With my non-writing job, part of the work I do is in the kitchen at a private retreat center. During retreats I’m 100% focused on the cooking and work and behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into making everything (appear) to run smoothly. That means I don’t generally socialize much at all with the retreat attendees, and even if I do, the conversations we have are of a very basic nature. This is because my brain is sorta maybe yelling to me the whole time, reminding me not to let the cookies burn, and did I remember to cover the baked chicken, and goodness, did I get the rice started? (Because cooking flops feel more like disasters when the food is being prepared for 50+ people.)

My scribbled notes to myself to make sure I kept to the right time table.

Last month during the last day of a retreat I was finally feeling the ability to think of stuff other then meal prep, so when people were going through the breakfast line I introduced myself to several of them. (I stand behind the counter to refill serving dishes and answer questions.)

After I introduced myself to one guy, the daughter of one of the leaders of this particular retreat (she was about twelve and had hung out in the kitchen some), informed me that introductions were supposed to be made on the first day, not the last. I teasingly responded that I liked to wait until the last day to make sure people were nice, cause if they weren’t then I wouldn’t use my real name when I said “hey.”

That day at lunch, when the aforementioned guy went through line he said, “Hey, after you told me your name this morning, I suddenly realized you were that girl.” I was obviously confused and asked who “that girl” was, and to my shock he was talking about me being the author of Noveltea. Yes, for real, folks. He had read my blog before. *cue mouth hanging open in surprise*

And crazily enough, that was the fourth time I’ve had a stranger come up at various places (twice at the retreat, once at my house, and once at a wedding), and inform me that they read my blog from time to time. I can’t even describe the feeling when that happens. I feel so honored to know that these people who are complete strangers to me have taken time to read what I write. It’s also sometimes a little bit freaky, because hey, I know nothing about them and they have the ability to know quite a bit about me. Mostly though, it’s just like “woah.” (I know, so descriptive!)

Blogging is one of my favorite things to do each day, and knowing that I have the ability to interact with people from all over the world while sitting at my writing table is amazing. Thank you, Noveltea readers, for taking the time to read my blog. Thank you for encouraging me with my writing, and going along on this journey with me. You seriously make my writing journey better. And, if you ever see me in real life, please come up and introduce yourself, I’d be extremely delighted to meet you.

Has something like this ever happened to you? What was your reaction?