Momology

I'm back! My plane didn't crash AND I was calm, cool and collected on all 4 flights!

Orlando was awesome! Here are a few highlilghts of the trip. I will post more details as the week goes on.

• The flights were wonderful. Ativan is my friend. I was so relaxed and just felt calm. It was a welcome change to the usual nauseating anxiety I feel waiting in the airport, waiting to take off, during take off and during any turbulence. All of our flights were on time and all of our luggage made our connections.


• On the flight from Houston to Orlando I had a window seat and was able to have clear views of the gulf as we passed over. I could actually see oil on the water from the spill. Of course, hearing about it is one thing, but actually seeing the vast area that it affected was really sad. I was able to get a few pictures, so once I make them a little easier to see, I will add them.


• I was really surprised at the dense greenery as we flew into Orlando. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it surprised me just how lush it was. And the number of swamps and ponds visible from the air too. I was really surprised at the lack of flowers there, too. The majority of landscaping is done with different shades and colors of large leafed plants. The pinks and burgundys are gorgeous and the size of the leaves is almost unbelievable. I guess thats what happens when the plants are given lots of sunlight, warm temperatures and humidity.


• I love the humidity. My skin has never felt softer! I was able to forego my moisturizer while we were there! A very rare thing for my dry skin!


• Disney was amazing. We only had a few hours, so really it was just a taste and made me so excited to go in January to Disneyland as a family!


• Convention was great! It was like being at MOPS for 3 days straight! Picture a few thousand women, all there to learn how to make their home MOPS groups better and to learn to be a better mom. Because "Better moms make a better world". We were treated to some special musical guests, namely Mandisa from American Idol and Richie McDonald, formerly the lead singer of country band Lonestar. Both performances were amazing!


• Absolutely beautiful song by Mandisa:
  
  
  
  
  

• I love Lonestar and was thrilled when Richie McDonald sang some Lonestar favorites: Already there, Mr Mom, Front Porch Looking In as well as some from his new solo album. He sang us his Airline song. We were all in stitches. Listen here:
  
  

• We were also treated to a concert by children's artists Go Fish. They are a trio of men that started out making music for adults until they realized that there was not a lot of options out there for kids music that didn't drive parents craay. They are a Christian band and do mostly Bible based songs. They really are fun to listen to! Apparently when they first played at MOPS convention 5 or 6 years ago, that was when their careers as children's recordning artists really took off. Since then they have discontinued all outside advertising as they have discovered that word of mouth by happy moms is all it takes! This is a fan favorite, I'm sure you can see why, given the audience!

• The hotel was beautiful. My only complaint was that they didn't have much selection for restaurants and what they did have was pricey. The resort wasn't close to anything else, so we were pretty limited in where we could go. We did manage to make a $15 sandwich last for 2 lunches though!
  
  
• I got some shopping in! It has been so long since I have shopped for myself guilt free. I did buy gifts for the boys and Chris but I also went with a few things in mind to find for myself. I came home with some new running shoes (specifically for running to help with my shin splints), a skirt, 2 dresses (one for Tom and Lisa's wedding), 6 dressy tops, and numerous items of dressy but inexpensive jewelry. I have made it a goal to put more effort on a daily basis into looking good. Its amazing how just dressing up a bit can change your attitude. I was also excited to buy some jewelry from a Fair trade booth that was at the Resource Fair at the convention.



• I also brought back a few books from convention as well as a few things for the boys (books and a Veggie Tales DVD).
• I went to some great sessions and will be blogging about them later in the week.

I'm going to stop now, but watch for photos, a post about my trip to Disney World and some more posts about my sessions at Convention!