Yesterday, I sorted my purchases from Bath & Body Works; I set aside the two bottles of shower gel, the two bottles of fragrance, the hand sanitizer–in both gel and spray–along with the body lotion, into a box of their own. They’ll be joined by a small collection of travel size toiletries to be used at future BotCons.
Sitting nervously in the same box are some of the items I intend to pack for this year’s convention. Not all of them; there are a few scattered around here that I have to track down but not many. It won’t take much for me to get my toiletries bag set and I’ll be completely ready.
I have the better part of next week free. I took some vacation time–it’ll reaccrue in August on my anniversary date–so I can look around then and see what I can find. Again, it’s not much; I already have most of what I need. There are just a few things that I know I have that I need to find and set aside.
I have my suitcase packed and my outfit is ready. I could practically walk out the door right now. But I don’t feel exactly ready. It doesn’t feel quite real yet.
Maybe it’s because Prime might be staying home. Or maybe it’s because it’s been six years since I’ve done this. It feels almost dreamlike to me.
Yes, I’m getting the exclusives. I’m getting the pin as well. I can hardly wait to get autographs. But it still feels ethereal, like it’s not part of this reality. I don’t know.
On Sunday, Prime and I met up with our friend Shawn and we chatted about, well, everything, for a few hours. It’s looking like we might have a slight glimmer of hope for certain things, but I won’t say what. Suffice to say, while I would love a fully recognized BotCon, I don’t know if I want Hasbro that close ever again; the last time Hasbro got involved, they decided that a Transformers convention wasn’t in their best interest and shut it down. I don’t want to go through that again. I’m still salty as hell about it.
Don’t even get me started on HasCon. That was an absolute debacle and I’m glad it’s been postponed indefinitely. (We were supposed to have the second one in 2019, just before the pandemic, but it never happened. I can’t say that I’m broken up about it.)
Before you ask: I’m not going to grab a ton of stuff. I really only want shirts, if that’s possible. I leave the Transformers purchasing to Prime. But I may grab a couple of things that catch my eye. We’ll see.
Only weeks remain. It doesn’t seem possible. BotCon, here I come.
Iacon East 