Teachers' Convention

I love, love, love teachers' convention.  My co workers used to tease me, saying I lived for teachers' convention weekend.  But really, can you blame me?  It's a bright spot at a dreary time of year, you get two days out of the classroom, freebies at the sales exhibit, and a chance to meet up with former colleagues you haven't seen in awhile.  
All of these things make teachers' convention great, but it really turned into one of my favourite yearly events when one of my friends and colleagues decided to turn this into a true "out of town" convention experience for us.  Since we live in the capital, the convention is always held here in our city, but we decided to make it a real outing a few years ago, staying in a hotel downtown, wining and dining in the evenings after days full of professional development.
There are always lots of laughs and memorable moments at our convention weekends, and there is always a theme song.  Last year was "We R who We R" by Key-Dollar-Sign-Ha.  The year before was "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas, and before that it was "She Wolf" by Shakira.  After some discussion, we decided on "We Found Love in a Hopeless Place" for this year's theme.
But even with an appropriate butt thumping beat for an anthem, this year was definitely different.  Of course, being temporarily retired from the craft, I did not attend the day time PD sessions, and while I did join the gang for dinner last night, the fetus who tagged along prevented me from enjoying certain aspects of the dinner I might have previously partaken of (responsibly, of course).  Not only that, but we were missing some core members.  Our girl Amy recently moved out of the city and was sorely missed, and Lynne and Lesley were both kept away by family obligations and a mistaken belief that as senior members of our esteemed guild they should call it a day early.  

Amy and Aoife last year with some of the best red wine I've ever had.

We still had a great dinner though, with memorable moments galore.  We ate at Hundred Bar & Kitchen, which unbeknownst to me hosts ladies' night every Thursday with everything on the menu at half price!  Even drinks, not that I could partake thanks to the tenant in utero.  We paid for that 50% off when it came to the service, however.  Our waitress served one person's dinner at the same time as the appetizers, took away our side plates before we had finished our appetizer platter, cleared one person's wine glass before the bottle at the table was done, threw out two people's doggie bags, and took away the pregnant woman's brownie while she was in the bathroom.  The earlier transgressions could have been forgiven, but that last one?  You do not part me from my chocolate until I'm rolling on the floor, sick with indigestion, heartburn, or both.  

Thank you wine glass, for hiding my bloat!

Making up for our errant server was the entertainment in the form of a regular customer who created her own dance floor in a dance floorless establishment.  She was busting a move for well over two hours in the middle of this resto-lounge, clapping and high kicking to the tunes spun by the in-house DJ who did not stop bobbing his head once throughout our three hour dinner.  I know that is a run-on sentence, but that's how intense and breathless the experience of watching this two really was!
While my evening ended with dinner this year, looking back, I think last year's convention held some omens for what this year would hold.  First, and definitely most telling was one of the freebies I got last year.  It was a tiny, pink, rubbery fetus from the pro-life booth that I planned to share with my health classes.  The fetus became a kind of mascot last year, bobbing its little head to Ke$ha, posing for photo-ops at dinner, and climbing into bed with my friend Aoife at the end of the night, much to Aoife's fright.  Little did I know that a real live fetus would be on board for this year's festivities!  Next year, who knows what will happen!  I just hope to be able to enjoy a glass of red again.
Shelby

Last night's group shot.  Sorry, red eye could not be reduced.