Waaaaahhhh! I MISS everyone!!!!!!

I cannot believe that it's OVER! We've waved our last farewell to Pittsburgh, given that last hug, wiped away that last tear and forked over fifty bucks to US Air for excess baggage weight. (Not in my hips for once, either!)

How to recap these past five days? I have no idea where to start. Right now, my heart is full - as it always is - with the love and warmth I get from RT conventions. Maybe I'll just list the things I miss this morning and you can get my drift.

I miss the "coffee klatch". Those wonderful folks who staggered blearily down to the restaurant, requested IV injections of caffeine, then wandered outside to sit next to the bushes like a flock of tired birds. (The Lesser Ruffled Staggerers?) This flock changed faces now and again, but there was a core of die hard chicks desperate for that morning hit. Plumage varied from pajamas and a robe to full makeup and hair (eeek!), depending on the day's schedule.

I miss the messages/voicemails on my cell phone from my Hussy sisters. (Where you at? Want breakfast/dinner/drinks/aspirins?) I miss Nat's twinkling smile, Nic's wicked chuckle and Ci...well, I miss everything about her.

I miss the moments of careful scheduling (if I take my shower now will my hair survive til tonight? Does the white top go with this? Where's my shoes? Can I get down 23 floors to the restaurant for coffee without makeup and not have anyone see me? If I don't wear my badge am I invisible?)

I miss the Hussy "sessions". Quiet moments stolen from all the fierce activity and enjoyed in the warm sunshine, tossing ideas around, laughing, (laughing a LOT), and generally enriching the experience of what it means to be a Hussy.

I miss the hugs and smiles I found myself getting from all the wonderful RT Virgins I helped deflower. (Metaphorically speaking.) And I miss the waves and grins (and occasional snicker) I got from my fellow authors and friends. I miss hugging Hussy Claudia every time we passed in the hotel corridor and trying to hug a cover model every time I passed him. I miss the urinals in the ladies' rest room. (Still haven't figured that one out, but no, nobody used them as far as I know.)

I miss knowing that tonight I get to swan around in yet another costume. Yep, girly thing, but dressing up does it for me. Hence the odd photos you'll see popping up now and again. For the record, I cannot twirl pasties and yes, now and again he makes my brown eyes blue. See next paragraph.

I miss my writing partner, Scott. Our new DUDE Hussy! Can't even go there right now because I'll start to cry or choke on the lump in my throat.

So did you pick up anything there that helps explain the RT craziness? No other way to put it - RT is all about the love! Love of the romance novels which unite reader and writer, reviewer and editor, publisher and bookseller. That love overflows into pools of friendship which deepen with every convention. It's a never-ending source of warmth and affection and I immerse myself in it each year, willingly, drowningly, not wanting to come up for air.

That's why I'm a bit lost this morning. My house is silent, my suitcase contents upchucked over the living room floor, my wardrobe for the day is "normal" and my heart is aching quite horribly. My ankles are returning to something approaching their usual size and I have to think about what's in the fridge. (Nothing's actually moving in there, so I guess that's a good thing, but a lot of stuff has to go!!!) Yep, I'm back in the "normal" world. But my head and my heart are still in that RT Happy Place - the bar. LOL It'll take a while to let it all go and pick up where I left off.

But I have my memories, my Hussy huggygals, my buddy Scott, and a glow in my heart that will keep me grinning.

And of course, NOW I have to start planning for NEXT YEAR!!!!!!

To everyone I met who reads this - thank you and much love!! To those who couldn't make it - I hope you can attend one year and share the love I've found. And to my fellow Hussies.... Nat said it best. I LOVE you all. (But not in that way!)