I knew Sunday would come when I was sitting on the plane Friday at 5:00 a.m.

I knew I would be glad to return home to my wife and kids come Sunday but that I would be depressed that the special weekend that is the NYC Voice Over mixer (presented by friend and agent Erik Shepard at Voice Talent Productions) would be over. I really did think about this. I know how fast time goes. Oy!

The party was actually only one part of the weekend.

I did do some serious work – six different meetings Friday with voice over studios in the city which went very well…then the rest of the weekend seems to be a blur of food, drink and voiceover.

So as I now sit in the comfort of my home trying not to talk as I rest my laryngitical voice from two days of hard talking, I just want to offer some thanks for this weekend:

- My wife and children because Da travels enough and going away for a weekend is a lot to ask

- Lindsay Sheppard and her husband Erik (I put that in rank order) for creating, hosting and improving the party every year

- My Sister-in-Law for a room at her apartment

- The VO-BB. For those who understand, no answer is necessary. For those who do not understand, no answer will suffice

- Liz de Nesnera and Melissa Exelberth for some great advice and insight. Thank you both VERY much.

- A New Yorker who would like to remain anonymous for serving as a voice over sherpa

So here are some visuals for you from the weekend…

Friday night dinner at Ted's Montana Grill in mid-town with a lot of VO-BB'ers and other fellow VOs like Larissa Gallagher, Liz de Nesnera and Roy B. Yokelson (taking a picture of me taking a picture of him)

Connie Mustang and Lisa Biggs chatting away!

Two talented and funny ladies (and friends of mine) Pam Tierney and Natalie Stanfield Thomas

UK Voice Talent Darren "Sweetcheeks" Altman and Connie Terwilliger at the VO-BB lunch on Saturday afternoon (I was having such a good time it was the only picture I took)

VoiceOver Xtra!'s John Florian and Voice Talent Tom Dheere

Friends and fellow voice talents Venus Crute and Bobbi Owens

Dave Courvoisier, Trish Basyani & Terry Daniel up on the photo line at the Mixer

The great female voice talent Amy Taylor and VoiceOver Xtra!'s John Florian

Terry Daniel is a man of his word - when he says he will buy you a Pepsi, he'll buy you that Pepsi. But he'll also steal your french fries.

Bob Souer is a chick magnet! Ask the great Leslie Diamond (from Buffalo) and former Buffalonian transplanted to Greenville, SC, Diane Merritt

Up on the photo line with me are voice over talents Lisa Biggs and Amy Snively

The lighting in the room was kinda cool and it shows in the back lighting of this shot with me, Trish Basanyi and Tom Dheere

This is one of my favorite shots only because we were all so happy at the party and it shows - Philip Banks, Chuck Davis and Dave Courvoisier

It was great to see my pal Kelley Carruthers Buttrick at the mixer

Kelley is also great pals with New Orleans' finest VO Mara Junot

From Faffcon 2 and Faffcon 3 my friend and fellow voice talent Tasha Johnson

There were dozens of other folks I met and spoke with but didn’t get a picture with but I enjoyed visiting with you all. Thanks!

Because of an NDA I have been forced to sign by Mr. O’Connor, er, Mr. “X”, I cannot offer any details of the afternoon’s voice over activities in New York City except this somewhat random shot of a tourist walking in front of an Olive Garden.

There is probably only one thing that could draw me into New York City during the insane Christmas holiday season – the 2011 New York City Voice Over Mixer presented by my agents at Voice Talent Productions.

The flight is booked.

The room is reserved.

And the agenda is being crafted as we speak…oh yes, there’s work to be done.

I hope to see you Saturday, December 3rd or sometime in between Friday and Sunday.

You know how to reach me….you just, ya know, never call (sniff).

With only three days into the Movember Fund Raiser, MO-VO team Captain Jeffrey Kafer and I are really the poster boys for facial hair growth but if you had a magnifying glass, you’d see there are whiskers there…somewhere.

Jeff was kind enough to join me for lunch and we talked about all things voice over especially his amazing success in audiobooks. It was his goal to build his business around VO books three years ago and he’s doing it.

We also both couldn’t believe how generous people have been donating to our Movember quest…so thanks from both of us and everyone on our team.

It’s probably the best voice over party of the year (but I don’t get invited to many so I can I know for sure).

Great networking, great atmosphere and great friends (old and new).

And oh hell yeah, it’s free!

But you MUST be ON THE GUEST LIST to get in. There are real bouncers and everything so go HERE and secure your spot.

Thank you, Erik and Lindsay, for including me again this year. I do appreciate that.

On an extremely last minute trip to Toronto, I was so fortunate to catch lunch with two voice over greats based in my favorite city in the world.

Both Jodi Krangle and Patrick Sweeney were at Faffcon but I’ve known both long before then and I was so lucky that they had time in their schedules to meet with me. We covered everything from the Great Voices.com Experiment, to Faffcon to so much terrific voice over minutiae it would make your head spin.

As usual, mostly I wouldn’t shut up but they are both so wonderful to hang out with and learn from, I just wanted the lunch to go on and on. My sincere thanks to both of them and I hope I get to go again soon to meet up with them and so many other great voice over friends in TO (and thanks Patrick for the shirt which I love!).

Rudy Gaskins pinged me the other day to remind me that “That’s Voiceover” (to which I guess I still have a free ticket since I paid for the first “That’s Voiceover” but never got there cause my plane couldn’t land in NYC) is going to LA on October 6th.

It looks to be a much more involved event than in previous years, with seminars on audiobooks and microphones preceding the main event and later the drink fest, -er, networking event.

It really does look like a fun and informative event that Rudy and Joan Baker have put on for, I think, three years. And a portion of the proceeds from “That’s Voiceover” will go to support the Alzheimer’s Association.

I hope you’ll enjoy this fun event.

I had the opportunity to meet Syracuse, NY female voice over talent Lauren Synger today on her home turf and what a great voice talent she is too!

While she excels at commercial and narration work, her real passion is character voices and she is especially fond of audio books (which is really where she got her start in voice over.)

She was kind enough to introduce me to a few contacts while I tried to find some ISDN studios in the area (not an easy task) and she had some very kind words about her successes with Voices.com, run by my friends David and Stephanie Ciccarelli.

It’s always great to make a new VO pal. Thanks Lauren.

As I will be Faffing that weekend, I will not be partaking in the fun but I know some friends of mine who are and I think they’ll have a great time at the Texas Hold’em Poker Classic to benefit the Screen Actor’s Guild Don LaFontaine Voice Over Lab.

The event will take place in Bel Air, California on Saturday, September 24. You’ll have the opportunity to network with some pretty connected people in the voice over world. And it’s a poker night so what’s not to love…I used to enjoy those weekly back in the day.

There are still some seats available and information on the event can be found here.

I thought I had a lot of work irons in the fire.

I’m a rank amateur compared to my friend, female voice talent Trish Basanyi, who I got to see on my trip to Cleveland.

Not only does she have her own freshly re-minted voice over web site cruising along, she also has her VoiceTweet site going and her new Spanish language voice over venture Voice Casa on line now.

Plus, she and Terry Daniel and Dave Courvoisier are hosting webinars on Social Media dubbed The Voice Over Super Socials. (Actually, the webinars will be in plain English, and will not be dubbed).

After listening to all that work, I need a nap.