The past few weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster and I have to admit I'm exhausted. I've been trying to rest but as most of you know, I'm not great at that.
Since I last checked in with all of you, I spent two weeks in Boise. I had back-to-back conferences there and didn't want to drive the 2 hours between my home and Boise multiple times. I'm planning on moving to Boise sometime next year so I also wanted to get a sense of what it is like to be there longer than a day or two. Turns out, the traffic didn't make me insane and I really enjoyed having a wide variety of options for activities. So, when the time comes, I think it will be a good move for me.
Here's a roundup of my latest adventures:
Once again, I was able to attend the Alturus Institute's Conversations with Exceptional Women. I attended last year and had a great time and this year was also fun. I have great respect for women like Dr. Fiona Hill and Dr. Caroline Heldman and it was fun to be in close proximity to them and women like them. As usual, I came home with a stack of books, (Some of them signed!) and the continued motivation to write and speak more about the issues I care about.
Something special happened on the final day of the conference. I ran into former Idaho legislator, Gail Bray. She approached me to comment on the shirt I wearing that reads, "as strong as the woman next to me".
When she was running for the Idaho Senate back in the late 1980s, her campaign shirts said, "A woman's place is in the house...and in the senate." She noticed my shirt and wanted to make a comparison between her shirts and mine. I had worked on her campaign and remembered the shirts. It was fun to reunite with her as she'd be a strong influence in my early political activities.
While I was in Boise that week, I was also able to drop in to a conference on afterschool programming and watch my friend and partner Rebecca Wood accept an award for her hard work and excellence in developing and afterschool program in Lincoln County. We worked together on that project, but it was always her dream for the kids in the community.
I attended a fundraiser for the Idaho State Historical Museum. I hadn't been to the museum in several decades. It's gone through a huge remodel since the last time I was there. I loved the interactive displays. They were raising money to restore some art and do some upgrades at the Old Idaho Penitentiary, a fascinating, albeit creepy, place to visit.
From Boise, my niece and I made a mad dash to Moscow, Idaho to watch my son in his first University of Idaho marching band performance.
I does a mother's heart good to see her son so very happy. I was especially impressed that so many of the people in the stadium stayed and watched the band. Here's a link to watch the official half-time performance.
Back in Boise, I was supposed to be a public transportation conference, but I was exhausted. I made it for half a day. As always, it fills my heart to meet so many people committed to make sure every Idahoan has affordable access to the resources they need.
The woman, Jennifer, who manages the service I started has it well under control. I opted to stay home for a couple of days to catch up with rest and work.
I also took some time to enjoy dinner with a group of friends from high school. There is just something special about friends with a shared history. We reminisced and laughed for about four hours on a Thursday evening.
I'm so thankful for these people.
Princess of Quite-A-Lot turned 23 the other day and since she had plans for her actual birthday, we took the time to celebrate early by finding another stop on the Idaho Potato Trail.
This week has been fairly quiet as I haven't felt great. I think I'm mostly tired and overwhelmed with the amount of work that needs done around my house. And sometimes, I just struggle with depression, like everyone else. I allowed myself to rest and feel sorry for myself a bit. Thanks to the hard work of some sweet friends who check on me and make sure I don't move permanently into my depression cave, I'm feeling better.
Before I sign off on this update, I want to let you know there is even more content over on my Patreon Page. These updates include a book club, a film club, and some other for content. Yes, they're behind paywalls, but I think you'll find the new and exclusive content worth it!
What have I been reading: I'm working on the book we've chosen for the bookclub over on my Patreon page -- since that's exclusive to that site, you'll have to go there to find out!
What have I been listening to: I'm late to the Zach Bryan story, but am really enjoying his music.
Happy Fall, ya'll!
