I haven't been keeping a good eye on y'all recently. I hope you've been behaving yourselves?

Quickly, before any of you implode from boredom, let me briefly mention that my back is completely fine, I have just a small cough left from the bronchitis*, a few paychecks have rolled in, and I'm starting to get a handle on how I'm going to pay down the debt from my recent bout of unemployment**.

And I had a little Amazon.com accident last week, so I'll have new books to read this weekend. (But it was a frugal accident. I chose the free "super saver" shipping instead of my normal two-day.)***

In the bad news department, the d-i-e-t is about to take over my life again, but it's necessary if I don't want my butt swelling to the size of Toledo. Sigh.

The new job....

Well, as the RC put it last night--maybe my job is a little boring and hers is a little demeaning, but at least we're not stressed. Neither of us dreads Monday morning any more.

And I've worked for less money. Maybe not in the last ten years (probably 15 if you adjust for inflation), but I've done it.

I wish I had tons of fun things to share with you. I wish I'd been spending my time in lively and interesting pursuits recently but between the bronchitis, the back, and the travel, I really just haven't.

I've done a ton of reading. A lot of DVD watching. A bit of worrying about my retirement funds as the markets play superball with my savings. A little moaning about the skyrocketing cost of living.

Some complaining about the relentless election coverage on the nightly news programs--devoid of actual content and numbingly repetitive. And carefully empty of anything "controversial" like extended coverage of any candidate saying anything of substance about their view of the future of this country. ****

Throw in some laundry and housecleaning, and you have my life.

Spring is coming, though. I can feel it. This morning's snow was liberally mixed with rain. Here and there, courageous bushes are beginning to flower. Various trees are haloed with green, the promise of leaves budding.

I'm sure that when the weather suddenly, well, springs into spring, I'm sure I'll be getting out, running about, and having lots and lots to blog.


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* The poor R.C. After nursing me through both of my illnesses, she came down with a cold of her own last week. (Not my fault--I haven't been contagious for a month.) She's better at self-nursing than I am, so I confined my "assistance" to making sure the living room stays warm and taking her Chinese food for dinner one night.

** I have a couple of potential free-lance jobs (Buehler and a client of Gidget's), so, more money there. If either of them come through, the checks are going straight to the credit card company.

*** What can I say? Between travel and sickness, I haven't been in a bookstore since Shopping Amnesty day. I was in withdrawal! (I said I wasn't going to run mad again, but I never said I wasn't going to buy any new books.)

**** Seriously. Don't get me started.