July 5

Just came from the Cabinet Room where the Alums are holding their drawing for the many donated items they have collected. There are so many items -- something around 100 --many that I would like to win. Hold a hope . . .

We had attended a general session early this morning and then one about Women's Moods. That one turned out to be much more techinical than I'd anticipate. It was interesting but sometimes, over my head. :-)

The Conference is winding down. One more round of sessions and then the banquet. That's always an exciting evening. LLLI Conferences are a nice mix of meaty sessions, lighter ones that inspire and enlighten, some pomp, and some fun. If you don't like one thing there is always something else to do. Which is what I'm about to do--go check the bookstore and see if there are any bargains.

Tomorrow we have a staff meeting and Thursday I head for home.

July 4

Happy Independence Day from Washington DC
By the end of the World's Faire last night I was exhausted and still had a meeting to attend. Sleep deprived!

This morning I started the day listening to a presentation about gentle discipline--because I wanted to know if I wanted to buy the book for our daughter. And then I headed to the book store to buy the book. :-)

And another session was listening to "A Bird's Eye View of LLLI Board Work." Those 15 women (one was missing this morning because of illness) are an awesome bunch--such intelligence and such commitment. LLL seems to be full of great women.

The lunch talk was about procrastination--guess what? I left before it was over. Not a topic that I find necessary in my life--actually I'm getting better about not doing my tasks yesterday instead of today.

I'm off to a 30 minute introduction to Pilates, a form of exercise, because my roommate, Sue Scott is teaching. I've been watching her exercise in the early mornings and I'm intrigued. I'll let you know more later . . .

Tonight after the Tea and the Gala Gathering we'll see the fireworks from the Mall on the big screen TVs in the ballroom That should be fun.

Until tomorrow . . .

July 2

I've been thinking about that first conference in the early 70s--in Chicago in the Palmer House. I remember how nervous I was, how insecure I felt. And contrasting with this, my second conference in the Washington Hilton. LLL has given me confidence to do all kinds of things--including traveling by myself, finding my way to distant cities and new hotels. That's only one of the skills that LLL had taught me. Without my experiences as a Leader my computer skills would be pretty thin too. :-)

Last night KLLL received a award for the library book project--we gave copies of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding to all the public libraries in our state a couple of years ago. It's nice to have the project recognized.

Barbara Colorosa was as entertaining as ever at the opening of the Conference last night. And I actually made it to the 8:00 a.m. opening this morning. Following that I attend one regular conference session--and learned how to do the four point hug. Ask me about that! It really feels good to be hugged, especially when away from home and my dear hubby.

I spent a bit of time hosting in the Alum room and now I'm headed toward the USWD suite to help get ready for the World Faire tonight. It is so much fun to see old friends--I've crossed paths with several Leaders that I've not seen nor talked to in several years. And it's fun to meet new people from all over the world. There is nothing like an LLLI Conference!

July 2, 2005

Hello Again,

The "Now This" show and dinner at the Blair Mansion last night was great fun. Lori, Misty, Bill and I climbed on the bus and enjoyed seeing the streets of DC as we traveled to the mansion. The meal was good and the entertainment was awesome. How can anyone think that fast while being in front of all those people?

World Assembly this am. I was a part of a group that talked about finding a place for dads in LLL and then we moved on to reaching Gen X and decided there was a connection between the two topics. Great ideas generated.

Now, off to do Couples Communication during the afternoon sessions.

Bye

Friday, July 1

Great lunch today. We found the place where you pay for your lunch based on the pounds and ounces. Because I picked up a bunch of fruit, it cost more than I'd anticipated but it was wonderful food. The CSIs who met during IMS department day ate together under the tent near the pool. A bit warm and humid!

The USWD CSIs plus a few from ID had another great conversation about opening CS sessions and the energy in the room saw so real that I could almost feel it. Now, to go back to our homes and continue being innovative. :-)

Must run back to our meeting. Tonight is the alum tour and I'm really excited about the trip.

I'm Here

In spite of that 3:30 a.m. wake up call, my trip to DC was uneventful. I'm so glad I did catch that early morning flight Tuesday morning instead of waiting for a later flight that would have caught the storms around Chicago. When Peggy and I got to the hotel we waited for our room and then went to work doing USWD preparation work.

Wednesday, the staff did lots of little detail things and the day seemed to go on forever. I was certainly ready to bed.Now, we are halfway through the first day of IMS. Christine and Claudia opened the space this morning with a convening question "How can we learn from each other around the world to enhance our leadership and administratiave skills. The topic I posted was "Making Communication Skills Open." A great conversation followed and it was fun to get to know some others interested in finding new ways to help others finds ways of enhancing skills. The next "space" that I attended was "What Could Happen If Leaders could accredit other Leaders?" Another interesting conversation.

Now that I've done my first blog at conference I need to get back to the IMS activities--just as soon as I learn how to sent this message. :-)

Rosetta's Introduction

Hello from Kansas.

I'm Rosetta Bartels, long time LLL Leader. In fact I was "certified" in 1973. :-) My husband, Bob, and I live in a small rural town in the middle of Kansas. (small = 1200 people) We have two daughters, Diane, who is 36, single and living in Wichita and Laura, married with a four year old step son and living with her hubby, Chris, in Manhatta, KS.

I graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Home Economics Education and came to Inman to teach. I met Bob, the local banker, and we were married in 1965. We just celebrated 40 years and plan to travel to the New England states this fall. That trip will allow us to stick the last six states on the map of the USA on the side of our motor home.

I found LLL when Diane was in the hospital following umbilical hernia surgery at about four months of age. Someone talked with me about nursing her and asked, have you been to LLL meetings. I did not know a Group existed in KS. :-) I found a home at the first meeting. In fact Jan Riordan (author of one of the books on the LLL list) was visiting at that meeting and she oohed and aahed over my beautiful baby girl and I was hooked.

I've done all kinds of jobs in KLLL and have been a part of the USWD staff for several years too. I am a Communication Skills Instructor Trainer now and find the CS work to be a great place to learn. Right now we (the USWD CSITs) are working (along with the USWD CSIs) on ways to help make the CS sessions more open, less structured, more user friendly. We are excited about what happens at sessions when we try using Appreciative Inquiry, World Cafe, Open ways of tapping into the wisdom of the group gathered to enhance communication skills.

This LLLI Conference in Washington DC will be my twelveth. My first was in the Palmer House in Chicago, long, long ago. I'm excited about being in the midst of all the wonderful people who attend conferences. More later.

Rosetta