The Purpose for the Trip

Somehow neither one of us wanted to get up this morning.

It was a short night and the ^#%$ sea gulls and pelicans

kept me awake for a good portion of the night.

Our conference started at 8:30.

We had signed up for "Delight in Words" with Frank Sibberson.

We were more than a little surprised when "Franki" was introduced.

She is a very good presenter.

I hate DETEST opening, get to know you exercises,

but she did one that was engaging and fun to do.

We had to list 20 words that described ourselves.

It sounds hard, but it really wasn't after we got going.

Our blog's first anniversary is on Wednesday, so in honor of that I unilaterally decided for the Three Sisters (that's exactly what happened in childhood, too) that we were hosting a contest.

I also unilaterally decided that since Sister Two and Sister Three

don't have a clue that I'm doing this, they are eligible to enter as well.

The prize will be something that I bring back from Maine.

To enter, simply list ten to twenty words that describe yourself.

You don't even have to identify yourself ---

I'll announce the winner next Friday and if it is an anonymous poster,

the winner can contact me via e-mail and I'll verify the winner.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

The words I used to describe myself were: carnivore, reader, blogger, intelligent, creative, tenacious, punctual, procrastinator, teacher, friend, sucker, optimistic, redhead, geographically-challenged (directionally-challenged), candid, straight-forward, middle-aged, isolate, easy-going, and WYSIWYG.

At any rate, the morning went by quickly. Vicki and I came up with a gazillion (give or take ten) ideas and strategies to implement into our routines. We even came up with something that we may polish and market.

Okay, so Vicki isn't as enthusiastic about the polishing and marketing idea of our brainstorm. But I figure that we might as well be the ones to put it together. otherwise we'll go to a conference in 2 years and discover that someone else is getting rich making money and gaining notoriety with OUR idea.

We even received a free picture book. Hardback, no less.

You know that we NEED more picture books!

During lunch we strolled along the harbor and took in all the sights.

This building is the Customs Building. It is enormous.

We bought a Maine Red Dog from a hot dog vendor so I can cross that off my bucket list.

Note the arrow in the lower corner --- that's my Maine Red complete with chili.

[P.D., I thought of you as I inhaled it and all of the red dye carcinogens and nitrates!]

We returned for the afternoon session and it was just as good as the morning.

Maybe even better because we received more books!

We also each received a DVD and they let us trade one since we were together.

Then to top it off, we got blank writing books.

How cool is that?!

The afternoon went by very quickly and we returned to the room to deposit our goodies.

Then we were off for more exploring. We decided to take a trolley tour of the city.

It was a ninety minute tour that took us past the childhood home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,

the Victoria Mansion, and Portland Head Light, which is Maine's oldest lighthouse.

Our tour guide was Steve, a 33 year teaching veteran, who teaches LD students at a middle school.

While we were at Fort Williams seeing Portland Head Light,

I took a photo of a cormorant.

Every year for about one week to ten days, we have a species of bird that migrates through our region.

I've often thought they were cormorants, but I'm not sure.

The tour was exceptional and we were happy that we had decided to do it.

When we got off the trolley, we were met by this lobster.

... so we did.

We went to

and I ordered a Shipyard Export Ale with the Downeaster Lobster.

I've had lobster before and didn't really care for it, but

everyone told me I had to try a Maine lobster, because nothing else compares.

It was good, but my hands still smell.

After we ate, we wandered around the waterfront for a while

and I found the perfect prize for my contest, so make sure that you enter!