During my months of blog neglect, the blog post ideas have been building.  I may not be able to remember things like why I walked in the kitchen, that my sunglasses are on top of my head or that I can’t find my cell phone because I’m talking on it…but the ideas don’t seem to go away until I get them out on paper.  Well, actually out on keyboard.  So bear with me for a while as I get some posts published that should have been done months ago.

This post, for example, is from when I met Jill Smokler (a.k.a. Scary Mommy) in April. << Instructions at the end of the post on how to enter the giveaway for the signed copy of “Motherhood Comes Naturally (and Other Vicious Lies).” >> 

After my first book signing debacle with Momastery’s Glennon Melton, I was a little anxious about going to another one.  I really wanted to meet Jill Smokler though, so I did.

I arrived at the signing 15 minutes early.  But – you should know by now there is always a BUT – there were some “issues.”

Problem #1: “City” parking.  Everything near the building was street parking.

I live in Suburbia and drive a Suburban (stereotype pinnacle here) so parallel parking is a thing of the past for me!

I circled the block and found ONE open space.  A space that looked like it was designed for one of those Little Tykes kiddie cars.  For a brief (illogical) moment, I thought I could fit.  I pulled up next to the spot and fortunately came to my senses before I did any damage.

I kept circling the block getting more uptight about trying to fit my huge car into one of the compact spots until – BINGO – there was a spot right in front of the building.  And it was the END spot on the block so I could just pull right up.  No embarrassing pull up, turn the wheel, back up, realize you are 3 feet from the curb, pull up, turn the wheel, back up, realize you are 2 feet 11 inches from the curb…

Whew.

By this point, I had 3 minutes to get in the building (Jill was speaking first and then signing so I did NOT want to walk in late.)

Problem #2: The parking meter.

I rarely carry cash and even less rarely carry coins (except for the 5 pounds of pennies that always seem to be in the bottom of my purse).  I would have gladly put 1,000 pennies in the meter, but no.  The snotty thing would only accept nickels, dimes and quarters.

Now I had 2 minutes to get in the building.

I dumped my purse on the floor of the passenger seat.  Nothing but pennies.  Not even ONE nickel.  I rummaged through the ashtray (again, mostly pennies) and found a few coins that I fed to the meter.

17 minutes on the meter.  Not enough.

I tore everything out of the console storage and flung it onto the passenger seat.  At the bottom I found 5 more pounds of pennies.  Plus enough change to give me an hour on the meter.

It looked like my car had been broken into, but I had an hour.  And 30 seconds to get in the building.

Problem #3: The chairs.

As soon as I sat down, I realized the chair I was in was terribly wobbly.  I had visions of it collapsing on the floor as Jill began her speech.  I sat motionless for a few minutes while listening to a group of ladies in front of me chatting away.  While I sat alone.  Sound familiar?

I finally moved over to escape the wobbly seat.  The second seat was just as wobbly.  I realized they must all be wobbly.  No one else had crashed down, so I convinced myself that I wouldn’t either.  Well, I mainly convinced myself.  Kind of.  Actually, not at all. I was still sure I was going down.

However, the vantage point of the new chair let me see WHO was chatting in front of me.  It was JILL!  I sat right behind her and didn’t even know it.  She was saying Hi to some high school friends before she began.

Jill was so down to earth and honest.  A heck of a wonderful lady!  I even felt comfortable enough to ask something during “question and answer” time.

I was able to chat with her for a bit while she signed my books but, of course there had to be one more problem.

Problem #4: I forgot to get someone to take my photo with her!

At least I took one photo of Jill while she was speaking.  But nothing else.

I decided that wasn’t acceptable.  I HAD to have a photo with Jill.

So now I do.

I really can’t say enough nice things about Jill.  She even commented on my blog recently.  Only because I threatened to take the Scary Mommy title from her, but the fact that she took the time to comment is pretty sweet.

I recently heard that Jill is going to be the keynote speaker at a new conference in our area this October so I will get to see her again!  I will make sure to get plenty of pictures!

P.S. In case you are wondering, I made it back to the car with 3 minutes to spare.

P.P.S. The unexpected perk of forgetting to get a photo with her?  Since I had to cut and paste myself into the photo, my unsteady hand on the mouse completely on purpose accidentally chopped off some of the junk in my trunk.  Easiest pounds I’ve ever (virtually) dropped.  If only it were that easy in real life.

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THE GIVEAWAY! (Ends 8/15/13)

Ways to enter to win a signed copy of “Motherhood Comes Naturally (and Other Vicious Lies)” are:

(1) LIKE the Momopolize Facebook Page AND comment on the PINNED status.  (If you already like the page, just comment so I know you want to enter.)

(2) SHARE the Momopolize Facebook Page on Facebook.  You get an extra entry EVERY time you share.  Just make sure to tag Momopolize (or me) in the share so I will make sure to count it for you!