Hi all,

I'm thrilled you're enjoying Ribbons, Smile. So many readers have told me "I feel like I'm right there with you," and I take that as the highest compliment.

I survived the world's deadest booksigning today. It was so bad, it was comical. Seven local authors squirreled away in a top-floor conference room at a public library. Five of us were booksigning veterans and took it in stride, but two guys were newbies and nearly busted their veins. Fun stuff. I decided to sit back, eavesdrop and take notes, and am sitting here writing "Scenes from a booksigning." I'm giggling just reading over my notes.

Dotsie, I'm going to Moscow at the end of July. Just me and Dana. Three days in Moscow, then an overnight train to St. Petersburg, then three days in that gorgeous city on the Baltic. I promise to tell you ladies all about it. We're traveling with General Tours out of Keene, NH. I've traveled with them before, and they offer great trips at great prices.

Smile, I have been doing some research and reading about Russia. Knowing something about a place before you visit enhances a journey a hundredfold. I recorded the movie, "Nicholas and Alexandra," about the last czar, executed with his family following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. I also read "Russia," a 1970's first-person account by the then New York Times Moscow bureau chief, and "The 900 Days" about the Nazi siege of Leningrad (think cannibalism and eating wallpaper paste). Now, I'm trying to plow my way through the 700-page "Empire of the Czar," written in 1939 by a visiting Frenchman, the Marquis de Custine. The book's a handful and a bit tedious, but it's a classic, so I keep pecking at it day after day.

Smile, I've thought often about your recent journey and am so happy it was such a positive one -- on many levels.

May your ankle heal well. I'm dealing with a minor stress fracture and am laid off from running until August or so. I'm biking and swimming instead and have crossed my planned September marathon from my calendar. But, as Dana said to me after an injury a few years back, "So, you'll just get better and get back out there, right mom? There's always another marathon, right mom?"

Right, Dana.

Hugs to all,

Lori