1.  I am off for the MD/DE/WV SCBWI Conference this weekend!  I am on a panel with my writing group, the Longstockings, on Saturday and doing my own session on outlining on Sunday.  I am looking forward to it but am also nervous. Talking in front of people is just scary, even when the crowd is great.

2.  I’ve had a really unproductive week.  I’m not sure what’s wrong with me but for some reason sitting down and writing has been near impossible.  On the upside all the closets in my home are neatly organized.

3.  Yesterday on the subway I was next to an empty seat that had a sunflower seed on it.  There were some shells under the seat so obviously someone was snacking on seeds and had left one behind.  Anyway, this guy gets on at 103rd Street and it’s the only empty seat left and he’s staring at the seed like it might be contaminated, then gets some paper out of his pocket and flicks the seed off.  It flies through the air and hits this woman across the aisle in the face and the look she gave him had me giggling into my book.  The whole thing kind of tickled me- I have wiped things off seats a lot grosser than a sunflower seed and let’s face it, it’s not like that pole I used to steady myself is clean- people wipe their noses and then hang onto it for dear life so I figure don’t think about it and do a big handwashing at home or wherever I’m going.  But then here was this guy so careful about his own hands but so thoughtless about anyone else— it just made me laugh that you could be so meticulous and yet so careless.  But I laughed quietly because I did not want a look coming my way.

4.  The other day I was going to meet a friend for lunch and passed a camera crew.  This bouncy guy asked me if I had a few minutes to answer some questions for CNN and I said no because I didn’t.  As I passed I heard him say to the camera guy “Only in New York are there people who don’t care about being on TV.”  I really doubt that is true- I’m sure there are people all over who could care less about it, but it’s true that it’s the last thing I’d go out of my way for.  Unless of course Oprah was calling me to be on her show to talk about my book!

5.  Next weekend my husband and I are doing something we only manage to do once in a blue moon: see a movie in a theater.  Before the kids we went almost every weekend to movies with friends but now we almost never splurge- sitters in NYC are very pricey, as are movies so it can be hard to feel like it’s worth it when everything comes out on DVD anyway.  But there’s nothing like the theater and I’m pretty excited we’re shelling out for it this week!  I think we’ll see Hurt Locker but if anyone has other suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Have a great weekend!

(cross posted on The Longstockings blog)
Back in the fall my writing buddy Rebecca Stead lent me the ARC of her second book that was coming out this summer. It’s a terrific story, as is her first book FIRST LIGHT, and I read it in one sitting, then told her all about how much I loved it and how I was sure it was going to get lots of good attention. Turns out I’m a genius because man, is WHEN YOU REACH ME getting attention! I mean real attention. You can’t look at a blog about Newberry possibilities without seeing her book mentioned as a big contender and it got five stars. Five! You can’t get more than that. As a result of this there are all kinds of fun ads for the book on the SLJ website, a spread in their magazine and a feature in Time Out New York Kids. I think this is just the beginning too. Because the thing is, the book is so terrific it truly deserves all this attention and love. Here’s the official description:

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note scrawled on a tiny slip of paper:

I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.

The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows all about her, including things that have not even happened yet. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.

Sounds terrific, right? Today is its release date and I urge all of you to get your hands on a copy as soon as you can- because trust me, it’s that good!

1.  Books and ARCs I’ve loved so far this year: CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins, ALONG FOR THE RIDE by Sarah Dessen, SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater, FIRE by Kristin Cashore, and WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead.  There are actually a few others but I reviewed them for PW and I can’t talk about the books I review since it’s supposed to be anonymous.  Which is good but sometimes hard, like if I read a really good story it’s all I can do not to tell everyone I know about it. 

2. Debut authors I’ve read and loved so far this year: THE ESPRESSOLOGIST by Kristina Springer, LOVE, AUBREY by Suzanne LaFleur and LIPSTICK APOLOGY by Jennifer Jabaley.  

3.  Books I can’t wait to read: THE TREASURE MAP OF BOYS by E Lockhart, TANGLED by Caroline Mackler, GOTH GIRL RISING by Barry Lyga and SPLENDOR by Anna Godberson (yes, I’ll admit it: I love the soap opera that is the Luxe!).

4.  Book I’m reading now: FRONT AND CENTER, Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s latest DJ novel, and it is so good!  I love DJ— CGM really knows how to make a character so real I feel like I’m hanging out with her as I read.  Is it bad that I want DJ to have more trials in the future so I can keep reading about her? 

