Finally I got my first part of my Dragon*Con trip report written!
Usually DH and I head down to Atlanta early on the Thursday before Dragon*Con so we can get our badges. Usually the badge line takes several hours to go through and that way we weren't missing any of the con.
But this year, I had just started a new job a few weeks before so I had to work until 5:30 that Thursday. Thankfully, I now work from home so we could leave as soon as I got off work. It was about 5 pm when my boss let me go and we were able to get on the road to Atlanta.
Thursday was just the drive down to my aunt and uncle's house. We got to their house around 9 pm which didn't leave us any time to get downtown. So it was early to bed since DH and I wanted to get down to the con early.
Now I had heard many things that badge pickup was streamlined, but DH was pretty pessimistic about it. He still thought we were going to be in line for hours. We managed to get down to the con around 9 am and then we waited for a whole five minutes to get our badges. It took us longer to walk through the queues than it did to actually get our badges.
This gave us quite a bit of time before my panel. We headed to the Hilton to see if there was any autographs. The Celebrity Authentics line was long but we got in it so DH could get a ticket to get Sebastian Roche's autograph.
From there, we met up with a friend of mine. We went to the food court to have some breakfast. We chatted and people watched until it was about a half hour before the "Are You A Geek Parent" Panel.
I had worked with th Kaleidoscope track folks for months to put together this panel with some of my fellow GeekMom authors. Author and geeky dad Bryan Young also sat on the panel. When we got to the Kaleidoscope track room, the room was about half full. We actually started the panel a little early because the room was full.
My lovely DH took video of the panel until my memory was totally filled up. He left at that point to head back to the Walk of Fame. He told me later that there were about 10 people outside, waiting to see if they could get into the pane.
The big highlight of the panel was being able to meet GeekMom Ruth and GeekMom Patricia in person. And it was just a really fun panel to be involved with. Afterwards, we got a picture of the three GeekMoms, then I had a rush off.
I walked as fast as I could to the Sheraton to get in line for The Guild panel. The line was out of the hotel and wrapped around the building. It was very hot but thankfully I had stuck my Kaylee parasol in my bag. It was my original parasol that I painted and it is starting to fall apart. Thankfully it still opened and make it a little cooler while standing in line.
Even though the line was long, I made it into the panel. It was the first time the entire cast of The Guild had come to Dragon*Con. It was a really great panel, but I left earlier so I could meet Todd at the walk of fame.
I didn't get as many autographs as I did in years past. But I got the entire cast of the Guild, Adam Baldwn (finally!!) and Katee Sackoff. Todd got several others, like John Rhys-Davies, so we have lots of new additions for our wall of fame.
I thought that the dealer'r room closed at 5, but my dear DH told me that it was open until 7 and that he also knew were the BPAL booth was.
Slight tangent here. I've been a fan of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab or BPAL since 2004. The owners of the Lab, Beth and her husband Ted, have been active on the fan forum so I've known them online for 8 years. But since they are located in CA, I never got to meet them in person. So I was really excited to finally meet them.
DH showed me right were the booth was then headed back to the walk of fame. I geeked out at the BPAL, introduced myself to Beth, got a hug and got to smell the Halloween scents which were so lovely. It was great!
By the time I was done at the BPAL booth, I had missed the start of the next panel I was going to so I went to the food court for some food. DH had been at wrestling but he wasn't too into it so we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house.
Next up, Dragon*Con 2012 - Saturday!
) of my favorite moments in the park, such as walking up to the Epcot ball and asking why Mickey Mouse wasn't waving from the top (a popular commercial back in those days), the 'Kitchen Cabaret' show or meeting Pluto for the first time. She'd show it to me every so often instead of turning on cartoons and it helped me remember several details about Disney when we returned almost four years later. If nothing else YOU GUYS will remember all the special moments and she'll still be young enough for the magic to be completely real.
DMGeurts!
I've been waiting for this trip for 5 years now so I'm talking about it a lot. 
I love this time of year and all the beauty in it... Unfortunately, I hate the outcome (winter).
Of course, we still haven't booked, so it doesn't quite feel real yet. Can't wait until next month when we do book!
Her cake is going to feature one of her favorite princesses, Tiana.
