Well, now the news has been officially released, so I can say it

Here is the press release which was recently released about the change in the makeup of the Board of Directors of HP Education Fanon, Inc., the organization for which I was serving as President. (This was the commitment that I felt I had to step away from because of time pressures, as discussed here and here):

HP Education Fanon, Inc. (HPEF) is pleased to add two new representatives to its Board of Directors.

Dr. Philip Nel is an Assistant Professor of English at Kansas State University. He published JK Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide in 2001 and Dr. Seuss: American Icon in 2004. Dr. Nel teaches a class on Harry Potter at Kansas State University, is a list-member of HP for Grownups, and was a Special Guest Presenter at Nimbus - 2003.

Dr. Catherine Schaff-Stump holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies and has taught for over 15 years at various institutions, including Kirkwood Community College and the University of Iowa. Dr. Schaff-Stump is an administrator at SugarQuill and presented at Nimbus - 2003.

HPEF's second President, Peg Kerr, most regretfully resigned in April 2004. HPEF is happy to keep a little bit of Peg around as an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors. To replace her, Lee Hillman, AKA Gwendolyn Grace, former Vice President (and advising director) of HPEF and the organizer of their first event, Nimbus - 2003, was elected President and elected to the Board of Directors as a full, voting member.

HPEF's second event, The Witching Hour, will occur October 6-10, 2005 in Salem, Massachusetts. Last week, HPEF also announced that its third event, Lumos, will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 27-30, 2006.

To my great relief, relationships still remain good between me and the other Board members, and I am still associated with them as an ex-officio member. Sort of a Board member emeritus, I guess. I think that the replacement they've elected for my position will do a fantastic job, and the new Board members are good choices, too.

So . . . all has resolved well. Thank you, everybody, for the support you gave me as I made this very tough decision.

Wow . . . is this really my house?

kijjohnson is better, everyone, thanks, but given the vertigo, she decided to leave a day early, and so she headed back to Kansas last night. We worked hard through early afternoon yesterday, and the dumpster is now 3/4 full. Based on some very sensible suggestions Kij offered on space allocation and storage, we decided to stop at Target, and were seized by inspiration. We bought (on sale) a bench window seat with two pull out drawers where we'll store games, an end table to put beside it, where I can put my Christmas cactus, a five drawer chest for storing photographs, an area rug to put under the dining room table and a matching runner for the front door (no picture, sorry). We were up until 1:30 a.m. assembling the furniture so it could be a surprise for the girls. And we curtained off the room that has been serving as Rob's study and our family room, to give Rob a bit more privacy and make it more his space--and so I don't have to see it if it gets a bit too cluttered for my taste.

We have also purchased another storage chest which we'll use for storing the girls' coats by the back door. Ours will be finished in more of a Golden Oak finish.

Hurray for credit cards.

I have a ton of errands to run. Go to CompUSA, go the pick up the second storage chest, go to the dry cleaners, go to drop off stuff to donate, go to return the girls library books, go to Organized Living and more . . . gotta run.

The City Pages Article

is here. On a very quick scan through it I found one error: it says I "write with" Caroline Stevermer (1crowdedhour). I wish! This is a little misleading: I've met Caroline at coffeeshops and written with her, but she writes actual books with Pat Wrede. But otherwise, it captures a good sense of the flavor of the conversation we had.