THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME

but ruby slippers would have been handy today... I woke up at 6:00 this morning with severe heartburn and had to go to the emergency room... and this was while we were still six hours away from home!

I'm doing much better now, and am safely in my home sweet home surrounded by my loved ones and in surroundings that are rather too eerily familiar... it seems so strange to have been away for three months!

This week will be a major re-entry period and will probably be very weird and possibly emotionally challenging, so I'd appreciate prayers!

Time for a whole new adventure of life!

Joss Whedon to direct "Avengers"

http://www.newsinfilm.com/2010/04/13/joss-whedon-to-direct-the-avengers/

*completely freaks out*

*calms down*

Oooooh, this is super cool news! I hope he's majorly involved with the script too, because that's definetely his strongest area...

For those of you who are unaware, Joss Whedon is important to me personally because of his work on the X-Men comics, and of course his creation of a new favorite show of mine - "Firefly." (He's most famous for creating "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" which has a pretty good rep among people I respect, though I think it would be too scary for me). Whedon is excellent at creating strong characters and working with ensemble casts, as well as writing complex plots with deep themes and great dialogue. So we could really get a good film here! :)

On the road...

I'm on the way back home now and therefore have very limited internet access. Travel is going well, however, and I'm very blessed to be spending time with my grandparents, uncle, aunt, and cousins... which includes babies and, well, I just rather adore babies. ;)

Hope you all are doing well also! :)

Easter beauties

I mentioned that Easter was wonderful... well part of it was the absolutely enchanting table settings and decorations we had! Regina did a lovely post about it on her blog, which I am excited to share with you! http://houseartjournal.blogspot.com/2010/04/easter-vigil-and-morning-centerpieces.html

Also, the pictures show three of the five Easter dresses I orchestrated making for the five younger ladies (and babies!) of Shirefeld!

"The Tripods Attack"

I'm usually very wary of Science Fiction novels that deal with aliens. Because I really don't like aliens. They can just be too... creepy. Especially in those "taking over the world" scenarios...

But, well, "The Tripods Attack" has a very interesting premise that really cannot fail to hook a Chesterton fan. Because it's the first book in "The Young Chesterton Adventures" which places young Gilbert Keith Chesterton in an alternative history where everything is backwards and literature peeps through at every crack. Britian is industrialized by steam computers (more or less) and a strange set of mysterious circumstances land Gil in the midsts of a Martian invasion, rushing against time to save the world with the help of Father Brown and a certain H.G. Wells!

As stated before, the book completely turns history on its head. Chesterton shows up as an imigrant to Britain from the United States, and the Titanic likewise started off in New York and was making it's maiden journey to... London?

It's an exciting ride that will keep you turning pages, but be prepared for anything to happen. History isn't the history you know, and bits and characters from Lewis, Doyle and Shelley among other authors come in as real, living breathing characters. For example, most prominent is the constant referance to "Ransom" as a main player on Mars. Anyone who has read C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy will recognize Ransom at once. Plus, of course there are numerous referances to many Chesterton works. Having only read some Father Brown mysteries and "The Man Who was Thursday" I am quite certain I didn't catch them all, but I'm sure they are there.

This is a very old fashioned style of Science Fiction, appropriately written in the vein of H.G. Wells and C.S. Lewis. There is one particular scene of alien violence that I found almost too horrific, but other than that the book is fairly appropriate and would be a fun and intriguing read.

I'm not an expert on Chesterton, but I've been told that the one flaw in the book is that Chesterton really isn't that much like... Chesterton. Which I can see is very true. Gil is very much the ordinary 17-year-old boy hero you'd find in any book. So if you're looking for a story that tells you more about the REAL Chesterton, you'll likely be disappointed. If however you're looking for a good read full of fun referances to the works of Chesterton, Lewis, etc, plus a healthy invasion of outerspace enemies and plenty of mystery and action, then you'll certainly enjoy this.

HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just got home from a sunrise Easter Service in the mountains... what beauty, joy and cause for celebration!

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

~Charles Wesley

A bend in the road...

First time eating a Passover Seder.

First time attending a Catholic Good Friday service.

First time watching "The Passion of the Christ."

First time swimming in the pond at Shirefeld.

First time registaring to be a vendor at a conferance.

First time getting ready to spend Easter away from home...



Lots of firsts this week, some big, some not so big. Lots of lasts coming up too... I leave Shirefeld and the Black Cat Inn next week to head back west. It's a weird transition period. I have so many people I've become good friends with here, and I'm very much attached to the family...

...but...

Home calls. My heart is irrevocably settled there. Family. Friends. Dreams. I have so many plans and I can hardly wait to get home to start them!

...but...

I'm still living here. I still have responsibilities to carry out, and goodbyes to see through. How I'm going to manage to say goodbye to the kids, I don't know.

And going home will be a new adjustment of it's own.

A new adventure...

The road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began
now far ahead the road has gone
and I must travel if I can.

Pursuing it with eager feet
until it joins some longer way.
Where many paths and errands meet -
And whither then? I cannot say.
~Tolkien, FotR.