It's going to be one heck of a week. We have a big trade show which was originally scheduled for mid-September, but unfortunately the George R. Brown convention center was full of Katrina evacuees, and the show had to be re-scheduled. We are all laying bets: on the one hand, there are no plant turnarounds going on now, so there should be more people available to attend. On the other hand, a lot of the usual attendees are still dealing with problems caused by Katrina and Rita -- and, oh yeah, it's almost Christmas and they probably have things to do. It will be interesting to see how attendance is affected by the timing.

I have to pick up someone from the factory at 8:30 this morning, which means I have to leave my house by 7:30 to make it on time. We'll swing by a couple of customers on our way to the George R. where we'll make sure everything is set up properly. Then I promised a couple of people to meet them at a hospitality suite tonight. I'm hoping it's an early night and I can be home by 8:30 or 9:00. The next two days will be 7:30 AM to 11:30 PM. It's tough, but I can make the equivalent of 80 sales calls at this show.

I've been up since 1:30 AM, baking and wrapping and altering the shirts they sent me to wear in the booth. . I am taking 4 inches off the sleeve length, 6 inches off the body length, and 6 inches out of the width. It's that creepy-crawly fabric that slides all over the place, so it's taking forever. I hate doing this, but I would hate even more wearing a short sleeve shirt with sleeves that hang below my elbows!

The Nutcracker was terrific. We took my oldest grandson D-Man and his girlfriend along with the Little Angel. I took my camera but the batteries were dead, so I didn't get any pictures of the LA with the characters. She remembered the ropes from last year, though, and got autographs from the mice and toy soldiers between acts, and from the Snow Queen, Sugar Plum Fairy, Nutcracker, and Clara after the performance. D-Man surprised me by commenting that Cleopatra Williams, who danced Clara, was just a little kid in the corps the last time he saw her. I had no idea he paid that much attention! D-Man's girlfriend seemed to really enjoy it. It was her 1st ballet. I love introducing ballet to people. I bought them all nutcrackers as souvenirs. The LA was so cute -- when I drove her home, she buckled her nutcracker into the seat belt beside her. I really needed my camera.

Hope everyone has a great week.