There are still surprises after all these years!

My husband and I went to PAX East this past weekend in Boston. PAX is a gaming convention and an absolute blast, because basically you get to spend the entire weekend playing games with friends and strangers. Board games, card games, miniatures games, video games, role playing games....you name it, it's there, along with 78,000 people. It's basically Nerdvana, and since everyone there has a shared interest (and one that's often belittled by others), no one is afraid to sit down at a table and play a game with complete strangers.

Anyway, the friend we were with had gone before and his advice to us was to wear comfortable shoes, have the camera ready, get in line early, and bring a large bag. There are constantly booths giving out freebies, contests with games or paraphernalia as prizes, and all sorts of fun merchandise that might be interesting, and you didn't want to be stuck trying to carry all of it in-hand.

Joe and I lived in Boston for 5 years before moving away, so we had very little worry about finding our way around. When we got to the airport we bought a couple of Charlie Tickets for the subway, assuming that we'd need them to get around.

But we never needed them.

Each day, we walked the 1.5 miles to the convention center, spent the entire day walking around, playing games, and hauling the posters/games/clothing we bought, taking the stairs because the escalators were always swamped, walked back to the hotel each evening, and then walked to a different part of town for dinner with our friends. We could have taken the subway to any of the locations, but he and I both figured it would be more fun to walk and see the city anyway. On our third day there, my shins were a little bit sore.

"Wait, what? A little bit sore?" I felt stunned. When I lived in Boston, I took the subway everywhere. But over the weekend, every time the topic came up I'd say, "I don't mind walking at all, let's go!" And even though I'm almost nine years removed from my RNY, I felt surprised. Only being "a little bit sore" after multiple days of almost entirely being on my feet? Wow. Maybe it's because I remember how I was when I moved there as a 280 lb. 18 year old. Maybe it's because I encountered corners and little sights that I'd never seen before because I was underground on the subway. Whatever it was, it felt special. Really, really special.

Not only was I in the city where I went to college, met the best friends I've known and met the man I married, I got what felt like a brand new experience. It made me once again feel so unbelievably grateful for what my WLS experience has made possible. It might seem silly, but I just have to share what was a really happy and special weekend. Here are a few pictures from the con---I'm pretty sure you'll be able to tell that I was elated the entire time.

A sign for the convention at baggage claim in Logan airport. We're here, we're here!

Some shots of the convention center PACKED with friendly faces.

Posing with a girl at the Marvel booth dressed up as Phoenix from X-Men.

With my husband and one of our best friends from college. Hey, the lady at the booth gave us props, it would have been rude to not use them! Haha.

Probably the most detailed cosplay I saw all weekend. This guy was a giant Transformer!

The symbiote taking over Spiderman, but I'm not scared.

One of the places where you could sit down with a board game, learn to play something new, and meet some new friends.

At Durgin Park (an old favorite place for a meal) with my husband.

Were you missing techies at work on Friday? This might explain it....

Goodnight Boston, you're pretty beautiful.

WOW!!! You look fantastic and it looks like you had a fantastic time!!

 

Thank you! We are already planning to go to next year's PAX. At some point I'd really like to go out to San Diego for Comicon (I am a huge Marvel fan), but that will take a little more advance planning.

You look great and you can tell you had a blast.  Life really is more fun when you don't have to worry about how you are going to fit, or walk or where you might need to sit.  You go girl!!!!!

Yes, it was just so different. But it's nice to get that jolt of happiness, yay!

Looks like so much fun!  I just got to visit Boston for the 1st time a few weeks ago on a business trip.  Instant love! I want to go back and really visit the city some day.

Oh it really is a fun city! If you do indeed go back, I'll be happy to share some great places to visit while you're there. I loved living there during college.

Great post and great pictures.  You look great.

I also find myself suggesting we walk, climb stairs, park out further, etc.  I enjoy being able to move around and having the endurance to keep it up all day - I couldn't do those things when I was morbidly obese.  I also consider myself fortunate to have had the access to bariatric surgery.  My life has changed so much - for the better.

Penny

It's experiences like this weekend that remind me how fortunate I was to have had access to WLS through my insurance. There is no way I could have paid for it out of pocket. I am very, very grateful to my surgeon and his staff as well for how supportive they were.

That's awesome! I know how you feel. I don't ,ind walking anywhere now (gasp!) but I used to hate it! That's awesome that even years later you still have victories like this!