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Pom Pom's most recent post was about things that made her glad. It has inspired me to make my own list of gladnesses, in no particular order.

1. I am glad, oh so very, very glad, to be home. Home! Dirty, messy, scrungy, scrubby, germ-laden, sticky-floored, dust-covered home!

2. I am glad to have my dog's company again. When I was in New Orleans, I saw a commercial with a dog in it. I wept like a baby. Once you are used to getting your daily dose of unrequited love, it's very hard to go without it.

3. I am glad that I'm not going anywhere for a good long while. I want to stay put--except for my trip to IKEA, which is going to happen, and soon, and how.

4. I am glad that the tomatoes are coming in like gangbusters. For one thing, it makes up for the rabbits eating my beautiful greenbeans and all the radishes and some of my pinto beans as well. (I am researching organic ways of keeping rabbits away. The Man is researching how much damage a BB gun can do to bunny.) We do have squirrels eating tomatoes, but we have so many tomatoes, it doesn't much matter.

5. I am glad that blueberry season is here (local friends, let's go blueberry picking!) and that I've found a recipe for spiced blueberry jam. Let the canning begin!

6. I'm glad I've become a zen Buddhist for the summer so that I don't have to worry about whether or not my children are happy. Jack is in drama camp this week, and I found myself overly-concerned earlier in the week about whether or not he's having a good time. Then I remembered that I am a Buddhist now. I have no control over Jack's happiness. Maybe being happy is not what this week is about for Jack. Interestingly enough, as soon as I stopped worrying about whether or not Jack was having a ripping good time at camp, he started talking about how much he was enjoying it (before, all he said was that camp was "fine").

7. Did I mention that I'm glad to be home?

All my travels were pleasant and pleasurable. There were points during our stay at the beach when I wondered how hard it would be for a 47-year-old woman to disappear into thin air and never be found again (and yet still retain use of her credit cards). Which is to say, all that family togetherness can get to a girl after awhile. But overall it was a good vacation.

New Orleans was fun and beautiful and quite exhausting. I got to attend the Newbery and Caldecott book awards banquet, met some very famous children's book authors (who were nice, because just about everyone in children's publishing is very nice), and best of all, ordered room service for breakfast. I believe one of the loveliest things about visiting New Orleans is drinking the coffee. Oh, and the natives are so hospitable they ought to be named honorary Texans.

So I'm glad to have gone, and I'm glad to have come back. It's lucky when things work out that way, isn't it?

P.S. I was in New Orleans for the American Library Association. If you follow this link, you will find a picture of me (scroll way down) with a bunch of other Simon & Schuster authors. I'm right under the picture of Molly Shannon, the latest Celebrity-turned-Picture-Book-Author; imagine that.