Be Prepared

This is the suitcase I'm taking with me to the Crimson Moon party. You can see that there are actually clothes in it since it's not closed yet. This is because I keep finding things to toss into it "just in case". This is my first time ever packing for a party where it's just me. But, of course, like your typical woman, it takes a lot to make me beautiful and all of the beauty aids are also making the trip. I'm also taking two bags of toys but they are always packed so nothing to do there. It's the clothes that I have a hard time with. It's not like it's March or October and I don't know how the weather will be and need to pack for that situation. It's July in Illinois, for Pete's sake. I know what the weather will be like. So I've packed plenty of cropped pants and Bermuda shorts. And sandals. And so many pairs of panties that I'm hoping to have a chance to wear even half the ones I'm packing. But you just never know what kind of day it will be---a skinny one or a fat one. And whether it's a skinny day or a fat day will determine what kind of panties I wear so I have to have a contingency plan in place. I've also got my first aid kit with me. I never go to a party without it. Not that I expect an accident to happen, but it's just one of those things that I learned to prepare for years ago. My first aid kit pretty much has the spanking party basics--arnica cream, Neosporin, Q-Tips, Band aids and surgical gauze in case something REALLY bad happens. I usually also bring tweezers, safety pins, nail files and a host of other "emergency" items that someone might need and not have. And just in case you don't think a nail file is an emergency item, I once saw a lady at a party cry for 20 minutes over breaking a nail and not having a file. I felt terrible for her because I didn't bring one that I could've lent to her. So I learned my lesson on that one. My mother always carried Scotch tape and paper clips in her purse because, in the days when ladies wore dresses and skirts, she was constantly catching the hem of hers on her office chair (this was in the days when she was a bookkeeper, before she went into nursing) and needing to fix it in a hurry. She always told me that nothing existed that couldn't be temporarily fixed with tape and paper clips. Because I don't like to improvise, my small sewing kit is also coming along. You never know when you or someone else might lose a button or tear a seam. And because you never know what the weather will do (aside from being hot as a sauna) my umbrella is coming, too. I know it seems like I over prepare for these parties. But I'm the kind of person who likes to be ready for anything. I don't do well in situations that call for something and I don't have it. I'm not good at ad-libbing.

I'm so excited about this party. I will be meeting a number of people for the first time and I love meeting new people. But I'm also a bit apprehensive because I wonder what they will think of me. I want to make a good first impression. I'm not one of these people that says "who cares?" when it comes to that first meeting. We have all been in situations where we've met someone for the first time and weren't at our best. I remember once when a boy I had an insane crush on but had never actually met surprised me at my locker one day. Feel free to laugh about this. It was 1975, after all, so I've gotten over my mortification (mostly). This kid I liked was named Chris and he was on the wrestling team. I was a wrestling timer and went to all the meets to help time the matches. I was a pool timer as well so I travelled with the swim team, too. Yes, I did it to meet boys. Anyway, this day had started out bad and was about to get a lot worse. Picture Day was three days away and I was having the break out to end all break outs. Between bells I decided to stop at my locker and get my art supplies so I wouldn't have to make the trip back up to the third floor (where my locker was) all the way back to the annex (where my Art class was). I had a little mirror, the kind with adhesive on the back so you can stick them up, on my locker door and decided I had to do something about the zits that were covering my face. I took my tube of Clearasil (medium tone) out of my purse and began to dab it on the nasty looking pimples that were sprouting on my face by the second. Just as I'm doing that, Chris walks by. "Hey, Cheryl". Because I was so intent on what I was doing, hearing my name startled me. When I'm nervous my hands tend to shake so I gripped the Clearasil tube tighter so I wouldn't drop it. Of course, I squeezed too tightly and a bunch of Clearasil Medium Tone gushed out of the tube straight at him. It was like something out of a bad dream. I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole at that moment. But he was so cute and so sweet. "I'm sorry" I said trying to wipe the spots off his face where it had landed. He assured me it was OK. "I use the same kind". Later in the week I learned he was transferring to a class of mine. Thankfully, he never mentioned it again. However, someone must have seen it happen because that night on the bus Cigi asked me "Did you squirt Clearasil on Chris Y.?" I told her "Not on purpose" and then told her I didn't want to talk about it anymore.

So now I go a bit overboard when it comes to making a good first impression. You never get another chance, after all. Maybe if I hadn't been such an idiot in high school Chris might have asked me out. Of course, there could have been a lot of reasons why he never asked me out. I heard later there was a rule about wrestlers dating timers (who were all girls). But I knew it got broken all the time. The moral of the story is to have control over as many aspects of that first meet as you can. If you have to carry Tic Tacs in your purse, do it. I get out the "big guns". I carry a small bottle of Scope in my bag (in a Ziploc bag in case the lid comes off). At a spanking party, where that first impression might mean the difference between that gorgeous new top asking you to play and sitting in the corner with the wallflowers, you can never be too careful.

I was never a Girl Scout but I firmly believe in being prepared for anything. I don't want my good time spoiled because I failed to plan ahead.