2020 has been awful so far πŸ™

Ugh. That’s the short version.

I took two of my cats in to the vet at the beginning of January. Snoop had the sniffles she couldn’t take and Yui was losing weight no matter how much we tried to feed him.

Snoop was put on anti-biotics and cleared right up.

Yui we thought had been due to bad teeth. The prior vet clinic always told us his teeth were bad. Much to our surprise, the new vet said his teeth were fine, especially for his age. He had hyperthyroid that was stressing his internals. He was given an appetite stimulant and pill to settle his system. He went right back to eating, with him going on hyperthyroid meds and a new prescription diet. He even finally, at 16.5 years old, got his big cat meow when he got chicky (he usually squeaks instead of meowing).

Everything seemed to be going well, so I ordered the new Black Widow costume from SimCosplay since I was VERY happy with the Captain America I won from them.

Then on January 26th, I came home from lunch with my cousin to find Snoop laying strangely in a spot upstairs I never have seen her rest at. When I went back up later to feed them, she was laying somewhere else and didnt come over. Again, odd.

A few hours later, we noticed Yui’s paw turned over. We thought maybe he had sprained it and got him crated to minimize his movement until we could get to the vet in the morning. Once he was situated, our third cat, Seven, made a distressing meow. We knew one of the cats was having issues in the box, so I was always listening out for this. I ran up and he was in the middle of the stair case, no where near the box. I went all the way up and Snoop was laying odd near the water fountain. I got her up and noticed a small spot of blood on the carpet and blood flecks on her rear. I called up Bob to get a better look while I held her. When he got up, she peed blood on my lap. He went to go to walmart to get a second crate for her while I messaged one of best friends who is a former vet assistant.

She had me check a few things, specifically her gums. They were bone white. When Bob came home, we rushed to an emergency vet. The bloodwork showed she had bladder cancer and was severely anemic. We had to put her down. She only needed the sedative, so I know she would have passed that night regardless. At least we know the why and if we had waited, we would have woken up to something horrific. She hid it so well.

Yui, it turned out, was having reactions to him hyperthyroid meds. They were causing clots in his legs. He was put on pain killers and blood thinners. He stopped eating again. After a week of finding the best method to administer his meds, he started eating again. He was eating really great, I was so happy! But he wasn’t pooping and he didnt look like he was gaining any weight. His legs were still shaky and it was hard to walk.

But how he tried SO hard. He really did. The heart was there but the flesh couldn’t comply. I also think recovery was difficult because of losing Snoop. He was very attached to her. I think he was lost without her.

We made the decision to put him down on Valentine’s Day. Normally, I don’t care about this holiday, but he was our sweetheart and the irony was not lost on me.

We still have Seven. When we came home from putting Snoop down, he made a point to sleep with me at night again. After Yui passed, he has made a point to show how good he is, running and jumping all over. He is our independent Alpha cat and while he can handle being on his own, he does miss them in his way. I think he calls out for them because he knows its too quiet.

I miss Snoop yelling at everyone…I miss how Yui thudded when he walked. It didnt matter if he was 21 pounds or 7, I could hear him walking around three rooms away.

The vet bills were not fun. I maxed out or nearly maxed out most of my credit cards, so I have had to slow down a lot of plans. I’ve lucked out with credits, coupons, and gift cards to pick up a few things.

I have a lot of foam still from making Batman for Bob, so I am surprising him with the JL Aquaman armor to match my Mera.

Onto slightly happier news, JLWNY is still going strong. Adding new members and charity/community events. Its kept me distracted from losing Snoop and Yui. I know 16.5-17 years old is great for a cat, but it doesn’t hurt any less. I still have Seven and he’s my baby. He will be 17 in June, which I hope he makes.

My mother has been secret priming me from my Amazon wish list. One is a wig I can use for Captain Marvel, so I feel good about dying my hair red again. Ive been thinking about for the last 6 months or so. I love being blonde, but the upkeep is ridiculous since my hair grows so fast. If I can’t line up an appointment, my roots can look very bad. When Im a red head, my roots are less obvious and I can go longer between visits, ultimately saving money.

