  i miss europe. last night, i felt like a portal opened, and i was both here and there. vivid. the smells, the feeling so clear. and then it was gone. i want to go back, but there are so many choices of where. back to austria, prague, paris, netherlands, germany, or italy? what of ireland, greece, croatia... i miss several of my friends. two i talked to yesterday (one the phone and in person), another i'll see today, one i've meant to call for months (sorry wee), one i need to email back and have mentally composed the email several times, and another i think of often and hold conversations with even though we're very far away.
school is soon to start and i get grouchy thinking of it. the kids gone and i'll want to do so many things. that's when i'll miss homeschooling and our ski days and such. but it's better this way, the way it needs to be. i'll miss them though. oh yeah, i decided "no" on the reality tv show. it just wouldn't have been a good idea,i think.
my writer friend, laura walker, is coming for four days. it's her writing escape, and i'm thrilled to have her work here. i get to bring her tea and discuss plots and my new wacky idea i'm working on -- we're even strong about not talking too long so she should get lots done (maybe i'll get a decent amount too?).
laura, my inaugural author to stay in my office with new comfy futon bed i bought for guests. even have some pictures up for her -- hemingway, van gogh, dali, matchbox twenty, buechner, enger (inspiration all around). writing: reading the fountainhead is invigorating the writing mind. last night, as i drove and felt europe around me, i discovered two major solutions on two different projects. can't wait to work on them. and the wacky idea, my writing experiment titled either 3am or clockworks -- i've set a goal to finish the first draft.
have a friends who will ask about it, right? we need that, you know. another goal to finish revision on a novel i wrote two years ago, my trusty agent will ask about that. i guess i like missing things. it fine tunes the senses, even with its element of aching and longing. maybe missing things makes us all a little more than we'd be without it. know what i mean? 
