Still Recovering

I'm still recovering from finishing the book. I guess it didn't help that the first day I had a very busy day, even though I'd taken the day off, and then yesterday I had another busy day with a meeting in the morning and then a booksigning in the afternoon. Today I have absolutely zero energy. I'm pretty much devoting the day to reading.

The temperature finally dropped. It's still hot, but it's a normal hot for this time of year, and the lows in the early morning are low enough not to be hot. I was joking about needing to put on a parka when the temperatures dropped by more than ten degrees, but Saturday morning I almost got a little chilly outside. It's been in the upper 80s even in the morning, so the 70s were almost a jolt.

Unfortunately, it seemed to have affected the turnout for the booksigning. The people at the store said it was really quiet for a Saturday and their sales were down. I guess it was the first day in ages when you could actually go out and do stuff, so people weren't thinking about books. The store really tried. They'd decorated in a beach theme with grass skirts on the signing tables and some pink flamingos and beach pails lying around. But the customers who were in the store seemed to think there was a force field keeping them away from us. People would practically cross the entire store to avoid having to walk past us down the main aisle. Fortunately, some of my friends came by to keep me occupied. Otherwise, I might have been bored enough to be tempted to take the grass skirt off the table, put it on and start hula dancing in the aisles. There, um, might have been a very small hula demonstration behind the signing table as it was (really just based on my Cardio Hula workout video -- I don't know how authentic it is, but I can make it look good).

I've figured out my wardrobe for the RWA conference this week. I'm going for the "packing light" award this time by being really efficient instead of bringing lots of changes of clothes. I didn't want to deal with the huge suitcase this year. I guess I'll also have to be selective about which books I bring back with me. I used to have an Australian boss who was the kind of guy who'd travel around the world with just a small backpack, and on business trips he'd mock anyone who brought more than necessary. I remember being very pleased with myself for having a small tote bag on an overnight trip, especially since the other women going had the regular rollaboard suitcases. My boss had his computer bag with a toothbrush, a clean shirt and a change of underwear and socks in the side pocket. There was no way to beat him at that game. For me, going to this conference with a smaller suitcase will be a real achievement. Usually I bring the big suitcase I nickname "the steamer trunk." It's hard to pack light when you have a lot of evening events, so you need a couple of outfits per day. This year, I don't have as many evening events that require formal clothes, which helps.

I'm also being pretty daring by planning to wear slacks to the big awards ceremony. They're dressy tuxedo slacks, and that night I'll be wearing them with a dressy top and my red heels. My legs usually end up freezing in the ballroom during the ceremony, so we'll see if this helps. Now watch this be the year that the air conditioner breaks and we all sweat our way through the ceremony.

I won't be taking a computer, so I won't be posting live from the event, but I may do a wrap-up when I get home. I know not everyone who reads this knows or cares about the RWA conference, but let me know in comments if there's something you do want to hear about. I may even be inspired to make phone posts to Live Journal.