Hello again!

Yes, I've been a very bad knitblogger - 2.5 months away, by my count... I've whittled down the 800 unread posts for my 31 subscription feeds in Bloglines down to 363 left unread over the last couple of days. I've been trying to go back to everyone's September archive posts and get caught up - eesh! I've missed so much. I didn't go to Rhinebeck but enjoyed reading about it (again). It looks like I missed a very good time - maybe next year.

Let me try to recap the big highlights from the last couple of months:

• B successfully completed and defended his dissertation - graduation is in 3 weeks (in Tulsa) but I've already been calling him "Doctor",
  
• I've been at my "new" job (almost 3 months now) - when I started, our group had 40 people and it is now down to 31. That is a result of 6 layoffs and 3 people quitting, one of the quitters being the head of the group and the guy who recruited me.
• Work has been slow (the billable kind anyway), which makes my remaining coworkers and I nervous about filling out our timesheets and who will be next...
• A certain technological institute let me know that I did not get the job I had been trying for (after 5 months of interviews and being shortlisted in the final round),
• A new coworker (coincidentally) *did* get the job - he would be 1 of the 3 that left,
• I'm taking a class this term in something that could, eventually, lead to a career change,
  
• We're unpacked and partially decorated,
• We've entertained more overnight guests in the last 4 months than we have in the previous 2 years,
  
• I managed to catch a 25% everything sale at Fabric Place, and (as a result)
  
• I'm knitting (trying to knit) an obscene number of felted slippers for family/loved ones this Christmas in between more baby caps.

Today is the day after "Thanksgiving" - sorry, I'm canadian and even though I live in the U.S. and have been here for 9 years, it still doesn't feel like the real Thanksgiving. That's back in October. Oh, and while I'm on the topic, today is my 9th anniversary being in the U.S. My, how time flies. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah, today is the day after Thanksgiving and I've just PUT MY TREE UP! I'm so excited - it's the first tree I've had up in 3 years. I moved to Tulsa for a year and we were going to be away for 4 weeks around Christmas, then B & I moved to New Haven and our place was far too small to contemplate an 8 ft tree (no, there's no middle ground. ;-)) ... so *finally*, this year, my first tree since Christmas 2003. I'm loving it. Our place smells like pine and the decorations are glittering in the light. Ahh, my favourite time of year. Now for some hot apple cider....

Hope everyone is doing well this holiday season and hope to get caught up on all your blogs soon,

-Jo

p.s. And I haven't been going out to any Stitch n' Bitch groups in Boston either - just really trying to juggle work, class, homework, seeing friends now that I'm back in Boston, and well... life. I still want to go out to Knitsmiths since that seems like a fine group of talented ladies but the Sunday afternoon meeting time is remarkably inconvenient.

p.p.s. Any guesses on the date of the first snowfall?? (in Boston... that stays on the ground)