Day Five from Barbados

I have news!!! Yesterday the most amazing thing happened...I finished my book! When Tom got back to the room at about 2:00p I had just finished. He said, "Tonight we're going to celebrate!" And we did!

First we went to a reception they were hosting poolside where they had vendors selling their wares. There was jewelry and other crafts of all kinds. Tom bought a wire sculpture of a steel drummer - very cool. While we were shopping around two entertainers on stilts came and performed for us. (See the picture) They were amazing and the children especially loved them.

Next, we had already made reservations for the Starlight BBQ, so we told the Hostess that we were celebrating the completion of my book and wanted the best seats in the house (or should I say, on the beach). They gave us a little round table for two closest to the water. We could hear the band, but they weren't so loud that we couldn't hear ourselves talk. As we were enjoying the appetizers of Red Jerk Potato Salad (incredible, by the way!) the band began playing a calypso worship song with the chorus that repeated "I just want to say thank you, Lord". It was like God showed up on the beach allowing me to personally thank Him for the ability He provided in letting me write this book based on the life of my Grandmother. There were tears of gratefulness - and I was really glad that we had a table on the outskirts of the crowd. You all know what I look like when I cry. For my Writer's Block buddies - my book finished with a little over 63,000 words. Now I have to consider rewriting my first draft. But that can wait!

The food was really good - but last night it really wasn't the focus, sorry Mel! We were rejoicing!