And Before I Forget...

 Okay-- looking back at my blogposts, I realize that I went from running screaming out of the damned hotel to "Hey, it was great, and look, ALLIGATORS!" to, "My family sucks!" and I bypassed some seriously fun moments.

Sorry about that!

But the fact is, between "RUN AWAY!" and, "Oh crap I'm back and I'm balls deep in balrogs!" there were a couple of great things that need to be recapped.

Let's start with Grammy.

Gloria Lakritz is one of my biggest fans, most stalwart supporters, and someone I'm honored to call a friend.  I've talked about her before on the blog, and always with warmth and admiration.  She runs her own business, and has spearheaded the PRG, and she is generally just an amazing pro-active person.

It was such--SUCH--a pleasure to meet her in person.

She and Stormy had the fortitude to spend the night in the Bird-Bates Hotel, and they did so just so we could meet.  After a brief "Hi!  OMG, does this place suck or what?" moment at night, we met the next day at the F.A. Cafe, and just talked.  And yes, I signed every book I've ever put out.

I wanted to cry--but in the good way.

I was just so overwhelmed with the complete and total awesomeness that is Grammy, and how strongly she's devoted to the indie pubbed and the small publisher.  Although the alligators were more spectacular, and the panels more mind-blowing, meeting with Grammy and having lunch with her and Stormy really was one of the best and most awesome moments of the trip.  It was one of the things I was most looking forward to, and one of the things I"m most glad I did.

Sorry I missed you with the first post, Grammy--but look at us.  We had a great time.

One of the other things-- and I owe this to Elisabeth Staab--  is that I lost my pedi-virginity in Florida.  (That's not a sentence you'll hear often.  Savor it.)  Anyway, Elisabeth was rooming with Mary in a nearby hotel, and she wanted to get a pedicure for her birthday, and so we ALL got one.

It was (excuse me while I get all swoony) FAB.  And I spent a lot of the week admiring my fat little toes, especially since they now had purple sparkly polish on them.  *purrs*  I'm gonna get pedicures a LOT from now on.  *nods*  Yup.  For one thing, it makes flip-flops look like a fashion statement instead of just disinterest in tying my tennis shoes.

And then there was this.  Now that I've been to a couple of airports, I'm sensing a theme in trying to dress them up again, make them look like high end fashion mall centers and not just some place to prop up your feet while eating a power bar.  Anyway, the Jacksonville Airport, which was teeny tiny tiny, had a VERY cool art thing going on with the window-- I liked it anyway.  And then I compared it to the one they've got going in the Sacramento airport, and I can't decide which one I like better--although, the Sacramento Jackrabbit really IS an odd mascot for an airport, until you realize that that's ALL that really lives out around the airport, for a couple of miles in any direction.

And after the trip, besides the, well, being ass deep in alligators and balls deep in balrogs, there was also a very nice moment of going to my parents' house.  Big T had been paid to work in their pasture all day--or, well, not their pasture, the pasture land across the street that they rent out from the neighbors for their horses.  Anyway, when they had enough to start the burn pile, we came over.  We'd been pretty busy beforehand-- the kids had gymnastics, and then we went to sort through my grandmother's things for keepsakes, and Mate was dislocating the tendon of his middle finger and getting a splint that allows him to make a rude gesture in the name of healing the abused digit.  See--we all had our duties.

But when we got there, the kids had a great time cooking wieners (okay, sausages, but wieners is fun to say!) on the pitchforks and posing for these pictures.  Notice how Squish is NOT suited for American Gothic, but Zoomboy is trying REALLY hard.

Anyway, that was Saturday, and then I had my meltdown with my family, so instead of blogging about all this fun stuff, I got bogged down in that shit instead.  I shouldn't do that.  I REALLY NEED to remember the fun stuff.

Including this.  This is the obnoxious little dog who was totally spazzed out at my parents.  He also got crated when I met with an old teaching buddy for lunch.  (She has since moved, and was in town for a conference.  It was GREAT seeing her again, and the whole family came.  NO little dogs allowed!)

Anyway, he's getting some much needed R & R here, tucked between my jacket and my shirt.  Because you can't have enough of that in your life.