The scene of the crime

At about 6:00 on Friday the 29th, I typed "The End" and uploaded the novel to NaNoWriMo for wordcount validation. I waited with my fingers crossed to be sure that it came in at over 50,000 words (the javascript word counting function I'd been using was giving me more words than Microsoft Word did, so I added a foreword and an afterword to the text file I uploaded, just to be sure).

Then I took a deep breath, allowed myself to feel a few moments of jubilation--I'd finished!--then I got up and started doing laundry and packing.

We left for Orlando on Saturday morning, spent a wonderful five days there with Bob's parents, then took them to the airport this morning and Bob and I drove over to Sarasota. AKA the scene of the crime (for those of you who didn't read the book, in other words, the scene of the novel).

As we drove along Ben Franklin Drive tonight, toward the hotel, I found myself thinking, "there's where Sarah's house would be," and as we passed the bookstore on St. Armand's Circle, "there's Finley's." We ate dinner at Philippi Creek tonight, and I tried to tell if there actually was a backdoor. I couldn't tell for sure, but I imagine there must be.

After we checked in, we changed into swimsuits and spent the afternoon at the pool; well, mostly at the tiki bar. We had Margaritas and shrimp, then staggered over to the spa and soaked for awhile in the warm water, and I could feel the tension in my shoulders melting away. I love it here. Somehow, it feels like coming home.

Since Misty moved away, we don't have anyone to watch the kitties; there were a couple of people I could have asked, but no one really lived close enough for me to not feel like it would be an inconvenience. So we left them plenty of food and water, put a big bowl of water in the showr in case it got knocked over, blocked all the doors open so no one could get shut inside a room, and left them to their own devices.

I knew they would be fine--really, what could happen to them? But I still worried, of course. I woke up one night worried about them, then I dreamed that we got home and they were fine, so that made me feel a little better.

Bob's folks went home today, and they went straight to our house from the airport. We called them tonight, and Bob's dad said Pyewacket ran down the stairs to meet them, and fell down and flopped over on her back in front of them. I'm sure she was disappointed it wasn't us, but it was someone, someone who would pet her and rub her tummy.

Dinah apparently immediately went under the bed and wouldn't come out, but they at least verified that she was there, and everyone was fine. So I'm quite relieved, and feel like I can relax for the weekend.

They're doing work on this hotel--they've been doing work on it for several years--so because of the construction noise, I guess, they upgraded us to a suite. It's awfully nice. There's a bedroom with a desk (where I am now) and a second television and a queen-size bed, and a living room with a fold-out bed and a recliner; a nice little kitchen, and a great bathroom with both a tub and a separate shower enclosure. And balconies off both the living room and bedroom. Well, one balcony that connects. Very posh. We both said, "Hey, we could live here!"

We'd have to go get the cats, of course.