Planning

Now that I have some results of what everyone has in mind for our get together (which really needs a name1) let me tell you what I have in mind. And then we'll see if everyone (or almost everyone) is happy.

First the date: The weekend of June 27 got the most votes and that weekend works for us, so that's the date! Yay! One decision down.

Second the location: Here are the states that people are interested are coming from: Minnesota, Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina,North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, California. Then, of course, there might have been some shy ones who didn't want to give a shout out. But when I look at the list, the majority of people are from Southern states. So this is what I'm thinking and you tell me what you think.

Nashville seems pretty central to all those southern states. And Nashville has a ton of stuff to do. We also know that 8 people are bringing their kids and 3 weren't sure yet. If we move our get together to Franklin, Tennessee a suburb of Nashville we can get cheaper rooms and we can get babysitters. And babysitters are essential. How is it that I have the inside track on babysitters in Franklin, Tennessee? I used to live there until last May. Julia has a ton of friends and the girls can babysit for us.

Historic Franklin also has a bunch of stuff to do. It has a wonderful downtown with lots of shops and some restaurants so we could shop and eat lunch on Saturday afternoon and leave our darlings in the capable hands of Julia and her friends. Or, if we want to go into Nashville, it's only about 25 minutes away. And for people who might fly in, I can pick you up from the airport. As far as how you get back to the airport when you leave...

So one question I have is what do you all want to do when we get together? Obviously sit around and talk, but what else? If you all are going to come I want to make sure you have fun.

Third the name of our get together: I'm completely open to suggestions, even from those of you who might not be able to come!

Let's discuss!

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If you live in the Kansas City area be sure to head over to my review blog for a chance to win 4 tickets to Disney on Ice! The winner will be picked after 10:00 pm on Monday, March 23.

So Happy Together

Let's do this thing!

Do what? Let's have our first annual get together! Forty four people voted in our poll and 28 said they want to do our own thing! Yea. So now comes the task of figuring out when, where, who, what and how. No wait, that's journalism. Well, maybe it still applies. To determine the location, I think we should poll where everyone lives who is interested in attending. (Janelle, I kind of needed you working out the grammar of that last sentence.) We also need to see when would be the most popular dates. I'm thinking weekends are better.

I am so excited about this!!! You have no idea! So let's do this: If you are interested in coming, leave a comment telling me WHERE you live and maybe where you would be interested in going. I have a place in mind, but I'll keep that under wraps right now.

I'm going to put up a poll listing some possible dates to see what appeals to most people. You can vote more than once in this poll. Also tell me if you want to do this kid-less or with kids. I'll put a poll for that too.

And for those of you who want to do the McMama cruise, have fun! I won't be able to attend. But those of you who are going on the SITS cruise-- I'm going to try to go on that one too! I'm also planning on going to BlogHer in Chicago on July 24-25. So if you can't make our get together, there will be other opportunities to heckle me meet me and for me to annoy the bejiggers out of you meet you.

And to the one person who said Meet you? Are you crazy! Be afraid, be very afraid. Don't worry, you have nothing to fear (or do you??) When I saw your vote I died laughing!

Runaway With Me

Tonight was a bit crazy around here. I was trying to clean up the kitchen. Jenna was riding her scooter around the huge kitchen island. Emma was chasing her. Ryan was encouraging the dogs to chase him around the house, barking all the way. I suddenly had a strong urge to runaway somewhere.

Okay, not really. Well, maybe a little bit, but not for very long.

But I got to thinking about all the wonderful women I've met in virtual reality and whom I'd love to meet in real reality (I just coined a new term-- look for it on Wikipedia later.) Maybe we could all runaway together and actually MEET!

The wheels started turning this morning when coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, I discovered two different blogs were going to go on cruises. The first is one I don't read very often but many people do, My Charming Kids. MckMama is planning on going on a cruise in January and inviting her readers to go with her. Then I saw that The SITS Girls are thinking about going on a cruise next March.

I want to meet many of my readers and those readers are wanting to meet their readers-- what a nightmare to coordinate! But what if we all decided to go on one of those cruises, or we planned our own get together? How awesome would THAT be???

So tell me what you think? Am I just plan crazy? Okay, we know I'm crazy, but is this idea crazy? I've added a poll at the top of the left sidebar.

Oh, and if you pick a cruise, I'll start working out now so I'm not mistaken for a whale that has thrown itself up on the cruise ship deck and cause a commotion that will embarrass us all.