Good morning. Nothing much going on here. Got everyone’s luggage sitting by the fireplace in the living room. Gonna load it up and haul it over the mountains today, along with Kendra’s wheelchair.
Saturday we load the kids and grands into the van and go over the mountain to check in at the hotel. Grand Lodge officially starts at 1:00 pm on Sunday but that will be mostly people checking in at the hotel and at the GL registration table to pick up their credentials, schedules, meal tickets, and welcome bags. The formal banquet starts at 6:00.
We got the final count for registrations and meals while we were in Cheyenne, and our total count is larger than anyone anticipated. For someone throwing a three day party for 120 Masons, plus their wives and in some cases their kids, I am remarkably calm. I have done what I can, I have allowed wiggle room for plans that don’t quite work out, and I’ve finished writing Ken’s two speeches as well as my own address to the ladies as we pass the pin down to Cindy. I have to make up 30 additional welcome bags for the “forgot to send in my registration...can we still get in” people.
I keep a tote in the living room and as I think of little things I should take, I throw them in there at that moment. Jenny didn’t have any hose or fancy jewelry, and Evan needed a black tie for the “black tie affair” on Monday night. (THAT is going to be a total hoot - the dress is casual, casual, casual, but to poke a little fun at the pomposity of these events, they must wear a black tie with it somewhere. So blue jeans, t-shirts, and a black tie will be the dress of the day!) I still had Katie’s dress shoes here from South Dakota and I bought extra paint brushes for our Q-tip painting class because suddenly 11 more ladies have signed up. Some ladies said they’d prefer to just play games and visit, so the Tenzi game, fresh decks of cards, some dice for 10,000, and two cribbage boards have been added. We bought Kendra the cutest little formal for formal night...that’s on top of the tote and I’ll hang it in my garment bag when I get my formals out. I need two of them - one for the formal dinner and one for the Formal Public Grand Opening. Then there were the newspapers with articles about Ken and/or cornerstones that I need to give to the Grand Historian, the glue gun in case a Blue Slipper came apart when they were hauled over, and the gift I bought for the incoming Grand Master’s Lady. That “last minute tote” is filling up fast!
At this stage of the game it’s mostly out of my hands. If I’ve forgotten anything, it’s just going to be a little thing and
Walmart is just across the street for incidentals. Bring it ON, Grand Lodge of Wyoming - this lady is ready!!