SeaHeart

So much has happened since my last real, substantial update. My life these past few weeks has been a non-stop rush of beautiful (and sometimes painful) moments, and I feel a little like "huh, how can I possibly cover everything?" but I am going to do my best to try. And then type up larger posts going over everything in detail, but this is sort of the "just the facts, ma'am," sort of update. *tips hat* :)

- The first annual Alternative Craft Fair that we put on and ran for our church was a resounding success for them. Through table costs for the vendors, a highly successful used book sale and raffle ticket sales, we raised a lot of money to help with the yearly maintenance of the church. <3 I was so humbled and grateful for the incredible effort that all of our church members put in to help us with everything--it was two of the most hectic days of my life, but worth every single moment. Again, I'll write more later, but it was awesome and NOW WE PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR. :D

- Hugh and Jer's wedding was beautiful beyond description. <3 <3 <3 I cried so many times--gods bless New York state for believing in equality. <333333333

- We went to visit Rachel for a week in Chicago for the continuation of our Midsummer Faerie Celebration. <3 We had been so exhausted by our efforts of previous years, and Rachel stepped up and said she didn't want it to die, and she wanted to carry it on. <3 Words can not express how beautiful those days were, how amazingly the Celebration went, the camaraderie of women (and Graeme and Daniel!) or how very much I needed and received that magic in my life. <3 There were so many purely enchanting moments, so much INCREDIBLY AND BADLY NEEDED lounging around and doing absolutely-positively nothing except enjoyment and having a splendiferous time. :D Oh my word. <3 <3 <3 I won't be able to articulate how grateful I was for the experience, or how grateful I was for the work, consideration, kindness and magic that Rachel put into it. <3 That will be a story when I type it up, ladies and gentlefae--the third annual Midsummer Faerie Celebration was the greatest of them all. <33333333

- Unfortunately, while we were in Chicago, we received a phone call from Jenn's mum late Saturday night: Jenn's father had had a heart attack. :((((((((((((( Being hundreds of miles away when one of your most precious loved ones is rushed to the ICU is kind of the most terrible thing that can ever happen--he stayed in ICU for several days, and is finally home, so pretty much the day after we arrived back from Chicago, we re-packed, and made the journey down to Pennsylvania where we are right now (I'm typing this entry on our bed in the guest room in Jenn's parents' house. I love our guest room--it is majorly PINK. <3). Jenn's dad is on the mend, and very mellow and easy-going about everything, and we're just so grateful and happy to see him smile and laugh. <3 <3 <3

- As the universe tends to work, during the phone call where Jenn was talking to her mum that Saturday night, another phone call sent a voice mail message to my phone, because my proxy at the awards ceremony had given me a call, and she wanted me to know that The Dark Wife had won the Golden Crown Literary Award for Speculative Fiction OMFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. SATURDAY NIGHT WAS A VERY EMOTIONAL ONE. I'm still in a kind of shock. :) <3 <3 <3 I can't believe it. I am so fucking grateful. <3