The Centers for New Horizons conference was a blast! It’s been a long time since I’ve had an adult audience with all the energy of a large group of middle schoolers, but you ladies know how to party! I got a little nervous when I took my jacket off to draw and there was whooping from the audience, but it’s all good.

Sabrina, Cheryl, thank you both for seeing to Larry and my every need. And Valerie, thanks for being such a go-getter – I know you were a little worried about all the requirements, but everything was flawless!

I hope everyone walked away encouraged and inspired – I know it was a pleasure to spend the afternoon with you all.

Have a great summer!

Life has been hectic to say the least! To get out to the Kankakee County Teen Conference, I got up at 4:30am. Technically I could have slept till 5am, but for some reason my 2 year old thinks it’s fun to get up at 4:30am and play the ‘let’s wake daddy by repeatedly slapping his face in the dark’ game. Kids!

Thankfully, Larry was driving so I was able to sleep the entire 2.5 hour drive.

The conference went great! I kicked everything off with a keynote to the 900 8th and 9th graders who were actually, amazingly awake! After the keynote, the group broke up into a bunch of worskhops and I also did 2 of those. It was nice to have smaller groups to speak to as we could do Q&A and make it more interractive.

I really enjoyed meeting everyone and want to do a special shout out to Shelby and her mom, Karen, fellow ADDers! Shelby’s a writer, putting her wild, ADD imagination to good use. Send me a copy of your book when it’s published, ok?

A big thank you, to our sponsor, Linda! I’m glad that the frame building exercise doubled as laughter therapy for you guys – you did an excellent job by the way!

Last, but not least, I ran into my good friend Steve Troglio, who was one of the other workshop speakers at the conference. Steve and I have known each other for about a  decade, our path crossing at various events. Steve has a phenomenal program for youth – if you’re looking for a great presenter for your next teen event, look Steve up. Tell him I sent you!. Check out his website: CLICK HERE!

After the last workshop, Larry and I packed everything up and headed right back home! Long day, but well worth it!