The Wayfaring Wordhack

Yes, we did go sailing on Thursday and Friday.

No, we did not make it around the island. The winds did not will it so. Instead we got as far as M'tsamboro, an isle northwest of Grande Terre. I got a bit seasick so took two motion-sickness pills that knocked me out. I went down and napped in the "coffin" (berth) as we skipped the waves around M'tsamboro, struggling to get closer to it. We dropped anchor in the lee of the island and spent the night there. 
mana_trini , spearfisher extraordinaire, et François went hunting the next morning and brought back three yummy fishes. Delphine took Titouan for a ride in her kayak while I snorkeled and saw my first-ever pencil sea urchin.

Even though we didn't make it around Mayotte, even though we saw nary a whale or dolphin, and even though we had engine trouble that delayed our departure and our return (contrary winds, read "nonexistant," remember?), we had a good time. I'm glad we went.

Once we got back, it was time to cook and clean for the going away party. I cooked too much. We have leftovers out the wazoo, but that means I don't have to worry about cooking as we pack up and move to Lionel's house for our last week here in Mayotte.

Speaking of moving, I've got to get to sorting and packing. We vacate the house tomorrow afternoon because NIGHT DIVING, baby, tomorrow at sunset. It'll be my second time and Julien's first. I'm psyched. I'll wax ecstatic on Tuesday if we have the net at L's house.

There are good things, many of them, amidst the bustle and sadness of leaving our home of the past three years.

...I set both The Bitter River and Witherwilds aside, or rather, I've stopped writing new prose in order to do more research and planning. I'm still authoring, just not writing. I hope to set my hands to crafting new words on April 1st, and I ain't fooling.

...mana_triniand I went diving. Lovely, flat lagoon, fascinating seascapes, bad visibility. Lots of interesting sea slugs and coral formations.

...is the day jpsorrowlaunched the Plot Synopsis Project. If you want to read how authors sold their books and what the synopses looked like that landed them the deals, this is your chance.

 

...actually has a light at the end of it. Diving tests, J's job and his tests, sickness, painful anniversaries, writing, I made it through it all--or I will have once I reach that 50K mark that signals the success of NaNo.

A breadown

Diving:
After 2 additional dives, J and I got our level two validated--or the practical part, anyhow. We took the written test for the theory, and we still haven't gotten our results back. Despite that, when we went diving yesterday, the monitor "turned us loose" with a level three and we went by ourselves. We were supposed to go from bouy 10 to 8, but the level three had a camera and we took our time. D, the dive monitor, told us not to stay longer than an hour underwater, so we surfaced exactly 60 minutes later and had only made it to bouy 9. :D

J's job:
J is now the holder of a "permit hauteurier," which means he can navigate anywhere around the world. He has three more weeks of training on the police boat coming up.

The Mayotte branch of the French police is the same, organization-wise, as the metropolitan police. J waited two days for his score after taking the test for his licence, and the chief still hadn't called him. So, J took the initiative to call, and the guy says, "Oh, yeah, I had the results the same day and called everyone else. Must've forgotten you." Then, the other day, the same chief calls and says, "You are supposed to work at 4, but you have to go shooting at 1:30." J: No one told me that.
Chief: Yeah, I just learned it myself. Well, in fact, I've known for two days. Just forgot to call you.

So, yeah, organized.

Health:
We are over the icky colds now, and the funky red patch on the back of my hand has faded. It should be gone in a few more days. I've been having headaches too regularly for comfort, but I suppose it is because of the heat. I need to drink more water.

Writing:
NaNo is almost over and I'm sitting pretty at almost 45K I never thought I could do 50k in a month. I know the quality is seriously lacking, but it is nice just being able to lay out the bones of a story. I'm going to have to do major revisions to get it into good enough shape to share with even the most understanding of critters, but bones! Forty-five thousand of them! Yay!

Animal Update:
Kittencat has now been christened N'djema (easier to pronounce than it looks), which is Shimaoré for "good." Kind of a multipurpose word, really. She is out and about and doing well. Our other two cats have more and less accepted her. Tiboy, more. Max, less. Tiboy is now playing with her. Games of chase abound. Max just hisses at her when he thinks she has invaded his personal space long enough. Today is the last day of the fungus medication--Or is it tomorrow? I have to check--and then she can go to the vet for her tattoo and vaccination. After that, Kittencat for Adoption posters will go up around the islands.

I know I don't blog about my pets much, but since Thanksgiving just passed, I'll say that I'm grateful Tiboy is still alive. Thursday he had a run-in with a scooter. He hit the wheel face first and lost a little skin off of his upper lip. An inch closer and I'm afraid we would have been burying him. He hid under the terrace for the better part of the day and I couldn't see what the damage was, but he has since recovered and has even resumed playing tag with N'djema.