Anton's LLLI Conference Blog

We made it home!

2005-07-06T22:54:00.000-05:00

Yeah, we're home. Now to get serious about our move to Texas in a week and a half. If all goes well we will be leaving Detroit on the 17th or 18th.

We had a great time at the conference and enjoyed meeting many new and old friends, especially the techies and all the leaders and dads from Texas. I wish you all the best until we meet in Chicago. Count on me to blog again in two years.

Last Session

2005-07-05T15:31:00.000-05:00

The last session was I Love My Life: A guide to working from home.

It ran short which is ok, so now I have time to blog and upload pictures before the Gala tonight. Overall it was a good session, but a bit short on info. Kristi covered a high level view of starting a business at home with some brief success stories. As a founder of a failed dot-com, I am familiar with all the steps to creating a business and she didn't say or suggest anything I wouldn't agree with. I would like to emphasise her suggestion of getting help with the things you don't understand. Hire a real accountant, pay a consultant to help you past some sticky situations, and watch out for bad clients.

Our Trip to the Zoo

2005-07-05T15:24:00.000-05:00

I took the kids to the Zoo this morning. It was a lot of fun, but a LOT of walking. The male panda was out eating a fruitcicle and the kids were excited to see him. Last time we visted the national zoo there was a 2 hour line to see the pandas. The kids enjoyed most of the outdoor exhibits. There were a lot more people there than I had expected and Travis was a bit anxious inside the buildings so we avoided going there.

I'll try to get the pictures uploaded before the Gala tonight.
http://flickr.com/photos/antonolsen/tags/nationalzoo

Morning of the Last

2005-07-05T08:31:00.000-05:00

I wasn't very interested in my first session this morning so the kids and I will be heading to the Zoo.

My attempts to take pictures of the fireworks failed miserably so I won't even try to post them. I definitely need a better camera with a much bigger lens. I do promise to take lots of pictures of the zoo and kids though. Last time we visited the National Zoo was 4 years ago and the line to see the pandas was over 2 hours. Hopefully this time we'll be able to see them.

We should be back in time to get a shower before the 3:30 session.

Living with the Active Alert Child

2005-07-04T16:21:00.000-05:00

I just got done with Linda Budd's session titled after her book, Living with the Active Alert Child. It was very insightful and gave me some ideas on how to deal with both of my children. I liked the topic so well that I bought the book and had her sign it afterwards.

Fireworks

2005-07-04T11:59:00.000-05:00

Is anyone planning on attending the fireworks tonight? Deb's agreed to keep the kids with her tonight so I can venture over to the national mall for the the concert and fireworks show. I plan to leave the hotel between 7:00 and 7:30, and take the metro over. I'll try to get a lot of pictures and see how my digital camera handles the fireworks.

More info, including a schedule of events and tips are here:
http://rrc.dc.gov/rrc/cwp/view.asp?a=1182&q=455262&PM=1
and here:
http://app.calendar.rrc.dc.gov/dayView.aspx?thisDate=7.4.2005

Peaceful Parents

2005-07-04T11:52:00.000-05:00

Naomi Drew's session on Peaceful Parents, Peaceful Kids was very interesting. I again ejoyed hearing validation that our form of parenting, while not always the easiest, proves to be the best in the long run. She had a lot of good suggestions on how to avoid anger and to respond to the child calmly. This is something that I know I need to work on more and hope that hearing her reinforcement will help me to attain that goal.

Day Two of Sessions

2005-07-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

I'm late for the 10am session. Fortunately it's in a large room and I can sneak in the back.

Teresa Pitman's session yesterday was amazing. She didn't pause once and filled the entire time with a captivating wealth of information. It was a joy to hear her speak and provide a some insight into why my children are the way they are. It was also great to get some validation that we are parenting in the better way, even though it doesn't always seem to be the easier way.

I'm off to my next session. More later...

Sunday

2005-07-03T13:57:00.000-05:00

Sorry, the post that was here actually belonged on a different blog. We apologize for the confusion.

-Tech Room staff

Session 101

2005-07-03T12:47:00.000-05:00

I bowed out of the first session about half an hour early because the kids were getting hungry and restless. The session was interesting, but a little slow. I think she could have covered the same material in an hour or so. The general gist of the session was how to pay attention to your children and not nag them into doing things. Allow them to learn when they are interested, and never discourage learning, even if it's not covnenient.

I'll post more later.

First Day of Session

2005-07-03T08:24:00.000-05:00

I'm off with the kids and Deb to the first session in a bit. 101, Creating a Connected Family. I'll try to post here afterwards with some details.

Metro and Museums

2005-07-02T15:24:00.000-05:00

Took the metro over to the Air and Space museum. If you venture that direction later, from Dupont Circle, take the red line to Metro Center, then hop on the orange or blue lines to L'Enfant Plaza. The Smithsonian stop is a little farther away from the Air and Space museum, but a little closer to the natural history and Washington monument.

