The Trip Home
On Saturday August 24th I woke up bright and early and our new roomie Kate took me to the airport. I arrived a little too late, however, and missed my plane. It was a close call, and I could have probably made it if 1. I didn't have so much crap that I couldn't have in my luggage and 2. If the line through security wasn't so long. And so I got back in line at the check in desk, smiled sweetly at the man working, and said "I didn't quite make it." He was very obliging, telling me a flight was leaving in another hour and a half for Atlanta. Then he went "Oooh." I said "What oooh?" Turns out the next flight out of Atlanta wasn't until 5pm. And so I got to spend six hours in the Atlanta airport, where I bought a book: World War Z and had some gumbo and took long walks among artwork.
By far the coolest sculpture
The plane ride itself was nice, as the gentleman at the desk had given me emergency exit window seats for both flights. On the little plane out of Asheville I sat next to this super hot guy from Salt Lake City, or at least he was super hot until I saw what he was listening to. An entire John Mayer album. Ew ew ew. I finally arrived in Portland at around 7 and my Mama picked me up and I was home!
The next day I got to meet this little lady for the first time:
The most adorable five month old EVER!
Had a nice lunch with Matt, Anna, Mom, Chloe and Audrey, followed by a little family barbecue which my dad came to as well. Monday mom and I went and got pedicures with my lovely friend Holly and Tuesday I visited with Jessie and little Aubrey for a good while.
Hello Blue Eyes!!
Then had a girls night with Jess, Jenn, and Janine. The triple J's.
On Wednesday I spent all day with Chloe and Audrey. By myself! I am such a super-auntie!
Chloe is getting so big!
I could go on and on about how much I love these little girls, but I'll spare y'all for now. Suffice to say that I miss them so much and I cannot wait to play with them more in December. They make me smile and bring so much joy and love!
Thursday I headed out to Estacada to visit friends, and we played for a few days. Jenn and Lori came to play with us and we had much fun. I did spend some time in contemplation during this last leg, mostly about how I loved visiting everyone but how I knew that home was two places now. As in, I was homesick for Asheville. Interesting stuff, that!
It was so wonderful seeing all the people I love, so wonderful to get some sunshine and happiness in. It's a true thing when I say that what I miss the most are the people who mean so much to me. I also sort of miss the no humidity thing, but that's pretty self-explanatory.
Home to Candler
My kitties were waiting for me when I got home, as was little Dali (Kate's adorable little dachshund) and of course good ol' cutie-pie Rufus, my buddy. Our house is full now, and the energy and life that came in with Kate is refreshing and lovely. We've had tons of company, lots of big dinners with friends and games and delicious drinks. Wendy and Steve sent me home with a bottle of Parfait d'Amore and so I was finally able to make these folks the legendary Lavender Martinis that I've been talking about for months. We had a real honest-to-goodness fire that we made s'mores on. With peanut butter cups. You're welcome. And while there has been some animosity between the dachshund and the kitties, that's been mended by super-star David who made them a kitty ladder out my window. And he also fixed our fan, our table, and our computer. Handy man to have around!
We've had dog visitors too. Here are David and Larry Bird napping:
Dali the Dachshund
One of the delicious dinners on the porch where even I helped!
See the Okra? I did that!
Can YOU Do the Charleston?
Our dear Molly's birthday is this coming Thursday, so as an early celebration we decided to head to Charleston for the weekend. We got the sweet hook-up from Molly's friend Leah and a big blue beach house for 300 for two nights! It was AWESOME! I even slept on bunkbeds! (Bottom bunk)
When we first arrived we took a nice rainy walk on the beach. And that water was so incredibly warm! So different than the chilly PNW coast for sure!
The following day dawned warm and sunny though, so we packed up a picnic lunch and headed to the beach for reals!
Kate, Leah, and Molly...beach ready!
Me on the beach! Check the sunshine people!
Kate letting the sun worship her!
My legs and the surf...ahhh
We hung out just us girls that night, having had a boy with us the previous night. (Adam, our friend who was watching Rufus, joined us for some drinking and relaxing. The porch at the house is completely screened in and even has a ceiling fan!) I got to know Leah and her friend Carrie well. All in all it was a lovely girls weekend. On Sunday it was HOT and we walked Rainbow Row and the Battery in downtown Charleston, then headed home. We had planned on going to a concert that night but it got postponed, which is just as well. We were beat!
So that's what's been going on in the life of Shanti. Playing hard, and now it's time to get to work. I have three writing assignments for the next two weeks: Blog twice a week, finish my short story, and write ten pages on my third book. I'm going to be busy! But don't worry, I'll squeeze some fun into there as well. And writing again feels so darn good all on it's own.
Until next you hear from me, which will be soon!
Shanti Elena
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