5:  Questions:  what’s the best book you’ve read this year?  And what are you most looking forward to? 

Have a great weekend!

This week I’m teaching a teen writing workshop that meets 3 hours a day.  It’s at this neat place that encourages tweens and teens to tell their own stories in their own way and I’ve been looking forward to it, though of course I’ve also been nervous.  Back in the day I was a teacher— I taught ESL in China, literacy to adults in Brooklyn and was a history teacher in the Los Angeles Public Schools, a job I particularly loved.  But that was all in my twenties, which were ages ago so I wasn’t sure if I could still do it.  Granted this is a group of six kids who want to be there and in LA I was in classrooms of up to 45 kids who most certainly did not want to be there.  But still, teens know when a class sucks and you really don’t want to be the one teaching that sucky class. 

So far though it’s been really fun.  In all my nervousness I kind of forgot how much I like teaching, how neat it is to manage group dynamic, even in a small group, and how exciting it is when kids get into the subject.  Most exciting about teaching, at least to me, is seeing kids do things they never have before, conquering their own fears and really learning something new.  If I’m lucky I’ll see some of that before the week is over.  But in any case it’s a treat to see these students start in on their short stories and I’m really looking forward to seeing where they all go!

Have a great Wednesday!

1.  A few months ago this guy contacted me saying we were related.  I thought he was some kind of freak but then he sent me this crazy detailed family tree and it turns out we are related which then turned out to be anticlimactic since he is in Germany so it’s not like we’ve suddenly gotten all this new family in our lives.  But I recently looked more closely at something he sent and realized that while there are a number of Grab “tribes” in the world, the tribe we descend from are the Von Grabs from Bohemia.  I love the name Von Grab.  I now want to be Daphne Von Grab.  I feel like my life would become so much more glamorous if I had the Von.  I wonder what relative made the bad call to drop it. 

2.  A few months ago my sister, who knows these things, had a sit down with me about jean choices.  My jeans had all become saggy mom-jeans and I needed her help.  She sent me to the right places with tips on how to actually buy something in my size instead of 3 sizes too big, which is my tendency, and I ended up having a minor jeans revolution in my home.  I adore my new jeans and a week or so ago felt confident enough to apply my new found jeans-knowledge to capris.  Thanks to my sister I was able to find a pair that have utterly delighted me and if the stupid rain would ever stop, I’d probably be wearing them every day.  As it is I should probably by Capris made of rubber to match my rain boots.

3.  I’m officially addicted to Korean food.  Months ago friends introduced me to bi bim bop (in the hot bowl) and it’s all I ever want to eat.  Sadly my attempts to cook it at home were a complete flop, from having the wrong kind of rice to getting sauce that called itself bi bim bop sauce but really should have been called 'slimy stuff that sucks'.  I probably need to work on it though because my husband and friends are going to get tired of my endless insistence on always going to Korean restaurants (my kids like it as much as I do so no issue there).   

4.  Beloved kitty has not been recovering despite two weeks on his steroids and a few days ago I discovered why: I am supposed to be giving him 1.0 ml of meds but in a genius move somehow read it wrong and was giving him 0.1.  Now that this has been corrected I am hoping he will get better! 

5.  This weekend we are going up to my mom’s.  She lives in the small Hudson Valley town where I grew up and it’s really pretty there.  I’m looking forward to lots of walks, time in the woods and outdoor bbq.  All of this is only possible if there is no rain of course…

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Yesterday when my kids and I were leaving the building on Columbia campus where they go to preschool, a man taking down some kind of table display handed my daughter a balloon.  Let me just say that there is nothing my almost-five year old kids love more than balloons, especially my daughter, who was beside herself at the glorious thing that had just happened.  And then on the other side was my son, whose eyes widened when he realized that there was only one balloon from the table and that it had not been given to him.  I practically had to carry him out he was so distraught by the terrible injustice and my daughter skipping beside us, giggling to herself, did not help matters.  When we got outside I said they’d share the balloon but we all knew what a disaster that was going to be. 

