Wednesday, September 15, 2021

GRL here I come...

The countdown has begun. Now that my Labor Day road trip has come and gone, it's time to ramp up preparations for my trip to St. Louis...not only for being there, but for not being at home or at work.

Last GRL in Albuquerque in 2019...

For home it's a matter of getting aaaaall the laundry done so DH has enough underthings to get through two weeks without necessarily having to do laundry and laying in enough groceries in advance. I usually shop on Sunday mornings, but I'll be out of town for one, and I'd rather avoid a major trip to the store at any other time and any other day. Might need to pop in for some fresh veggies, but that would be it. Thanks to my mother-in-law, I now have a second fridge to store extra perishables in. :0)

For work, it's a matter of making sure all the bills are paid in advanced or scheduled to be paid, as well as making sure the employees are prepared for my absence. Sure I can take care of stuff while I'm gone if something crops up, but getting things taken care of in advance is preferable. I won't be on vacation per se, but I won't be in regular work mode either.

As for the conference itself, it's checking last years' lists for notes about what worked and what didn't; what might be good things to have handy during various events (scissors!), and what are must haves. Then it's packing up what's needed for those events: SWAG and cover images and orange mints and Sharpies among others.

This year was going to be different in that I was supposed to participate in a panel discussion. Unfortunately, two of the four authors had to withdraw and us remaining two got relegated to author Q&As. I'm really disappointed about that... I don't know anyone in the group I've been assigned to, so I should go check out some of their books, read their bios on their websites or on Amazon and pray I don't make a fool of myself. This kind of un-prepped interaction is not my strong suit, but it is what it is and I'll make it through I suppose...

Hope you're having a great week...


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