Day 16/17/18 (June 29,30 and July 1)

Day 16 (Leaky Con Day 3)

Summary:
Today I went to a couple of panels and lectures.  It was very informative and thought provoking.  At the end of the night was a Charity Ball, a yearly Leaky Con phenomenon.  We all got to dress up and dance and have a really good time.  I really enjoyed it and got lots and lots of hugs, including a hug from Stephanie Perkins, author of Anna and the French Kiss.  That was pretty great.

Highlights:
1) Hugs.
2) Charity Ball and dancing.
3) Chilling with friends and learning stuff.
4) Hugging Stephanie Perkins and giving her a copy of my book! :)

Lowlights:
1) None

Learned:
1) Writing when you don't feel like writing still has to be done.
2) Pushing though those rough moments allows you to enjoy and relish as well as take advantage of the moments where you are in the creative and writing mode.
3) Discipline is more than half the battle when it comes to writing.

Day 17 (Leaky Con Day 4)

Summary:
Today was the last day of Leaky Con.  We got to the Oregon convention center at about 10:00 am for the last couple of events.  I went to a Dr. Horrible sing along where we watched Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, a fantastically amazing movie.  We then had the final ceremony which was the last Pottercast Podcast.  My family and I then went to have dinner with my uncle and cousin that live in a suburb of Portland.

Highlights:
1) Met Starkid briefly.

Lowlights:
1) Last day of Leaky Con.

Learned:
1) Leaky Con is one of the greatest things in the world.
2) Conventions are awesome places to give hugs.
3) Goodbye's are the worst.
4) I should start making an email list for a quarterly newsletter.

Day 18 (June 1)

Summary:
Today my family and I slept in a little bit in order to recover from Leaky Con and then we went to the rose garden in Portland and then to dinner with a couple friends that used to work with my parents in Chicago years ago.  It was a fun dinner and the restaurant that we went to had some of the most amazing fries ever.  I ended the night by skypeing with one of my friends.  It was a good time.

Highlights:
1) Sleeping in.
2) Dinner with parents friends.
3) Spreading hugs movement in Portland.

Lowlights:
1) Not enough sleep.
2) I definitely wanted more sleep.
3) Did not get as much administrative work done as I was hoping to.

Learned:
1) Family is awesome.  I love my family and spending time with them is one of the greatest things in the world.
2) Skype is an invention that I am very thankful for.
3) Snapchat is also cool.