I'm Still Alive

When I go more than two weeks without blogging, I inevitably get notes asking if I'm dead, accompanied by a little frowny face. To be very clear, I'm not dead. But I thank you for your concern and I appreciate your finding the appropriate emoticon to sum up the state of my mortal being. The thing is, I have a column due before Monday and a book due in a month and obviously those deadlines are taking precedence over Important Wallpaper Removal Blog Updates, Now with 20% More Photos. (Please insert the emoticon of your choice here.) To prove I'm not dead, here's a photo of me having a spirited conversation with Trisha Yearwood last month. (Apparently she likes me.) (No, really, I swear.) (She announced it in a room full of bookselling reps and I count this as one of the five most awesome moments of my life.) (Which I am still actively living. As I'm not dead.) Yes, she IS very tall as I'm almost 5'8". No word on whether she and Garth would like to visit us at the ol' homestead (particularly as contact information was not exchanged, nor any sort of mentions made) but I'm too busy in the Word Factory anyway. Plus not all of the wallpaper is gone yet. But if you happen to run into her, please let her know I'll be free in a month. And the walls will have been repainted. More importantly, I plan on being alive then, too.