Granita - OT

Hi Beloved BB's --

Thank you Bonnie for your email and invitation and for keeping in touch. I had to stop in to say hi. So nice to see so many familiar names gathered here -- Bonnie, Caboose, Denise, Gerry, Jo, Bookread, Marg, Margie, Margreet, Marylyn, Pamela, and Shirley -- wow! Some of you here now know I was one of the Buddies back from the 2003 days when Oprah kicked off the 'classics' version her book club with East of Eden.

Caboose, it's so nice to still hear from you occasionally. Pamela, congratulations on your South Beach success! Shirley, I'm so very sorry about your loss.

I have to catch you up on two things. First, I'm bursting at the seams to tell you that I returned this weekend from a trip to Europe, during which Margreet and I had a face to face meeting!! We've stayed in touch through the past couple of years although I've not been participating in the groups, and it was absolutely wonderful to get the chance to spend a day together! I flew into Amsterdam and hopped on a Eurail train, meeting Margreet in the town where she attended university. It was such a beautiful place. I loved the architecture and the canals. And best of all I loved getting to spend time with my dear friend Margreet! Thanks for being such a great hostess for the day, Margreet!

Second, I have to tell you that from the Netherlands I continued on to Tuscany, where I had the opportunity to live out our Book Buddies wrap party of Under the Tuscan Sun! A friend of mine rented a villa for a week and invited several people to join her. It was an unbelievable chance of a lifetime week, and time after time I flashed back on all the Buddies who were a part of our cyberparty at our virtual Italian villa back in 2003. Life imitating art?

Life is going quite well these days but I continue to feel time challenged with regard to finding balance between my personal and work life so for now I'm just here to say hi and say that I think of the Buddies often and hope you're all well. Although I haven't been an active participant in quite some time, it's remarkable to me that the discussions we had have served as the springboard for several great friendships, on and off the boards through the past few years. This is a great group of people, and I wish you continued enjoyable discussions!

All the best,
Granita