revlimiter[Staff] Posted December 8, 2023 Author Report Posted December 8, 2023 Okay, I'm SUUUUPER behind on updates. I'm gonna have to phone some of these in so I can get caught up. 10/26/23 - Make a Wish Spooktacular Trunk-R-Treat 84rd TK troop, 39 for the year CREB 5435 - 26th troop and 11th for the year Mandos are friendly, right? They certainly like TKs, right? TKs aren't good at stealth. Or hot-wiring police cars. Don't ask me how I know. Fortunately Mr Pool helped me out of that tricky spot. And then I helped my daughter get some candy. This WAS a Trick-r-treat event after all and her bucket needed some tribute poured into it. 3 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted December 8, 2023 Author Report Posted December 8, 2023 10/27/23 - Rice/Laforce Wedding 85th TK troop, 40 for the year, and I wore my HWT! Wedding troop!!! And this one was extremely fun. The bride and groom were Jedi and TK. The groom received his armor just days prior to the ceremony. Master Kai kept her eye on me. Fellow honor guard. And the TKs with the groom. He's VERY tall for a TK but looked great for his first suit up and the ceremony. 5 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted December 8, 2023 Author Report Posted December 8, 2023 10/28/23 - Boo at the Zoo 86th TK troop, 41 for the year CREB 5435 - 27th troop and 12th for the year BOO AT THE ZOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I love this troop. Always such a good time. We had lots of TKs, lots of Jawas, lots of rebels, and lots of fun. Mandos don't like spiders. It's a thing. I rode the carousel! I didn't break my butt! We met some REALLY tall people. Really, my daughter and I are standing. ... We trooped for like 5 hours. My daughter and I were the last standing. She went back to change and I realized I didn't get to see the elephants yet. The elephants in the ABQ zoo are in a back corner and they have a huge habitat. It's apparently one of the best in the nation (or possibly THE best one). Lots of happy elephants. Acres and acres to play in, most of which is visible around the huge habitat. There was no one at all present. Just this adorable little lady and her snack box. (I think this is Rosie) She and I hung out for a good 5 minutes all by ourselves. She ate nom-noms out of the treat cage. I took some pix, then removed my bucket and just existed with her. So peaceful. One of my top 3 zoo moments in my life at any zoo. 5 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted December 8, 2023 Author Report Posted December 8, 2023 11/18/23 - 2nd Annual Toy Drive for Haven House (1 of 8) 87th TK troop, 42 for the year We don't have much in the calendar for November, but there's EIGHT of these toy collection troops for Haven House. It's a fantastic cause. The first troop was extremely rainy. I was soaked after 15 minutes. We called it shortly after I arrived to work the 2nd shift. heh 11/25/23 - 2nd Annual Toy Drive for Haven House (3 of 8) 88th TK troop, 43 for the year This troop was frigid. Almost freezing and we're all standing in the shade the whole time. I brought something warm. Jedi cloak!!! It looked pretty decent and in-universe. I stayed a bit warmer. But man... so cold. The hand warmers I taped to my chest and the ones I shoved in my gloves didn't help a lot. We called this one early too. 2 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted December 8, 2023 Author Report Posted December 8, 2023 12/2/23 - Carrie Tingley Foundation Cookies With Santa 89th TK troop, 44 for 2023. Official event selfie! Four of us attended... ... and TK9-Mabel. She got to troop also. This event was Festival of the Trees in years past, but the organizers did cookies with Santa this year instead. More personal, more time with the kids, and only Santa and the 501st. Most of the garrison was preparing a float for a local Christmas parade, so it was a light turn out for this event. But it was still fantastic. The personal time with the kids was... well, I don't wanna say "great" but it felt like I was doing some actual good. Spreading smiles. Helping. Like I was at my post or something. Mabel spread a ton of smiles too. She was the star of the show. Santa took a break from his big chair and hung out with us Bad Guys for a while. He suggested we MIGHT be on the good list this year. We didn't stay on the good list very long unfortunately. Mabel and I couldn't resist. After 2 hours, she was pretty tired and ready to stop trooping. We all agreed with the tiny dog that our tanks were empty. This is her post-troop happy face. On a somber note, we discovered that Mabel has cancer in her little snoot (the puffy spot on her right side). That's been causing health issues for all her little life. She's only 2 years old. It may be a treatable kind and we have a vet oncology visit this upcoming week. Until then, I'm trying to make each of her days as good as possible, full of treats and trips out. 6 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted March 1 Author Report Posted March 1 Wow it's been a while since my last update. 