And it's still raining...

I see that the rest of you are enjoying somewhat nicer weather.

It hasn't stopped raining since I got here. Not that this is a big deal because when you come to these things, your day is packed with meetings and seminars. And, from what I've heard, there really isn't much to see here anyway.

Yesterday we had a speaker who presented all morning, then after lunch there were two professional workshops. I thought they might be a bit dry but they turned out okay. Quite a few people had signed up for the evenings excursion, a pitchfork fondue in a barn outside of the city somewhere, but a lot of the Grand River girls didn't and neither had Donna and I, so we all got together and went for supper. We contemplated going out somewhere but it was wet and cold so we decided to just stay in and have dinner in the hotel restaurant. It turned out to be a good choice. It wasn't busy at all so the service was great, and it was quiet and well lit so we could really spend all our time chatting and catching up. The Grand River group is putting in a bid to host the 2012 CDC and after some wine, of course, it was decided that I would participate in my alter ego of Ms. Vista. The bid consists of a
presentation of what the area has to offer and Grand River is well known for it's musical numbers. So after supper we congregated in one girls room so I could be versed on the music number we are going to be singing. We would typically take a familiar song and change the words a bit, to suit our chapter, and perform, and I use that term VERY loosely! This year is no exception. We are dancing and singing our way through "Waterloo" by ABBA. The girls have put together costumes to go with it and since I don't have one, I'm wearing a dress that Ms. Vista wore in a fashion show several years ago (I just happened to have it with me!). They did find a sequined head band for me to wear. We'll all look like fools but what the heck - it's what we do best! We did a bid a few years ago but were beat out by North Bay, of all places. Typically there is only one chapter bidding to host CDC but that year there was some politics in place and we got our asses kicked. But this time, Grand River are the only ones bidding, and now the chapter has 100 members, back then I think there were only 40. They will now have a lot more resources to draw from. Everything happens for a reason! (And besides that, now I can just go and enjoy, I won't be on the host committee).



It will be busy afternoon today . In the morning, we have our division meetings. Canada is divided into three regions, Eastern, Ontario and Western. This morning we will all split into our respective regions and have meetings to elect officials for the Division level for the next year. I was a committee chair last year but I really don't want to do that this year. It's too hard to do any kind of fundraising or whatever from the distance we are away. There are fairly large chapters in Moncton and Halifax so they should do it. I know we are going to be approached about hosting a CDC in the future and I would really love to bring it to the island, but I just don't see how we can do it with the 6 to 8 members we have who actually come out to meetings. It has been mentioned a couple of times at the chapter level and the response is an unequivocal "NO". So I'd better just sit back and keep my mouth shut! But there IS a large contingent of girls planning to come to Moncton for next year's event but they plan to come earlier and spend some time on the island, preferably with me, so we'll have to see what we can do. It will be during lobster season, so I'm seeing a big party at my house with the Grand River girls and the PEI girls getting together. I've already started planning it in my head! Once the meeting parts are over, then we do our presentation, and it's all downhill after that!

Once we are done we go back to our rooms to get ready for a large banquet tonight. That usually lasts till around 10:00 then it will be time for me to go back to my room and pack and get ready to head out tomorrow. My flight leaves at 6:30 so I've got to be up and out early. Then off to Toronto for a quick visit with the family and then back home. I'm looking forward to getting back to the island.