In a few hours I'll pick Earl up from work. We'll go to dinner at the nearby salad place, then go to the airport, where I will wait in dreadful anticipation for him to get on a plane. Eventually he'll have to, of course, and we'll hug each other a lot and promise phone calls & email, and then he'll be swooped off and I'll drive home to start packing for WorldCon in San Antonio.

His classes start Wednesday morning, you see. He'll be busy five days a week, so we'll be back to seeing each other on weekends. Probably as often as twice a month, although it depends how busy we both are.

But still. Do you know, I've seen Earl nearly every day for the last month? I'm spoiled rotten, and I am not going to like this new distance at all. In a way it'll be worse than January (okay, I'm exaggerating here, but bear with me), since now I've gotten used to having him around all the time.

I'm a wimp. I want to be able to square my shoulders and say that I don't mind at all. I'd by lying through my teeth, though.

At least I'll have a chance to use all my nice handmade paper to write him letters on.

The weekend was low-key, more or less. Friday night Fondue, with Lydia and Tara and Merlin and Louie. Tara & Lydia & I spent the entire night talking about Pern, while Merlin & Louie talked about skiing and house-buying and programming. Earl looked glazed and squeezed my hand a lot.

Saturday there was breakfast with Jim&Czr, and then wandering around the Palo Alto art fair. Czr bought a gorgeous vest of red-marbled black silk, and Jim ordered one in bright purple. I managed not to buy anything at the fair, although we did stop into a comic store I hadn't been to before. I found the last couple of issues of Savant Garde, as well as the last few issues of JLA.

Then back to Jim&Czr's. Czr went off to hang out with his ex-girlfriend (don't ask), so Earl and I watched Sapphire and Steel. Jim wandered around making phone calls, which led to various people coming over. By the time S&S was done a small horde had assembled, and was easily guided towards dinner at Jing Jing's, a fine Chinese restaurant in Palo Alto specialising in spicy food.

After dinner Earl and I scampered home, where I had small nervous fits at him about his Sunday appointment to talk with Marith about Their Previous Relationship and Their Future Friendship. He was extremely calming, and the rest of the evening passed pleasantly. He read, while I wrote a little, and mudded a little, and then curled up to read until we were both sleepy enough not to.

Sunday was more breakfast, this time with Jim and Jill. Then back to Temple Square, where I spent a few terrible hours being nerve-wracked while Marith and Earl Conversed. I attempted to keep myself busy by reading A Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnet, and also Le Ton Beau de Marot by Douglas Hofstadter. Switching between the two seemed to work reasonably well, but by the time Earl got home I was definitely a little frayed around the edges.

At this point the curious reader might very well wonder why on earth I was so painfully nervous about Earl and Marith talking. I have no real idea, although I think part of it is remembering how badly they used to miscommunciate last autumn. At that point I was depending heavily on both of them to let each other know what was going on, and their inability to do so caused me quite a bit of grief. So even now I got into panic-terror state when they have serious conversations with each other.

Fortunately, this time around they seem to have managed to get their points across to one another.

Once I was sufficiently calm, Earl and I went to dinner, and then to see My Best Friend's Wedding. Not a great movie, but definitely enjoyable. It had people spontaneously breaking into song during it, which is always a plus.

And that, my dears, was my weekend.