10 more troops and a couple months. Spoilers: Mabel finished her chemo and is a happy hero pup. She's doing great and living life! I got diagnosed with cancer the same week Mabel was cleared. Stage 1 testicular cancer. I'm dealing with that now. Onto the troops. 12/9/23 - Cottonwood Classical Make a Wish Winter Stroll 90th TK troop, 45th for 2023. CREB 5435 - 28th troop and 13th for the year This one was a troop at a nearby charter school for Make A Wish. They do a silent auction every year to help one of the local MAW kids. It was their first year requesting the 501st and it was also the same night as a big Christmas Parade troop. Having this big a turnout was a huge win. Soos and Mabel got their very first troop together! I need to get Soos a costume. There's just not many for big dogs... The Mando turn out. Soos might need a little rocket pack... hmm. In the back they had RC balloon launches. Very cool and totally run by the high schoolers. Mabel wasn't the biggest fan of them but she didn't mind so much either. 12/10/23 - Holiday Car Show for Big Brothers Big Sisters 91st troop as a TK, 46 for 2023. This one was the next morning and it was COOOLD. Oh em gee. Super cold. Everyone was still all jolly from the previous night's parade troop, so I cuddled up under my jedi blankie and pauldron. The look was honestly good! Dirty armor would have improved it. Too cold for Mabel to troop that morning. She got to stay home where it was toasty. Gotta pose with Santa... Especially when he has a ride like this! Yeah, this vintage red Mustang was the above Santa's car in the show. He graciously let me plop my plastic butt down and get this shot. Worth the effort! And one with the event organizers. Hopefully we get to come back the next year and we get a little larger turnout. Why only three of us? Because another troop was happening concurrently. I removed my torso and drove over. 12/10/23 - 2nd Annual Toy Drive for Haven House (8 of 8) 92nd TK troop, 47th for 2023. The last toy drive troop (8 of 8!) for Haven House. This one is in the shadows in the cold... it was cold. That cloak may seem kinda dumb but it truly helps. And I feel less bad about the lack of screen accuracy thanks to Santa Maul and Santa Vader. Two troops on the same freezing morning. Good times! As we were packing up, literally every police officer arrived at this parking lot. A few mounted but mostly on cars and bikes. Each officer had a kid with them and those kids all got shopping sprees at the nearby Walmart. Brandon and I walked over and welcomed them inside. We posed for several hundred pix. We had a blast. We were just in the right place at the right time. 5 Quote
BAZINGA[TK] Posted March 1 Report Posted March 1 I hope everything goes good on the health front for you! Bart P.S. What is your definition of really cold where you are? 1 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted March 1 Author Report Posted March 1 12/14/23 - Make-A-Wish Holly Jolly Holiday Party 93rd TK troop, 48 for 2023 CREB 5435 - 29th troop and 14th for the year! I think this was my 3rd troop ever, and my 3rd time doing it. It's a Make a Wish event at a local car dealer and it's always a fantastic time. They absolutely STUFF the office/showroom with toys, have stories with Santa, and give a nice gift to a Make A Wish kid. Me and Brandon escorting Santa and his little Reindeer. My wish was for Mabel to recover from Cancer. I got it. She was very much a wish kid at this point though and rather close to death. More on that later. My daughter and I sat on the floor and listened to the Santa story. Always a highlight. Sorry for all the stickers, but I won't put a kid's face on my stream here. 12/15/23 - Haven House Gift Handout with Santa 94th TK troop, 49th for the year. The actual troop wherein we delivered toys to Haven House! It was the first time they did this event and the 501st (and Rebels) were the only ones invited. It was SO. very. cold. I thought there was no way it would be outside. It was all of 20 degrees that night with high winds. I brought my regular compression suit and not even a jacket... I really thought we'd be indoors... alas. (Bart, it's about -16C with wind in this photo. -6C not counting wind) Before the chilling. Two frozen troopers. But seriously, it was a good event. We gave toys and gifts to the few Haven House residents, posed for some photos, and then scampered inside with hot chocolate. and finally. 