Last year in September all I wanted was to be at home with my family. I knew it was the last year with all the kids living at home and I was weary. So since last September and now the only time I went away was for four days of the Writing Excuses retreat. The break from events was good, but now I’m ready to go back out again. I want to see my friends who live far away. So this is my convention wish list for this next year. I’m going to have to pick and choose because child care is a limited resource.
January 17-19 ConFusion in Michigan. I have a lot of friends in Michigan. I really want to go visit them. So I plan to shift all sorts of things to make this happen.
February 13-15 LTUE in Provo, UT. This is local. My attendance is almost guaranteed.
May 25-26 LDS Storymakers. I would love to be involved, but they haven’t yet sent out their speaker invitations, so no idea if I will be yet.
July 3-6 Westercon SLC, Utah. This is local. Howard is one of the guests of honor. We’ll be involved.
July 17-20 NASFIC in Detroit, Michigan. This would be another lovely excuse to visit friends. But of the events on my wishlist, this is the one most likely to be dropped.
August 14-18 WorldCon in London. I would love to go to Europe. I’ve never been. I’d like to be with Howard at a WorldCon again. Childcare is tricky because of the length and distance of the trip. Timing is tricky because the turn around to the start of school is really tight. I’m not sure what is possible.
End of September: The Writing Excuses Retreat. I had to miss half of it this year. I really want to be present next year. It is my first choice of where to spend my childcare resources.
So that’s a lot of events to wish for. I feel a bit greedy. I know I am unlikely to get them all, but there is no harm in seeing the wishes.
I must also remember that my wish to have my family always safe and cared for is far more important.