Pleasantville, Flashbacks and Kudos

I spent this weekend in Pleasantville one of my favorite places in the world. This is such a great little town and so New England, which most probably contributes to why I love it so much because I get that 'home' feeling when I'm there. It's a lot like the town I grew up in, Easton (Massachusetts, NOT Pennsylvania!). Of course, Pleasantville is home to Zoe and her parents, and that's the real reason I love to go there. It's fun to put Zo Zo in her stroller and take the mile walk on the sidewalk to town past all the pretty New England homes, yard and gardens.
Then we visit the Paper Store or browse the antique store and go to the Beanery where you can get a great latte and scone, sit by the window and watch all the 'townies' go about their day, most wearing the state emblem somewhere on their clothing, "B". I like that, too. This town has all sorts of town events; they celebrate everything. On Saturday they had a fire truck washing day complete with served ice cream from the local ice cream shop. Yesterday, before catching my train Nanny, Zoe and I attended the opening of the new libarary. There was a red wagon parade through town from the old library to the new one, ribbon cutting, and yes, free ice cream once again. I've decided that I need to visit more often and so am applying for my Amtrak frequent rider today.

A funny thing happened at the library opening. I had a real true 'flashback'. As Zoe was pulling children's books from the shelves I suddenly saw her mother doing the same thing 36 years ago. Then I remembered why. When we got home I went up to the loft and found the scrapbook that contained the picture of Lissa taken by the newspaper photographer in the new high school library. She was exactly Zoe's age and we were attending an open house. She was photographed pulling a book from the shelf. Isn't that funny? Begin Twilight Zone music here.

It's good to get home, too, though. As usual Bob had cleaned the house and the bathrooms for me because he knows I like to come home to a clean house. As a special treat he had my car washed. Wow! This morning I'm back to work on the new book* with a smile on my face; we signed the contract with the publisher last week. We hope to get it to them by December and then leave for our new winter place in Florida**.

It was a good week last week. Alli became a full-fledged RN after taking her state certification exams. It was the last leg of a long hard journey for my other little family here in NJ. We're incredibly proud of what Alli has done. She's a strong, intelligent woman and the future is bright ahead. Congratulations, daughter-in-law!

*well, actually, I'm planning to get back to the book work. I'm really blogging first and then I'm going to set up a photo album for you all to see. ......then I'll get to the book. :)

** where we're hoping the kids will visit. :)