Have been running around here like a chicken with my head cut off trying to pack, grade, and catch up on email, etc. before I leave for San Antonio tomorrow. ALA Midwinter here I come! I already have my time pretty much booked with meetings I have to attend and those I would like to attend as well as publisher functions in the evening. Can't wait to catch up with YALSA friends and see my colleagues from ECU. Hopefully my plane isn't late tomorrow so I can go to dinner with them.

Wow! There is a huge Carnival cruise ship going by. It looks like a moving hotel with all the rooms lit up. They are so pretty at night. But, I am looking forward to being on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. It is one of my favorite places to be in Texas. And I am going to have real Texas fajitas. That is the one food I really miss from Texas. They can't make them work squat down here. It is in the 70s in San Antonio during the day but I did pack a light coat as it will get cold at night. I remember one Midwinter in San Antonio that was bitter cold. We were all bundled up in wool coats, scarves and gloves.

I finally found my copy of Poison by Chris Wooding. It was worth searching for! What a fantastic fantasy about a girl who renames herself Poison after her mother dies and her stepmother has made it very evident that she is bug in the ointment, so to speak. So when her little sister is snatched by the phaeries Poison enters the Phaerie realm to insist she be given back. But, the Phaerie Lord is not to be trusted. Even though she steals the dagger from the queen of spiders, the price for her sister's freedom, the Phaerie Lord insists he didn't receive it. What a journey Poison and her friends go on to get the dagger only to have it magically snatched from them. What Poison discovers about herself and her role in the phaerie world proves to be worth all the trials she, and her friends, endure. I was "itchy" while reading the part about Poison crawling across the huge spider web. I detest spiders! What a creepy, gruesome read. I loved every moment of it. Poison is one strong willed young woman - a great teen character with a zest for adventure. :-)

That's it. I need to relax a bit before I call it a day. The alarm is going to go off early tomorrow morning and I am going to get nervous like I always do before I fly out of here. I have three layovers between here and San Antonio and am dreading any late planes. No postings until I get back next week - hopefully with lots of great ARCS.