I really meant to catch up sooner, because now I will inevitably forget to mention something that I will refer to later, and then no one will no what I'm talking about.

Fortunately, the primary reason behind my lj neglect has been Emma's visit! Needless to say, having her here has been pretty much the highlight of my summer, has made me very happy before I am without her until January, and has been wonderful for our relationship. She tells me she loves Tucson and would love to return, and she and my family get along splendidly. Altogether, a really happy and eventful experience which I will give a brief summary of in editorial bullet points:

-Trip to the Grand Canyon, with crappy hotels, much wonderment and hiking, and the elusive but deadly jackalope.
-Tasty restaurants
-Lots of oldschool Dr. Who
-The creation of a solar-system themed baby quilt
-The creation of my lovely new corset! (pictures later)
-The creation of Emma's first corset for money (a waitress at Yoshimatsu loved my corset, and she and I persuaded Emma that people would pay for her handiwork).
-Introducing her to the dojo
-Hanging out with friends
-Driving lessons ("Ok, when you turn up here, do it more sharply to av--sharply! Ok, brake now!"--actually, Emma's a good pupil, and nothing was wrecked except for a lantana bush or two).
-Fun with Flora and Fauna: the Desert Museum, giant saguaros, Emma squealing over baby jackrabbits (I mention this because she is on the plane home and can't get me now), Emma harvesting prickly pear fruit ("Don't touch the little spine nodules, even if it doesn't look spiny it's prob--oh--that's alright, love, I've got tweezers"), and the joys of cat-ownership
-The Monsoon Season! Apparently huge, dramatic lightning storms are not something that happen often on the East Coast. A good way to impress a girlfriend.

I'm sure I've forgotten something, which Emma will remind me of.

In more general news:

I have a job. I am an in-home support giver for three developmentally disabled boys, taking care of their needs, and in the case of two of them, teaching them life skills. It's really rewarding, and yes, definitely trying on occasion (mostly just when the boys are in their worst moods, though). I am discovering and experimenting with a wide variety of methods to get them to mind and to learn, and some are definitely successful, namely Simon Says, and "we'll do [enter thing they plead for] after we do [enter thing we are supposed to do], ok?" Honestly, so much of my focus goes into these kids, that if I did not restrain myself I would babble extensively about them in every post.

My dad has decided to finalize the divorce, which I guess I was expecting from the beginning, so it hit me much less hard than my mom. What I wasn't expecting, however, was for my dad to go on a date with his young, fit, little blonde friend from the gym, Becky. While in theory I'm for people pursuing the life that makes them happy, I can't stop thinking "THIS is what he gave up someone like my mom for?" So yeah, one of my top goals for this summer: stop being cold to my dad.

Other goals--making enough money to come back to Smith in the spring, goodwilling and selling most of the junk in the house (Mom wants to move out after Hilly's graduation), actually writing what I plan to, getting in shape, steampunky crafts, getting back into aikido, and finding an SCA group to practice with.

Okay, that is quite enough for one entry. If I have forgotten anything, then it's probably not important.