ALA report and upcoming calendar highlights

I got back from ALA (American Library Association) Annual Conference last night. It was in Chicago. It was an excellent conference this year. It was Egmont's first as an exhibitor and they had a really good time. Booth traffic was excellent, many new people informed of the company, authors had a great time, staff had a great time, which results in an overall very successful show.

It also results in exhaustion. My feet and legs feel almost normal today. The nerves on the bottom of by right foot and toes are tingly but I know that will go away. It's happened to me before after a conference. I'm standing for at least eight to ten hours every day and my foot nerves take a beating. I had comfortable, flat shoes with good support and cushion, but no matter what you wear, standing for that long that many days in a row is painful. Each night, my legs were aching. My feet would hurt but I really felt the tiredness in my legs. Two items with which I always travel to conferences are L'Occitane lotion specifically made for "tired legs" and Icy Hot. I use the L'Occitane during the day as it doesn't smell as offensive or strong as Icy Hot. It doesn't contain the drugs that Icy Hot does but it does tingle and feel good. But at night back in my hotel room, I slathered my legs from ankles to hip with Icy Hot. Ahhhhh.

I stood in the booth, I stood at reception parties, I walked between events. The only time I sat was to eat or listen to award acceptance speeches. And that was usually only for dinner as dinner was pretty much my only meal every day. I ate a few snacks (handfuls of peanut M&Ms and peanut butter crackers, a banana one day) but I don't think I had one lunch. Two breakfasts but one was at an event and therefor, a plate of banquet food and not very good. The little sandwich, mini bag of carrots and snack bag of m&ms on the flight home last night tasted like a four star restaurant.

ALA Annual is a marathon. Here's is what I did:

Thursday, July 9 - arrive in Chicago. Dinner with colleague. Not too late a night. Only had one beer. Off to a good start. One hour behind NYC.

Friday, July 10 - 9AM, go to convention center to set up booth. Grabbed a banana, yogurt, and croissant for breakfast. Great, set up only took a few hours. Had a nice lunch. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing chores (picking up water for the booth, etc.) and ironing all my clothes for the week. Met with authors and staff for a casual, yummy Italian dinner, which included a bottle of Prosecco and wine. To bed at a relatively normal hour. This is the only day I got all 3 meals.

Saturday, July 11 - up at 6:30 to get ready for first day of exhibits. No breakfast. Exhibits opened at 9. Two authors autographing in the booth that day. Staff buzzing around to events and dates with authors and librarians. I hold down the booth all day with one other person. No lunch. Leave exhibit hall for Art Institute in order to set up for the cocktail party. Cocktail party a smashing hit 6-8PM. Worked the door the entire time greeting and welcoming guests. Lots of librarians, agents, authors, reviewers, etc. Some old friends, some new. Invited by Texas librarian friends to have deep dish pizza with them after the party. Ran things back to hotel, quickly changed into jeans and sneakers (the ONLY shoes I would wear if I could), and WALKED (not sure what I was thinking) the half mile to the pizza joint. Ate salad, one bread stick, and one slice of meat-laden pie. One slice is all you need. Trust me. One beer. Cabbed back to hotel of TX librarians for a nightcap. One vodka tonic. Cabbed back to my hotel. Bed around 1AM.

Sunday, July 12 - up at 6:30 again. No breakfast. Worked majority of the day ALONE in the booth. No lunch. Two author autographings in the booth. Rest of staff arrived at booth after a day of meetings and off-site appointments around 3. Finally got my first bathroom break. Exhibits closed at 5. Stood in football field long taxi queue to get back to hotel. Finally got to hotel 45 minutes later. 20 minutes to change into dress, freshen make up, brush teeth for Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder banquet. Taxied to banquet with authors and staff in tow. Sat at banquet for a blessed three hours listening to acceptance speeches by the always entertaining Neil Gaiman, gracious Beth Krommes, and poetic & energizing Ashley Bryan. Within those three hours was a 45 minute intermission between dinner and speeches, during which I was standing again (in heels now because it's a dressy affair and heels are what are called for with my black silk dress) mingling and talking with authors and colleagues. Ate dinner. Four open bottles of wine on the table. Not sure how much I consumed. Only two glasses, I think. After speeches I crazily CHOSE to stay for the receiving line and congratulate friends on their awards. Stood at least another two hours. In heels. Shook hands and short convo with Neil Gaiman and all other award winners. Some were my friends from Holt and Harcourt so those convos were a little longer. All were wonderful and I was so happy for them. While waiting in line, gossiped with old friends, publishing peeps. 1AM. Discovered my ATM card not working and no cash for cab back to hotel. Stranded. Too far and late to walk alone. What to do? RESCUED! Friend spotted me $20 so I didn't have to sleep on the curb. Walked across the river with her, another editor, and a Newbery honor winner to their hotel. Asked the doorman to help me get a cab. Back to hotel and in bed well after 2AM. Totally worth it. What a great night.

