This has been a crazy week. I hesitate to even type that because with my luck the universe will read those words and be like Oh yeah? I’ll see your crazy and raise you ten, but I’m hoping that won’t be the case.
To start, I had another book signing this past Thursday night. As if I wasn’t nervous enough going into it, about ten minutes before we were ready to leave the house our rambunctious two-year-old tripped and faceplanted into the brick of our fireplace. He hit his forehead, right smack in the middle. While it was no doubt a bad gash, his face did that thing where it looks a million times worse than what it really is by making a waterfall down the whole front of his face. I won’t go into any more detail for my queasy readers, but it wasn’t pretty and gave us a bit of a heart attack.
We ran straight to urgent care where they cleaned him up and “glued” the cut (yes, apparently this is a thing you can do when you don’t quite need stitches). Our four-year-old, Penelope, was so concerned about him and upset she couldn’t come be with him that she made me promise to keep sending photo updates to our babysitter so she could make sure her little brother was okay. And thankfully, he was fine. He took it like a champ, actually. We spent that night waking him up every two hours (precaution to be sure there was no concussion), but he did great. Here’s us on our way out of the urgent care (I’m forcing a smile to show Penelope we’re all good):
Somehow, we made it to the book signing on time.
*****
When I was a little girl I had a small, round wooden table in my room with two chairs. I would sit behind the table on one chair, and I’d place the other chair on top of the table. I’d play bookstore like this, and pretend to “check out” or sell all the books from my bookshelf by passing them through the bottom of the chair to the pretend “customer.” One day two of my older brothers, Chris and Joey, came into my “store.” They must’ve felt bad for me sitting there playing all alone talking to nonexistent people, managing my fledgling shop, so they pretended to be customers who wanted all the books. Alllll of them.
They began “purchasing” books faster than I could ring them out, their excitement leading them to fight over them, books flying all around. Soon they were rolling around on my floor trying to pry them from each others’ hands, all while throwing money at me. “I want that book!” “This is my favorite store, get outta here!” I stared at them wide-eyed, working as fast as I could to get them their books. While I knew it was crazy – growing up with so many siblings hardly ever produced a dull moment – I loved every minute of it. The smell of the books, the cozy feeling of my “shop,” my “customers,” and the feel of that desk. The desk I’m sitting at here, along with the entire setting, reminded me so much of that feeling I had as a child. Which makes me realize that I’m that much closer to where I should be as an adult.
It was a small group at the signing, and I am so grateful for the night. Because it was intimate I was less nervous, could do more readings, and it felt more like a cozy conversation between the group of us rather than me alone in front of an audience. We even got to have some Q&A: What do you suggest for a friend who’s mom is sabotaging her relationship because she doesn’t want her to get married? What do you think about destination weddings? And we all got to share our experiences. It was awesome, and since my nerves were in my throat because of the events leading up to it thanks to my two-year-old daredevil, I really couldn’t have asked for a better, more relaxed experience. (And if my brothers were here, I know they would have been rolling around on that floor of Park Road Books fighting over copies.)
*****
Two days before, I got to be on FOX 46 Good Day Charlotte to promote the signing. They saw I had the event coming up and reached out to see if I’d like to come on the show. (If you missed that clip, you can watch it here.) I was up at 4 AM because I was so afraid I’d oversleep, left my house by 5 am to get my hair and makeup done, and in the studio by 8 am. It was such a cool experience! I was interviewed by Ann Wyatt who was so wonderful and made me feel less like I was about to soil her couch.
Greg watched it at home with the kids. Penelope knew what was going on and was super excited to see me on TV. Ciro didn’t quite understand what was happening, but after it was over Greg said he pointed at the TV with this confused look on his face and said, “More Mama?”
*****
Lastly, yesterday I spent the morning at Unwind Tea and Coffee here in Pineville, NC. Wendy, the lovely owner, carries my books and asked me to come in to sign copies and chat. Her store is quaint and smells glorious, and is filled with walls of tea leaves and work from local artists. The whole setting feels like a hug.
I loved doing all of these events, and I’m also really thankful they are over for now. My anxiety has been back twenty-fold lately, and the week kicked my butt. My body feels exhausted. I’m going to write soon about the anxiety and what I’ve been going through, along with what I’m doing to help myself through it. But in the meantime, more relaxing, more hugging my babies, more cozy time at home. More Mama.
You can purchase any copies of my books right here on my Amazon Author Page.
