I think if my summer has a theme song, “California, Here I Come” is going to be it. Yes folks, once again I am going to be racing my way over the amber waves of grain and purple mountains majesty to the left coast. I seriously think that if this keeps up, I am going to be sending holiday cards with a freeway return address, and Larry Kellner, the CEO of Continental Airlines, is going to be on my holiday card list. His face pops up on the monitor before the safety lecture that I seem to view once a week these days. Once again I am writing this newsletter on Wednesday as I know the end of the week is going to be hectic.

Summer is in full swing, and it has certainly been an eventful one so far. These past few weeks I have been traveling to various book conferences and conventions throughout the country. As much as I enjoy these events (busy as they are), I confess that I do look forward to the quiet moments I can spend in my backyard reading!

The other night, right before I left for Orlando, I learned that I had achieved “Silver Elite” frequent flyer status on Continental, which, given my non-stop travel this year, should come as no surprise. Yes, I danced a happy dance over that one, and then a true nirvana moment of any frequent traveler came through in email --- the complimentary upgrade to First Class. Hmmmm I wonder if they had read last week’s newsletter about my fear of Mickey ears and Shamu the whale in coach. I think I was out of the airport and into a taxi before the last row got off the plane. It is the little things that make me happy!