Worst Archivist Award

I suck at scrapbooking or journaling or keeping any decent record of life. Most the time I forget to take photos and the ones I do have, mostly from other people, are scattered in a million places on my computer. I would make a terrible librarian; I catalog every group of photos a different way, so there’s no easy way to find and sort. But I just discovered something to organize me! All for the price of exactly nothing, I downloaded Picasa 3 and it magically arranged my photos by date. Suddenly the blur that was the last few months makes some visual sense!  

So, in addition to the day job in Marketing, here’s what I’ve been up to this summer:

Per our Father’s Day tradition, we camped in Northern California with friends and kayaked on the Lower Klamath River. 

I did 9 Book events, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Bellingham, Washington, and many stops in between. It was quite a trip to see my face at the top of the escalator in the Seattle Barnes & Noble!

I spent some time in exile at Mom’s cabin working on revisions for Book 2. Snapped this shot from the pool deck after a mind-clearing swim.

Went on a Moms + Kids camping trip (which Scott generously set up for us) for Juliet’s birthday, in a spectacular spot on the Upper Rogue River. Best! Swimming holes! Ever!

Celebrated writing group member Jennie Englund’s big agent news – she is now a client of Holly Root! Her YA book is on submission with a big NYC publisher at this very moment.

Enjoyed a long weekend with college friends at Toni’s beach house on Camano Island, and had the best shrimp boil in the world.

Took kids on mini-adventures, like this one with writing group pals and children to one of my favorite childhood swimming spots on the Applegate River.

We acquired a face-eating, needle-toed kitten, who looks like an angel when she sleeps.

And, alas, I turned 44. Love that number! 

Mayan Calendar Resources

If you're curious about the Mayan calendar that's based on the human cycle (called the Tzolkin), there are two easy resources that I recommend. Click here for the best website I've found for finding out what your Mayan "sign" is and for looking at the calendar in a way that's recognizable. There is also a fantastic Mayan calendar app for the iPhone that's easy to use and easy to understand! One tap gives you the information for the day. Click here to give it a try.

Currently in love with all things Turkish...

I loved this talk by writer Elif Shafak. In addition to being inspiring, it fueled my deep, deep need to go to Turkey asap.

One More Book Giveaway!

Giving away another signed book on GoodReads, complete with fancy Prophecy of Days tasseled bookmark.

Click here!