Monday, August 5, 2013

Rockin' My Summer

I'm back!! And I have so much I could tell you. So much that you'd be astounded by my amazingly full summer. These events might include but are not limited to:
  1. The losing of my dignity when not one bottle of orange soda, but TWO, exploded in my car and all over me. (And yes, children are involved.)
  2. The entering of the wrong sex bathroom . . . and not noticing until exiting the stall to find a MAN at the urinal that I also failed to notice.
  3. The forgetting of my wallet as the only money-bearing person of the travelling group . . . and NOT noticing until I have driven beyond the point of no return. (This "not noticing" thing seems to be a trend)
  4. The epic battling against a swarm of mosquitoes that invaded our vessel when we pulled over for an emergency of the unpleasant-smelling kind.
  5. The helpless watching of my son who not only puked all over the McDonald's booth, but somehow managed to splatter everyone in our very large group.
Yep. My summers are always epic, and I have rules to share and everything. But I am not going to talk about these things today.

Nope.

Because today I actually have a GOOD experience to talk about. And not just good.

AWE. SOME!

Have you ever met someone online who is the bomb? The kind who inspires and lifts and makes you want to be not just a better writer, but a better person? And then you learn they are not only the bomb, but a kindred spirit . . . and not just any old kindred spirit, but one who GETS your crazy, AND has the same crazy herself?!! Someone who would do this (not to mention this and THIS) for the sake of solidarity and connecting with others?

When Amy Sonnichsen and I "met," we lived on opposite sides of the country and I never thought I might get the chance to meet her in person. But this summer the stars aligned and it actually happened!

She is even more fun in person. We had a blast together, and as co-founders of the Hacky Sack Club, you KNOW we had to video something. *Big grin*

Alas, blogger is stubbornly refusing to let me post said video, but you can watch it here or here.

Have any of you gotten to meet a blogging/twitter/online friend? How'd it go?

16 comments:

Old Kitty said...

LOL! What a most memorable summer! Hey, a loo is a loo and if one had to go, one just does - no matter what the little symbols on the door says! LOL!

Ice cream, good company and hacky sacking! Doesn't get better than that! Take care
x

Faith E. Hough said...

Hey, at least crazy can be good sometimes! I'm sure you'll remember the good crazy far after the bad crazy has worn itself our of your mind. ;) (But, of course, making us laugh about it pushed it over onto the good side a little. :)

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

I actually did finally meet one of my earliest blog friends, Rachna Chhabria. She lives in Bangalore. My husband is from India, so periodically we visit Chennai, and on our last visit, we made it to Bangalore to visit some other relatives. It was a real pleasure to meet Rachna.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Hart - not too sure about the bad things of the summer, but the good one I can easily deal with! How great you've just met up with Amy and been able to have a good old blogging chat ... and perhaps icecream and some hacky sacky antics ..

What fun - I've just posted about meeting up with Gattina from Belgium .. she came here to see other friends but we met twice ..

Cheers Hilary

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Janet! Oh, man, maybe I should have hidden in the back of your van so I could have experienced the McDonald's puke and the men's bathroom in person. ;) Glad you survived! You're right, we do get each other's crazy. :) <3

Dianne K. Salerni said...

Oh, wow -- that's a lot of embarrassing moments packed into one summer! Yikes!

Just consider it fuel for writing scenes in later books.

I've met a few people I met online through blogging and/or Twitter who are local to me. I haven't met any of my close CPs or Beta readers YET -- but I hope to change that next week when I visit Paris!! Hopefully, if all goes well, there will be story and pix on my blog!

Ruth Schiffmann said...

How great that you and Amy got to meet in person. =D

Unknown said...

Good to hear you have some good news. :0) Yes, was too ill to attend my Franciscan group so found one online in the USA, one based in Georgia. I'm in the UK. One member of the group wrote constantly and we visit and are still friends twenty years later.

Melissa Sarno said...

Oh my gosh! I love this and I love both of you. I wish I could have eaten ice cream in my socks and giggled with you both. Ladies. Your hacky sack skills are appalling. As they should be.

Caryn Caldwell said...

Oh, no! I once had a can of Dr. Pepper explode in my car, and it was not fun. I can't imagine dealing with TWO of them!

And as someone who has committed the second infraction herself (and seen others do it), I'll just say it happens. Though I hope you were someplace far away so you weren't at risk of anyone you knew seeing you.

Unknown said...

Ted Hughes nature poems are more upbeat, Janet, do try his Hawk Roosting and his poem about the otter. :0)

Jemi Fraser said...

I'm jealous! Well, not of some of the things you didn't mention of course... :)

I haven't yet met a blog buddy in the real world. Someday!!!

Margo Berendsen said...

I have a dozen or so online friends I'd love to meet someday, including you!

Good grief that list was cringe-inducing. I have had a couple bad things this summer but really at the moment I can't remember them so phew, must not have been so bad! But in March we had the WORST MARCH in history. So I think I'm being blessed with an easy going summer to make up for it.

Margo Berendsen said...

I have a dozen or so online friends I'd love to meet someday, including you!

Good grief that list was cringe-inducing. I have had a couple bad things this summer but really at the moment I can't remember them so phew, must not have been so bad! But in March we had the WORST MARCH in history. So I think I'm being blessed with an easy going summer to make up for it.

AiringMyLaundry said...

Wow, sounds like a crazy summer. I had to laugh at going in the wrong bathroom. Oops!

Terri Tiffany said...

I love that you met so many bloggers this summer! I did too at a conference and it was awesome. I guess that is the best reason to blog.