I didn't get to tweet as much for general conference this year as I did last -- spent the day Saturday working on the websites, and then discovered late that evening there was a conference in New York I should be at, so I spent this afternoon traveling by bus to the Big Apple. I tried to retweet as much as possible, but the internet access on the bus was wonky. I think someone must have been trying to view a movie. Grrrr.
I found my way to the hotel somehow. The city is beautiful and huge and overwhelming and awesome. I don't know if I could grow to like it or not. The shopping would be fun...
The surgery was postponed for two weeks, so I'm still up and around for a little while. I am hoping to have the last test done Tuesday so I'll be ready for the pre-op on Thursday.
The kids have enjoyed starting back up with school. I just got back from the girlfriends cruise to the Bahamas 10 days ago. I'm still trying to catch up. It's been a little crazy here what with the trip to CT, then kids came home, then Renee' visited, then school started, finished up plans for the cruise, started work on the trip to England, then went on the cruise, now I'm in NYC for the convention. I need to take a vacation from all these "vacations". The weather here has been awful until this past weekend. It's been terribly hot and with the drought, VA was looking very UT. It rained a really nice, soaking rain this week and I think things will perk up. Jared was able to cut the grass yesterday for the first time in 3 weeks. The lawnmower place finally got the machine back to us. I swear -- if he breaks that thing one more time.....
The cats and dogs are making me crazy. I have got to have the rugs cleaned 🙁 I am ready to lock them all outside permanently. Winter or not.
I debuted the new CTR ring website yesterday. It's kind of dull-looking, but I'm hoping it will do well with the search engines. I should probably add some pictures of people somewhere on it.
I bought the second Twilight book on the way home from Florida and finished the other books in the "saga" (please) on Tuesday. Still not impressed. Flat characters in unhealthy relationships not having sex. The first two books were actually painful to read. The third book was a vast improvement -- new editor? -- but still only a B. The fourth book was predictable. I guess I've just read too many mysteries to be surprised by that kind of plot twist. Authors who are going to throw in a twist always throw in a clue beforehand. Agatha Cristie always tells you who the bad guy is 1/3 of the way through the book. Always. I never enjoyed her books because you'd know who the bad guy was but then have to read to the end to find out how he/she did it.
After Twilight, I figured I needed to read something a little more high-brow, so I spent nearly an hour in Borders with Jared and the kids and finally bought To Kill A Mockingbird. We never read that when I was in high school because my English teacher got a brain tumor and we fell really far behind. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. What a perfect depiction of life in a small Southern town! And the lawyers and judge -- just like my daddy and his friends. It was an incredible work. Racism and commentary on social castes woven into a lightly humorous coming of age tale. Amazing. I felt so much better when I finished it! God bless you, Harper Lee.
The baby crying next door has quieted down now, so I guess I better go to bed, too. I hope this conference is worth it!!!