We made it about a block and then everyone was whining.  My son was blubbering on about when was it his turn to have the balloon and why did he have to wait til we got the end of the block, it was too long, and my daughter was all snitted that at the end of the block she’d have to give it up.  And just then we passed a bunch of balloons tied to the railing in front of a building housing some kind of health festival.  The balloons were there to show people where to go in.  I didn’t even think twice: I just went over and stole one of the balloons.  I didn’t care who saw me or if I was arrested for the theft because really, jail time was preferable to what the next few hours were going to hold with two kids and one red balloon. 

A security guard was sitting in the doorway and as it happened he was someone I knew since he often mans the gate where we go into preschool.  He noted my theft and when I explained that a man inside had given us the single balloon, he laughed and said he’d have done just what I did.  He must have kids at home.  Anyway, it was nice to have my crime somewhat pardoned.  We went home with our two balloons and everyone was happy thanks to mommy’s dalliance with petty crime.  And now that I’ve had time to think over my actions all I can say is that I’d do it again in a heartbeat!

Have a great Tuesday!

1.  For the ten or so years I’ve lived in Manhattan I’ve lived in either Morningside Heights or Manhattan Valley, neighborhoods on the west side that utilize the 1 train.  This many years on the same train means I recognize some regulars, especially musician regulars.  There are the guys who play mariachi music and wear big sombreros that cause issues during rush hour.  There are the two guys who sing Stevie Wonder songs and sound just like him.  And then there are my favorite, the doo wop guys and yesterday I saw them.  Their gimmick is to ask someone what time it is and when the person answers they say, “No, it’s doo wop time!” and start singing.  Yesterday the guy they asked was this sweet tourist from Italy who was really working to say the time exactly right.  He was utterly confused when the singers all yelled, “No, it’s doo wop time!” but they all slapped him five and in the end he was totally laughing with everyone else.  And getting into the music which is really good— the doo wop guys are the real deal. 

2.  I went to two book parties this week, the first  for my friend Jill Santopolo and her book, THE RANSOM NOTE BLUES at Books of Wonder, an awesome indie kids bookstore.  There were yummy and artistic Jackson Pollack cupcakes and a fun crowd.  The second was for my friend Suzanne LaFleur and her debut novel LOVE AUBREY.  This one was thrown by her agent at Curtis Brown and there were trays of tasty finger food and cookies with her book title on them.  I was a total piglet stuffing myself with chicken empanadas, goat cheese and olive pastry puffs and sweet potato skewers.  Not to mention the cookies.  Both parties were super fun.   

3. It’s been a literary week what with the book parties and then the reading I went to last night.  It was a Gay YA reading night and I went in particular to see my friend Martin Wilson who read from his fantastic book WHAT THEY ALWAYS TELL US.  Also there were Nick Burd, David Levithan, David Ozanich, Dale Peck, Patrick Ryan, and Eliot Schrefer.  Everyone did a terrific job and the Q&A after was really interesting.  I also had fun talking with David Ozanich and reliving the glory of the Rochester Teen Book Festival.  We’ve both agreed that red carpets and screaming crowds of fans should be part of every YA event. 

4.  Yesterday it was sunny all day.  I had an umbrella with me just in case since it’s been all rain all the time this past month.  But the sun stayed out and it was just blissful. 

5.  I’m reading THE PATRON SAINTS OF BUTTERFLIES and it is so good!  I stayed up too late with it last night though and now I’m tired.  But it was worth it!

Have a great weekend!

Every summer since the kids arrived we’ve been really lame about vacation planning.  That first year I don’t think we managed much more than a weekend up at my mom’s and last year the best we could do was a last minute trip to Cape Cod.  Don’t get me wrong— there’s no place I’d rather go than the Cape but you kind of have to plan in advance if you want to stay somewhere decent since it all books up so fast.  It all worked out fine last year but I felt like that was luck and I didn’t want to count on it happening like that again.  Which was why I got it together this year.  We decided to do trips to the Cape and also to Maine, my husband’s favorite vacation spot from childhood (just as the Cape is mine).  We looked into things back in December, hammered out dates and picked weeks where there would be space in between for a relaxing summer.  I felt all smug about the sweet little cottage I found for us on the Cape and it seemed like everything was good to go. 

But then at the end of last week I got an email from the guy renting us the sweet cottage.  It turns out the sweet cottage has a bad foundation that needs fixing ASAP and we can’t go our planned week.  The only time we can go is the week right before Maine meaning we’ll drive straight from the Cape to Maine.  With two cats on meds I hate to be away that long and it seemed so perfectly balanced before, with one vacation towards the start of summer and the other towards the end.  Now it’s just this big blob in the middle of the summer.  But the worst is that we’ll be missing a good friend’s wedding.  I’m really kind of bummed about the whole thing.  And what I’ve learned from this is to be last minute in all future vacation planning! 

