I'm back.

Ok ok, I'm back on the wagon...for now. My mom has been harassing me to get back to blogging (well not so much harassing as asking very nicely...it might be the guilt that makes it feel like harassment!) So what were my excuses? Well, I just haven't felt like I have much to say lately! As Justin put it- we've kind of been on auto-pilot lately- extremely entrenched in our routines. This isn't all bad since our routines include good things like working, exercising and spending time with friends. But, enough excuses. If I'm going to expect other people to blog and post pictures of my niece and nephews (and I DO!!!) then I had better be walking the walk...even though I don't have any cute kids to write about or take pictures of...boo hoo. BUT my mommy insists that she wants me to blog anyway and since I love my mom SOOOOO much, I will oblige. (And since you're probably the only one reading it, right mom?)

Recent happenings:

1. FIRE in Santa Barbara- this was a scary one! It didn't get close to where we live (in fact, you can usually assume that it won't- we're in a good position fire-wise) if it gets to our place, then Santa Barbara is toast. It WAS however, close to my work- work was in the "Evacuation Warning Zone" which means you are supposed to be ready to evacuate at "a moment's notice". Did I get time off? Sadly, no (I really could have used it!). It burned over 8500 acres and ~80 homes were lost. 30,000 people were evacuated- it was pretty crazy. I've said it before and I'll say it again- I'll take floods and tornadoes any day over fire. Here's a picture from outside my office:

2. Mothers Day came and went with the realization that I am the only non-mother in my entire family (besides the men, obviously). Oh, and Audrey.. but she's 9 months old, so that doesn't count.

3. Justin celebrated his 29th birthday Tuesday! I am so thankful for another year of Justin!!!! He started off the day right with two chocolate/coconut donuts (courtesy of me!) and ended it with...drumroll...dinner at Chili's (Woo hoo! We know how to party!) He got to choose and that is what he wanted. Cool for me- I do like the Chicken Caeser Pita! He received lots of presents but seemed most enthralled with his book arriving in the mail (he ordered it weeks ago) and subsequently spent several minutes thumbing through "Plato and the Socratic Dialogue: The Philosophical Use of a Literary Form". Yep. We know how to party. :)

4. We're going to play softball for the Softshare Softball team. I didn't really want to (I'm not that good, and you know how I feel about doing things I'm not good at) but Justin really wants to so I'm going to soldier up and do it. Had our first practice today- went pretty well, but we didn't do any batting practice (that's where I really stink!). I'm sure plenty of good stories will surface as a result of my participation on this team.

Other than that, not a lot to report. This weekend we're going on a Fishing Excursion with Softshare. Five hours of fishing complete with cheeseburgers and drinks served on the boat...not exactly a vegetarian-friendly event, as Justin pointed out, (What's that honey? Killing fish and eating cows doesn't sound like fun??) but I'm sure we'll have fun just the same. I'll try and take some pictures and write about it next week.

Till next time...