If I could kick my own butt, I would be

Hello Internet Peoples!

Since I'm a homemaker without kids yet, I get to spend a lot of time in my head. I sometimes wonder if it's too much but that's not the point of this post. I have two main goals right now, and recently added a third one. I'm great at setting goals. I'm also terrible at making them happen. And it's driving me nuts!

So for once in my life, I'm going to actually get things done. The first goal is actually the one that seems to be going well. My goal is lose weight in preparation for having future children, which I have mentioned before. This is a huge stretch for me. I've been on the larger side of life for as long as I can remember. If I wasn't heavier than average, I was taller than all the kids my age (from age 4 to 10, when I was genuinely big and tall. After that, the guys were slowly catching up to my height). But no more! I actually managed to work out almost every weekday in July and August is going to be much the same. So how have I earned a butt-kicking?

Weekends. Weekends have been murder for me. Some of it is my own fault because I don't like exercising around other people, least of all my mother. On the weekends, she's already taken over the Wii, which is what works best for my antisocial self. But that's not the worst part. The weekends are when my mom cooks, or at least is supposed to be. Usually she cooks one of the six weekend meals and either I do the rest   (good) or my hubby and I have to grab something as we run various errands, go to church on Saturday night (yay Veritas!) and set up the chairs for the Sunday morning service. This is a recipe for disaster because it's usually copious amounts of nutritionally bankrupt crap, even if its tasty.

At least the solution is obvious, not eating the crap and eating less of it if that's what's available. I've also gone from doing a thirty minute workout to two hours. This isn't workable for most people, but at the moment I have time to spare for that kind of thing. I did the fully two hours for the first time today, and honestly I feel better than I've ever had.

Now for the newest goal, since the last one has more to do with what this blog is about. I really want to stop complaining about everything all the time. I'm really bad about this, especially when it comes to my mother. I let my self get all worked up about things and then I become the most negative person I can possibly be. So no more of that. As cliche' as it is, the whole "if you can't say something nice" saying is very applicable.

Finally, I'm currently working on one and only one of my stories in earnest right now, in hopes of publishing the darn thing soon. I'm trying to get more groundwork done so that I have a more complete work when I start it as a Kickstarter project ( www.kickstarter.com ). But I'm letting my short comings and insecurities get in the way of my work. I'm nervous about my male characters because I've never been very good at drawing them. I'm also fantastically bad at architecture as I can't draw a straight line with a ruler and a T-square, yet I'm working on a story set on a college campus so BUILDINGS GALORE! I hate when I get scared into inaction simply because I struggle with the more subtle curves of the male figure and Euclidean forms.

I have to be bold. Why is that so difficult?

For today's picture, I give you this:

Baby Sugar Glider, you are the cutest!

Cosplay: Things I've learned the Hard Way

We got back from a wonderful JAFAX weekend, exhausted and boiled like taters. As far as cosplay goes, it was the most successful one we've ever done...for everyone in my group but me. Well, it was a success in that I sewed my first costume in a week and am no longer scared nauseous by my sewing machine but otherwise, it was a trial-by-fire learning experience for me and I will be completely revamping my Fluttershy cosplay. Here's what I now know.

1) Don't wait until the last minute to buy materials. This only leads to poor choices. My poor choice was a seemingly perfect pair of quilting cottons. The yellow fabric was perfect in form, lousy in function, at least for a kimono. It was far too light to hold up my beast of an obi and the pink fabric I made that from was much heavier than it was. I spent the whole con readjusting myself because the obi would slide down, dragging the kimono backward. I would then pull up the front of the obi and it would plummet backward even more.

2) Don't buy too much wig the first time out. I had an Arda Le Tigre in Bubblegum pink and it was half my 5'6" in length. I also fought with this the whole time. Also, make sure that if someone is doing the bobby pinning for you, that they pin the wig, cap and your hair. The person pinning me in didn't get my hair. Wouldn't you know that it decided to epic fail while I was in the Crash Bang Laboratory's Cosplay Level Up panel, when they were talking about how to keep one's wig on. My wig cap slipped right out from under the wig and was sitting happily on the little pig tails I had that the base of my neck. Combine this with number 1 and I should have offered myself up as a "What no to do" for the panel.

3) If your fabric is a little on the thin side, for the love of Pete and his brother Joe, LINE IT! Don't do what I did and wear and extra layer of silky underthings to maintain your modesty, especially if it's a freakin' summer con. Plus, it was one more thing for my to yank at all day.

4) I failed at being recognized. I was walking around with my husband, who was the con's only Big Macintosh (with Smarty Pants) that we found and a dang good one to boot, the best Rarity of the con and the only Vinyl Scratch. As one of the many Fluttershys and the odd kimono-ed one, I was the weak link in our group. I don't feel I did Fluttershy justice. It seems such a crime considering I love her so much and can otherwise portray her effortlessly. I'm completely embarrassed about that. I can't say it was an epic fail, but it was bad. I put waaay too much me into my Fluttershy, and while we are very alike, that's not the point.

5) I learned to be proud of myself despite all this. I worked really hard on this and I was the only one in our group who made my costume nearly entirely as I cannot make wigs, tabi or flip flops. I put myself out there and even if it didn't turn out like I wanted, it wasn't a bad start. Next time, because I will be Fluttershy again, I will pay more attention to her, less myself and make it that much more awesome.

I'm definitely posting pictures later, including a cute series we call " The Courtship of Big Mac and Fluttershy". For now, I will leave you with this:

Whoever did this, please tell me. I love you!