HUGFEST in ARIZONA....

Most of you know I am a glass artist. I am always pushing the sterotype of this medium, breaking and cutting original designs and pulling together different concepts to make one piece of edgy, original art. I see my own life as an evolving piece of art. Just as in my medium, I do many things that make up the whole.

One part of my life is having wonderful people/friends from all over the United States who work to support the quality of Head Start. We share a passion for helping young children and their families. Recently we attended a training in Arizona. We playfully called it "Hugfest in Arizona" because we come together as a group usually just one time a year. We work together in a virtual organization the rest of the year, sending and communicating mainly through emails and conference calls. We recently shared our time together by attending training that informed us of new ways to fulfill our roles...it was bitter sweet in that when the training was over we had to say our goodbyes...not knowing what or where we might be by this same time next year. I get sad when saying goodbyes but have learned that the goodbyes are necessary so that we can say hello again. There are a few people that are part of our group that are missing from these photos. They were there...we just missed photo opportunities.

Below are some pictures of the special people I have met on the road...we had fun as you can tell. Enjoy!

Edward was my main contact and support throughout this past year as I traveled the US leading my teams and managing the QC process. I could not have done this without his help. He patiently listened to me many times, when I felt overwhelmed or panic....he was able to get me grounded and focused on my next steps.
He lead us all through several conference calls and always kept us on the cutting edge of the latest information to keep us in step with the fast pace of the process. Thank you Edward for managing me well....I am sure I was a handful at times!!

Should I tell you who these ladies are...or can you guess??? Marie from Kentucky, and Kathryn from Iowa. I had a chance to get to know both of these "crazy" ladies at the training. Marie or
"Mac" as they call her is the craziest. She likes tatoos and draws crazy pictures. Seriously, she is a jewelry designer and makes all kinds of earrings, bracelets, necklaces, even beaded necklaces that you can clip your nametag or glasses from. Katie...helped me. On the last day of the training I couldn't find my cell phone. I frantically back tracked as she kept calling my number. I ran to the front desk, the resturant where I had eaten breakfast, under the tables, in the bathroom. As I sat down, with beads of sweat on my face...I heard a little bleep. I kept telling Katie to keep calling me. I picked up my carry on luggage, (which I had already gone through many times before) and kept hearing the beep beep. Where was this coming from? I finally found my cell phone in between the carry on and the luggage support that held the carry on. It had fallen in the lining.
What a relief! When I looked up after the wrestling match with my carry on luggage..Marie and Katie had the strangest looks on their faces!!! I could understand why. Thanks Katie for helping me.