Looking forward to September 10th.

September 10th is Laylabug’s 2nd birthday. Having her in our lives has been the most wonderful thing!

Seeing her grow so fast (so FAST!) learning to speak, and seeing her personality develop has been just beyond enjoyable….the difference between parenting (when you are so exhausted all the time) and grand parenting is a truth!

But, this year, Sept 10 is also the date that Outlander is rumored to start filming in Scotland.  Well, that’s great and all, you say, but what has it got to do with anything?

Well, it’s like this. I’ve been a fan of this book series for about nine years. (A relative late-comer, the books started being published 20 years ago) Back in the beginning of the year, it was announced it was finally going to be turned into a  TV series on Starz, with Ron Moore at the helm.

Oh, JOY! But. But…What if they GET JAMIE WRONG?  Or CLAIRE? And will it succeed and make it through enough seasons for us to get to Fraser’s Ridge and meet Jem and Mandy and William? And. And. And.

Although I follow Diana Gabaldon on her Facebook page, I started to also follow her on Twitter when they announced they had indeed located Jamie. The actor, Sam Heughan, has been gracious and open and quite fun to get to ‘know’, and like Diana, he appears to be  generous soul.

He has even allowed his name to be used on a site where we are raising funds as Heughligans for a favorite charity of his.

What about Claire? SHE is the story! The narrator! They will have to announce her soon, right? Day after day, week after week, throughout the entire summer, we have been on #Clairewatch2013. It started as a joke, but over the summer, this enforced torture while waiting has become the opportunity for fans of the book to truly bond and make friendships. We are all on the same ship, “Impatience”.

I almost don’t want it to end.

It is rumored by Sam (that Sam is a great tease on Twitter and knows fully well the value of social media) that tomorrow, we will be introduced to his new friend—Who happens to share a number of physical attributes with Claire.

The generosity of spirit of both Diana Gabaldon (long-suffering creator) and Sam Heughan (newly defined Jamie) and the camaraderie of loyal “bookies” had made this summer special.

The characters in Outlander have been part of our families for years. And the opportunity to get to know both the creator and the actor in some fashion, along with so many like-minded friends has enriched many of us. And I am proud to ‘know’ some wonderful, strong ladies via this interaction and to now call them ‘friend’.

(And of course, September 10th is always the most bittersweet of days, because on September 10th, we all still had our innocence; when I looked at the New York Harbor on September 10, 2001, I didn’t even register the Twin Towers as separate objects, just the skyline that I was going to walk away from in 2002 when I married and moved to Virginia.)

Yes, September 10th is going to be a good day!

PS… I also recall there being talk of the new iPhone announcement that day…and not a day too soon, I am babying my phone right now to make it till then!!!