Have a great Tuesday!

1.  Beloved kitty and I had a successful trip to the vet and he is now on steroids— fingers crossed they help him!  He needs to gain at least a pound and a half.  (We should all have such problems!)  He was profoundly offended when he discovered my intentions to shove medicine in his mouth but we’ve reached a compromise where I mix it up with a little wet food.  So far so good!

2. In other kitty news I got scratched by Cherished Kitty, a deep one along my palm and it is not healing right.  There’s a red bump that itches.  The last thing I need is a trip to my doctor where I get to spend a hour in the uncomfortable waiting room and for some reason always end up getting blood drawn, so I’m hoping this one clears up on its own.  In the past two days it hasn’t gotten smaller but it also hasn’t gotten bigger so I’m choosing to see that as positive.

3. This weekend we get to watch my seven month old nephew!  He is a magnificent little guy and we are all looking forward to it.

4.  I’m going to be at the MD/DE/WV SCBWI Conference July 17-19 with my writing/blogging group The Longstockings.  I’m really excited about it— I’ve had great experiences at SCBWI conferences, both as an attendee and presenter.  I did just realize I need to get my individual presentation ready though— I’m doing it on outlining, which is how I write and I hope people come to it! 

5.  Just finished PURGE by Sarah Darer Littman.  I loved her first book so it wasn’t a surprise I loved this one too.  I thought she really got to the heart of bulimia and recovery in a realistic way and the voice was fantastic— perfect balance of serious, wry and downright funny.  I think humor is so important in books that take on serious topics— in some ways I think humor is the deepest way to explore dark things.  Anyway, a great read, I highly recommend it!

Have a great weekend!

So you know how when you’re waiting to hear back from your agent or editor on something, you check your email 40-50 times every hour?   (This isn’t just me, right?)  Well, I was in that place at the end of last week but then I got the email I was waiting on, I have new revisions to work on, I’m not waiting to hear about anything and it’s all good.  But somehow I can’t seem to fully get that.  I’m still checking email 40-50 times every hour with great anticipation, only to get there and think “oh, yeah, there’s nothing big I’m waiting for anymore.”  I feel like I’m Pavlov’s dog but in one of the experiments where the dog is slow and keeps coming even after seeing no food there 100 times.   The dog they probably send out to the backyard while they find a new, sharper dog to continue the experiment.  If only there was a new, sharper me around! 

The big event of my day is that poor Beloved Kitty has to go back to the vet.  He’s just not gaining the weight he should on his new diet and he may need to go on steroids for an intestine disease whose name I forget.  I really hope if he does they don’t have any bad side effects and that they aren’t a nightmare to give him.  Beloved Kitty does not have a history of being gracious with medication.  We’ll be making the trek to the Animal Medical Center in a few hours and as always I’m dreading it.  Wish us luck!

Have a great Monday!

Today is another kind of anniversary for me- seven years ago today my dad died from ALS.  Each anniversary brings to an end a year where I’ve missed my dad and that never changes.  But as time passes I find myself thinking about new things related to losing him.  This year there were two things I thought about a lot.  The first was that I don’t think I’d ever realized how profoundly his loss would change me and how much it would always hurt to not have him in my life.  I guess since people tend not to talk about it a lot, especially with people who haven’t lost a parent, I was unaware until I started to live it.  When he died it was like this hole of emptiness opened up inside me and seven years later, though the edges around it have softened, it’s still very much there.  My best friend calls it living with absence and I know it will always hurt.

The other thing I’ve thought about this year is that it’s really important to me to remember my dad as he was, which means remembering him as flawed.  I think when someone dies you want to honor them with memories that are good but I’ve realized that if I try to remember my dad as perfect, it’s not my dad I’m actually remembering.  So along with his wicked sense of humor and delight at the things that brought him joy in life, I also remember that he’d snap when impatient and that he was terrible at keeping his house clean.  Just the little things that made him human, the good and that bad together that made up the dad I was lucky enough to have in my life for as long as I did.

So today is going to be about remembering and living with absence, and it will also be about taking joy in the people I still have with me.  Even if the face of loss there is always a lot to be thankful for and I definitely want to hold onto that today too. 

