Div/AG Training, Region IV Conference and since ...

Well, times have certainly been busy and incredibly exciting for your District Executive team.

The last weekend of May saw Tim (your Lt. Governor Education & Training "LGET"), Greg (your Lt. Governor Marketing "LGM") and Keith (your Public Relations Officer "PRO") and me in Red Deer for the Division Governor retreat. What a great time! You have an incredibly dedicated, enthusiastic and hard-working group of Division Governors for 2008-2009. Friday night was all about anything but Toastmasters! Saturday morning was information overload for the Div Govs. Then it was off for an afternoon of experiental leadership training. The sun shone and the enthusiasm was off the charts. Saturday night saw us at Sam's for a lovely supper out (once we got the little green worms out of our hair). Sunday morning they delved into the exciting world of Budget - wow! However, they survived it in order that they could spend 2 incredible hours with Past International Director, our beloved Linda Hawk, who joined us to present 2 sessions. The first, on leadership, Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way was followed by a session on conflict management Playing in the Same Sandbox! Linda, there's a reason you're loved and respected around the world - you were completely amazing! Following lunch we all headed off to our homes and alas, work ...

The next weekend saw Tim, Greg, Keith and I (aka the Brass ... a phrase coined by Rhys Davies, Past Div F Gov for your DG, LGET, LGM and PRO - much preferable to the Bottom 4 - yup we're at the bottom of the rung - members at the top!) in Davidson SK for Saskatchewan AG Training. Fantastic group! A long day filled with lots of "here's where you go to find ...". Weather was a little iffy, but we persevered and really enjoyed our time with our SK AGs.

The next weekend once again saw your Brass presenting Area Governor Training. This time we were in Edmonton for the Alberta AG Training. Another fantastic group! Sunny day and a very full house! Lots more of the "here's where you go to find ...". Special thanks to Dan and Fern for hosting Tim and I. I love staying with you guys!!

The previous 3 weekends have been a highlight for me for the past couple of years. It is getting to know the Division Governors and Area Governors that makes all the travel, prep time and worry worth it. What an amazing group of people. I just can't wait to be able to meet all of our members from across the District this coming year!

Finally ... the following weekend ... a weekend off! Well, sort of. Lots of prep work for the year ahead. I did, however, take a bit of down time and watched movies, packed for the upcoming trip to Rapid City SD for the Region IV Conference.

Yeah! It's Wednesday and I get to go to Rapid City SD! I have been so pumped about going to the Region IV Conference and seeing so many friends from across the Region. Did the Saskatoon - Edmonton - Denver - Rapid City method of getting there. All was fine until I was in Edmonton and realized that the District Banner made it to Edmonton, but my luggage didn't (I finally got it Saturday at 5 pm). Anyway, I think that banner is jinxed. Last year Tim was tasked with taking it to Region; neither the banner or his luggage showed up (well, they did a couple days later). Next year when Region is in Winnipeg, the banner is going in someone's car - it apparently doesn't like planes!

Only arrived somewhat late in Rapid City, but that was okay, as Keith and I were greeted by D19 (Iowa) DG Doug and we were close enough timewise to wait for Monique, the District Governor from D64 (Manitoba). It was fantastic to see them again.

Arrived at the Holiday Inn in South Dakota to hear the raucous sounds of friends from around the Region whooping it up in the lounge. The desk clerk looked slightly alarmed when Mic, LGM and Brian, LGET from D78 came thundering across the lobby to see who could be first to give me a welcome hug (Brian won - too bad Mic). I must give special thanks to Dave the Bartender who found out I lost my luggage (well, more accurately, Air Canada just didn't put it on the plane) and found me lots of amenities to help me out. Thanks also to Mic for the hair spray and Sue & Spence for the clothes for Friday night!

Thursday saw Monique, Doug, Tim, Greg, Keith and me off to Mount Rushmore. How amazing! Tim, Greg, Keith and I had fun emulating the 4 Presidents (please see the pics on the http://www.d42.org/ web site). A stop in the town near Rushmore for some much (not!) needed shopping - great hat Monique and t-shirt Tim - gave me the time to phone Air Canada baggage (don't get me started! Thank goodness for the great folks at United Air Baggage). Then we stopped at the Crystal Caves (the rest of the gang went down but I didn't think my knees could handle the climb so I had a nap) ... which was fine except for the child in the next car skwooshing his empty water bottle.

