Make New Friends, But Keep the Old????

Arkansas Counselors Convention today in Fort Smith. Last year I was in Hot Springs with Erica and Larissa. Oh, Erica, the memories we have from that trip!!! woohoo! It was here yesterday but I was working, so I missed that part of it. Caught several early seminars this morning that were interesting, although they didn't really pertain to me in particular. The school counselors far outnumber the licensed counselors who work in private practices, etc., so much of it is geared in their direction obviously. Learned a lot at the luncheon and at the State Board forum today. Mostly how my letter of request for clarification of an issue turned the whole world of supervision upside down apparently....it was good to shake the board members hands afterwards and put faces with names.

It was nice to be around professional people all day who are all coming together for a common reason, to learn more about the job they are doing, to improve their skills, to get questions answered....to even meet up with old friends and coworkers. For me, being new to this part of my life, the coworkers are on a short list. So, I met a few new folks and talked to them. Since the only requirement for me to converse with someone is for them to possess a pulse, it worked out quite well for me today!

During the LPC luncheon, I actually had one of those moments of being introduced to someone that I KNEW I knew their name from somewhere before. Paul Bokker. It took a while for us to run through the list of people and places, but discovered he had been the pastor at my parents little church in the country years ago while I was in college! He described them as my dad being a rascal and my mom being the maker of the best chocolate pie he'd ever had in his life. I knew he had them pegged.
I also met a guy named David who is the treasure of our organization. He's a high school counselor. I asked him from where and he said "I'm from Wynne." I couldn't believe it! I never meet anyone from Wynne! I told him I was from Wynne and we began the old "I know and do you know..." He even knows my dad out at Walmart Automotive. Small world for sure. He also described my dad as "quite a mess". He had him pegged.

While in that meeting today I was elected President elect of the Licensed Professional Counselors division of the ACA. (its really like elect-elect cause I won't be the total prez until July 2010) Maybe I'll have the job figured out by then! Or maybe total senility will set in by then and they will have to find someone else. Of course they promise it doesn't require hardly ANY work and NO fundraising....so I'm in. Ugh.

I'm going back tomorrow. Who knows who I might meet? Hopefully I won't come out with anymore jobs!! Maybe I'll remember and even snap a photo or two!!
And props to Glo for starting that blog today! Now it's Connie's turn!