Giving Thanks, in June

(Before I commence with the post, I have to tell you that the ice cream truck has been tooling through my neighborhood playing "We Wish you a Merry Christmas." And I thought "Pop Goes the Weasel" was the ninth circle of auditory hell....)

Currently, my brain feels capable of little more than generating Charlie Brown teacher mwah-mwah sounds, so I thought it would be a good time for one of my illustrated hodge-podge posts. First, some exciting news: My gratitude goes out to EVERYONE who picked up a copy of Driving Sideways because thanks to you, I just learned that it will be going into a second printing! I'm beyond thrilled by this news...I'm somewhere near ecstatic and shocked, actually.

Thanks are also due to Julie over at Booking Mama, for the most excellent review and interview. (I heart that woman!) She's also sponsoring a book giveaway, and I think there's still time to enter.

There's also still time to submit, right here on this blog, your favorite strawberry recipes--I'm taking them with me to my first book signing this Saturday in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, during Strawberry Festival. If I get lonely because people are speedwalking past me and fervently avoiding eye contact while I sit at my little table with my little pen, I will look at my strawberry recipes and think of you, my dear, talented Internet Friends.

Also, guess who this is with her very own copy of that book I'm always telling you about?

No, that's not my aunt Louise...it's Al Franken's lovely wife Franni! I could faint. (Thanks to my awesome aunt Dottie for the picture.)

And because Daisy is being insolent and refuses to pose for a photo with the book (she is SO in the dog house right now), my new favorite dog is my cousin Lindsey's pooch Lucky, curled up with ... you guessed it, that ubiquitous book again.

This post comes to you courtesy of my mother, who gave me the armillary and just enough of her green thumb not to have killed the stuff growing in that flower bed...yet.

More from the "I Can't Believe I Haven't Killed It!" files...one of my windowboxes. They really take a beating when it rains, because we have no gutters to catch the run-off.


My first experiment with clematis. I ran out of space to plant horizontally, so I had to go vertical. There are pink roses planted beneath, but they're not blooming yet. Drat the timing...


And finally, a very dear friend of ours showing you what the Cool Kids are driving these days. (This photo may have a short shelf life, as I may be asked to unpost it. But I couldn't resist.) This Friday I'm posting at The Debs; stop by and say hi, if you get a chance! Next week, a recap of the Strawberry Fest signing and I shall FINALLY announce the winners of the DS book pimping contest. I promise.