Back to work, weekend fun, and homeward bound.

It was time for April to go back to work, and since that meant traveling to a meeting, of course she had to bring Flat Stanley. The meeting would be in Burbank, California, which is near Los Angeles. This was an important meeting for April, since it was to plan part of her team's work for the whole next year, so she had to get dressed up. But Flat Stanley was a meeting guest, so he could stay in his casual clothing. This was good, as he had not packed a suit! Soon they were whizzing through airport security and settling in on the airplane for their brief flight to Burbank.

Burbank got its name from a dentist, Dr. David Burbank, who bought land on what was once a Spanish land grant. These days, Burbank is called "The Media Capital of the World," because a lot of news and entertainment companies are located there. Among them are some you may have heard of: Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and The Walt Disney Company. The company April works for also has an office there, and it's very near the airport. She and Flat Stanley got there in plenty of time to get to their meeting. With her department director, Kelli, and her coworker, Tami, she helped set up the meeting room with big, orange and white binders that held all of the day's presentations. Stanley kept out of the way by looking over one of the binders. He was happy to notice there were plenty of pictures to go with all of the words that explained the work they would need to get done. Soon the room was filled with friendly, talkative people, and Flat Stanley listened to them until it was time for lunch. And after that, he took a nap. He woke up just as April was tucking him into her shoulder bag for the trip back home, and as she walked with her friends to the airport, he was happy to hear them talking about how well their meeting went, and how excited they were about their plans for the coming year. It was an easy flight back home to San Francisco. Flat Stanley was glad about that.

The rest of the week was taken up with work, and with shopping for the coming Saturday, when April would have some friends over for a chocolate-making lesson. It was time to put that 30 pounds of chocolate to good use! On Saturday morning, April got up early and started heating cream together with lavender, and another pot of cream together with coffee beans. Flat Stanley could not imagine what she was making. Then April put five bowls on the countertop and poured one ingredient into each: dried cherries, dried apricots, almonds, pecans, and pistachios. She got out two other bowls and poured two other ingredients: walnuts into one bowl, and golden raisins into the other. She got out 10 bags of chocolate. Each bag weighed 1 pound. With everything ready, it was time to take a break and have some breakfast! Soon afterward, everyone arrived. They were excited to begin their chocolate-making adventure! April explained that first they would make mocha truffles, using the cream with coffee and some milk chocolate. After that, she said, they would make some lavender caramels and dip them in semisweet chocolate. And after that, they would melt even more chocolate, and mix in dried fruits and nuts from those heaping bowls on the counter to make chocolate bars called "bark," because they look a little like tree bark (but taste a whole lot better). Soon, four friends were trying their hand at chocolate making. They melted chocolate and carefully tested its temperature -- only mixing in other ingredients when it was just the right time. They made caramels and luscious chocolate truffles. Stanley stood by the mixing bowls and supervised. Soon the whole house smelled like a candy factory!

In the afternoon, everyone's tummies were rumbling, and so it was time for lunch. The friends ordered pizza and sat around munching and talking about the day's fun. Soon it was time to get back to their sweet projects, and they plunged their hands back into warm chocolate and made even more candy. When the day was through, everyone had pounds of candies to take home to their family and friends for the holidays, and April had a bonus: kitchen that was covered with chocolate. There was even some chocolate on Flat Stanley's shirt! But lucky for April, and much to Stanley's happiness, chocolate is easy to wipe up. Soon the kitchen was ship shape, Stanley was clean, snug and safe on a shelf, and April had her feet up on a chair and a mug of tea in her hand. It had been a good day.

A few days later, with all his journeys' photos developed, some chocolates packed in little boxes for Olivia and Nick, and their mom and dad, a map to show where he'd been and souvenirs so he wouldn't come back empty-handed, Stanley waved goodbye to April and Bob. Carefully, April folded him up and placed him in his shipping box so he would arrive back at Olivia's house on the little hill in Boston safe, sound and happy to be home.

Safe travels, Flat Stanley!