Showtime!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!! Tomorrow the gates open at 8:30 for the BIG show and I have almost finished setting up after 2 long days.......and I have almost survived so far.......
....although I was questioning the survival thing while trying to get in the first day.....
....since I wasn't even close to the gate when I hit this mile long line of dealers also waiting to get in (and the line wasn't moving at all)......
(*above booth pic is of how everything just gets thrown everywhere in the beginning--no matter how much you plan, and plan, and plan to do this in an organized way!)

.....and then seeing my little booth set back in the trees with the lovely sloping slant throughout (I had to wire everything together and then wire it all to the tent--which I hope is still standing when I get there tomorrow!) not to mention muddy ground underfoot (TGF straw!).....
(*this booth pic is of that tricky slant.... and beginning stages of trying to make a stark white tent look interesting!)

....and then having to wait as long to get back out (someone was blocking the road out for a very long time) which was really frustrating......this is the hardest work on the planet for sure!! (and I don't know how I managed to not take out everyone else's booth while negotiating those tight corners!)


I always aspire to be bright-eyed, energized, dressed nice, and ready to rock and roll when the show opens, but reality is more like this: total sleep-deprivation, worn to a frazzle, clothed in 'bag lady' finest (for comfort ya know), and ready for a nap!


So now that all the challenging, yet inevitable, behind-the-scenes show stuff is revealed....

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!!!