Military Formal

Hello again. We've returned from a super fast, lightening-speed Iowa weekend. On Friday, we drove to Peoria where I presented at the Illinois Associsation of Teachers of English (IATE) conference. After much technological difficulty at the conference (no computer projector as requested and troubles getting the laptop to connect to the hotel's wireless), I am pleased to say that the session went about as well as it could have. I only had about 6 ISU English Ed majors attend my session, but that was perfectly fine. They were a good group--very talkative and friendly. Jan N. was my session chair/recorder, and she also helped keep the session lively. That's my only major conference presentation this year. After last year's trips to San Francisco and NYC for CPTSC and ATTW, not only am I strapped for traveling cash, but I'm also completely worn out. I thought presenting at a regional conference would be a good plan for this year.

While in Iowa, we attended Ken's military "Dining Out" formal. I was not super excited about the prospect of buying (and wearing) a formal dress again given that I'm experiences less-than-happy body image time right now, but I managed to find a good one a month or so ago that was relatively inexpensive and that fit (comfortably). It was fun night, overall. Because of Ken's promotion, we had to sit at the head table (insert here any and every possible bad memory of having to sit at a head table for numerous weddings, etc.). I was not super excited about this prospect either as I don't like the attention to be focused on me (and especially not during an event where people are eating). But it went fine. The entertainment was lively and had us laughing; the entertainment included a roast of one of the long-time soldiers and even a couple of plastic sword and laser nerfgun duels. The evening ran a bit long, however, and we were not able to partake of the DJ as we'd hoped. By 10 pm, we were beat. Most of Ken and my time was spent talking to people and helping everyone feel welcome.


In other news, we're now considering Iowa as a possible future residence. If job situations and the timing work out as we'd like, we may once again be heading back that way -- this time for good. Nothing major yet though. There's still so much up in the air. I hate not knowing what's going on. We'll keep you posted if anything happens.