ah, where to begin...?

Just got back from a biz-ness trip to Chicago last night/early this morning so please to forgive if I'm a little incoherent (more than usual that is) -- Quick note re: the week-end before i left (meaning this one that just passed) How very much fun was it to get to hang out with the shockingly good-looking crew that happens to be parenting the kids my 3-year old is friends with?? Very, that's what! O.K. also on that note... 3?? I have a 3-year-old. Sheesh. Sorry, just that she was 13 months old like four weeks ago!

Ah hem, moving on. THEN to the event to end all events, Miss Boo's Capoeira belt-ceremony which was COOL -- all these kids of varying heights, ages, ethnicities and experience levels showing the grown-ups what they could do. Pretty gosh darn amazing -- CP was there as well and took actual video footage so, begin with the "being really nice to me" part now and you may be invited to the pizza + let's watch Boo perform party being scheduled for later in the summer!

Hmmmm. what else... feeling very fine and capable right this second. the conference was mostly about catalogue but I did meet some great people who I intend to put to immediate use in coaching my department at work AND I came away with the realisation that pretty much regardless of how completely off the mark/expensive and bizarre my boss may think my ideas are, I'm actually right there with what the "industry experts" are saying. Not that this necessarily help me get anything approved but gosh, it does feel good to get some kind of validation for my "next steps projects." I was beginnng to think I was insane. I had a great conversation with this one lady from New Yawk who was like: "Oh, bosses always think you're nuts! It's because they don't get the underlying statistical stuff so they have no idea what to think is important. All they think about is page rank." I swear, I almost kissed her...

{tired} I was going to try to make this an actual full update of all the various aspects of my life but I'm exhausted. Chicago time was killing me (up at 4:30am PST to catch the "7:15" early bird sessions, seriously, who thought that sh** would be a good idea??!) and I actually just got back with my little big girl an hour or so ago (going to collect the big big girl in about an hour) so I'm a little pooped. Glad to be home though. Very much missed my babies. Very glad I was able to cover my chocolate baby-girl with kisses and get her all squirmy/mortified/giggley in front of her little friends/cousin; looking forward to embarrassing the older one in exactly the same way! ah... sometimes it's good to be Mom.