I went to Washington DC for a credit union conference last week (I’m on the board of directors at our local credit union. It was fun to be back!
The conference itself was great. We got to hear from some great speakers (e.g., Condoleezza Rice and Paul Ryan) in addition to some more technical sessions on the economy, managing capital, etc. The Paul Ryan event was especially fun since it was after hours in the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.
We also got to meet with a representative from Jim McGovern’s office (McGovern is our local congressman) and go to the capital to meet with senator Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts senator).
One side benefit of going to the conference was that I could stop at Walmart and buy all the stuff we can’t find in the Netherlands. We had been planning on this for months. I actually brought an empty suitcase just to fill with stuff I was going to bring back.
You may ask, what did the Bentleys most miss from the US? I’ll tell you:
- Brownie mix (brownies in the Netherlands are cake, not true brownies). This was the most important thing on the list. I bought all the Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mixes that Walmart had …
- Vanilla extract
- Cold cereal (Linda missed her shredded wheat! I missed Cheerios and honey bunches of oats)
- Bisquick
- Refried beans
- Cream of chicken soup
- Canned green chilis
- Mild chili powder
- Ziplock bags
- Ranch dressing
- Old Spice deodorant
- Red Vines (for a friend)
- Inexpensive clothes (I got some shoes and jeans for about 1/4 of the price they would be in the Netherlands)
Needless to say, I had some very happy kids when I got home. I’m not sure if they were happier to see me or to get all the stuff. I chose not to ask.
I did, however, choose not to give all the presents at once. I didn’t want us binging 10 boxes of brownie mix in one go. Rather, I am spreading the presents out: a few goodies a week. Also, mixed in with the groceries are a whole bunch of tchotchkes (free trinkets) I picked up at the conference.
Dutch Bentleys 