Big Fat Meetup or BFM

In two days I'm getting on a plane and flying to Seattle.  I know, it's a simple 50 minute flight, but I wanted this to be an actual VACATION, and if I had to drive 6 hours each way, it would seem like work instead!  When I land, I will be picked up at the airport by someone I've never met, who will take me to a hotel so I can meet 19 more women that I've never met!  Hence, the name "Big Fat Meetup".

Actually, if I have the story correct, there was no such thing as a BFM a few years ago, and it all started like this...

A company called Sonlight began a forum for homeschooling parents to discuss homeschooling.  It grew and grew, and became so much more than a place to compare notes on the joys and sorrows of homeschooling.  It became a place to meet people, make friends, pray for people, discuss hard topics with people, and just generally socialize and have fun.  For the homeschool mom, stuck at home all the time with her kiddos, some secluded in other countries, and/or in a country setting in the states, this was a true place to get adult conversation and to not feel quite so alone in this journey of homeschooling.

Soon women began to discover that they lived near someone and they would "meet up".  Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but one lady, or possibly a few, thought it would be fun for lots of women to "meet" in real life, so the BIG FAT MEETUP was born, planned in a city somewhere in the US (I really should have researched where the 1st one was), and a group of women showed up, never having met IRL life before, and they spent the weekend together.  It was so successful, that it has become a yearly tradition, and the rest is history!!

In my limited knowlege I know there has been one in Huntington Beach, Virginia, and several others, and this year it's going to happen in Seattle (and next year in Chicago, which I totally plan to attend as well).  So, in two days, I will settle into a hotel room with 3 other women, share a bed with a stranger, and probably have the time of my life hanging out with other homeschooling moms.

I can't wait!

I'm so excited!

I have a shell of an idea what I'll do with everyone to fill up the time, but a lot of it is still unplanned and I will just "go with the flow" as much as possible!  There are plans to go to the top of the Space Needle, Ride the Ducks, Cruise on the waterways, go to the Aquarium, eat dinner at a hardcore seafood restaurant (this will be VERY interesting as I am vegetarian, almost vegan, and the last time I sat with someone eating lobster, well, it wasn't real easy to watch!!), walk in a famous market in Seattle, dine on the rooftop of someone's condo, jacuzzi in the hotel pool, and just generally take in the sights and sounds of Seattle.  And all this with just WOMEN.  Sounds  like a REALLY good time to me!!

I have been doing my laundry, and thinking about what I'll pack.  I expect the weather to be much like home...still needing layers and fleece in the evenings.  I'm going to pack light, but will check my bag so I don't have to deal with travel size bathroom items.  I hope I will learn everyone's names before it's over!!  I think we might have nametags, which will be very helpful! 

Anyway, when pictures appear on my blog of total strangers, now everyone will know why.  And by the time the weekend is over, they will no longer be strangers to me!!