Relocation, relocation

Well, we've arrived in our new home in San Diego after a lot of stress, too many hours on too many planes, and a three-week separation due to visa issues. But now we're happy and suntanned and enjoying lots of great vegetarian food, so all is well.

Mission Beach, San Diego, CA

I've been kept very busy revisiting my hometown like a tourist: the beaches, the bay, the harbor, Coronado Island, the aquarium, the zoo, SeaWorld, a Padres game—I'm doing as much sight-seeing as I did when I lived in England, if not more (probably more, since I'm now unemployed). A lot of that has been with my sisters and my four-year-old niece and six-month-old nephew. After five years of living 6,000 miles away from my family, it's nice to be able to see them on a daily basis. That includes, of course, my ancient and honorable cat, Timmy, pictured here with his summer hairdo:

Love.

Today I rejoined my local library, which was a total blast from the past—I used to spend hours there when I was small, picking out picture books, and later chapter books, books about animals, Sweet Valley Twins, everything by Cynthia Voigt, and on into science fiction (middle school was all about Michael Crichton for me), fantasy, horror, and classics. Walking into that library was like revisiting my entire reading history. It was pretty cool.

In all of this, writing has taken a backseat for me for the first time since 2007. I didn't write a word of fiction for over three weeks (just my personal journal). First it was jet-lag, and then spending time with family and friends, applying for jobs, researching phone companies and banks...somewhere in there, writing got lost.

Yesterday I opened my current WIP for the first time since the move. It felt awesome getting back into a writing rhythm, like scratching an itch or eating your favorite food for the first time in years. It felt right.

So basically this is just a post to let you know that I'm still here, still writing, and still blogging for the foreseeable future. And that I'm so glad to be back. :)

Ch-ch-ch-changes

So the Big Chimp and I have some pretty big changes coming up. Next month, we're moving. But not just to a new house or a new town. We're moving across the ocean, like this:

This won't be the first time I've done this, but that doesn't mean it isn't stressful and a little scary. I've lived in England for almost five years now, four of them with the Big Chimp. And if you include my junior year abroad during college, that adds up to about 60% of my adult life spent living in the UK. Even my accent has changed—I pronounce tomato to-mah-to and banana ba-nah-na. In short, I've pretty much forgotten how to be American.

And I'm excited, too. We're moving to my hometown, wherein resides the largest chunk of my family—my sisters, my aunt, my grandma and my unbelievably ancient cat, Timmy. I've got a niece and a nephew there, and childhood friends, and—stacked patiently in a cheap storage unit—all of my books. And there's sunshine there, and beaches, and Mexican food, and palm trees and avocados and the Pacific Ocean and all the other things that, in my mind, make up home.

It's a strange feeling, going back to a place that I left so long ago. But it's an adventure, too. When I came to England the second time, to do my MA, I only planned to stay a year. I arrived in Brighton knowing no one and now I have this whole British existence that I never could have imagined just a few years ago. Isn't life weird?

All experiences, big and little, contribute to creating and developing your personality. England is one experience that I'm so, so glad I've had, for so many reasons. But I'm ready for a new adventure now. And a little bit of sunshine.