Premiere, Part 1

So there I am. It's 6:00 am on Thursday morning -- Premiere day -- and I'm on my way to Homo Home Depot to get a Jeep-load of stuff to finish off my suite. I make a wee detour to Mom and Dad's to take out my back seat and leave it on their front doorstep with a note saying, "Sorry I missed you this morning. Please take care of my backseat until I come over next time!"

I head to Home Depot. I buy. I transport. I work work work. I take 10 minutes for lunch. I work work work. I stress, I sweat, I plot, I panic, I plan and replan, I work work work. I seek assistance from the senior catering crew, who are realllly nice and willing to help. (God, how I love the caterers here!!!)

I climb ladders, I realize a projector is busted, I try to get a replacement bulb. I can't, so I move onto the next crisis. I put the finishing touches on the suite. I arrange my terrace with plants, flowers, and new terrace furniture. I make pretty red bows with my red silk organza from Shenzhen, China. I start to determine which of the million things I can't get done will have the least impact on the overall experience in the suite if it's left for the next day. And, based on that lesser-of-a-million-evils, I start crossing things off the to-do list.

I greet my deer-in-the-headlights, but really enthusiastic staff. I prepare them for what's ahead, I explain that a Premiere crowd is not your typical crowd, I explain how things will be chaotic, I give them jobs to do before opening. And I realize that they're AWESOME!

And I continue with my finishing touches. I work work work. I rearrange plans on account of the epic rainfall that's happening outside. I pray that it stops, but expect that it won't. I wish I had no holes in my tent, but realize that it's just a pipedream. I meet the temporary catering staff and give them a bit of a pep talk. I think naughty thoughts about a few of the nice young men. I tell them we're happy to have them on our team and blah blah blan.

And at 10 minutes before we open, I look down at myself and shudder. I'm still wearing my grub clothes. My hands are blackened and disgusting. I'm sweating like a pig. My hair is a mess. And I need to do something about it.

Like NOW! After all, it's not every day that we host people like this in the VIP suite!

To be continued...