So I know that November is supposed to be the month of saying what you're thankful for, but I've always felt more reflective and grateful for everything I have around late December. Between the magical nostalgia of Christmas and the upcoming new year, I like to look around me and express my gratitude. And I thought it would be nice to start a tradition of making a blog post every year doing just that.
First (and probably a permanent first) I have to thank my parents.
Mom and Dad with tiny me. Total babes, amirite?
You will not find better, more supportive, awesome parents. Many parents fall on either side of the line of being too strict or too friendly, but my parents walk it like a seasoned acrobat on a tightrope. Married for 30+ years and still very much in love, worked hard at jobs neither particularly enjoyed to make sure that my sister and I had everything we needed and wanted, and shaped us both into strong, intelligent women. My parents are my rocks, my best friends, my biggest support system, and my role models for what a marriage and parenthood should look like. Also, they're hilarious, so you know where I get it.
I'm also grateful for that other spawn I mentioned: my little sister, Marley.
Marley and I at a Griffin's game this year.
It took my sister and I almost two decades to get along, but it was worth it. A seven-year age difference made it difficult to see eye-to-eye until she hit adulthood and we had more in common, but once that happened, we became extremely close. She has been my sister, my rival, my best friend, my co-star, my team mate, and pretty much everything under the sun for me.
Up next? The babe at the bottom of this photo:
Gratuitous cleavage shot and clumsy thumb in the frame, yes, but this is still one of my favorite photos of us.
The Leonardo to my Raphael. The Gunpowder Annie to my Captain HellKat. The Blue to my Red. My hetero life partner and potential future wife if the whole men thing doesn't work out and we just give up. Cristina and I have become extremely close in the past few years, having met about five years ago when I heard her loudly berating a man (who is actually a good friend of both of ours) for saying he wouldn't want to sleep with her. Never mind that she didn't want to sleep with him anyway. It was the principle of the thing. I liked her style. We'll be starting two new adventures in 2016; a co-authored blog and a live show for renaissance faire audiences. And I couldn't think of a better partner to do it with.
I also had two new career opportunities fall into my lap. The first being my new job:
With some coworkers at our Totally 80's, Totally Murder show.
A theatre geek working at the largest murder mystery production company in the country? Yes, please! Landing a job at the Murder Mystery Company has been one of the best things that every happened to me. I love the product, I love my coworkers, and it's the first job I've had where I didn't wake up with anxiety about having to go there. The company is like a family, and we do something I love and believe in. Also, my boss gave me a pet turtle for hitting a sales goal. Pretty sure that cements it as the best company to work for ever.
And now, we come to this:
This logo makes us look way cooler than we are.
I let it slip at a company meeting that I was a nerd with a nerdy blog in the works. Droo swooped in immediately. And boy, am I glad he did. I actually started out as a guest on the Court of Nerds podcast, talking about cosplay and general nerdery, but when Droo asked me to become an actual member of the cast, I immediately said yes! To be honest, writing about geekery is a dream come true in and of itself, but I couldn't ask for a better group to do it with. Being a woman in a nerd's world can be tough with the rampant misogyny many female geeks encounter, but it's not something I need to worry about with this group, despite being one of two women in a team of almost ten. My geek cred is never quizzed, they never shame me for not being on their knowledge level on certain topics (it's usually met with "OMG, HERE, READ MY COPY, YOU MUST, YOU'LL LOVE IT" or something similar), and they always have my back. Plus, you will never have a group of friends who will appreciate beautiful men with you like the men on the Court of Nerds. For a group of entirely straight dudes, they sure like a pretty man. Lookin' at you, Cumberbatch.
And lastly, I'm grateful for you! Yes, you, the preciousest poodle reading this! I'm grateful that you're reading my blog, I'm grateful that you're here in general, on earth, being the perfect little sprinkle that you are. You're beautiful and smart and probably smell awesome, and I'm thankful for you!
