Monkeying Around

I know I told you I was going to continue blogging about my carousel trip this week, but my plans changed—again! Now, you’ll have to wait until next week for that carousel post. I know you’re all weeping and wailing, but take heart. I’ll be gone on book tour next week so I PROMISE the post is scheduled and I won’t ‘monkey around’ with it anymore.

However, I did ‘monkey around’ at the Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptist Library Conference last Friday. You can blame that group of fun people for my change of plans. The theme they used for their library conference this year was, Go Bananas for Books. This is Summer Roberson, the sweet, young lady who was in charge of the conference. She and her capable crew did all this decorating. Take a close peek at those monkey slippers Summer is wearing. She even found a pair of monkey earrings to wear during the conference. Too cute. This is the registration table (double click on the picture and see if it will enlarge so you get a better look at all those monkeys). The table on the other side was set up for refreshments after my talk on Friday night. They served banana splits—the perfect treat when monkeys are everywhere. And those are sugar cookies at the front of the table. As you can see, they used alphabet cookie cutters to make those delicious treats form the words, Go Bananas for Books.

Talk about a group of dedicated and talented folks! Their love of the Lord shone like a beacon on a dark night. They are all so dedicated to the work of developing the very best libraries for the members of their churches. And for those of you who have worked in a church library—you know how much time, work and dedication it takes to keep up with all the details. This entire group was an inspiration. They know how to have lots of fun while they’re working and serving the Lord. I enjoyed them so much, I asked if I could join them again next year.

My only disappointment occurred when I noticed the speaker’s table had been decorated with a vintage hat and postcard. After seeing all the cute monkeys, palm trees and bananas on the other tables, I wrinkled my nose and asked where they’d hidden my monkey. Summer gave me a sweet smile and said, “I thought we should use something more formal for you.” (Even though she’s in Tennessee, I believe I can hear Tammy snorting at that remark.) Being the ‘formal’ person that I am, I told them how pleased I was to be there, but I didn’t feel I’d been properly welcomed since I didn’t have a monkey on my table. As you can see, Summer made sure I had one for our picture—and then she tucked it into my bag before I departed. He’s found a special spot on top of my computer. Any guesses what I named him?

I returned home Saturday morning and then met Debbie Vogts at the Topeka LifeWay Store to celebrate Fiction Day. We had a great crowd during our two hour signing, and it’s always fun to have another author-friend to chat with during any downtime. We both ended up wearing purple, and we didn’t even plan it.!!

Now, don’t forget to take a guess at what I named that little guy sitting on top of my computer. I might surprise you with a gift if you guess correctly, but it WON’T be the monkey!!

May you find joy as you dedicate your talents to the Lord. ~Judy