More thoughts from the weekend

I am going to be exceptionally lazy and recomment reading Testosterone Zone
for a wonderfully detailed description of the August moms gathering. I echo all her sentiments 🙂 Here is a less detailed wrap up from me:

Food
Seafood and more seafood! I am actually craving red meat right now with all of the fish that I ate this weekend.

Ah, the lobster dinner. Definately the highlight for me! My first experience eating lobster right out of the shell. We now have plans to have a lobster boil out here with some fresh Maine lobster being shipped overnight and still alive. One of our stops in Portland was a fish market which was pretty awesome in itself with all of the fresh fish surrounding us. This place regularly ships out lobsters – its a big part of their business so I know they will do it right. Another favorite place for me was Beckys. It’s a breakfast place that originally catered to the fishermen as it is right on the warf in the middle of the markets. Now it has grown so much in popularity that it will have to add a second floor. The blueberry pancakes there were mouth watering. The Flat Bread pizza place was another very unique and yummy experience. With my normally small appetite I was trying very hard to pace myself and enjoy as much of the wonderful food that was in front of me all weeekend.

Conversation
No matter how wonderful the food or the weather or the activities are, it is the conversation and company that makes this weekend so special. The Regency had just the BEST late night gathering spot for us. Comfy leather chairs, a computer desk with internet access and a high def tv. We took over the area every night from about 9-11:30. Solved all the worlds problems and a few of the mom’s too :-> Seriously though, I think we all are so much more comfortable with each other that we get deeper into the issues and more personal every year. I know I sure laid my guts out there once or twice – eh, I do that though. We are even comfortale enough to give each other a little lecture or reminder to back off if things get too strong. And that is really the best part – we can tell each other when we are unhappy and not carry it around and grouse. That is the sign of a very deep and real friendship. These are women who I hope to be travelling with for the rest of my life.

Cheers and Jeers gathering
Awwww. I got to hug Patti! I just loved being with her in person. Seeing her expressions – and her Mini!! Like meeting an old friend. I cannot wait until she passes through San Diego on her way to Hawaii in January. Bill – well now Bill was just as I imagined. Very quiet, but with a razor sharp way of nailing a point. Quite a mop of hair I must say! Carries a newspaper and reads all the time. Michael is everything I have heard. Gorgeous, loving, social and funny as hell. Dear gawd that man can give some LOOKS! I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a long time at non-verbal communication. Danno and I talked baseball as much as we could. It’s a dream for me to talk to a baseball scout!! Michelle did a wonderful job with the brunch arrangements and also brought me a lovely handcrafted NH angel for this year’s Christmas decorating blitz. She beats me at the overall decorating, but it is something we both love to do and that was so sweet of her to think of. One of her student’s came – he is nhcollegedem on dkos. Only 20! Ouch. Very sharp though. He is sure lucky to have Michelle for a teacher! Thestral is just lovely in person. Soft spoken, but quick to laugh and drop a whitty comment. I had previously met 42 and Ed in Vegas and it was lovely seeing them again. Funny and smart seems to be a theme as I muse on the gathering, but its true! They all are! If I play my frequent flier miles right, I can assure myself of seeing everyone again in August for the Ykos07 convention in Chicago.

Little tid bits
My darn camera stopped working after three pictures!! So I will be stealing pics from everyone else.
My Padres tanked again. Well, at least they won one game, but they were still bumped from the playoffs. That was hard to watch from a distance, but in hindsight perhaps it was for the best!!
The refined sugar purge has begun in earnest now that I am home. One thing I learned from Portland mom’s wonderful DH is that good tea really is best without adding sugar anyway. So I will go one a quest for some good tea sources here.

This got too long! And I am relying on Alto2’s more *detailed* reports!! Time to eat. I will think of more I am sure.