Getting Old, But Having Fun

Went to the wedding tonight of a young woman I've known since she was ten. We were in a German dance group with her and her parents for years and years. About 4 years ago the group disbanded and we haven't seen them much. It was so nice to see her and all our old friends again. It's funny - if you do things with people long enough, you have lots of stuff in common - just because you'd already done so much together!

Also, it was cool to bring my kids - and see other kids I've known since they were my kid's age now in high school! It made me feel old, but it sure was fun.

And there's nothing like the chicken dance at a wedding!

ALA Conference Fun!

Had a fabulous time at the ALA conference today. Asked my publisher if I could go, and they let me have a free pass to the exhibits. It was so neat!

The highlight was at the Scholastic booth: I was waiting in line to say tell Christopher Paul Curtis what an inspiration he was to me, when I see THE BEST BAD LUCK I EVER HAD on the shelf right behind him. I kind of squeal, "That's my book" and all the people at the booth got excited. They started talking about this guy named "Steve" and how he always book talked my book to librarians and how he liked it so much and they asked me to sign a book for him. Then they wanted to take my picture to show Steve.

Then when I finally get to see Christopher Paul Curtis, I say thanks and how he inspired me and tell him about my book. So then he pulls a copy of the Scholastic shelf and asks me to sign it for him! Then he gave me an autographed copy of BUD, NOT BUDDY. It was just sooo cool!!

Lesson learned - always bring your camera to these events! I would have loved a picture.

I also came across the audio version of BEST BAD LUCK at the Random House/Listening Library booth. They asked me to sign it which was very cool.

Finally, I ran into Eileen Kreit, who's the president and publisher of Puffin Books (which is publishing the paperback version of BBL in September). She recognized my name from my name tag and came over to talk to me and told me all about how they had developed the new cover for the paperback version of BEST BAD LUCK. She just made me feel so welcome and excited about my book.

Everyone at ALA really made me feel like a star. Thank you so much!!!

So glad I went - I almost didn't because it was a crazy weekend. (Our air conditioner caught fire and we didn't have AC for three days of the latest heatwave, but that's another story.)

Stay cool!

Doctors Doctors

Uggh - I've spend the past week taking my kids to the doctor. First Kara got a rash from the chicken pox vaccine, then Charlotte had a bug bite/poison ivy that got infected and no one could figure out quite what it was. I hate that! We saw 6 different people and no one could tell us definitely what was wrong. Poor girl was itching all over the place! I start worrying it's something serious like Lyme disease, though most of the doctors agreed it was unlikely to be that. She's now on a antibiotic and seems a little better (at least not worse) but I'm still worrying. Sigh - at least she's acting fine!

Needless to say, I didn't get much writing done. I did manage to go out yesterday and buy a blouse to wear to my next school visit. I was wearing a cashmere sweater - cute, but way too hot for summer. Hopefully things will calm down soon.

Acceptance Speech

I recently learned The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had was selected as an honor book for the Judy Lopez Memorial Awards for Children's Literature. So thrilled! They wanted me to write an acceptance speech for the reception (which is in LA and I won't be able to attend.) Just sent off my speech - hope it works. So funny to be asked to write an "acceptance speech!"

Goin' Swimmin'

So tonight we were at a cookout at a friend's house. They had a bin of water out with toys in it for the little ones to play with. Kara apparently thought it was a baby pool, 'cause she took all the toys out and stepped right in - with her shoes on! We took off her shoes and let her play.

The big girls played so nicely in the house - it's amazing! A great time was had by all.

Apology

I always try to apologize to my kids if I do something wrong - or even if I'm just grumpy. I guess they do learn from example:

Last night before dinner, Charlotte was complaining and complaining. "Dinner looks yucky, I hate pork chops," etc. I told her this was what we were having and if she didn't want to eat it that was okay, but I wasn't going to make her anything else. Well, she ended up eating quite a bit (she likes pork chops) and then after dinner, out of the blue, she says, "Mom, I have to apologize for saying dinner looked yucky. It was pretty good."

It was so sweet!!

Paperback cover!

The paperback version of The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had is coming out on September 16, 2010. Love the new cover!