While I was waiting for Jenn's session to be over I succumbed to the need for caffeine and went to Starbucks here in the convention center...
Grande Yukon blend, hot with room for cream...
Mmmmm.....
We met back up and rather than go to dinner we decided to take the YS Store by storm during the Thursday night madness sale... picked up a few books, Jenn got a sweatshirt.
Jenn had to be back at the HerStory Conference at 7:30, so we spent a little time walking around the show floor together, and then she headed back and I walked around the show floor for another 45 minutes or so on my own... There are TONS of summer missions organizations here... I'm kind of glad that we already have a great relationship with Youthworks, b/c it just makes it easier to choose them again and again... If it weren't for that connection already, it would be really hard to decide who to go with...
I was also a little taken aback by the huge number of summer camps that are here based in North Carolina & Tennesee... I know that it shouldn't surprise me, since Atlanta is a prime place to recruit for summer campers... Being so far away from most of the camps though, the people working the booth just assume that I'm a lost cause ( small church in Southern Ohio, bringing a dozen teens 10+ hours for a week of summer camp... ) I hope that it is a good show for them... I wonder what the ratio of Youth Workers who are native to this general area ( within a couple hours of here ) is compared to those of us who came from pretty far away...
Anyhoo....
I'm really tired, and not really looking forward to the walk back to the hotel... People keep coming up to me and asking where my coat is, or if I know how cold it is outside...
Maybe I should wear long sleeves tomorrow. I'm still wearing shorts though.
Maybe one more post before bed... I'm not really sure what our plans are after Jenn gets out of her session.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
NYWC Atlanta - Day 1
Well, we're here!
The booth looks good. Different than St. Louis, but still good I think. ( photos of the booth coming later )
The hotel definitely isn't the Mariott, but the room was clean and the shower was hot, and we both got a good nights sleep after a long day of driving.
The Women in Youth Ministry pre-conference didn't start this morning as early as we thought, so Jenn and I didn't really rush to get ready and make our way over to the convention center. The wind here is blowing hard and is really cold, but if it weren't for the breeze it would be perfect weather!
This convention center is HUGE! NYWC is in the B-Hall. We got registered, got our bags, books, nametags, etc and grabbed breakfast at convention center and ate while we poured over the schedule to decide what seminars, sessions, and late nights we are going to hit for the whole weekend, and what we're not going to make it to and will have to buy on CD.
With all that decided ( tentatively, of course... plans are always subject to change based on the rockage or suckage of the speaker, comedian, presenter, etc ) anyway... with all that decided, we took ourselves on a grand tour of the conference center to find all of the appropriate rooms, halls, and boys bathrooms where our sessions would be.
Don't we sound crazy organized... hahahaha
We grabbed a quick lunch at the food court in the CNN center. Grabbed some amazing wraps from a place (aptly) named 'Amazing Wraps'.
By early afternoon Jenn needed to get to the HerStory opening session, so I went to track down Ed & Alan for the setting up of LW booth. Even though I'm not working in the booth this weekend, it made the trips fewer and setup easier to have another set of hands involved.
The booth looks good. Different than St. Louis, but still good I think. ( photos of the booth coming later )
I've found a great little spot in the convention center where I anticipate being perched on and off throughout the weekend. Jenn and I ate breakfast here this morning, and I'm back here now, updating the blog and checking email. It is a little cafe area with a big window overlooking the exhibit hall. Here's the view from where I'm perched at the moment.
This will be a good place to sit, decompress, relax, catch a snack maybe, and definitely update the blog when I have time.
Oh... I guess it wouldn't be right of me to not point out the LW booth. Click to see the bigger version.
Well... That's it for now. I'm meeting Jenn at 5 to see about dinner. Then hitting the exhibit hall and maybe the Worship Together concert tonight.
More later...
This will be a good place to sit, decompress, relax, catch a snack maybe, and definitely update the blog when I have time.
Oh... I guess it wouldn't be right of me to not point out the LW booth. Click to see the bigger version.
Well... That's it for now. I'm meeting Jenn at 5 to see about dinner. Then hitting the exhibit hall and maybe the Worship Together concert tonight.
