I took a two hour nap this afternoon. Because, well, wow. I was pooped.
For the last several months, my brother and his family worked to schedule a weekend to camp here where I am in the middle of Iowa. They found a perfect time: the week after his official retirement and the weekend of my birthday. We had many reasons to celebrate.
Jim and his wife arrived on Thursday, we went out to dinner with friends at one of the top pork tenderloin restaurants in Iowa, and had a fun evening laughing and chatting.
His family – three kids, spouses, and one grandchild – all arrived on Friday. The craziness began.
It was a weekend filled with laughter, too much food, more laughter, family, weird work-camp stuff (I got a brand-new refrigerator! Gone is the old 1950s-era Frigidaire), a little more laughter and family.
Max came in Friday night, Carol arrived on Saturday and it got even crazier.
I’m pooped. Pretty sure that two-hour nap I took at four o’clock this afternoon won’t affect my sleeping tonight at all. But my goodness, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Even though we expected cloudy, overcast skies, the sun showed up and Max was able to spend a good portion of yesterday out and about taking photographs. You can check them out on his Zenfolio site here.
Tonight I have to kick back into Bellingwood mode and prepare for the rest of the month. There is so much coming up! Here goes!
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Friday, September 14th – Trivia Night
Join us on the Bellingwood Facebook page from 6-11 pm central time for an evening of questions, prizes, fun and a little Diane-silliness. I will have twelve trivia questions from the first three books for you. All you have to do is comment with an answer and you’re entered to win a prize.
Cheating is encouraged. But I do demand payment. You must eat chocolate – or something sinful in your life. Having a bag of M&Ms beside you is the safest bet – unless you can’t have chocolate. Haha.
If you can’t join us on Friday evening, you can still answer the questions on Saturday to be part of the giveaway. I will begin choosing winners late Saturday evening, so don’t panic if you can’t be there in person.
I have so much fun with you all. It’s a great way for me to get to know you better. Thank you for being there!
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Thursday, September 20th – Polly’s Birthday
I’ve been thinking about how to make this day special.
While we will have some type of giveaway to celebrate, I’m also going to make the third boxed set FREE for two days beginning on the 20th.
Stay tuned!
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Tuesday, September 25th – Book 23: That’s What Friends are For – RELEASE!
I am so excited for you to get your hands on this book. What a fun story it was to write. You are going to love the new family that moved into town, you’ll be frustrated with one of your favorite characters, and Polly just has to do her thing. She can’t help herself.
Be sure you’ve signed up for the newsletter so you get a reminder as well as other fun news. I’ll have an announcement about a brand new series written by my brother in there, and as always, a fun vignette written from the perspective of a Bellingwood resident.
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Audio vignettes
Well, let’s just say that Diane lost complete control of her week and there was no time to record anything. So, if you’re all up-to-date on your listening, you’ll have to wait another week. If you haven’t found the vignettes on YouTube, check it out here. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
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Thank you all for your birthday wishes and for being part of this wonderful little community. I appreciate you!
