The Last Monday in April

I am utterly exhausted, y'all.
UTTERLY EXHAUSTED.

I have had an amazing week of bookish reveling & shenanigans but am now in dire need of some rest.

I attended TLA last week and it was FABULOUS! There are a million and one reasons to love TLA, but I'll just share a few highlights from this year's trip.


10. I get to spend quality girlfriend time with my dear friend and fellow librarian, Angie.  As close as we are, we rarely spend face-to-face time outside of our monthly librarian meetings.  TLA gives us a chance to have a 4-day slumber party.

9. We made it despite the weather.  We are badass ninja librarians.

Mirror image in a lake of a front yard.

Why yes that IS a car 'neath the bridge on the Tarkington Bayou.  

And this is on the safer DETOUR route!

8. Tech Camp was AWESOME.

7. The Simon & Schuster dinner at Artisans. Author S.J. Kincaid was kind & kickass all at the same time.  Justin Chanda gave me the updates on Skyfarm.  I had amazing conversations with dear librarian friend Diane.  I ate Beef Tenderloin and had chocolate mousse for dessert.

The lovely S.J. Kincaid & me

Her newest book.  SO, so good!  Loving this!

6. The Scholastic Brunch was fantastic this year. A beautiful brunch with authors reading to us, a bag full of new books AND a lightsaber?  YES, please!

5. The Sebco party at Lucky Strike bowling lanes.  This was the beautiful night of bonding (and karaoke!) for my district librarians. Most of us were there.  We spent time together just being ourselves and letting our hair down a bit.  This was a much-needed respite for all of us.  

4. The opening session of TLA was fantastic.  The talent in the pre-show was crazy good, and LEVAR BURTON was our keynote.  Let me repeat for those of you in the back seats--LEVAR BURTON.  

Roots.  Geordi LaForge. Reading Rainbow. 

This high school aerialist was amazing. 

3. The MacMillan dinner was a delight.  I cannot tell you how much I love Katie Halata, and now my new friends, author and English teacher Jennifer Matthieu, and her awesome editor Kate.  I left feeling as though I had spent time with dear friends I had known for years and a bag of autographed new books! Also, dinner was at The Grove, one of my faves.

2. A super fun session--the YA Lit vs. Kid Lit Lip Sync Battle, brain-child of super-librarian Nancy Jo Lambert. This was not your typical session!

1. Working with superstars on the TSL & TEA State Library Standards Revision steering committee.

at the booth!

Ready to lead focus groups with Donna Kearley!

So, there you have it.  I learned so much and had a blast, too.  I got back late Friday and turned right around Saturday to go to the North Texas Teen Book Fair in Irving, Texas with a busload of teenagers. Mucho fun was had by all.

It may take me a full week to totally recuperate, but it was all worth it!