Retreat: Day 4 - PM

Well... It's the last night of retreat... I have a sad...And I wish I had a time-turner.
I have accomplished far more than I even though possible this year.
Normally, everyone coming to retreat sets a goal that they'd like to meet. It can be anything from having fantastic nail polish, taking a nap, sleeping without interruption, to finishing a book, writing seven synopses, or just writing as much as possible.
My only goal for this year was to feel Immersed in writing.
I found that on my first day. The ability to just get into the story without letting anything take me out of it. I had my two stories to edit, and the one I wanted to start, but I wasn't thinking about that when I got here. I just wanted to do my thing and not feel like I couldn't focus on it because there were so many other things that required my attention.
Somehow, I managed to finish my edits and submit the story, finish the short and send for critique, and as of right now, write over 8K on a new story.
I feel accomplished.
I have not written anything new since my last retreat two years ago. Yes, I have published stuff since then. I have edited and I have written, but not with as much intent that I feel now. Mostly, I edited older stuff, which while productive, doesn't feel the same as starting out with a fresh idea.
And... I didn't have the current story idea until last night. I knew what kind of story I wanted to write. I knew where I think I want to send it, but nothing else was there. To be truthful, I thought I was broken.
Turns out, I'm not. I'm an author, dammit!
This retreat has rocked, despite the very loud couples therapy people who insist we need to interview them for fantastic story ideas (wtf?), our somewhat odd dinner that while okay, was still out of the normal desirable food stuff, despite the wedding, which is still kind of loud as they clean up and as we have spillage into our hall that includes little kids who cry a lot, (in my section of hallway, too) and after we witnessed two almost naked guys trying to swim in the pond and disturb our resident goose (who is still a jerk, but doesn't deserve the harassment). I won a prize, which is awesome and also very random. Simon and I pick the prizes and always think I shouldn't enter to win, but everyone tells me that's crap and that I deserve to win like anyone else. We always get prizes we would love to have ourselves, so to say I'm pleased is an understatement. (Oh and one of the items is an Avengers blanket. How cool is that?)
We had the best coordinator at the venue. The staff here took care of us before anyone else - making sure we had our dinner first and just generally being awesome. They realized the loud groups was an inconvenience and a stressor and took the time to talk to us about how things could be different next year.
I am satisfied beyond satisfied.
And I am an author. This is what I'm meant to do... Tell stories. I am more convinced of that now that I have been for a long time.
Now it's time for the last retreat sleep. I'm ready to go home and rock this thing! (and I miss those aliens I live with...)
Behave!