Nicholas Sparks Book Signing, etc.

Grab a drink & buckle up. I had one CRAZY ASS day today! No joke. I'll try to be as concise as possible, but get comfortable :)

As with most things, I can't remember how I found out about the N.S. book signing, but I wasn't gung-ho on the idea from the beginning. I am a fan, but not a big fan. I've probably seen more movies based on his books than I've read his books.  Somehow the signing came up with my SIL, who it turns out is a HUGE fan, and she tells me that my niece-in-law is also a HUGE fan. I was wavering on whether to go when my SIL tells me that a signed book would make a great Christmas gift for our niece. From that point on, I was in. (I consider myself an excellent gift giver & have a reputation to uphold!)

I looked up the details, logged them in the back of my brain & pretty much didn't think about it again until yesterday. I pulled up the details yesterday & noticed right away that they had changed the time. Original signing was at 5pm and was changed to noon. Didn't really change my plans because you still had to be there at 9:00 to get a ticket to gain entry to the actual signing. I made a point to call the store to make sure I knew which door the line was going to be at & to double check that they had enough books. I made plans with the hubby to get the kiddos to school, took the day off of work & had a whole day to do what I wanted. Apparently what I wanted was to screw the whole thing up from the start. So this morning I get up at the butt crack of dawn & arrive in Charlotte at 6:15. Stopped at McDonalds to use the bathroom & arrive at the B&N at about 6:25. First one there! WooHoo! I had planned on getting there at 7, but got nervous and went 30 minutes early. I was so proud of myself that I was the first one there. Took pics & even posted on FB that I was the first & only one there. I had coffee from McDonalds so while I waited I read & dealt with my emails, updated FB, put on my make-up and went to the bathroom 3 times. While using the restroom inside the mall I ran into a mall walker who stopped me to talk. She walks everyday in the mall at 6am and is originally from Germany. Her name was LaGracia, but everyone calls her by her middle name: Peaches. I (mistakenly) mentioned that my MIL was from Germany & a 10 minute conversation followed where I kept trying to back away. Peaches wasn't having it :) I finally interrupted & wished her well as I speed walked back to my spot as line leader. Still no one there. I decide to not sit in the car (as it's now daylight outside) and perch myself on the bench outside the front doors. Three employees showed up to work in the 20 minutes that I sat there, said hello & proceeded into the building. At around 7:35, I start getting curious. NO WAY am I the only one at a Nicholas Sparks event in NC, his home state. I pull up his website & I AM AT THE WRONG STORE!!!!! Immediately panic and fly to the car & google maps shows me that I just have to go down the road & will get there in 10 minutes. Needless to say my fantastic defensive IL driving skill came into play & I arrived safely......to a line. DUH!

I park and all but run to get in line. I was relieved to see that while not first (2nd, 5th, 10th, or 20th) I could at least see the door and took a little time to kick myself and calm down. As happens at all of these types of events conversations start with those around you. I met Kelly & Lisa, co-workers who had come together. ( I mentally lamented the fact that I need reader friends who are closer to partner with me for these types of things.) So.....blah, blah, blah we wait in line until a little after 9, get our tickets and decide to go to breakfast. Now, I do not promote careless behavior, but I also consider myself a good judge of character. With that being said, getting in a car with virtual strangers is probably never a good idea :) I've done it twice at these events. I'm actually 2 for 2! Bad Valerie!!!!!

Anyway, we go to breakfast & had some yummy food. Headed back to B&N and proceed to get in line, get booted out of line, get booted back by the blue balloon, have eye to eye combat with another group of ladies who were afraid we were going to get in line ahead of them, meet up with a new friend Elaine, converge on the 'forbidden zone' to hear N.S. speak & answer questions, get in line, get our pic taken & books signed & then........it was over. At this point I had been at B&N (one or the other) for about 5 hours. It was over in the blink of an eye. Keep that in mind when you decide to go to these events. Not a lot of bang for your buck :)

Exchanged personal info with my new friend Kelly and parted ways. I had been looking forward to going to the mall to do a little shopping so headed over there. (*****this is where the official book portion of my day ends, so feel free to stop reading if you don't want to hear about my non-book life*****)

I walk around for awhile, decide I'm too tired to shop and head back to my car. As I pass a car in the parking lot I see an infant car seat in the back covered with a blanket (like you do when you have a baby in there). Kind of freaked me out, but I went to my car & went to leave. A Mall Security truck passes me & I took this as a sign that I should say something. I tell him what I saw, show him the vehicle, he too thinks it's suspicious & calls in the 'real' cops. To make a long story short.....2 mall cops, 4 police cars, 2 fire trucks & 1 ambulance later they break into the car & NO BABY!!!!!! OMG! So embarrassed, but they were cool about it. Said it was better to be sure than to ignore it & watch it on the evening news. The police were super cute & I'm truly sorry to the person who the car belonged to that they had to 'jimmie' the locks & break-in. {sigh}

As a reminder, I am originally from IL and now live in NC. I live outside of Charlotte & do not hardly ever go to Charlotte. I think navigating in and around Charlotte is confusing. But maybe that's just me.

I pull up my GPS on the phone and take off in the car. ETA was 33 minutes. I decided to call my friend Lisa in IL as we haven't talked in awhile. One hour later I have to interrupt Lisa to tell her that I have no idea where I am and that I should have been home 30 minutes previous. We laugh at my day & hang up. Have to pull up/change my GPS 3 more times before I finally get on to the interstate and arrive back to town an hour and 40 minutes after I left. I hate driving to Charlotte! That's all I have to say about that. :( {sigh}

I decide to go to Old Navy because their jeans are on sale & I have lost 36 lbs and mine don't fit anymore. (please take a moment to rejoice with me because I worked my ass off to achieve that goal!) I now have no idea what size I am and I have never bought jeans at Old Navy before. I grabbed a size smaller than I used to wear & a size smaller than that just on a whim. The cutie patootie sales associate who had been talking to me off & on was back by the fitting room.  He offers to exchange sizes if I need him to. In the dressing room I grab the smaller of the 2 sizes and put them on. They fit. Actually the longer I looked at them I thought, I bet I could go a size smaller. I exit & find cute guy & say 'Since you offered, can you go grab me a size ** in the skinny jeans?" He returns with the jeans, I try them on, THEY FIT and I burst into tears as I was headed up front. Concerned the cute guy asks if I'm ok. Embarrassed, I tell him, "I recently lost 36 lbs and these are the first pair of pants that I've bought since." He praises me & I slink away. It's a good thing I'm married as my flirting skills are severely lacking.

I check my watch and decide to head to my daughter's softball practice where I am Assistant Coach. I watch them finish and as we get in the car, my daughter informs me that one of the girls on the team told her, "I hate your mom. If I had a gun I would shoot her."

And........that's my day!