I certainly didn't think, when I boarded the plane in Hawaii, that it would take me 3 days to get back on the blog.  Of course, it's not as exciting to blog about lazy weekends, doing the laundry, sudden HUGE migraines, and rejection letters.

Having said that...sometimes that's what happens in life!

Dan picked me up at the airport after a long flight (kids all around again...this time kicking the back of my seat for 5 1/2 hours over the Pacific).  I enjoyed an amazing sunset--gaudy oranges and pinks fading to mauve over a cloud strewn sky--despite the kicking.  I was also stunned when another jet passed us, heading to Hawaii, about an hour out of Orange County.  When you're sitting in the plane, you don't realize how stinkin' fast you're going...but when you have another (fast moving) point of reference, it all comes clear.

At home, I had a very nice rejection notice for five of my poems.  The notice was nice for two reasons.  First, it said, "The hardest thing we have to do as editors is to turn down excellent poets like you, poets whose submissions came very close; but were not selected."  Granted, it was a form letter...but I have edited a poetry magazine and I prefer to believe that they have form letters for poets they want to hear from again and another one for poets they don't want to hear from again...something less encouraging...maybe "Thank you for thinking of us.  Your poems did not fit with our publication."  I like the publication, Runes: A Review of Poetry, quite a bit.  And I'm not surprised I didn't get in since they had 10,000 submissions and selected 100 poems.

The second reason I thought the rejection was nice is that I got a handwritten note from one of the editors saying their favorite of the five submissions was "Advice."  I'll post it in the poetry section after I finish the blog.

The publication is worth checking out: Runes: A Review of Poetry.  They do issues surrounding specific topics.  My submissions were for their next book about Connection.

I spent Saturday unpacking, doing laundry, puttering.  Dan played golf and afterwards we did a bit of shopping, buying him an chair and ottoman for his office.

Yesterday was supposed to be filled with furniture shopping and golf practice.  The day started out well at the local farmer's market.  I picked up some gorgeous nectarines, a stunningly beautiful head of lettuce, grapes, bread, squashes and some tomatoes I can hardly wait to eat.

Then I was felled by a migraine out of nowhere...literally knocked me off my feet for the rest of the day.  I'm somewhat better today...down to a dull pounding now and again.  Lots of fluids.  Rest.  And the sound of our landscapers hard at work.

That's all the news from Laguna Niguel.  Now to send out those poems again!

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