May 22 marks the T - 5 month mark (YIKES!) & the start of my QBI life

Richard and I have just gotten the OK from the priest at the church to "move ahead" with the next stage of planning. Now, we can actually go ahead and sign contracts and the like. WAHOO!

We've just let Natalie know so hopefully next week, we'll have some great progress on reception facilities, caterers, photographers. YIPPEEEEEE! It's been stressing me out cuz we've been stalled on this up to now. (The Church requests that you don't sign contracts etc prior to going through the paperwork hoops. Yeah. It's a pain but I understand that it's in our best interest. Better to not put down deposits than to try to get them back later if something had to be changed or moved).

So, now that we can get this going, I've got to turn this all over to Richard to work on for the next week! Have fun Sweetie! All of you are asking WHY?!?!?! And you're also asking what the heck is QBI in the title. Well, they are related.

Starting Monday (yes, on the holiday Monday) and continuing all next week, I'm on "vacation" while I take a training course to become a Qualified Buzan Instructor (aka QBI). I know, you STILL don't know what I'm talking about right? Well have you heard of Mind Mapping? http://www.mind-map.com I use this technique to get the strange stuff that is occupying my brain out on paper. The idea is that our brains don't think linearly so why are our note-taking procedures? Why not take notes down in a way that works WITH your brain's power instead of IN SPITE of it. Anyhow, I've enjoyed my exposure to this technique so much over the past year that I've decided to become a teacher of it for others.

I don't know WHOM I'm gonna teach just yet but I thought it would be a good addition to my resumé regardless.

There was a lot of prep work that I had to do for this course. I had to read read books by Tony Buzan and then actually map them out. It's a true test of whether or not this is for you. It was tough but it did work. I remember the content of the book. I can get to the major points fast and easily by looking at this strange picture with a bunch of images. I will try to put a map or two up here at another time so you can see what I have done.