memories of a weekend

Behold! I have returned. Last weekend was an extraordinarily full one, and so I shall blog it--for, in this modern world, what else is to be done?

It began on Friday the 4th, when I packed up a few books and headed over the border to Lansing, Michigan, where I helped represent Write At Home at the INCH Homeschool Convention. I was surprised and thrilled to see these ladies two tables from me!

Sony and Mercy were there representing Wisdom's Gate, a publishing enterprise owned by their family. They have been publishing my devotional work in two of their magazines for years--in fact, Home School Digest was the first magazine ever to print my byline. Despite this long relationship, I had never met them in person before.

(In a strange coincidence, the small boy smiling cutely on the middle cover is the youngest Arndt child. The Arndts have fourteen children and have also been friends of ours for years.)

Jennifer Beck, marketing director and writing coach for WAH, allowed me to put a few copies of Heart to Heart: Meeting With God in the Lord's Prayer on the table. Imagine my surprise when the books were recognized and exclaimed over by these ladies! I didn't recognize them, but we were in fact acquaintances...

Some of you may recognize Karen Braun--a.k.a. SpunkyHomeschool--and her daughters :). It was enormous fun meeting them, and not only because having someone recognize my name on a book is a Twilight Zone experience!

Here are Spunky and I :). I am ashamed to admit that I didn't get any pictures of the Write At Home booth or of Jennifer, who made my day a really wonderful experience all the way around. At least, I THOUGHT I didn't get any, until I realized that they're in the background of this one! Jennifer is on the right, waiting to help interested customers while I was off hobnobbing.

When the show was over, Jennifer took my dad and I out for dinner at Smoky Bones, a barbecue restaurant that made me realize, upon stepping through the door, just how hungry a convention can make me. We had a great time and got home late. Early the next morning, I was up and packing for Toronto, where a large pack of siblings, cousins, and friends were headed to see our cousin Carolyn take the prestigious Solo Seal ballet exam.


We stayed with my dear friend Sheri in her apartment at York University. Here's Sheri with my sister Naomi, who cooked for us all weekend and kept our food bills down to about $6.00 each. Cheapest road trip ever :).

My other sisters kept themselves entertained, as usual. Deborah is a photographer and does manage to get some daring shots.

The exam itself took place on my birthday. Carolyn was beautiful, and after I nearly had a heart attack when she first appeared on stage, I enjoyed the performance immensely.