Afterwards, I had some frustration, because I got misdirected to the wrong ferry terminal, and missed my 4 p.m. ferry to Alex's house, where he and Ajna were having their engagement party. The next ferry wasn't for two hours, but luckily, the place where I was stranded had free wireless, and I actually managed to finally (weeks late) write up the minutes from the last Kriti meeting and send them out, so that was productive, at any rate. Still sorry I got there so late, because apparently I had just missed Tasos and Greg and Jerome and Todd and Brandy -- I'll see most of them again at our party in July, but probably not Greg. Ah well. I had a pleasant evening, meeting Alex's and Ajna's family and friends, and eating some of the delicious food (of which they were left with entirely too much). I crashed hard on the couch, and woke to a really gorgeous, slow morning, mostly spent naked in the outdoor jacuzzi hot tub, talking to Alex and drinking tea. Incredibly relaxing. I really have to make time for relaxing activities like long hot baths and yoga. They take time I sometimes feel like I can ill afford, but they also make me much more sane and able to cope (and focus) the rest of the time. I ended up writing most of the new AE story in the airport while waiting for my plane (I volunteered to get bumped two hours and got a free ticket, yay!), and I think some of my ability to focus was simply due to being so relaxed.
It was so nice to come home last night (and even nicer when Kevin got in a few hours later), though at the same time, I did find myself starting to get stressed the moment I came in the door, with an awareness of all the house and other stuff there was to do in the next week. Boxes are stressful. I leave for Vermont teaching on Monday, and will be gone almost two weeks, since I'm going on directly to Artwallah after that. I get home again on July 10th. If we want the place looking nice for the party, there is tons to get done now. And no, it doesn't all have to get done before the party, but it needs to get done eventually, so it makes sense to do as much as we can sooner rather than later. That's what we keep telling ourselves, anyway.
As for the house, the rooms are painted, and David did a great job, but I'm not so sure I made a good choice on colors for the bedroom. (I would show you photos, but I still haven't unpacked my camera, sorry.) It's a fairly overwhelming yellow, closer to mustard than the light gold I was hoping for. I think maybe I should have gone a shade lighter. The chocolate wall is beautiful, but the sharp contrast between the two is also more modern than I'd anticipated. Hmph. I'm not sure what to do about it, honestly. I could repaint, but a) it would be expensive, and b) I'm not sure I'd like it better. I think the short-term plan is to get in the bedding and some green plants and some framed art, and maybe some curtains, and see if all that sufficiently softens the effect of all that yellow. If I can just get it to fade a bit into the background, it might actually be nice. We'll see.