Long weekend

I have spent the last four days with Brandon running Wyoming HOBY, a youth leadership conference for high school kids going into 11th grade.

OMG.

It was fun - BUT - I am so incredibly happy to be home right now. I'm tired. I need a personal foot masseuse, and I really want an adult beverage - I'm not going to picky, it can be of about any kind.

It's been a while since I've done a program like this - about nine years? I was an orientation program coordinator at UW about every summer I was there, and I oversaw the orientation program at Casper College, which was one of the duties of my first "real" job.

I spent nights in the dorms, ate at the cafeteria, did endless cheers, walked millions of steps backwards giving tours and making sure my group was still in tact, acted in skits, and generally made a spectacle of myself. I was (and pretty much still am) very good at that! And I loved it.

But this year I have mixed feelings. It just seemed extra long. Maybe it was the staying in dorm rooms (which takes you back a ways!), or the fact this was my only real weekend to myself before every weekend is taken and my summer's gone. It probably had a bit to do with the fact that I don't know this program, and had no idea how to run it...

But then, I get such a feeling of excitement about getting the kids to learn something. About getting them to discuss bigger ideas and issues.

I also really love making programs and events run. Brandon and I were given the reigns for the weekend from the person who planned it (who ended up having another obligation), so there were bound to be some glitches. But between Brandon and the old orientation leader in me it was all ok.

So...was it worth it? Well, to listen to the students with their parents I would say it was.

But I'm still about to have me a cold one.