What Happens in Vegas…

Friday, August 10, 2007

Page 11

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

What Happens in Vegas…

By J’AMY PACHECO

Is there anything more exhausting than a vacation?

I just returned from a convention in Las Vegas, and I can’t remember the last time I was so tired. Was it worth it? You bet!

From the moment we arrived, we were busy. Shortly after signing in and collecting our badges, my mother, daughter and I started catching up with friends and headed to our first seminar.

Two classes and a reception later, our first afternoon and evening were gone. We definitely overbooked ourselves.

I think I averaged about four hours of sleep each night. Part of it was because I spent time in my hotel room putting the finishing touches on costumes, preparing for a class I taught Thursday, and trying to keep our room organized so the Sunday packing wouldn’t be a nightmare.

But part of it was that I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep in the hotel. It’s not that it was bright or loud; the bed wasn’t any less comfortable than any other hotel room bed. I may have been over-caffeinated; or just preoccupied with making sure everybody got where they needed to be and had what they needed to have. Whatever the cause, I couldn’t sleep.

But the exhaustion is nothing compared to all the “stuff” that followed us home. My daughter cleaned out the traditional opening night “Freebie Table,” where convention attendees deposit all of the doll-related cr…er, stuff they no longer want. That’s Nirvana for a little girl, and my 11-year-old brought home two tote bags filled with detached doll heads, fabric swatches, doll clothes, and even an ancient tube of Barbie lipstick. I can hardly wait to start sneaking her finds into the trash. Shhh…

Speaking of my daughter, I got to see how she’d look as a drugged out hippie. Each day, there was a themed meal event, and one was a 60s night. My daughter was adorable in her tie-dyed t-shirt, embellished jeans and bare feet, but freaked me out when she posed with a pill bottle favor from our dinner table. Yikes.

But I also got to see her gloriously attired as Elizabeth Swann from the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie. Making the voluminous burgundy gown nearly did me in, but the end result was well worth the effort.

While we were relatively restrained in the salesroom, we would up with a pile of new dolls to bring home. For the first time, all three of us won prizes in a drawing. Both of my wins were big – a tall, heavy doll, and a bigger doll that came with a trunk filled with clothes.

My daughter went for quantity, and ended up with two baskets filled with oversized Beanie Babies, three jigsaw puzzles, a backpack filled with small dolls and Heaven knows what else. I do know it included, for some reason, a big bag filled with potpourri. Worried that we’d never get everything in the car, I left it for the hotel maid.

I knew we’d bring home doll stuff, but I didn’t expect to come home with a large black candelabra from the “Gothic” night; nor did I anticipate winning a centerpiece consisting of a heavy glass plate, three candles and a bunch of smooth pebbles.

We may have won two centerpieces, but we didn’t win in the midnight pajama bowling tournament. Even my new Tinker Bell flannels couldn’t help my team, which probably ranked last – but likely had the most fun.

Despite having an average of about 20, I managed to come in at the top of my team with 136. They were impressed, but I couldn’t help noticing that I would throw a strike, then a spare – and then two gutter balls. Go figure. We each got a little silver trophy for our efforts – Two more things to put in the suitcase.

We got so busy that we never did make a promised trip to Circus Circus. In fact, we never made it out of our hotel until it was time to get in the car. We didn’t even know it had rained while we were there.

I worried about fitting everything in the car, but somehow, it all worked out. How is a mystery of physics that I’ll never be able to explain, for we definitely brought home more than we left with.

We had a wonderful time, but by the weekend, we were ready to go. At home, I was too tired to unpack anything more than our toothbrushes and hairbrushes. I’ve got a pile of laundry to contend with, and tons of dolls to sort through and find places for.

Our convention group has a saying – “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Good thing, because from the looks of my suitcases, nothing else did…