So I am registered to go the UK Meet in September and in exactly nine days the GRL registration will open at noon. OBVIOUSLY I’ll be there with my sweaty little fingers poised, but…wow it’s weird. Or maybe the better phrasing is ‘a little daunting’.

I mean, it’s been over two years since I got on a plane. Do I even still believe in planes? What if our collective belief in flight is all that is maintaining this thin charade and my sudden doubt is what plunges us to our doom?

OK, that’s not likely. I’m not saying it’s likely. It’s just a worry.

Then there’s just luggage and swag. I mean, I’ve not got to pack for a couple of months yet…that will probably be July, don’t judge me. I was always an early packer even before it became a while thing…but still! I actually got my suitcase out of the attic today so I could air it out in the garden to get rid of that vague ‘damp’ smell.

If I am honest though it’s the swag that has me fidgety. Should I order now and hope for the best? I still have Paris-centric badges from 2020 that I don’t know if I’ll ever get to use. There are two packs of swag at my editor’s (under a panda onesie) and a couple of bags in my hot press. I want some badges and things for the new books, but at the risk of putting the scud on it do I really want to take up more real estate in the house that could be used for Jax’s growing wardrobe?

Planning is just hard in the middle of all this. It obviously isn’t over, but hopefully we’re in a stable enough position that we can function through the ‘not over’ of it all. The idea of putting faith in that for six months time and god knows how many variants is just a bit…like I said, daunting.

But I gotta do it! I was already odd enough before all this started. I need to get out there and see people while I can still converse like a human being and not just through alarmed whoops and coffee orders slid from under a table. Lucky enough I’m on a health kick now (not entirely my idea) so come September/October I might be actually at peak fitness for interactions/avoiding infections.

That said, if I see any of you at GRL or UK Meet then you better take some swag. I have WAY TOO MUCH of this stuff knocking around. (Also if you sign up to my group I’m gonna have special swag for those guys 😀 I’ll remind you in the run-up!). If anyone sneezes or anything, though? You will need to detach me from the ceiling. Or leave me there. It’s up to you guys really!