I think it was over a week ago that Elizabeth chastised me for not posting pictures of the baby chicks. Nope. Make that two weeks. (That's little Japan helping us with the pumpkins.) The chicks have grown so much that we had to move them from the tiny bathroom off the mud room to a big cage (with lots of heat lamps) on the front porch. (And for those of you who care, we have 23 adorable, mixed-breed bantams.) There is nothing, absolutely nothing, like 23 baby chicks to keep a 9-year-old girl happy and occupied every minute of her waking day. So if they sound like a lot of trouble to you, I know you don't have a tween girl in the house. And eventually, they will lay eggs. I like fresh eggs. Chickens are great pets. Even the dogs think they are cute. (The cat licks his lips a lot and I swear that I can see a roast chick thought bubble over his head.)
Anyway, I guess I have been busy because I don't know where those two weeks went. Hmmm….
Well, I started out the month by coming home from Iceland and then going almost immediately to Boston for the BlogHer tour. I'm writing a feature for Family Circle on blogging but I missed BlogHer's July event in San Francisco. I've heard some amazing, thrilling stories from women about their online adventures. So I thought I should go chill with the hip BlogHer chicks while they were on their East Coast tour. They were awesome, inspiring, and I learned a ton.
It was only a one-day thing. But since my sister lives there, I stayed three and caught up with her. My sister has had a rough time for, well, the last 20 years, off and on. But she was just starting to get her life in order earlier this year. She had even fallen in love, and was engaged to her new guy when he died of a super-sudden and massive heart attack during their Sunday morning lie about the house. Crap! Girl can just not get a break. I invited her to come to BlogHer because I think she needs to blog and see how women are changing their lives by writing for an audience online. And she agreed with me! She got all fired up and started her own blog. So go over there and say, "Hey!" She's pretty cool and she needs a little moral support right now.
Okay, so then I got home from Boston and got hit with final layouts for my new book, a deadline for an article to Family Circle on using technology to organize your house, another on getting control of your kids' cell phone, and edited an entire magazine for The Computer History Museum. I also have to post pretty often over at my blog Gripe Line at InfoWorld. Whew!
But for some reason, I decided I wasn't busy. (Now that I look back at this, that must have been some form of temporary insanity.) And that it would be a great time to take off by myself and spend most of a week in the sleepy little town of Bath researching a novel I'm writing. So, I packed my bags, left the husband in charge, and Bath is where I went!
There is really nothing there. Not even an actual store. There are only two places to stay. I chose the Bath Harbor Inn. It had a great view (as you can see) but the room was dirty, ant-infested, and uncomfortable. The water was steps from my porch and the view, as I said, was stunning. So it was pretty much the seedy writer's getaway I was looking for; all was well. On the way home, I stayed at an amazing little find in New Bern, The Ziegler. Terrific spot! Beautiful room, comfortable, free Wi-Fi. It was more like renting a stunning, furnished apartment for a night than staying in a hotel. I just loved it. My next writer's retreat will definitely be at the Ziegler.
And now it's now and I am swimming in article revisions and deadlines. So I have been a very bad blogger over here at Wilmaville. And I am only barely prepared—no candy yet!—for Halloween. But, hey, it was an awesome month and I'm not complaining. I'm just making excuses!
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