Conference

Well,today is the last day of my conference. With me leaving the Board positions that require attendance and with the dreadful economy it's not likely that I'll be able to attend any of these in the near future. I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had to attend them in:

New Orleans (and also met up with some Leaky peeps at the airport after a Harry Potter Symposium there that was ending just as I arrived). I'd never been there, and it was really fun to have that experience. We saw some pretty cool stuff (including a little hut that looked a lot like Hagrid's Hut) and went on a River Boat cruise.

Atlanta this was a cool trip because my mother's people came from Georgia. We went on a Gone With the Wind tour that was very entertaining and educaqtional, but the most fun was getting to meet Ed's Uncle Farrell, who lives in a small community not far away. Ed found out that some of his German ancestors were gypsies.

Chicago this was also an interesting trip as we got to attend a lot of the cultural museums they have there, including a Harry Potter movie touring museum that was a lot of fun. The best part of this event however came after the conference when we drove 4 hours into Michigan and spent the Memorial Day weekend with Ed's cousin Mary Jane and Aunt Mary. Those two ladies are too much fun!

Reno this year's event is only two hours away from Sacramento where my Dad lives, so we'll be leaving here and stopping by to see him before heading down to Fresno to visit with Ed's brother and his family. We went to Virginia City yesterday and got to experience some of their history.

I've walked away from every one of these conferences with great connections with peers from all over the country and even the world, as this is an international conference and several other countries are represented. It's interesting to see how people doing my job do it in the UK or Bulgaria or Nepal, etc. And I've managed to bring back with me something I could use in my office, whether it was a nuts and bolts skill or a different way of looking at a problem I've been dealing with.

I'm grateful to UMCA for giving me the opportunity and to my City for supporting me.