YOU GUYS

YOU GUYS

I MET THE BLOGGESS LAST NIGHT

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, it was an amazing experience. Truly a once in a lifetime event. She stopped at a book store in Corte Madera as part of her book tour. She is one of the very few people I would drive all the way to Corte Madera for. During rush hour traffic over the Golden Gate Bridge, no less. It was so worth it!

Anyway, I met up with two of my ren faire friends, Kris and Claudia. It was great to have two fellow Bloggess fangirls with me, especially since we had to wait in line for a while before we could get our books signed. The event started off with a reading of a chapter from her book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened. Judging by just that chapter alone, I can imagine that I will be laughing my ass off once I get around to reading the entire thing. After that she took a few questions from the audience, which was fun. She's so honest and hilarious. I love how much she chooses to share with everyone. You could really feel a sense of camaraderie in the room.

Oh! And she brought Copernicus the Homicidal Monkey and Juanita Weasel with her! She claimed they were there for moral support. X^D

Alex and I saw The Cabin in the Woods on Saturday and HOLY SHIT I AM IN LOVE. SERIOUSLY, YOU GUYS, I HAVE SO MANY FEEEELINGS. I've been eagerly awaiting the release of this film since I first heard it was in development. Joss and Drew did definitely not disappoint! It was everything I was hoping it would be and so much more. It had the perfect blend of horror and humor that I've come to expect from Joss, and I loved every minute of it. I especially loved the big reveal and the twist at the end. If you're a fan of horror films, dark comedies, or anything in between, I definitely recommend this film to you! Check it out! :D

Yesterday I went to Bay Area Belly, which is a local belly dance festival and bazar. It was my first time checking it out and I really liked it. My teacher was dancing there and it was fun to watch her perform, I think I'm going to try and claim a spot to dance there next year. There's this one awesome booth that I always see at these belly dance festivals called Shiny Sparkly Things. They have gorgeous dance jewelry, but the pieces that stood out to me this time around were these beautiful vintage belly dance necklaces. I'm currently torn between these two. What do you guys think? 

1. Leave a comment to this post, specifically saying that you would like a letter.
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Post the names of five fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and your thoughts on each. The characters can be from books, movies, or TV shows.

isis2015 gave me the letter A:

1. Ares, Xena Warrior Princess - Oh, Ares, you sexy thing you. I specifically remember him being one of my first fandom crushes. I couldn't help myself. He was all tall, dark and handsome (and dressed from head to toe in leather). I loved how much his character developed over the course of six seasons. He might have been the fearsome God of War, but he really did have a soft spot, especially when it came to his feelings for Xena. I don't have an issue with the Xena/Gabrielle ship, but my OTP will always be Xena/Ares. 

2. Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel - He was definitely another one of my first fandom crushes. Another case of tall, dark and handsome that hit me hard. I love the idea of his character in general, a vampire cursed with a conscious. It definitely made for many interesting hours of television. One of my favorite things about the character is his relationship with Buffy. ALL THE FEELINGS! Bangel fan 4 life. 

3. Arwen, The Lord of the Rings - HATERS TO THE LEFT. I love Arwen, she's definitely my favorite character out of the films. She's strong, passionate and beautiful. I really love how much she was fleshed out and included in the films in comparison to the books. The Flight to the Ford is one of my favorite scenes out of all three films. It never fails to give me chills every time I watch it. 

4. Anya, Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Single handedly the best comedic character on the show. Anya is fabulous! She has the best lines and is just so amazing all around. I especially love how she speaks her mind, and how that really lead to her character's growth and development as the series progressed. 

5. Alice, Resident Evil - Another case of HATERS TO THE LEFT. Alice is a fierce HBIC and I love her for that. I know the movies don't hold true to the video games and they're over the top, but I still love them. And the main reason for that would have to be because of Alice. She kicks zombie ass like nobody else's business!

Last weekend my BFF Kari and I made our annual trip to Rakkasah West in Richmond. I'm happy to report that we were both very successful in our shopping endeavors! 

There's no easy way to say this. My mom had a bit of a mental breakdown on Friday. She started attacking my step dad because she didn't recognize who he was. She thought he was there to harm her and apparently kept going on about having to protect her "babies." It eventually got so bad that John had to call the police to take her to the hospital. She's been there ever since then.

She's in the neurological unit and they've been doing tests to rule out anything else that could be causing this beside the dementia. So far they've ruled out seizures and some other stuff. It really just seems like the side effects from the dementia are showing up far stronger in her than it is in other patients. I visited her on Sunday and she knew who both John and I were, but she was still kind of out of it.

John spoke with one of her doctors today and they've worked out a game plan. There's a combination of stronger medication they want to put her on that can help to stabilize and, in some cases, even improve Cognition for a year or two. However, they've found it only works in about 10-15% of patients, but it does favor more those that had good Cognitive function before the disease, as my mom did. This gets combined with a stronger medication (sedative) to control the psych effects. The problem is that it can take 6-12 weeks for the medication to kick in before they can tell if it's working. So on top of this drug regimen she would have to be moved to an Acute care facility for dementia patients so they can administer the drugs and monitor her reactions. This seems like the best course of action to me and John agrees.

The following day I had made plans with a family friend of ours to visit a senior living facility. Unlike other "old folks homes," this one is different in that it specifically caters to helping people with memory related illnesses. It's very nice facility and I think Mom would be happy there. We're at the point where this is the only option left anymore. She can't be left alone by herself any longer and John can't spend all of his time looking after her when he has a full time job on top of all of this. We both agree that this is in her best interest.

So...yeah. Fun times. I'm doing okay. I feel like I've been mentally preparing for shit to hit the fan for a while now, so I'm coping with it far better than I thought I would. It is what it is and you just have to deal. I mainly feel so bad for John. Watching the love of your life deteriorate like this is simply heartbreaking to watch. On top of all that I had one of those Mondays. You know, the kind where you think you suck at your job and your boss will come over and say "lol, jk, we don't really want you here, you're fired." I know it's just all in my head, though.

I'm doing my best to try and stay optimistic. This is being achieved by much distraction through tumblr and catching up on shows ("Red-Handed" AHHHHHHH!). I'll let you guys know more as it's reported to me. Any good energy and prayers sent my mom's way are always welcome. I love you guys.