Friday, July 6, 2018

Thursday: Anime Expo Day 1


Holding her prop: Tsunomon


Daughter went dressed as a character from the series called Digimon (short for Digital Monster).  Her Digimon is named Tsunomon and she made it out of a paper lantern covered with felt.  She said several people admired her prop and asked to take pictures!  Apparently, being asked to pose for pictures in ones costume is one of the highest compliments one can get!  The character she's dressed as wears blue jeans and a green sleeveless turtleneck and brown work gloves.  She couldn't find brown work gloves, so bought white ones and painted them!  She couldn't find a green sleeveless turtle neck, either, so bought a green t-shirt and cut off the sleeves; then, we pinned one of the sleeves to the neckline to make the turtleneck. 

Daughter wanted to be downtown as early as possible, so we were up at 6:00 a.m. and we got to downtown by 8:00 a.m.  There is a hotel down the block and across the street from where I park the car where a shuttle provides free rides to people to and from the convention center where the exposition is being held.  I directed daughter to the hotel to wait for her shuttle and took my shuttle bus to the office.

I had a productive day at the office.  Today was my 35th anniversary, working there!  It is a mile stone I have been wanting to achieve and now, I have achieved it! 

After work, I texted daughter to let her know that I was leaving the office and I came home (she was going to stay until later in the evening).  I felt a little tired, so I rested and ate an early dinner.  Then, I sewed a tail for another of daughter's costumes! 

Daughter called me a little after 9:00 p.m. to say she was leaving the convention center to take the shuttle back to the hotel and I left to pick her up from the hotel.  There was road construction on the freeway and 3 lanes of the freeway were closed.  As a result, there was quite a bit of congestion and I didn't get to the hotel until almost 10:00 p.m.  By the time I picked daughter up and we came home, it was 11:00 p.m.  Daughter had a lovely day, she said; she had participated in some dance work shops, done some shopping, and had made a new friend - a girl from Boston who was attending the Anime Expo for the first time.  She was also very tired, so she headed off to bed after she showed me what she bought, performed a dance she had learned, and shared a slice of her pizza that she bought for her dinner!  We will be making another early start, tomorrow, too!

Today was a warm day, with a high of 97F.  Tomorrow will be hotter, with a high of 113F.  Summer is here! I turned on the ceiling fan in the family room for the first time, this summer.  But, it is supposed to cool down to the low 90s by the end of next week, according to the forecast. 

Today, I am grateful for:
- My daughter had a fun day
- I completed 35 years of work
- Safe drives to and from downtown
- Ceiling fans
- Hugs from my daughter

How was your day?  What are your plans for Friday?

14 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your 35th anniversary. That really is an incredible achievement.

    I like your daughter's costume and am glad that she had a good time. I'm guessing that she will be wearing a different costume every day as there was no sign of the apron you made for her.

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. I am glad I was able to make it to 35! There was a time, when the economy tanked and there was talk of layoffs, when I was worried that I wouldn't make it to 25 (important as that's what would have qualified me to get medical insurance through my employer even in retirement).

      Yes, my daughter will be wearing a different costume, every day. She wore the apron today and she likes it so much that she's talking of wearing it again on the last day, instead of the costume she had planned! You'll see a picture, later.

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  2. I would have never thought about turning the shirt into the turtleneck with a sleeve. Good job to both of you on the costume. BTW, just out of curiosity, I searched for a green sleeveless tank to on Amazon and there lots of them and several under $5.00. I'm not as good at sewing as you are, so that's probably how I would have "made" mine.

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    1. I don't know if she looked online for a sleeveless turtleneck. I do know she decided on her costumes only when she came down in June to attend the retirement counseling session with me (that's why we went shopping as much, that weekend). There was no sewing involved for this costume - she just cut the sleeves off and pulled one sleeve over her head for the "turtleneck" (we were both surprised she was able to do that!) and I just safety pinned it to the shirt, at the back, because there was a small gap when she bent her head forward. The t-shirt cost $3.99 and she could wear it as a tank top for the house, during the summer. Or, I'll turn it into a reusable grocery bag!

