...So I took a month or so off.

Somewhere in the month that I haven't blogged, this site became five years old. I'm not sure what stone you're supposed to give someone on their five-year anniversary, but for this site, I'll gladly give it a gall-stone or something. -Not that I have one handy... I just mean that sometimes updating this site as much as I want to is a process just as painful as passing a stone. I want to update all the time. There's lots of good stuff to share. But most of it involves stuff I deem too personal for the web, and so I hold back. It sucks, but hey, it's the way things go.

So let's see... what's up with me...

I'm getting into the home-stretch for my classes. Now I'm done with the core stuff, so everything's related to my interests (Technology Management) and the assignments are getting more complex, as well as more challenging. I find that I can't get away with the same amount of attention as before- instead, class is a several-hour task each day. Three more classes will complete my MBA. On that final November day, I'll be doing a jig. That's for damned sure.

I came home from Jersey one recent weekend to find that my upstairs neighbor had a major flood in the kitchen. The sink pipe apparently burst, leaving 3 inches of standing water in the kitchen, while a few hours' worth of water dribbled its way through the walls and into my kitchen, staining/soaking my bar top and kitchen, then leaking to the neighbor below me. I was out of town, so I don't know who reported the problem first. I was just relieved that they came into my place while I was out to de-funk the place, with Mold-i-cide (if that's a word) and brought in the hefty fans for drying my carpet/ceiling before painting again. You'd never know there was a brown wet ceiling here last weekend. They did a great job repairing things.

Mike delivered the red couches that he and Lauren bought back at Malvern to my apartment. I have always loved these- the design, the color, etc. and they were looking to get rid of them. I graciously scooped them up and MAN does this place look slick. In the meantime, THANK YOU MIKE AND LAUREN! Oh, and thanks to the kitties too...I know this couch was their favorite litter box hangout as well. ;-) Seriously though, I freakin' love these couches. Mike and Lauren- you guys are the best. Thanks so much. On a recent visit to Richmond, Michelle surprised me by cleaning up the mess in my living room while I was out on a housecall. I walked into what looked like someone else's room. It was beautiful. I'll get some pics of the new room sometime soon.

I've been all over the east coast recently. Back and forth from Richmond to Jersey it seems. Michelle and I have been balancing the travel pretty well to try and see each other, so it's been a lot of miles on both of our vehicles. I think in the past month, we've spent maybe 20 days together... just in different states and houses. This past weekend, we hung out at her friend Shel's place for fun & friends (and Firefly- the sci-fi series that they're trying to snag me on. I'm Netflixing that next and will give it a shot!) So, yeah, things are going really well for me. I'm really happy.

This is me and Michelle, taken a few weeks ago. Ain't she purty? ;-)

I leave for Maine on Friday. I already told my folks: I'm not coming back until I see a wild moose. (I missed them in Stowe, Canada, Burlington, Yellowstone...) Seriously. I want to see one. Or, you know, a dozen. My return flight will be on stand-by.