My Little Pony: Mother's Day Edition

I spent my Mother's Day weekend this year at "Equestria LA" which is the local convention for "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" fans. For those not in the know my sons ae Bronies which is what you call boys who like the MLP:FIM ponies. Girls like the ponies too. Some refer to them as "Pegasisters", I just prefer to be called an interested party and leave it at that.
But seriously, I spent the weekend with my sons at this convention and actually had a really good time despite the fact that I was one of the few at the convention old enough to remember when JFK was our president. Honestly, I didn't really feel out of place though. The MLP bunch is a very welcoming group of people and they embrace all who share their interest in all things pony. And it wasn't just the Brony and Pegasister crowd, there were plenty of little girls from the target demographic attending with their moms and dads in tow. In fact, we ran into a lovely daddy-daughter duo. The daughter was about 4 years old and dressed as Pinkie Pie and Dad decked was out in a Pinkie Pie t-shirt to match! Gotta respect a man who will do that to support his little girl's pony love!

Mitch wearing his ears, horn and wings. 

Matt hanging out in the lobby.

"Shirtless" Discord dancing for us during the Cosplay Fashion Show. 

He was the hit of the convention for the ladies!

More from the Cosplay Fashion Show

Matt and his friend after the Cosplay Fashion Show.

Assorted Convention Attendees coming out of the fashion show

Another picture of the attendees.

The Vendor Hall-they had an amazing assortment of MLP merchandise

nearly all of it hand crafted. 

Some of the hand-crafted plush ponies they had for sale. 

One of the friendliest gals at the convention!

I sat in on a number of panels including the voice actor panels and the Pony Music Video contest as well as the wonderful Cosplay Fashion Show. Best of all, I got to spend quality time with my sons having fun and they WERE NOT embarrassed to be hanging out with their Mom! I'm looking forward to Equestira LA 2014, in fact, I'm looking into having a table at the vendor hall and selling my own hand-crafted pony merch!

Autism and Awareness...

This is a re-post of a FB status update I posted on April 2nd:


Today is World Autism Awareness Day. I could ask you to change your profile picture, put a blue light bulb in your porch fixture, don a blue shirt but if you REALLY want to show your support then find a family living with Autism (I'm sure you know at least one) and do something to show them you are thinking of their family today on a personal level: 

*Surprise them with a gift card for their favorite restaurant or store
*Buy the family some movie tickets and spring for the popcorn
*Take them a plate of fresh baked cookies or muffins-Gluten/Dairy free if their child follows a special diet
*Offer to entertain their child for a hour while mom (or dad) takes a nap, reads a book, runs to the store, etc.
*Offer to wash their car and spring for a few gallons of gas
*Come by and mow their lawn, weed their flowerbed or plant some spring flowers
*Offer to do some grocery shopping for them
*Swing by and offer to vacuum, dust or fold a load or two of laundry
*Take mom or dad out to lunch-your treat. Or take them both out to dinner.
*Offer to pick up the tab on a therapy session if they have out of pocket costs
*Come by just to visit and lend an ear for listening (calling first of course!)

There are so many things that families living with Autism do without so they can make sure their autistic son or daughter's needs are being met, these small gestures can make a big impact on their quality of life!

Even though my 15 year old son is High Functioning, we still have challenging days. Yesterday was one of the most challenging days we have had in a long time, by bedtime last night I was physically and emotionally wiped out as was my 20 year old son who spent his day off work helping me manage his brother's behaviors.  What our friends and family don't see are these kinds of days, it seems that they happen to be around on his "good" days which, thankfully, are many. But our family is fortunate, I know some families that have 365 challenging days a year. Regardless of the number of challenging days, Autism Moms and Dads can benefit so much from just the smallest gestures, so I'm asking you to remember these families, not just in April, but every month of the year and reach out to them (don't be afraid!) as we often feel so alone in our struggles.
Thank you.

Perspective...

That pretty much sums up what I have learned over the past 6 months since my husband was laid off from his job of 12 1/2 years and the 5 month journey that led him to his new career.