"Well, I'm back."

Had a nice time in Atlanta at the GHEA convention, thanks entirely to my dear mother, who not only watched the children for hours and hours, and brought sustenance for them, but filled her car with gas and loaned it to me.  I went on Friday only.  Decided to forego Saturday to save money and trouble.  The convention seemed more sparsely attended than in previous years, or maybe I was just distracted by Mr. Pudge.

After making a beeline to the used book sale, where I found the Math-U-See manipulatives I sought, I walked around the vendor hall, attended three seminars, and spent three separate sessions in the nursing mother's room.  Pudge was pretty good, but he didn't want to ride in the stroller.  He wanted up on my shoulder most of the time.  The stroller was useful for carrying my loot, however.

I found one batch of the more recent Math-U-See manipulatives, and a tray of the older style.  I'm hoping to make do with those.  I also found a skip-counting tape and a Leapfrog addition practice thingummy for cheap.  It was good to be on a budget to cut down on waste.

Saw the lovely hard-bound edition of Stepping Heavenward at the Lamplighters booth.  This is a book I've wanted to read for a while.  Turns out my mother has a copy!  Checked online, thinking it must be free out there somewhere, and sure enough, it's available at more than one site.  So I read it at Project Gutenberg. Wonderful!  Very absorbing; so true to life and to every woman's/mother's experience.  I will read it again when Mom brings her copy.

Traffic was very slow on the way home, and Pudge got fed up, so I pulled off at "Ick"Donald's and used a couple of the kids' gift certificates for some chow, then ate while he ate.  I'm sure glad I don't have to drive around Atlanta every day.  Puts me in mind of our Chicago days.

Today I have kicked back and spent way too much time on the internet.  Will make up for it tomorrow.  Later!