DIARY POST 24: FRIDAY TO FRIDAY

For the last couple of days, life has brought me several new experiences. I received the preliminary copies of my novel, and I witnessed my cousin having contractions, and my water tank exploded.

Preliminary Copies

Days had gone by since I was emailed the notification that my package had been shipped. I went online to check and saw a message that there was an incorrect phone number on my package, so the delivery person was unable to call for directions.

It was a rainy Friday and half the day was gone. To wait until Monday would have driven me crazy, knowing that my books were somewhere on a shelf, just a few miles away. My boyfriend drove me to collected the books about an hour and a half later. I was nervous and excited at the same time because I had been going back and forth with the publishing company for several weeks, refusing to compromise. Almost three years of work has gone into Selima and the Merfolk, it deserved to be perfected.

As I sat with the package on my lap, I struggled to open the simply glued flap, industrial strength glue I thought. Carefully, I pulled the books out of the envelope and saw that they were as perfect as I had hoped. “Oh my God!” I shouted, “They look so good.” I quickly browsed through the books, making sure the layout was what I had approved. I couldn’t complain. My books looked great.

I am still grinning. Like most writers I have always known that I wanted to write and now that I have seen my hard work in print, I am humbled. Now that I have accomplished this goal I should set a few more that is twice or three times as challenging.

Baby Cousin

I don’t have any children. I saw what happens when a woman has contractions.  … ouch! and ouch!

When my time comes please:
1. Don’t stand or sit close to me.
2. Remove any sharp objects from my reach.
3. I welcome drugs, any kind and lots of them.
4. I apologize in advance for everything I say.

However, family is everything to me. When babies come along, I think of the contribution they would make to their generation.

We have a brand new, healthy baby girl who is an incredible addition to our family. She was born last Friday to one of my closest relatives. I can’t wait to start spoiling her. That’s the great thing about being a cousin or an aunt; your job is just to spoil them rotten and not get blamed if they act up.

Water Tank Explosion

Yes! My water tank exploded and split down the middle. It sounded like a wave crashed on a rock and when I ran to the back of the house that is what it looked like. I knew something was brewing because it sprung a leak for the second time this year. Thank God I was at home.

I can take the approach of ‘everything happens for a reason’ or ‘why did that happen to me.’ By nightfall, I had a new tank and new plumbing (Thanks babe). I guess I’ll count myself lucky.