She also got me a wig for Elsa. I had to laugh because I was only THINKING about the character to encourage more princesses for our group. When I went to remove the previous wig from my list, the Elsa one said it was out of stock, so I figured the universe was telling me no. Surprise the next day! So I used my $50 coupon from Procosplay to get Elsa’s traveling dress from their ready to ship section, so hopefully that is what my DHL notice is for. My Black Widow is held up because of the Chinese New Year and the precautions China was taking for the CoronaVirus. As long as its here before the new movie, Ill be happy LOL

Winter is Coming :x

Winter is Coming 😑

Yeah my bad, I continue to not update. My excuse is that the software that I use for this site “updated” and I hate it. Ive been website coding since 1998, Ive seen changes over the years…and what Divi did is just gross. There’s an alleged option to use the old editor, but when I try, I break the site. -_-

To say I am unpleased is understatement. I walked away for my own sanity plus I figure maybe some of the worst of it will have been fixed if I waited it out.

See also Executive Dysfunction stemming from my ADHD 😑

So to pick up from June, well its been a ride. I DID finish me Mera Armor and it looks pretty awesome if I don’t say so myself. I have only worn it a couple of times because most events aren’t really meant for it. I figure the next Aquaman movie will be soon and Ill have her ready to go for that. I also have her Aquaman movie version for if Im feeling lazy or if the event is not conducive to the armor.

If you go to the front page, you can see almost everything I have done with JLWNY. There’s a few private events not listed and JLWNY certain has done more than what I have been to. Around 85 events will be in the books for 2019, with 20 booked or pending for 2020. To say I am insanely surprised by the demand of the group is an understatement. It turns out people like working with groups that can clearly communicate and they are more than happy to refer us to other charities and fundraisers.

We have made some incredibly strong allies who have helped promote us or helped us get our 501c3 Status. As of this writing, we are the ONLY 501c3 cosplay group in Buffalo. That means any donation made to the group is tax deductible. We can also be found on Amazon Smile as Justice League of WNY, Inc. With the status, we are making big plans to help even more people in 2020, so I am very humbled and excited by the success.

Costume wise, I am trying very, very hard to watch my spending. I have a severe anxiety-depression cycle and because I am filled with unhealthy coping mechanisms, I buy a lot of things mostly for cosplay. While crafting is a very good therapy, it can be EXPENSIVE therapy LOL I am really trying to pace myself. I buy when there are very good sales or if I am buying an already made costume that I am able to justify it, not just buy because I want it.

After Mera (armor by me, zentai suit by Herostime), I finally got my Valkyrie armor (Procosplay). Ive wanted to have that costume forever and when I got a very nice tax return, that was my treat. Ive had to make adjustments with it and I didn’t wear until October, but I still love it. Its comfortable πŸ˜€

I have also said for years that if an authorized costume was decent that I would buy it to encourage more higher quality costumes. When I found Batgirl 52 on Amazon from a commercial license, I put myΒ  money where my mouth was. The mask was awful tho, so I made my own. I also reinforced the pouches on the belt so it kept its shape.

I went through a couple of spandex Captain Marvel costumes. My first one, I loved. But its metallic spandex and the shine was wearing off. I didnt like most of the other ones available cheaply, so I settled on one from Amazon and I used my accessories from other costumes. My MCU one from Procosplay is finally crying its slow death. So I made both my own spandex version and have on order a vinyl version that I havent seen anyone locally have. It is one piece and has a front zip. The Procosplay one looks great, but its hard to move in and I always needed help to get into it. Also, about 6 people locally have it and a million other cosplayers, so I wanted to be a little different and I couldn’t wear it whenever it was over 70 degrees. The one I made, the pattern was a pain the ass LOL but I got thru it, learned a lot, and plan to use it to make the Endgame version.

I also picked up the simplified version of Mera’s costume, so I can wear her and not have to worry about the armor.

When Buffalo Comicon’s Fall show came around, I did not intend to make anything new, because broke. I said as much to a friend of mine on September 29th. September 30th, Bob asked me to make him Batman in 19 days. Amended to 18 for an event the day before 😐 I did it tho, because somehow I can make things in less than 3 weeks…

I also won a Captain America costume from Sim Cosplay, so we will see if that comes thru

Happy June!

It’s June! A few days until my birthday. There’s so much coming up, I can’t wait!

