Conventioneering

I'm sitting here at the Freedom Fest 2008 Convention, as I have been for the last 7-8 hours, and it has struck me as an interesting phenomenon: the convention. This particular gathering is about celebrating freedom and liberty. Naturally it's most heavily populated by libertarian attendees and exhibitors (the Institute for Justice included). But I simply did not expect so many financial and investment advice organizations. I'm surrounded by them--literally, nine of twelve booths in my row have something to do with financial or investment advice.

The other thing I wasn't prepared for: the Conventioneers. Not just regular attendees, but those deserving of a capitol "C". The folks that attend and with apparent glee corner the unsuspecting exhibitor (who must keep the friendly smile pasted on) to blather on about totally irrelevant topics like the speaker's ancestory, family history, and views on men v. women (that gentleman got about 15 minutes of my time, but he's definitely had the folks across the way cornered much longer). It's like the fun of the convention is in having row upon row of captive audiences. Maybe it's a form of therapy for some (that guy who's still talking across the way comes to mind).

In a lot of ways this is a fun and great experience--I'm getting to meet in person many of IJ's supporters, donors, and fellow comrades in arms. That's just cool.

The Conventioneers, however, are why this could never be more than an occasional thing for me!

Please consider joining us ONLINE June 23!

Guam: Graduation!

Last night was the big graduation and we just all had a blast--and yes, tears were shed. We'll leave it at that. The ceremony took place at the base movie theater, complete with an open concession stand (we skipped the popcorn tho...):

Here's Katie walking in with the processional:

As you can imagine, John spent most of the evening in this position (we've got the whole thing recorded, of course):

Here is the actual, official receiving of the diploma:

Naturally, the pictures and video for the rest of the evening all have Katie's big smile--for some reason she just couldn't stop smiling!

The official moving of the tassle from one side to the other:

A very special part of the evening was a surprise to me, the graduates presented each mom with a rose in a tribute to the parents. Katie's moments with John were especially touching for us all!

Naturally, the big conclusion was the traditional tossing of the caps:

And of course, the family pictures to finish things up:

Guam: Baccalaureate

Yesterday we got to start the graduation fun with a short Baccalaureate service at the base chapel near Katie's high school. It was a nice ceremony, I enjoyed the speaker and they had a candle lighting ceremony for the seniors. I didn't get great pics, but here are a few:

Guam: Underwater World

Today was a lot of fun. We started out early since we crashed about 8pm last night: we woke up by 5am. Nice to see the sunrise and all, but we'd like to see more of the evening! Anyway, we got up early and enjoyed the breakfast buffet downstairs. It's a fancy one (at least it costs fancy) but we decided to try it out. The food was great, tho, and it was kind of nice to have a quiet sunrise breakfast together.

After breakfast and some resting in the room, I made use again of the workout facilities and took a shower down there. The only issue we've had so far with the room is that the shower isn't very hot; it gets kind of warm and fluctuates. So I'll probably take the rest of my showers down in the locker room!

The girls came by then with Hannah's boyfriend T.J., and we went to the "Pleasure Island" area which is the fancy shops and fancier hotels. We toured "Underwater World" and just had a blast looking at all the fish, sharks, and crazy sea creaturs. Below are some pictures for your enjoyment. We also had the video camera running the whole time, so at some point we'll post some clips (once we get the editing done).

Guam: Date day

So on Friday John and I decided to take just one day for ourselves since this is our big vacation for the year (or more likely for the decade). We got the girls to school, and had some breakfast in the room quietly before heading down for a fairly intense workout in the facilities here at the hotel. I think I've actually gotten to the point where I semi enjoy working out! Very weird.

Anyway, after we cleaned up we headed into town to wander around a mall, have lunch and see a movie. We ate at the food court and saw "Don't Mess With Zohan" the new Adam Sandler movie. I'll just say we give it mixed reviews. It was pretty funny in a lot of parts but way, way...way over the line in some others (in my humble opinion). Anyway, a good date time in any case.

So we headed back to the hotel and watched some tv with a snack. Then, for our great date night we...fell asleep by 8pm. Oh well, I suppose we really needed it. And these beds are COMFY!

I'M AN AUNT!!! Welcome to our world, Allison Joy Barnett:

Read all about it here.