Hey, hey, hey! I know it’s been quiet on here folks, and I totally skipped doing the “Around the World” post on Friday, but there were even better things going on last week and I didn’t want to break my concentration by changing tracks.
See, one of my unofficial goals during my time in Mexico was to get When Life Hands You Lymes sent out to beta readers. That’s a lot more involved than it sounds, because I was revamping the plot in some major ways and adding in a new and rather prominent character. So, I pretty much needed some extra eyes even before sending it out to beta readers. During the first part of the trip I made the major changes, then sent it two friends who have been helping a lot with the project. They quickly read through it and told me what worked and what didn’t… Then I settled down and dug in.
After a couple of weeks with a lot of work and then a loonnnggg Friday (including waking up and working for a couple of hours in the middle of the night), I finally got the book sent out, just barely before midnight. I was quite happy to say the least.
Saturday I was basically too tired to do anything besides packing since the last few days had been filled up with editing and doing an unofficial marathon. It was a restful day, and although I thought about trying to write the “Around the World” post, my brain was far too tired to give it due consideration. Oh, and the swing finally gave way and broke while I was blissfully swinging. I’m just thankful it lasted as long as it did – it was pretty old.
Sunday night I enjoyed one last glorious sunset as I jogged along the beach, listening to Chariots of Fire and feeling the water lap at my feet. After finishing up with packing I tried to go to sleep since our 2:30 a.m. departure time would be arriving quickly. Sadly though, all my mind could do was zoom over all the problems I as just now beginning to see with When Life Hands You Lymes and wonder how in the world I had sent it out already.
At last I gave up on sleeping and got the computer out so I could finish a few things before leaving. I’d also decided to have Monday be an “eat anything I want” day, so I very excitedly ate a piece of custard (or something?) pie that was delicious. I’d pretty much been wanting one for the last couple of weeks, so it was a really fun treat to start the day on.
I watched the sunrise from the plane window, and the man I was sitting next to graciously let me reach across to snap this picture. It was absolutely gorgeous and made me happy since I’d watched most of the sunrises from the beach during the last few weeks.
Several of our layovers I spent rushing through the airport dragging my luggage along and typing out confusing texts to my cousin who was giving me great advice about why I really didn’t need to freak out about WLHYL. (“This is normal.” “It’s not the cure to cancer.” “No lives are at stake.”)
The drive home from the airport was spent bemoaning the fact that I was still awake (the only sleep I got in a 36 hour time period was about an hour and twenty minutes of fitful dozing divided between two planes), and gasping at the beauty of where I live.
The ocean is fantastically amazing, no doubt about it. The changing blues and rolling waves and rippling sand is a feast for the eyes and I enjoyed it so very throughly when I was gone. But there’s something so wonderfully fantastic about being home and seeing my beauty, what I’ve grown up with, what plays around my childhood memories, what is engrained into me, that is more satisfying than any traveling experience has ever been.
And now I’m home (for a few days at least), and there’s a world full of grass just awaiting to be cut by this happy little girl, so I’ll say good bye for now. I hope y’all are having a marvelous Tuesday.
Noveltea 
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