Beginnings and Endings

Nothing affirms that YUP, I'm moving to China quite like having needles stuck into my triceps. (Typhoid--ouch. Hepatitis--not so bad. Japanese encephalitis--the shot BURNS...no matter what I tell my kids.) So today, in another step to prepare for our upcoming move, I hauled the kids and my mom to get First Aid trained.

(Did you notice the beautiful splint I administered on my mom?)

And then in perfect yet poignant counterpoint to this new beginning, the readergirlz co-founders (Lorie Ann Grover, Janet Lee Carey, Dia Calhoun and I) joined countless other authors tonight, including Liz Gallagher (THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE)

to bid one of the most ardent champions of reading and writers a fond farewell. Today marked the last day that Chauni and Bill Hauslet helmed one of my favorite bookstores: All for Kids Books.

(Pictured here: Holly Cupala, Janet Lee Carey, Lorie Ann Grover, Dia Calhoun, and the Hauslet duo of wonder.)

While Seattle has lost one of its most precious institutions, I am thrilled that Chauni and Bill get to relax at last.

Thankfully, Seattle still claims Rene Kirkpatrick of Third Place Books as one of our own. If you ever need a YA book recommendation, she's the one to ask. We do--all the time at readergirlz!