As we get our feet wet learning how to be vendors at homeschool conventions, we have had many opportunities to laugh at ourselves.
Our first conference we forgot our tablecloths and had to rent some last minute. (See Watch Conference story.)
Our second conference , Inland Northwest Homeschool Conference, was a bit stressful as we loaded up our books in the back of our truck and hoped it didn't rain for the short drive to our local convention. Guess what? It began to rain. Thankfully we had a tarp to put on to protect everything, 15 minutes away from our destination. Next, we bought a canopy.
And our most recent convention was 4 hours away. We were feeling pretty good as we had packed the day before and just had a couple of things to load in the morning. Goal: to leave by 8 am, we were only 30 minutes behind schedule. We were happily driving along when one of our girls needed to visit a rest stop. As we are getting back in the truck, I double-check that we grabbed the final box of very important items. To our disappointment we had overlooked that bin. What was in it? Do we need to turn around? Well, our cashbox was in it and I am sure there are other important things, but can't remember. So, we turn around. This would be no big deal, but we had already driven one and a half hours!!!! So now, we are 3 hours behind schedule. Three hours!!! As we arrive home, pick up the bin, we realize our tablecloths were in there as well as our business sign and things we would have really missed. This just means that we will have to rush our set-up when we get there because we have to be open that night for the conference. Thankfully, thankfully, my parents drive up to meet us there and pick up our little girls for the evening and our dog. Without them meeting us there, we would have been really behind schedule. So, lesson learned lately is Checklist, Checklist, Checklist!
This latest conference was Christian Heritage. Last year we attended as attendees, this year as vendors. The heart of family discipleship is so prevalent with the speakers, volunteers, leadership and the families that attend. I would say that what we enjoyed the most was meeting the people who stopped by our booth.
We had many little girls coming by as we were holding a drawing for the last Elsie Dinsmore doll that Mission City Press had before they closed their doors. When we finally drew the name, the girl was not present, but someone knew her and they tracked her down. She had been sleeping and they woke her up so we could present the doll to her and take her picture. It was exciting and sad at the same time as there were many disappointed girls. I wish we had one for all of them. It was so sweet later as a young girl stopped by and was wondering if we had found the winner. I told her that a girl had won and thanked her for entering and I was sorry they all couldn't win. She said, "I am happy that she won!" That really touched my heart.
The winner was a sweet girl named Rebekah!
