Oh, pets, what a good day this has been. Not perfect, but very good. Good for the soul.

Phaedra stayed up late last night doing final edits on a story that’s about to be posted at www.battlecorps.com (she was reviewing the editor’s copy edits and making some final tweaks of her own). I crashed with an eye mask on, but had trouble sleeping. Phooh. The alarm came way too early for both of us.

We had lunch at PDX and then sadly said our farewells. I don’t know when I’ll see her next, and that’s always an unhappy thing. I know I _will_, but I prefer knowing _when_. The problem with long-distance friends (and you all know who you are).

However, I was then productive, because I had two hours until my plane. I worked on the short story that’s about 95% sold on proposal. On the plane, I ended up watching some comedy (stand-up, and a funny “Frasier”) and reading; the person ahead of me put his seat back and while Afalwen is small enough that I can still see her screen, it’s awkward and I was tired.

Then we landed, and my beloved was waiting for me! I missed Ken so much. This workshop was strange and different in many ways, including time compression. We had overlapping assignments, to give us a taste of what Work-for-Hire is often like, and so the days began to overlap. I missed Ken—I always do; it’s like not being fully me when I’m not with Sarah—but I was so busy and so tired that I didn’t have time to think about it. The last few days, it hit harder—the missing him, I mean. So although I was sad to say goodbye to the workshop house and Kris & Dean and Gally the cat (who saved my sanity on two separate occasions, when I had to have a kitty fix) and Phaedra and the Oregon Coast, I was overwhelmed to be back in Ken’s arms.

I’m such a romantic sap sometimes. But that’s okay; I’m content with that.

We stopped for Baja Fresh for lunch, then came home, where I paid some bills and entered all my receipts into Quicken and copied files here and there. It was a gentle afternoon. We stopped often to talk about various things.

Eventually I showered, and we went off to our Realtor’s to sign various paperwork (all of the offer-counteroffers, which seemed silly given that it’s all done and agreed-upon). It’s rather strange and wonderful, really. The woman who grew up in this house, who loved it so much, is getting it back. (Ironically, because she recently bought a house a couple streets over, her mother is co-signing the loan. Her mother and father are who we bought it from.) We’re getting a house that will mean something to us personally, from someone who had a personal family investment in it. (If I’m doing my math and genealogy correctly, her grandmother first lived in it starting 40 years ago.) It feels as though everyone is getting what they really want, not just in an object, a house, but in a _place_ that means something to them. Isn’t that wonderful? Sometimes it makes me want to weep.

(Refer to my comment above about being a romantic sap.)

Then we went to Todai and ate much suuuushi, although I was good for once and didn’t overeat, which I usually do with sushi. We came home, and I remembered that I’d meant to buy wine, so we walked to the 7-11 and I did just that.

Then I took the laptop into the living room and wrote more on the story. I’d hoped to finish it today, but I’m quite fine with finishing it tomorrow. I like it a lot. I like the voice in it. I hope it conveys the sultry ME feels I’m trying to capture.

Now we’re going to watch something before I fall over unconscious. Tomorrow’s goal is to get up early and go to B&N and work for a couple hours before errands need to be run.