So I've been in four cities in two days....It was 70 when I left Philly, 40 in Chicago, 90 in Vegas...and now its somewhere between 58 and 60 in Oakland. I'm done! Anywho, it was a long weekend and it went like this...

Friday I got off of double shift number two (which I will never do again) and we headed out to Ryan's mom's house for pizza, drinks, and pool that eventually turned in to basement wiffle ball. The next day Ryan got on his way to school and I slept as long as I could before being roused and carried home where we prepped for the day of many parties. First there was Erich's BBQ, which was a good time with good food. It got started a little late, and we almost opted out of party number two, but Carolanne twisted my arm ;) so we headed out to Emily's in Colmar. We had a great time out there, ended up spending the night, met a bunch of new people, saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in a few weeks. All in all it was a good time with smores and football for breakfast. Sunday we had a good day together. Went to Rich's for a little while, then headed home to spend some time together before my flight out Monday. "Some time together" lasted til 2 hours before we had to leave, but it was indeed a fantastic night, and sleeping is what the gods made airplanes for.

Monday I got to Chicago early, which turned out to be a blessing. The nasty ladies in the BSO sent me to the wrong place on the wrong shuttle. The People Dept looked at me and said, "It's good to see you..but why are you here?" Luckily the wonderful people from the Hilton were willing to pick me up at the Business Center and I was not, in fact, late for the luncheon. At the luncheon I got to sit and eat at a table with Colleen, which absolutely made my day just being able to sit and chat with her like old friends. I got a (fuzzy) picture with her, and went about my day. After the luncheon I headed back to MDW and onto the (correct) trolley to the hangar where I got to meet and hug (but unfortunately not get a picture with) Herb and see the unveiling of the Illinois One, which is a gorgeous plane. Ran into a couple people from work, but still felt a bit alone in the crowd. I miss my hubby =o(. I opted out of the Message because it was a good hike from the airport and I was afraid I'd miss the last flight to Vegas, so I caught a plane and slept until we landed. It was great to see Lauren's happy face at the airport! I missed her so much! We spent a good few hours catching up and plotting the next visit (with boy in tow). This morning I woke up and spent some time reading, meditating, and playing with the kitties until Doug got home to drive me back to the airport where I BARELY made my flight to Oakland because my pump set off the metal detector and they had to wand me. I ALWAYS get wanded when I really have to pee! But I made it! It was great to see my dad and grandparents. Unfortunately my other grandparents are in Arizona. Hopefully they'll be back before I leave. Otherwise there's next time.

I head back to Philly Friday. I'm sure there will be more updates. I've got a few interesting dreams/meditations to update about later...but for now...I'm thirsty...

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This weekend was well...full.
Friday night the boys and I met up with Eric at a bar he frequents. There was good music, strong drinks, and a pool table, so we were happy. Eric's good company, and he and Ryan seemed to have a good time shootin' the shit. We got up nice and early with the intention of getting our fencing authorizations out in NJ. A flat tire and a long ass registration line later it was too late, so we drove the 2.5 hours back home unauthorized then off for another 2.5 hour drive! The drum circle was amazing, the group fantastic, and the conversation lasting through parts of the next day was amazing. We didn't want to leave but there were chores on both sides of the conversation and I was feeling kinda sick from being so upset and freaked out the night before. (Jenn does not do well with the informed knowledge of the presence of venomous spiders roaming free in the house...especially one with so many nooks, crannies, and potted plants.) Waffle House and sleep on the way home, along with some interesting conversation I'll get into later.

Today I got the OK to go back to work....Huzzah! *ding* We're both very excited about this. He's making pretty good money, and I'll have my check coming in...fantastic! We might even have money to save at the end of the month once we're all paid off! I'm going to see an apartment in the city tomorrow, and the landlady for the place near Rich's sounds optimistic about our paperwork. I also got word today that I may have my first gallery showing in 4 or so years! There's a split gallery in downtown West Chester I should be showing in through the month of August! Now to think of what I want to hang for it? Any modeling volunteers?


