I could barely see the stage, even though I was staring through the doorway-sized entrance just off stage right. I had only been waiting a few moments to run onto the stage, but my stomach was already turning.

"Come on kids, let's call him out here together," yelled a woman's voice through the sound system.

As I focused on the stage through a layer of mesh, I heard a bunch of tiny voices yell in unison, "SUPER COOPER!!!!!!"

I struck my best superhero pose, prayed I didn't run into anything and ran onto the stage. After striking a few poses and doing the running man, I made my way down the steps and into the aisles of kids. It was time for the obligatory high fives and messing with all adults in attendance.

I tried to not look like a girl playing Super Cooper. I didn't think that would be hard since I was in a big mascot costume, but then I realized I don't really know how to present myself as a guy. So I stuck to the running man and striking manly super hero poses. I learned later even that didn't work.

The costume was made for a man who is 6-feet-tall. Here I stand at 5-feet-6-inches. Thankfully no one could see the expression on my face as I made my way through the crowd. When I held the head up where it should be, I sucked in layers of hot material. When I looked where I was going and caught my breath, the head fell over.

While Super Cooper probably looked like he was having a seizure or trying to give himself whip lash, I was inside dying. Not only was I breathing layers of thick material, I felt like I was being cooked over a fire. I made a quick exit a few minutes after making my entrance. The last thing the kids needed to see was their beloved super hero dog pass out!

If there is one thing I learned from the experience, it's that  being a mascot is not an easy job!

It's hard enough that you can't see, but you also have to stay in character. That means no talking and no taking the head off in public even if you feel like you're going to pass out. But the people who do it right, make being a mascot look good!

And it is a lot of fun. Who doesn't want to make large crowds scream with excitement?

And the reaction of kids to mascot is the best!

So in honor of mascots everywhere, this WTF Friday is for you! Thank you for keeping us smiling, laughing and enjoying events all of all kinds!

Happy WTF Friday!!! Remember to live on the lighter side of life this weekend! Life's just too short to be serious all the time, take it from me, the one-time mascot!

 "When a dream takes hold of you, what can you do? You can run with it, let it run your life, or let it go and think for the rest of your life about what might have been."
--Patch Adams

"My father didn't tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him do it." -- Clarence Budington Kelland

"You were three, LIKE ME!!!!" Speedy yelled at the man wearing the top hat.

"That's right. I was just three-years-old when I found a coloring book just like this under the Christmas tree. On the cover it said 'FUN MAGICAL COLORING BOOK.'"

Speedy's eyes lit up as he watched the blank pages flip through the fingers of the man with the top hat. He listened closely to the story about the magic coloring book that didn't have any pictures.

I watched as my little guy yell 'Abracadabra' at the top of his lungs. His head bobbed along with the magic wand tapping on the coloring book. His mouth dropped open as the man in the top hat once again flipped through the pages of the coloring book, revealing the hidden pictures.

It was quite a moment to watch. My son's first magic show. I can't really tell you about any of the illusions, my eyes were focused on my son. That's where the magic was happening.

When the man in the top hat was finished, we grabbed a bit to eat. I listened as Speedy recounted all of the tricks, the jokes, and even make up a few illusions of his own.

Then it was time for another first - balloon animals. Speedy stood in line and watched each child chose their favorite animal. By the time it was his turn, he had changed his mind seven times. He finally decided on a balloon dog.

Speedy watched the man in the top hat with excitement as he blew up the balloon and twisted it in all sorts of ways. After he made the dog, he blew up another balloon.

"What that's balloon for?" I asked my little guy.

"It's the leash mommy," he answered.

"Of course. Because you don't want it to get away, right?" I chirped back.

My son just gave me that look that said "finally you understand."

Speedy took the balloon dog and walked it all around the fellowship hall. He was so careful walking to the car. He kept it just above the rocks. I was so proud of him. I'm not sure what we do if something happened to that dog.

He gently placed the dog in the back of the Jeep, just like we do when we have our real dog.

