Anna's Blog

 Posts Tagged ‘APDDA’

I am not good with goodbyes. I simply don’t like ‘em. Such is the case today as I depart the APDDA Conference, saying goodbye to both old friends and new. Maybe the greatest sadness will be the departure from the 70 degrees of GORGEOUS weather that San Antonio bestowed upon all of us these past few days. If only I had brought my golf clubs! Darn!!!!! But that did remind me of a joke I heard yesterday. We were talking golf handicaps. One director said his was -2 and another said his was in the double digits. The third director chimed in and said that his golf handicap….was his swing. I don’t quite know why that tickled me but I thought it was really funny…perhaps because it hits a bit too close to home.

To Judi- I promise to help Gatesway be the best Therap user in all of Oklahoma. We’ll get ‘er done Chica!

A special note to my friend, Scott Umbreit, Executive Director of APDDA – Thank you for remembering my love of the Oregon Ducks again this year. I will take very good care of the goodies that “Santa” brought to me. You are top notch in my book and an all-around awesome person! Looking forward to seeing you and Bert next year!

Right away its felt like a hometown reunion! Stacey Cloud and two of Home of Hope’s team members greeted me with hugs and a request to take a picture with their travelling gnome. Being the good sport that I am, I happily agreed…so  did Ther-Bear. He loves any opportunity to get in front of the camera.

Judi Myers (Gatesway Foundation) looks over her schedule BUT look who she has at the table with her...its THER-BEAR!!!! How cool is that!

Second day at the APDDA Conference and there is just a lot of terrific networking going on. I’ve  gotten to spend a little time with some of our amazing Therapites, Judi Myers (Executive Director at Gatesway), Stacie and Arrahwanna (Program Directors at Home of Hope) and Dr. LaFontaine, DD Division Director for the State of Deleware…just to name a few.

Oh…I took a couple extra pics…one for Elliot and Connor (yes, it is as awesome a court as it looks) and Scott Umbright (APDDA Executive Director) let me hold his Oregon/Auburn game program…it was SOOOO sweet to look at!

Where can you find this Therapite for the next few days? The answer is Scottsdale, Arizona at the beautiful Palm Tree lined address of the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort.

You can find me spreading Therap sunshine (the only way anyone is going to see sunshine) across all of the faces of directors attending the National Association for Public and Private Developmental Disabilities Administrators.

The Association of Public and Private Developmental Disabilities Administrators is devoted to the support of administrators of public residential programs as well as other individual with interests in the field of mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. The Association supports the continuous improvement of a comprehensive array of individual and accessible services designed to enhance the quality of life for persons with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.

I’m gearing up so see some of my friends here…Judi Myer, Michael Smull, Than Johnson and Chaz Mosley, just to name a few. Can’t wait to see who else turns up. Check back for pics as the fun and excitement begins tomorrow!