Eek! It has been a
while! Where does the time go? Hmmm where to start? Oh Yes, the convention!

I had an absolute ball at the convention. I ran into two long lost friends; one
I have not seen in seven years and one I see usually about once a year at fair.
I had the opportunity to see several of my favorite actors, which was truly
amazing. My very favorite was Kate Mulgrew. I love listening to her speak. She
is articulate, opinionated, funny, strong, and caring. I could listen to her
for hours. I also adore Nana Visitor. Quite the nicest actor I have ever had
the pleasure of meeting. She is so warm and friendly and really interested in
her fans.

I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting several ST actors when I used
to work the cons. Most were so charming and friendly, but there were a couple I
could not abide. I am a fan, but not a fanatic. I rarely get autographs (I am
always so tongue tied and fear coming across as really stupid). Anyway, I had a grand time and am very happy I decided to attend.

Let's see, the next big thing was the Shadow Lane party, Labor weekend. Okay,
for those who don’t know and I have never told…I am dyed- i n-the-wool~ spanking
enthusiast and darned proud of it. It took me my whole adult life to
finally admit this out loud to myself, let alone to anyone else...which I did 5
years ago. I love to be spanked, pure and simple. It has nothing to do with
humiliation and everything to do with who I am. It relaxes me, it helps me
de-stress, it brings my spanking partners and I closer together. It can be fun,
it can be invigorating, it can help me sleep, it helps me focus and put things
in perspective. It fulfills needs in me I never guessed at. It is a life long
desire, need and near obsession, I have had since I was a very little girl. It
is a wonderfully intimate, wonderfully special way to spend time with
wonderfully special people in my life. I am whole now that I have admitted this
to myself and happier than I have ever been in my life. It is as much a part of
who I am as is my love and need of Faire, my love and need of family and
friends. Like faire, since I “came out” about this, I LIKE myself, I love who I
am and who I am becoming.

 That being said,
Shadow Lane is a spanking group. A BIG spanking group that hosts parties once
or twice a year here in Vegas.  I had
THE most marvelous time. My friend David flew in Thursday. I played from the
time David and I arrived at the hotel on Thursday afternoon clear through
Sunday afternoon. I actually had to turn down one of my favorite people Sunday
night, cause I had reached my limit. (Of course, he WOULD ask on the last night
of the party, silly man!)

I made new friendships and renewed old ones. I had five play partners all told;
four of them were for the first time. Of those four, I was already friends with
two, one I knew of but hadn’t had a chance to talk with and one was a brand new
friend. My friend David acted as my escort and we played several times over the
course of the party, starting with our arrival at the hotel. *Smiles*

I had the privilege of playing with one of my best friend's fiancé. They asked
me to be maid of honor when they get married next year!  We didn't get to play last year cause they were
there for such a short time. I loved playing with John. Kat and I ended getting
spanked together by him as well as playing together the next day, with John and
I on one bed and Kat and David on the other. BIG step for me! I don't play in
public, but this was a big baby step for me as I trust all three of them
implicitly. (All right, for those of you who may be wondering, when I say play
it is purely spanking.)

I played with another's friends Top and I'm not sure I will play with him
again. He is used to playing with her and she is a self proclaimed masochist.
The harder she is spanked, the longer she can go. He didn't really hurt me, but
he didn't listen to me either. (He used way more wood than I cared for after I
told him I don't much care for wood). He is a wonderfully nice man, don't get
me wrong and we have started to build a friendship, but if I am to ever play
with him again, we'll need to talk A LOT first! *chuckles*

I met a new gentleman who is a Dom and who is local(Be still my heart) and had a
wonderful time with him. We talked a lot before we played and I really enjoyed
our time together. I told him he may change how I feel about Doms if this is
really how he is in real life.(I have had some horrendous experiences with self
proclaimed Doms and Dom wannabes. Pretty much turned me off to even thinking
about a D/s relationship). Anyway, we have exchanged emails and I do believe we
are meeting next Saturday.

I may or may not have mentioned my Uncle Devlin. Well, two of my friends are
his "daughters" like I am his "niece,” which makes them my
"cousins." Well, my one cuz, who is fairly newly married, introduced
me to her husband and let him know that I am part of the
"family" and he promptly took me to their room and
"welcomed" me to the family. *Grins* I loved playing with him as
well, and we had a lot to talk about as they live not too far from where I grew
up.

The party proper was really good. They had the vendor's fair Friday night and I
bought a new strap, like the one my friend Bryan has and leaves here so he HAS
to come and visit me! *giggles* Mine is a wee bit longer and a lovely shade of
burgundy. It needs to be broken in though. It is rather stiff, not like Bryan’s
that is all soft and supple and yummy. Yes, I am definitely a fan of leather.
*sighs*

Erm, yes…anyway…Saturday night was the
dinner dance and it was very nice with everyone all dressed up and
glitzy. I danced a couple of times, but mostly enjoyed catching up with
friends. There were several suite parties but I don't handle those well. Too
many people, not enough room...too much noise...I had two panic attacks, one
major and one very minor, but survived them both.

On Sunday, David
arranged a trip to Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum. (He works for the Madame
Tussuad's in New York so gets free tickets!) It was fantastic...I did the
typical tourist bit and had my picture taken with a few of my favourite actors.
(I wore a shirt that says "Bad is the New Good" whilst standing next
to Elizabeth Taylor who was in a stunning purple gown that I absolutely drooled
over...I am SUCH a girl! *sighs*) Normally I HATE having my picture taken...I
have no idea what came over me. **The roll of film that had 99% of the pictures I took at the museum as well as those taken of my friends and I did not turn out. *pouts* I am waiting for Kat/John and David to send me what they took.**

I took David to the Airport on Sunday night then went back to the hotel and
stayed with Kat and John in their room. They knew I didn't want to be alone.
They took me to dinner and I got tipsy on the best margarita I have ever had!
(Kat got tipsy too and John had his hands full with the two of us! *LOL*)

I got home Monday and promptly crashed...very hard. I had post party depression
for about a week, just like the post Faire depression I would get after the 7
weekend run of Corona Faire.

I can't believe it is over already and I need to start saving now for the next
one. *grins*

 Now my focus is my
Faire in October. FINALLY! One whole awful year with out faire! I had a great
reason, mind you and I am looking so forward to seeing all my faire family. I
have two of my faire family coming to stay with me during the faire, so I am
really jazzed about that! I need new garb! Yea me!

 Well, I need to
get back to cleaning. *Sighs* Have a great rest of the weekend!

*hugs and snugs*

Love, Light and
Laughter,
Ame