In Her Hands, words written: 856
In Her Hands, words total: 8033

We’re at the bike seat place. So far I’ll I’ve managed to do is finish some earlier journal entries. Since I’m on a roll with that, let me catch ya’ll up on the past weeks.

When we left our heroine in late October, she and her beloved were frantically trying to finish various house renovations in time for the big housewarming/Halloween bash. This basically describes Wednesday the 27th. That evening, we went out for Japanese food with Morgana and Brian, and we all spent some time admiring the breathtaking blood moon. That’s the last total eclipse until 2008…. I hope you call got to spend some time under the glow.

On Thursday the 28th, Morgana and I went shopping for decortations for the party. The theme was Unleash Your Inner Goth, and given my proclivities, the color scheme was to be primarily black and purple. I’m happy to report that I actually came in under budget, although I wasn’t able to justify the faux wrought-iron archway for the sidewalk.

I ended up with a nasty headache, though. That night I went to the local newsletter Lick & Stick, followed by the monthly healing ritual. That helped my headache immensely. (It was kind of amusing when Albra put her hands on the base of my skull and exclaimed at how much energy I promptly started sucking. Yes, that’s exactly where my headache was centered.)

Somewhere in there, Ken removed the ugly rectangular fire screen from the fireplace. The fireplace, see, is arched, and the rectangle…well, you get the idea. Some evil person at some point in the past painted the brick, and there’s not a lot we can do about that save sandblasting it all. When the house was recently touched up, they didn’t paint behind the screen. So, on Friday, I repainted the white bits that needed it, and when that dried, painted some of the bricks in the archway a brick color that echoes the tiles in front of the fireplace. Morgana and I had found a picture of a similar fireplace in a bungalow magazine, and if I couldn’t have brick, I had to do something to highlight the archway.

Oh my goodness. The painting didn’t just make the archway pop and make the fireplace _work_, it changed the whole feel of the living room. I’m still stopping and gazing at it. Wow. I put a wrought iron votive holder in the fireplace (the chimney has no flue, so fires aren’t likely to happen anytime soon, alas) and scattered dead roses in front of the votive holder for the party. I did get pictures, and yes, I know I need to start posting them. (I especially want to do the series showing how my study has progressed.)

Anyway, while I was painting and panicking, Morgana offered to start decortating. I didn’t think we could yet, with all the work that still needed to be done (the dining room table, for example, was covered with tools and paperwork and whatnot), but she just calmly found things she could work on. She put the black boas up the banister like garland. She unwrapped the white pillar candles and set them up the staircase. She unwrapped the purple and black plates and napkins, and restacked them so they alternated color. I don’t remember what all else she did, just that she was amazingly calm and efficient, and she saved my sanity.

Meanwhile, the plasterer came and made various holes in walls disappear like magic. He was awesome, and he loves old houses, so he was very happy to hear about everything we were doing.

Oh, and we knew by Thursday or Friday that the kitchen/bathroom/utility porch linoleum was just not going to happen. Home Depot basically has no idea what their ordering process is, and the stuff isn’t actually due in until the 10th. Since there was nothing we could do about it, we pretty much just had to let it go, although I was bummed that Donna, who sold us the house, wasn’t going to get to see it. It’s really going to change the look of the kitchen.

That night, Caer Glas had its Samhain ritual. (They’re an offshoot of the Celtic Roebuck Tradition, and many of our friends are affiliated. They have open full moons that I occasionally go to as well.) Ken stayed home and kept working, so I gave Albra a ride to Ojai (the blind leading the blind—we both have rotten night vision, but she knew where she was going and I overcompensate for my poor depth perception, so we actually work pretty well together). Anyway, there was a potluck with much fun and silliness and friendship, and then a lovely ritual in the hills. Group rituals are always so full of energy. :-)

Saturday morning, when the plaster was dry, I painted my study/library. We went shopping for food and party supplies and pumpkins. Morgana loaned me gourds and gargoyles and a black brocade tablecloth and did more decortating, and fixed my wings. Two hours before the party started, Ken ripped up the carpet in my study—hurrah! No more turquoise hideousness! With the painting, it transformed the room. Since there was nothing else in the room, we put in the chairs from around the dining room table (because their backs are high, and the table was being used as the buffet for food). We arranged them in a circle, and put a small table in the middle, and I realised that what would make it perfect was my Ouija board. But for the first time in years, I couldn’t put my hands on it. Damn.

