I thought the days at the Meeting House were long. And I thought that when we got settled in at the hotel that I would have more free time.

Perhaps it’s the addition, now, of a literacy program that’s taking up more time. Books kept coming in all week, which left little time to get ready for Seuss on Saturday. I worked hard during the days. Yesterday and today, Pete gave me a much needed assist. Tonight he vacuumed and I took care of little things, like signage. I could not have done this alone – it’s 9:42 p.m. I would have been at the hotel until 1:00 a.m. both nights.

When I get this tired, I get anxious and wonder how I’ll make it through the next day. Then, somehow, I manage to pull it off. Somehow.

A recap of the day: early on, Pete was out distributing books and bookcases with Sebastian, our neighbor. I categorized and shelved the books that were cleaned and stamped last night. Then I cleared the tables off of extraneous books. Pete and Sebastian returned and put out the Dr. Seuss books.

Robert with his BLBP T-Shirt

Come 2:30 p.m. Pete, Robert, and I had a long talk with Tam, the Executive Director of the VCRS recycling center.

After all this, Pete, Pam, Robert, and I drove to Anchorage in Phonics and attended the Community Impact Awards Ceremony. It was held in the quarter deck of the Captain Cook Hotel. The room overlooked the Cook Inlet – it was a most amazing view. We were fed (although there was not enough desert) and got an award, a plaque, a nice plaque. This was our third award this year. It is impressive. We’ve gone where no other non-profit book project has gone before – this time to the top of the most fancy hotel in Alaska.

Yes, we made the top twenty list. We did not make the top three list. What’s most impressive is that we did this without reading the fine print, which indicated that those voting could vote every day. We all voted just once. And we got on that list.

The ceremony was short and quick. After, Pete worked the crowd, passing out bookmarks and telling those on other nonprofit boards all about us. It was as if he took hobnobbing to the next level.

Me, I felt drained, so I pretty much kept to myself.

Tomorrow, a big day. I will wake energized. I hope.

Next: 275. 10/7/23: Keeping Fear at Bay