Lately

● Spring is in full force here in Texas. I can never decide if I like spring or not. On the one hand, there are wildflowers on the sides of the highway, warm breezes, and sundresses. On the other hand, there's a fine layer of yellow covering every outside surface and you haven't stopped sneezing for three weeks.

● I had my first battle with Austin allergies a couple of weeks ago, which morphed into what the doctor at the clinic called a "little bronchitis" that took forever to get rid of.

● The first weekend of April I flew to Lubbock for Denny's surprise 80th birthday party.

● While there, my uncle made me a special cup of tea that was probably mostly whiskey to help me get rid of aforementioned cough. I drank it out of Denny's quilting mug (see above).

● I turned 23 last Thursday and was pleased to find that blink-182 lied to me. People do like you when you're 23.

● I had to work all day on my birthday, but my family had flowers delivered to my work and a coworker gave me her personal copy of one of her favorite books, so it wasn't too bad.

● On Sunday, Melany, Britny, and I went to South Congress Cafe for a belated birthday lunch and really great mojitos. After that, Britny and I spent four hours talking at a coffee shop and getting absolutely no work done.

● Monday night I went to BookPeople to interview for a little part-time job, and was pleasantly surprised to find David Levithan, Ally Carter, and Justine Larbalestier upstairs.

● I got that little part-time job, so now every Thursday and Sunday night will be spent working author events. I am stupidly excited about this.

● Just in the next few weeks, I will meet the winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in physics, the writer of DCOM Pixel Perfect, and Glenn Close's sister.

How's your life lately?

-Maggie