Yesterday the fam and I took the car to the shop in Cincinnati. It was the first time I’d been to the dealership (especially the maintenance department) and I have to say WOW. The waiting area was absolutely spotless. Heh, who am I kidding, it was cleaner than my kitchen. Lots of tables and chairs, magazines to look at, newspapers on every table. But that wasn’t what wowed me. Being a total kid at heart my eyes widened when I saw the counter on the far wall lined with clear glass jars of–CANDY. I thought, Are they nuts??? Oh, my word! There were at least ten jars with plastic scoops and paper cups to fill. We knew we’d be there an hour, maybe two.

Truth be told, I think I was more excited than my kids. LOL

Anyway, I politely managed to snag ONE Tootsie Roll Pop (my favorite sucker of all time) and worked while we waited, finishing the outline on my current WIP. Best of all, the fam managed to restrain themselves and carefully made their selection as well. Maybe even more surprisingly was that there were quite a few kids happily coming into the repair center with smiles on their faces (remember being dragged there protesting every step of the way as a kid?) but they didn’t go crazy over the counter of candy. Each minded their manners and made one trip. Since we were there the longest of any of the others, it was great seeing well-behaved kids instead of sugar-crazed monsters. LOL

Kudos to the service department and to the parents of those kids. Hopefully I won’t have to return any time soon but if I do, I know there’s a Tootsie Roll Pop with my name on it.

No one *likes* to take their car in for repairs (Heh. Not unless it’s free!) but what’s your experiences with repair shops? Are they clean? The employees polite?

Kay

I’m baaaaack! I had a busy week last week as you all know. But I’m back–with pictures.

After working hard all week (and playing some with the fam, too) I attended Lori Foster and Dianne Castell’s Reader/Author Get Together. What a fabulous time! If you’ve never gone, plan to! It’s the first weekend in June–always. The cost of the event is $50 plus hotel/travel but Lori and Dianne get a great rate at a beautiful Marriott located to great stores, great restaurants–and a bookstore. Fun, fun, fun!

So, this year Superromance buddy Amy Knupp made the drive down to Cincinnati. Tell me, does she have TROUBLE written all over her? This was taken at the Montgomery Inn Restaurant. Check out Amy’s buddy.

All the way from IlliNOISE (Yes, I know it’s not “noise” but none of them can pronounce Louisville correctly and the KY girl in me is stubborn! Heh. LOL) came Tasha. Via her parents Tasha had heard fabulous things about Montgomery Inn (a Cincinnati must for ribs and BBQ). Here she is with her bib–which turns into a cape for super-heroing later. LOL

Tasha is an aspiring YA author. During the weekend the group of us plotted a bit and let me say now her YA series idea is phenom. I read a little YA due to my reader-daughter and I’m so ready for something non-Goth. She’s sooooo got it! Can’t wait to read it in print!

Another IlliNOIS-ian is Emily. Emily is working on a fabulous, complex historical novel, another genre-fave of mine. She isn’t just a pretty face. Here she is with Amy. I sense a blond theme!

Tasha again, laughing to the point of hysteria. No comment. :biggrin:

Tasha had major iPad envy. So much so Friday afternoon at lunch we called around until we found one. Meet Matt, the iPad.

Saturday event photos include friends Lisa, Naliny and Judy. These gals are soooo sweet and so much fun!

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Check out the raffle baskets behind them. There were 140 raffle baskets given away with the money raised going to charity. Three hundred (give or take) attendees raised $5,000!!!! I, um, did my share. Raffle prizes included a Nook, a Kindle, another e-reader (sorry, can’t remember which one) and an iPad, plus tons of books, gift cards, goodies and as you can see in one of the pics–a trunk!

And here is one of Barb Smith and Laurie Damron. Laurie (standing) hosts the fundraiser for our troops every year and sends box after box of goodies to our soldiers overseas.

Every year I’ve taken pictures of the room as a whole but this year I did well to remember to take pics, period! LOL It was one of those weekends. And what a fantastic time. I *highly* recommend you consider attending next year. It’s busy and hectic and ultra-casual (jeans, tees etc) but soo much fun. OH! And I won a prize!!! I gave away a half dozen books that I’d already read or have in my TBR stack but still came home with more books than I’ll ever be able to read. But I’ll do my best! :news:

Have you ever attended a reader event? How far would you be willing to travel to attend one if the price of the event was reasonable?

Kay

My husband and I are discussing vacation plans. Deciding on where to go/what to do is hard enough but toss in two teens and it’s a recipe for disagreement. My choice? Something I’ve *always* wanted to do was pick a starting point and drive to the northern east coast. I want to see lighthouses and tall boats, tour historic towns. I’ve never been to Colonial Williamsburg or Busch Gardens. We all like beaches so I’m sure there would be some stops along the way to vegge out and do nothing but play in the sand. The problem is deciding what route, where to stop (because my dh is a ‘gotta have a plan’ man, and, of course, the teens. This isn’t exactly their sort of thing (but I think it could be their thing–if we can get them there LOL)

What do you think? Anyone ever drive the coast? Do you still have your route? Where did you go? What did you see?

Kay