Then
lordaerith, and I packed up the diaper bag and LP and headed out. First we went to Home Depot for a few things. Then we drove over to the Arboretum for ArmadilloCon. I haven't been to a sci-fi con in ages. I'm so glad we went. At first we wandered around the dealer room. LP nursed in the Ergo and then fell asleep in it on my chest. We walked with danamongden over to get lunch (LP still asleep) and back to the con. Then LP woke up. He was fascinated by Elizabeth Moon's toy crossbow that she used to launch goldfish across the room. We went to the "Stump the Panel" panel, where we handed them objects and they made up stories about them. Items from the child's diaper bag make awesome objects for this game. After that we hung around for a while and played "climb up all the stairs to the main lobby of the hotel" and other games. Then it was time for Anne Bishop's panel and the whole reason why I wanted to go in the first place. Of course LP decided that that's the time when he didn't want to play quietly so Aerith and I had to trade off walking around with him/chasing after him. Aerith was awesome and let me attend way more of the panel than he did. At one point Anne was talking about what a joy it was to write a fun holiday story about three very intelligent and powerful men being confounded by a toddler, I interjected with "I'm so glad [LP] doesn't have wings." He was wiggling in my arms at that moment so it made the whole room laugh :). During the panel she talked about her upcoming story, Written in Red, which is an urban fantasy novel. She mentioned that one of the characters in it has my name since I generously (stupidly?) offered that she could use it.*
After the panel was over we hung around for a bit. She gave me a hug. Then after everyone else had walked away from her we asked if she had anything to do right then. She had a free hour, so we asked if she wanted to get ice cream with us. SHE SAID YES. I got to treat Anne Bishop to Amy's ice cream!. We walked over there and I tried to be all cool and stuff, but I was totally freaking out. So we got ice cream and Aerith had run back to our car and gotten out the bag with all 15 of her books. We chatted for a bit and she very graciously signed her books. I told her about how I finished reading Daughter of the Blood for the first time in an empty dorm room on a stripped bed as the light was slowly fading, and how maybe that wasn't the best place to be in when finishing that book. After ice cream we walked back to the con hotel with her, I took a picture with her, and said our good-byes. Then we walked around a bit more, said good-bye to our friends and headed home.
LP passed out in the car, but woke up when we got home. We played outside for a bit and with boxes on our head. Then we put LP to sleep and I wrote this post (partially interrupted to put LP back to sleep).
Yeah, overall, it was an awesome day.
*I am crazy stupid excited about this, even if the character does like to eat mice... that'll make more sense when the book comes out.
