Laura

Today! I am so excited! I can't wait to see you all. I am not sure when I will be there. My grandmother is having surgery today ( and my poor Lucy Dog is having surgery tomorrow so I will have to run home and take her to the vet, and pick her up in the late afternoon). I am hoping to get there by late afternoon, before dinner. As far as food and stuff goes, Tiza did a great job with the local joints with in a mile of the hotel. There are tons of options so if you are hungry for something, I can guarantee you will find it. I was going to make a suggestion of Shogun Japanese Steakhouse. You are seated in front of a grill and the chef cooks the food in front of you (fried rice, veggies and meat). It's an entertaining meal. Just a thought. Also, there is Dierburgs, which is a huge grocery store. That is in the area of the hotel as well. If everyone would text me their number, I would be grateful. Then, I can send the group the phone numbers so we all have them in case we need anything. If you could, please text me at 618-444-9631. See ya soon!

Conda, usually traffic isn't bad if you are coming into St Louis but you should be fine. Rush Hour usually clears around 5:30-6ish. Call me if you need any help or have any questions: 618-444-9631.

Bummer! Hopefully next time!

So, if you do this, do I need to pick anyone up from the airport? We should have plenty of vehicles then too, so I don't need my sister's van, right? Oh, I am so excited! Can't wait to see you all!

Also, I have a family conflict on Saturday evening and if it is ok with you ladies, I would like to attend the event. We still have an great morning planned though and I will be back on Sunday to help with transportation to the airport too.

So, can we get a roll call on who is coming, when you are arriving and how you are arriving? Getting close!

How is it going ladies? So, I just got a call from the hotel and they wanted to remind us of the deadline for Wednesday to book a room. They are filling up and wanted our extra rooms of we were not going to use them. Did everyone get to make their reservations that wanted them?

So, as far as Thursday goes, we don't need the conference room that day, right? Also, I have the tour booked on Saturday at 10am for the Excel Bottling Company, home of Ski! I think I shared a few cans before, but if not, you can taste it straight from the source! It's a soda that is a cross between Mountain Dew and Freska. The tour is going to be personally done by an employee there who is on our Fire Department so he will give us some extra love. After the tour, I was hoping you will all agree to go to Dairy King for lunch. It may be busy, but only because it's the most well-known place to eat in Clinton County. Also, they have the best Ski fountain soda there, with crushed ice. And, you can add flavors to it. My favorite is Diet Ski (not as good a regular Ski, but hey, compromise) with real strawberries added. Yum! And then after that, if you want to drive another 15 minutes, we can go to Carlyle Lake and walk along the Dam and see a suspension bridge. That should put us to early afternoon and we can return to the hotel for the rest of the day of scrapbooking. Any objections to the plan?

I will be here for anyone who wants to join me. I am with Carla, I am looking forward to the weekend. I know it isn't going to be the same without the "core group" if Angie and Conda can't make it, and we are definitely going to miss Sandy; and Michelle, if you chose to use your flight for holiday-related events, we will definitely understand. There is always next time. We have the hotel conference room booked so if we do end up being blessed with Angie and Conda, great! If not, don't worry about the cost of the conference room. It's covered. It will be my "attendance" gift lol.

As far as the weekend goes, no matter the size, we can make it work since I know some have purchased some airline tickets. I know our traditional routine is scrapping at the hotel, but we don't have to! I can find places we can go to for free if that is what you want, even if it is at my house. I have plenty of room in my basement. All we need is a room with probably 3 tables, right? Let me know. I can present some options!

I'm still in! I was on a business trip and didn't have my computer. I with SG had an app so it would be easier to view the forums on my phone.

Ladies, I will be able to transport back and forth. My sister is going to let me use her van (can hold 7 if we sit close) so we can come up with a final plan when it gets closer.

Hey, I was thinking that if you ladies are interested in going to Carlyle Lake on Saturday, we could stop at Excel Bottling and do a tour of their Brewery and see how they make Ski (a soda that is bottled in my home town). I know someone who works there and can give us a good tour but they do regular tours on Saturdays at 10am. Here is the website: http://excelbottling.com/about/ I was thinking we can then have lunch in that same town, at Dairy King. It is my all time favorite place to eat. It can get busy, so maybe if we eat after the tour (probably 11ish?) then maybe it won't be too bad. Here is the website for them: http://edairyking.com/ And if the weather is nice and you all want to go to Carlyle Lake and want some exercise, we can walk on the Carlyle Lake Dam (Spillway), and down to the General Dean Suspension Bridge ( Just near all of this, there is also the sailboat harbor that my have boats in it ( The restaurant/Excel Bottling is about 30 minutes from the hotel and the lake is just 15 minutes further than the restaurant. Any opinions? Is it too far away?