And for something different.... The USA!

Ok, it has been awhile since our last post.  That is because we spent two weeks in the USA (and then another week trying to recover from the jet lag).  Granted, most of it was work for me (Penny), Scott did have a chance to spend some time with his family.

For those of you who don't know, I am (for lack of a better word) a professor.  Granted that is not my actual title in Australia, but rather it is descriptive word so that everyone knows approximately what I do. Being a professor, I teach and do research. Part of doing research is talking about that research with colleagues at conferences around the world. And this was exactly the reason we were in the USA - for me to attend two different conferences. I can't believe that in the 10+ years that I have lived in Australia this was the first US based conference I have attended.  One thing I learned from these conferences is that I need to come back to the USA more.  There is a lot of great research and great people there, and I need to make sure I know them (and they know me).

Jason, Penny, Steph and Drew all did their PhD together.

As for the conferences themselves, they were good. I learned new things, meet new people and reconnected with old friends.  The first conference was in Denver, which is very close to where I did my PhD. As a result, lots and lots of my old friends and classmates also decided to attend this meeting. It was great seeing them all and learning what they had been up to.

Amy, still one of my best friends! Love you girl!

Of course, I also had lots of friends in Denver region that were not at this conference. I might have just had to sneak away on one of the nights to catch up with them!  As our love of great beer did begin in Colorado, it was not surprising that we met up at a pub.  Granted the group has changed a bit (with the addition of lots of kids!), it was really really great seeing everyone. We love this group of people and miss them heaps.  We have also decided that we really need to visit Denver more often as well - our friends there are super awesome - and the beer is pretty good too.

Joe and Scott celebrate their birthdays together!

We sampled a "few" beers in honor of Scott's Birthday.

4 out 5 of our nieces and nephews

Scott did manage to celebrate his birthday on this trip - Happy Birthday Scott!  He had the wonderful experience of starting the celebration in Colorado with great beer, friends and my cousins and ended the celebration in St Louis with his family (can't remember the last time either of us was with family on our actual birthday!).  And what do good parents do when their two grown boys come home (without their wives and kids), they put them to work of course.  Lots of little errands and fixing up of things around the house were done. They did a great job and I am sure re-kindled that "brotherly" bond of long ago!

I on the other hand headed to San Francisco for my second meeting. This meeting was HUGE (over 7000 participants) and on a very diverse range of topics. That said, my little area was clustered together and I did have more opportunities for learning, networking and catching up with friends. In fact, I met up with guy I hadn't seen in almost 20 yrs!!  We did the first two years of our undergrad degree together before he switched universities.  We happened to reconnect recently on facebook through a mutual friend.  Needless to say, it was great seeing him.

The whole clan!

Once I was finally done with my meeting I did head to St Louis to catch up with Scott and his family. Granted this was a very brief visit, it was still really nice to see everyone!  We even managed to squeeze in a St Louis Cardinals baseball game - to the delight of the boys! The entire lot of family got together as well.  Nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers - what a fun and crazy group!  We don't see our family nearly as much as we want either, but thank goodness for video calls.

Oh, did I mention that I ate and drank to much while we were in the USA??  I find it so difficult to deny all my favorite foods from my childhood -- even though I don't crave them in my daily life.  Thank goodness it was a short visit home!