K-CSRR, Part 4 of 5

All righty! It's after dinner on Saturday, I have laughed, I have cried, and I have gotten a fabulous goodie!

And... there was something going on in my brain chemistry that I can't quite identify properly. It might be *curiosity*. It might be *inspiration*. Then again, it might be plain old *insanity*. Because after a full day of classes and being around people who love Club Scrap, I was starting to wonder ... maybe ... Should I? Well. For the first time ever, I was wondering if I have what it takes to be a Food For Craft crafter.

EEK!!!!!

So on the way out of dinner, I totally ambushed Shona and tackled her for more info. She was really nice and encouraging and didn't seem to mind at all that I was just totally pumping her for information. (I could swear I started having a German accent, "Ach! You vill tell me ze formulae or you vill DIE!!! Schnell! Schnell!!!") (That's, like, all the German I remember from "Hogan's Heroes.")

But everyone was splitting up, and I was hot. So....

I went up to my room and once again stood directly in front of the air conditioner to cool off. While cooing lovingly over my new CS logo toiletries bag! That thing really is cool, y'all.

Then I tried to decide what to do with my evening. In all honesty, I was wiped out. Three classes in one day! Three projects finished!!!

I thought about making a 12x12 album. That was a class at other RR's, but they decided to go with a different project. I think the new class project is the CD Booklet, although I'm not sure. But Dinah had *very* graciously offered to teach an album class for any attendees who wanted to buy the album kit and put one together that night. What a sweetie! She was on her feet teaching, all day long, and she was going to once again teach what amounts to an entire, intense, full-scale class ... on what was supposed to be her night off? OK, I know CSHQ ladies never have a night off during a Retreat, whether it's Main, Mini, or Rolling, but still -- there's a big difference between helping in the Pro Shop and teaching a whole class about making 12x12 post-bound albums. Dinah is Iron Woman!

Me? I'm a wimp. I had already glued enough things to myself and others, and I didn't want to risk gluing an entire album to the ballroom wall.

And furthermore, I had lost Staci somewhere. I grabbed the phone and called the front desk, and asked them to connect me to her room. She was not there! I left a voice mail, and then I ran down to the crop room to ... I don't know what. What I wanted to do was go hang out in the bar and relaaaaaaaaaaax. I needed to chill out. My brain was bursting with new ideas and thoughts.

I was, of course, distracted in the cropping room by all the cropping. I kept looking over people's shoulders. At Janet and Carrie's table, someone was already putting photos on her ALSB pages! They looked *fabulous*!!! It was incredibly inspiring to see, and I was of course blown away by how good the pages looked, both blank and filled with photos. Too cool for words!

I also stopped and talked to Andy while I was twisting Staci's arm to come relax with me. She wanted to do the Pass Portfolio, but she didn't know if she would make it to Make'n'Takes on Sunday morning. So I told her I would show her how to do one in a bit.

Staci was already in her croppin' pj's, but she very sweetly agreed to come to the bar with me. She just had to change clothes. I'm so much trouble! But I'm so glad she did change! While she was gone, I packed up my sloppy, uncooperative UM's and stuff, and I chatted a little.

Y'know. CS Retreat-type chatting. :D

When Staci came back downstairs, I abandoned my packing-up efforts and bolted for the door, dragging poor Staci along in my wake. I did cut through the album class room, which was bad, bad of me, but I wanted to see how the albums were looking. I know I stopped and chatted with someone briefly (like, "Hey! Looks fun! Gotta go! Bar's a-waitin'!"), ... and then... And Thennnnnnn.....

... And then I pushed Staci down in my haste to get downstairs and have a relaxing beverage. It was all my fault. What can I say? I have no excuse. I might oughtta reflect on how much I wanted a relaxing beverage vs. how much I thought I *needed* a relaxing beverage. Hmmmmm. Food for thought. Anyway, Staci went flying through the air and landed very untidily on her knee. You know Staci's knee? The one she landed on when she fell the day before the August 2005 Retreat? Yes, *that* one.

Dinah and I rushed to her and tried to figure out if she needed ice, an ambulance, a relaxing beverage, or if she was going to be OK. She sat on the floor for a minute until the sting abated somewhat, and then we limped downstairs to the bar. Thank heaven, we made it! No more pushing people down for meeeeeeeee.

The bar at that time was only moderately peopled with patrons, and Staci and I got a table and ordered a couple of drinks. I got a White Russian, and Staci got a lemondrop martini. My drink was *excellent*. I don't trust Knoxville bartenders for the most part because I've never had a good White Russian in a Knoxville bar. Well, that bartender made a *great* White Russian. Staci and I chatted at length -- I loved hearing about her family and her life and the introverts we know and love -- and then we considered our options. I wanted to show Andy the Pass Portfolio, but I also wanted another drink....

We decided to settle up and go upstairs for just a bit.

That's when I discovered the bar was good, but the drinks were expensive. Yikes! I was going to have to be moderate!

Upstairs, I was really rude and rooted around under the display tables, dragging out boxes and stuff for Andy's Make'n'Take. I found almost all the supplies necessary -- gorgeous CS Colossal print, adhesive, paper and mattes, bone folder... but I didn't find the big grid rulers. Then I remembered that they were in a classroom for the CD booklet class, so I just dug out my big grid ruler and let Andy use that.

It only took a few minutes to get Andy on her way to a Pass Portfolio -- Andy? Are you gonna make more? -- and then I tidied up and put all the supplies back. Andy was a *great* student, and I have to say that it really was fun to be able to help with that Make'n'Take in general. Everyone was good!

Then Staci and I ... yes, we went back to the bar. I think we must have seen Shona somewhere in there and told her that we were going back to the bar.

Well... the bar... got crowded while we were out of the room. And *loud*. There were tons of business men on one side of the room and tons of engineering students all over the place. We seriously thought about leaving, but decided to brave the crowd, and I'm so glad we did! After we got our drinks, Shona came and joined us, and although we couldn't speak in conversational tones, we shouted at each other above the din. The engineering students were celebrating the end of their competition. I think they had a good weekend.

Not too much later, Dinah, Nikki, and Karen joined us, and we found a big couch in the corner. The bartender was overwhelmed, and a second bartender showed up for a few minutes but seemed to disappear again later. So it took a long time to get drinks, and it was loud, but dang, it was fun. We were laughing a lot. And I spilled half a drink and had to push people over to get napkins from the bar to clean it up. Shortly thereafter, Nikki cleared the table of all the empty glasses that were sitting around -- whew! With my proclivity for pushing, I could have made a big mess with all those breakables in front of me.

So... time passed, and it was fabulous, and I settled up my tab... after my fourth drink. Yep. Four drinks in one night. I was toasty. I'm just sayin'. It wasn't terribly late, but I was sooooo tired from a full day of activity and all the crazy thoughts in my head (do I have what it takes to be a FFC crafter?), I really needed to call it a night. I bid the ladies good night, and then I headed upstairs, where I crashed....

... And I stared at the ceiling for a long time, thinking, "Can I be a FFC crafter? Can I get a community room to hold banquets? Wouldn't people love the ALSB workshop? Can I be a FFC Crafter???"

Quick Recap of Saturday's RR Goodies:
- ALSB kit!!!
- CD Booklet, including the nifty lock!!!
- A full Greetings to Go pack, with adhesive, and fibers and stickers to match!!!
- Gorgeous toiletries bag!
- Inspiration and education to last a lifetime!!
- Fun & frivolity with all my new friends!!!

Coming up in the last installment:
FFC! -- Playing with ink! -- Great lunch! -- and more presents!! The only down side was [sniffle!] saying goodbye to everyone....