Times Square to the Roeland Park Dome in Less than 24 hours....

by

Patti Dickinson

I am back from the Book Expo.  It was held in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.  We took a hair-raising taxi ride over there from our hotel (I've had going on seven kid-drivers in my house and none of them came close to this ride!)  How is it that these drivers never have wrecks?  They maneuver their golden yellow cars into spaces in traffic that I could not have imagined that they would fit....but we got there in one piece, only slightly disheveled (front and back windows of the taxi all the way open and in between blocks/stop lights we were easily going 60 mph, so you can imagine the hair.....we sort of lurched our way to the Book Expo.  

Once there, we just stood in the lobby starstruck.  Joyce Carol Oates was signing autographs....and the place was packed with publishers, authors, buyers.  We got a guidebook, where all the publishers were listed by location within the building and headed up the escalator.  Once we found the Seven Locks table, I got my first time ever look at Jim Riordan, the publisher who made this not-so-small miracle --- taking a bunch of dog-eared m/s pages and waving the editing wand, converting them into a hardback book!  Wood took a picture of the two of us, with me holding the book.  Yup, the whole scene screamed "first time author".  I don't imagine Joyce felt compelled to have a picture of herself with her publisher/book.  

The rest of the weekend was wonderful.  All was quiet on the home front....no news is good news kind of thing.  We ate some great food -- Sardi's, Giambelli's 50th, and 21 Club.  Took in two plays, Mama Mia and 9-5.  Prince Harry was in town, as was Barack and Michelle for their "date night".  Those two gave new meaning to the word gridlock.  Bomb squad trucks, and easily 15 of NYC's finest on each street corner, for miles.  I love the sights and smells and noise of NYC.  I was born in New York, and a part of that grimy, busy city will always be part of me on the cellular level.

Wood and I took a nap....something we haven't done in years. Time to talk, uninterrupted. Those conversations meandered in a way that they just can't at home, with phones jangling, kids needing rides....life interrupting.

But this morning, at 5:45, I was back to hitting the floor running. 6:30 swim practice and a 7:00 volleyball clinic.  Stopped for bagels on the way home....it's good to be back.