I lucked out and was placed next to a stranger who turned out to be the funniest and best quilter in the room. I would do anything to get her to come again and sit next to me. She made the whole retreat so much better, not that it was bad to begin with. Thank you so much Anita.

I've never been to a retreat - yet. Hope to go to one someday. Thanks for all the tips. Enjoy your retreat!

....probably.

I'm surprised you found a 'spot' to finally settle into. The room must have been pretty big! LOL..thank you for sharing.

Romanojg, if you don't mind my asking, what is a John Deer class? We have a John Deere tractor, but I think it would have trouble at a retreat! ROTFL!!

Went to one retreat years ago. Never again.

I'm afraid I would have had to say something to the instructor. She obviously let things get out of hand. Our pastor made me laugh a few Sundays ago. He was preaching along and there was a couple carrying on a conversation. He simply stopped, looked at them and said, "since what you have to say is obviously more important than what I have to say, I'll wait until you finish. Or maybe you want to share with the congregation?" They just sort of looked at each other and said they were through. I would have crawled under the pew, but they acted like they had done nothing wrong. Some people have no respect for others, so I think I'm through with retreats! I love meeting the new people and learning new techniques, but I go to learn! I've found that I'm much better off taking classes at the local college when they have them!

I've just been to a couple of retreats and didn't realize how lucky I've been! We are so fortunate to have three rooms, so we have sort of a Goldilocks situation -- one room for the "wild and crazy" guys, one for the "silent and serious" guys, and one for those of us who are mostly quiet but have many laughter eruptions -- Just Right (at least for me). So far in my room, anyway, no issues re cell phones, new machines, etc. Room temp anywhere can be problematic, depending where gals are on the menopausal scale! Dressing in layers is a good thing.

You're not an annoyance!!! You can come sit by me and I'll help you with your machine or your project and I don't care if you talk to your kids and hubby on your cell phone. And if you're cold I'll even loan you my sweater!!

Don't let one stick in the mud attitude deter you!!

I don't think that was called for.

Absolutely!! Retreats are all about sharing and having fun. If you just want to keep your nose to the grindstone you should probably just stay at home though.