12/16/23 - UNM Children's Hospital Visit 95th TK troop, 50th for 2023. Elevator Selfie!!! Three troopers and two Jedi. It was a good time. Megan spreading a little BB8 love in the play area Diane getting her groove on and shaking some dust off And Brandon spreading kindness. It was a great year. 50 troops! I could have done so many more, but life got complex there at the end and kept me from obsessively attending every troop. 3 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted March 1 Author Report Posted March 1 Mabel deserved her own post at the end of 2023. She was diagnosed with TVT, Transmissible Venereal Tumor, in December. She had a HUGE tumor growing in her nasal cavity. It had completely shut it off and made it so she couldn't smell or breathe out her nose. The tumor ate away a lot of bone in her snoot and it was very very close to the thin wall between the sinuses and her brain. She didn't have more than 2 weeks of life left. Maybe 1 week. TVT is one of three transmissible cancers in mammals. It can't pass to humans. It's found on their genitals in 99.9% of cases and is passed through doggy sex. It's not common in the US due to our spay and neuter programs. Mabel's was in her snoot, so she was almost certainly born with it. The tumors grow like fire (like cancer) but don't spread throughout the body. They're super super responsive to chemo but not to surgery or radiation. Mabel got diagnosed and had her first chemo that same week. Some amazing doctors rushed her into a treatment program. The tumor started to shrink immediately. By the 2nd week, she could breathe out her nose again. And by the 4th week, she was a happy little Cattle-Pom again. She was very much my little wish kid during that first week of treatment. No one expected her to survive. I took her everywhere she enjoyed going. We said goodbye to all her friends at service dog class. She went on one last troop with me (the school one with her brother). I even let her have some chocolate. Not a lot, of course. But when a dog is near the end of their lives, they are often rewarded with a little chocolate. They love it as you might imagine. A small amount isn't enough to make them sick. Mabel was at the chocolate part of her life. And then she lived. She had 8 chemo treatments and was pronounced clear. She'll get a CT scan in about 2 months to see if anything has regrown. Then she's scanned at 6 and then yearly. She's my little miracle. 4 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted March 1 Author Report Posted March 1 1/6/24 - Yo! Toys troop for ACC 96th TK troop, 1st for 2024. I believe we had no less than SIXTEEN of these promo troops for Albuquerque Comic Con. I only made one and this is the only pic I have. At least it was warm that day. Just a little snow. I also didn't make the con or any other troops in January. Life been hectic. 2/8/24 - Clone Wars Week @ Pres Hospital 97th TK troop, 2nd for the year This was my first time trooping at Presbyterian hospital and I believe it's their first event request since 2019. This wasn't one to miss. And the above pic got into the Legion and 501st instagram accounts I believe! Gotta love a good elevator selfie. (I'm all the way in the back) Our group. They allowed blasters! I brought my Leia Leveller and made kids smile with pew-pew-pew noises. There were many fun things at this hospital, like this wall of bubble mirrors. We took a TON of pix with kids and the hospital released all of them on social media. I added the sticker here because I don't believe in showing a kid's face in my troop log. The mood was extremely light around the hospital. Everyone was overjoyed to have us, doctors and patients alike. Some hospital troops really tug at your heart. This one filled it up. I was very happy to attend. I'd also just learned I had cancer. It was important to me to attend this one. 4 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted March 1 Author Report Posted March 1 2/9/24 - National Pizza Day 2024 98th TK troop, 3rd for the year. National Pizza day? Apparently a thing. We had a troop at a local shop that does board games and pizza. Good times!! I wore my HWT. Chris, our 2024 GCO, is inside that wampa. It was my first wampa troop. I expected it to be outside. Very much the reverse of the Haven House troop. I was like "how could they have room for everyone inside??" and it was huuuuuge in there. So I wore the HWT and the thermal undies and an undershirt and hand warmers taped to my chest. I was boiling. Chris was also boiling. Neither of us lasted extremely long that night. Master Kai with a board game suggestion! Try to take a nice pic and an ACD just jumps right in the back, lol I love these Good times and good pizza. Would troop this one every year. 2/24/24 - UNM Children's Hospital Visit 99th TK troop, 4th for 2024 An emergency, last minute hospital