Instead of the convention

Today is the first day of Conduit, a science fiction convention in Salt Lake City, and I am not there. I’m not going to be there at all. This is sad because this particular convention is like a family reunion. There are so many friends that I love to talk to and it is nice to have them gathered in one convenient location. But conventions always make me excited, and motivated, and ready to move fast. Right now what I really need is to slow down. I’ve been running fast for months on end. I’ve just recently felt like I’m finding more of a balance between family and business. I really need to not disrupt that, even if it means missing out on seeing my friends.

Instead of being at Conduit, I am hosting Kiki’s birthday slumber party. Shrieks of laughter are floating up the stairs from where four teenage girls are playing Cannibal Pygmies in the Jungle of Doom. Kiki has managed to collect an amazing group of friends who are all just as geeky as she is. Instead of going gaga over some boy band star, these girls go gaga over characters from video games and manga. Only they don’t bother with the gaga very much, they’re too busy teasing each other and laughing a lot. I am so grateful for these friends. For the first time in her life Kiki has a group of peers in which she really belongs. So I’m happy to host the event that lets these girls all hang out together.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be cooking lots of breakfast. I’m being very startled at the amount of food these girls are putting away tonight. They’re all in the midst of growth spurts and are ravenous. I knew Kiki was eating more and growing fast, but multiplying that by 4 was a little startling. Dinner leftovers were not a problem. This is probably a good thing because Kiki deliberately made the food as creepy as possible. Sickly green mashed potatoes with red spots anyone? It is all part of Kiki’s “creepy house” birthday theme. She made a treasure hunt, created a creepy songs playlist, and selected games all on this theme. Later they’ll play ghost in the graveyard outside and watch Corpse Bride. Kiki has planned it all. All I’m having to do is provide the location and the food… and curb some of the enthusiastic ideas. I nixed the idea of having burning candles. I know how creative teen girls can get when they’re provided with open flame.

After the crowd goes home, I’ll have some more merchandise shipping to do. Sunday will be a recovery day. And then I’ll be on into the multitude of events planned for the last week of school.

I suppose I could have crammed some Conduit attendance into that schedule, but honestly Kiki’s birthday has been maneuvered around business concerns for at least the last three or four years. It is about time for her birthday celebration to bump a business event. Howard did go up to Conduit this evening. Mostly he went because he had a commitment to do a podcast. Escaping from the invasion of teenage girls was just a secondary benefit. Howard will be at home tomorrow though. He needs to focus on getting the next book done rather than on a convention appearance.