hi, just hi

I'm finally back, making the rounds of blogs i read regularly, adding a few comments here and there. Where have i been? I don't even have a good answer. I haven't been turning on the computer hardly at all these days.

Lots of baking, cookies and cobblers and so forth, most given away. I made a huge chicken enchilada casserole that i realized (after the fact) was intended for the potluck following Bob's funeral--read Chris' blog for details. I just felt so connected to that event that i wanted to participate somehow.

It's weird being so connected to someone so far away. If i had a social life in this part of the country, it'd be suffering!

Longer walks in the mornings, except on school days when i can no longer make it to the river and back before i have to get ready for class. They are taking their finals on Wednesday. They are such an awesome group! I'm already planning which ones i want to receive from when they start Student Clinic next session.

I'm starting to feel the shortness of daylight. It's dark here by 6:30 p.m. now, and light in the morning at 6:30ish too. Arizona gets lots of daylight and it's habit-forming! I get a bit claustrophobic near winter solstice (soul-stice?) when it's dark by 5:00 p.m. and not light until after 7:00 a.m. I'd be a bad candidate for life in the land of the midnight sun, unless i only lived there in the summertime. Seasonal Affective Disorder (conveniently abbreviated as SAD) would probably do me in within the first 6 months of all-twilight days!

Getting ready for Chris' and my 2nd 'date'....finally it's within shouting distance and i'm getting quivery about it. What else can i say about that, not much. We are tentatively planning a 3rd 'date' in late December. Talk about a long time between dances, sigh! We continue to deepen our relationship through inventive means....we rented the same movie once and watched it more or less at the same time....we take the same book out of the library and read it more or less together....etc. It works.

It just started POURING here, what a sweet surprise!

I love my dogs, i love my work, and i love my sweet Minnesota lover. I'm blessed by life and health and great good fortune. All is well, and i send the multiplied blessings of my life to all of you, in equal measure.