The sessions I attended were all useful. I just wish there were more of them. I feel bad going to a conference at a cost of around $2000 to the University and getting just four or five sessions a day. There should be more somehow. I guess I'll just have to wait for the conference CD, which should arrive in two weeks, to find out about all the sessions I missed.

Monday night the majority of those attending the conference from the University of Richmond went out to dinner together. We've done this at each SCT conference since at least 1994, the first year I attended. Of all the social activities at the conference, it is my favorite by far. Once a year I spend a few hours in the company of these friends who share a commitment to the University. People from all ends of University life: Human Resources, Controller's Office, Registrar's Office, Admission Offices, Information Services and more. We talk a little shop, but most of the time we kick back and enjoy each other. In these pleasant hours I've learned more about the University and those who have invested their lives to make it a better place than is possible in a year of day-to-day contact.

This year we ate at a restaurant at Disneyland. I'm afraid I don't know the name of the place, but it is on the fifteenth floor of a building that overlooks Cinderella's Castle. Louie booked us a room of our own, but the restaurant bumped us from that room to a nicer one (I guess this is the Conference of Bumps). Our room had its own bar and two bartender/waiters, as well as a sweeping view of the park. We could step outside onto a long concrete balcony that was perpendicular to the park. We spent most of our time before and after dinner out on the balcony. I pointed out Orion and the Dog Star to Natolyn, and we watched the fireworks over the park after dinner.

We also had a television to watch the game. As it turned out I didn't stay late enough to watch the conclusion of the game: by 10:30 I was tired enough to call it a night, so I took the van back to the hotel. I am happy that the University of Connecticut won the game, since my soon-to-be brother-in-law Shawn is a UConn alum and a big fan.

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy days, though nothing in particular stands out. The sessions were good stuff overall and I'm looking forward to trying some new tricks when I get back to campus. I left Orlando shortly before 7 P.M. on Wednesday and landed (after two smooth flights) back in Richmond at 11 P.M.

I'd missed Jean and Colette. Jean and I called each other during the conference but this was my first extended time away since Colette was born. Jean did pretty well without me, and even managed to get some sleep. Colette was asleep in Jean's Snuggli, and I found myself staring at her face, soaking her existence back into my life after a four day hiatus.

It was good to be home again.