Peg Kehret Blog

Sun., Oct. 5  

SCBWI “Inside Story” event 4-6 pm at University Book Store, Bellevue WA   By invitation

Friday, Oct. 10

Washington Library Media Association Conference          Portland OR   Receiving the Sasquatch Award for The Ghost’s Grave

Tues., Oct. 14  6-8 pm.                                              Librarians night at Children’s Bookshop, 707 River Rd., Puyallup WA   253-445-4790

Sat., Oct. 18  2:00 pm                                                      Buckley Library, 123 S. River Ave., Buckley WA.  Author talk and celebration of the publication of my 50th book!  360-829-0300

Sat., Oct. 25  1:00 pm                                                      Lindon Bookstore, 1522 Cole St., Enumclaw WA.  Book signing for Stolen Children with time for questions and visiting. 360-825-1388

Sat., Nov. 15, 1:00 pm                                               Children’s Bookshop, 707 River Road, Puyallup WA.  Book signing for Stolen Children with time for questions and visiting. 253-445-4790

Wed., Nov. 19  Association of Indiana Media Educators, Indianapolis. Receiving Young Hoosier Award for Abduction!

Thanks to all of you who e-mailed to inquire about Lucy. She is much better.

I had planned to write a long blog today about Gus, the most recent cat rescue. However, I am having trouble typing due to the infection in my wrist because of a cat bite! Here’s the synopsis:

Gus is a stray who had been hanging around for a couple of weeks. He let me pet him, which made me wonder if someone might be looking for him. Last Monday, I took him to the Pierce County Humane Society, where strays and owners are often reunited. Nobody claimed Gus. The H.S., like most shelters right now, has way too many animals, and I didn’t feel Gus had a great chance of adoption there, so when his three days as a stray were up, I went down and bailed him out myself. On Thursday, he was neutered, wormed, given his vaccinations, and got  flea treatment. On Friday I brought him home to my foster cat room.

Late Sat. afternoon I got over confident about his progress, which led to the bite. I had lifted him onto a cupboard where he could see the bird feeder outside the window. He turned to jump down but I worried that he shouldn’t jump so far with the stitches in him from being neutered, so I grabbed at him, to lift him down. The sudden movement startled him, and he bit me.

I washed the punctures right away, and poured Bactine on them, but I still got an infection. It was a painful night and first thing this morning I was at the hospital emergency room, where I got antibiotics and a tetanus shot.

Gus purrs and rubs against my leg when I visit him, unaware of the problem. I have forgiven him, since it was my fault, too. All he did was react to a perceived threat.

I had been to a hospital emergency room only once in my life until this month. Now I’ve been there twice in five weeks. I hope it’s the last time!

Lucy is better. Hooray!  I spent much of yesterday in my recliner with Lucy in my lap, reading. Once again, books helped me escape my problems. 

Most of life’s difficulties must be met head-on, and action taken. Once I’ve done all that I can do to solve a problem, I find that reading allows me to relax and helps me keep my perspective. Yesterday I had done what I could for my dog: I took her to the vet, I gave her medicine, I soothed her. Having done all that, it was good to lose myself in a well-written novel. 

I had planned to drive to Richland, Washington, today to attend the sixteenth birthday celebration for my grandson, Mark. At 7:45 a.m., I put my overnight bag in the car, filled my travel mug with coffee, and donned my rain coat. The note and money for Karrie, my pet-sitter, were already on the kitchen counter. I went to where Lucy was curled in her bed, to give her a goodbye pat, and realized she seemed hot. I felt of her nose - warm and dry. Her tummy radiated heat. I took off my coat and got out the dog thermometer.

Half an hour later, Lucy and I were in my veterinarian’s office, where her temperature registered 104.7. (Normal temp. for a dog is 101.) I am thankful for Dr. Gran and his staff, who squeezed me in without an appointment on a busy Saturday morning. Lucy got an injection to bring her fever down and an injection of antibiotics. I brought home antibiotic pills and many instructions. 

Back home, I called Karrie and told her not to come. Then I canceled my trip to Richland.

My day has been filled with two emotions: worry about Lucy and disappointment to miss Mark’s birthday. He is my youngest grandchild. I gave each of the others a laptop on their sixteenth birthday, and that is my gift to Mark, as well. I had looked forward to seeing him open it. Luckily, the laptop was already in Richland because until last week I had not been certain that my eyes would be healed enough from surgery for me to make the four hour drive, and I wanted him to have his gift on time.

 All of my family are animal lovers, so everyone understood that I couldn’t leave Lucy when she is so sick. We stand by each other, human or animal, in times of trouble, even if it means missing a special, fun event.

Get well soon, little Lucy.

Happy birthday, Mark.

Here’s what I’ve been doing for the last two weeks:

I sprained my ankle and ended up being x-rayed at the emergency room. No broken bones, but, boy, has it been swollen, sore, and purple.  I’m wearing both leg braces all day, trying to prevent a repeat.

My daughter, Anne, and I went to Calif. to visit my aunt. I used the airline’s wheelchair service and it worked really well. I would not have made it otherwise. My brother and his wife, who live in Minneapolis, met us there. We had a good visit and I’m glad we went.

I had cataract surgery on my second eye and it was as successful as the first one. I now have distance vision of 20/20 in both eyes. It probably has not been that good since I was three years old. I will need corrective lenses for reading and computer work, but can’t get those for two more weeks, until my eyes are fully healed. In the meantime, I’m typing through a fog and using a pair of drug store specs to read with.

I’ve outlined a tentative story for a thriller anthology to benefit Reading Is Fundamental.  I received my editor’s comments on How I Wonder but I’m waiting to do the revision until my eyes are a little bit better. Even a small amount of reading right tires my eyes - which drives me crazy because usually I read all the time.

I had the great fun of giving a first, preview copy of Stolen Children to my good friends, Larry and Myra Karp, because the book is dedicated to them. Since Larry is also a writer, they truly understand what goes into creating a book and they were pleased by the dedication.

Publication date for Stolen Children is Oct. 16 but there are already two reviews posted on line at Barnes & Noble. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Stolen-Children/Peg-Kehret/e/9780525478355/?itm=1

 I received a beautiful Nevada Young Reader Award in the mail. The Ghost’s Grave won the award this year but I was not able to attend the conference in Las Vegas. 

Anne is doing the 3-day Walk to Cure Cancer this weekend. I can not imagine walking sixty miles, but I will be cheering mightily for her every step of the way. All of the kids and coaches at the gym where she coaches gymnastics have worn pink this week, to show their support for her.

I attended my local Friends of the Library meeting, at the Buckley, WA, library, and helped plan which programs the Friends will sponsor in 2009. It is exciting to be part of a group of volunteers who are committed to assisting the library  staff.  I will be giving a program at the Buckley library on Oct. 18.