Freedom!

So today is my first day of freedom. So far, so good -- I've got two orders ready to be shipped out, have caught up on _almost_ all my email, and worked up a new bath salts recipe and the label for it. My current plan is to put together a single-sheet catalog which I can put in with every order, and hand out at shows and stuff. Also useful for talking businesses into carrying my products.

Once that's done (should be tomorrow), I start driving around. 'Here! Buy my stuff!' We shall see.

Contemplating selling at an SCA event this weekend. Also contemplating taking the weekend the hell off. And going to church for the first time in far too long. I'm still aware of God's presence in the back of my mind, but it's been far, far too long and I need to change this.

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Mom's visit was...strained. She worries, I get grumpy, she makes suggestions, I take them as orders, it all gets kinda not comfortable. I have to remind myself that she means well. She has to remind herself that I'm thirty-six.

We didn't kill each other, though. And I think she's somewhat reassured about what I'm doing here. She's seen how much I love it; she's seen the amunt of work I put into it. She's watched me sit down and think about the best way to do X (and helped me a few times). She knows I'm not just doing this on a lark. She knows I'm not deciding things randomly.

She's still worried, but she's a mom, you know?

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We went driving up in the mountains and saw a sign that said 'Point of Geological Interest'. As basically the entire state is a Point of Geological Interest, we figured we should find out what actually merited a sign that said so. So we pulled off (the sign at the bottom of the ramp repeated Point of Geological Interest and pointed both ways, but we picked the right one) and wound up at Red Rocks.

Wow.



Can't really do it justice, though.

I'm caught between being pleased at how well the amphitheatre fits in with the rest -- they really did a good job of making it suit its surroundings, and they did a lot to avoid disturbing what was already there -- and at the same time I'm a little sqitchy about its presence there. It's holy ground -- I know this, I didn't even have to research it or ask someone from a local tribe. I saw it, touched the rocks, and I knew.

But then, if we Anglos tried to leave alone every spot that was holy to the natives, we wouldn't have a lot of space left to live in. And for sure we wouldn't all fit back in Europe at this point.

But it still makes me a little squitchy.

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Elliott, my big rat, died last week. Tuesday night he wasn't moving too well -- I took him out and held him, fed him a little bit. He mostly just rested against me. Wen it was time to go to bed I wrapped him in his hammock and laid him down next to his water bottle.

I was a little surprised when I checked the next morning to find out he was still alive. I took him out again and snuggled him for a couple hours before I had to go to work. Again he mostly just leaned against me, but he sort of twitched pretty hard every once in a while. I was worried he was going to go into convulsions but he didn't.

When I got home from work he was gone. Requisat in pace, big rat. I was glad to know you.

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Remy's running around on the futon now, having a good time. I built him an obstacle course out of random stuff. He's fun, and funny. I'm glad to have him.

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And that's the news from Lake Wobegone! Or something.