PortCon!!

Just got back from PortCon Maine. I love this convention because it's close to home and very small and relaxing. The entire thing takes place in one hotel so it doesn't have the discombobulation of AnimeNEXT and the South Portand Wyndham is a great little hotel and it's conveniently located across from the Maine Mall and countless restaurants and businesses are within a short walking or driving distance so you can easily get good food instead of living off con junk and also grab last-minute purchases. The Artist's Alley closes very early for a convention - 7! - which gave us plenty of free time in the evening to go out to eat, relax in the pool, go to convention events or just veg out. A lot better than getting out at 10PM. Of course, the shorter hours and smaller foot traffic means we don't make as much money than at the other cons. PopCult always does well because no one can resist our buttons and they're the most affordable item in the whole convention. My own products didn't do as well. I only made $52 this weekend. But we had a lot of fun as we often do at PortCon because it truly is less stressful.
We left around 130 on Thursday and took 95 all the way up. It was funny because we passed Inyx on the way up and then blew past her as I have a lead foot. After realizing I was passing 90, I slowed down a bit and then got stuck in slowed traffic due to a downpour, yet I never saw Inyx catch up with us. Despite all that, she made it to the hotel before us, albeit literally a minute before us.
Wig and I had a HUGE fight as soon as we got up to the room. Despite how negatively he's viewing the whole pregnancy situation, we haven't straight out fought more than twice. We made up soon after between keeping up appearances as we set up the booth and genuine apologies. We had the room to ourselves most of the night because Inyx and her new girlfriend Alina went out to dinner alone and I was able to assuage his qualms about having sex with a pregnant woman and we had some much-needed make-up sex. Even though he says he won't want to have sex when I really look pregnant, he's not going to be able to resist. My libido's already starting to increase, imagine what it's going to be like in a few months. Wig was pretty quiet and withdrawn for most of the first day, but he slowly started to become his old self. He started joking a bit more and smiling and started playing guitar again and even made it to the final round of a Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament. But all these improvements are only on the surface. Every once in a while he'd still make some negative comment about the pregnancy and our future. It's a long, long road, but he'll soon see things will work out. They won't be perfect - not by a longshot - but we'll survive and we'll be happy and we'll still be able to do the same things we did before we had a baby. He won't be able to believe that until it happens though.
He's telling Gahmstead tonight. I wonder what he's going to say about it. I still haven't told my parents. I was going to tell them tomorrow but I have to close and will be at work before they come home so it'll have to wait until Tuesday. It would've been as awkward if I told them tonight when I got back from PortCon than if I told them last week then left. Plus we're going to need a lot of uninterrupted time to discuss what I'm going to do.
Anyway, I have a couple weeks to prepare for ConnectiCon, then a couple weeks after that the Stoneham store should be opening and I'll start my new full-time supervisor's position! I'm going to start looking for apartments soon. We might just stay in Medford for convenience but I'm going to actively look in Stoneham so we're closer to work, and also in Wakefield and Melrose. MAYBE Malden and Somerville but I'm not big on Malden (especially when you have to pay for "city garbage bags") and Somerville's touch and go depending on the neighborhood and the best neighborhoods like Davis and Ball Sq are probably a lot more pricey. Plus there's almost no on-street parking for visitors. I need a place where my friends and family can come to visit and not worry about being towed or have to park 3 blocks away. We might look for a 3-room so Gahm can move in too because everyone in that household wants to get rid of Susan and her drunken "I have cancer so I'm going to do coke and drink myself to death" mentality. That's if he's interested in living w/his brother, sister-in-law and future nephew (or niece).
So tomorrow when I go back to work I hope they have more news about the Stoneham store. It'll be good to be armed w/that info when I tell my parents I'm pregnant. Having a full-time, better paying and better benefits job will really soften the blow of how soon in my life this happened.
I'm off to finish uploading to flickr then off to bed. I'll post more when I have more news.

First Ultrasound

I had my first ultrasound yesterday, and it turn out I'm already 13 1/2 weeks along! I'm due December 23rd. As much as I'm dying to tell my mom, I don't want to ruin this weekend. I can't drop a bombshell like this and then be like "Well, I'm off to Maine!" They'd either be like "You can't go to a convention! You have to save money for the baby and you shouldn't be travelling in your condition!" Then they'd be worried about me all weekend. If I tell them next Monday then we'll have plenty of time to sit down and discuss my course of action. I'm expecting more shock than anger. They'll be disappointed that I let something like this happen too soon, but they already know from personal experience that even when you're careful, accidents happen. I mean that's how I got here. So they can't be pissed at me. It's not like I did it on purpose. Their main concern will be my financial situation. They're going to ask how I'm going to afford to get my own place - because there's no room here for an extra baby and for Wig to move in w/me - and raise a child while trying to pay student loans. They don't have the money to spare to help support me but I know my grandparents do, but I feel guilty and selfish just assuming they will lend that kind of money, even though I'm sure I will. I'm already actively looking for a full-time job and I know Toys R Us will give me extra hours if they can spare them in the meantime - and if all else fails, there's that supervisor position at the Holiday Express when it opens. But I already have a response to one of my applications that looks promising. I had another call-back but it ended up a no-go as they were looking for someone with definitive classroom experience. At least they called back. Wig might have a lead at Stop & Shop. It's the dreaded "We'll call you back" period where you don't know whether they will or not. But they are hiring now, and last month when Wig first applied they called him in 4 times for mini-interviews before telling him they weren't hiring 'til June, so it's a better lead than some of the roads he's tried to take in the past.
The hardest part right now is dealing with Wig's depression and anger. He can't get over the fact that he truly believes he's just going to snap and that this is the end of his life as he knows it. No matter what I say or do I can't convince him that everything will work out for us, and that I know he's too good a person to become an abusive bad father. He's going to get worse when he sees the ultrasound picture and I tell him how far along I really am. He wouldn't let me bring it up last night. I know he'll come around, it's just how long before he does. Is he going to be miserable the entire pregnancy? I need him to remain his sweet, romantic self or else I'm going to fall to pieces. This is the happiest time of my life and I want nothing more to share that with him but he can't relate. I wish he could've been there for the ultrasound. It hurts that I was alone for my first glimpse at my baby. I just hope he's there for the first movements too - that they don't happen before we can move in together or happen at work or something. And of course he HAS to be there for the next ultrasound and when I find out the baby's gender. Which I'm convinced is going to be a boy. My first appointment with the ob/gyn isn't until July 19th so it's going to be a long wait. But so far I've felt fine and the baby looks normal on the ultrasound so I don't think I have anything to worry about. I think it's amazing that he's only 3 inches long right now but he already has fingerprints! No crime in the womb, they'll be able to track him. You could say he already has a big head like Wig but their heads are always larger at this stage of development. It might normal out as his body grows, we'll see.
I'm slowly telling everyone. It's tough to have to wait to let some people know but I've told Flav, everyone who was working yesterday, and all my online acquaintanes at Expansion Mansion and the CreateCrochet Etsy team. So far nothing but support and happiness. Wig is the only one against this pregnancy, so far. I'm sure some of his friends and relatives will have a negative reaction too, but the general consensus is that this is a good thing, just a little ill-timed but not impossible to pull off. I have the support of possibly hundreds of people so I feel secure. I have a long journey ahead of me, and I'm glad I won't be alone.