Countdown to Publication-Week 5: I'm Ready for This Thing to Come Out

"I'm ready for this thing to come out." I've never had children, but I'm sure a soon-to-be mother somewhere has said these words at some point. It's been a long labor. No, I'm not pregnant, but it feels like it sometimes—all this planning, preparing, organizing, appointments and then the W-A-I-T.

You wonder what it will look like and if it will come out okay. You wonder if you've done enough or if you've forgotten something. You wonder how the world will perceive it. You are excited and freaked out at the same time! You wonder if you can handle something like this.

But there's no going back now. The bun is in the oven. The book has gone to print. It's cooking.

People give you all kinds of scenarios of what it will be like. They give you suggestions and tell you what you need to do. They tell you what to expect. They tell you the worst case scenarios and the best case scenarios. They tell you how surreal it is.

They might as well be describing what it's like to set foot on Jupiter. I won't really no what it's like until I've arrived. And it will be nothing like they've described anyway. Everyone has to go through their own experiences in this world.

But right now I want to put all the ideas, suggestions and expectations aside and take a rest.

I'm ready for this thing to come out, but it's due date is April 3rd. You can do all the preparing in the world, but I'm sure it's nothing like you imagined. It's nothing like the REAL THING!