troop requested by the parents and care-givers of a small warrior with an inoperable brain tumor. I have ball cancer. It's not a huge deal. It's been described to me as "the best cancer you can get if you have to have any." It's super treatable even in the latest stages. I'm in the very earliest stage. My outlook is extremely good. The young patient we were there to see had no such prognosis. He's fighting hard and was an incredible person to meet. He was having a great day when we visited and was so full of life. Full of questions. Full of imagination. If I live 2 more days or 20,000 more, he'll be an inspiration to me for the rest of them. He requested Kylo Ren and Rey. We supplied them. Only one Mando signed up and I was able to take the extra troop slot that the Mercs had for the event. I'm grateful for the experience. I'm a little less grateful for THIS shot. But I love all of my friends who demanded I pose for it. I was in the hospital 2 days after this troop having my right nut removed. And as of now there's at least 99% less cancer in my body than in the above cone-of-shame photo. MAYBE 100% less! I'll know in a few weeks. 8 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted March 3 Author Report Posted March 3 and at last.... 100!!!! 3/2/24 - Destination Imagination State Tournament 100th!!!! TK TROOP!!!!!! And 5th for 2024. 100!!! It seems a little silly but my feeling of accomplishment for this is huge right now. I've been thinking about this since last December, but couldn't make that many troops due to life reasons. It had to wait till March. Five days after surgery to remove one of my balls due to testicular cancer. The extra room in my cod piece is very noticeable! I couldn't troop more than about 90 minutes but it still counted and I'm so proud. Less proud of how I held my little sign... fingers over the P and S... but you can't win them all and we TKs don't have legendary aim anyway. With Brandon and Ben. Brandon was there at my first troop. I bet we'll be together for 200. Group selfie! This was a big STEM tournament at a school and the kids LOVED having us there. No way to stop taking group pix with them. We'd be clear for like 5 seconds and then another bunch would gather us up for another group pic. Which was great! I just wanted one with our group tho. Heidi debuted her Nihilus today, which was awesome. Her very first 501st troop! She's the lady Jedi (Master Kai) who's in so many selfies above. And Mabel. Little Mabel absolutely loved all of the attention. Very rarely was she able to walk anywhere. Mostly it was just kids rubbing her belly and giving her love. She's very good at her job. This was the end of my VERY FIRST troop so many light years and parsecs ago. Froyo with my buddy Gus. And the end of Troop 100 - Froyo with my darling wife Sarah. Same froyo, same armor, just a whole lot more light years on it. 100 troops. More room in my codpiece. Life is good. 10 Quote
Tilheyra[IPM] Posted March 3 Report Posted March 3 Congratulations on 100 troops!!!!!!!!!! Such a happy occasion to punctuate a trying time! 1 Quote
Doggydoc[Staff] Posted March 3 Report Posted March 3 Congratulations on 100 troops Adam. Amazing! 1 Quote
BAZINGA[TK] Posted March 5 Report Posted March 5 100! Wow. Didn't notice this before. Congrats! Bart 1 Quote
MaskedVengeance[Staff] Posted March 5 Report Posted March 5 On 3/2/2024 at 8:06 PM, revlimiter said: And the end of Troop 100 - Froyo with my darling wife Sarah. Same froyo, same armor, just a whole lot more light years on it. And 50% fewer s 1 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted April 11 Author Report Posted April 11 Troop 101 was a birthday party troop at a gym... at which I forgot my bucket at home. 100 troops without a problem and I forget my bucket on 101... UGH. So I had my first event handling and my first non-TK troop. 3/24/24 - Nerd Poetry Slam TK Troop 101, 7th for the year. A small group of loyal Imperials showed up to protect the nerds from Rebels. This was part of a larger city-wide Slam that involved a lot of different stages and poetry types. The finals were later that night. This was the nerdy poetry. TK9-Mabel was ready for some nerd love. And sniffing out Rebels. And treats. Opposite angle shot a few seconds later Mabel was popular. I thought "hmm... this might be a troop for Mabel to get some therapy hours and really connect with people." and it was. She got so much love all day. Didn't mind the loud speakers on stage or the clapping. She was in her zone. We entertained the crowd before the poetry started. I think they only came to see her tho... Later in the afternoon, once the troop was over and poetry was going, Mabel and I kicked back and soaked in the culture. 3 Quote
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