I haven’t written a word in nearly a week. Why? I’ve been too busy with family events. Our daughter came home on Friday evening. That night was shot, but at least I had set the DVR to record my favorite programs: Sarah Jane Adventures, Doctor Who, and Battlestar Galactica.

Saturday morning, we spent sorting through the junk....er, treasured mementos...in my daughter’s room in preparation for an upcoming garage sale at a friend’s house. Do your realize how much hard work this is?  It takes effort to clean through all this stuff!  That afternoon, we stopped at the Dolphin Mall in Miami en route to my cousin’s house for her sister’s 70^th birthday celebration. Walked through the spacious mall at a fast clip, spending the most time in the Bath & Body Works outlet store. Then on to South Miami to visit with the family. My cousin V. has a modest house but it’s on a lake, and their enclosed patio and pool area leads out to a gazebo overlooking the water. It’s quite a view, so we sat on a comfy outdoor couch and enjoyed the balmy weather while sipping wine and eating appetizers. Cousin V. is a great party organizer and we always have a wonderful time at her affairs. She’d put together a touching DVD collage of her sister’s life that we all watched.

The rest of the family gathered the next night for our family Passover Seder. Passover commemorates the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt and freedom from slavery. We read the story from a booklet called the Haggadah and pray for freedom from oppression for everyone today.

Then we eat: gefilte fish with horseradish, matzohs, hard boiled egg dipped in salt water, matzoh ball soup, brisket with chicken breast and potato pancake and veggies, some sort of chocolate thing for dessert. I’m stuffed! No wonder our ancestors reclined at the meal. Who could stand up afterward?

That was Sunday. On Monday, we took our daughter shopping at Nordstrom Rack to the costly result of several hundred dollars. Then she left, and my other cousin J. came to stay over. She’s visiting from Arizona, so we had a nice chat and a good seafood meal at Grumpy Dicks.

Tuesday, we strolled along Las Olas Blvd in downtown Fort Lauderdale and lunched at Café L’Europa. Back home, other cousin L. and her husband and cousin C. came over to hang out for the afternoon. Fed them lunch and snacks. Good thing I had a lot of food in stock!

Today was critique group at my house. Put more food on the table. Dishes, laundry, straightening out after everyone left. Whew! Can I get back to writing yet?  Nope. I have to organize my junk for the garage sale on Saturday. It’ll probably be a complete bust since this is my first experience. I haven’t priced anything, just thrown it all into boxes to transport to my friend’s house. And I’ll report on that fun event next.

I've been absent from writing as well--I left town last Wednesday for Colorado Springs where I sandwiched the Pikes Peak Writers Conference between family visits. I'm still in The Springs, helping my daughter-in-law with the new baby. I did find the 'break' of mingling with other writing colleagues refreshing and inspiring, although I figured my WIP can wait another day. My next Cerridwen Press romantic suspense releases on May 8th, so I'll probably be spending more 'writing' time doing promotion.

Congrats on your new release, Terry! And you can tell me all about the conference when I see you at our B&N event on May 10th in Orlando.