Another Conference

The good news about the conference I'm attending next month is the person who's critiquing my YA submission. It's Cynthia Leitich Smith, one of my favorite authors! I don't know whether she'll like my work or not, but I'm thrilled to have someone I so like and respect read it. That will be exciting.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Congratulations, Linda!

My friend and former professor, Linda Calvert Jacobson, has a one-woman show of her original paintings at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. Congratulations!

I am so happy I got an original work from her when I graduated from college. I still have it sitting happily in the living room. It's in a place of honor - on the entertainment center that I face every day!

She teaches art classes, too. But I never got art instruction from her. She taught me how to write a newspaper article in Associated Press style. Amazingly, despite becoming a librarian, I still use that skill in writing press releases. Thanks, Linda!

If you're looking for Christmas ideas, she also has an online shop you can peruse.

And Now, the Aftermath

Well, we managed to make it through Hurricane Ike. We lost power at our hotel at about 1:30 a.m., but amazingly, it came back on around 6:30 a.m. We've been amazingly lucky with that. The IHOP in front of the hotel was actually open yesterday afternoon, so we went and ate the only food being served - pancakes, sausage and eggs.

Mom's dog, Tipper, hates thunderstorms. Fortunately, there wasn't much thunder associated with Ike. However, the winds howled loudly, and the rain poured. I thought the dog might have a nervous breakdown or a heart attack. She kept scraping the door to her pen and breathing heavily. But she made it.

We're all fine. We talked to a friend of ours who stayed in Angleton, and she said our house looked all right. Just some limbs down and no power.

We're hoping to go home tomorrow.

Waiting on Ike

My mother, my grandmother, two dogs and one cat are currently sitting in a hotel room in Sugar Land. We're waiting on Hurricane Ike to make landfall.

We evacuated three years ago for Hurricane Rita. Here we go again. Although we'll actually have wind and rain from Ike. Rita left us alone.

Needless to say, I don't like Ike. But we're all right. We've got food and water and shelter. Now all we can do is pray.