California Journeying: Family, Pantheacon, and the Ocean

I just returned this morning from a week-long trip to far-off California. (Well, it's far off from where I live in upstate NY, anyway.) It was a fabulous trip, starting with a visit with my parents, sister Becky, and nephew Stamo in San Diego...which very kindly decided to have a heatwave the couple of days I was there, thanks to the Santa Ana winds. On the two previous occasions I made this trip, it was about 65 degrees when I went out. Which is still pretty nice when you are coming from minus ten. This time, it was 81 even at the ocean. Quite a change from sub-zero temps and piles of snow. I wore shorts. *mind boggles*

Yes, the sky really was that color.

Yes, that handsome guy is my dad.

OCEAN!!!!!

My fabulous parents. Sand. Shorts. Beach. In short, heaven.

Any guesses which one of these arms belongs to the woman from upstate NY? 

Now that's a good-looking family.

I hadn't seen my nephew in two and a half years. He got TALL.

We had a great time--two days in a row at the ocean (which is my idea of heaven), my mom's homemade lasagna and apple pie, and laughing hysterically over a game of Apples to Apples.

Then I got on yet another plane to San Jose, where I spent three and a half days attending Pantheacon, one of the largest Pagan conventions in the country. Which would be fabulous enough all by itself, but I also got to spend time with my beloved step-daughter Jenn, my incredible Llewellyn editor Elysia Gallo, and my insanely wonderful critique partner/all-around-great pal Lisa. Plus all sorts of cool Llewellyn authors and Pagan friends. Plus I got to finally meet the top dude at Llewellyn, Bill, who was a sweetie.

That's Bill on the left.

Me and my beloved editor Elysia

Posters on the wall of the Llewellyn suite. Gee, those two to the right look familiar.

A LOT of Llewellyn authors, our publicist Kat, and a few innocent bystanders

Me and the amazing Selena Fox (who put on a fab Brigid healing ritual earlier in the day that Lisa and I loved)

Me and the luminous Lisa, one of my favorite people, and also a great roomie

It was pretty tough to leave all that sun and warmth (and my kid) behind and come back to the chilly Northeast. Although of course, I was pretty darned happy to get back to my cats and my own bed.

Here is last Tuesday:

The view from the patio of the restaurant where we ate lunch

 And here was this Tuesday:

Icicles, anyone?

 Still, it was nice to get away for a bit from the snow and the cold, and at least I have pictures like this to look back on...

Llewellyn publisher Bill photo-bombing me, Elysia, and Kat

Did you miss me while I was gone? Maybe just a little?

Don't wander off too far, because tomorrow (Wednesday) I'm going to have a Big Big Announcement. No, really, I mean it. BIG. HUGE BIG.

In the meanwhile, I'm going to go to bed, because I have no idea what day it is or what time zone I'm in.

I hope you're all staying warm!

California Trip--Home again, thank goodness!

I will be doing a number of blogs about my recent trip to CA (San Diego and San Jose), since there is too much info to cover in just one. And, like, there are pictures.

For now, I would just like to say:
1) I am really happy to be home.
B) It was a great trip--everything I could have hoped for, on both legs of it.
And 2 and 3/4ths) OMG, I hate flying.

Addendums:

1A) Except for the snow, of course.
B+) No, really. It was fabulous.
And 3 and 4/5ths) Big kudos to Southwest for getting me (and everyone else) home and safe, even with unexpected plane changes, and multiple delays.

As they said in my favorite movie, The Princess Bride:
"I will esplain...no--it too much, I will sum up."

The trip in general went well. As most of you know, I was already planning to fly out to CA to visit with the family in San Diego, then fly on to San Jose for Pantheacon (the biggest Pagan convention in the country) and to see my step-daughter Jenn. Of course, then came the news that my beloved grandmother (Germambie) was dying, and things got--shall we say--more complicated.

Alas, I didn't make it out to SD in time to say my goodbyes while my grandmother was still alive. In fact, I missed her by THREE DAYS. She died on the 14th and I flew out on the 18th. But I was able to say my goodbyes in other ways, thanks to my mother, who kindly arranged for me to be able to visit my grandmother's body before she was cremated. This sounds a bit ghoulish, I know, but she looked as beautiful in death as she had in life, and only as if she was sleeping. I got to say the things I needed to say. Then the family--including my sister and fabulous brother in-law, who had flown out with me--got to spent two days together, which was very healing for us all. More on that tomorrow.

Then I flew out to PCon (more on that later as well), which was also wonderful.

And then I spent 150 years on a plane. No? Okay, maybe it just felt like it. But I left the hotel at 8:45 AM PST, got on the plane in San Jose for a trip that started at 10:10 AM, and got in at the airport at Albany at midnight, EST. In between, there were two unscheduled plane changes, a number of delays, and one cross-airport sprint. All of which was followed by the drive home (which I didn't have to do, thanks to my amazing pal JC) and an arrival at home at 2 AM.

And at that, I still feel lucky, since my Llewellyn editor and other folks had their flights cancelled, and may or may not have gotten home at all. So I'm recuperating from the trip, catching up with my 200+ emails, sucking up to the cats, and generally feeling grateful to be home.

It was wonderful to see everyone, and I promise a more detailed report on the rest of the trip tomorrow and the next day...when my brain has figured out what time zone I'm in...

Oh, and I finally got to meet my CP (critique partner) Lisa DiDio in person...and she ROCKS. Just sayin'.

Pantheacon plans

In about 10 days, I will be flying (by plane, not broomstick) out to California. This rare cross-country trip has two purposes: visit my family in San Diego, and go to Pantheacon.

Pantheacon, for those of you not familiar with it, is one of the biggest Pagan conventions in the country [maybe the biggest indoor one]. It is held every year around the time of Presidents' weekend in February. This year, that means Feb. 12-15. Pantheacon takes place in San Jose at the fabulous Doubletree Hotel (although I think the location is changing as of next year). The convention itself is quite inexpensive; $75 for 4 days of workshops, rituals, and fun, fun, fun. If you live in the area and have any interest in any aspect of Paganism, you should definitely go check it out.

I will only be there for part of the long weekend, since I am combining my visit with a journey to San Diego to see family (6 days is the outside of my comfort zone for being away from home and kitties). I'll be getting in at around noon on Thursday the 11th, and leaving around 3 PM on Saturday. If you're going to be there, I hope you'll come looking for me!

The easiest way to find me will be to come to one or both of the workshops I'm giving. [When I went to my first Pcon 2 years ago, after only having one book out, I had over 60 people come to the workshop I gave. Man, did that rock!] The workshops are as follows:
"Witchcraft on a Shoestring: Practicing the Craft without Breaking the Bank" Friday at noon, in the Silicon Valley room (2nd floor)
"Crafting and Casting the Perfect Spell" Saturday at 9 AM in the Santa Clara room (1st floor)
I hope you'll come join me! Both workshops are based in part on the books I have coming out this year, and I'll be giving away coupons for those books, and even a few free prizes! You can also get a copy of one of my current books, signed by me!

On Friday night, I will enjoy one of the highlights of the trip--having dinner and hanging out with my wonderful Llewellyn editor, Elysia Gallo. After dinner, we have "sekret" plans... I'll have to report about that after I get back. I've also promised to write up a report for pal Rebecca at The Magical Buffet.

One of the best parts of this trips--besides hanging out with cool witchy folks, buying cool witchy stuff, and generally having a great time--will be spending some time with my step-daughter, Jenn. Jenn went with me the last time, and we had a blast together. Now she is living in Miami, but she'll be flying out to join me for the Panthecon leg of the trip!

More on the trip later...I hope to see some of you there!