More later...
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
NYWC Atlanta - The Journey
Jenn and I managed to get out of Chillicothe around 12:15, after dropping off the kids to Tom & Billie.
The nuvi ( thanks Steve! ) took us south on 23 to 32, and then down 41 through West Union to Maysville and then down 68 to Lexington. From Lexington it was 75 South alllllll the way.
That first let isn't what me, or Google Maps would have picked out but it was a good drive.
It poured the rain all the way across Kentucky and Tennessee... We took a quick stop at Lexington and again at Knoxville to stretch and trade off driving.
Arrival in Atlanta at 10:30, checked in and settling into the hotel... Tomorrow morning we're going to scope the terrain, figure out how long it will take us to walk from here to the conference center, and look for a good place for lunch.
More updates to come.
The nuvi ( thanks Steve! ) took us south on 23 to 32, and then down 41 through West Union to Maysville and then down 68 to Lexington. From Lexington it was 75 South alllllll the way.
That first let isn't what me, or Google Maps would have picked out but it was a good drive.
It poured the rain all the way across Kentucky and Tennessee... We took a quick stop at Lexington and again at Knoxville to stretch and trade off driving.
Arrival in Atlanta at 10:30, checked in and settling into the hotel... Tomorrow morning we're going to scope the terrain, figure out how long it will take us to walk from here to the conference center, and look for a good place for lunch.
More updates to come.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Making the afternoon bearable.
2:55 PM.
unanswered email. desk is a disaster. projects to work on. retreat to plan. trip to pack for. iphone that needs hacked. blogs to read. blogs to write. phone ringing. stressed because I write at a junior high reading level...
*deep breath...
*sigh of contentment.
the coffee is good though.
*sigh
Jenn's blog scored a Genius reading level...
This blog is for all the rest'a'ya'll who don' reed so guud tho...
Monday, November 12, 2007
Buzz & Woody - The sad goodbye
Been meaning to post this for several days, but a combination of being a procrastinator and just waaay to busy and preoccupied to sit and blog has kept me from updating...
You may recall that a while back we got some hamsters... Details can be found here.
Well... We got home from work on Thursday of last week to find that Woody hadn't made it through the day... Both Buzz and Woody have been looking haggard for a couple of weeks. I honestly think that our house is/was probably too cold for them to live comfortably in. We had also switched them to cedar shavings instead of pine shavings for bedding and they didn't seem to like that at all...
[ PETA DISCLAIMER : now before anyone goes and calls PETA on us for hamster cruelty, yes they were fed and watered with fresh food and water regularly, and yes I was cleaning the habitat completely out and washing the whole thing down with warm (non-soapy) water weekly... Yes, we have had pets before... and yes, I can assure you the hamsters did not die of neglect... ]
Anyway... Woody was dead when we got home, and Buzz was having a lot of difficulty moving around and didn't act like he was able to see or hear me that well when I attempted to interact with him.
I quickly moved the habitat up out of Ellie's range of vision and reach so that I could check the situation out, and after determining that Buzz was obviously not going to make it I gave him a little boost up to hamster heaven.
I fashioned a hamster coffin out of a paper towel tube (biodegradable) and after placing both deceased rodents inside, stapled the ends shut and went to have "the talk" with Ellie...
Jenn laughs at me now... I guess I was naive enough to think that Ellie would be very sad and need comforting...
I picked Ellie up and sat her down in my chair to tell her that her little pets were no longer with us and the whole process got me all choked up...
Me : "Ellie sweety, Buz and Woody got very sick and they died today"
Her: "Oh yeah?" ( At this point she did look a little sad, but I think it was b/c I was crying and she couldn't figure out why... I did my best to regain my composure... )
Me: "Aren't you sad sweety?"
Her: "I guess so."
Me: "Do you want to talk about it?"
Her: "Not really"
Me: "Do you want to go with me while I bury them?"
Her: "No Dad, can I get down and play with my princesses now?"
*sigh... Great life lesson there Dad.
So... since there was apparently no reason for me to be sitting around sniffling I took the hamsters out back and Ellie got down for some playing with princesses grief therapy...
