Okay, so my friend Jill not so subtly reminded me that it has been one whole MONTH since my last blog. I’ve been KINDA busy, okay? If only you knew what it takes to get this done – typing the document on my big computer, saving it to a memory stick, booting up the laptop, struggling thru the headache of this infernally slow internet, opening up the blog (which is often in Greek) and cutting and pasting. THEN begins the fun of trying to get it to load – whew! Okay, but you’re worth it!
SO, since last month, let’s see ….We got our air shipment in the first week of June – 6 boxes! Took less than an hour to unpack and put away! BUT oh my goodness – when the sea shipment arrived on 17 June, I had 214 boxes inside to deal with. It has taken FOREVER to get the boxes unpacked – every other night, poor Glen had to come home and go downstairs to wait whilst I pitched box after box off the balcony. (We tried not to load down the roadside dumpster area except on the nights BEFORE trash pickup.) I remember when my sea shipment came in Crete (and I didn’t have Glen to help!), my neighbors were NOT happy with the sky high load of empty boxes by the dumpster – IMAGINE!
After getting everything unpacked, then came the challenge of trying to fit everything in here. It’s a big flat but there is NO storage – and we brought half a garage full of things we’ve not unpacked since moving from Abu Dhabi. Of course, when the packers were in Fort Worth, we had NO IDEA what kind of accommodations we would find here and were hoping I’d have enough room to teach musical theatre again – so all the puppets, microphones, speakers, etc. came with us. And guess what – no room!
But bless God, it’s done now – and we even have a mattress on the Prophet’s Chamber bed. Good thing cause Tori arrives on the 13th!
We’ve discovered a wonderful beach (which we are keeping secret, thank you very much) where we spend our Sunday mornings. (There IS no church, guys!) We get up, make coffee, stop for tiropitas (cheese pies) and head out. It’s about 40 minutes away – a drive with the mountains on one side and the breathtaking sea on the other. We come to the end of a road in a teeny seaside village, turn right and drive past taverna after taverna to “our spot”. We park next to a tree, put on the sunshade and head for the sun beds. It’s a great location – the “umbrellas” are actually wooden sheds with thatch type roofs. The beds are free – IF you buy a drink. The girl who works in the taverna across the road is just precious – excellent English. Their fredos leave a lot to be desired – but hey, we’re not there for the iced coffees!
The beach is just gorgeous and the sea icy cold. We can gaze at the mountains of the mainland of Greece while we’re bobbing around in the choppy water. It is a fantastic beach – lots of families – this means we’ve not seen a topless sun worshipper yet! We have seen some of the same folks week after week – such as: Miss Flipper (a Greek lady who walks to the edge of the sea, drops her bag, takes off her sundress, straps on her big neon green flippers and BACKS into the water like a crab) who is soon joined by her Speed-o wearing hubby; the young couple who come every week and play with their niece; Miss blonde (a Greek lady who wears a black polka dot bikini and has great English) and others not so memorable! We’ve been treated to lots of temper tantrums, loud talking and cigarette smoke – but we LOVE this beach.
And after our 3 hours in the sun and sea? AAAAH – then comes the reward. We walk down 2-3 tavernas and eat under the shade of trees. The toasted bread with huge chunks of garlic – the banana peppers stuffed with feta and grilled – the gorgeous salad – the FRESH fries – the tsatsiki – YUM!
I got the “production schedule” from the publisher. July is the “quiet month” of editing the text. August is the month for conceptual editing. I get the manuscript the end of August and have till 15 September to submit my thoughts, corrections, suggestions. After that … well, I don’t really know cause my production schedule ENDS after that! Maybe they start printing? Probably not! I’m just hoping it’s out by CHRISTMAS!
Glen is currently in the US with his mother. She’s had cancer 3 times and it has come back with a vengeance. She’s standing on the threshold of heaven and is much more peaceful now that her only son is with her. Pray for him – he has a tough time ahead, trying to settle up all the legalities and tie up loose ends. He’s taken a bereavement leave to be with her as she graduates and hopes to be back on the 17th.
SO, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. And just exactly WHAT have you been doing in the last month, eh?
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