105 Ways to Give a Book

General Good News

I’ve got to say, I’m feeling pretty good. Pretty, pretty good. Why? Well, I’ll tell you.

I had more fun than I would have thought leaving a random book for a teen to find. What a kick! I put out Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood at the bus stop in front of my library. The middle and high schoolers walk past there and could easily see the book propped up on the bench with a sign, “Free to Good Home.” The readergirlz bookplate was inside. When I checked later that afternoon, the book was gone. Sweet.

I found out that twelve of my fifteen Girl Scouts are coming back for Cadettes next year. This middle school transition is a time when a lot of girls drop out, so I’m thrilled that so many are staying with me. Oh and one other girl is staying in GS, but moving to a troop affiliated with her church. Not bad. Certainly makes up for my sort-of shunning at Great Wolf Lodge.

The sign-ups for the 48 Hour Book Challenge are going great. I’m so excited, guys! Keep getting the word out and if you haven’t signed up, consider it. What an opportunity to tell the PTA president that you’d love to help with the Fun Fair, but you’re reading that Friday. I’m also getting some nice prize offers, though I’ve been swamped with emails, lost the messages in the deluge, and haven’t responded to many of the kind supporters. So if you’ve offered something so far and haven’t heard from me, it’s not you, it’s me. I’m answering now — YES!YES!YES! — and I promise I’ll respond to your emails like a normal person very soon.

I was able, as I’d hoped, to transfer to a branch of my library system that is closer to my home. I also decided to cut down on my hours to have more time for my family, my projects, and my writing. The other cool thing is that the library is brand new and I’ll be part of the first staff there. I start with my new library and my new hours just in time for summer. I’m so happy.

Last, but not least, we’re going to Disney World! We’ve planned an excellent vacation before we lose my preteen entirely to the “Whatever” teen years. We went four years ago and had a blast. This time we can skip the character autographs and little kid rides, and hit all the cool stuff.

I’m sorry. This post was so indulgent. I’m not used to lots of things going well at the same time. There’s probably a protocol to sharing so much good stuff. Maybe you’d better tell me what great things are happening in your lives so I won’t feel so braggy.

6 comments:

Kelly said...

MR: I'm SOOOO happy for you. You deserve each and every piece of good news--from the new job, to Disneyworld, to Girl Scouts, to the reading challenge (which I'm not fooling myself about this year), and everything else.

You rock!

tanita✿davis said...

Dude -- if I were going to Disneyland, I'd run around screaming. You're hardly 'braggy.'

Sara said...

Don't apologize. This post made me so happy to read it. There can never be enough GOOD news.

Yay for the new job and time to write!

EM said...

Good for you!

Stasia D said...

Definately don't apologize. Posts like this make me happy! There will be life after toddlerdom?!

Saints and Spinners said...

I'm so pleased you are able to transfer to a branch closer to home! For me, that's the best piece of news posted. I'd missed your original post on the "Sort of shunning" at Great Wolf Lodge. Oh, it hurts, and appreciated reading it now. [Recently, I had to deal with an incident in which a 5 year old was trying to exclude my four year old in a very in-your-face kind of way-- and I was right there. I called the girl on it more than once. It's just going to get more sophisticated as they get older, and I just hope I can help my daughter deal with it with strength and courage.]