GISHWHES (redux)

*Disclaimer: I am prefacing this entry with the warning that I am a complete and utter dork and everything I say from here on should be taken with that into consideration*

So quite a while back I took part in what has become know as GISHWHES. What is GISHWHES? Why I am so glad you asked fine reader. GISHWHES stands for the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen (get it?).  It was the brainchild of Misha Collins.

Who is Misha Collins?

What?! You don't know who Misha Collins is??!!

 Seriously?!!

I kid. He is/was (his character got killed off but they are bringing him back! Squee!) the star of a show called Supernatural that airs on the CW network. He played the character "Castiel". You can read all about it here and here. (Go ahead, I'll wait....Done? OK let's go)



So anyways, I am a HUGE fan of this show and in particular him and his character, so when I heard about this GISHWHES thing I had to join in.  I even guilted got me cousin to do it with me. 

There were 600 teams of 10, from all over the world, that had to get as many items on the master list as possible.  The master list was NINE pages long, and included some VERY abstract things.  If you have every read Misha's Twitter account you can probably guess at how off the wall this stuff was. (I know you want to see it, it's okay you don't have to beg, here's a link )

We had to create these items using stuff we had around, as well as tapping into resources we could acquire from other people. Basically like a giant art project. It was SO much fun, and a great way to just get out of the mundane everyday stuff.

So without further delay, here's my entries to the GISHWHES.

Item: Recreate the "Last Supper" with action figures

Item: A tea party with at least 50 stuffed animals

Item: Victims of the Croatoan virus*

(the Croatoan is a zombie like virus from the show, I also had added the caption

"Don't let this happen to your family: Vaccinate against the Croatoan virus TODAY")

That last one was a fun one. I used it as a teaching moment for the boys about how things on TV might look real but in reality are fake.

 I had them watch as a made the fake 'blood' (Karo syrup and red food coloring) so they could see while it looked real it wasn't.  We also used makeup (mommy's powder, LOTS of it) to make ourselves paler and had 'costumes' (the dark clothes) to help us get into character.

 I kept stressing while we were doing this that it was pretend and just like they do on TV, so that if they saw something scary on TV they could remember that it was just like we did. With, 1)fake props, 2) Makeup and 3) Costumes, so it wasn't real, and therefore, not scary. (In theory anyway)

My favorite item though was "A random act of kindness", defined as "can be anything for anyone but it must be a surprise for the recipient and you must document it".  I ran out of time before the contest ended in order to do my random act of kindness, but I chose to do it anyway, because I loved the idea so much. 

Here's what we did, the boys and I made a little 'care' package for my Step-Dad (their Grandpa) to tell him how much we love him and how glad we are that he is in our lives.  Here's some pics.

O's Pic for Grandpa

Q's Pic for Grandpa





It was pretty awesome.

One more thing before I end this entry.

Misha Collins also happens to have a pretty amazing charity called Random Acts.  Last year he and a group of others were able to go to Haiti and help with the rebuilding effort after the numerous natural disasters that occurred there.  He's going back again this year, and while I would absolutely LOVE to go, it's just not feasible in my current situation. However, I did want to share this wonderfulness with you all, and see if we can't spread a little love and support their way. Here's a video describing it a little further. Enjoy.