This year I was a "1st Time Attendee" at the Missouri Bar's Solo and Small Firm Conference. As a first time attendee, they put a lovely purple ribbon hanging from my name tag, so that everyone attending the conference knew I was a newbie. Fortunately, lawyers are actually nice people and no one sent me in the wrong direction or stuck a "kick me" post-it on my back. I don't think. At least I didn't get kicked.
Seriously, though, it was both an enjoyable and educational experience. I arrived early Thursday and dove right in. There were CLEs galore, lunches and refreshment breaks, and a happy hour and dinner. The dinner was luau themed, which seemed appropriate given the lakeside setting. There was loads of food, including three whole pigs! And I hula danced!
Friday was more of the same: another CLE-filled day with lots of food thrown in for good measure. Breakfast and lunch buffets, and loads of between-meal snacks. I think I gained 10 pounds while I was there!
K and E arrived Friday night for the weekend; Friday was K's birthday! We went to dinner at J.B. Hooks, then had a couple of drinks at the resort bar.
K and E enjoyed a leisurely Saturday morning which included breakfast and a trip to the pool, while I finished up with the last of the CLEs and grand finale lunch. They were giving away loads of prizes at the lunch (the best were an iPad and a 7-night trip to Jamaica), but you had to be present to win. So I was present. But sadly, I did not win. The tension was thick at times though -- they probably pulled 15 names for the iPad before they got someone who was actually at the lunch. I think they pulled 3 for the Jamaica trip. Sucks to be those other people who bailed early. What's the cost of one more night at Tan-Tar-A ($118) compared to 7 nights in Jamaica?
K and E were pretty fried at the pool by the time I finished with lunch, so we headed to the other destination spot in the Ozarks: the outlet mall! We spent probably 5 hours going shop to shop, and were quite successful, I must say.
We were also quite hungry! I'm fairly certain that, as a consequence, we made a record-breaking trip to Bandana's. We were in, ordered, we ate, and were gone again in under half an hour. And K only made a fool of herself twice while we were there!
All the shopping did a number on her knee, so she spent the rest of the evening (after we busted back into our own room which we were locked out of by hotel staff?!?) hanging out under a bag of ice.
Sunday morning, K and E indulged me with a short trip to the pool, as I had missed out on the fun the day before. We didn't stay long -- it was miserably hot and everyone was getting pretty toasted, but it was enough to quench my pool thirst. And we met Priscilla, the duck who lives in the pool area. Her partner Elvis had apparently left her there on her own. The pool guy said not to worry; Elvis would be back.
We made another quick trip to the outlet mall to hit a couple shops we missed the night before, then fled the Ozarks for Jefferson City. We stopped to see Uncle P, who took us to see what will soon be (fingers crossed!) his new house! Very exciting news, and always good to see him.
The remainder of the trip was distinctly less exciting -- the 2-hour drive back home was intermittently punctuated by pouring rainstorms. You know the kind: they're so bad they slow or stop traffic on the highway. That made for stressful driving. But we made it; E went home to S, Dad was collected from the airport, and now we're all back to our normal, non-birthday-weekend lives.
So, who has the next birthday?
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