A sunny spring Sunday, 30 Wisconsin Children's Writers--sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon!  WEMTA (Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association) began it's three-day conference today, held at the beautiful Monona Terrace in Madison.  One of the first things on the agenda was an author fair.  Of course many of the authors in attendance were our own SCBWI members, so a bit of socializing was in order!  gbeaverson</lj> organized a lunch get-together before the event at a local Irish Pub.  Thanks to Stephanie Lowden's husband, we have photos:



The food was good, the company even better!

Then it was on to the booksigning.  With a wall of windows overlooking the stil-frozen lake, the view was gorgeous.  Unfortunately, I'm not enough of a camera bug to know how to deal with that, but here are some of the best shots!

           
Patty Pfitsch & Lisa Moser. Lisa had watermelon-flavored
jelly beans--YUM!


Rebecca Wojahn & Kashmira Sheth display their books.


Lorna Balian gives an autograph.  I was thrilled to see and talk to Lorna
for a few moments.  The book on the corner of the table is her "Humbug Witch." 
When my kids were young, we met Lorna and our copy of "Humbug Witch" is
the most battered book we have as all three kids LOVED it!  It was Lorna's first
book, published in the mid-sixty's!


Julie Bowe poses with a fan.


Dori Chaconas watches a young reader mesmerized by one of
her "Cork and Fuzz" books.


Kathleen Ernst--it was GREAT chatting with you!


Karen Hartmann and Janet Halfmann--what a grand selection
of books!


Sharing a moment with super-duo Debbie Hembrook and Kate Heling.


Stephanie Lowden busy autographing her books.


Illustrator Laurie Caple discusses her art.  Welcome back
to Wisconsin, Laurie!


Each author had ten minutes to tell an audience
about their work.  Patty Pfitsch's "Riding the Flume" is
on my "must read again" list!


Jacqueline Houtman and Deb Jacobs talking books.


A lucky visitor gets a signed copy of Sharon Hart Addy's "Lucky Jake."

What a great day!  I suspect there's an epedemic of writer's cramp in Wisconsin tonight!

Volunteering in the school library the other day, I listened as two ten-year-old girls waited to check out.  Planning ahead, way ahead, they discussed Halloween costumes for next year.  "Hmmm. . .," says Audra.  "I'm going to be Rosa Parks."  With a firm head-nod, she turned to Emily and then quickly added, "Or candy corn."

Oh, the conflicts of kids.

Yesterday, a friend asked me how it felt to be a mother-in-law.  Huh?!  I really hadn't thought of myself as being a mother-in-law!  But I guess I am.  So here they are: my daughter and my son-in-law.

It's October 26, about 4:30 p.m.  and I'm sitting in my Lazy Boy, feet up, laptop on.  I've had my sight set on this quiet, relaxing moment for, oh, weeks.  Keeping up with ICL assignments (or in the case of the past two weeks, NOT keeping up!) trying to get my novel ready to send out,  taking on a couple article assignments, one with lots of research, and on top of al that, our SCBWI-WI Fall Retreat was last weekend and my daughter's wedding was this weekend.  Add one husband working his way through several job interviews, a son who is a senior and getting ready for college applications, and yea, life has been crazy, too crazy. 

But now the Retreat is over and my daugher is happily married.  Crossing fingers on the hubby-job-interview front, and after taking Jon to "portfolio day" at MIAD yesterday, I think we're making progress on the college scene, too.  Now, back to work.

Hmmm.  Wednesday is our 25th wedding anniversary.  That's supposed to be a biggee, isn't it?  Yea, not even on the radar screen! 

Time evaporates in summer.  Kids move in, kids move to new places, kids borrow cars.  Deadlines, extensions, deadlines.  LA conference, summer cookouts, family parties.  Kids move out, summer fades, time seeps back, I'm ready.

