I was at a convention last year and listened to Adam Baldwin recount his experiences with Ride to Recovery (see his blog post here – http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abaldwin/2009/04/20/ride-2-recovery-an-amazing-journey-2 /). During during the story he talked of a time where he felt exhausted and wanted to give up. One of the vets (who, if I recall correctly, was a multiple amputee) dropped back from the pack to where Adam was huffing and puffing away, looked at him, and said “what are you, a pussy?” He talked about the inspiration of spending time with people who don’t give up.

Shortly afterwards, m?y husband and I had out picture taken with Adam and I look hideous. I was a short, round ball with arms and legs.

My embarassment over the picture and Adam’s story inspired me to get off my duff and start learning to live a healthier lifestyle. And every time I even think about giving up or going back to my old ways, I hear Adam’s voice in my head asking “what are you, a pussy?” It’s working for me so far. 42lbs lost since the beginning of the year and I’m finally no longer classified as obese. I still have a long way to go, but I’m getting there one small change at a time.

For the past few months some friends and I have been working towards incorporating a non-profit society. I’m pleased to announce that today I have the completed paperwork in my hot little hands. We exist.

Please join me in celebrating the incorporation of the Alberta Browncoats Society.

The Alberta Browncoats Society is non-profit society formed in 2009. We are dedicated to doing good in unexpected ways while upholding the main goals of CSTS: raising funds for Equality Now and other locally based charities. While Can’t Stop the Serenity is our main fundraising event in 2010 we hope to branch out in future; hosting small gatherings or fundraisers with a more local focus on a semi-annual basis.

For the moment we’ll be using our Edmonton Can’t Stop the Serenity event site as our main presence on the web. You can also follow @ABbrowncoats on Twitter.

July 27

• Still completely bagged after 4 days and 5 nights at #sdcc. Hoping recovery is complete before tomorrow. No yawning allowed
• Looking forward to playing tourist in SD tomorrow. For now, we sleep
• Afraid. I am horrible in pictures. @theonetruebix takes amazing pictures. Hopefullly he didn’t get my ditz expression on my face in his pic
• And yes, Drew who looks amazing in every photo ever taken of him, makes me feel even sadder about the known deficiencies of photos I’m in

July 28

• Had a fabulous day at the wild animal park today. @NathanFillion during the BC meeting room http://bit.ly/DGhwf

July 29

• Boosting the US economy 1 beer and amusement park at a time.
• Just finished watching night shows at SD Seaworld. Ooh ahhs were awesome!
• Train is out of service. Boo! I think we’re stuck waiting 30 more mins for the blue line. Hope I’m mistaken.
• Yay for whining on twitter! Replacement train has arrived!
• Train goes forward. Train goes backward. We have returned to station we just left
• Who needs a theme park when every trolley ride is an adventure?
• Oh hai mr transit security occifer. Late for the train were you?
• Really looking forward to the zoo (pandas!) tomorrow

July 30

• “Home” from the zoo. Sleepy. One last full day in SD before we fly back to #yeg

July 31

• WTF? Last day in town & I have a giant blister on my little toe
• Important research underway. Which paper umbrella garnished fruity girly drink tastes best?
• Sleepy. Have to be awake at 0 dark 30 for the flight home to the great white north tomorrow
• 4 am wake up call at the hotel. Wonder if that’s early enough?

August 1

• After much early am panic we are at airport, through security & on way home.
• Goodbye sunny SoCal. We barely knew you
• Sitting in an airport & waiting for a flight takes an excrutiatingly long time when you are drinking crappy tasting beer.
• Feeling old as a result of this trip. No one bothers to ID me anymore
• Coming home with a suitcase filled with geek shirts. Hope @bingofuel is prepared for round two!
• Fighting over who gets stuck drinking the beer. Not usually a conversation we’re used to having.
• What a welcome home. Thunder storms, lightening, hail and tornado warnings

Turning off the option to receive tweets to my phone tonight as my txt messaging plan is nearly exhausted. Nothing to fear though, I will likely tweet a bit more about our experiences during the last week of our vacation.

July 25

• Standing in giant ballroom 20 hoping to get into Chuck panel. Then it’s time for the Jayne hat flash mob
• Must have t: I am not a nerd, I just enjoy standing in line.
• Comic-Con = diet & exercise program for nerds.8 flights of stairs & unknown miles walked before breakfast
• We’re in! Time for Chuck panel
• Adam’s inner grunt monolog: Joss Whedon
• Finished last shift at california browncoats booth. Rest of the con is schedule free
• Sitting in on the Ray Bradbury panel & 2 tv premiers so we have a spot at the Mythbusters panel
• Sad we missed the V premier
• Drew & I weren’t that impressed with Human Target or Vamp Diaries. On the bright side, we’ve all got seats for Mythbusters!
• Waiting for @donttrythis to hit the stage. @badastronomer running the show 🙂
• Consensus is that tv shows are “meh”. Mythbusters next & we know they’ll rock 🙂
• Oh hai raspberry mojitos. Of course i with you this fine evening
• Mythbusters panel rocked. @donttrythis & @badastronomer were a hoot. Tomorrow we wake at 0 dark 30 to brave the ballroom 20 line for Dr. Who
• hmmm, seems I’m missing some incoming tweets. Didn’t see @britl‘s Cunning Hat search q until today… Boo twitter!

