My Top 10 Things I was Grateful for at the GWA Symposium List

I could go on about all that went wrong or was just plain irritating to me at the recent GWA meeting (when you are an ex-Association exec it is so HARD not to nitpick about other association's meetings), BUT at least our bus did not get stuck in the mud in the North Carolina boonies so I'm going to write this Top 10 Things I was Grateful for at the GWA Symposium List.

I am grateful that:
1. Scott Aker has a similar sense of humor to mine and also laughed whenever someone sat down hard on the brand new concention center chairs aka whoopee cushions.
2. The local host committee (all volunteers!) busted their butts to get us to exciting gardens and fed and organized and informed.
3. Erica Glasener did not clock me for totally blanking on her name. It just flew out of my brain when I saw her and I had just been singing her praises to another fan of her show, A Gardener's Diary. This is why I wish folks were tattooed with nametags on their foreheads upon birth.
4. My travel-mate Cheval Force Opp puts up with my late-night TV viewing and nonstop chatter.
5. JC Raulston Arboretum's crew read my mind and served the Southern BBQ spread of my dreams -- hush puppies, sweet tea, corn pudding, two different kinds of BBQ, peach cobbler, etc.
6. Speakers like Dr. Lowell Catlett, Larry Weaner, and James Chatfield who shared their wisdom and tips. I was educated. I was moved. And, I'm going to take action.
7. Mother Nature who cooperated for the most part and kept us fairly warm plus dry.
8. Bus drivers that got us safely and pretty much ontime to each destination despite putting up with our loud, talkative selves and the stragglers who had to take just-one-more photo at each stop.
9. Exhibitors/sponsors/vendors who supported the meeting and made sure no one went home empty-handed. Though the exhibit area was smaller, coffee break were fewer, and some big garden company names were missing this year, we really appreciated you all who invested in the show despite the doom-and-gloom economy.
10. Bus-mate Judy A. Krasnicke for loaning me paper on the optional gardens tour so I could take detailed notes about each stop.
And one bonus: My neighbor, Joletta, who cat-sit for me and allowed me to have peace-of-mind that my baby, Chantilly, was home safe, fed, and happy.

Here is a link to my photo gallery of any pics I took at the GWA event that had people (or animals) in it -- if you recognize yourselves, please tag or comment on them. I did MUCH better this year, 10% of what I took had living beings other than plants, usually I'm at 1&, you should be proud of me :-).