I am linking up with the I-just-want-to-be-in-first-grade-so-I-can-be-in-her-class, amazing Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for 5 for Friday!
This time last week, I was madly thinking about packing deciding what to pack getting nervous excited printing chocolate wrappers to take as gifts to Sydney.
Last weekend I met up with 6 other Aussie teacher bloggers! I call these ladies friends and chat with them regularly, but we had never met in person as a group!
Here in Australia, we often say 'Sydney can turn it on' and indeed Sydney DID turn it on! Amazing weather, courteous drivers, an awesome buffet breakfast AND a spectacular fireworks display - just. for. us.
By the way, you may want to take note, that if you would like to come to a breakfast with us in the future, it is a requirement that you learn to say 'boo-fay' (buffet) and it rhymes with 'for-yay' (foyer). If you can handle that you will slip right into the group. Like a glove.
1.
.JPG)
I have met Brooke from Teachable Moments a few times before. So we know about her. Yawn.
No seriously, Brooke is amazing. Sydney is her town, and she liaised with 'the authorities' to coordinate the fireworks. While I was a little disappointed in the length of the 'spectacular', I was honestly and genuinely impressed with their perfectly timed commencement. No sooner had we left our little drink quickly cause its free right now sophisticated pre-dinner lounge, walked down the road, over some stairs, up some stairs, over a bridge, through the mud, clip clop clip clop, over the troll, oh hold on, that is another story than right in front of our amazed faces, the fireworks started. There were people with fancy hats on everywhere. I am not 100% positive, but I think they were not only celebrating our arrival, but possibly some sort of little cultural new year or something. If only we took hats with us.
Brooke - awesome. Awesome. That is all I have for you.
Oh, and thank you for all the driving you did, picking up our interstate friends, and negotiating "the airport" and all those roads. And for getting us some super cool Go Noodle goodies. And for making us some adorable lanyards, so we looked official. And 'bloggy'.
Also, thanks for being you. Love you girl.
2.
Miss Tania, for Mrs Poultney's Ponderings. I think I will cry right here. I miss her already. We named her Teeny Tiny Tania. She is a pint sized bundle of fun, wit and warmth. I wanted to pack her up in my bag and take her home. That sounds creepy. But it is not. Cause you would too, trust me.
Tania prepared a little game for us to play, and we just imagined she was our teacher. And sat in awe. And had a few more drinks. And laughed. And I cant really remember who the winner was, but I hear she got a wonderful prize.
3.
Because so many people had gathered by the harbour to see our fireworks, it was tough getting a restaurant for dinner. But we found one. The crowds parted, and we found our table. There was eating. There was drinking (did I mention that?), there was chatting, there was laughing, there was more telling Tania how cute she was.
Here is a drink that the lovely Stef Galvin, from Miss Galvin Learns ordered.
That feeling, when you see something someone else ordered, and you wished you ordered it.
Yep I had that. Especially the next morning when I was reminded that Stef's drink was filled with fruit, and water, and healthy stuff. Will. Order. That. Next. Time.
Stef - it was just amazing to meet you - you are just as kind and sweet as you are online. This girl KNOWS her teaching stuff too! She is a fountain of knowledge on everything 'Prep/Kinder/Transition/First Year At School/Foundation/Early Stage One". Yep, put a group of teachers in a room together and we talk shop. Except we don't talk about shops, we talk about schools. And kids. And colleagues. And mad crazy teachers, kids and colleagues. And laugh about them.
I love having rich conversations about school related stuff, we learn so much from one another and Stef is my kind of girl!
4.
We all decided that next time we need to take more photos. We were so busy eating and drinking chatting and laughing that we did not get enough photos.
Alison from Teaching Maths With Meaning
Emma from Clever Classroom and Shanyn from Classroom Chit Chat were also part of the meet up.
These girls were also amazing - I know, I know, I cant stop saying it. But they are! Alison braved a loooonnnnnggggg journey to see us all, which just shows how special she really is. She is just as sweet, calm and considered in real life as she is online. It was amazing to meet you and get to know you even better Alison! Shanyn is from Queensland, so she also travelled a long way. If you don't know much about Australia, you will not know what I mean when I say she is a true 'Queenslander'. She is sweet, bright, funny and totally adorable!
Emma - it was sooooo special to finally meet you, and a very emotional moment for me. Emma and I have had very similar journeys with our 'educational publishing' - having both started out on eBay and both starting out by making 'laminated' hard copy resources nearly 10 years ago. We both started a website around the same time, and also found TpT at a similar time. It was not till TpT that we could finally really 'connect'. Social media and the online marketplace was not at all what it is today. We had very tough days early on. We had very long, lonely weeks of working hard to establish our businesses, and nobody to talk about it with. At all.
We never knew where we were headed, but both of us, separately, and at the same time, knew we were going somewhere. We never gave up. Emma and I didn't have to say all that much to one another about 'what we do', and we never will have to.
We just know. It was amazing to meet you Emma. I know how hard you have worked, and I understand what you have put into your journey. I am so glad we are friends now and that we have shared a similar path. I think you may possibly be the only person on the planet that has an understanding of what my life has been, for the last 10 years.
5.
It was just amazing to meet these girls, I simply cannot wait to do it all again, and hopefully we can coordinate a trip to Vegas for the TpT conference as well. People ask me about my journey on TpT and what I have learned through my work. Honestly, making friends like these ones has been the biggest surprise and the greatest blessing.