11/6 WOW, what a day!

I'm flying. My presentation was at 10 and it went so well. It seems I started and then it was over. Never has 45 minutes passed so quickly for me. I loved having an intelligent group of people who paid attention and asked good questions. Participants also laughed at the right spots. Yay for that.

Gloria made me cry with her introduction. What a great way to start a presentation, huh? But it was so sweet.

The feedback I received was certainly wonderful to hear. People not only loved the information (which I was able to use, courtesy of the company I work for--CPI), but they had such lovely things to say about me personally. Yep, I'm flying.

I made my reservation for next year--and so did nearly everyone else. The reason is that because it's the 25th anniversary next year, Mohonk is giving us a 10% discount if we reserve before we leave.

There are so many people I really enjoyed spending time with. I know I'll be friends with Jane Williams (and I'll tolerate her husband, John--sure hope he reads that line). Jane and I just clicked immediately. She's beautiful, bright and fun. Some of my favorite things to have in a friend. (Okay, I like John too...)

The closing piece was fun--Gloria and Larry gave away so many games that had been donated by game companies. An unbelievable amount. I'm going home with six or seven games. I received some because of being a speaker, some for solving puzzles correctly, and one just because Glo and Lar like me. :) I'm a lucky bug. (But they like everyone. All participants received a really nice game at check-in.)

After the end of the WOW weekend, and after saying good-bye to some great people, Suzanne and I took a walk outside. Unbelievable vistas. And a handsome man from Colombia and his friend stopped and offered to take our picture together. My first thought was "he's going to take my camera and ride away on his bike." But that paranoia didn't last long (Suzanne, you are really rubbing off on me--normally I'm not suspicious at all.) :)

Then we went to the Lake Lounge and played games with other late-stayers. One by one individuals left, until it was just us and David from Wisconsin. (This is not my old friend DF, but another DF. Just as handsome and just as nice.) He drove here from WI and had to drive back home, but says he stays until everyone else leaves--that this only happens once a year, so he's going to play as long as he can. We experienced some games I'd never heard of but boy did I have a blast. He has games nights in Madison, and I'm invited. It's going to be worth driving the 90 minutes to get there. And he also said I could drive out with him next year. He's very sweet.

Guess that's it for now. I'm tired and haven't edited this at all, so please ignore the typos and poor grammar. Suz and I leave at 5:30 AM for the airport. I'll get to Milwaukee at 1 PM or so, and then will go to work. Hope I can sleep on the plane.

Did I mention I had fun? Did I mention I like these people? Did I mention being around smart people makes me smile? It's all true.