The absence of Power

It has been an incredible 3 days of learning and growing.

Lots of new ideas to process and contemplate and wonder about.  

Some conundrums to puzzle about.

And soon decisions to be made for action.

There was absolute delight for me in moving from an email relationship into a friendship-in-the-flesh with the keynote speaker Ann.  A genuine and intelligent woman  - kindred spirits we are in so many lovely and interesting ways - allies in THE WORK we do and passionate about many of the same things.

Although I remain far from as eloquent as she is and far from as deep a thinker about incredibly important things in the early childhood field in terms of pedagogical leadership and literacy of place / ecological identity in young children.  She lights the path for those of trying to figure it out and mentor others into this important and transformative work.

This was my first event planning gig flying solo without my dear Joyce as my event partner. 

I sure missed her but I used all our collective knowledge and planned the absolute heck out of these three days.

I had 5 million details and I covered almost every one.

Almost.

Two things did not go as planned.... 

I forgot the tea bags.  I had remembered to order Hot Water for the odd non-coffee people and then I forgot their tea bags which some reacted to as the ultimate betrayal.  All day I saw people scanning the table in search of tea bags....UGH!  I hate to miss a detail.

And then there was the power.  

Or complete lack thereof.  In any outlet in any proximity to the sound system or computer/projector set-up.

Despite calls to facility people for help and some inventive stringing together of multiple extension cords to reach the kitchen, 9am came and went with no sound or power point.

And boy was I sweating.

And so annoyed that despite all the things I HAD thought of, planned for, triple checked... I had sunscreen, first aid, back up of every handout and art supply, back-up batteries for the mic, extra extension cords... I did not have a back up generator.

At 9:10am a facilities person arrived and unlocked the electrical panel and we had power!  But gone was my planned 30 minutes for sound check with equipment I had never used before but thanks to the fact I had set it all up 2 days before in my living room and David had given me a good tutorial, which even in my mild state of panic I managed to recall, we were underway with the day by 9:15am.

I was a hot mess but once my heart rate returned to normal and I washed my face and reapplied my lipstick and had a coffee and a muffin sitting just outside the room listening in, I regained my equilibrium and the day went off without another glitch.

All in all it has been a wonderful journey from dream to idea to plan to execution and today the weariness in my bones is a happy one, a fulfilled one.

I am full of gratitude for all the folks who played a part in getting it done...our field is better, richer, for the experiences so many of us had over the last 3 days. 

Onward!