Death is not worse pain than an empty life. -- Lun Tha

It was a good afternoon. Eventually. ;-)

It was a good afternoon but the morning was stressful. I was dressed, curled my hair (wonder of wonders) and was going to get Scooter ready...something I do last minute, because he knows when he has "pants and shoes" on, it's time to GO.

My hair looked good (for my hair), I wore my WRTP shirt from the AZ Book Festival, and a long, slim denim skirt. Comfortable, professional. No big deal. Except that, as I turned in front of the mirror (Ladies, why do we examine ourselves from behind? is it really healthy? I see it done on TV, it can't be just me. Anyway...) I was horrified. At some point in the course of the morning, I had ripped the top of the kick-slit-thing in the back of the skirt. Well, I didn't have anything else to wear that was, like, ready. AND I still had to get Scooter dressed.

So, off came the skirt, out came a needle and thread. Fixed the skirt at the kitchen counter while assuring Scooter all was well. No, I'm not a liar, but he was stressing because MOM was stressing.

Then it was time to get him dressed. And I couldn't find his shoe. I found one, but not the other, and he only has one pair left that actually fits.

So. I'm all over the house looking for a shoe. I gave up. Decided Imzadi understood shoelessness (her younger daughter is 3) and packed up Scooter's bag, MY bag (with stuff for Career Day) and left the house.

Got Scooter all tidy in his car seat...and...realized my keys were NOT in my purse. I was by now ready to go nuts. Unlocked Scooter's seat -- it was already 90 something degrees before 11 in the morning -- so he could get out of the car and I dashed back IN the house to find my keys. After an eon, I remembered they were in the garage (!!??). Back to the car, lock Scooter back in his seat, get back behind the steering wheel...

My hair was flat. Sigh.

Got Scooter to Imzadi's house and he was thrilled to be there. They have a dog and Scooter loves dogs. Left unobtrusively and took off for school.

THEN it was a good afternoon. :-)

The drama of the day was over at that point. At the lovely little lunch they provided, I met the other Career Day presenters. Three probation officers, a firefighter, a regular cop, an archaeologist, a stock broker, a podiatrist, and yours truly. We discussed the world and the most bizarre story we planned on telling the kids. It was fun. I heard about toe problems and storing unearthed bones in hotel rooms...lots of fun.

My stint was for two different classes of kids who were wired from lunch and recess and who hadn't had their usual structure during the day. Gotta love the post-lunch crowd.

I would like to think, though, that I did well enough in presenting my life as a working writer and editor and that they enjoyed the comic book stuff I shared with them. We discussed rough drafts and being critiqued and poetry and horror and their favorite authors. Homer was mentioned, which surprised me. Last person I expected to hear about in the class. Antipodes, here at mindsay, would have been impressed. There was even a young lady who had actually read Tolkien. Yes, there is hope for the generation.

And...I sold a book! *grin* One of the teachers wanted one and I had one as a visual aid...so I sold it to her. Cool, no?

At least it paid for the babysitter...

I love working with middle-schoolers and I had a great time talking to them. I don't know if any of them learned anything of lasting value, but I tried to make them laugh, let them know the highs and lows, and to share the value of communication.

Maybe that was all that was required. :-)

* * *

Well, it's approaching five in the morning and I have this young captive healer on the shores of a Norwegian fjord in winter who is trying to figure out how to sail a small skiff across winter-roughened waters. She's terrified of the ocean, but is determined to escape anyway.

Wish her luck!