Last post: October 31? Wow, well I really checked out there for a while and would keep that going just the way it is but I just found out a couple of friends of mine actually still check here to see if anything's new. What a disappointment - 5 months of persistence for naught.

It's not like the two of us lead such exciting lives. In fact I feel silly even having a blog these days - I mean, right now Akhil is asleep on the couch, I just made a lasagna, and earlier today we went to Sears to buy tools. We're like retired people! Seems to me that in the mid- to- late 30s era of our lives it's all about work-work-work and living for those 10 days a year of vacation.

Vacation, ah, what is that again? Last year we managed to get away for a few great weekends in the spring and early summer, mostly in Northern California, but thanks to some incredibly demanding projects at work, mostly for Akhil, we haven't had a heck of a lot of fun yet in '08. He's heavily involved, and I mean heavily, in a robot at the moment, which will take him a few more months to see through, including a bunch of travel, both in this country and elsewhere. If I could go with it would be great, but that's not how it works so instead I dread it. I've been spending a lot of time on my computer, trying to get out and walk more, and also trying to cook at least once a week (that's usually Sunday), but I'm really itching to get out of town, even just a weekend jaunt. We tried once, to Solvang, but both of us had bad allergies and ended up napping in the hotel most of the time. Our bikes never made it out of the car.

Let's see if I can dredge up a highlight per month since November. Thanksgiving in Seattle, that was fun. Akhil drove me all the way out to the Olympics, car ferry and all, which was a first.

December: We spent Christmas in Denver with Todd, at his new home just outside Washington Park. It snowed almost the entire time (good thing we gave him snowshoes for Christmas) and we had an incredibly relaxing time being snowed in for almost 2 days. We picked the best one though, just coincidentally, for a day of skiing. It gets a little harder every time we go as the gap is averaging about 2-3 years. (They have little short skis now -- when did that happen?) It was beautiful up there, though I'll gladly take the snow-free L.A. climate most of the time.

January: I became closer to 40 than 30; blegh. And we closed in on finishing up a nearly 4-month re-stucco and paint job on Tiny House. We also got a new doorbell, new mailbox, all new outdoor lights and have a new, fancy door coming later this month. What a project. It looks great.

February: Akhil actually took a break from his 80-hour work week, came home a little early, and made us Valentine's Day dinner: Steak au poivre, with fingerling potatoes and -- yes, kale!

March: I finished my 2-month Photoshop class, which took up most of my weekends for the 8 weeks but I learned a lot and got a lot of use out of my new MacBook Pro.

April: We'll see... too early to tell. Though I got promoted this past week. I guess that's a highlight. I think filing our taxes will be another one. We're insanely late this year - when it's done it'll be quite a a big load off.