Notes from the road

I'm in Denver! I haven't seen much of the city yet, but from what I've seen, I love it! And, as someone with asthma, I am amazed by just how well I can breathe here. I can totally understand why Asthma Mom moved her family here. I went running this morning and my body tired out (altitude) but my lungs didn't. It's wonderful! And gorgeous!

And I get to stay with my dear friend, M, her adorable fiance, and their sweet, sweet dogs (one of whom is lying at my feet while I type).

I'm speaking at a creative writing class at Regis University this afternoon, and reading at Tattered Cover tonight. I am SO excited! I am addicted to the Authors On Tour podcasts and have been hearing about the legendary Tattered Cover stores for years and years now. To be completely honest, I would be in total awe to just get to visit Tattered Cover, so to get to READ there is just beyond my comprehension. And I'm going to get to meet some blog friends I've known since I started blogging in person (finally).

Also, if you see pigs flying around, it's because . . . . I IRONED. I'm not joking. I actually ironed the dress I'm going to wear tonight. Ten bucks says I'm all wrinkled my the time I get there, but I will have started out the evening neatly pressed. That's got to count for something, right?

The event at Treehouse Books in Holland, MI was wonderful! I had so much fun! The room was completely packed and we had a great discussion going. I really love getting to talk with people who come to readings. I learn so much about how other people approach writing and reading. J's family and family friends came out in full force! And I got to meet a blog friend I've known for years.

On Saturday, we spent the day out on Lake Michigan with the family. Perfect weather, so much fun, and a chance to make sandcastles with my niece and nephew. Awesome!

I think I did a pretty good job packing for this leg of my trip, thanks to all of your tips, but I still feel like my suitcase exploded everywhere the second I opened it. I've seen some travel pouches for clothes on a few sites. Maybe I need to consider packing every day's clothes in it's own pouch? Is that going too far?

I'm traveling with just an iPad and cannot for the life of me figure out how to get photos into this post. So, I'm going to just direct you over to my flickr page to see photos from the Treehouse Books event. I'm really not sure what I think about this iPad - on the one hand, watching Entourage on the airplane = awesome, as does not lugging my big heavy laptop. On the other hand, no track changes in Pages KILLS me, and all my blog posting interfaces feel kind of buggy. So, I feel like traveling without my laptop is still a bit of a handicap. The jury is still out on this one.