Me with my Indiana Touch Blue Crew!

1.  I'm in the Indianapolis airport watching a news show on the airport TV about the 75th anniversary of the board game, Monopoly.  Sometimes the world seems so small and connected!

2.  Last night at my evening event in Franklin, Indiana, I had a great group of students from an after-school program who had all read Touch Blue.  So I quickly opened my computer files and altered my presentation on the spot to include that book.  It felt a bit surreal to be showing photos of Maine islands in Indiana, but it was so much fun. The kids were very into it and had great thoughts about the issues in that book and wonderful answers to my questions.

3.  On Monday, I am off to another island. This time it's Nantucket, Massachusetts!  I've never been to Nantucket, but I've always wanted to go, so it will be wonderful to see it and meet the kids who live there.  Nantucket has a "high-speed ferry."  That sounds exciting, doesn't it?  I wonder what that will be like?

4.  My daughter is coming home from college for the weekend. It will be so nice to see her!  Milo will be wagging his tail so hard to have us all home. 

   5. I have found something very helpful for traveling. I bought myself a little "sound machine" that plays six different sounds. Five of them are useless to me (I mean, really? Who could sleep to JUNGLE sounds? With MONKEYS?!).  But "waterfall" is just white noise.  I turn it up, and it cuts out the hotel sounds that sometimes wake me up.  It's one of the best $25 I ever spent as an author who does distance school visits.  I bought mine at Wal-Mart (they stock them with the candles and little table fountains).