Home at Last

Home sweet home...

I am officially a Texas girl! Oscar and I have been married a month now and every moment has been one of pure bliss. I literally have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. I'm realistic enough to know that there will be bumps in the road ahead and challenges to face, but at the moment, life is a fairy tale. I've said recently that I could very well be laid up in the Cleveland Clinic in a deep coma, dreaming this whole new life. Well, if that is the case and the doctors should pull me out of it, please--someone--anyone--knock me out and put me back under cuz I don't want to wake up from this idyll.

My new home is a house made of metal situated on 25 acres of stunning property. Every evening, as we sit at the kitchen table and gaze out the west window wall of the house, our view is of the moon just above the tree line (these past few nights it's been my favorite kind of moon--a crescent moon). To the right of the moon there is a very bright planet and as the sky darkens and the stars come out, I am stunned at the sight. I can see constellations in bright, glorious clarity. It's like a movie.

I've been spending my first days in my new life taking on my new identity as Kellie Hernandez--applying for a new social security card so I can get my new driver's license, car registration and passport. It's a lot of driving but it's forcing me to learn my way around Texarkana (which is referred to as 'town'). I've also been shopping for household items. Our home is new (Oscar, Libby and Abraham just moved in at the end of March) and I'm having fun outfitting it with shelves (Oscar is an IKEA fan-yay!), small appliances, kitchen gadgets, linens, etc. Oscar has exquisite decorating taste and as such, each room is stunning--the paint colors, the floors (the kitchen floor is to die for), the countertops (you have to see them to believe them), the art on the walls--everything is beautiful. Martha Stewart would be impressed--maybe even a little jealous! Every day I walk through the house and admire the beauty of it and I am thankful to be here. I will never take for granted this life.

My baby is coming to stay next Monday. I cannot wait for Tom to get here. I miss my boy! I'm excited for him to see his new life. It will take time to adapt from city life to country life and I hope it will be as seamless for Tom as it has been for me. I can honestly say that there is no doubt I was meant to be here--in this house, in Texas, married to Oscar (the dreamiest man on the face of the earth) and living this life. I just hope it will be easy for Tom, too. I think it will be. Oscar's family is so warm and welcoming and inclusive and Tom is such an easy-going guy--always willing to try something new--I think he'll be fine here in Texas.

I should mention The Dark Prince. My latest proof should arrive today via UPS. I want to have the book out within a month so I can begin promoting it and preparing The Shadow King for publication. I am well aware of the fact that I have been a naughty writer these past couple of months because my personal life took center stage and pushed my work to the back burner. But it's time to get cracking and back to work. I have much to do--books to edit, finish, and new ones to write. I can't wait to see how my new life will affect my writing life because it will--in a big way.

I will close here for now with these parting words: Life can turn on a dime. Mine turned on a cold winter night when I was lying in bed tucked under my blankets, playing Words With Friends with a stranger named elduck123. You never know where the day will take you or what seemingly innocent action (like clicking the random opponent key on WWF) will change your life. So be on the lookout for your moment. It's coming. It'll probably be in disguise as something ordinary or routine--even banal. But don't dismiss the little things cuz that's where the beauty of life is--in the little, innocent, subtle moments that most people overlook. For me, it was simply tapping the word random on my phone. But then again, Random is my middle name. Until next time...