One Down, Four to Go

If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
-- Laurence J. Peter, US educator & writer (1919 - 1988)

So last night after the volleyball match (yes, Senior Night was a lovely, blissfully brief affair) - and we did win - we hightailed it out to the other side of town for the college fair. The Tall One came home with a trick-or-treat bag (as her father dubbed it) full of college pamphlets and brochures. We're a step closer. She knows what she wants to do but she doesn't know where she wants to do it.

This was a heck of a setup - to put it in terms my writing buddies might understand, in case they've never been to one of these things (which I hadn't - I pretty much knew where I was going to school from the time I was in 7th grade), I'm thinking mystery fan conference on a much, much smaller scale. Bigger than Birmingham, smaller than Bouchercon. There were something like 80 colleges and universities represented, and they set up tables all in a row, up and down the sides of this long walkway in a shopping mall. Some of the tables were manned by local alumni (like the Dad of one of the gals The Tall One played AAU basketball with this summer); others actually had reps from the Admissions offices. It was kind of fun to watch the reactions of folks as we walked by with a kid 6'4" in tow. She was wearing the really spiffy sweatshirt she received for Senior Night - her name and jersey number (in a big volleyball) with "Volleyball Senior" underneath. Kind of a dead giveaway as to her athletic endeavors. No, don't ask how tall she is. Yes, she plays volleyball. Basketball, too. You'll tell your Athletic Director? Thank you.

No, it didn't go exactly like that. The WGH asked appropriate questions about how we should go about setting up "unofficial" visits and so forth. We collected as much information on the schools she's interested in as possible and tucked it into the bag, to be perused in the very near future. Application deadlines are fast approaching.

The best part of the rather rushed trip was that we covered the whole stretch (stopping along the way on the right side, not worrying about what we missed on the left) and got everything we needed in the 45 minutes we had between the time we got there and the time they started packing everything up. Which means, we don't have to go back tonight. Thank God.

So today I settle in to work on the Spinetingler profiles (see, Sandra, I'm working - really), finish the SinC-MidTN chapter newsletter, and start calling basketball parents about the fall volunteer schedule for concessions and hospitality (oh, yeah, forgot to add that to the list yesterday). Plus I have a couple books to review.

I love my life.

I've heard lots of great stories coming out of this past weekend's Bouchercon, and all our friends have landed safely back home, so it's back to life as usual for us writers. Right, guys? Deadlines, anyone?

Read a book. And enjoy the day. It's good for you.

=) JB