The Little Conference - Day One

One thing our family used to do is homeschool conferences. I don’t mean the typical homeschool family that makes a trip to their local conference once a year to get curriculum and maybe listen to speakers. We have this business, you see. It’s called “Active Learner School Supplies”, and the main products are marker boards with different educational “markings” on them…some look like notebook paper, some like maps, some like football fields…very hard to explain, but the website is http://active-learner.com. Anyways, we used to travel to many different conferences as vendors when I was younger, for probably three or four years. It was kind of stressful, but it was so much fun! We’ve stopped, but then a woman we know who lives near us asked us if we wanted to come and be vendors at her little conference at Colonial this weekend. We said yes! It’s been different than it used to be, but still it’s kind of like going back to the old days…

I got up…slowly…ate breakfast, did weed eating (finally figured out that the problem with the string was that I wound it in the wrong direction…heh, heh…), showered, got readied, and mom and I left. The guys had already gotten there to start setting up. We finished setting up…and I wanted to get in my nice clothes, but it was FREEZING!! So I skipped the skirt and just put on my shirt, running into Mrs. A in the restroom. She used to test me, and asked what I was planning on doing. She was so nice…she said that marketing and advertising, even though I was just starting off doing a little bit for my dad, was a real good field for me to get into, since writing seemed to be my “thing”…and it paid more than an English teacher. How nice of her…and to think I’ve been afraid of her all these years! I really like not having to be tested ever again.

After a bit, mom and I went to the first session, going to go see Andrew Pudawa speak. He teaches writing…created some curriculum called “Excellence in Writing” that my brothers use, and occasionally I watch for entertainment’s sake. He talked a lot about creating writers, and that the main thing is talking a lot as a family, and reading out loud to children of any age. I thought the talk was fascinating.

After that, I was really, really, really, really cold. My feet had fallen asleep because I had taken off my flip-flops during the session, sat Indian-style, and tucked my freezing feet up in between my hamstrings and calves. I walked to the Tribute, and with my feet still asleep, drove back to the house (it was kind of a strange experience). I let the rained-on dogs inside, grabbed a sweater, and then drove to the Y’s house. I got in the trash, got the mail, checked on Benny the bunny (he wasn’t hungry), and quickly drove back to Colonial and walked in 10 minutes late to a session on music therapy. There was a very nice guy assisting with the presentation…he had just served an internship with the company who was giving it. He was very nice. I already said that. He apparently had already graduated from college and was about to study for a few weeks (maybe?) to become officially a neurological musical therapist. Did I mention how nice he was? I came in the back, and was going to sit down in the very back, but he came, smiling, to give me the piece of paper that went along with the presentation, and asked if I wanted to sit closer to the front. I consented. Later we were doing a rhythm exercise. I didn’t get the triangle. Well…nobody did, so that was alright. However, I got a triangle-shaped drum kind of thing. The lady leading the presentation was short a mallet to hit it, so she asked the guy (whose name was Will) to get me one. He brought it to me, kind of tripping for no reason. He said it was because he thought that a red stripe in the otherwise green carpet was something he had to step over…….so he handed me my mallet and smiled, briefly touching my shoulder before turning around and heading back towards the front. So we did the exercise, and then the woman collected some instruments, and Will the others. He came all the way down the otherwise empty row to get mine, saying “Thank you very much!” when I handed them to him...I said, “You’re welcome very much.” Wow. Originality and depth of thought just ABOUND, don’t they? Well…at least I didn’t say he had swishy hair, because he didn’t. When I went out the door, I told him “Thank you”, because the lady in front of me did. He said “You’re welcome, take care!” Which he did NOT say to the lady in front of me. I probably blushed, and couldn’t say anything else, so I just nodded shyly and went out…AND I’LL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN!!! *tear* He was SO nice. He also kind of looked like the guy who played Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables…Jonathan Crombie, I think his name is. He sort of seemed like a Rockwell, too. Oh, how I wonder…*sigh*

I finally met up with the rest of my family down at the booth, but was quickly dragged away again by this lady who sells healthy Superfood-type-drinks, wondering if I wanted another free sample. I had my free sample (it IS very good…), and then we wandered over to this other booth selling nature books. It was run by this New Zealand couple who really like animals. They were telling me about all the zoos they had been to. They said they’ve never heard of Wolf Park, but there is this place called Alligator River in North Carolina where a guy will take you out on a boat a dusk, and call to the wolves, who will call back. Apparently those particular wolves are a hybrid between the Mexican red wolf and the coyote. Isn’t that neat? And their accents were sooooo cool…they were pretty neat people.

So, we closed up and went home. We watched Mythbusters, and now we’re watching the Olympics. If I get a chance, I’ll probably blog tomorrow. Seeya!