The Joy of Silly

This week marks my yearly voyage to Connecticut for Confratute - a conference celebrating enrichment learning and focused on gifted education. I am one of the volunteer workers, so I arrive mid day on Saturday to help prep the campus and rooms for the guests who'll be arriving later on Sunday.

One of the reasons I do this each year is to have the added joy of catching up with friends I only see once a year. We stay in the dorms, which means that we "bunk up" - college style. The week will include a lot of activity. I'll attend keynote sessions (and write about them for our newsletter, which is one of my official "jobs" here), strands on education topics, and forums. All of that is fabulous - and I'll try to update my blog with many of the things that I learn - but I am also reminded each year of the joy of silly.

Rock on the Star Wars!

My roommates and I head out the first evening each year to Wal-Mart to pick up some things we absolutely must have for our dorm room. Last year I discovered my new favorite pajama pants. This year we grabbed sparkly polish and some glitter temporary tattoos. One of my roommates also picked up some purple washable hair dye to streak her lovely locks.

We also prepped for a "flash mob" dance we'll perform today before the first major keynote address. If you've never seen a group of teachers desperately trying to learn choreography (and tripping over their own feet in the process), you haven't really lived. I think I've got it. I'll find out tonight if I can stay on the beat and remember to turn around at the correct time. I've apologized in advance to the people that I'll be stepping on.

Last year's Carnivale

Packing for my week includes costumes. Does it sound more sophisticated if I call it cosplay? Yes, we do have evening events (okay, parties) that have themes.  Dancing through the Decades requires me to don 80s attire. Carnivale night? Why yes, I do have a Mardi Gras outfit, complete with mask. 


Sometimes we all need to take a break from our daily routine and put a little silly back in our lives. Right? Who's with me on this?