. She was hot. She was also clothed. But this gal:
That's right, she's a Weeping Angel. Don't blink.
knows how to do the Con right. Please ignore the white thing on my nose, if you get closer it is just sunshine. Which once I saw her, I was walking on. Jero insisted on putting me in the picture. Ugh. But holy hell, she was so cool!
Hug those babies, feed those artists, and whatever you do, DON'T BLINK.
By the way, don't tell Jero this, but I fell asleep during our leisurely ride home, and may have had a tiny dream about Wil Wheaton being my boyfriend. We were on a date and eating blueberry pie.
