Spring Break...

The start of spring break! So much promise! I plan to catch up on my reading, which has been sidelined lately, and of course, write every day. My kids said no to camps and are looking forward to 2 weeks of down time. Couldn't be happier. I plan to see how many days go by before I have to drive my car.
To start off my reading crusade, I hopped down to Chaucer's bookstore in Santa Barbara and picked up Maggie's recommended read, Write Away, by Elizabeth George. Then, over to the children's section to browse. First stop: chapter book series. My daughter loved the first book in the series, Ivy and Bean, so I picked up book 2 and 3.
I stumbled upon a middle grade book, The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy by Diane Stanley. I have to admit, I buy anything with "academy" written in the title. It helps me visualize what my first book might look like. The cover of this book is quite appealing too. I might just cut and paste "Greenwood Academy" on the cover, set the book up in front of my computer and visualize the release of my first book!
Next, I picked up The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin. Heard much about this book and looking forward to a good, hearty read.
Finally, I picked up my copy of Opposite of Invisible by Liz Gallagher. Liz is one of the contributers to Through the Tollbooth, the great writing for kids blog. I've been waiting to read this and so far, have not been disappointed. The writing is beautiful. It's not a big book, so I suspect I'll be finished tonight. It's good.

Neil arrives home today after an eight day trip to Israel. He was able to finish his work duties early enough to tour Jerusalem. Can't wait to hear all about it.

Spring has been kind to us in sunny, Southern California. Took the kids to the beach yesterday (Campus Point) and was shocked to see the sand had all been washed away. It's amazing what a winter can do to our beaches. More amazing is how much sand is actually needed to cover the boulders that had been unearthed. And I'm sure there was a dead animal somewhere, because the place stunk. So for all of you still suffering through winter, the grass is not always greener!
(although, I know some of you would prefer rotting carnage to slush and ripping winds.)