Catching Up

It's been a few weeks since I've posted. I've been involved in organizing the Book 'Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, an annual event that brings together more than 75 authors, publishers and literary agents to raise money for literacy campaigns.

While I've been neck-deep in organizing, planning and tidying up afterward, Life has gone on around me.

My oldest dog, Mattie, a foxhound, had developed a cyst that the veterinarian determined to be benign. We were watching it to make sure it didn't grow so fast that it hampered her ability to walk, as it was located on the inside of her back leg.

It took a turn for the worse and began to abscess. Mattie had surgery but the infection was so bad (it grew amazingly quickly) that they limited the surgery to a biopsy. We received word that she did not have cancer, which was a huge relief. But what is causing the cysts - which grew from one to three on the same leg in less than a week - is still a mystery.

She is now on antibiotics and going to the vet daily to have her bandages changed and her leg checked.