Weekend (including Memorial Writes) recap

Busy weekend. First, Sam and I went to Kathy's tenth annual pumpkin carving party. We brought the little pumpkin Sam had picked up at Lester's Farm earlier in the day. Kathy cut the top off then I scooped and her nephew, the amazing Ryan (brother of the amazing Caroline), carved it into a happy jack-o-lantern (Sam wanted a happy face, not a scary face). The kids bobbed for apples and Sam even got one (not bad for a not quite three-year-old). There was also a little wine for the parental units. It was a fun night all around.

Then on Saturday my husband's family visited. His niece is back home from BC for a week and her future father-in-law came along. My in-laws came to town to pick them up and bring them back to Glenwood. The ten of us went out for supper then back to my sister-in-law's for a couple of drinks. They had to leave early yesterday, unfortunately, to attend a funeral and will be back in town next week to get the flight back to BC. It is the first visit to Newfoundland for our niece's future father-in-law so if you see Al out around Glenwood or Ladle Cove, say hi and be nice to him. He is loving it so far, despite the awful weather.

Yesterday was Memorial Writes and, what with the heavy rain and strong winds, most of the people who came out for it were the participating writers. Still, it was quite nice to chat to other writers. I was worried the panel discussions might not be very lively since the turnout was a little low, but there was so much discussion they could have gone on longer if time permitted. As it was, conversation continued long after the panels ended. I finally got to meet Shannon Sullivan and we talked about the challenges of promoting a first novel. We both decided we would be bestselling writers in ten years and would laugh at the trials of these early days. I also got to meet Kenneth J. Harvey. I am a big fan of his and I have emailed him before expressing my admiration of him and his writing. So, what do I do when I get the honour of meeting him? Why shake his hand and say "hi, Kevin", of course. Doh! I apologized but still, what a big dolt I am. I just got flustered because he is such a renowned and fantastic writer. I later spoke with him for a short time again, while I drank the tepid coffee I was using to wash down my foot.

LuAnne of the MUN bookstore, Stacey from the library, and all the organizers were wonderful. They gave all the participating writers a t-shirt (I heart MUNdays) and a Memorial University coffee cup (with the new logo on it).

And today was a Halloween party at Sam's playgroup where I played pirate to his Buzz Lightyear. I really should not be allowed to have this much fun.