Many thanks for the kind wishes and birthday messages many of you sent yesterday. It was a really nice day. We went out briefly Saturday night, so I officially started Year #44 dancing my fool head head off. The day itself was fairly calm, except for when I played Gretchen Wilson so loud I shook the dust out of the rafters. I spent a lot of time on the phone catching up with all the daughters, worked on my revision, hung out with my parents, went to the gym (want to make it to the next birthday, after all), and was treated to pie and chili courtesy of my Beloved Husband. He and Number One Son also gave excellent gifts: a book about pirates and Jefferson, and Anansi Boys, the latest from an author whose books I worship, Neil Gaiman. Ended the day watching a fire in fireplace.
I adore being the Birthday Queen.
I leave tomorrow for New York City, so it’s laundry, packing, and last minute stuff again today. I am taking Amtrak to NYC instead of a plane in an effort to get more writing time into a travel day. I’ll let you know how that goes. I’ll be speaking at the Academy of Urban Planning on Wednesday afternoon, and I think I’ll be at Long Island City High School in Queens on Thursday morning. Both visits are part of the New York Reads program sponsored by the New York Women’s Agenda. Home by Thursday night, as long as Amtrak doesn’t go belly up.
I have a couple emails I’ll post and respond to when I return. One note to Ms. Putnam who was looking for a list of my books. I have a full list on the website.