You Know You're Home When...

you wake up and open your eyes to see two blissful beautiful big blue eyes gazing at your face from six inches away.

Sachi was curled cosily in the curve of my body and had her head pillowed on my upper arm. When she saw I was awake, she snuggled her face on my arm and began purring loudly.

Happiness is a warm kitty.
(With apologies to Charles Schultz)

I Need a Break to Recover From My Vacation

It was a good trip. Of the twenty people I wanted to visit, I saw sixteen. I wish it had been twenty out of twenty, but time and circumstances didn't permit.

I stopped at Grace's condo. For closure, I guess. The wheelchair ramp had been refurbished. I hope somebody nice lives there now.

My old apartment is about a half mile away from Grace's place, so I went by there too. Big changes -- when I lived there it was brown brick with old fashion windows and doors, no air conditioning. The street of fourplexes has been made into a street of condos, "Starting in the low $190's." I used to pay $145 a month rent. Boggles the mind.

All the driving and the visiting isn't what I need to recover from, however, it was the trip home that wore me out. Fortunately, I left Chapel Hill for the Charlotte Airport early because traffic was stopped west of Greensboro for about an hour for road construction. Dumped the rental heap and made for the gate as fast as I could, heart pounding for fear I'd miss the plane. Only to discover all Newark flights delayed. They finally boarded us two hours late and we arrived in Newark at 7:45 p.m., just as the plane to SLC was taking off. I ended up spending the night in Terminal C and flying to Houston on the 5:30 a.m. flight, then on home in the afternoon.

Newark Airport, Concorse C, 2:00 a.m.

When the taxi dropped me off at the house, Kitsu came running down the driveway, wailing at the top of her lungs and hugged my legs. As soon as I got into the house, Sachi went into VelcroKitty mode too. For the last three nights I've slept under a living fur-and-purr blanket; warm and cozy, but a wee bit difficult to change positions without making the girls whinge and moan.

The Engineer seemed glad to see me too. He hadn't changed the sheets since I'd left, so that was one of the first things I attended to. He's had me running my tail off since I got back. Loads of laundry, lots of cooking and cleaning, running errands and shopping. And we had to attend an engineering geek fest and dinner Saturday night. No rest for the wicked it seems.

I really could use a couple days off to relax..

In Our Nation's Capital

It's good to see old friends. GuiGrl and I hung out yesterday and talked up a storm. Guess that's what happens when you haven't seen each other for a couple of years. Today we're going to meet Bioephemera's Cicada for lunch then head to the national zoo. GG's got a thing for pandas. Tomorrow the plan is to go to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. GG's husband, the MarvelousMike, will join us on that expedition. He and GG make an interesting couple; he's 6'5" and she's 5'2". I'm 5'2" also, so he'll be bracketed by short women tomorrow.

Coming east reenforces how much I miss the lush greenery of this side of the country. There are green areas in Utah, but they aren't the same -- the feeling is different. I can hardly wait to get to the Blue Ridge Mountains. To see the living green mountains rising up all around me, to feel the soft, moist air and hear the gurgle and splash of water, is to be home.

Home and In Need of a Shower

Packed up our stuff this morning and cleaned the cabin (I had bathroom duty as usual), ate breakfast at the Sourdough Inn, then headed for home. It's a seven hour drive, so it was 6:00 by the time we got back to unload the truck and put stuff away. Then I had to scrounge something from the freezer to defrost to cook for dinner.

Now the Engineer is tucked snug in his bed and I have a couple minutes to sit down in front of the computer (with a purring Sachi wedged between the keyboard and my chest doing the happy cat march) and catch up on a few things. I received a very exciting e-mail from a friend who'd fallen off the face of the earth a couple of years ago. I've got to e- her back and let her know how glad I am she's well.

Then the shower. I really need the shower.

I was good while I was gone, though, and put pencil to paper all four days. I will transcribe those paper blog entries and post them when I have the time. I'll post a few pictures too. But first, the shower.