Past~Present~Future

~Past~
So much to catch up on and so little calm with which to do it. Still it's been such a juicy few days I must try to form it into sentences. I want to share, but then again I also want to clutch it close and say "mine" while waving everyone away.

So Friday I headed north. The plan was totally trashed early on. I hadn't had time to pack, I had a VP want to meet with me which took me past my desired departure time, I got to the farm and there was no farm share with our name, it was raining. You know, the usual.

If I had written about this Saturday the big news would have been that I have a new boss. They shifted me under the new VP who I affectionately refer to as Mr. Rogers without doing the actual re-org. Now, of course I know why, but that's getting ahead of things. The new boss is nice. He doesn't yell, he doesn't curse (guess I should watch that) and he's generally soothing and happy. It was a good meeting, even if it made me leave later than I planned.

I was doomed anyway by the weather and my own inability to be adequately prepared. Ah well. I drove and drove and drove and got to my sister's house around 11. I arrive just in time to be greeted by the just washed dog who had suprised a skunk in the back yard. Let's just say it sort of set the tone for excitement and the unexpected.

The purpose of the first leg of my trip was to see my sister's house. She bought it in the summer and I've been itching to see it. It is very cute. They're making real progress on the decorating and it already looks just like the sort place they belong. I love the neighborhood too. Mostly all older homes on treed lots. It oozes history and stability - very different from the slash and burn attitude around here where they flatten a farm and put in hundreds of cookie cutter houses on tiny little lots.

So we talked and walked and generally hung out. She even made me a birthday cake on Sunday. The only thing that marred the visit was plumbing issues which caused a bit of tension for the new homeowners. On the whole though, it was refreshing in the way that only time with family you really like can be.

Which brings us to my brush with fame. I went to visit LA . If you want a feel for just how rock star LA is, just look at my stats. LA linked me and my 20 hits a day went to 950.

So I sojurned to the Hobbit House and had a wonderful, wonderful visit. We talked and talked and after we slept we talked some more. I got the grand "tour de LA" and saw all the important landmarks. I'd share what they were but that would ruin my ambitious plan to fleece the tourists by leading tours once she becomes rich and famous. We took in a local craft fair and had a tasty lunch (if mildly disappointing due to a lack of onion rings). I ended up buying just one thing - a ceramic soap dish that doesn't match any of my bathrooms, but looks fabulous on my bedside table.

As we drove around we noted a definite deterioration of the traffic in the area. After a quick reading I sadly set out on the road. The trip back sucked but I was very very content. What fabulous people I know.

LA thinks I have a zen thing going. It's kind of comforting to know that I'm not bleeding any of my inner turmoil onto the world. She thinks I'm decisive but I think I'm just so excessively introspective that by the time it's time to move I've hashed it out a hundredfold and I'm ready. Perhaps with age comes some wisdom after all.