Current Mood: hopeful

I'm feelng better today.  According to the Amazing Curves Work-out Calculator, I burned 386 calories this morning.  I stopped at McDonalds, and following advice given by 

latteya

 I ordered the sugar-free vanilla iced coffee, 90 calories.  

                                                    
So with a  296 net calorie burn, muscles that are flexed and ready to go, and a tall sugar-free iced coffee for the mental buzz,  I'm all set.  Should be a productive day!

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Music: Jon's "ska" music in the background

 I've never been a coffee drinker.  I've tried to be a coffee drinker, several times in my life.  Like when I lived in the North Woods of Wisconsin, where winter lasts ten months (really!) and I had a thirty mile commute to work, but I could never acquire a taste for it.  When I stop in to visit my dad, he still offers me coffee, and when I refuse, he quips, "You're old enough to drink coffee now, you know."  But about two years ago, I did acquire a taste for those frothy cappucino drinks, and now that flavored iced coffees are all the rage and so easily accessible, I've developed a yearning for those, too.  In fact, I can't seem to start my day without my big 32-oz carmel iced coffee which I stop and grab on my way home from my early-morning Curves workout.  

At Curves, they have this nifty way of tracking your progress and gauging the intensity of  your efforts.  According to the amazing Curves work-out calculators, I've been burning between 350-400 calories each time I sweat my heart out for thirty minutes.  Today, I decided to google McDonald's nutrition information to see just how those yummy 32-oz carmel energy boosters weigh in.  I figured they couldn't be too bad--they're mostly coffee, right?  Well, 32 oz gives me 270 calories.  So unless my math is fuzzy, I'm netting about a 100 calorie burn for my efforts.  

Oh if only I could get the same buzz now from water.

 Joining

cynthialord in posting one hometown-related picture a day for a week, here's my first:

                                                                      

 

This was the view from the balcony of a 4th-floor suite at the Beloit Inn here in Southern Wisconsin last week.  The photo shows a high gushing river, running as all water has run in our area after torential rains brought flooding a couple weeks ago.  Just a half mile or so north, the river had spilled, making the park look like a newly-formed lake.  Folks first called it the "100-year-flood" then revised that to "500-year-flood."  So snapshots of our area look a little wetter than they normally would.  

My writer's group gathers here once a year in June for a mid-week retreat.  We begin the day at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday and end with lunch on Thursday.  Book discusions, writing prompts and individual goal evaluations are part of the agenda.  At dinner, we share wine and more conversation while listening to jazz on the patio.  This year, we nearly cancelled as two members had vacation plans and then two more had last-minute problems, leaving only three of us available.  But pals Ann Bausum,

judybryan and I decided to go ahead and we were glad we did.  The discussions were lively and enlightening, and all three of us went home refreshed, with new goals, plans and ideas in mind. 

Current Mood: rejuvenated

For people in my town, life has had its challenges lately.  With recent news that our GM plant will close and then the Rock River cresting and flooding the downtown area, I guess it's no wonder that this was big news on a sunny Saturday morning:

                                                                      
Yup, Bessie the 40-something fiberglass cow went in for a facelift and has now returned to her home on Milton Avenue.  A couple years ago, folks were concerned when the truckstop and the Ramada Inn, between which Bessie had stood for years, were going to be demolished to make room for the new Menards.  What would happen to Bessie, they asked.  She's a landmark!  Come now, this IS Wisconsin, you know!  Did they really think that the Powers that Be would allow Bessie to go down with the brick and mortar of the former businesses that had shared her 'pasture'?  Of course not!  Bessie was gently removed, refurbished and now stands beside the new Del Taco Restaurant with Menards in the background.  Folks are pleased, actually, because Bessie now stands much closer to the main highway and is clearly visible from I-90.  Oh, and what's that on her head?  No one seems to know.  It appeared a few days ago, and was quite the topic of conversation at Curves on Monday.  What's a town without a one-ton fiberglass cow mysteriously adorned with a black veil on her head?

Current Location: living room
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: none--"Frasier" on TV

 

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: too early for music