Coming Up

The reins of the CLASS Ireland group have now been formally passed on; I think this is the closest I’ll ever get to what parents must feel when sending a child off to college.

For the past year, this project has been my* baby, rewarding and frustrating, an all-consuming labour of love.  It has eaten my spare time and sanity, and though I know it is time I am sorry to see it go.  It’s difficult to back off, or to even know how much to back off. I know that, as with college parents, some costs are still mine to bear. While I feel the group is on sound footing after working through the various issues that cropped up in our first year, the first handover is bound to bring up a few new wrinkles to smooth over.  I’ve prepared as best I can, and now that preparation will be put to the test- a test that will show the preparation to be imperfect (but acknowledging that was what this was all about in the first place, wasn’t it?).

But, of course, I now have time to come up for air. I have a newfound freedom of sorts to enjoy, which has so far taken shape in wholehearted participation in recent kinky parties and fittingly experimenting with some new toys. A few friends surprised me with a Cane-iac gift card at the last CLASS detention during my term as owner. I was very surprised by the gift,  truly touched, and truly fell to pieces; it’s good to be among friends where such behaviour is acceptable and understood. I’ve now picked up a few basics . . .and one delightfully fun whacky thing which has exceeded all expectations!

And I will now have time to start turning my various notes into posts and stories. Several installments of the Sarah Saga are months overdue, and a few ideas for shorts are tumbling around- along with the updates and reflections on various aspects of the last year.  Plus, I’ve a project coming up for September which has been years in the making- more on that later.

But not quite yet- first a quick trip to the UK to visit friends old and new, to remind myself of what drew me here in the first place.

*I have had some very valid criticism when I have referred to CLASS as “my” group when speaking as the group owner.  The group is the result of an ongoing collaboration of a number of individuals; it belongs to all of us and none of us. However, given the context of this post, I hope you’ll forgive my indulgence.