Well, here I am at long last sitting down to look back over my pictures from our trip to Virginia. It's a quiet night, the kids are in bed - Crackerjack had a great birthday, thanks for all the kind messages! - and Bill is watching the Sox game. The night is young, I'm good to go, and let me warn you - this post is a long one.
First, though, please let me say a BIG thank you to all the amazing women (and their families!) who worked so very, very hard to pull this Conference together. I am so grateful to each and every one of you! I know we only saw a tenth (if that) of all the work you did to make this conference such a terrific success. Everything went so smoothly, and everyone felt so welcomed! I felt blessed to be a part - even a peripheral one - of this beautiful group of women.
So, I am going to start at the beginning, at 10 a.m. last Friday when we drove off into the pouring rain, leaving our boys in the loving and thoughtful care of my mum and dad. According to Mapquest, Manassas, VA would be an 8 1/2 hour drive, so we hoped to be in town just after suppertime ...
And the first portion of our drive was not so bad - fun, actually! Bill and I have not been on a road trip in years! We drank coffee, I practiced my speech (until car sickness set in, bleh) and we listened to HP on the laptop ...
And then we hit New York:
And the famous (infamous?) George Washington Bridge, which we crossed not just once - but three times.
Yes, you read that right - three times. At 4:00 on a Friday afternoon.
See this is what happened:
The first time we crossed we missed our exit and found ourselves off in New Jersey somewhere. Trying to find our way back to I-95 South (through endless road construction) we ended up back on the (jam-packed) road that led once again to the bridge (only this time northbound) with absolutely no (legal) means of getting off! So back over the GBW we went, in stop-and-go traffic (and me in serious need of a bathroom break!). Once off the bridge we made a rather convoluted U-turn in the city (we played our "Massachusetts driver" card on that one, lol) and finally got back on track.
A few hours later (ok, make that 8 hours later) we rolled into Manassas. Needless to say it was straight to bed, and then up and at 'em early in the morning:
And now for some pictures from our day!
This first one is of Meredith and me, just after Mass and right before Elizabeth gave her first talk.
And here is Elizabeth, talking before a crowd of 140 about the Real Learning philosophy. I was enthralled, as I knew I would be, and I was so glad to have Bill with me, because I know he enjoyed her talk just as much as I did.
Next it was Jenn's turn, giving the first part of our combined talk on Living the Liturgical Year in the Home. She did such a great job! I learned so much from her (as I always do).
Nope, no pictures of me speaking, but here I am crouched around my file crate fielding questions about how my folder system works. I've promised a few follow up posts here at my blog to elaborate even further.*
The following pictures show some of the many beautiful raffle prizes donated by many generous women. The money collected will begin a fund to help 4Real families in need.
After my speech, it was time for Theresa's talk on Nature Study and she did an awesome job. I especially loved her power point presentation!
Next was lunch (an absolutely delicious spread that looked like it belonged in a magazine, but thankfully was all for us) and of course, vendor shopping!
Here are some wide shots of the hallway ...
I bought a gorgeous red woven rosary for Crackerjack's birthday from this very nice lady set up below on the left.
Next came the break-out sessions, and I chose to attend my dear friend Mary Ellen's talk on home education and special needs. I am going to have to write a whole separate post about this experience because I just can't begin to describe how moved I was by her words. It was a wonderful session - encouraging, inspiring and informative. It was just what I needed to hear ...
Here we are together, Mary Ellen and I. (I think I have Ruth to thank for this picture! How I wish I got a picture with Ruth, too!)
Teatime was next, with cookies and conversation, and finally, Elizabeth's beautiful and moving final talk. I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the room when she was done. It was the perfect way to end the day ... if it had to end, that is.
Later on some of us gathered at Elizabeth's house to share dinner and catch up. Her home was as lovely and cozy as I imagined, her family so lively and fun, and it was just so great to hang out and chat!
Here I am with Meredith and Mary Chris, one of the amazing Conference organizers, in the back row; Janette (who designs and maintains the 4Real Forums with her husband Tim) and Theresa are in front.
And just before heading out we gathered for one more shot, this time with Elizabeth and baby Karoline joining us:
Bill and I had a wonderful time, and I found myself wishing I had much more time to spend with my friends ...
Dear friends, it was the best. Thank you for your hospitality and all your hard work, and thank you most of all for your friendship. I can't wait till we can all meet 4 Real once again.
Before I go I'd like to thank my Bill for seeing to it that I got down there to be part of this awesome experience, and for driving me all the way there and back. I also want to say thank you to my mum and dad for taking such good care of our boys while we were away. This was the longest we've ever left them, and, because they were with my folks, we never once had any worry about them.
Thanks too to everyone stopping by and indulging me this rather long post. :) I can hardly believe this weekend has come and gone! But mark your calendars my home educating friends, because next August there will be another conference, this one in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Family-Centered Conference will be hosted by Michele Quigley - tentative dates and details are here!
Hmmm ... Mapquest tells me Lancaster is two hours closer than Manassas, so I'm going to pencil it in ... just as long as there aren't any bridges to cross! ;)
* P.S. Thanks to Mike and Christian Foss, Elizabeth's husband and son, there will be DVD's of the Conference available for purchase soon, but in the meantime, I might follow Meredith's lead and post my full talk and handouts here at my blog. Due to time constraints I wrapped things up more quickly than I had originally planned, and, judging from the questions I received after speaking, I think the more detailed information would have been helpful. I'll be working on that, so stay tuned!
