Summer Solstice Party

I love California. It's been 9 months now and I still love being back in Cali. One reason why is this lovely group of women that I can share magic moments with... moments like these.

I threw a Summer Solstice Party tonight, and we had a blast! I'm so blessed to be able to share magic, food, and fun with these wonderful ladies.

The delight of resurrected nerdiness

I love... I mean absolutely LOVE... being back in Davis, CA. There are MANY things I love about this town, but the one thing I love the most... our crazy, awesome friends.

Let me explain. In 2007, my husband got accepted to UC Davis to complete his undergraduate degree. He was a non-traditional student (older and married), so he didn't have the same undergrad experience that a lot of you have probably had. No dorm living, no late night binges, no all-nighters to cram for that mid-term... We lived quietly. I worked in one of the deans' offices. We made friends, but slowly.

One particular group of friends for me grew out of my place of work. The "cool kids," or the nerd-tastic kids however you want to label us, all sort of gravitated toward each other, and one day, on a whim, we started a book club. We kept up this club for over a year (!), added members, and even had a little blog for a while. We called ourselves the Finer Things Club, or FTC, after a similar group on The Office. We read all genres and then discussed what we loved or hated about the books over lunch and Futerama in the CRU basement office. (That's Computer Resources Unit, if you're wondering.)

In early 2010, N got a job offer in Connecticut, and we moved away. The FTC kept up their reading for a little while after I left... I'm not sure how long, but I AM sure they gave it a valiant effort. Eventually, though, people moved on to other things.

Connecticut was ... cold. It was dark... N worked long hours at a HIGHLY stressful job... and I became a (almost literal) hermit. We had very few friends there, but the ones we did make we valued greatly. Still, when the time came to decide what to do next, the obvious choice for us was to head West again. It was a no-brainer decision for me, moving back here... Davis is where our friends are... it's in CALIFORNIA (where, among other awesome things, there are no painfully snowy and cold winters, at least not in the Sacramento Valley)... and it's a great place for our next steps toward what we want.

Anyhow, here it is, October 2013, and we've been back in Davis for a month. And seriously y'all, the BEST THING EVER... the thing that is making me smile the most right now... is the way our friends here have opened their arms and welcomed us back. Leslie especially, and Lauren, and Debbie... and all my horse barn friends... I even had lunch with my dean's office friends the other week and the FTC was mentioned more than a few times.

But better than that, better than people just remembering me as the queen bee of our nerdy little book club... we're going to start it again! Our first book for the resurrected FTC is World War Z, by Max Brooks. Nothing could be more appropriate.

If any of you FTCers are reading this, I'm sending you a cyber hug and am looking forward to getting together to discuss the zombie apocalypse and the end of the world. FTC FTW!

A Carriage Driving Event (Photos)

Marathon day at the Sargents' CDE in Lodi

An obstacle

Shelly, Debbie, and the fabulous Alejandro
We were rooting form them.

Return trip: Settling in (Lots of photos)

We made it to Cali! There were a couple of days that I wasn't sure that was going to be possible... but we made it, safe and sound, to be greeted warmly by our friends.

I'm so grateful to be here. The apartment we're living in is spacious and quiet (most of the time) and largely unpacked now. We have art on the walls and I have an office! It's in the guest room, of course, but it's my own space from which to work and I like it so far.

Living Room

But I'm most happy to be in Davis because of the people. CA people are my kind of people... and we have some good friends here. Who could ask for more?

Our hammock lives at Leslie's now (down the street from
us). She's loving it.

We had a night of Melon Madness where we tasted as many
heirloom melon varieties as we could find.

There are plenty of great places to walk the pup. He's so
happy!

I took photos for the Brian Sabo clinic that Debbie and Leslie rode in the week after we got back. Here are a few of my shots.

Debbie on Quincy 

Winston's nose

Leslie and Winston

Michelle and Loki warming up for their lesson

Winston

Debbie on Grace. The only picture I caught of her with a
smile on her face.

Next post will hopefully have some pictures of a Carriage Driving Event in it. Right now I'm going to have breakfast and head to an open meditation session at the Davis Meditation Center. Time to clear my mind and get centered.

Return trip to Cali: St. Louis

Ok... so I haven't posted every day since we started driving. That is probably due to the fact that I have been having a literal nervous breakdown. I'm mostly better now... but it was at the cost of visiting my family in Chattanooga "on the way." Yeah, it wasn't on the way, but it would have been nice to see them. Instead, I spent a day in bed in a hotel room in Columbus, Ohio. So not fun.

But... I woke up this morning and felt better, so we jumped at the chance and hit the road. I managed today with no random bursts of tears or panic attacks.

The animals have been great, completely chill (as much as cats can be chill in a car). Tag is so good... surviving and doing his best to share space with Jack and Gill. Bangs spends all his time in the back of the car, even though he started in the front. It's rough, but we're managing.

