Austin Conference

So, I thought I'd get there in time for the opening plenary, but no, spent 3 hours in Chicago waiting for my plane (instead of 1). As I arrived home in Seattle Sunday night, I thought to myself 'what if we were making these trips by covered wagon? We wouldn't be worrying about a 3 hour delay!' Anyway, as you could tell by Shannon's emails, Austin was WILDLY entertaining!! We walked the hoppin' streets both Friday and Saturday nights, crowded with people, music blaring from every doorway. Jason and I found THE BEST restaurant-Brazilian and Tex-Mex, we opted for the Brazilian side of the menu, and raved over the food. Our waiter said he loved it so much, he had married the chef!! And gained 50 pounds since their wedding 14 months ago, although he'd lost a little. Fabulous food, the first meal in ages that I really wanted to savor every bite.

The conference was full of information, many, many workshops, some good, some not so good, but I went for the complete audio recordings of the workshops (not the plenaries) that come with handouts, so if people want copies of any (or all) that interest them, let me know. I went to a workshop on Alzheimer's and emotional consciousness , forgiveness, children in family therapy, genetics of alcoholism, and skipped the multigenerational substance abuse to go see a movie presented by the Austin Film Festival that my nephew was in. Shannon went with, and we both agreed that he was the best part of the movie, even though he had a small part, he was so cute (even though he was supposed to be a little creepy during the first part of the film). It will probably never make it out of the festival circuit, but good exposure for him. He's in another that will probably get wider release called "Choose Connor", which should be out later this year or next.

So, in conclusion, the conference was good. The final plenary was Dr. Spencer Wells talking about his genographic research that shows we're all pretty much descended from a few people in Africa. I loved the slides of faces, showing how much we all look alike, even though we're different. At one point, he was showing ancient skeletons we could be related to, then put a picture of George W, the pres, on the screen, and said we could be related to him, too. Collective laughter and groaning.

The conclusion of the presentation on genetics, (which was a little too much research for my poor brain to follow), was that MFTs have a chance to intervene at critical stages of development (9-18 months and early adolescence) when genetic predisposition triggers parental reactions that can lead to later aggressive or depressive behavior, and we should jump on the wagon within the next 4 years to position ourselves in a positive relationship to these findings. (I think that was the conclusion.)

Saw Megan at the airport in Denver on the way home, she was nice enough to come out during my layover. What a treat!! And the next day got a call asking for reference for her, so I painted a glowing picture of all her good qualities. Hope it gets her her dream job!! She and Matt had just purchased a condo and today are heading for Maui for her brother's wedding. Fun!!

We are staying home for a week or two--amazing, after more than two months on the go constantly. I might actually get my desk cleared off. Hope all is well in the PLU-MFT world.