I’m official! Was awarded my PRO pin at the Hearts of the Carolina Romance Writer’s meeting today, along with Nancy LaPonzina.  AND we both announced that we’ve had books bought through Rebel Ink Press.  Talk about a good day.

PRO promotes the interests of RWA members who have submitted at least one completed manuscript, but have not yet been published, and, to enhance communication between those members and publishing professionals.

Virginia Kantra gave a great talk – I want to hear her again and more!

I was working at the College of Pharmacy in Lexington, Kentucky.  We had a press conference scheduled that morning, so the news crew was in our building. When the first plane hit, they needed them back, so they called me in the Dean’s office.  I was probably the first person in the building to know something had happened, but of course no clue what.

I found the crew and sent them on their way, then we got news of the second plane and of course nothing was the same. I scrambled to get a TV up in the Dean’s conference room for anyone that wanted to watch.  Who knew we could get that many people in the room.

My daughter was home sick that day and I had made her an appointment, so she began the conduit.  She was on the phone to me and her father, who had moved back to North Carolina ahead of us because of his job. She was too young for it, but we were in touch with each other nearly constantly – it wasn’t like any work was going to get done.

We had a candidate for a professor’s position in that day, Dr. Hussain.  He was the younger brother of another of our professors and a very nice man, but that day was not the right day.  He was supposed to give his presentation at 1 p.m. but not many people were interested, so it was lightly attended.  Afterwards, he really didn’t have any place to be and wasn’t comfortable in the room watching the news, so he ended up in my office.  We talked about how he was going to get back to New York with all planes grounded.  He said something about renting a car and I suggested he stay with his brother because the planes couldn’t stay grounded long.

He looked me in the eye and asked, “Would you fly on a plane with me?”

I met his eyes and said, “Yes sir, I would. But I hear what you’re saying.”

He just sat and watched me work for awhile, then wandered off.  I felt so sorry for him, because he hadn’t done a thing, but his appearance made him a target.

I came home as soon as possible after the doctor’s appointment, and of course turned on the TV.  I watched what happened over and over again – probably not smart but how could you stop? Peter Jennings and I made it through the night together. I still miss Peter – we became friends that night.

I was able to get in touch with people – my cousin in DC. She had been on the Metro and supposed to get off at the Pentagon station, but of course the train didn’t stop.  The Dean’s daughter lived in NY and worked near the tower.  She walked for hours to get somewhere she could check in, but she was okay.  Everyone else was “safe” but we all just needed to touch base.

My children now have their “day Kennedy was shot” or “Pearl Harbor” day.  I wish that had never happened.

I should have seen it coming. After all I planned to leave early to begin my long weekend.  First the entire BOT meeting had to be scrambled and renumbered, reposted to the web and proofed. Then a BOT member had the wrong date for a meeting and I had to find the email sent to her with the correct date, that she just misread (finding an email in Gmail all clumped together is a different issue – but switching over to Outlook helps), then the professor in charge of accreditation emails to say she’s lost all of the narrative she was sent weeks ago and needs it in ten minutes to meet with the chancellor.

Okay, fires all out at work (never let them see you sweat, but keep extra deodorant in the briefcase). La daughter calls and wants to visit for just a minute before we go out of town and could I take her to the bank. Sure since I’m going anyway. But once there, she realizes she’s forgotten something, so drive back through campus to pick that up, get to the bank, wait in line – it is a holiday weekend – finally get to the window and of course the machine has run out of paper so she has to change it.  Finally depart bank and since running late, pull through the drive through to pick up something to eat, it is after 2 by now. And the batteries in the drive through microphone go out and have to be changed. I should have turned back then.

Drop the daughter off and head for the rest of the errands before I can leave town. Should have beaten hubby home by an hour, instead he beats me and I still have stuff to do, but finally finally around 4:30 we’re on the way.

I have made arrangements to stay at a bed and breakfast for the night, only this place isn’t a fine mansion, it’s little tobacco barns that have been refurbished and you’re staying in a rustic cabin, just the two of you.  Takes about an hour to get there – hubby has the tracking instincts of an injun and never gets lost so that’s cool.  We drive in and see some really quaint and very attractive little cabins.  We head to the office to check in and find our instructions pinned to the door – cabin unlocked, key inside.  Then the owner returns from walking the dogs to let us know that about ten minutes ago, the power went out, but it should be back on in a couple of minutes. There’s a flashlight just inside the door and a candle in the bathroom.

Okay, a minor setback, but not too bad. The cabin truly is adorable.  Downstairs is one big room with a fireplace, rustic with big wooden furniture and cushions with stylized bear and deer on the fabric. A large bathroom with a two-person Jacuzzi awaits us when the power returns.  The upstairs is the bedroom – a king size bed, made out of logs with matching armoire and a stand mirror.

You can skip this paragraph, but for research purposes only (of course) had purchased that KY Yours and Mine and I can give that a thumbs up.

Okay, power still not on, so we decide to find some place to eat.  Not that hard though we have to travel nearly half an hour to find a restaurant with electricity. Long line but we visit and just enjoy being together. Food was good, a little spicy and plenty to bring home for later. But later when we arrive back at the cabin means still no power and now full darkness.

The flashlight provided is a good two inches long and okay, bright enough to get up and down the stairs and into the bathroom – where there’s no water because the pump is down – but not enough to really get around.  One report says the power should be up any minute, another says by 10 p.m. and a third says 4 p.m. tomorrow.

We settle in to wait for a while longer. This was supposed to a rustic get away, right? He’s listening to his IPod and I’m reading on my Kindle.  Who needs electricity – well the air conditioner does.  There’s a nice breeze with the door open which no doubt is why the mosquitoes are so drawn to it. I was beginning to feel like I was at the Outer Banks – those suckers <g> were dive bombing us now.

I’m the one that finally called a halt. I was doing this to help him out of his funk and that did seem to happen (see above skipped paragraph) but I know when to cave. Took an hour to get home, but we had lights and water and air conditioning and hey, we can go back and see Harry Potter again this evening…

Had lunch with la daughter and her roommate today on campus. They were talking about the food and it took me back – when I was an undergraduate at the same institution, it was nothing like today. They can now choose between Bojangles, Pizza Hut, Salseritos, or Subway besides the actual “cafeteria” which also has “food” food.

When I was here, in the dark ages when dinosaurs roamed the earth, it was still high school cafeteria style with up to 3 (count ’em three!) choices. I remember attending a Board of Trustee meeting as a senior (because I was on a committee that reported to them) and when the meeting ended, it was nearly lunchtime. The Board decided on a whim to go over to the cafeteria. They were already here after all. The president of the student body and I looked at each other and attached ourselves to the group. Now, you have to remember, things like that did NOT happen. The food services area always had plenty of warning when real people (i.e. not students) would be served and made sure real food was available. This was without warning!

I’ll never forget the face of the lady that took our ID cards when we got there. Sheer Panic was the only words to describe it. Prez and I gleefully got into line and saw our choices – 4 day old lasagna (I know because I’d already eaten it three days in a row), tuna tetrashitty, and mystery meat. I got my 4th day of lasagna and watched these high-powered business men just stare at the “food”.

Have to admit it was one of the best meals I ever ate here!