Hello!

Yes and that is hello as in "hello-ooooo....", not as in "he-LLOO". I've been gone quite a while, but I hope I still have one reader! Even if I don't, I will still write, because this blog is mostly for the preservation of my quickly fading memory.
Where have I been the last few months? California, Illinois, Mexico, Nevada, you name it. I've also embarked on several new time-gulping endeavors, one of which involves a membership at the Y, and even though you can't see the evidence yet, I can feel the evidence, so that is encouraging. My friend Kim got me interested in swimming and amazingly, the very next week, Jenny suggested the idea of swimming every Saturday and setting some goals to motivate ourselves. She and I have been swimming every Saturday morning for several weeks now, and I've also been doing some evenings during the week. I did half a mile this last Saturday, which means I'm halfway to my goal. This all has gone just... swimmingly! Come on, you knew that was coming.
I've been cooking/baking up a storm lately - Thai coconut curry noodle, cinnamon bread, turkey soup, cornbread muffins (the best I've had yet), cherry-walnut cookies, dark chocolate freezer cookies (for Valentine's day, of course), cinnamon rolls (that turned out hard as a rock, will be trying those again), my favorite almond biscotti... This Friday is book club and it will be at my house - we'll be having an Irish theme dinner, including irish soda bread, corned beef, red cabbage & apples, potatoes, and a special surprise dessert that I'm still finalizing. I love to work in the kitchen. Lately it's been nearing obsession. I get home from work in the evening and my first thought is whether I have time to squeeze in a little baking before or after the other activities I have going on. Crazy!
Speaking of crazy, work has reached a near-frenetic pace (read: overtime every week since Thanksgiving) and while I love being this busy (boredom? what's that?), everyone in our office will be relieved when it's over... in June. Yes, 3 more months to go. We're in the middle of budget development, which means our tiny short-staffed group of 4 gets to tackle the entire biennial budget that normally should be handled by a staff of about 7. Throw in meetings with senior managers, elected officials, and department staff who are not necessarily "numbers" people, and you have a full day. Never mind the reports you have to write and the research you have to do while you're actually at your desk. However, I am not complaining... I am very grateful to have a job right now, when I know at least 3 of my friends who have been directly impacted by the economy by being laid off themselves or having their spouse laid off.
Ooh! "From the Top" is on... gotta go. I listen to this every Sunday afternoon.
Hope everyone out there is doing well and enjoying the time change (ha! ask me later).