As part of my birthday present to her, I hosted Marie for Norwescon. This came with a couple days before and after the con at my house. The cats, after a bit of shyness, decided that Marie was fabulous. (I agree.) She was accepted by all the clowder, even the littlest diva, Leeloo. Mena loved Marie from the start. Pharaoh accepted all proper adoration as is his due. Isis flirted hard, but really, she was just trying to convince Marie to give her treats.
It didn’t hurt that Marie got up hours before me to write because of the time zone differences. That meant there was a human up and about way earlier than normal. I know at least Mena took advantage of that. She got so much love in the mornings that after Marie went home, Mena sat in the library nook and yowled for her. It sounded like the sky was falling.
I showed Marie around to some of the places she wanted to go. We got take out from some of my favorite restaurants. Mostly, we just talked and laughed and talked some more. Between talking with Marie and talking at Norwescon, the sides of my tongue were sore from knocking against my teeth. I don’t know if I’ve ever had that experience before.
Conventions are so much more fun with a buddy. Usually, my con buddy is the Husband and we have a good time. Having Marie as my con buddy was like having an extended sleepover. She is joy incarnate. We went to bed giggling and woke up the same way. We had a great time vending at our booth in the dealer’s room. I heard that she was a smash hit on all the panels she was on. We even managed to find “sister” fabric friends to buy so that each of us had one to take home—each named after the other’s Eberron character. It was a good time.
The only minor sad bit was that the weather was rainy the entire time she was here. Still, we had lots of green and flowers to delight her and not snow. Of course, the day Marie went home, the sun came out. Ah well, next time. And there will be a next time, someday. Until then, we have Gen Con where we will both be on panels and teaching workshops.