Continuation of the Emerald Cup activities:

At about 5 p.m., I awakened, hopped in the shower, shaved for one last time, and washed with Ivory soap. Every last bit of lotion and body spray had to be effaced from my body so that the tanning solution wouldn’t turn green or clump. As it was, I would have difficulties because there were still remnants of last week’s coats of Protan. I had exfoliated and scrubbed day after day, but still could not get rid of every last bit of the brown stuff. It would cause a few problems during the initial coats and keep me from getting as dark as I needed to for the show. But this was only a minor glitch in a weekend that was bound to be mine.

Three coats later, I was ready for bed. It was 2 a.m. I had chatted on the phone with friends, visited with Michelle Bell, eaten chicken and potato, eaten more chicken and potato, stared longingly at the bags of cookies I had baked the night before, eaten chicken and potato once again, drooled over the room service menu (I had to prove to myself that there was something else to eat in this world than chicken and potato), and wished there was a faster drying procedure than standing naked in a room with the air on full blast. After all, there comes a point when you just get tired of not having clothes on. By the time the last coat was on, the stickiness gone, and the pillows positioned in just the right place so my hair wouldn’t get messed up, I finally snuggled into bed. Snuggled is an exaggeration, though. More like acted like a stiff zombie. I had to carefully position myself so that no limb was touching another limb, and I had to make sure that I wouldn’t roll over in my sleep and end up with a handprint of Protan on my face. You laugh. But I’m serious. It happened to me when I did the Galaxy for the first time. And you do this once, and you won’t do it again. I now put my hands outside of the top sheet so that there is no chance of any strange prints anywhere on my body or face. I also sleep on my back. Did I mention how much I hate sleeping on my back? I usually have incredibly weird dreams or even nightmares when I’m on my back, and I feel nauseous at the same time. Not fun. Nevertheless, it’s the only position I can sleep in which I know I will not roll over and mess up the tan.

The great thing about an evening show is that you can get plenty of sleep. There are no 7 a.m. meetings that require you to wake up before the moon realizes that it’s time to hide; no rush to get hair and make up done while half the world is off in la la land. I managed to get about seven hours of sleep (restless hours, I might add), but the morning was not a leisurely one. A quick hop in the shower to get the excess Protan off, another coat of it applied (this one smoother and more bronzed than the others), a meal of …well, I’m sure you know the answer to this one …chicken and potato, and I was ready to begin hair and make up. After all, I didn’t want to be late for the three o’clock registration meeting.