Who put the MOM in MOMcation?

These MOMs did:

Valerie Nguyen, Nicole Walberg, Liz Bram, and Me

And this one too:

Ashlee Bechdolt . . . . photo credit: Greg Benenati

I’ve said it over and over, and just in case you didn’t hear, MOMcation 2010 could not have happened without the planning committee.  These moms put in countless hours with no compensation, except for the rather pitiful snacks I supplied at our meetings.  They each applied their own special talents to MOMcation to make it special.

Valerie was the chief “getter of prizes”.  She wrangled more cool prizes and swag than any one person on any project I’ve ever seen. She also organized the jewelry making, deal finding, and cooking I workshops. V is for Versatility and V is for Valerie!

Nicole championed the t-shirts and the wine, showed off her charm at an early morning television promotion, and was “the woman behind the curtain” during the actual event, where she helped with anything I needed, and then some. And let’s not forget the book discussion.

Liz rounded up the yoga instructor, scored us some awesome spa gift certificates, and always, always gave me her open, honest opinion when I sent out frantic emails about some minor detail I was stressing over.

And Ashlee, who couldn’t join us the night of our group picture, was the logistical guru.  She asked the questions that needed asking (How far to the nearest hospital?  Don’t you think we should keep track of the potential sponsors we contact?) and she often found the solutions to those questions.  She set up our document-share site for us, and created the spreadsheets we needed to track everything.  She also created our flyer, and was brave enough to lead those 6:30am trail runs that most of us never even knew happened.

My “fun” in planning MOMcation was getting to work with these great women.  At some point, our committee meetings became a great excuse for us all to get together every few weeks.  Thank you, Valerie, Nicole, Liz, and Ashlee, for putting up with me, and for putting together a great event.  I hope these quotes from the MOMcation feedback forms let you know how appreciated you are.

“I cannot begin to express how recharged I feel after this weekend. … I am a better mother when I have more to give and in order to do that, I need time to recharge.  I could not have asked for a better experience to do just that.  Thank you a million times over for this weekend.”

“Thanks to all of you for your hard work and dedication.  I had a blast and got to meet and get to know better so many great moms – I can’t say enough!”

“I am so glad I came.  Thank you all for all your hard work to put this together for us.”

Related posts:

MOMcation 2010 MOMcation 2010 Wrap-up