Tracey's Version of the Truth @ TTP on May 1

Hey everyone!

I thought I'd post my version before I head off to bed and work the weekend away!

I had a grand time from beginning to end--I got to Carolyn's a bit later than planned, as I got a wee bit lost in Falls Church VA, where I visited a friend from college the night before. Ah well, Carolyn was online with Ruth who promised to save us a few copies of HID just in case they started getting low, so we had nothing to fear! I had the honor of being the first broad in the mustang!!! <beaming> Though the weather was crappy, so no top down.

<pout> We arrived around 12:15 and Sue, Arlene, Edith and Debbie were already there. I found out Sue was there by the head lock she immediately put me in! It was great to finally get to meet Arlene and Edith, and the added bonus of meeting Debbie! We also got to look at Ruth's wedding pictures, which were fabulous!

It wasn't too crowded, all things considered. With a little patience, the room thinned out nicely. Bruce and Nora had the brilliant idea of putting all the authors in Dan's living room, so this way, you couldn't miss anyone hiding off in a corner somewhere. Who dragged the couch into the kitchen Nora? I even heard the vicious rumor that Dan actually vacuumed where the couch had been! LOL, even more amazing, the 9 or 10 of them didn't even look cramped in there! :-)

I spoke with each of the authors...they were all nice, and Pat and Nora in particular were their normally charming selves. I especially enjoyed chatting with Nora's buddy Ruth Ryan Langan--lol, I was in the room, heard the word "Scotsmen" from somewhere and said, "Scotsmen? Where???" So I of course had to go find out who was discussing my favorite topic in the whole wide world. No surprise, I think Ruth and I bonded. I missed seeing my new best friend though. :-(

LOL, I didn't realize the signing ended at 2--thought it was 2:30--I was still chatting with Pat, when I noticed all the authors packing up!! Wait!!! I had spent so much time talking with Ruth Ryan Langan that I hadn't made my way all the way down the table! But they had a conference to go to, so we can't blame them for all rushing out the door! We did manage to get a group picture...or two... And I commandeered Bruce as our resident board photographer once again....so if our pictures don't come out, we know who to blame!

We then stole Ruth for lunch ... ate next door ... I think only two of us DIDN'T order a hamburger!!! And we wonder why we get along so well!!!! Poor Ruth--we were SUPPOSED to only keep her 1/2 hour as she had to get back to work, but we REFUSED to let her leave for oh, a bit over an hour! Whoops!!! But she had promised to let us see her apt. and BW was nice enough to let her then have an extra 10 minutes in order to keep her promise to us--what a guy and boss!!!.... But Ruth worked really hard, so she deserved it! Nice place--Ruth said it was messy, but looked good to me! She also has a very cute kitty and a very friendly dog. Also met one of her stepsons, but not the dh--though she did let us peek in the stepson's room All I can say is ... wow! :-0!!!!!

We all said goodbye after that--it was just starting to rain, so perfect timing, except it eliminated any hopes of having the top down in the mustang. :-( Debbie had left a little early, as she wanted to beat Baltimore traffic. Hugs all around, and then Carolyn and I stopped in TTP for a last little chat with Ruth and a bathroom break and we were on the road!!! Lousy rain the entire way back, but good conversation! We went to pick up her gorgeous ;-) son Eric in day care... only he wasn't there! Carolyn's dh had picked him up earlier ... lol, guess we took longer than we originally planned in Boonsboro! I stayed for a little while at Carolyn's--had to get my Eric fix. :-) But alas, I have to work on Saturday, so I was off to Richmond by 8.

Whew!!!! My job here is done with no procrastination!!! Can't wait to read everyone else's interpretations of the day!

Tracey 

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