I'm still debating if I'll attend the opening ceremony or take the kids to the pool. Right now I'm leaning toward the pool just so they tire out and sleep better tonight.

Sessions for tomorrow are:
101 Creating a Connected Family Life
111 Raising Resilient Children

I'm looking forward to the resilient children. I have one that's as resilient as a superball and another that's as rigid as ball bearing. Would be nice to find a way help Travis overcome his fear of change and get him to appreciate it.

Good Morning!

2005-07-02T07:34:00.000-05:00

*yawn*

After a fitfull night's rest we're up, fed, and ready to experience the day.

First stop is coffee, conference registration, then something Smithsonian. I would like to see the zoo, natural history, and space museums while we're here.

Deb brought Gail by last night so she could check her email. It was nice to meet her and put a face to the blog and comments.

Have a fun day!

We arrived in DC safely

2005-07-01T19:45:00.000-05:00

After 11 hours on the road we arrived safe and almost sound in DC. A good night's sleep will do us all a bit of good. We didn't get here in time to register for the conference, so we'll do that first thing in the morning.

I've posted some pictures from the trip on my flickr account at: http://flickr.com/photos/antonolsen/tags/llli/. I'll tag all pics from the conference with llli so they will appear on that page as I upload them.

Deb's off to meet with Gail and I'm watching Cats & Dogs with the kids. I look forward to meeting more of you tomorrow and hopefully can get some pictures so I can keep the names and faces straight.

Good night!

I think we're packed

2005-06-30T21:08:00.000-05:00

It looks like the van is packed and ready for an early morning start. Time to relax a bit and get some sleep soon. G'night all and see you in DC.

Three days to go.

2005-06-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

We are leaving early in the morning on Friday for D.C. Not looking forward to getting up early, but it beats driving all the way through Detroit during the morning rush.

I think we're mostly ready for the trip, just some last minute packing. Is anyone planning on seeing the fireworks from the National Mall? I think my daughter and I will try to brave the crowds for the concert and fireworks.

The Cat's Out.

2005-06-21T19:58:00.000-05:00

I let the cat out of the bag at work today by resigning my position of 4 years. Deb and I will be moving to San Antonio next month for a new, exciting, opportunity. For the next three weeks I'll be trying to transition my duties at work to others, helping Deb pack, find a new house, and attend the conference in July.

If anyone has suggestion on where to look for housing in San Antonio, TX, please let me know. I'll be working near I-10 on the north side of town. I'd prefer a reasonable neighborhood with low crime and a slightly liberal slant.

Wish me luck, this will be a most interesting month.

Less than two weeks to go.

2005-06-20T08:56:00.000-05:00

We're getting closer, and anxious to get on the road now.

We're planning a garage sale next weekend to help pay for the trip. It's amazing how much junk we are finding to sell. We've lived in the same place now for 3 years and this will be the 3rd sale. I'm betting we now have half the junk that we did when we moved in. With any luck we'll turn some more of that junk into cash.

I've got all the Harry Potter audiobooks on my iPod now, and expect we'll get through the first two and part way into the 3rd on the way to DC and back. I've already listened to the first two and enjoyed them
thoroughly. I've found that audio books make the commute seem shorter and much less stressful, almost relaxing.

Crunch time

2005-06-02T07:19:00.000-05:00

Less than a month to go before we drive to D.C.

The conference is payed for, the room reserved, and it appears we may have a sitter for the Gala Event. Everything is on schedule and we're getting anxious for the next month to pass.

I checked the hotel's website and it appears that both high speed internet access and wireless internet access are available. I'll have two tablet PCs along and will try to upload pictures of the conference to my Flickr account. My photos are at: http://flickr.com/photos/antonolsen/ and the conference photos will be tagged with llli and will be seen here: http://flickr.com/photos/antonolsen/tags/llli/ (Nothing there yet)

Choices

2005-05-25T17:23:00.000-05:00

Deb just handed me the conference registration book and asked me to decide on which sessions to attend. I'm posting them here more or less so I don' forget them, and to give you a chance to comment on my choices.

Saturday, July 2nd
7pm - Opening Night Ceremonies

Sunday, July 3rd
8:00 - 101* - Creating a Connected Family Life. (Susan Tracy)
3:30 - 111* - Raising resilient Children (Teresa Pitman)

Monday, July 4th
8:00 - 203 - Adventures in Gentle Discipline (Elizabeth Pantley)
10:00 - 214* - Peaceful Parents, Peaceful Kids. (Naomi Drew)
3:00 - 226 - Living with the Active Alert Child (Linda Budd)

Tuesday, July 5th
10:00 - 303 - Covering Home: Lessons on the art of fathering (Jack Petrash)
3:30 - 316 - I Love My Life: A guide to working from home (Kristi Tamsevicuis)

* indicates sessions that my wife is also attending.

Looks like an interesting spread of topics and should prove to be fun juggling sessions with trips to the museums and zoo. Travis (my 5yo) is looking forward to riding on the Metro.