Tomorrow we're headed to Omaha, and I will hopefully have dinner with someone I haven't seen in ... is it possible it's been 15 years? Crazy.

Cross-country: Reblogged (Chicago to Cleveland)

We're moving back to CA on Saturday. Yay!!! So in preparation for that event, I'm reposting the journey from CA to CT that took place 3+ years ago. Here's hoping that this trip goes a little more smoothly. We certainly learned a few tricks in the process! Next posts will be from the road.

May 31, 2010

We're outside Cleveland tonight... everyone is snuggled up on the bed together. I think they're pretty tired. I know I am. Tomorrow we drive from Cleveland to Stamford where we'll be staying in a hotel for a few more nights. Our stuff doesn't arrive until likely June 7... which, incidentally is Noah's first day at the new job.

We're ready to be done driving. It's been a long journey and we are glad to be getting to the end of it.

Tonight we're watching Bones re-runs and a thunderstorm that is rolling past the window.

I'll leave you with a few random pictures of the Midwest.

*Updated: I forgot to mention I ate at Cracker Barrel twice in 2 days... sigh. Love CB!

IWSG: Taking the leap

Hey!!! It's the first Wednesday of the month and I'm actually prepared enough to offer up my piece of the Insecure Writer's Support Group today. Woohoo! Thanks to the amazing Alex Cavanaugh for launching this group that has been such a great... well... support to writers like me who need to be able to talk about our fears and know that someone out there hears us and that maybe they know what we're going through, too. You should really join us. You'll never regret it.

What I want to talk about today isn't necessarily something that's strictly related to writing... but it's something that I'm going through right now and I needed to share.

If you didn't know yet, my husband's job is being outsourced at the end of this month. That's a good thing, believe it or not. N has been struggling with stress and frustration over his career for years now, and most acutely in the past three years. It's time for a change, time for us both to leap out into the great unknown and let our dreams of what we've always wanted to do take flight.

We've known this change was coming for months now, so we've had time to strategize and prepare. That doesn't mean we're ready, though. As the moment of truth draws nearer, we lean forward and look over the edge of the Cliff of Doing What You Dream. That's a pretty steep drop! Our hearts flutter a little more anxiously with each passing day. Soon, we're going to be faced with the decision. Do we really jump and risk the possibility of failure (or wild success)? Or do we do the safe thing and go back to occupations that we hate, but that we know will meet our budget each month?

The best thing, and an important piece for those who wish to experiment with flying, is that we are moving back to California, to a place where we have a support network, people to encourage us along the way. Talking through your fears and frustrations makes them easier to overcome. It's one of the reasons I love the IWSG. Supporters help lessen the impact when you fail... and give you the courage you need to try again. Thanks!

I hope that we'll at least push ourselves over the edge and see what we're capable of. We have a safety net, if we need it... but we'll never know if we can fly if we don't take the leap.

Still breathing

I'm stopping by to say "Hi" and "I'm still alive." It's been a crazy month for me, and I have a lot to do moving forward. I am pondering retooling this blog... I am keeping my business going... I am moving to California at the end of the summer... and somewhere in the midst of all that I am creating... something. I hope you are all well. I'll leave you with a detail of my new painting. Love and lots of literature to you all!

California dreams

I've been in Nor Cal for over a week now and it's wonderful. I miss it here so very much! I miss the sun and the birds and hanging out at the horse barn with my friends... it's enough to make a girl very homesick... which is a funny feeling when my husband and my beloved pets are all the way across the country. Sigh. One day I hope we get to move back here.

Things are just more... random and amazing out here. Like this for example:

I promise, window washing is random and amazing...

The other morning I was doing my NaNo writing at my father-in-law's house in San Francisco and I could hear opera... like... a really good baritone voice singing an Italian opera. I thought perhaps it was one of the neighbors. It's a classy neighborhood, after all. But no... no... it was this window washer!!! Seriously. Incredible.

Watson eating breakfast

I also have had three rides on Watson since I came to visit... and I kept myself together, no panicking or anxiety... just enjoyed the riding and relaxed. It's been a long time since I've done that. It felt nice to be back in the saddle until the next morning, of course. Wow was I sore! I really need to work on strength and flexibility more!! Sheesh!

Mallowmar the chatty kitty

Eva the beautiful

These are the two sweet kitties who sleep with me at night while I'm here and chat with me while I'm powering through my NaNo writing each day. I honestly thought I'd be so far behind on writing due to the trip. But thanks to some pre-planning and Write or Die, I am right on track! I even wrote extra on a couple of days so that I could take a day or two off in the middle. It's incredible and I'm actually excited about this NaNo lark of a novel. Things that I didn't expect have cropped up (like Clones!) and I'm just enjoying making it an outlandish story. 

I think one of my problems with writing is that I try to take myself too seriously. And I'm not really a serious person. Now that I'm just having fun with my novel, it's really become something I enjoy and I look forward to each day. I suppose it will be that way until it isn't one day... but I'm taking advantage of the good energy for now.

Aye me....