Have a great weekend!

Almost four years ago today my husband and I got on a plane for Kazakhstan where we spent seven weeks adopting our kids.  We don’t celebrate their adoption (our family day) until Aug 5 which is the day we came home, but today I filled out the yearly report I send to Kazakhstan about where they’re at, what they’re into and what’s new in their lives.  I’ll be filling them out every year until the kids are 18 because Kazakhstan likes to follow the kids adopted out of country and I really love that they do.  We talk to the kids a lot about Kazakhstan and I’d like them to feel a connection to their birth country and I think it really helps that their country likes to stay connected to them.   This afternoon I’ll read them what I’ve written and ask what else they’d like me to add.  As they get older I’d like them to get more involved, maybe writing their own reports and taking time to reflect on their lives and where they came from.  This is one of those fantasies I harbor that they may hate but right now it makes me really happy to imagine!

Anyway, it’s time to get back to work but it’s been a fun morning thinking about my kids, our time in Kazakhstan and all the ways they’ve grown since they took that long plane ride home with us.   It was definitely the best trip of my life!

Have a great Tuesday!

1.  From the lucky people who got ARCs of this book there have formed long lines of people to borrow it.  I was lucky enough to be first in one of these lines and for 48 hours it’s in my possession.    There are not words for how happy this makes me because…

2.  I really suck at waiting.  I hate it.  I think it goes back to my childhood and that ghastly wait of three years between THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI.  Three endless years on that cliffhanger, not knowing if Han was okay, if Darth Vader was Luke’s dad, etc.  It about killed me.  And I’m really no better at it in adulthood.  The second I finished HUNGER GAMES I was dying to get my hands on CATCHING FIRE.  And now I have it- squee!!!!

3.  If I were a pessimistic kind of person who looked to the future I’d think about how a book 2 in a trilogy is bound to have a really huge cliffhanger, a la EMPIRE.  I’d take note of that fact that often for big book 3’s there are no ARCs meaning that if I read CF now, in June 2009, I may be sitting on that cliffhanger til fall 2010 and that will be painful.  Very painful.  Luckily I am in bury-my-head-in-the-sand mode on this one so it’s all good right now. 

4.  It’s sitting here on my desk looking red and sparkly and exciting beyond belief.  I need to write for at least an hour before I start it but boy, it’s tempting.  Did I mention how red and sparkly it is?

5.  Forget writing- I’m off to read- yay!!

Have a great weekend! 

For a lot of my life I made teased my mom about the big straw hat she wore at the beach, the pink canvass hat she wore on her morning walk and worst of all, the battered patchwork hat with the super wide brim for gardening.   As a teen I thought she looked silly and as an adult I pretty much thought the same.  My mom was always very good humored about it and it was kind of a playful joke until last year when I realized the joke was on me because my mom was a genius and I was a complete fool.  Because as the little wrinkles at the corners of my eyes got deeper when I smiled, the truth began to dawn on me.  The sun is super bad for your skin and hats are the best protection there is from the sun, short of walking around with a parasol. 

Why oh why did it take me thirty seven years to realize this obvious truth when it was there in front of me my whole life, in the form of my mom and her hats?  Why did I focus on hat head and how hats make me look ridiculous rather than on the much more significant fact that I’d rather not get skin cancer?  But at least it did finally dawn.  Last year I realized that I too needed a collection of hats and now that the weather is hot, my hats have come out for the season. 

I bought the first two from the back of a van parked at Colmubus and 63rd last year.  Yes I felt like a moron trying on hats on the street but the hats were cute (as hats go) and once I accepted that I’d be sporting a hat all summer, I pretty much waved good bye to my dignity anyway.  The first one I bought is a forties style with a low brim and bright pink ribbon.  The ribbon part rules but it’s not the widest reaching protection so a few weeks later I went back for one with a wider, upturned brim and a black ribbon and beaded black flower.  When I arrived home wearing it my son asked why I was dressed up like a cowboy so any illusions I had that it looked less than silly were lost but no matter- it gives great sun protection.  The latest hat to my collection is a straw hat with a super wide brim for the beach.  I am just months away from a floppy patchwork hat, I just know it!

So yeah, now summer means hats and my kids making fun of how silly I look.  I guess what goes around comes around.

Have a great Wednesday!

