My trip home... Part 1.

I'm still pretty jet-lagged and my mind's a big mess of jumbled thoughts, but if I don't get this down now, I'll probably have an even harder time once I start back to work.

The trip home was fantastic.
It was a bit more cluttered with shopping and sightseeing than I would have liked, but I guess that was to be expected, taking along my friend Jenn and the Old Guy like I did. I just wanted to "be"... if that makes any sense, and just sort of revel in the days... the scenery... the "one-ness" of being home again.
I would have been perfectly content to just veg out and just hang around the house and property and spend some quality time with my son and sweet little family... ya know what I mean?

But even though it kind of sounds like I'm complaining, I'm not. It was a perfect visit, and it was so perfect that I decided that I'm going to start making plans to move back permanently, just as soon as I can tie things up here.

Anyway... before I get carried away and start in on the why's and wherefores, let me tell you about the trip itself.

The weather was perfect in every way... and it was kind of like California was showing me everything that I've missed about her.
We had days of rain, we had days of gorgeous spring-like weather, we had a couple of days of snow, as well as soft, warm summer days... and I loved every bit of it. The rainy days were spent shopping, the snowy days were spent sitting around the fire, the spring days were spent exploring and taking long drives... and the warmer days were spent visiting with friends and family... So it was heavenly, in every way!

I didn't realize that the day I had planned for the *get-together* was my middle grandson's birthday, but everything slotted in with the get-together, perfectly. I managed to spend the day celebrating my grandson Griffins birthday, catch up with old friends and family, as well as getting to meet for the first time, some ladies who are near and dear to my heart. And after having met them, they're nearer and dearer to my heart than they were before. If that's even possible...

We met up at the little local Murphys Park on Saturday April 24th, and Connie from Over Good Ground was the first to show up. Well, to tell you the truth, she was there before I was, and I guess she spent some embarrassing time walking around the park and asking total strangers "Are you Kate?" before I even got there.
And I don't know about her feelings on her end of things, but once we finally met, it was "instant" for me... you know what I mean? I felt that we just "clicked" - and I wasn't surprised at all.

Connie is as warm and caring and thoroughly lovable as I've always imagined she would be. With her living just in the next county, her posts and photos have always touched me, and there have even been times when she's gone out of her way to email me photos of 'local stuff' - just because she understands just how much I miss being home.
Meeting her was a pure joy, but she even brought me some gifts...
The most perfect gifts imaginable... and she put a lot of thought into them, knowing somehow exactly what I needed to have. She had handcrafted a beautiful necklace for me, with shells from 'home', bits of wood from the area, buttons and beads... and all put together with love and meticulous attention to detail.
And to tell you the truth, I haven't taken it off yet... and I have no intention of putting this one in the jewelery box. It's that perfect... and so completely and utterly evocative of "home" and Connie's thoughfulness.
She also brought me a rose from her garden, as well as a small bunch of lavender, and a couple of small pieces of local manzanita wood and and lichen... knowing somehow, just how much it would touch my heart.
And as much as I appreciate and love the gifts that she gave me, it was the simpler - and greater gift - of Connie's hand in friendship that truly touched my heart.
But that's not all...

She also brought me a 'oh-so-amazing and humbling' gift from another blogging friend of ours, who couldn't make it to the get-together.
See, Ros from Ros-the-quilter and I share some of the same heartaches - with the losses of her son Matthew and my Jenny and Jake - and we've developed a wonderful email and blogging friendship... But this lovely, warm and caring woman put a lot of time and effort into crafting a gorgeous quilt just for me - sending it to Connie to pass along.
Me... a woman she's never met before in her life!

I was simply gobsmacked when Connie presented it to me, and I'm afraid that I did an awful lot of babbling and sniffling, and I probably didn't express myself like I wish I had... but I was just overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness of this wonderful woman, and the utter perfectness of her gift to me.
A woman that I've never (yet) had the pleasure of meeting... yet who still put her heart and soul into a quilt that well and truly touched my heart.

Unfortunately, even though I took a lot of pictures, somehow in the downloading, copying and whatnot at my sons house, I inadvertently left my memory card behind and I can't share any of the original photos with you yet...
I'll be going out today and getting another memory card (Josh is sending mine in the mail just as soon as he finds it) but I don't want to wait that long to share some of the photos, because I need to share with you what these two lovely, warm and thoughtful women did for me. How much they touched my heart, and put a smile of contentment on my face.

I'm going to leave off now, rather than make this post into a humongous novel... but stay tuned for the next installment of "My trip home.. part 2"... or even 3 or 4. Hey, maybe even more...
Because once I start talking, it's hard to shut me up.
And I promise... there will be pictures.

Besides, I need to go find the tissues and wipe my eyes right now.