The books arrived Monday afternoon. Two friends came over to help apply cover stickers so I’d be ready for the Tuesday book signing.

Early Tuesday a.m., I figured out the right combination of bubble wrap and box sizes and got those ordered before heading to Exeter.

On Wednesday, I sorted through the pre-sold orders to find the zip codes that were furthest from Three Rivers, got those books signed and set aside. Around 1 p.m., UPS pulled in with the packing materials, so I called my neighbor Robin. She raced over, and we began assembling boxes and figuring out the best way to process as many orders as possible. This is because the Media Mail deadline for arrival by Christmas was that very day at 3 in the afternoon.

When we decided we could wait no longer, we loaded her big car (most cars seem big compared to mine) with boxes full of boxes full of books. We made it! All those distant orders were sent.

On Thursday, I began processing the rest of the orders. I ran out of bubble wrap and had to substitute the packaging materials that I pulled from the cartons of boxes. My husband helped (around attending a retirement lunch for an old work buddy), and then we hauled the rest of the pre-orders to the Post Office.

73 packages, and the tape from the postal register computer dealie was 8′-1″ long! The clerk said it holds the record for the longest tape ever.

All but 3 of the packages will be there by Christmas, and those folks know and are not upset about it.