There's just no intro to this.......lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNyN6zs5o5o

Wow - another beautiful morning here in Connecticut. The sun is out, the sky is blue, the birds are singing - yes its a bit cold, but that's ok. I'm happy because my cat finally came home this morning - he's now under the coffee table while I type... re-acquainting himself with his sister (my "kids" are going to be 13 on St. Patty's Day!!). ANYHOO.....I just could not sleep this morning (and for those of you that know me well enough personally, I'm sure you are just as shocked as I am at this fact!)

This weekend has been so amazing and so exciting...I literally woke up thinking about what happened yesterday and what's going to happen today. Actually, it started on Friday with my license upgrade! I've been saying for awhile that I thought I was almost ready...almost.....but not quite. Then as fate would have it, the opportunity presented itself and I took the test - and passed! I actually found that I really did know a lot more than I was giving myself credit for. I've been studying in class since September, coming home at night and periodically studying, taking practice tests...but my confidence wasnt there. Maybe that was the secret - just doing it without too much pre-thought! And I have to say, what has made the experience all that more rich for me personally, has been my friends at work also passing their tests! When I heard Khyrystyne, then Jodi passed - I thought - yeah, two more YLs from class!! Then I arrive yesterday morning to find that Dave passed his Friday night! Then Hugh came in for the test session yesterday and passed his! It's an epidemic at HQ!!! And then what happens? Hugh's a General for about an hour and is then knee-deep in the RTTY contest (I think we've got another contester in the making Norm!). Check out the Video that Steve Ford made yesterday about this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnoofuleU

I really hope we have the turnout like yesterday! It truly was like an open house. There was so many people at W1AW! We had people on the air, people taking tests, lots of munchies, lots of chatting and visiting...it was such a wonderful experience! I truly hope that this blog and the videos can capture just a piece of this!

And since i've already been personal in this blog, I'm going to keep that theme going. I really am so thankful that I found ARRL and ham radio! A year ago, I closed my business and it was tough. But I really wanted to find a place that I could call home - a job that I loved that didnt seem like work. I can't remember who said it, but the quote is something like this "When you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life".....that's what it is like for me. Thank you Dennis for reading between the lines and bringing me in! Thank you to everyone at HQ who has mentored me, taken me under their wings...yet still have let me fly. I can't wait to get back on the air today - so I better finish my coffee and get my day rolling!

Hope to talk to more of you out there! And congrats again to all the upgrades out there! We talked to so many /AGs yesterday - it was truly amazing! I got someone yesterday on 20m that had his upgrade for 1 hour...and he was on the air and enjoying it! That's what this weekend is about.....Thanks everyone for tuning in here and on the air!

73!!!!

Mary Hobart, K1MMH - she's so much better on TV than I am! Must be that practice she gets on CPTV all the time!!! :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s-TAGP0ciE

I had a serious pile-up going on 20m. All of a sudden, I heard Ed, W1RFI....from HQ...then my boss, Bob, NQ1R....holy cow....then Chuck, K0BOG - Three staffers in a row!!! Too much fun!

Well its after 5pm, but we're still going strong! After my contact with Bob, he checked in via email....here he is at his home QTH with his daughter and future (hopefully) ham, Victoria!

Hi Katie, Mary, Harold, Dan...and the rest of the W1AW gang. Victoria and I have enjoyed listening to all of you this afternoon. You've been making some great contacts all across the country. And, thanks Katie for the great QSO. Enjoy your upgrade to General!

73,
Bob, NQ1R and Victoria

There's all the guys piled into Studio One - I HAD to get a picture of that! :o)

And Mary, K1MMH is in Studio 2 with Harold, WJ1B - she's got quite the run going in there! This is so much fun today!!! What a great day!