Sunday, December 16th, 2007, 7:42 a.m.

So . . . here's how my weekend has been:

I awoke around three o'clock Saturday morning. Even before I got out of bed, I knew something was wrong. Things were quiet.

Too quiet.

And it was cold. It didn't take very long to realize that the power was out. Which was strange: usually, we only lose power during storms.

Regardless, the house was cold . . . and getting colder. By the time six o'clock rolled around, it was 52 degrees inside. Problem was, we had to leave for a book signing at Meijer in Saginaw. Thankfully, the power came back on just a few minutes past six. We were back in business! We headed out around seven, stopping just south of Grayling to fill up our new Dodge Sprinter and get some coffee. When we returned to the expressway, the van was very sluggish. It took nealy four miles to reach sixty miles an hour. A few phone calls to the 24 hour Dodge Customer Care Service Center, and we learned that our van was probably suffering a transmission problem. The longer we traveled, the slower we went. And there's only 2,500 miles on the vehicle! Good thing this didn't happen a couple of weeks ago when we were in New Jersey!

Here's a picture of our new Dodge Sprinter. Soon, it will be decorated with all kinds of 'Chillers' creatures:

Now, I have never, ever missed a book signing in my career (except for one in Southwestern Michigan, due to heavy snowfall) and I didn't want to miss this one. Thankfully, we squeaked into Saginaw just in time. We wound up having to have our new van towed two hours to Highland, Michigan (there are only a few places in Michigan that can work on Dodge Sprinters) and secured a rental car so we could make it home later in the day. Made it home around nine o'clock last night. All's well that ends well, eh?

Staff photographer Mrs. Chillers was busy making a flurry of phone calls during the signing, so, unfortunately, we don't have many pictures from yesterday. However, many people came by (thank you!) and it was a great day. Special thanks to the great Meijer people, and extra special thanks to Tammie from Meijer who drove us the the airport to pick up our rental car after the signing!

Scooby-Boo takes a nap . . .

. . . and Lily Munster does the same:

I know this is short notice, but I'll be making a special guest appearance today at the Cheboygan Opera House. It's a special Christmas program called 'Mike Ridley and Friends'. There will be lots of great entertainment. I'll be reading a short story, and Mrs. Chillers will be singing a song! (She really *IS* a great singer.) Showtime is 7:30, and for tickets you can call the Cheboygan Opera House at (231) 627-5432. All proceeds will benefit the Cheboygan Opera House.

Best wishes, happy reading, and . . . WRITE ON!