The whole way home he talked to his dog. I listened to his little voice as I thought about how great of an evening this had been. As we pulled into our driveway, Speedy said he couldn't wait to show his daddy his new dog. I helped him out the car and reached into the back of the Jeep for his new balloon friend. Speedy's eyes lit up once again as he grabbed the handle and walked the dog to the door.

I reached back into the car to grab my purse and then I heard a loud 'Pop!'

I jumped out the car and yelped "Oh no! What happened?"

As I turned around, I saw my son frozen at the doorstep of our house. In his hands, a balloon leash attached to a floating dog head.

"Mom," he said as tear filled up his eyes. "I just wanted to let him pee in the grass."

I froze searching for the right words to say. My heart started breaking.

"Can you fix it?" he asked as he started to cry.

"Honey, I don't know. The dog is still here. He's just.... smaller," I said hoping to fool him into believing what used to be the dog's head was now his body. "Let's go in and show daddy. Maybe we can figure out something."

We made our way through the door. I now held the floating dog head on a balloon leash. We made our way to Sweet-D, who was sitting at his computer playing World of Warcraft.

"Daddy, I broke it," Speedy cried.

Sweet-D jumped up from the computer consoling our son. I stood behind him still holding the balloon leash attached to a floating dog head.

"What do you have there?" Sweet-D said with the excitement usually used to change the mood of any toddler.

"It used to be a dog," Speedy said with a pout.

I explained what happened. My own heart now broken as this wonderful evening burst into a terrible disappointment.

My husband grabbed what was left of the balloon creation and said, "What do you mean used to be a dog? I still see a dog."

Speedy's head hung low. We weren't fooling him. He made his way to the front door. I asked him if he wanted to go sit on the swing with me, our fallback place any time Speedy is upset. As I walked out the door, I glanced back to see my husband twisting and turning the balloon leash.

In a matter of minutes, my husband appeared on the porch with a balloon dog.

"He's back!!!!" Speedy yelled as he hopped of the swing. "Where's the leash?"

This time it was my eyes that lit up. My husband saved the evening. I mouthed "thank you" as I led Speedy back into the house. "A leash? I think I can come up with something."

I stumbled upon this video this evening while putting together a WTF Friday feature on Darwin Award winner. As soon as I found it, I had to post it here. There is just something about the video's creator that makes me smile!

I've always been a Mac-fanatic, but now I have even more reason to stand behind the Apple brand. Check out this video below for my reasons. All I can say is tisk, tisk, HP.

Kudos prejudicee (that would be a person being against... that's right watch out Ms. Palin. I can make up words too) for being so cool about this. Poor guy just bought an HP.

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.
~ Edward Stanley

From the moment I was diagnosed with severe tendonitis in my wrist earlier this year, I started to develop quite a little talent. Unfortunately, it's not a talent that is getting me closer to my fitness goals.

My new special skill?

Avoiding cameras.

I think it was a subconscious way of hiding the disappointment in myself for not figuring out a way to continue working out despite not having the use of my right hand for a few months.

You see, summer was supposed to be different for me. I had planned on donning cute tank tops, laying out in a bikini and finally returning to the world of shorts. But instead, I allowed an injury to be an excuse.

A few people managed to get me into the background of a few photos, and when I spot myself my heart just breaks. I honestly do not want to see myself. What a terrible place to be.

I don't want this post to seem like I'm digging for compliments or whining. My purpose for this post is to motivate myself. If I own up to my actions, I'll be less likely to let them continue.

I am going to start blogging about my weight loss journey again, and I want all of you to keep me from returning to my lazy ways. If you haven't seen a post about P90X or my weight loss efforts in a while, call me out on it! No posting usually means no action. Its time to get up off my butt and get moving! Simple as that!

I also want to make a vow to you. When I get to my goal weight, I'm going to go get professional pictures taken... who knows, maybe I'll even get some sexy, artistic semi-nude ones done (that's actually on my bucket list). I want to be happy in my own skin again. That's really the one part of my life I'm currently missing.

No more hesitating! The only person holding me back is... well... me. So time to get moving! Thanks for listening and for keeping me accountable!