Good morning all. It seems so weird to have the Christmas tree up while the hedges are in full bloom! Not exactly like the Upper Michigan cold and snowy Holiday Season I grew up with. Talked to Mary the other day and she said it was 10 degrees in Green Bay. BRRR!! It is so hot outside in the sun right now that my eyelids were sweating when I was out on the deck. Not exactly the weather to get into a "chestnuts roasting by an open fire" type of mood!

Steve took me to St. John for my birthday. We took the car ferry over and stayed at Westin Resort. We hadn't been on that part of St. John before and it is quiet and lovely. The Westin is a gorgeous resort that does not allow cars beyond the registration area and the parking lot. They have carts to take you up to the rooms, the pool, the restaurant, etc. if you don't want to walk. We had time to sit in the hot tub (they have 2), swim in the huge pool and the ocean before we sat and watched the sun set. The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are slow so locals can get a decent rate - otherwise this is pricey resort. We drove into Cruz Bay to have dinner but there wasn't a parking place to be had. We drove the loop several times, but I didn't mind as I was busy people and Christmas light watching. We ended up back at the Westin open air restaurant, which was fine with me as it was gorgeous and the steel pan music was a kick. Ever heard Sinatra's My Way in steel pan? It is interesting to say the least! :-) By then I was happy to crawl into the downy Westin bed. This is my favorite hotel because of the comfy beds with all the down pills, blanket and duvet. I keep telling Steve I want to buy a King size Westin bed - and you can, for about $3200.

But, before our wonderful trip to St. John I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Jason Wells from Abrams. He was on island for a friend's wedding so I showed him the local St. Thomas that the rest of us see and he had his first West Indian roti at Fungi's. It was great fun and I was delighted that he brought me the ARC for Lauren Myracle's ttfn. Oh, what fun! I love ttyl and so do the MS/HS girls at Montessori. One brings it back so another can check it out! Teenage girls will be delighted to hear Zoe (zoegirl), Angela (SnowAngel), and Maddie (mad maddie) are back in another e-mail message formatted novel! Jason says there will be a third and I can't wait. I also love Rhymes with Witches. What a wickedly cool twist on the witchy girl cliches in a High School. Myracle has the teenage girl psyche down pat. Clearly her inner teen is alive and well!

It is their junior year and they are of driving age so what could go wrong? From Angela's point of view - everthing. Her father loses his job and takes a new job in El Cerrito, CA - more than a bit different from the Atlanta she loves and daily interaction with her best friends. Add the weird clingy Glendy - daughter of her father's boss - and Angela is miserable. Zoe on the other hand is falling in love - with the guy who Angela had decided she didn't like, but doesn't want anyone else to have either. Zoe is discovering that bodies aren't so gross after all! Maddie has fallen for the stoner Clive, who she called Chive, and he introduces her to smoking pot. It is definitely a fun read and beautifully sends a message about sex and drugs, but not in a didactic way. A gotta have for any YA collection.

As much fun as this is, I really need to get some grading done. I cannot believe the end of Fall semester is already upon us. I need to finish grading so I can start working on Spring. Hmmm - so much for the idea of lazy island days for me!