Because of all the last-minute renovations and cleaning and decortating and organising, I was a fashionable half an hour late to my own party. I was the Angel of Death: Black burnout velvet Goth dress, fishnets, high witchy boots, wings, and halo. I must say, we picked a good theme in Unleash Your Inner Goth. So many gorgeous women in corsets and bodices! So many gorgeous men in black!

A few people who I’d thought were coming didn’t, and I didn’t get confirmation of that until afterwards; I truly missed them (and, in fact, worried about them when it got late and they hadn’t arrived). However, tons of wonderful people came to the party, and the house was filled with light, love, and laughter. It still vibrates and sparkles from that, and the house-blessing ritual I’m planning will include that energy.

We had several bottles of champagne in the fridge and I decided they needed to be shared. So I became the Champagne Fairy. Hee! The next day, Cat said I had definitely been in my Happy Tipsy Place. Well, that’s true: I was happy, and I was tipsy. It was such a glorious party!

On Sunday we had an open house, primarily for people who couldn’t come to the party or didn’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of wild Goths. To our surprise, Ken’s dad didn’t show up, nor did the rest of the people we expected. We were very glad that Donna did, and she was thrilled with what we’d done to the house so far (and was amused by Cat thanking her profusely for selling the house to us), but other than her, there was no point in having the open house. Oh well, live and learn.

Mel, Meredith, Cat, and Helen had all spent the night. Cat got up early and went to church, and Mel went to fighter practise. In the afternoon we played Fluxx and ate pizza, which was a lovely, relaxing way to spend the day. I’m looking forward

That night, there was an open house at Morgana and Brian’s, which included a small, quiet ritual and not one, but two, readings of “The Gashlycrumb Tinies”.

I woke up with a sinus headache on Monday the 1st, but I worked through it. Morgana and I went out and scavenged the Halloween sales to great success. I had my first chiro appt, which turned out to be absolutely wonderful. I hadn’t had an adjustment in at least two months, and I really, really needed one. I think I’m going to like the doctor, too; he believes in total wellness and focusing on nutrition and exercise, etc.

Meanwhile, as evidence above, I finally got started on the Brava novella. After all the craziness of the last few weeks, it felt so good to be writing again…

The rest of the week has followed a similar pattern: some house stuff, some together stuff, some writing stuff. On Friday, I had a second chiro appt, and I’m already less crooked than I was on Monday (my left side was significantly higher than my right side before that adjustment). I felt restless in the evening and wanted to do something; we had discussed going to the beach and dinner with Morgana and Brain, but had never gotten around to making specific plans. I ended up spending most of the evening poking around on TVTome.com, reading trivia about “Buffy” and other shows. Sad but true. I was a useless lump. Oh well. We rounded out the evening watching “CSI” and other stuff.

And now we’re all caught up.

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House updates: We’re still waiting on the linoleum, which is due on the 10th. I imagine we’ll schedule the installation for the following week. The cover piece for my desk doesn’t look to be fixable, so Ken will be recreating it. And since it would be silly to paint it only to strip it later, we’re now looking at stripping the whole built-in desk and shelves before I settle in there. We’re still doing some final research on various strippers and so forth. While I’m antsy to get settled in the room, I think this will be the best solution in the end. I’m thinking of painting the walls a deep Victorian red…

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Well, I’m not getting any writing done. Journal’s updated, and I’ve read a few things on the computer that I’d been sitting one. Ack. It’s a little cold in here. I’m sitting in the shop’s office—it’s a very small place. It also feels a little weird to be writing a sex scene with strangers around.

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Came home. Drank much-needed tea. Potted herbs after Ken put together my new pretty metal shelf to hold pots, and dug up lots of dirt for me. After dinner, hunkered down and chatted with Phaedra and got some writing done. Finished Chapter 2! Next up, the morning after…conflict…and more hot sex.

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(Note: I finally added the entries for 2nd and 3rd October, if anyone wishes to take an even farther trip into the past.)