Taking Stock

This post has been a long time in coming. (I'm sure we'll all be sad to see Harry's face leave the masthead, but it must be done.)

In the past few months, so much has happened in my life--weddings, birthdays, a funeral, and travel travel travel--that every time I come here to write about it, there's too much to share. I don't know where to start.

There was the amazing trip to Greece in September (Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Crete. Le sigh.). My grandma's sudden and unexpected passing. A best friend's 30th birthday spent in a treehouse hotel. A January luau-themed surprise party in celebration of my mom's 50th. My darling niece's 1st birthday. My father-in-law's re-marriage, as well as a best friend's wedding. When you put it all together, I spent over seven weeks away from home in the last eight months. (Don't get me started on the nine-hour drive home. Ugh.)

And on top of all that, I fell off the blogwagon last summer when I suffered the worst migraine period of my life--having migraines three weeks out of every month from about May to September.

I began this blog to reach out to other writers and to talk about my own writing journey, but with my current focus on finding an agent (and my reluctance to discuss that publicly on the interwebs) I'm finding it hard to think about anything else. (Suffice it to say, it has been both encouraging and discouraging all in one, and I've never checked my email more!)

The reason all this has been on my mind? This is the last week of my twenties(!), and I feel I ought to take stock of my life to date. There are so many things I'm proud to have done in my twenties--finishing college (and more recently, paying it off), writing (and rewriting and rewriting) my novel, running a marathon, skydiving, training my cute puppy into a (mostly) well-behaved dog, traveling abroad alone, getting a tattoo--but there is so much more I want to do and accomplish in the next decade. I'm starting off my thirties with another adventure--friends and family are joining me on a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, something I've wanted to do since we moved here seven years ago. I'm also working my butt off toward my biggest goal--making my novel the best it can be (even if that means more revision) and securing an agent. And this summer, husband and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary (yes, we married young) and commemorate it with a return to England, my favorite place to travel.

So in sum, hello again. (*waves*) I will try to check in more frequently with what's certain to be an interesting year. Oh, and HUZZAH to 30!

Oregon

After I finished my final revision, I decided to take a trip home for a little rest and rejuvenation. Before I left, I started querying agents; I thought the break might help me avoid obsessive email checking as well. (Grins) A week home in beautiful central Oregon with my mom, sisters, and friends seemed like the perfect respite. (I think Drew liked it too!)

I did relax a little, but the trip turned out a bit different than predicted. I received some quick and positive responses from agents (EEK!), so I had to attend to that. (Great problem to have, but I spent more time working than expected.)

On top of that, half my family got sick, all with different, non-infectious problems--from cysts bursting to an IBS flare-up to a kidney infection requiring hospitalization to a double-ear-infection in my niece--thwarting our winetasting plans and making my niece a bit tired and fussy for her first birthday party. (Although, that didn't stop her from enjoying her first taste of cake!)

Needless to say, things did not go according to plan. Thankfully, it wasn't all illness and work. I did get in a nice hike along the river, saw Paula Cole perform at a free concert in the annual summer Munch N' Music festival (LOVE her and she didn't fail to meet expectations!), and taught Drew to swim in my mom's pond. My youngest sister and I failed to float the river since every store in town ran out of floaties, but we had a blast trying. It felt wonderful to get outdoors and soak up some Vitamin D.

Nostalgia

Nostalgia is the scent of winter firewood lightly perfuming the dry high desert air. It is the crisp blue skies of morning, the swirling pink sunsets of twilight, and the inky black nights with a sparkling display of stars. It's the majestic view of mountains covered in snow, and the less charming sight of roadside snow colored deep red by the local cinders which provide traction against the ice. It is tall magnificent trees, mountain lakes, buttes, and the sparse high desert landscape of pine, juniper, and sage.
I am suffering from homesickness more and more lately. Bouts of crippling nostalgia overwhelm me at times, and I can hardly explain where they come from or why. I traveled home to Oregon five times last year--a record since we moved south--and that certainly hasn't helped matters. Although California is now my home, I don't always feel at home. I like living here. There are many great things about it, not least the mild climate and the wealth of activities and culture in the bay area. But sometimes I just miss the familiar:
I love the snow in winter, the dry heat, the unpredictable weather. Gorgeous mountain views greet you every morning. People are friendly and life is an adventure, not a race. Most importantly for me, I have a network of family and friends. I have a group of best friends--girls who have been there for me, whether near or far, for over a decade. You can't build that kind of life in six years, no matter how hard you try. I do love my little life here, but that's how it feels sometimes: little.

Auntie on Hiatus

I should have announced an official hiatus since I've neglected this blog so much. I've been away. For the past three weeks I've been home in Oregon or traveling up to Washington with my sisters.

But.

I'm an auntie!
Little--or rather big (she was 9lb 1oz!)--Jacey Liliana was born on the 26th, and I've had the best time hanging out with her. Sadly, I'm going home tomorrow, and my sister and brother in law moved today, so I won't see her again until October. Sometimes being an auntie is hard work!

Recap in Five

I notice whenever life gets busy I neglect the blog and blog reading. (Sorry.) In two days I'm leaving for Maui to spend a week with family to celebrate my little sister's wedding. (Yay!)

So.

I've spent the last few weeks finalizing plans for the bridal shower, which is surprisingly difficult to plan from afar. I'm a perfectionist. I like things organized, so it's killing me to plan from here and hope everything I need is available when I get there.

Naturally last week was full of events that kept us from preparing to leave. On Thursday we went to an Adele concert in San Francisco with friends. She was amazing live and more adorable than you can imagine. Two days before the concert we discovered that James Morrison was opening for her, which was fabulous - two of my faves in one concert! His album does not do him justice. I had chills almost the entire time he sang. (Sadly, I forgot my camera.)

