Strep and a conference and books (oh my)

Yesterday was quite the busy (and stressful) day. Dakota woke up and said that his throat hurt really badly. He just knew that he had strep. I texted my cousin Christine (who works at the dr.s office) and asked her to see if she could get him in to see someone. At 9:40 I texted her and asked if she had any luck, and she was like "Didn't you get my text, I got him in at 9:30". Ugh...Sometimes I think that life doesn't like me very much. So anyway, she let them know that we were running late. I had to finish getting the kids ready, luckily we don't live too far away. We sat in the waiting room for a loooong time. I think they were punishing me for being late. Anyway, Dakota does indeed have strep. The dr. wrote us a prescription, told us that Dakota would be contagious for 24 hours after he started the Amoxil, and we were on our way. Went through the drive-thru at Walgreens and they had a piece of paper taped to their window that said the pharmacy was closed. I have no idea why. Later on in the day, I had a parent/teacher conference with Dakota's teacher. John had to leave work early so I could go to that and leave the kids at home. I wasn't really looking forward to going anyway, with my social issues. I got there and not only was his teacher there - but also the student teacher, his speech teacher, his special-ed math teacher, and the assistant principal. It was intimidating - I couldn't really even concentrate on what everyone was saying and I felt like everyone was staring at me (which they kinda were), and I was sweating... It lasted probably 30 minutes - they wanted to go over his IEP (Individual Education Plan) for next year. He will be pulled out of class a little more in 2nd grade for special ed classes. I guess that's ok. I mean, I hate for him to miss the fun projects that they do in the classroom - but I know he does so much better 1 on 1. Most of what I remember from the meeting was everybody agreeing that Dakota is very easily distracted and extremely slow at getting his work done. He is making progress though... After the conference, I went by Walgreens again and they were open. I don't know what had been going on, but I finally got Dakota's prescription filled. Then, we had to make a quick trip to St. Joe so I could get some supplies for my art class. The list of things I needed was kind of vague, so I wasn't even sure what to get. The people at Michael's (craft store) didn't even know what I was talking about. So, I just got stuff that I thought might work, spent too much money, and I'm hoping this stuff will be ok. I guess I will see later.

I'm not sure who all knows how addicted to reading I am. I'm obsessed with Paranormal romances and Urban Fantasy. I like anything to do with vampires, werewolves, fae, fallen angels, etc... Yes, I'm aware that I could be odd - but I found a whole sea full of other odd people just like me! I found a book blogging community that has hundreds of people reviewing these sort of books, blogging about what's new, etc... I started my own book blog about a month ago - nothing that anybody reading this blog would be interested in I'm sure. But anyway, I'm surprised at how many authors have blogs and have contact with the book blogger community. I already have almost 200 people following my blog. Lots are other book bloggers, some are authors, and some are just regular readers of the paranormal genre. I have been contacted by several new authors (not well known) to review their books for them. I'm almost overwhelmed with trying to get everything read and reviewed, along with reading the books that I want to read. Authors are really cool, a lot of them will donate a book that you can give away to whoever enters the giveaway on your blog. I've won a lot of books by entering contests on other blogger's blogs. Some authors will even offer to be interviewed on your blog. It creates more publicity for them, and if the authors mention it on their blog - then it sends more people to your blog. I even have a Facebook for my blog (most book bloggers do) and I'm surprised at how many authors request to be my friend. I think that networking with authors and publishers now is great because someday I think it would be cool to be an editor or design book covers. I'm hoping it will get me an "in" with a profession in the book industry.