Yesterday I got to meet one of my favorite online journalers. Sadly, I cannot link to her so you can all go see why I like her, because Denise ended The Last Girl Scout back in September and has not yet started a new journal. (Yes, I realize it’s a bit much to expect her to come back so soon, but a girl can hope.) I started reading Denise when I was traveling for work a lot; coming to her site made me feel like I had a home away from home, with familiar faces and the Michigan setting I was used to.

I actually got to meet her handsome husband first, since I arrived just as Denise was putting her baby daughter, Tess, down for a long-delayed morning nap. Pete and I whispered small talk until Denise came downstairs and greeted me with a big hug, which put me instantly at ease. I was a bit worried that I’d feel as awkward meeting her in person as I’d been when she called on the phone to finalize the details, but fortunately that wasn’t the case. Evidently it was just my phone phobia flaring up when we’d talked and not a full-blown loss of social skills. Denise was just as warm and friendly in person as she is in e-mail.

The two of us headed off for lunch at a pub in town and passed a pleasant hour or two there chatting about all sorts of things, only some of them related to journaling. When we got back from lunch, Tess was just waking up, and she was even cuter in person than she looks online. She greeted me with tears—a natural reaction to a stranger who’d appeared out of nowhere while she slept—but calmed down as soon as her daddy picked her up. Studying me from the safety of his arms, she decided I was not all that scary after all.

After a Tess refueling interlude, during which I invited myself to study Denise’s scrapbooks and oohed and aahed over her wedding pictures, it was off to the antiques market. Tess charmed the vendors while Denise and I poked through the stalls. I coveted many of the beautiful oak cabinets, at least until I realized that most of them wouldn’t fit anywhere in my house. I like them, but not enough to buy a big old farmhouse with huge rooms and high ceilings. There were several neat quilts and quilt tops to be drooled over, too, and I sketched a few of the block designs for future reference. We were both quite responsible and didn’t buy anything, not even the cute postcards in the cool two-sided frames or the nifty antique buttons.

I’d promised Mr. Karen I’d be home by late afternoon to get the house ready for the window guy coming tonight, so I had to take off soon after we got back to Denise’s house. It was a great afternoon, and I hope we get a chance to spend more time together soon.