It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

And yet here I sit, typing away on the computer.

Don't worry, I've already been outside in the sunny, 74 degree weather - doing yardwork.

Now, I'm resting.

Yesterday didn't start out so beautiful, but it was great by the end. And I'm not just talking about the weather!

Since Anna Marie has made it into the 80 point Accelerated Reader club at school (a feat which I don't think many of her classmates have accomplished) and since most of the books which got her there were part of the Magic Treehouse series, I thought it only fitting to reward her with a trip to a book signing by their author, Mary Pope Osborne.

I've never been to a book signing before, so I didn't quite know what to expect.

It was really, really cold and dreary. We left the house a little early so I could take my time getting up there (and so we could each lunch, naturally) and I'm really glad I did. We were going to eat at Panera bread, but I never could find it, so we went across the road to the mall and ate at the food court.

(And also bought her a hoodie on clearance at Macy's, because I didn't realize the cold would hang around as long as it did and we left the house without proper outerwear for her.)

We got to the bookstore a bit after noon. The event was to start at 1:00 p.m.

The place was already getting crowded!

We picked up a copy of her latest book, bought it, and found a place to sit for the next half hour until she arrived.

Since the bookstore was in a swanky part of town, most of the families there were pretty swanky too. Many of them knew each other, because their kids attended the same (very expensive) private school.

Mrs. Osborne had fallen and broken her wrist - slipping and falling on the ice outside the hospital, when she was going in to have her broken knuckle repaired - so she couldn't sign the books. She had a stamp of her signature, and they used that to put in the autograph.

But - since she couldn't personalize the books, they made it up to the kids by posing for pictures! While the Osbornes posed, the bookstore staff stamped the books.





She was really great! She and her husband, Will, bounced ideas for stories off the kids. They've also written a musical based on one of their books, and I'm crossing my fingers and my toes that we win one of the sets of tickets for when it comes to Memphis next week.



When it was over with, we walked to Dinsthuls candy - made in Memphis, with a store in the same shopping center as the bookstore. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining - and Anna Mare was completely overwhelmed by her first encounter with so much chocolate!

It was such a great day. Not everything went as I'd planned - Subway for lunch instead of Panera - but that's OK. Anna Marie got to meet one of her favorite authors. I was so proud of her - she spoke when Mrs. Osborne spoke to her! And she even said Anna Marie was gorgeous!

Now, Anna Marie wants to know when Barbara Parks, author of the Junie B. Jones books, is coming. Guess I'd better keep my eyes peeled!