“Irreverent and captivating.”

That about sums it up, thanks Amazon.com. Heather Armstrong, blogger extraordinaire, made an appearance last night at Austin’s BookPeople for a reading and book signing for It Sucked And Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita. When Turner volunteered to pick up Kennedy from school so I could go, I almost cried myself! I thought: I can mosey on down to the book store, have a cup of coffee, browse around, maybe pop in to Anthropology next door, get some much needed alone time….. No. By the time I fought traffic, purchased the book, and realized that this was an EVENT, with wristbands, lines, and hundreds of mom’s vying for the best seat in the house, I decided to just grab a folding chair and sit and wait. Luckily for me, I sat next to someone with a kindle and got to stare enviously at this strange new contraption. Everyone around her was oohing and aahing, asking for a better look. It was pretty slick, I must say.

I digress….. So, at 7 p.m., Heather is intro"dooce"d (ha ha). She came down the stairs, big-belly-pregnant with her hubby, Jon, by her side. I think that surprised everyone, and it was really nice that he came. It made the reading that much more entertaining watching the two of them interact in bizarre Armstrong fashion.

First she read a passage from her book about sex after vaginal birth. (Hysterical.)

Then she read her favorite blog post from the past year, about slapping sheep butt. (Cute.)

Then there was an audience Q&A which lasted about 45 minutes. Some of the best questions: Do you feel like a celebrity now? She said sometimes, when she’s recognized in her hometown of Salt Lake City. When I met her at the signing table, I said, “You know you’re a celebrity if you’re on Oprah!” She looked so humbled, like she didn’t want to believe it, but its true! You & I aren’t on Oprah and probably never will be, right? She was also asked some writing questions, like how do you come up with content. She said writer’s block is hard, physically painful even, and that music helps. As for her awesome photography, she revealed her house is usually that clean, but sometimes she photoshops out dog hair and has been known to trim her dog’s nails this way as well. That’s what’s so endearing about her – you’re left wondering what’s more bizarre: that she spends half an hour digitally removing her dog’s toenails instead of just clipping them, or that she openly admits to doing so?