Summer Schedule

Well, we are well into the summer vacation and I am busy working on booking up my summer. The first engagement was lunch with the author at the local public library. They had a wonderful catered lunch. I was the second author to speak about her books that day. The other extraordinary lady had written her autobiography. Afterward we both had tables where we could sell our books and answer questions. I was asked to come to another lunch with the author in another town not far from here. That won't be until Sept. or Oct. The second week in July is really booked. I am also working on book signings in Alabama...which will mean a road trip. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love road trips. So I could be gone a couple of weeks in August. That still leaves the rest of July to fill.

On another note, if you are wondering what to write about look to your life. Mae Jean Mason who was the other author at lunch with me has written two books. Her first one detailed what happened to she and her husband after having a reaction to beefsteak mushrooms. The hospital made some serious errors that caused them both to end up wheelchair bound and without much feeling in their hands. They had a three year old son to tend to. Her first book was written more to warn people about the dangers of wild mushrooms and what can happen if it is not treated properly. As well as how she and her husband learned to restructure their lives. Her second book Out of the Tempest tells of the tragedies still to come her way. By the time her son was five her husband had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died within a year. This left Mae restructuring her life again as now she is a widow, with a young child and no job. Mae is amazing. She put herself through college and is now teaching foreign language at the high school level. Her son is now 27 and in the Navy. She was really hard to follow as my books are on a much lighter side of life.

Life is a learning experience and everything that comes to us is a potential story. Keep a journal with you always. You never know when something you see or experience will be what you want to write about.

Summer Vacation Here I Come

School will be out for the kids on Tues. The teachers are not done until Thurs. I can hardly wait. This has not been a great year. I feel great about my current 7th graders they made gains in both reading and math. The kids going into the high school don't seem to get it. I'm at a loss for how to reach them.

I have big plans for the summer as I do every year. I'll not list them here as I never seem to get to the list. I have made some sweeping changes at home already thanks to my daughter. I moved a dumpster in and cleaned house. I am not done yet, but I am still working on it. It is so much better this way. I can only live with the clutter so long.

Summer is my time to rejuvenate. I don't know what I would do with out it. I do have plans to visit Oak Grove, Michigan. I am also the featured author at the local library this month. I am working on the new book. So, I will not be bored.

I am looking forward to the healing waters at Goodrich's. That is the local swimming hole for a friend and I. It really is a swimming hole in a creek. The water is usually cold. It flows down a shoot into the hole and then flows out. I have to be careful that I don't float out with it. We go there as often as we can to get in an hour of swimming. We hash over how we can be better teacher and solve all of our children's problems.

Summer is much more than just time away from my job. It is "me" time. Time I can do the thing I want to do, when I want to do them. So that when September comes this year, I will be ready to face a new batch of children.