It's been over a month since I posted here--some of that is normal busyness (I haven't been home the last two Sundays), some of it isn't.
Among other things, I've been dealing with some anxiety issues that were making it hard to post. Thankfully, that is more or less under control now. I mention it mostly because I think we're often too guarded when we struggle with mental/emotional issues, and yet lots of people are affected by them.
Anyway.
Last week we had a chance to go to Capitol Reef for the annual family reunion for my mother-in-law's family. It's always fun to get together with the cousins: this year (for the first time since Oliver was born) we actually camped! (Last year Oliver and I were in a hotel while Dan stayed in a tent with the oldest two). We hung out, played games, ate delicious food, hiked, and (sort of) slept.
I had to leave early Saturday evening, because I had a flight out of Las Vegas Sunday morning on my way to New York City. So I missed the last night/morning of the reunion. My flight was long but uneventful, and I got to the hotel around 9 p.m. Monday, I mostly wandered around the city: I went to the Natural History museum, caught Pokemon in Central Park (I wish I could say it was all for Andrew but that would only be partly true), saw the NYC public library and walked to Rockefeller square. I had dinner with my editor at a cool Korean barbeque place where we roasted our own meat at the table.
The next morning I went to the Random House offices to meet with my editor and the publicity/marketing team. That was a little surreal, walking into the lobby and seeing all the important books that have come out of this publisher. I was pretty nervous going in, but everyone was really nice (even if it was a little overwhelming to see the enthusiasm for my little book in the Knopf children's offices). People I'd never met before told me how much they loved my story!
After the meeting, we had lunch at a nearby Italian place (I had some amazing gnocchi) and then I headed back to the airport. I got home about 12:30 a.m., after driving back from Vegas. It was a nice (short) trip, but I was glad to be home.
This weekend, we're dividing and conquering. Dan's at home catching up on work and I'm at my parent's house with the kids for their spring break. Yesterday we went to Target and the Halloween store to collect costume material, and went to the Riverbottoms and the toy store there.
Expressions aside, I promise they had a good time!
Tomorrow we're going to hang out with my brothers and their kids--but we miss Dan, so if you see him before we do, give him a hug for us. :)
