Traveling

One of the most common questions I get asked, is "What exactly do you do"? Well, to answer the question easily I work with parents. I work as the Governance Coordinator for Community Action Partnership of Kern in the Head Start Program. I work with the parents as part of Policy Council, who are a volunteer group who assist in the overseeing functions of the program. I also assist our 48 centers to make sure they have monthly parent meetings, among many other assorted job duties. As part of my job, I have had the opportunity to go to National Head Start Association Conferences, and California Head Start Association Conferences. These are wonderful learning opportunities for our parents, and myself as well. The fact they are held in cool places certainly doesn't hurt. For a few months, it felt like I was traveling constantly.

The pictures are in backwards order, but you can get the timeline.

In April, myself and our Policy Council chair headed to Kansas City, MO for a week for a Training Conference. I was enamored with MO, and kept texting Bret how much I loved it. The people were friendly, they said Hi as I walked through the park. The streets were clean and I could breathe. It was lovely there. I did have BBQ, and it was delicious. We told the waiter how much we loved it, and he gave us a catalog, they ship the food out. I need to learn how to make the cheesy potato bake, we told everyone we knew about how good it was.
I walked through the park where some people were casually standing around for an impromptu Jazz Concert.

We went to a Kansas City Royals game, we had amazing seats, probably because no one else goes, but we had fun.
I thought it was fun, yes it has an extra "T", but it's Bret's number.
Dora was there, I sent this to my nieces, and they wanted to know if she was real, and why she was so huge.
The crayola and Hallmark factory are there, I was in Heaven.
At the Buca di Beppo, the Pope is there on a Lazy Susan. I had to spin it.

In February, I took six parents to a Parent Conference in San Francisco.
I drove down Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. I was very scared, which made for some laughs, but I got down the street.
Susan is a staff member that went with me,and we had a great time together.
This guy gave each of us flowers, and told us we were beautiful.
I know it's blurry, but my name is on that board. I presented a workshop, and was so excited to have my name on the hotel marquee. It was a big day for me. The room was completely full, and so well received that they came and asked me to present again the next day. I was proud of my accomplishment, and then went and rewarded myself with shoes, (of course).
The view of SF from the top floor.
Our group of Parents, I'm proud to work with them.
In December we headed to Virginia Beach, VA. It was quite an experience, as two of the parents had never been on a plane before.
We arrived, and went straight to the beach, cold as it was.
They have Christmas Lights on the beach for 18 blocks, and it was fun to see. While we were in Virginia Beach, it started snowing, which apparently never happens, so that was fun, because some of the parents had never seen snow either.
So, you can see I was busy for a couple of months. Bret had to be a bachelor for a while. But, I've been home for a while, and don't plan to go anywhere for work until December.