Beside Myself

I had the most amazing experience yesterday...





IT IS HERE!! Well, not here here... it isn't ready to ship yet, but, my advanced copy of Totally Twisted: innovative wirework & art glass jewelry arrived yesterday!! One of my editors emailed me Monday afternoon letting me know that the advanced copies had arrived in the Colorado office and she would be overnighting me a copy. I so very anxiously awaited the FedEx fella and shortly after I posted my blog yesterday, I heard the knock on the door.

Rebecca at Interweave is such a wonderful woman. She packaged the book like a gift and what a special gift it was. When I ripped back the tab on the mailing envelope, I thought the book would fall into my hand but having the anticipation last just a little bit longer and holding a gift in my hand was absolutely perfect. I held that pink and brown package in a hug for a few minutes as tears welled in my eyes. I had to catch my breath before I could open it.

Once I opened it, truly, it was was like holding one of my kids for the first time. Seriously! There was instant joy and tears and love and relief and overwhelm and surprise and awe. Sounds a little nutty right? But really, I have just gone through a 16 month pregnancy and yesterday I got to hold my bundle of joy for the first time. LOL. I sat, unmoving despite a serious call to use the bathroom, and looked at every single page. I love the soft satin matte finish and feel of the cover... the smell of the press room and ink of the pages... the bold colors oozing out of it... just amazing. I am so proud, and not of myself, but of the book itself. Goodness, I can't wait for you too see this.

After my bonding time with my new baby, I started to make the calls to let everyone know my news. First to my hubby of course, then to a friend, and my Mom of course. She was the first to get to see it. As she has done with all my children, Mom instantly was trying to steal it away to her house. LOL. She is a very proud Momma too.





My friend wouldn't let me spend the afternoon holed up in the house. Despite the 100 straight hours of snow that has been piling up here, she said some celebrating was in order and she treated me to lunch at Panera. Her necklace, sorry about the blur, is one of the first beads I ever made!! Such a great sentiment of how far I have come.

Later in the evening, I got to share the book with my Dad. He has been a pressman for 25 years and of course, looked at the book through a pressman's eye. He liked the work, but naturally, a little sad to see it was printed in China. He said they did a good job with the printing, commenting that it was offset printing on a sheet fed press, not on a web, with 4 color process not pms. He said that he loves all the color and had he been printing a job like this, he would have been very excited to go to work. Makes me wonder if the pressman in China grabbed a sample copy and took it home to show his family like my Dad does with many of the jobs he prints. While showing my Dad, Mom was again trying to find ways to steal the copy away to live with her.

Ron and the kids had their time to check it out too. I showed the kids the special dedication that is just for them. It reads "to jacob, andrew, and lauren... look kids, momma wrote a book". I had an interesting chat with Jacob. I said "see, your name is in print." And he said " 'Jacob' is in print in a lot of places." To which I said "yeah, but those are different 'Jacobs'... this one is you." I know the kids will appreciate it when they are older. I hope they will look back and see all the hard work I put into this and how I was still their Mom at the same time. My Dad has pointed out to me several times that 'someone' was left out of the dedication... where is the thanks to Ron, my hubby? Ah, I know, I may seem like a bad wife, but this one is just for the kids... the next one can be for him. ;)

Tonight... hubby is making hot fudge sundae cake to celebrate!!