Mini-meet in Tyler

So, we moved last month. And all my letterboxing stuff has been packed up, and I haven't been LBing in quite some time.

That being said, I've been really looking forward to the mini-meet in Tyler. But, gosh, I was nervous - what if people aren't nearly as nice as they seem in their e-mails?, what if no one talks to be because I'm a newbie? is the kiddo going to get on my nerves? So, I arranged for my step-mom, RosebudTia, to go with me. And last night, at the very last minute, she called saying she wasn't going to be able to make it after all. I was crushed - my super-safety conscious husband was already nervous about me driving several hours to meet a bunch of strangers (a good point, which I share).

And he looked at my forlorn face, after seeing me work so hard on the answers to personal travelers, and how excited I had been not 10 minutes before as I was getting ready to make my potluck contribution. And he said he'd go with me. YAY!

Didn't get my potluck contribution made (what was I thinking, deciding to make a dish that takes over a hour for 4 servings as a potluck offering?), we left an hour later than we planned, I completely forgot to grab several of the things I meant to bring. 2 1/2 hours later, we pull into this really pretty park, and find all the cars. I'm a nervous, excited wreck. Not even sure we're in the right place, we get up to the pavilion, and I see stamps! We're in the right place!

AndPlus2, who was the fabulous hostess for the event, was the first person I got to meet. And she was just as sweet as pie! She patiently explained everything I needed to do (stamp into the event book, stamp the event stamp into my book, do the traveling event boxes that were there, start exchanges and PTs if I had answers for them, etc.). The event stamp was amazing! The event book was amazing! The traveling boxes were so neat and clever!

I got to meet so many wonderful people - Beach Bum TX, jb kokopelli, Gryzzled Gryphon, Frost Maiden, Blue Butterfly, Lucy Locket, Purple Nic, Breath of Life, Trillion Grams, Mothers Love... The Rodgers 7 were there, but I just missed them on a trip to the car for something.

Agent X was thoroughly entertained by the whole thing - there was food, there was a dog (and gosh, he does love animals), there were other kids, and of course, there was letterboxing!

The fabulous hubby wore one of his favorite shirts that he got on a trip a while back. Shortly after we got there (and he was reassured he'd still be allowed to eat despite not being a boxer), one of the boxers I was exchanging with told him that the logo would be a great stamp, and everyone around the table agreed. After getting home tonight, it did indeed get carved so that he would have a stamp should he attend an event with me again, or in the event that he decides to start boxing with me (keeping fingers crossed!).

I caught my first cootie - it's traveled all the way from Tennessee! Looking through the book that was with it, I recognize several of the stamps. And I am absolutely in awe that I have in my possession (for now) that so many letterboxers have stamped into. I was so very excited to see SHH's stamp in there - I love her blog, and hope to someday be half the stamp carver that she is.

On to today's lessons learned in letterboxing - unfortunately not nearly as humorous as previous lessons, but I wanted to get them down before I completely forgot them:

1. Agent X apparently has a knack for ciphers. I took one look at it and thought to myself "obviously not going to get that one". A bit later, I did manage to figure out the title, but that was as far as I got. He took one look at what I had gleaned, and in less than a minute, he'd figured out what to do to translate the clue. Maybe all those puzzle boxes that I thought I'd never get might just be within reach if I print the clues out for him to figure out.
2. Everyone really is just as nice as they seem in their e-mails. And then some.
3. Double check the event start time - I coulda sworn it said 11:30, we left a hour late, and arrived about 12:15. It actually started at 8. I so could have actually gotten some of the boxes around Tyler if we'd gotten there then! Of course, that would require much more coffee in the morning....
4. Planning to make a potluck offering the night before the event, which regularly takes over a hour of prep and cooking time for only 4 servings, for up to 35 people = bad idea in reality, no matter how good it sounds in your head or how good it sounds to your stomach.
5. Print everything ahead of time! This morning, in the rush to get out the door, we discovered that the desktop computer that the printer will talk to - not working. Hand wrote all the directions and PT answers I had, and that worked well. But it did not lend to me becoming calm in a pre-caffeinated state about how late we were already.
6. Pack everything the night before - the letterboxing stuff, the camera, a book to entertain the 10 year old in the back seat so they don't kill your phone battery playing games because it's the only thing that will stop the never-ending conversation about video games you've never played nor care to play.
7. Agent X really needs a logbook. Didn't have enough loose index cards with us, and that's what he's been using. So I'm going to make copies of the event's pages from my book, and we'll paste them into his when I manage to procure it.
8. Apparently, my carving skills must be better than I thought, because I got compliments on our stamps. Which, I admit I worked hard on, but not that hard, and I really thought they weren't all that great. I was in absolute awe of a lot of the stamps I saw today, and I hope to one day be that skilled, but at least I now know that I'm not the worst out there. I'll take it.
9. The town I moved to, which isn't far from where we were, needs letterboxes. So if I plant it, they will come, right? I got lots of encouragement from several of the boxers there that I'm prepared enough to plant one - didn't want to plant until I'd found several boxes, so I knew what I thought made for a good one, had an idea of how it was done, etc...

So, I'll be planting one in my town in the next week or two. Already have an idea of where I want to put it (we have a really nice park not too far from here). Just have to go get a box and some camo tape and make a little logbook for it. And write a clue. Very exciting! Can't wait!

I'll be starting back to college in two weeks, and I have a full week off between my job ending and school starting. So, Agent X and I are going to get in as much boxing as we can. Hopefully, we'll get a nice early start so that we can be back home in air conditioning by the heat of the day. Either way, I'll be boxing more now that we're settled into the new place, and I'm just super-thrilled about that!

More boxing - it's what every letterboxer dreams of, right? :-)