These days there are so many things to blog about and so little time to blog. Since I’m having difficulty finding time to post more than once every few weeks, I thought I’d list a few of the things I’d like to blog about and you, the creative reader, can imagine what I might have said on those topics. It’s really a win, win situation—I’ve at least posted something (alleviating my reader-neglect guilt), and you end up with a much shorter blog to read, thus freeing up your time as well 😀
Here’s today’s list.
The 2009 Storymakers Conference quite literally rocked . . . still can’t get “I Wanna Be A Bestseller” out of my brain.
The wonderful, wacky, Whitney awards. I will post on this soon, photos included (I’ve got a great one of Stephanie Meyers presenting Brandon’s award). Who knew we were all such a bunch of goofballs?! EVERYONE who was there knows now.
Annette Lyon’s secret obsession with horses. After writing Tower of Strength, she swore she’d never write a book with a horse in it again. Guess what showed up in her chapter last week at critique?
Heather Moore won a second Whitney award and Best of State! Holy cow, I have such famous friends. When is some of that going to rub off on me?
Speaking of fame, another good friend—LuAnn Staheli—wrote a book that is going to be on Oprah. I’ll be posting my own, humble book review soon.
My four-month-old son is -now 15 1/2- pounds and twenty-six inches—about the same size his sister was at age one. But he still thinks we are starving him and wakes up a couple of times each night absolutely ravenous. My fondest wish for Mother’s Day? Sleep. On a regular basis would be nice. But I don’t really mind so much if I don’t get any. My fervent prayer last Mother’s Day was that we would defy the odds and get him here safely. I am so very, extremely happy to be this little (big) guy’s mom. He is our own personal miracle.
Another miracle . . . I finally have a second book coming out! All the Stars in Heaven is now available for pre-order at BarnesandNoble.com and online at Deseret Book. It’s scheduled to arrive in stores at the end of June. I’ll be posting excerpts, deleted scenes and other fun stuff in the coming weeks.
And finally . . .the thing I most want to blog about in my sparest of spare time, is my amazing husband. There ought to be a Whitney or Best of State or Best Always All Around Forever award for the most outstanding, supportive husband. Sorry to all you readers who think your guys are great, but my man would win this award hands down. Here’s a little example why.
Shortly after I registered for the Storymaker conference, my husband found out he had a conference the same weekend. This posed a slight problem, as I was counting on him to play single parent to our five kids that weekend. Turned out it was no problem, as Dixon explained to his boss why he couldn’t attend. Another employee from his office went to the conference, while my husband did an amazing job running things at home. He also ran our baby over to the Marriott every couple of hours so I could nurse him.
When I came home Friday evening there were about a half dozen extra kids at our house—teens in the basement watching a movie, and a kitchen full of cousins playing Killer Bunnies at the table. Dixon was busy making pizzas for all of them. The house was clean, the baby (having been hanging out with Dad quite literally—in the front pack) was happy. I went into the bedroom to do a little preparation for a panel I was on the following day, and my husband brought dinner in to me a while later.
The next morning he bought me flowers on the way home from his run. And that night, while I attended the Whitney Awards alone (alas, our baby kept my date away), Dixon drove circles around the Marriott, waiting for me to be done, and trying to keep our baby pacified until I was.
As usual, I feel in debt to this wonderful man I married. No matter what I do, it always seems he does more for me. We may not go dancing very often anymore; we haven’t made it to Hawaii yet. But romance is alive and strong in our household just the same. For while I was speaking about romance at the conference, Dixon was at home, sacrificing his weekend for me, reminding me what true romance is all about. Behind this published writer there is an extremely supportive man. And I’m so very grateful for him.