Cold Feet

Happy November!

My feet were freezing as I toured around DC before heading home today, so I repurposed my fingerless gloves. They've got potential, don't ya think?

We saw so much breathtaking natural beauty on our tour of the Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon Memorial, despite the fact that both of those places make me feel deeply sad and somber.

Ask not what your country can do for you ...

the perfectly fitting end to an amazing character conference.

The cold feet totally complement my keynote theme;

what a blast it was to dress like a (n)ICE Queen

as I talked about kindness as the real global warming!

Click the picture to watch us dance the Kindness Hokey Pokey!

And look who we found in the hotel lobby this morning,

author Trudy Ludwig. Such an inspiration.

What a wonderful weekend it was!

The table toppers made by art students at Sullivan Primary where my friend Tina teaches were fantastic!

Before I spoke, Tina snuck by to give me these

Seeds of Happiness. Super sweet!

I'd like to say my keynote went off without a hitch,

but that wouldn't be entirely truthful. Actually, technology wasn't exactly our friend that morning, and my slides didn't come up like we'd planned, so time stood still and I had to wing it for the first few minutes.

But once I talked myself into the fact that they may not be coming up, I backed away from the podium and started to soar. Time hasn't flown by so quickly since I'm not sure when, and, before I knew it, the event I've been planning for for a year was in the books. I was honored and humbled by the opportunity, the standing ovation, and the kind words of affirmation that would follow into the weekend.

My Godparents joined us from PA and my sister came in from WI.

And on Saturday my friends Kelly and Jenn served as emcees for the 

National Schools of Character luncheon.

We celebrated 44 NSOCs, including Southside Elementary, a school whom we had the privilege to mentor a little bit.

I am excited and energized by caring educators like these

and I'm here to say that I don't have cold feet about our future because it looks super-bright with their superheroes leading the way!