My day started at 4:00 am.  I feel like it should be the middle of the night but it is not!   I see the outside and the light hurts my eyes.

Healthminder day was all that.   I was greeted by Varda, who I met at Listen to Your Mother Philly.  She immediately dragged me over to a group of Mom’s with kids on the autism spectrum.  She said I know you still have not gotten your ADOS test yet but your issues are similar to ours.  Immediately, I felt like I was home.  I sat with a group of women who got it.  The school struggles, the life I live,  the triumphs, all of it. I got connected with some of these folks online and I never felt so accepted before.  The speakers spoke to my family, and all of our issues, and how to live with them, and told us we were not alone.  I got to see Julia from Support for Special Needs who made it possible for me to be at Healthminder Day.  Julia’s panel was awesome.  It was about self care and having a life outside your child’s needs. They brought belly dancing scarves for everyone to keep and had the room belly dancing before getting down to business.

All in all it was a good day.  The conference is feeding me often and with fancy food.  Every time I turn around there is more food.  It is like being on a cruise without the ocean around here.

Finally my roommate Lynette arrived and as Cecily and Dresden reported I liked her immediately.

We then got to hear President Obama address the conference via the internet.  What blew me away is he could hear the crowd and smiled as everyone screamed. What a moment. Cecily sat next to me in tears.  I will never forget.  Whatever your politics, to have your nations leader address a room full of women who write on the internet was an incredibly moving thing.  Women who blog on the internet are being heard and that is HUGE.

I am now just chilling as all my famous friends get to go to their speaking orientation, then off to the expo hall and parties galore. Sleep I really want sleep but how can I with such energy all around.