Getting Ready for the Heat

On Saturday I leave for five days. I'll be headed to Dallas, TX for my annual Mary Kay Seminar. Haven't missed one since 1992. Wow....my 15th one. The usual happens before any of my Mary Kay trips. I generally get more done in one day then I do in a week. (Proves to me how much we CAN accomplish when we have a goal and a deadline). Of course, the shoe shopping is a must....as my husband says, "Let me guess....black pumps?" It's a standing joke in our house...I need a shoe closet for just my black pumps. And, of course, finding the right gown to wear on stage. Usually I rotate gowns and just re-wear ones I've worn before. You guessed it....black ones...lol..But this year I bought two new gowns. One for my National's awards night and one for the Mary Kay awards night. I must have been feeling awfully special cuz I don't splurge like that. I'll splurge on my daughter but never on myself. My unit will be recognized in the Half Million Dollar Circle of Achievement and I'll stand on stage for about 5 minutes ( a huge 2000 square foot stage that resembles the Academy Awards stage) receive another walnut (or this year maybe cherry) plaque and a 4 carat diamond ring (only this year I'm taking the $4000 cash in lieu of the ring...I've earned 2 honking rings and this year's bling bling will be on my son's teeth instead...you guessed it...braces). It's humbling....cuz the first year we earned the right to receive such a beautiful prize it was ALL for me....the prize, the applause, the walk on stage....everything for me. This year, I really don't care. It's not about me....it's about my incredible unit members who will sit in the audience and say, "That's my director. I was a part of that." And then they'll spin their dreams of standing on a stage one day....and, somehow I know they'll make it happen.

It's also for my dad...for much of my life I've just wanted to make him proud of me. He laughed when I pulled up in his driveway in my first pink cadillac. I just wanted him to say how proud he was of me. He didn't to me.....but I know he did to many other people. Because they told me. I've always had a dream to sit on the Queen's throne at Seminar as the Queen of the Sapphire Division in Unit Sales.....I think I really just wanted to do that because when you do your whole family comes on stage and the company makes a big production of it. The person I wanted most standing on that stage with me was my father....just because I wanted to see the look of pride on his face when his little girl was crowned the queen. I'll never have that experience for real...but I will hold it in my heart. And, one day, when I am crowned the Queen of Unit Sales for the Sapphire Division I know my dad will know....I'll feel his presence and warmth and I'll receive that look of approval from him....I know I will....