This upcoming week is the Superhero walk and Niagara Falls Comicon. Ill only be up Saturday. Ill be wearing my Kaylee Frye costume – look for the parasol LOL I want to get a photo op with Cary Elwes, but mostly I am going to see friends

Ive started working on the armor for Mera…hopefully I don’t doof it πŸ™ I know it won’t be perfect, but I really want to challenge myself and learn new skills. Ill be ordering the bodysuit as soon as the company gets back to me on a question I have.

Justice League of WNY is now officially a NYSΒ  recognized non-profit – whooo. I’ve filled in more events the group will be in in my appearance list

A Little Bit of May

Welp, I had another unexpected cosplay opportunity pop up. Kaylee, from Firefly. Think Geek had a MASSIVE one day clearance sale and I got her coveralls for $18 πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€ Add in pretty much any of my raglan shirts and its mostly set.

I lucked out BIG time when someone was reselling the out of print parasol of hers that Think Geek had about 4 years ago. SCOOOORE On Poshmark of all places LOL

Still haven’t painted my ice axe for Lara Croft πŸ˜›

We have 2 walks this month, hopefully lots of fun

Spring-ish?

Holy cow, its FINALLY warm-ish. Temps are anywhere between 40-60 and honestly, Ill take it over the snow.

JLWNY has done a few events. We had something every weekend in April. Lots of fun and networking. Hopefully, in a couple weeks we will officially be a register charity group. We can then file for a fundraiser status soΒ  that we can raise operating expenses as well as for charities of our choice. After that, we will be aiming to earn a 501c3 tax exempt status – so fingers crossed.

ENDGAME – just OMG :O I held back my tears because I didn’t want to smudge my make up, true story. Ill probably see it again but not in costume so I can ugly cry all I want. I won’t give spoilers, but lets just say I concur that Steve Rogers has America’s Ass πŸ˜€ I also loved the shout out to A Force –Β  pleeeeeeease let that become a thing!

Costume wise, I need to finish painting the ice axe for my updated Lara Croft. Its going to be mostly Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with a bit of the movie thrown in. My steampunk Captain Marvel is one of those that I am working on at my leisure. You know, a bit here, a bit there. Its sort of my work on between bigger projects. I need to put the red cuffs on (might be a little challenge with the way the jacket is designed), make my gaiters, and an aviator’s cap. Im also making a new belt for American Dream. I needed new pants and they don’t quite match the blue of the top because its a different material (but otherwise I love them). If I use the belt that came with the costume,Β  I would have 3 different blues, so I decided to make a new brown belt so the color shift doesn’t look as obvious until I can buy the real replacement pants. Plus, I can make the pickets actually fit things like my phone and trading cards πŸ˜› My BIG costume Im gearing up for is Mera, JL version. I want to make the armor. While I like the made ones online, I think I can make it look better with the proper armor. Save my big purchase for Valkyrie. I hope to have it done in enough time for Fanexpo and to get a picture with Jason Mamoa in it πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€

NFL DRAFT – I LOVE what Brandon Beane has done for the Bills. I LOVE that the players he selected truely want to be here. Exciting times ahead. Trust the Process. We get to the Super Bowl again, Ill fucking tattoo that somewhere. Although I want a Flerken tattoo first….assuming I can stop spending money on cosplay :O

 

Supporting SH Cosplay

Consider making a donation to help fund my costuming – I’d very much appreciate it!

2020 Costume Progress

Project for Bob – In Progress

Black Widow Solo Movie Black Version | SimCosplay – Done
Rey The Last Jedi | Made – Done
Elsa Frozen 2 Traveling Outfit | Coat by ProCosplay. Dress by Angel Secret. Leggings from Amazon – Done
Dark Rey | eBay – Done
Black Widow Solo Movie White Version | Amazon – Done
Elsa OG Blue Dress | Angel Secret – Done
Lady Deadpool v2* | SimCosplay* – Done
Mary Jane’s Spider-Woman* | SimCosplay* -Done
Missy from Doctor Who | eBay – Its a mess, have to fix
Daphne Blake | Gift from Friend – Done

Many thanks to my mother and credit card points for helping me with a few goals, as well as winning some on giveaways*

Professional Photography provided
by that handsome Renegade Time Lord
,
Β Bob Hubbard

Β 

Partnered With:

 

Founding Member of the
Justice League of WNY, inc.

A 501c3 Recognized CharityΒ Β 

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