A Book! A Book!

It seemed truly providential that my BFF Melanie happened to be at my house last Thursday morning when the UPS delivery man knocked on my door to deliver my box of....BOOKS!

It enabled me to have my own personal photographer while I couldn't help but smile as I cut open the box to see for the first time the published book that has an entire chapter, plus a few excerpts in other chapters written by Yours Truly. It has been a long time coming. I started writing that chapter almost 2 years ago. But when it is a book written entirely by mothers, it doesn't exactly get finished as quickly as everyone may have preferred. (It has something to do with all those children the authors are trying to mother simultaneously while writing, editing and publishing a book.)

Back to the fact I had my own personal photographer last Thursday morning. Melanie was kind enough to give all the right reactions to the excitement that I felt was bursting out of me.

It's nice to have a few fans.
Namely my personal photographer and my dear husband and five children.

My personal photographer put a picture of me on Facebook later that night holding the book with the comment, "I do races, she writes books. Congratulations to my bff on her published book."

Mike put flowers on the kitchen counter, the kitchen table and the bathroom counter, and my favorite chocolate bar under my pillow. When I thanked him not only for the flowers and chocolate but for the fact I know he had to make a special trip to a store. (They didn't come from Home Depot or any landscape supply store.) He detests stores and I was touched he made a special trip for nothing except flowers and chocolate. Turns out it was a HUGE act of love, because he just so happened to be hauling a trailer with a machine on it that evening and he had to park a fair distance away from the store to accommodate his load. I'm quite certain he's pretty much my #1 fan. (Especially because when I arrived home from somewhere Thursday evening, he was laying on the couch reading "the book.")

Although my children come in a close second for being big fans of me, for eagerly listening to me read some of my favorite parts of Chapter 10. Actually, I probably shouldn't include Joshua in that "top fans" category, because he asked more than once, "How much longer will you read for?" or made statements such as, "This is taking too long" and "Please stop reading."

Overall, it was a great day. It has been an exciting project to be a part of. There are some truly great gems found in that book, and I feel honored to have worked alongside some fabulous co-authors. It's been a long time coming, and despite having a couple of little regrets about the book (1. My title, 2. Drew is my only child not mentioned by name in the book), I can't quite describe the feeling holding that book in my hand last Thursday morning.

Although I loved the flowers around my house (I hadn't found the chocolate bar yet at this point), I thought we should do something to celebrate. We never take our children out for ice cream at Baskin-Robbins (although Mike and I go a fair amount ourselves), so it was quite the treat when the children found out we were going. As we piled into the car, I asked, "Why are we going to Baskin-Robbins?"

Sweet-minded Luke said, "Because our wonderful mother is a published author in a book."

Drew said, "Because I want ice cream."

For more information about the book, Deliberate Motherhood: 12 Key Powers of Peace, Purpose, Order & Joy, you can check it out HERE. Or you can purchase it HERE or HERE.