So now for the serious stuff...
We've been having the "where will we eventually settle down" argument since the beginning. If we have one serious issue, that's it. City mouse with no license and a crippling fear of motor vehicles marries a country mouse who really isn't happy being away from the natural energies and you can guess where the conversation goes. He doesn't want to be in PA forever, and neither do I. However, he'd like to move to Montana where I'd like to return to California. I know he's hesitant about leaving his home. I've done it, and I know how it feels to pack up and leave. What are my concerns about NOT moving back? I miss the Bay Area, I really do, and I've always wanted to raise my kids for at least a part of their lives there. I also miss my family, and they're not going to be there forever. My grandparents are getting older, my dad's getting older, and in 20 years I don't want to regret not being around more. If I go inflight, I can solve some of this anxiety for me, but what about my children. Will they ever get to spend Christmas with MY family since we're supposed to be here with Ryan's? Will my dad be able to fly to see us ever? I do have my issues about being away from the city. I enjoy the culture and life in a city, but as long as we're not 4 hours away I can deal with the distance. Ryan assures me we'll still do things and go out, that we can still spend time in the city. To be honest, I wouldn't mind the change of pace one I can get over this fear and get my license. So now we're talking about joining this group of people, talking about making it a serious part of our lives. He's hesitant because he's afraid it'll give him one more stress factor about leaving here. He's worried he'll get involved and attached,, so he's letting it give him hesitation about being involved at all. My concern is..what if we never leave? And we're STILL not involved? We could go through this every year and never take either action. Even if we did move, I don't want this to be a point of regret. More importantly, I don't want the next step in our journey both together and individually to be stunted because we're afraid it might be an important one. I'm concerned about cutting our paths short for a long time and not being spiritually fulfilled because of what may or may not happen. I understand his concerns, I really do. I just don't know that we should limit ourselves because of this. I think for now I've convinced him to see it through, especially until we see about this inflight thing. It may never happen either. then we'll have a completely new set of decisions to make. Ah the joys of decisions that effect more than just me.....

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this makes me sick to my stomach
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/parents-pick-prayer-over-docs-girl-dies/n20080327145609990008?ecid=RSS0001

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finally a pic of my tattoo!



23 eggs to learn how to put em in the basket...


1 to learn there's candy inside!

tada!
enjoy

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Easter itself was a day and a half. We had the baby in the morning, which was wonderful. It took us 23 out of 24 eggs to teach him to put them int he basket..and 1 out of 24 eggs plus a Peep to teach him how to open them...let me tell you..baby+marshmallow= hilarious. Dinner was yummy, after dinner not so yummy, but hey, I felt at home. Played a few games of pool and got to meet Ryan's other sister before things went downhill and we made our escape. We headed to the movies to see Bucket List (which I really liked) and Horton Hears a Who! (Yay double freeture) which was cute.

Since the other day our energies have been crazy. Not bad crazy, just different in a lot of ways. I'm still ruminating on the topic at hand, but I'm a little more decided about it I guess. it'll take some time...and there will be a post on it soon to get more thoughts out.

More job hunting today....weeeeeeee.....

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We ended up spending the night at JD's the other night..which started my week of little to no sleep...
got errands and such run..ALMOST done...
job hunting for hubby.
lots of screaming from both ends.

last night we had an egg dying party at Rich's to prep for today's Ostara get together.
fisheye wine is alright.
stromboli was better.
lots of fun ensued.

Ostara today was wonderful. They're a great group of people, and I hope we can get to better know them.
was given food for thought, which I will post about when I've had time to consider it all.
sometimes brutal truth is the best advice.

Ryan's out at a birthday party with the rest, while I'm working on winding down so I can sleep.
Early am tomorrow...
Yay Easter!
go find some eggs!

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