So much to say, so much to share...

Part 1. The Move is Underway
Last Friday movers packed the last of my earthly possessions (except a few things that fit into my car) in a 7' by 7' wooden box, knocked a big hole in the wall of the house I'd just sold (I learned to repair drywall!) and whisked it all away, hopefully to Switzerland.

Then it was my turn to leave. I had to return my computer, so I haven't blogged. Now it's very late (12:30 a.m.), I only slept three hours last night but I'm at my friend Beth's and dying to catch you up and share and write about all of this here. So much has happened...

I drove into Park City last Sunday. I knew when I pulled off I-80 that it is my new place (I know I'm moving to Switzerland, but I'm sure I will be back in Park City.)

This is the view of The Canyons ski resort right from my friend Patti's back yard. I can't believe I didn't get a shot of Patti while I was there! We have known each other for for 16 years. It's beautiful. It's a small town. It's up in the mountains. The air is fresh; the people are gorgeous; life is good. I will be back. We've created a land trust and are investing in real estate. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I'm not sure how much is appropriate to share about that here. It's really cool, though. I'll be back. I'm not sure when or for how long, but I'll be back in Park City again soon. I used to feel badly about my desire for and appreciation of nice things -- like it was snobby or something. I love very nice things. Park City is full of them. It's healthy and wealthy and feels like some place for me. This is the free Wednesday night concert at Deer Valley ski resort last week. Isn't it gorgeous?


Part 2. Friends
This is Andrew in Salt Lake City. Andrew and I have been friends for about 15 years... in Massachusetts and in Colorado and now wherever our lives take us. Andrew is amazing... the life he and his wife are creating is amazing. The view was amazing here. Thank you, Andrew, for taking me up to have breakfast and this view. I am so proud of you.


Joe and I have been friends for a long, long time, too. I don't even know what to say about this photo (and for those of you who know us, it's perhaps a bit confounding), but I just love it. Does it require a caption? We were having fun! It was the first really fun night out I've had in years. Love you madly, Joseph! I'm also so pleased to look and feel like myself again after being so miserable and dumpy when I was married.

Thank you, Beth, for having me in your home and staying up talking late into the night. My Extreme Measures friends aren't pictured here yet, but they're the core of the love I'll always feel for this place. If you know the music of FACE, you have experienced the art some of us made together. FACE has taken it to a new level, but there's a handful of us singers in and around town who've been playing at making a cappella music together for years. Thank you, Joe, for starting that conversation in our community. The community you built has made me so, so happy and loved and at home.

I was afraid to come back to Boulder. I was afraid I'd burst into tears at the sight of the Flatirons and be overwhelmed with sadness and loss. Quite the opposite has happened. I feel like I overstayed my time here. My twenties, the 1990s, my graduate school work... it was wonderful. I used up my opportunities here. I made great lifelong friends I'll love forever. I should have left then but didn't. Instead I wasted several years on a bad human being who didn't treat me with respect and I was ungraceful and unhappy. I watched my friends' babies this weekend and ached for those years I wasted back. I wish I'd spent them with a man who deserved them. I spent the morning with Zach and know he and I will be fine. His father never could bust the bond between us, no matter what else he broke in the house. He acts like it never happened. If I believed in judgment day I'd be a little less irritated about that now. It matters not in my life any more, but it may always bother me that he will never be accountable for his actions. It is not right or fair. I don't think about him when I'm away from here, from these people... but when it comes up I'm still pissed off. I returned my wedding band for full credit and got a lot of new diamonds yesterday. That made me feel a little bit better about it! Like I said... I like nice, expensive things! It was a lot of fun!

I'm going hot air balooning over Boulder in about 5 hours as a sort of closing ceremony. It's a beautiful place... and I am not lonely here. I don't want to come back, but there are so many people here I love and who make me laugh really, really hard. I'll build communities of people in other places, but I hope to keep these friends. They're like brothers and sisters to me. I loved it and was happy here.