1.  I was thrilled to find out that Alive and Well has been selected for Bank Street College’s Best Children’s Books list!  This one is close to my heart since Bank Street is my local indie and a place I’ve shopped for many years.  The list is published in this book http://www.bnkst.edu/bookcom/ which I may now have to buy, just to see my name in it.

2.  Cherished Kitty, sister to Beloved Kitty has a new habit I am unimpressed with: she likes to sit in the dishwasher ( I tend to leave it open in the morning when the kids are around and I’m cleaning up breakfast).  In the old days her spot of choice was the fridge which makes more  sense because it’s cool in the summer and there’s food there which is CK’s favorite thing.  But now it’s sitting in the open dishwasher and since she’s an amply sized girl, the door is in jeopardy of getting broken.  She’s awfully cute in there though.

3. I am on the fence about pedicures this year.  I love to paint my nails and since I wear flip flops all summer, I get to enjoy the sparkly colors a lot.  But last year when it was time to strip off the polish for winter shoes, my nails were all yellowed and yucky.  They’ve only just gotten normal looking again and I’m not sure a summer of fun colors is worth a winter of yucky, scaly nails.

4.  It’s raining today and I am not a fan of rain.  I hate wet feet and I hate how the humidity frizzes my hair.

5.  My husband is 100% better and back at work- yay! 

Have a great weekend!

So our weekend trip was scrapped when my husband came home with Swine Flu on Thursday.  It’s funny because I am always one to worry about things like Swine Flu and my friends make fun of me for being paranoid but then sure enough, it comes right to my home.  Not that this is the kind of thing you want to be right about!  My husband felt crummy for a few days but he was put on Tamiflu right away and was feeling himself by Sunday.  It was weird to be living with this thing that had been so hyped up- honestly it was just like any other sickness except when I thought “Wow, Greg has Swine Flu.”  And for those first days he had to wear a medical mask to try to protect the kids from germs which was kind of a kick- we felt like we were on a CSI show.  So far none of the rest of us have caught it and fingers crossed it stays that way! 

Of course just him being sick makes life a lot more complicated— I don't appreciate how much he does until he can't do it!  The kids are back in preschool today and my to-do list is a mile long.  But I am still going to be able to get my draft off to my agent this week— I really hope she likes it— she is one to be pretty straight when she doesn't, but when she does it's the best feeling in the world!

Have a great Tuesday! 

1.  The big excitement around my home is that I have gotten my kids into School House Rock.  I loved the little skits that came on TV in between Saturday morning cartoons in the olden days when I was growing up (the seventies) and was overjoyed to find a CD of all the songs a few years back.  Last year when I played it for my kids I got the big thumbs down and was told to put Dan Zanes back in.  Dan is still very popular but I’m so glad the kids have embraced SHR- I love my new life with a soundtrack of ‘Elbow Room’, ‘Lolly, Lolly, Lolly’ and my all-time favorite ‘Interplanet Janet’! 

2. I’m sad there’s going to be a remake of Footloose.  It’s such a great story I can see why they’d want to but Kevin Bacon IS Ren McCormick and no one, not matter how talented can step into those shoes.  And just everything, the eighties music, Lori Singer not having a perfect body, the game of tractor chicken— it’s classic as is, not to be messed with.  I mean, what’s next, a remake of Casablanca?

3.  It’s warm enough to break out skirts finally- yay!!

4.  This weekend we are going to my mom’s in the country, the Hudson Valley about two hours north of here.  We go up a few times a year and it’s fun though I confess to an aversion to the country that’s going to be exacerbated this time because we are going to my mom’s friend’s sheep farm.    Now I know tons of people who have an aversion to the city and what’s nice is that there are lots of options out there, cities, small town, whatever, so people can find the place that works for them.  But it’s a little tough to be tossed into your aversion place, wherever it is.  And me on a farm is just so not comfortable.

5.   I was totally delighted to discover that my book has been selected to be part of this.  Against books like that (WHAT THEY ALWAYS TELL US is one of my all-time favorite books) I don’t see mine getting too far but I’m utterly honored to be part of it! 

Have a great holiday weekend! 

Yesterday I went to Old Navy to do a little summer clothes shopping for me and the kids.  I found some cute stuff but had an unfortunate incident in the dressing room where I thought a top was a skirt and tried it on that way.  No one saw (unless someone on a security camera had a view which is something that always crosses my mind there) but I still felt ridiculous when I realized my mistake.  I’ve wondered if there’s a point where I’m too old to shop in stores like Old Navy and an incident like this would indicate yes.  But if you like the clothes you can shop anywhere, right?  I guess it’s when I buy the top thinking it’s a skirt and wear it that way that I’ll be in real trouble. 

