Evangeline...

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    Friday, October 7, 2011

    She's Alive!

    Yes, this post is long overdue.

    At the St. Louis Arch

    No, I didn’t get lost between Colorado Springs and St. Louis. Although Kory did joke that since this was my first solo flight, he was going to have the flight attendant hold my hand and walk me to my connecting plane.

    Writer buddy Beth Vogt


    With new friends Gina Conroy, Andy Meisenheimer, and Randy Ingermanson, who has awesome steampunk duds


    The conference was amazing. Although I got very little actual sleep, the time spent with other writers studying the craft refreshed and energized me. I had great appointments with two agents and came home psyched to edit my novel and send it in.
    Flat on the floor of the hotel room


    "Distressing Potatoes" from breakfast at conference



    Things were slightly bumpier on the home front. Kory took time off work (translation: he worked from home and only drove in for one meeting) to take care of Monkey and Chunky. While I was gone, Mom was admitted to the hospital for an infection. Kory called me from the ER, and in the background I heard the boys’ voices. I may have freaked out slightly and ordered him to dip my children in Purell.

    For reasons unknown, Chunky’s eye swelled up. (I swear it wasn't related to overuse of hand sanitizer.) When I got home my 7-year-old looked like he’d wandered through a bar fight. We never figured out exactly what caused it, but the doctor attributed it to allergies.

    Believe it or not, this was no worse than the last time I went away for a few days. At least on this trip I didn’t hear an account of how daddy threw rocks at a rattle snake from my four-year-old. Not to mention my then six-year-old’s incident of public nudity.

    On the drive home, after picking me up at the airport, my husband said, “Well, I hope you had a good time, because I didn’t.”

    Naturally this earned him a “Welcome to my world, Sucka!”

    Since I’ve been home, things haven’t calmed down. I’ve brought Mom home from the hospital, been attacked by a vacuum cleaner that smelled like cat pee, visited a school with two box turtles, done a book-signing, staged and executed a party, nursed a sick kid, dealt with a dental disaster, helped Mom pack for her cruise, driven her to the airport, and attended a memorial service for my husband’s grandmother.


    Mom and I at a booksigning


    My edits are waiting. My enthusiasm for my project went on the back burner, but it’s still simmering. I’ve promised to submit my edited novel by the end of October. And so, I’m taking this month off from blogging.

    Unless, of course, one of the boys does something hilarious, like lean over at a memorial service and loudly whisper, “Mom, I forgot to put my deodorant on!” If something like that happens, I’ll let you know.

    4 comments:

    Debbie Maxwell Allen said...

    You crack me up. Hey, how come I didn't know you got requests? Maybe I didn't ask. I will absolutely need to hear more details.

    And since it looks like we're snowed in today, I'm hoping to put up my review for Wild Wind.

    ~Debbie

    Holly said...

    excuse me for being vain here but OH MY GOSH, you look SKINNY in all those pictures!!

    have you been busy!?

    (oh and, so glad your conf. was great!)

    Evangeline Denmark said...

    Holly, I only used the pictures that made me look good. Truth is, I just got out my fat jeans. It's time for me to cut the carbs and start injuring people in Zumba class on a regular basis. And look at you, Girl! Your thumbnail pic looks hot!
    Debbie, I thought I told you at the open house. Hmm, must've told someone else. I'll send you a FB message.

    Anonymous said...

    I loved this article. So reassuring to realize that I am not the only one with a crazy, hectic life. It's a wonder we ever get anything done.