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    2. She just put the sleeve over her head. Love it!

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  3. Congrats on your 35th anniversary with the company! What an accomplishment that you never hear about anymore! Did anyone at work do anything to celebrate this? Greg gets a shark-shaped balloon at work on his anniversary every year. It has to do with the name of his company. It was fun when we had little kids because they always loved it when he brought it back (it's pretty large!) but nowadays it scares the cats more than anything so he just leaves it at the office!

    I admit that I don't understand the world of cos-play for adults because I'm not into anime or video games, but it's so cool that your daughter has that creative outlet. Does she go with friends or all by herself? My Daughter and YS went to such a convention last year in Orlando but neither dressed up (well, I think YS wore some kind of one-piece suit that was meant to embarrass his sister, lol).

    I hope you are surviving the 113F temperature. I had to do a double-take when I read that. 113F officially PLUS the heat index? I know you like it when it's hot but that's Arizona temperatures right there! I hope you're staying cool and that Dancer is OK with his little fur coat!

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    1. Thank you, Nathalie. No, nobody at the office said or did anything - they generally don't. However, if I am still here for the next all department staff meeting (and I doubt very much if I will) then, they might mention it. I know that one of my supervisors received a standing ovation for completing 40 years of service! He's still not retiring! LOL!

      My daughter went by herself, this year, although, from what she has said, she might meet up with a friend, today. She and 2 of her friends used to go together in previous years, but now, her two friends have paired up with boyfriends/fiancés, and they are interested in slightly different types of anime series than daughter, so she prefers to do her own thing.

      Yesterday was the first day I turned on the fan because it was warm (and I was still dressed in long pants and wearing socks). :D And I still slept with all my blankets and quilts on the bed and no fan. But I didn't wear socks to bed.

      Dancer says it is hot. If it gets really hot inside the house, I wet him down (and he hates that, but, I think it helps him to cool off).

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  4. Your daughter is SO inventive. The T-shirt was a great idea, as a tank top is usually scooped at the neckline and wouldn't have worked out. Her digimon is so good looking, it is no wonder people asked to take photos. It sounds like she is having a great time and I can't wait to see what else she has planned for the rest of the exposition.

    Congrats on your 35th anniversary. I managed to get my 20 years in the same year I retired, and I was pleased as punch. I got a free lunch and a beautiful pen set. Will they be honouring you with something special?

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    1. Thank you, Susan. Yes, the t-shirt worked out well. She is having a wonderful time! This is the first time in 4 years that she is able to attend it, so it is extra special for her.

      They normally don't do much other than acknowledge the years of service at the department-wide meeting and hand out a service pin. My colleagues asked what I wanted to do for my retirement (very often, people go out to dinner), but I said I didn't want any fuss. I get too emotional at these sort of things, so, my plan is to leave as unobtrusively as possible. But, I've a suspicion that there might be a cake and I'll probably end up making a fool of myself and cry!

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  5. I would simply melt in those temps!

    It's quite an accomplishment to work somewhere for 35 years. We reached that same milestone in our marriage last year--doing anything for that long is an accomplishment!

    I hope you are not being affected by the wildfires. What I see on the news is awful. The heat is not helping. One of my friends in the far eastern part of Oregon had a wildfire on here property, but they got it out with help. Thank goodness.

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    1. Congratulations on your 35+ years of marriage, Becky! That's a wonderful achievement! My 35 years of employment pales in comparison!

      I'm OK with the heat. You won't find me doing any type of strenuous activity when it is so hot, but I like the heat more than I like the cold.

      No wildfires in my neighborhood, Becky. I am OK, thank you. I'm glad your friend was able to put out the fire on her property! That must have been so scary!

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  6. Congratulations on your work anniversary. That's a great achievement.
    It sounds like your daughter had a really fun day out. Love the costume. X

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    1. Thank you, Jules. I always thought I'd retire after 30 years, but, when the 30th anniversary came around, I was still putting my daughter through university, so I decided I'll go for 35, because that would enable me to recuperate some of the money from savings that I used for her tuition and rent, etc. (She didn't take out a student loan because I didn't want her to be saddled with debt when she graduated).

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