In other news I had an awesome time at the Hudson Book Festival!  The organizers did a great job and there was a very big and enthusiastic turn out.  I had plenty of stuff for my table so that was an unnecessary worry and my panel was totally fun- as anticipated my panel-mates Rebecca Stead, Sarah Darer Littman, Jo Knowles and Carolyn MacCullough had great things to say and were easy to chat with up there.  It was also super fun to chat with people at the cocktail hour afterwards.  My train was late getting home but I was in good company so even that didn’t put a damper on what was a terrific day.

Have a great Tuesday!

1. I think I’m all packed for the festival.  My mom lives a half hour away so I’m going up this afternoon to hang out with her.  We’ll do some shopping in Rhinebeck, go out to dinner and then see a movie in the theater, something I haven’t done in months.  I’m not sure what we’ll see but I’m excited- I love going out to movies- before the kids we went almost every weekend but now it’s a lot harder.  And I realize I haven’t spent so much time alone with my mom since the kids either- I’m looking forward to it.

2.  This is my first children’s book festival.  I did the amazing Rochester Teen Book Festival but it was very different.  This is also the first time Hudson is having a book festival.  The organizers have done an incredible job getting the word out, it's an awesome lineup of authors and I think it’s going to be a really fun day.

3.  I’m on a panel speaking about the creative process.  I always get nervous talking in front of groups but panels are fun and I’m on it with some great and very creative writers: Rebecca Stead, Jo Knowles, Carolyn MacCullough and Sarah Darer-Littman.  I’m really looking forward to hearing what they have to say!

4.  I have bookmarks, postcards, pins, school visit brochures and a discussion guide for my book to give away.  When I write it out it seems like a lot but I’m still worried my table will look bare.  I mean, it’s not like a pile of bookmarks take up a lot of space. 

5.  If you’re in the area, come to the festival! 

Have a great weekend!

Beloved Kitty and I went to the vet on Friday to see if he had gained weight.  If he had, then it would be clear that his sickness of late had been caused by food allergies and the new diet of duck and pea cat food was the answer.  If he had lost weight, more diagnostics would be necessary to see what has been causing his weight loss. 

So I stuff the little guy in his box, utterly traumatizing both of us and we take a cab down to the vet where the driver goes way too fast and I have to ask him twice to slow down.  There was a time when I’d have been worried it was rude to ask that but then a few months ago I had this experience when I was taking a car service to the airport and the driver started texting while we were on the highway.  Texting!!  Can you imagine anything more dangerous?  I kept hoping he’d stop but then when he swerved into another lane causing a big truck to honk, I finally asked him to please stop.  It turned out it was easy and now I never hesitate to ask for a change if I feel a driver is putting my life in jeopardy.  And I gave this guy a nice tip since he did finally slow down and BK and I made it in one piece. 

Into the vet we went where I was sure we’d get a big thumbs up because BK has been eating more and has seemed more himself.  But once coaxed onto the scale BK proved to be the exact same weight he was two weeks ago.  Considering he looked a bit better despite the lack of weight gain, the vet said we should go another few weeks and weigh him again before trucking back over to the Animal Medical Center for more testing.  I couldn’t understand why BK hadn’t gained more weight but then yesterday all became clear.

In our home we have not jut BK but also Cherished Kitty, a feisty girl cat who had her own health issues a few years ago and now gets insulin injections twice a day for her diabetes.  (Annoyingly she prefers me to give these to her and runs under the bed when my husband tries, so this is always my job.)  She also has special diabetic food that we leave on top of the fridge and feed her twice a day, after she gets her insulin.  Now that BK is on his diet, he is locked in the bedroom while CK eats and he’s made it clear he doesn’t care for this treatment.  But my husband and I underestimated his upset and also his determination to get to CK’s food because yesterday morning BK was discovered on top of the fridge, eating CK’s food.  I really had never imagined he could get all the way up there or nose his way into her food, but apparently I lack imagination because BK had been doing it for a while. 

Now CK’s food is kept inside the cabinet and my fingers are crossed the BK will finally gain some weight!

Have a great Tuesday!