As requested . . . (posted by Ann)

I'm alive.

Just barely.

So here's my excuse - I'm doing two jobs, and it's just about to kill me. I am working way too many hours, and not having any fun. Hopefully this long slog will be over around the middle of February, and I can catch my breath. Wish me luck surviving until then! The good news is that when the dust settles from this, I will be working in a different business unit, and I'm really excited about it. I'm sad to leave all the people that I've been working with, and I'll miss them, but the new job has some real advantages. For one, instead of being global, the job is an Americas job so I'll go to Latin America and Canada but not Europe or Asia. That means less travel, and the travel that I do won't be quite as intrusive into our weekends.

There have been a few things going on around here. The Velocity kit is finished, and Don has started on The Big Build. Here is a link to his site, so you can see pictures of the Velocity in progress. If you want to leave him a comment, go to Contact Me and then the guestbook. He loves comments . . .

I've also done some knitting for someone who is expecting a little girl in February. I found a pattern for a sweater with a flower petal pattern around the neck, and thought it was seriously adorable. It's also a quick knit since it's knit on size 7's. I'll get a picture once I have ends woven in and have it blocked, the ribbing wants to turn up. I'm also working on a cable sweater for a boy, and I have three other sweaters I need to get moving on. My assistant is pregnant with a boy, and two other people I work with are having babies, one boy and one girl. Finding time to knit is a serious problem - I may wind up doing something easier than a sweater, like booties and a hat. We'll see what I can come up with, and I promise pictures once I'm down to only one full-time-all-consuming job.

I'm so glad that you are getting settled, and it sounds like you have great neighbors. Enjoy your new house, and don't freeze. You did pick the absolute coldest time of the year to move north! Our winter has been really brutal this year - lots of snow, and we are on a string of almost two weeks of below freezing weather. Steve had a field trip planned this week to go snow-tubing, and they cancelled due to 25 below wind chill. They say we'll be above freezing tomorrow, and I swear when it is 35 I'm going to feel like wearing a t-shirt outside.

I promise to be a more regular contributor when this work thing settles down, say around mid-February. In the meantime, please keep posting about all your adventures. I do read from time to time even if I'm not posting . . . or commenting . . .