If memory serves, this is the 12th time I have packed up to head to an ITEA (ITEEA!) Conference and I swear, each year it gets a little more hectic. Perhaps because the first time I went, we sent about 7 staffers and now we're sending 4. The odds seem a bit more stacked somehow. And I think that's what has me feeling so scattered – that we're all wearing so many hats while we're there and I just don't see how we're going to keep all those balls in the air at once.
The bright side will be traveling with Mo, Tamara, and Sam. Nothing like jumping into the volcano with people you really like. And I can't think of any people I'd rather be in the trenches with. The OTHER bright side is that a week from now this will all just be a horrible memory.
I am now mostly packed and shocked at what percentage of the things I now bring have to do with computers, cameras, chargers, and the like. Clothes? Am I supposed to remember clothes, too? Sam has already told me that she doesn't really need a suitcase, so she should make quite an impression in Registration. The one thing I really enjoyed packing was Flat Stanley – who just arrived from a very young cousin in Florida. I know he'll have some friends in Charlotte and it will be fun for me to try to arrange some adventures for him. I mean, I already have a camera in my hand – I just have to keep it clean since he'll be sharing his adventures with a first-grade class in Florida.
Stay tuned, we are bound to have our usual share of fun, frenzy, and really sore feet.