Back to Rapid City and time to meet and greet friends from across the Region. A special treat was that Dan, Deputy Executive Director of Toastmasters International and Senior Vice-President Jana and her husband Robert Past International President were there! Thursday night was biker night! Who'd have thunk it being so close to Sturgis!! Lots of fun and chat, especially in the hospitality suite - no one does a hospitality suite like Ray LGET from D64 Winnipeg.

Friday morning - up at at 'em early as Tim, Greg and I were in District Officer Training. Great sessions, led by Dan, Jana, 1st Year International Director (ID) Judy and 2nd year ID Martha.

Friday night is always a fun night at Region. This year the Region Conference team (led by the fantastic JoAnn and Dwight) held a lip sync contest. It's been about a decade since that was done. Let's be perfectly clear on something ... I do NOT do lip syncs ... never have ... never will. Well, that was until Greg talked me into doing one. Well, 1 turned into 2! I also did one with my fellow DGs (D6 Joan, D19 Doug, D24 Pat, D64 Monique and D78 Arlene) - we decided to do Leader of the Pack. Arlene, Monique and the gang were awesome - I was a little frazzled, having had to do a shopping run to buy a dress for Saturday night! Jade, Sue and Spence from D42 did a fantastic job - they placed 3rd! Finally, the last act of the night ... your D42 Brass ... I won't tell you the song (you never know, you may just see it someday) ... but here's the thing ... we got a standing ovation!! Who knew lip sync could be so much fun! And guess what ... we won the lip sync contest!!

Saturday it was back into the Training Room for Tim, Greg and I. Keith took care of the Treasurer training on Friday as Deb was unable to attend and took part in PRO training on Saturday. Lots of learning happening!

Saturday night was a highlight - and not just because my luggage arrived - the banquet was a fun time, followed by the International Speech Contest. Great contest! And to top off the weekend, Martin from our District won the Region IV International Speech Contest. Martin, you were awesome! Now Martin will represent our Region at the Toastmasters International Speech Contest at the International Convention in Calgary in August. Good luck Martin! Then we had the dancing ... then the hospitality suite ... need I say more ...

Sunday it was time for goodbyes to our friends. It's hard to part, but knowing I'll see them in August makes it a lot easier. Was able to fly from Rapid City to Denver to Winnipeg seated by D64 DG Monique, so that was a hoot. Especially when we had our buffet of junk food lined up on our trays. After a drink and visit in Winnipeg with Monique and her husband Don (awesome guy) it was home to Saskatoon and back to my very lonely kitties Sophie and Lizzie.

Ahhhhh ... 2 days off ... not too much rest as I had lots of work to get done for D42! Back to work Wednesday and then Friday night it was off to my sister Kathy's cabin at Christopher Lake with my buddy Stephen who was up visiting from Minnesota. Good thing the weather was crappy as I spent most of the time hunkered down over my laptop. There are 4 critical deadlines on July 15th - the district officer list, the district calendar, the alignment changes and district signature form - so the pressure was on.

Back to work Tuesday and after several nights and today finishing things up, I'm happy to report that this afternoon at 1:11 pm I sent the last of the required items off to TI World Headquarters (WHQ). Then it was an afternoon out in the sun with one of my favourite people in the world - Ken, our District Team Leadership Coach. We discussed everything under the sun (literally, we sat for about 2 hours on a bench overlooking the beautiful South Saskatchewan River). Ken is always there to calm me, provide advice and guide me gently. Ken, thank you for you!

Well, that's it for now. Sorry this one has been so long but now that I have a blog (for some reason I keep typing blob) up and running I'll be doing regular postings to keep you up to speed on what I and the rest of your District team are up to.

It is without doubt one of the highlights of my life to be able to serve you, our District 42 members for the coming year. We will be trying new ideas this year and further developing other ideas we tried this past year. I hope that you will enjoy these blogs and gain a greater understanding of what your District team is up to, on your behalf.

Hugs until the next blog, Joan, Sophie my tabby, and Lizzie (currently sleeping at my feet).