So we are now hamster-less... Maybe we will try again after the new year... Maybe Ellie will persist in not-caring and we won't get anymore at all... Time will tell I guess.
You may recall that a while back we got some hamsters... Details can be found here.
Well... We got home from work on Thursday of last week to find that Woody hadn't made it through the day... Both Buzz and Woody have been looking haggard for a couple of weeks. I honestly think that our house is/was probably too cold for them to live comfortably in. We had also switched them to cedar shavings instead of pine shavings for bedding and they didn't seem to like that at all...
[ PETA DISCLAIMER : now before anyone goes and calls PETA on us for hamster cruelty, yes they were fed and watered with fresh food and water regularly, and yes I was cleaning the habitat completely out and washing the whole thing down with warm (non-soapy) water weekly... Yes, we have had pets before... and yes, I can assure you the hamsters did not die of neglect... ]
Anyway... Woody was dead when we got home, and Buzz was having a lot of difficulty moving around and didn't act like he was able to see or hear me that well when I attempted to interact with him.
I quickly moved the habitat up out of Ellie's range of vision and reach so that I could check the situation out, and after determining that Buzz was obviously not going to make it I gave him a little boost up to hamster heaven.
I fashioned a hamster coffin out of a paper towel tube (biodegradable) and after placing both deceased rodents inside, stapled the ends shut and went to have "the talk" with Ellie...
Jenn laughs at me now... I guess I was naive enough to think that Ellie would be very sad and need comforting...
I picked Ellie up and sat her down in my chair to tell her that her little pets were no longer with us and the whole process got me all choked up...
Me : "Ellie sweety, Buz and Woody got very sick and they died today"
Her: "Oh yeah?" ( At this point she did look a little sad, but I think it was b/c I was crying and she couldn't figure out why... I did my best to regain my composure... )
Me: "Aren't you sad sweety?"
Her: "I guess so."
Me: "Do you want to talk about it?"
Her: "Not really"
Me: "Do you want to go with me while I bury them?"
Her: "No Dad, can I get down and play with my princesses now?"
*sigh... Great life lesson there Dad.
So... since there was apparently no reason for me to be sitting around sniffling I took the hamsters out back and Ellie got down for some playing with princesses grief therapy...
So we are now hamster-less... Maybe we will try again after the new year... Maybe Ellie will persist in not-caring and we won't get anymore at all... Time will tell I guess.
Friday, November 9, 2007
St Louis Arch
Monday morning in St. Louis, Alan and I checked out of the hotel and decided to visit the Gateway Arch before we headed back to Ohio.
If you are ever in St. Louis, and have the chance to visit the arch, do it! Very very neat.
Here are some photos from our quick visit.
The view of the arch walking in from the park... It was so tall, that I had to take two photos and stitch them together with photoshop.
Me, standing at the top of the observation deck in the middle of the arch.
The shadow of the arch in the park, taken from the observation deck.
The windows are tilted so that you can look straight down at the ground below the top of the arch. Here is another stitched together view of the legs coming up to meet in the middle.
This last one is a self-created panorama of the city of St. Louis from the observation deck...
I didn't take the time or care to stitch this one together very well, but it is neat anyway.
Good show and a fun week in St. Louis. We got back home pretty late on Monday night, and it has been a very busy week at work this week.
Looking forward to the weekend, even though it will be busy.
If you are ever in St. Louis, and have the chance to visit the arch, do it! Very very neat.
Here are some photos from our quick visit.
The view of the arch walking in from the park... It was so tall, that I had to take two photos and stitch them together with photoshop.
Me, standing at the top of the observation deck in the middle of the arch.
The shadow of the arch in the park, taken from the observation deck.
The windows are tilted so that you can look straight down at the ground below the top of the arch. Here is another stitched together view of the legs coming up to meet in the middle.
This last one is a self-created panorama of the city of St. Louis from the observation deck...
I didn't take the time or care to stitch this one together very well, but it is neat anyway.
Good show and a fun week in St. Louis. We got back home pretty late on Monday night, and it has been a very busy week at work this week.
Looking forward to the weekend, even though it will be busy.
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