Today, I got lost. I was looking for a session called “Preschool Meets Real Life”. I teach kindergarten at church, and I’m always interested in the new tips and tricks and games moms have discovered. And I got lost.

I’m an intelligent human being with an excellent sense of direction. I have never ever been lost.

The map visual described my desired location as the building next door to the Pasadena Convention Center. I saw it through the glass windows. It was right there. Piece of cake.

I just needed to find a way in.

I started on the side of the building. Approaching the gorgeous vintage wooden doors, I gave the gold handle a solid tug. Nothing.

I glanced right and left. No one else was attempting to enter through these doors, so they must all be locked. I resisted the urge to try all six of them, but I took a moment to peek through the crack to see if I spotted anything preschool-session-like inside. Nope.

I saw an entrance at the back of the building, so I followed a couple through the electronic doors and into a marble lobby. You won’t believe me, but I knew I was in the Sheraton. I was just looking for the adjoining doors to go into the building I wanted.

I ended up passing the couple. The woman noticed my map and confused expression. She commented, “you’re lost. Oh, you’re in the hotel, sweetie.”

I showed her my map and asked her how to get into the building. They instructed me to go out of the electric doors and around to the front of the building.

More closed doors. I looked up to see a younger couple pushing a stroller into the one open door of the building, so I followed them. The three of us were suddenly in another lobby and about to crash into a second set of antique wooden doors. Maps were produced and triple checked.

I asked them if they were looking for the preschool session. The lady pushed her stroller to me, checked my map, and pointed me to the NEXT building over. She smiled, “it’s confusing, but you get used to it. This isn’t our first time.” She gestured to her husband.

She was confident of her directions and so reassuring. But you’re lost too… I wanted to say. But didn’t. I thanked them and went on my way.

Third building is the charm. I finally made it.

I learned about Busy Boxes and Blanket Time. Then we went to Subway for lunch, where we shared a table with a war veteran. “But I’m not a hero,” he said. “I know the real heroes, and they’re not me.” I thought that was admirable of him.

He told us stories about living in Hollywood during the times of Doris Day. He was a mail carrier then and talked to a lot of movie stars. He was offered a little acting job in a movie, but he declined and regretted it.

Right before we left, I went to refill my Raspberry Tea, and he told me that I was beautiful and I should be in Hollywood. I laughed a little but thanked him.

I chose my next session to be “How To Make Your First Game for iPhone or iPad”. It was me and a bunch of nerdy teens with their fathers. I took notes, but it went entirely over my head.

I also went to the Medical Transcription workshop again! I got to reintroduce myself to Deborah, the woman in charge of the business and curriculum, and tell her how far I’ve come. She also answered some questions for me and assured me that I was going to do great and not accidentally type “off with her head” in a document and be banned from Medical Transciptioning for the rest of my life.

That last part I made up.

My last session of the day was a “Homeschooling Teens Forum”. Three selected individuals who had been homeschooled their whole lives (another forum, I qualify for) sat on a stage with mics while the audience questioned them on things like phone and computer parental controls, hardest part about being homeschooled, wanting to go to real school, feeling comfortable talking to parents about crushes, etc.

I thought it was a great idea for a forum.

We ended our evening, having dinner at our home-away-from-home (Whole Foods). We discovered the glorious, miraculous wonder of Whole Foods the day before, and I may or may not have had their pepperoni pizza for the second day in a row.

It’s really good.

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