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4月22日 Start of Day 3Lots to write about yesterday afternoon, but just heading down to breakfast so may have to wait til I'm back in NC tonight. Not sure when we're leaving. Hello and hugs to all of you! 9:30 a.m. Breakfast with GoryDetails, RealBookWorm, (and two other bookcrosser who's names I forget) was funny and laugh filled. We are now in the question and answer session. Not sure when we're leaving yet. Saturday Afternoon/Evening After lunch yesterday, we went out to the market, which reminded me alot of St. Lawrence Market and Cannock Market. Sande bought me a beautiful rice bead bracelet and anklet - there's a story about the rice beads and Charleston history and I will post the information from the card later on. I picked up some teeshirts for the boys (all three of them) - Liam's is a pirate shirt that changes colour in the sunshine. I am sure he will love it. I also got them each a pewter dragon pendant on a rubber cord. I also got a new tote bag with Rainbow Row on it and these really funky green shoes. Cause you know, you can never have too many shoes or tote bags! Sande won a tote bag in a door prize as well. I won, of all things, a small bottle of maple syrup - but I was thrilled to win SOMETHING!!!! After the market, we had dinner at Noisy Oysters - a great seafood restaurant near the market. Of course, I had chicken...although Raven did his best to get me to eat alligator tail. Yes...real alligator tail - deep fried of course. I did try Hush Puppies - a kind of fried cornmeal dumpling thing - it was delicious. My chicken was good as well. I always forget how big the portion sizes are here. By that time, Sande, G and Raven were tired from the long day and huge meals and wanted to forego the trivia night. So I went and joined the Brit team with gizmopuddy, Netstation, Molyneux, Mikestrolligen and his wife, Olive. What a laugh! We had so much fun. No one was taking in terribly seriously and our answer for the current secretary of the UN (courtesy of gizmo) was "Won Hung Lo - the Korean Dude"....needless to say they didn't accept that as the correct answer which was "someone or other Moon". We had a big debate over whether Russia was in Asia or Europe. I was the token Canadian and there was one Canadian question - which thankfully I knew the answer to - "What is the smallest province in Canada". The team "Oh Bother" which comprised of the Support Team were all wonderfully dressed in matching tees and jeans and are made up of a creative group of women with amazing dance moves :) that became more outrageous as the evening and wine flowed on. Mr. Spedbug was terribly funny and entertained us with his attempt to match FSR44 move for move. Speaking of FSR44, she is a beautiful, funny and talented lady that I met only briefly for the first time last night - but I was able to watch her as she sashayed past me to drop off her trivia ballot as well as listen to lead her team in song during the waiting periods. The game ended and we were either last or second to last - but it was a ton of fun and we lost stylishly! Back to the hotel by about 12:15 and in bed by 12:30 and slept better than the night before, even though the water feature was still going on all night!!! I'm all packed and ready to go home...just waiting for the gang to decide when they want to go. I have lots of neat pics to post - this morning I had to use Sande's camera as mine has gone through three sets of batteries and it just isn't working! I think I have a little time left on the warranty although I am not sure if it is worth fixing or if I should try budgeting for a new one. Anyway, that's all for now. Will write more tonight when I'm in my next hotel and rested. Hugs to all of you!! I miss all you guys. Convention - Day 2Morning I didn't write about my room last night. Well Kerri and I have a lovely view of the roof of the lobby and the HVAC system. The room is lovely though. It's missing a few things, like a full length mirror and a trash can in the bathroom....but its beautifully decorated and comfortable. The bed is beautiful and relatively comfortable for a hotel bed. All night long we heard water running, it sounded like we were sleeping underneath Niagara Falls! Woke up this morning to have Kerri tell me I kept her awake snoring. How embarassing as I didn't think I snored. Hopefully tonight will not be a repeat of that and she will get some rest. She did say I "eventually" stopped....luckily for her and I think me....:) We had breakfast in the restaurant this morning, the buffet was delicious, fresh fruits, bacon, delicious "country potatoes" which were like red potatoes, roasted with onions and green peppers and super crisp bacon just the way I like it. I ran into Steve in the restaurant and he said they kept the bar open til 3 a.m.! Right now I am in the seminar room listening to an author talk about the history of Charleston which is fascinating. After the bookcrossing lunch, me, Sande and G are going to do some site seeing and I'm looking forward to that very much. Will write more about it then! Convention - Day 1The flight yesterday morning was uneventful and I arrived on time, but the plane sat on the tarmac for almost half an hour, leaving Sande, G and Raven circling the airport several times before I could get out to them. It was so nice to see her again :) Her and Gerald have been so gracious and generous and kind. Raven is being his normal Raven, brattish self...which is ok I guess :) The drive down was nice, we didn't rush, stopped a few times and the scenery was pretty. I didn't know there was so much marshland down here. So let me tell you about the first night of the convention in order of importance: People First person I saw at the registration desk was Steve (Netstation). Big hug across the table. Not much time to chat as he was manning the desk and doing some work but it was good to see his smile. Skyring was also there, another big hug. As I wandered around waiting for Sande and G to come down I ran into inkognitoh - I didn't even know she was coming!, solittletime, Sonora and tobysrus. Heather Pedersen was wearing this really "unique" tee shirt that brought lots of attention to her breasts! It had an LCD display with several of the bookcrossing tag lines going across it in bright red letters. Very cute and clever. I'm going to see if I can get a pick of it. In the restaurant, we were having appetizers before the dessert buffet I saw jessibud (always smiling and happy!) MartiP (first time meeting her), bczuk, MrSpedBug,Spedbug, Dana (AceofHearts) and Lauren (Hoserlauren) and some more wonderful names that I hadn't met before. Oh and Noumena12 brought me two wishlist books - Getting Over Jack Wagner and Contents Under Pressure. It was a complete surprise. Hotflash brought me a postcard and bookmark from Arizona - which was also a surprise as we'd never met before - but I sort of know her through jessibud. My roommate, collectorkerri