St. George- the conference and swimming

Sometimes when you're asked to go to a conference for work in St. George, immediately prior to a weekend that you were already planning on spending there, you load up some of The Circus to go down with you.

Because sometimes you have really great parents who will hang out with the kids and let them sleep at their house while you're working and sleeping in a hotel.

These brave kids joined me.  The other two stayed to keep The Man company until he could head down on Friday.  The rest of us set out Wednesday night.

We stopped at our required stop in Scipio to check up on the animals (here).  The kids ran over to see what they could see while I went inside the gas station.  When I came out I found the kids walking back to the car already, Sean in tears.

Watch out for that ostrich if you ever stop by there.  He's a mean thing.  He got Sean on the ear, but aside from giving him a good pinch, didn't cause any damage.

We got to my parents house at 10:00 that night.  I sat and talked with them for a bit and then said good night to the kids.  I was staying at the hotel where the conference was being held while they stayed with my parents so I didn't have to try and commute in the mornings before my meetings.  I could just wake up and go downstairs.

It was a little unnerving, entering that hotel room all on my lonesome and even though I'd only left him six hours before, I was missing The Man.  But I decided that since I'd found myself in this situation, I should enjoy it.

Sometimes being on your own in a quiet place is really therapeutic.  I found a rhythm in getting the wrinkles out of my work clothes and hanging them up for the morning and I spent some precious time with my scriptures.


The next morning I went to my conference where there was juice, pop, milk, and water all served in glass goblets.  Muffins were served during the morning session and chips and salsa during the afternoon session.  On Friday we were served with root beer floats, except I don't like root beer floats and neither did some of the ladies I was sitting with.  One of them had the genius idea of adding hot chocolate to the ice cream to create frozen hot chocolate.  


Pure genius I tell you.

Aside from the food, I learned a lot from that conference. 
I learned about different communication personalities and how to deal with them all in an office setting.  
I learned that people only remember the first thing you say and the last thing you say.  All the stuff in the middle gets muddled so start strong and end strong.  Or if you have an important point in a meeting, be the first or the last to speak.
I learned that something needs to be repeated six times before it's retained in memory.
I learned how putting a civil injunction on gangs affects the crime rate and the community.  That was amazing.  And apparently it works really well.  California is doing it.  Now Ogden here in Utah is doing it.
I learned about the role of the Children's Justice Center in interviewing children who have been abused in any way.  What an amazing place.  They actually look for volunteers to help them with all manner of duties from yard work to drafting letters.  If you need a service project or a good cause to donate to, you should consider them.  You can find their website here.
We went over the new legislative updates.  Some were pretty good.  Others not so much.  Did you know as of May 8, 2012, in Utah, it is illegal to let your swine run at large.  Really?

I met up with my parents and the kids during my lunch break on the first day.
Cali enjoyed the mist system on the patio where we ate.

Maybe a little too much...

After I finished with my afternoon meetings I headed over to my parents house where I helped make dinner, and then I stole the kids for swimming at the hotel, where we spent the entire rest of the evening.

Casidee

Cali

Then we chilled in my room, watching cartoons while they took turns showering, and we called home and talked to dad and the girls who'd stayed with him.

I missed him.

But I was learning so much.

I took the kids back to my parents house and let them settle in for bed before I turned back to the hotel for bed myself.  


The next day at the conference we learned about law office etiquette, using social networking sites to gather evidence, and about the drugs bath salts and spice.


Bath salts, by the way, are not actual bath salts.  That's just it's street name.  It's some seriously messed up stuff.  The police force who was talking to us showed us a video of people on that stuff, it was terrifying.  Why would you do that to yourself?  Your brain is permanently altered by this, it never fully recovers from it.  They say it creates zombies... I would have to agree.


We ended up the conference by hearing from the chief of investigations from the AG's office, where I work.  Since he knew me he called me out a lot during his presentation.  And mid presentation he threw a ball at me, which I now have on my desk.  His presentation was how to stay grounded when being surrounded by people who do such bad and crazy things.  One of those things is to smile and be grateful for life.


We wrapped up our two day conference on Friday afternoon and I headed out to claim my kids and wait for my husband to drive in.  The work portion of my trip was done, the family reunion portion of it was about to begin.  Siblings and cousins were already texting me as they were streaming in from all over the place.  I couldn't wait to see them all.