My five-year-old son had a mark on his back Saturday that resembled a mosquito bite.  Although he had scratched at it heavily, it was no cause for concern, and my best girlfriend and I boarded a plane early Monday morning and went to Las Vegas for the Romance Novel Convention.  Although I’ve greatly enjoyed the last two days and today started off with smiles of anticipation for the beginning of the convention, I am now a frazzled mother wishing I were back home holding my son in his hospital bed.

It seems his rash has grown, and my husband took him to Urgent Care last night.  They did not know what the rash is from, so they gave him medicines to fight both viral and bacterial infections.  Today my son got a second rash, and my husband thought it was an allergic reaction to the antibiotics he started last night, so he took little John Isaac to his pediatrician.  Now my son is admitted into the hospital with IVs, and my husband is way out of his element.  He also has my 11 and 9-year-old daughters with him at the hospital.

My entire family is spending the night in the hospital, and we don’t know what is wrong with my son just yet.  Meanwhile, the convention just began, and all I want to do is be with my little one, who has never been in a hospital.  My mind is in two very different places now, but I’m taking a deep breath and waiting to find out more from the doctors.

I guess I now get the full effect of being a working mother.

Melissa and I have now been in Vegas for two days, and although the Romance Novel Convention doesn’t start until today, we are tired.  We got here Monday morning after a night of very little sleep and last minute packing on my part.  We then spent the day walking around Fremont Street, which was quite interesting and very different.  By the time we went to bed that night, we had been up for over eighteen hours, and we were exhausted. Yesterday, we spent the day walking the main strip of Las Vegas, and with the weather being over 100 degrees, we were drained of our energy very quickly.  We drank lots of water, did some shopping, and although Melissa doesn’t like spicy food, she agreed to eat at Emeril’s New Orléans Fish House.  Cajun food is one of my weaknesses, and I devoured a Caesar salad, bowl of gumbo, and the largest piece of banana pie I’ve seen in my entire life. We then went to see the musical called Menopause, where we cried with laughter.  By the time we got back to our hotel room, it was well past midnight, and we were exhausted to the point that we did not leave our room until after noon of today.  We were starving and needed a buffet.

The convention officially begins today, and authors are beginning to pour into the hotel.  Tonight is the meet and greet party, and we are looking forward to meeting many of the other authors.  I got to see my banner for Unexpected Metamorphosis for the first time, and I’m very pleased with how it turned out.  Jera Publishing has done an amazing job with working with Canton Walk Publishing in designing my book cover and marketing materials.  I can’t wait to see how the next book cover turns out.

I’ll continue to post updates and pictures as best I can.  Thanks for all my supporters and followers.  This has been an amazing year for me.

This restaurant on Fremont Street boasts of unhealthy eating.  The diners wear a patient’s uniform while being served by waitresses dressed in nurses’ uniforms.  No, I definitely did not eat there, but it was quite interesting.

In the evening, a light show begins in the tunnel of Fremont Street, and things begin to get a bit lively.

This is how Melissa started her Tuesday morning, all perky and smiles.  It was a different story on the way back to our hotel.  We were exhausted, and our feet and back were killing us from all the walking we had done that day.

This is inside one of the hotels on the strip of Vegas.  They all have a different theme.

This hotel and casino was filled with shops, and the ceiling was painted to look like clouds in the sky.  It has a strong Italian theme, and I did not want to leave.

Paris in Vegas!

Jera Publishing did an amazing job with the designs I use for my marketing and cover.  I highly recommend their services.