July 26 (last day *sniff*)

• Ack! Slept in. Must get to trolley & into ballroom 20’s hellish line-up
• In line to go inside & get in another line. Here’s hoping we get into Dr Who
• *w00t* we’re early enough that we’re guaranteed seats. Fabulous way to start the last day at #sdcc
• We are in & pretty close to the front. Will see if timelord greatness rubs off & makes us cooler.
• Trading freebie Dr Who comics with peeps in the row behind us. Panel about to start. Wish dad were here to see this.
• Nathan Fillion & PJ Haarsma just crashed the fan club meeting *w00t*
• Feeling sad that comic-con is nearly over. Will be a long time before we can afford to do something like this again
• Lesson learned at comic-con: if you see something you want, buy it. Likely won’t be there later
• Old and new school comics everywhere. Seemed like MILES of them

Last weekend Drew and I headed south for a few week’s vacation. After landing in San Diego shortly before midnight we crashed for the evening and drove down to Disneyland. We spent Drew’s birthday running around the park and topped off the evening with a great set of fireworks. Then, it was off to sleep before driving across LA (traffic sucks!) and visiting Universal Studios. Had a fabulous time resulting from the decision to bite the bullet and spend the extra money on a front of the line pass. Instead of needing two days to do everything in the park we got through it all in a single day. Our last day in LA was spent wandering Hollywood Blvd and through Santa Monica.

On Wednesday we headed back to San Diego and have been neck deep in Comic Con madness. It’s been great so far but the stories of crowds and craziness all appear to be true!

For those who follow me on Twitter, we’ve managed to get a basic pay-as-you-go cell phone with a text messaging option so I’ve been tweeting our vacation. For those who don’t follow me, a breakdown of our trip is as follows*:

July 18:

• neighbours throw party for hubs bday. Sweet but they feed him too much beer. left to his own devices he decided to re-pack luggage
• Guess who’s stuck “fixing” his packing at nearly 2am on day we fly to SoCal?
• SoCal here we come. Brekky bright & early with @eliste tomorrow am then off to Disney. Volunteer schedule all set. Costume in bag. Excited.
• Hanging out at the #MSP Armed Forces Security Centre. Tea and sleep before flight to SD.
• Landed and made it to hotel. Crashing for a few hours sleep before the fun really begins.

July 19

• Got cell phone for local calls & tweeting set up. Trying best NOT to take iPhone off of Airport mode to avoid crazy data & roaming costs.
• Humid. Fun so far. Had great breakfast & fun catching up before spending time with Mickey.
• Just finished watching the ooh ahhs at Disneyland
• Sorry #yeg Capital Ex has nothing as good as this

July 20

• Just saw the mule from Serenity
• So happy we saved 4 long time 4 vacay. Lack of $ worries makes a difference
• Pondering trip to see walk of fame in the am

July 21

• Interesting. After days of joking that I got tired too easily at theme parks, Mr. “I’m not tired” has slept in & refuses to get out of bed.
• Drew is kicking me as he drives route 66
• Apparently we are now headed to santa monica for a few hours
• Bless you SoCal. 100 spf sunblock FTW!
• Too bad I’m already sporting a burn on my face
• Stuck in first LA traffic jam. Send beer and pizza please.
• Our GPS appears to be lost. What luck!

July 22

• The Canucks hbve landed #sdcc
• In line to pick up #sdcc passes. Miss front of the line no wait option
• Help! There must be something in the water. Too many happy waiting ppl #sdcc
• I miss my iPhone. Old school messaging is so time consuming.
• Also, no camera on cheapie pay as you go phone. On other hand, got phone & txt
• CSTS t shirts, she-ra, wonder woman, charlie chaplin spotted
• Adoring the fact that I am not even close to being the biggest geek in the room
• #sdcc day 1 t shirt choice: @hijinksensue LOLFOX for me. @drhorrible “not my nemesis” for Drew
• First day at #sdcc a success. Goodies obtained. Checked into hotel. Early day tomorrow.
• Check-in clerk thinks Drew & our sponsor looked like brothers. I can’t see it.

July 23

• Off to comic con
• Once again waiting in a long line up to get into exhibit hall. Not open yet? #sdcc
• Cunning hat delivery delayed. Should have tonight. #sdcc
• Who’d have expected military spouse mantra of hurry up & wait to apply in real world? #sdcc
• First volunteer shift done & met adam baldwin FTW!
• Breaktime is over. Noms in the belly. Braving the crowds again. SDCC. Must blog w/ pics soon since can’t twitpic with temp phone.
• Doh! Wrong trolley. Time to get off & try again
• In & getting ready to help out at the @drhorrible screening
• @feliciaday is introducing @drhorrible. Let the singing & call backs begin
• Commentary!
• Watching people google ninja ropes during commentary! How cute! #sdcc @drhorrible
• Lots of trollies during the day. Long wait at night #sdcc

July 24

• Day two. Sleepy & I now have bags under my eyes big enuf to bring purchases home in
• Cool. @drhorrible @MoTancharoen @ZDubDub (Maurissa, Jed & Zack) signing during my shift
• First mission accomplished. Got seats for Coraline & @neilhimself. Unfortunately this means missing @theguild 🙁
• Today will be an adventure. Forgot epi-pens in hotel room.
• Got into the dollhouse & joss whedon panel *w00t* #sdcc
• Saw @britl earlier today *yay* no donation to browncoat charity *boo* public shaming r us
• Heading to bed. Yes, I’m old. Much sleep needed tonight so we can get in line at 0 dark 30 for the Chuck panel tomorrow am.
• Unofficial final grade on Stat class was a C+ Barely squeaked through the exam & tanked my GPA, but it’s a pass. I’ll take it.

*As posted. Typos abound.
Note: Pics to follow when I get the time to pull them off the camera. May not be until we get home.