4:00am
It is WAY too early to be awake and out of bed, but I have to catch an early flight to Houston. After a year and a half of hard work and planning, I can't believe that I'm leaving today.

6:50am
My plane leaves Birmingham and heads towards Houston. The flight isn't long, an hour and forty-five minutes. I try to keep from getting too antsy. I just want to get there as quickly as possible.

8:40am
I am now in Houston. I can't believe it. I chat with a fellow quilter from Alabama, as we wait for the shuttle to our respective hotels. She could tell from my Y2K Exhibit t-shirt that I was heading for Festival, too.

9:30am
The shuttle finally arrives at my hotel, the Club by Doubletree. I want a room, but none will be available until after Noon, I am told. I have them hold my suitcase, and I head outside to catch the shuttle to the convention center.

9:43am
Who do I bump into on my way out of the hotel, but Donna Lawicki and her granddaughter. I recognize them by their Y2K ID tags. Donna and I hug, but don't get to chat but for a second, as the shuttle pulls up. I jump on to head for the Festival, while Donna and her granddaughter head next door to the Holiday Inn for breakfast. It doesn't even occur to me until I am already on the shuttle that the Exhibit Hall doesn't even open for another 15 minutes. I've been up since 4am, so it seems a WHOLE LOT later than it actually is.

9:45am
I'm on the shuttle to the Festival. I can hardly believe it. The shuttle stops at one more hotel, as excited quilters hurry to get on board. Our driver got on the loud speaker to announce, "Alright, everyone. We're gonna have to sit like family now!"

I find myself sitting next to a delightful lady from Australia. She's been at the Festival for a couple of days already. I asked her if she'd seen our exhibit. She had seen it and had seen Chris Cotton's map quilt, but she was disappointed not to see Tasmania. I assured her that Chris really wanted to have Tasmania, but she had run out of blue squares to put around it as water. The lady understood and said that she doubted that anyone from her tour group was from Tasmania. I made her promise not to mention the omission to anyone back home. :) She gives me two packets of gift-wrapped Australian fabric as a parting gift. FYI- The same fabric which we pay $7-$9 a yard will cost you $25 per meter in Australia. OUCH!

10:08am
I am finally at the Festival. Diane Anderson had left a phone message to let me know that our exhibit is in Aisle 1400. As soon as I grab a name tag holder, I head off down Aisle 1400. Our exhibit is HUGE. They have set it up with SO MUCH space for everything. I feel like just sitting down in that area and soaking it all in. The first person who greets me is Karen Veiga's sister. She recognizes my t-shirt, and we chat a minute. It's so great to be here.

I try wandering around looking at quilts and vendor booths, but there is so much to see. People are everywhere, and quilts and stuff and noise assault the senses. It is almost too much to take.

11:00am
I am already too overwhelmed to speak. So much stuff, so many quilts. I can feel my brain freezing up, so I back carefully out and away from the Exhibit hall. I need to regroup and clear my head. I make a call home and talk to the kids, and then I find a second floor room where I can look out on the Exhibit hall below, while I sit and eat a snack. Hooray for Nutri-Grain Cherry bars.

1:35pm
I'm back at the hotel. I grabbed a shuttle back to the hotel, but I run next door to the science fiction store to grab something to take home for dh and my oldest son. Back at the hotel, I want a room, so I can rest and get cleaned up for the party tonight. I've been up for 9.5 hours, and I'm really feeling tired. Of course, the lady gave me incorrect information earlier, and there won't be a room ready for me until about 3pm. Dejected, I sit in the lobby to wait it out. I don't have enough time to go back to the convention center and still get back in time to get cleaned up for the party.

2:10pm
I decide to go into Au Bon Pain for lunch, and I am greeting by a lady saying, "I recognize your name tag, because I have one, too." It was Mary Ellen Zeitz. We chat for a few minutes. She already has a room, so she heads upstairs. I buy a nice sandwich, and by the time I finish it, there is a room ready for me.