Honey, I'm home!

Sorry I haven't posted for MONTHS--I'm sure there are only about 3 of you out there after all this time. My bad. Profuse apologies.

First, I got a job with the 2010 Census. It was one of the best jobs I've had. Very fast-paced, very detail-oriented, and since the economy put so many highly-educated and highly-qualified people out of work, I was able to learn so much from people I would never otherwise have met. God blessed me! And our local office actually placed in the TOP TEN of the entire country for meeting deadlines, accuracy, etc. It was a once-in-a-lifetime coming together of positive, action-oriented, think-outside-the-box, get-it-done-right-the-FIRST-time group of people. We rocked that Census!

I was also blessed to come away from that experience with lifelong friends. I moved to California, got married, and worked in the family business since 2003. Not a lot of opportunities to meet non-family members. Now I have several friends and at least 3 I know I will hold close forever.

Since the job ended, I have been spending my time with those new friends! They are teaching me creative things--knitting, scrapbooking, photography, card-making, etc. I'm learning to go with my imagination, something I never really did before. It's good. I'm seeing parts of the area I wouldn't otherwise see, with our photography sessions and hiking. I'm starting to feel like a real part of a community.

I also got to go back to Ohio in January to visit with friends there and most important, my family. Because of the census job, I missed my usual summer visit, so I was anxious to see everyone. It was, as always, the icing on the cake of my year. This time I did something new: I drove down to Sunbury to spend a night with my cousin's family and meet a facebook friend in person that she introduced me to online. I feel I've come away from that evening with another lifelong friend as well. And another creative outlet--zendoodling!

Another big event in my life since I last blogged: the birth in June '10 of my husband's 6th grandchild. She has absolutely stolen my heart! We have the privilege of watching her on weekdays while her parents are working. She's my first experience with day-to-day contact with a baby (never had kids of my own). Of course she is the most *insert positive adjective here* baby on the planet! Shehas taught me unconditional love.

So here I am back again after some awesome times. And some sad times, too, but I try not to dwell on negatives these days. Life really is too short.

And on that note: pray for Japan.