Oxytocin Hugs

It's about two and a half weeks now until we move out of our house, and about 35 days until we fly to the UK to start our new lives. Although our house is looking very empty, there's still a lot to sell, much to do and people to see. It's getting harder to de-stress by thinking happy thoughts - or procrastinating.

So I flew to Palm Springs.

Of course, it was a pleasure trip. I'm lucky to have two very dear, longtime friends there. One has been diagnosed with cancer, and he may not be able to travel to see me in the UK. So I just had to squeeze in a visit.

I've known these guys forever. Back in the '80s and '90s, I worked with both of them at various restaurants. They got married three years ago, coincidentally right after I wrote this post, Love is Love.

We spent almost three days hanging out, talking and talking and talking, and seeing the sights.

We toured Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, the home of the Annenbergs, where they hosted the Queen and several presidents. President Obama was there in February for the US-ASEAN summit. And yes, I was a little excited to be in the same house Barack had been in!

We went to very cool restaurants, and ate way too much. We hiked, we biked, we shopped.

I saw Alyson Walsh's book in a great display - she's in very good company here.

And when I was supposed to come home Friday evening, my plane was delayed, so I got one more night to visit and stay in their comfy guest room.

My friend Frank said that if you hug someone for more than 10 seconds, it releases oxytocin and makes you feel good. There was lots of hugging, and oxytocin was spurting through my system when I finally checked in to fly home.

Palm Springs Airport

Hugs!

Val