Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch- Changes

Helloo!!!!! 

Can you feel me hugging you? It's because I missed you :)

First and foremost, some images of well-filling heaven, a trip that changed my perspectives and my life:

Me and Bowie

Slurp!!!!!

Jillian and the stone....um......fertility totem!!! Yes, that sounds right.

Royal, looking a bit like someone I miss at home.....

He was found in a Wal-Mart parking lot and currently lives with two of the most special, lovable people I know - Phil and Jessi.

Bowie, thief of my heart.

You're my boy, Blue!!!!!!

Bob and Carol, my saving Graces when I moved out to California.... 

WHO IS THIS BIG GROWN UP BOY???? (sorry to yell!)

He still has a baby nose :)

And loves story-time. Seamus, my youngest friend, may I be there to see you at all stages of your life.

The luminous Ms. Katherine, lunch partner extraordinaire. Anthony told me he missed her, which melted my heart. I miss her, too.

There was more: so so so so so much more.

There were stones cut to stop your breath in your throat, so many of which I took home with me so that they might find their person....

.

There was the great food, the great company and the long stretches of solitary desert driving during which I listened to This American Life podcasts, the sound of the wind

and the echoes of my own longing and joy.

I figured out a lot of things and dug very, very deep into the heart of me and excavated some beautiful veins of gold.

I also turned my face to the sky and talked to God more than usual, filled as I am with gratitude of Anthony's good news, news I haven't been able to share until now:

My Schmill landed his dream job: he will be working for Activision making one of his favorite games of all times. 

It is not public knowledge yet, so I cannot share it: rest assured I will when I can!

We will move to the South Bay, some 60-odd miles away from Petaluma, which means I can still visit this bit of heaven even if I cannot call it my own.

Nothing matters more than a smiling husband, and boy oh boy is he smiling!!

I am dreaming of a larger studio, with two tables: one for leather, one for silver.

Pictures on the walls....

I am making a mental picture of the house we'll live in with its hardwood floors and sun-filled, warm rooms....

I am wondering about so many things that will be made clear: the whens and wheres and hows that will come in their proper time.

For now we have a great landlady who has granted us a month-to-month until we find our heaven elsewhere.

In the meantime, I am hugging these emerald hills and planning weekly trips to The Bovine and all my favorite places I've yet to discover.

Life is good, my dearest friends, and I have missed you.

Tell me about you!!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox,

A