We spent Friday and Saturday in Sacramento with friends who recently returned from India and shared lots of lovely pictures and tasty food.

And finally, we returned home to begin the laundry and packing and last minute planning. Maui, here we come!

On Balance

I received two rejection letters in the last two days, but I also returned home to my lovely signed and personalized copy of Caroline's Disraeli Avenue, an Amazon giftcard, and my beautiful present from husband, which I had to leave behind while we traveled to Oregon for Christmas last week:


I was also somewhat heartened to learn that the finalists and runner's up in the contest where I submitted one piece, included not only well-published writers, but also tenured writing professors.

I had a lovely time with family and friends, and we enjoyed a white Christmas, but I'm glad to be back in my own space with a return to 60-degree weather in California. (I think Drew would love to be a snow dog though.)

Off to Penn

Tomorrow morning we leave bright and disgustingly early for Penn State. We're meeting Husband's family to watch the football game against our alma mater, Oregon State (Go Beavers!). We might venture to Amish country on Friday or to the Hershey's factory. It should be fun. Tomorrow will not be fun though. We will be traveling for 13 hours! I could be in London with a layover in that time. United kindly changed our itinerary and added a second layover to our flight, which puts us there 5 hours(!) later than we expected, which also means I will be missing the last chat for my writing course. Grr. I love United so much. Anyway, I just started Grapes of Wrath, so it's a great excuse to read most of the day. Here's to a long weekend!

Giants and Packages

(Not to be confused with Giant Packages, you understand.)

AT&T Park is one of my favorite stadiums with its bayview setting.

Here's the lovely view from the ramp as we walked up, up, up to the tippy top. That's the bay bridge in the background.







The view from the nosebleed section was fantastic
...even if the Giants allowed five runs in the first five innings, followed by a grand slam. Good thing I merely root for the Giants, and I'm really a Red Sox girl. (Although they're quite good at breaking your heart too. I lived in Boston during the 2003 season when Boston lost to NY--who else--in game 7 of the American League Championship. *sob*)

Yesterday I was tired and moving slowly through my tasks, but I received this in the mail, which perked me up. There's a present for someone special (obscured from view), a new book by Husband's uncle, who is a martial arts expert and corrections officer at a prison in Oregon, and my cave-in purchase of Garden Spells. I had to buy it or I would've lost the free shipping offer. (I've been dying to buy this book for ages but resisted forever because my tbr pile is ridiculously huge, but I am weak.)

Hope everyone is enjoying Wimbledon. It's so much easier to watch now that we have Tivo!

Half-Dark

I sit in the silent half-dark attempting to polish a story, while keeping one eye trained on Drew who lies in his bed beside me staring pathetically at our house guests who lie sleeping late into the morning. He lets out an occasional whimper, unsure why they would want to continue sleeping at 10:30 when he's already run, eaten his breakfast and is available to play. Working at home in a one-bedroom apartment is challenging enough on a normal day, but when we have guests, especially guests like my sister who like to sleep in until 11am, it makes things nearly impossible.

Peeking in

...to say hello.

My posts have been sporadic lately. I'm busy busy busy preparing. Yesterday I scrubbed the bathroom, today I went grocery shopping, and tomorrow I scrub the living room and bedroom. We have guests coming.

Two of my best friends are getting married this weekend. To each other. I'm very excited and proud to admit that I set them up. Husband and I are in the wedding. Huzzah!

Two old friends are coming to stay with us for the weekend to attend the wedding, then my sister and her boyfriend are coming to stay all next week. I had to plan meals for four people for a week. I'm used to shopping for two or for the occasional dinner party. Apparently sissy's boyfriend eats like a teenage boy. Oh dear. I do hope doubling our normal rations will be enough.

In addition, I'm trying to wrestle down chapter three, which insists on being difficult and insolent. Currently chapter three is winning this battle, but just wait until I print it out and attack with a red pen. (Mwah ha ha!) I decided I need some outside writing input. I tried to find a good writing group in the area, but after searching in vain, I signed up for an advanced novel writing course online. The course begins in June and my teacher, a published novelist whose book I want to read, is local. I'm going to see her do a reading next month. I'm very excited.

*waves hello*

We spent today visiting family, old friends from childhood, and running errands. Tomorrow we do the fun drive back home with the rest of the holiday traffic - it normally takes 8.5 hours and we're guessing it will take between 10 and 11 hours tomorrow. FUN!

Will resume normal blog service later this week (after I catch up on sleep, of course).

Beavers

I mentioned last week in passing that guests were visiting over the weekend. Every year my alma mater football team (OSU) comes down to the bay area to play either Stanford or Cal, and friends and family come down to watch the game with us. It's become a ritual. A friend from college flew down to stay the weekend with us and my mother-in-law and her husband came down as well, though they stayed in Berkeley near the game. We drove up early Saturday and spent the day tailgating before the game. My mother-in-law and her husband are hardcore tailgaters. They bring a satellite dish along so they can watch all the other good games, whilst barbecuing and drinking with friends. Drew came as well and had fun playing with Sadie and Buddy, their two toy australian shepherds. In college I went to nearly all the football games, but since I graduated I usually only go to the one game a year, so this was the perfect game. Cal was ranked number two in the nation, a formidable opponent. We were ahead most of the game, but they had a chance to tie the game with 17 seconds left and force overtime. But they made a huge mistake, and the clock kept running, and WE WON! Woo hoo. We have beat them at home ever since I've lived here, so I suppose I better continue attending these games to keep the record alive!

(And yes, my college mascot is a Beaver, thanks for asking. ;)