Malice Domestic

Better late than never. I was going to write my blog this morning, but I'm staying at a hotel in Washington DC for the Malice Domestic convention and the fire alarm went off. Of course, my first thought was that it was some kind of test, but the whining sound continued and there was an announcement saying there was a fire emergency and to evacuate the hotel.

Luckily, there was a terry cloth robe in my room. Thanks to Southern California earthquakes, I always have my purse and shoes next to my bed. So, I threw on the robe, grabbed my purse and stepped into my Crocs and headed out into the hall. It was strangely quiet in the hall and I began to wonder if only my room had gotten the fire alarm, but then people began to stumble out of their rooms. I noticed most had more clothes on than I did. One woman seemed almost hysterical as we tried to find the stairs.

Once we found the stairwell, there were others already heading down. I was on the seventh floor, but it seemed like the flights of stairs went on forever. At last we stepped out in front of the hotel. People were milling around as the fire department arrived. They jumped off their truck, grabbing their equipment. The manager came outside and told us that there was no fire. Apparently, only three floors had been evacuated and it had something to do with the water pressure going down on the sprinkler system. But even so, the elevators wouldn't be working until the fire department checked everything out.

I noticed I was the only one in a robe as I followed the crowd back into the lobby. One of the doormen made a joking comment about the casual look being in. So, the choice was mill around in my terry cloth robe and black shoes or climb back up the seven flights of chairs.

I haven't been to the gym for a few days, so I opted for the stairs. I got back in my room just in time for my wake up call, which I obviously didn't need.

Nothing like a little excitement to jazz things up.

This convention is great. All my blog sisters except Linda are here. I'd never met Camille before and barely met Joanna. It was nice to see them in person. Monica came to dinner wearing a stunning hat and Terri and I hit a museum together today.

Now I need to finish my crochet piece for my panel tomorrow morning. Our panel is called Killer Hobbies and we're going to talk about how our crafts are intertwined with our mysteries.

My piece is both a clue and a weapon.