Monday, July 13 - up at 6:30. Off to booth. No breakfast. ATM card still not working. Called bank. They don't know why it's not working. My accounts have money and there is no hold on my card (thought maybe they thought it had been stolen when Chicago charges started but nope). ATMs I was trying to use have money as I witnessed others getting cash. $2 is all I have. Have to rely from this point on on my co-workers to pay for everything. Ug. No autographings today. Two staffers depart. A little quieter in the booth, but still busy. No lunch. Iced coffee instead. Lack of sleep starting to catch up to me so the little shot of caffeine has an effect. Exhibits close a 5. Found a different taxi queue on other side of building that was much, much shorter. Got back to hotel faster. Had bottle of Prosecco with editor and director in hotel bar. Split up to our rooms to change for dinner and Printz Award reception. Had lovely dinner outside at a place in Lincoln Park. Ordered one local beer and the pork belly (will write more about all the food I did eat on Avec Sucre). Excellent. Caught cab down to reception. 8PM. Sat about an hour listening to award acceptance speeches of the five winners. All good. Stood 90 minutes-2 hours during reception talking with YA librarians and meeting & congratulating authors. Fun again but much more low key which was nice. Had half a beer. Taxi back to hotel. About 10:30PM. Turned on tv - Ferris Bueller! - and packed. Called Steve for first time in two days. Still didn't manage to get to bed until 1AM or so.

Tuesday, July 14 - up at the inhumane hour of 5AM. No breakfast. Finished packing toiletries, pjs, etc. Checked out of room, checked bags with bellman, meet author and coworkers for the Coretta Scott King Awards Breakfast. 7AM. Got to event late. Scrambled to find guests and table. Sat. Stood to sing Lift Every Voice and Sing. Realized I almost have this song memorized even though I only sing/hear it once a year at this breakfast. Been going to this breakfast for about 9 years. Sat. Ate breakfast. I think it was supposed to be eggs Benedict, but instead of Hollandaise, it had cheese sauce. Listened to CSK program and award winners. Left at 8:45AM for booth. Quiet day. Was able to walk around to other publishing booths and see what was left. Exhibits closed at 2PM. Changed clothes, got back to hotel, collected bags, and in another cab for O'Hare. No lunch. Called mom from airport. Arrived early enough to get earlier flight to Newark. Window seat. Random House colleague seated next to me. Both of us exhausted, dozed until our tiny sandwiches were served. It was her first food since the breakfast, too. Both of us had peanut M&Ms in our carry ons! It's the best conference snack. Talked with her for the rest of our 90 minute flight. Nice. Waited (standing again) longer than usual for bags. Met at curb by sleek, black Mercedes. Dropped off coworker in NJ. Whisked me through the 8:30PM dusk to Brooklyn. No traffic in Holland Tunnel or Manhattan. Buzzed Steve. He carried my 43 pound suitcase upstairs. My legs barely made the climb and they were shaking. Very fatigued leg muscles from the five days of standing. 9PM. Home. On the couch. PJs. Steve making me the only thing I want to eat after any conference - Kraft mac & cheese. It's the best comfort food. Cats sitting at my feet staring. All-Star game. Ate big bowl of ice cream. Called parents again. 11:30PM. Bed.

Wednesday, July 15 - woke up 9:15AM. Slept through Steve's alarm and morning routine. Didn't get up. Went back to sleep. 11AM woke up.

I think that about catches you up on what I've been doing the last week. Everything I've described above is pretty much how every ALA Annual typically runs. This year, ALA was actually a little EASIER than it has been with Harcourt. Egmont only brought four authors and four staff (five with me). At Harcourt, I was used to juggling at least twice those numbers and working a much larger booth. This show as actually easy compared to those. The conferences, just like anything else, get easier the more you do them. This was a first conference in a year, so I was out physcially out of practice and my body feels like it went through a wringer. However, my energy, excitement, and happiness being at a conference again and seeing so many of my friends, carried me through.

Taking today off. Will probably sleep some more as my head and eyes still feel very tired. Somehow, during all those days of little sleep and food, I only had a headache once and that was on the day we arrived. Today, I'm extraordinarily hungry but luckily, Steve did some light shopping Monday night, so we are not completely without food. When he gets home tonight, we'll go out again. I don't think I have the strength to go grocery shopping alone today.

I've also been looking at the calendar this morning. There are so many events for the next two months that I'm looking forward to:

July 29-31 - David & Allison visiting. Planning to do Liberty & Ellis Islands and not sure what else.

August 6-9 - Steve's (and my Dad's) birthday weekend. Two of Steve's Boston friends are coming down to celebrate his 30th. We are going to the Red Sox-Yankees game on Saturday night at the new Yankee Stadium.

August 18 - I'm going with girlfriends to Governor's Island for a B-52s concert. I wonder where the concert will be. It's general admission and I hoping the weather is nice.

August 21-27 - Donna has been given use of her sister's NJ beach condo for the week. We are all invited to come out for the whole time or only part. Haven't decided how long we'll go but definitely planning on at least part of the time. Condo is on the boardwalk & beach.

Sept. 4-9 - Mom & Dad are visiting. Going to the US Open for one day and night session and the rest of the time will be sightseeing.

Sept. 9-13 - Susan's uncle has given her use of his lake house in New Hampshire. After M&D leave, I'm planning on going up. This is a girls only trip.

I have no idea when I will do any work, if I even have any to do.