Well, I've returned to normality and miss the hurly burly of the convention already.
My feet don't, however.

Before I resume the madness that is Oil Bath Bubbles, please indulge me as I share with you my personal highs and lows of the last week.

I think I'll start with the lows, just to get them out of the way.

I don't like griping, so I'll keep them brief.

Exclusive items: A great idea, IF the real fans ever get a chance to buy them. It didn't matter what I did to get to the areas early, either items were sold out in two days, or VIP and admin badge holders had already bought them before the rest of us were allowed into the building - a bit of a kick in the teeth for life long lovers of the saga, and just encouraging scalpers quite frankly... bah!

Lining up for line-ups: The whole 'get a voucher before you get an autograph or pay for art' thing. This meant I spent more time in lines, thus missing panels I wanted to see, and totally missing several rooms... doh!

The Opening Ceremony: Meh. The cake was cool though

OK - enough of being an old, ungrateful fussy pants.

What rocked about C IV?

Meeting the bloggers: It was truly wonderful to get to meet the wonderful folks who make these blogs what they are - Deej is an absolute hero for organizing the meet and greet, Granny-Wan is now officially Super Gran for sorting out the tools for the weblink and Michelle is an angel for sending all the prizes for our trivia games - there are still a few folks I didn't get to chat to for long enough, but come C V I'll rectify that oversight!

Chatting to strangers in the lines: Star Wars fans - they're just like you and me!

Meeting inspirational artists: It was great to chat to Steve and Randy, and I got a thrill when Joe said he liked my blog I also had some time to talk to Harrison Ellenshaw who (along with Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie) was the main reason I went to art school all those years ago.

Stooging for a while: It was terrific to finally get to sit and have a good old chin wag with The Stooge, and even better to play games with Hannah, the cutest Stoogling in the room!

Seeing the convention through the eyes of a child: When Darth Travi turned up, the look on his face said it all. My young apprentice couldn't believe he was surrounded by so much... Star Wars... and nearly lost his ten year old mind. I was right there with him

Endor: The thrill of seeing the tree we built placed in the Endor diorama - despite the fact that our walkway looked like a drunk ewok had built it.

Autographs: I added about 16 new signatures to my old, yellowing, beat up first edition copy of Star Wars. Oh, and Greedo likes me, and Ray Park signed my DJ Maul shirt and wants one himself!

Greedo: I doubled the size of my Greedo collection in one fell swoop. Oh yes - I shopped first.

Loot: Ye Gods, Pidluk, Darth Kerfuffle and I bought way too much stuff, I'll lay it out and take a picture of it to show you at a later date.
Way too much stuff....

JediPrincess77: Bethany did us proud - she blew everyone away with her singing at the celebrity competition, and I heard several people muttering afterwards how she should have placed. And I have to say that GreenandWhitejedi is the tallest and most caring PA she could ever ask for.

Speaking of GreenandWhiteJedi: I'm now sitting here staring at a couple of clones he brought to me all the way from Japan - dude, you are generous and jolly nice to boot. I take back everything I said...

Charlie Ross's One Man Show: I laughed like a drain, then cried when he ended with the words "celebrate the love" - I'm getting too emotional in my old age.

The Clone Wars sneak peek: I cried again. Yep - blubbed like a little baby. I guess Star Wars does mean a lot to me... BTW - Dave Filoni: possibly the nicest guy at the entire convention!

Amira: Not only was Amira graceful on stage, but she was gracious offstage, enduring the rigors of a two hour interview session with Paul and I, and coming over as a beautiful person inside and out - thanks, Amira! BTW - watching a stormtrooper belly dance: priceless.

Wookieepedia: It was great to meet Bob and the boys at the wookieepedia table - Darth Travi is now a convert

And finally: My lovely wife walking over and waving a couple of Celebration Europe tickets in my face, even though we both know we can't really afford to go, but it's a good excuse to go and see me mum

And that's it for now.

The Oil Bath is getting back up to temperature - very soon I will be kicking off Threepio Week, and the next chapter of The Suns of Solamonn will also trundle along very soon, so until then,

Adieu, mon petite saucisson.