Pronounced "Gecko," With A "W"

When Brian first started optometry school, and he first started attending the weekend event put on by the Great Western Councel of Optometry, I jokingly called it "Opticon." You know, "opti" for "optical" and "con" to make it sound like a crazy science-fiction convention. Yeah, I know...he didn't think it was funny either.

GWCO is every fall in Portland, and it is a huge event. It's the first big conference and Continuing Education opportunity that optometry students at Pacific University College of Optometry are exposed to, and I remember Brian getting excited for it each year. The students were allowed to enroll in the classes for free (they even needed C.E. credit while they were still in school), and they were also encouraged to volunteer as helpers for the conference. GWCO, for us, also meant that Brian's parents would be coming into town, and Brian would go spend the night in Portland with his dad so they could go to their classes together. Poor Brian usually had to sleep on the floor, but he still had a great time, probably because they would go out for sushi and other nasty stuff that his wife doesn't feed him.

I think it was Brian's first or second year of school that we went to one of the conference's dinners with his parents. I loved seeing all of the doctors who were done with school (it meant there really was an end in sight!) and it was fun to have a night out in Portland.

Now Brian's graduated, and he really wanted me to go to GWCO with him last year, but it was the same weekend that I was in Tombstone Tales. I missed GWCO, and Brian missed Tombstone Tales, and I promised Brian last year that I would go with him this year. Luckily, the two events don't cross over this year, and we'll be able to do both!

Marcus has started a stage where he does the scream/cry when he doesn't get his way, and I've spent the last couple of days continually saying, "This is a tantrum and tantrums are unacceptable" while putting him in his room and telling him to come out when he's happy. That strategy has been working pretty good, because he's quick to figure out that screaming isn't getting him anywhere, but with the whole scenario I've been having daily headaches that last for hours, and by the time the day is over, I am ready for bed. I've also been cleaning up poop and potty, because Marcus is officially potty training (and doing really good the last two days!) and Ethan, who is usually our best behaved child just needs to learn to stand up for himself instead of whining, "Mah-hawm! Marcus fill in the blank with any unbelievable this you could think of. Wahhh!" That's not too much fun either. My mom and sister-in-law have wonderfully accepted to watch the kids for the weekend, and I am so looking forward to having the time off.

So the whole point to this post is this: We're going to GWCO. Is anyone else going?