seems very nice. Book Buffet We have a whole room (24/7) dedicated to the bookbuffet with huge tables overflowing with books. It's great that its open all the time as other guests from the hotel are flowing in asking what we are all about and taking books as well - it would be great if a whole bunch of new members come out of this convention. I found several wishlist books, My Friend Leonard, The Scene Stealer, Bell Book and Murder, Name All The Animals as well as a couple for the boys. I will check it out again today - cheeky I know! I will also be sure to bring back a box for the bookcrossers back home who couldn't make it. I miss you guys! Karen has said I can mail her a box no problem. Dessert Buffet/Reception Incredible! The organizers outdid themselves. There was a chocolate fountain with various fruits for drowning in chocolate, warm brie with a multitude of crackers, all kinds of sweets - cheesecake, pastries, brownies, tartlets - everything was delicious. A cash bar with really reasonable prices and free Starbucks coffee. The mingling was alot of fun and I met more new people. The cake was phenomenal, both a visual delight and delicious. I ended up going to bed around midnight, completely exhausted but really really happy. I'll open a separate photo album for all the photos from this trip. More tomorrow! 4月19日 Tomorrow...I'm off to NC to meet Sande, Raven and G (I always think of him that way even though I know thats just what Sande writes his name as and she doesn't actually call him that!) and then drive down to Charleston for the convention. Sande thinks it will take 4-5 hours which is perfect timing to get there, have a nap, a shower and then have dinner and go to the convention opening dessert thing. I still wish Shell or Mel were coming with me but I know I will have a great time anyway and they will be so jealous that next time they will be begging to come with me!! I've started packing and I can't decide what clothes I want to take. I don't want to over pack but I don't want to have to do laundry or wear wrinkled clothes either, plus the weather will be hot so its not like I'll be wearing the same thing twice probably. Decisions, decisions. I ended up not getting a pedicure today after all, but I did get my nails filled and they look so much better as well as my overgrown eyebrows :) I still need to decide which books to take to read on the plane, I think The Abortionist's Daughter for sure as its a bookring book and then maybe two more that I can release there so I can bring back a few. I should email Karen and ask if I can mail books back to her and have her bring them to the meet up in May....I should go do that right now before I forget. Hang on a sec.... Ok done. Just need to wait for her response. What else? Liam's gone to his skating class and I should get back to laundry. I'll make regular updates during my time away either here or on the convention blog... Netstation is already there! 4月8日 Book 25: When The World Was Young by Tony RomanoA heart warming story of an Italian family in the late 1950's. The parents are immigrants and their children are Americano. The conflicting cultures and values, as well as the post-war era in the US make this an interesting story of how parents love their children and although they may not always like them, always love them and want them to have the best and do their best. Book 24: Mary, Mary by James PattersonThis was loaned to me by a coworker so is not registered at BookCrossing. This is one of the many Alex Cross novels I've read over the years and although I have read them out of order, they are always an entertaining and light read. I enjoy them. They are just gory enough to evoke suspense and horror but not gory enough to make me skim paragraphs. In this Alex Cross installment, his personal life is getting more complicated with Christine and little "Ali" as well as his older kids becoming teenagers and having more of their own lives. Nana is showing her frailties and her age and her worries. Alex's latest case is a serial killer targeting "mommies of Hollywood", apparently women that everyone loves, devoted Moms and all around nice women. The killer sends detailed emails to a gossip columnist in Hollywood announcing the crime after the fact. The killer dubs herself "Mary" and its up to Alex and his team to stop her before she kills again. Spring TimeHello. I have not been writing for a while. Not purposely, life just has been busy and I've not been feeling at my best (again!). Anyway, I'll do a short catch up while I'm here now. Liam's birthday party was fun, we went to The Mandarin for lunch and he had lots of wonderful gifts and he had a great time playing with them all and visiting with all the people who love him most. Unfortunately, we have discovered he has a hernia and will most likely need surgery in the coming weeks. It seems to come and go and for the most part he is not in a lot of pain,but when he is..it is pretty bad. We are seeing a surgeon and have to decide when rather than if. It is probably due to a birth defect and although it is not uncommon for boys to have hernias, they usually present in infancy rather than this late in their lives. But thankfully, it is minor surgery and easily fixable. Iain is...still having his ups and downs. I feel so badly for him. He is not the happy child he once was. We are doing therapy and counselling but I am afraid there are other issues going on. He has another psychiatric assessment in a few weeks and we hope to get some answers that can help us all face his problems and help him regain his happiness and cheerful personality. My trip to NC/SC is completely booked and I am just counting down the days now. I am sure I will have a wonderful time :) I have not made any real concrete plans for the convention nor for later, I'm just going to play it by ear and see what I feel like doing at the time. Work is going ok. The work itself is not too challenging nor interesting, but it keeps me busy and keeps the rent paid. I started physio for the tailbone injury last week and it is actually helping quite a bit - after only 3 sessions. I still have days of excruciating pain and can only sit/stand for very short times...but I think I am seeing an improvement. Spring has sprung :) Our dingy, yucky snow has all melted away and the grass is starting to poke through all the mud. The temps are higher and the skies are bluer and today I opened every single window to let some of the stale air out and the fresh air in. I've not been reading hardly at all since I last wrote, I think I did finish two books, which I will journal here, but have been on quite a bit of a reading drought. I did start a really short Iain Pears novel tonight, which may be just the right thing to kickstart me into reading again in time for the convention. That's all for now :) A cute picture of babyDel :) More about her and Mike and Deb later this week. |
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