Yes, I'm still alive

I was just off the grid for a while.

First I spent two days in beautiful downtown Peoria, Illinois at a healthcare convention. I kid Peoria, I really like the city. It gets a bad rap in Illinois. It has to have the best traffic of any place on the planet. When I got there I couldn't find the entrance to the hotel parking garage. I was able to drive in circles through the city looking for it. Not once was a I run down by a city bus or a cab. I wasn't honked at even when I slowed way down to read street signs. There was just no traffic. Several convention attendees also commented on it.

I did a presentation at the convention. I had no information to share. My topic was picked last winter. Then the government put a hold on the changes. The hold was supposed to be lifted by now. It hasn't been. My co-speaker and I had to scramble to come up with material. (Side note, she was my third co-speaker, they kept dropping out on me - well, one quit our company to work for a client, one found out she had a conflict, and this last speaker actually agreed then found out she'd misheard the topic and really didn't want to speak on it because she knew nothing about it, but she did it with me.) But the audience didn't seem to mind, we got good feedback and had standing room only. I met a speaker who had a session at the same time, he had relevant current info, and virtually no attendees. He was a bit miffed. Tee hee.

Anyway, I had great time traveling again for work. I'm planning on putting in more speaking proposals for next year (when we'll travel to sunny Springfield, Illinois - I tell you, Northern Illinois has no respect at all for "downstate"). I'm also hoping to go to Michigan in April. Mr. Incredible was hoping I'd get sent to California next year, but I really don't think that will happen.

As soon as I got back we left for our family vacation. We went to Disney World. We have a time share there, so our room was paid for. We bought annual passes when we went last year, so our park admission was paid for. We needed to get there and back and food. We couldn't pass it up.

It was really hot, moderately busy, and a good time. I would have liked to have more downtime. I get so little relaxing in at home, I'd like to relax on vacation. Mr. I and Violet like to go, go, go. Next time we go, I'm going to ditch them and go to the pool on my own. There's a beach chair and a frilly drink with my name on it. They both like wild rides much more than I do anyway.

So we are back home. I'm almost caught up with work. I had a blow out with Girl Scouts (now isn't that a familiar story). This will be my last year volunteering. I'm going to finish up the rest of my commitments then turn in my...well, I don't have anything to turn in. I'll just quit. I've finally come to realize what so many volunteers have figured out before me, Girl Scouts is a business first and foremost and volunteers really are the least of their concerns. They don't care if they increase our burdens with no notice or change our job descriptions mid-year. It isn't about us, or about the girls. If you want the full story, let me know and I'll e-mail you. I won't bore everyone else.

Speaking of Girl Scouts, I do plan to keep my commitment to Violet who does still enjoy the program. That said, she loves selling and more importantly earning stuff. Starting Saturday is the Fall Product Sale. She'd like to earn all the patches. To do so she needs to send out 10 e-mails and 10 snail mails about magazine sales. She doesn't need to sell any. Many of you let her send you e-mails or mailings last year, if you are willing to get them again this year I'd appreciate it. The e-mails (there will be 2) come out next week and the week after), the mailing in January (you might get a second mailing, the info is unclear on that). The company doesn't keep the e-mails or addresses or sell them to any one else. If you are interested just e-mail me, freakmom@gmail.com. I may e-mail some of you from the list last year to confirm your continued willingness. No is always an acceptable answer.

So, that's where I've been. Playing big shot in Peoria. Hobnobbing with a mouse. And causing a scene in a Girl Scout office.

Who says my life is boring!