spring into january.

it felt like spring out today. 50 degree weather. sunny. winter has disappeared. this is good i suppose unless it means the death of us. at any rate, the weekend went fast. j & j drove to the city, and we had dinner at this italian restaurant. i hadn’t been there for years. the food was quite good. we walked around downtown for hours, catching up on life. they were here last for my new year’s party. a nice time.

saw a friend of mine from grad school this morning. it was good to see him. catching up on things. perhaps that’s a theme for this weekend. i saw him briefly on wednesday before class. we’re both teaching this semester.

it’s interesting to be on the other side of the desk. i enjoy teaching. the other professors have been really helpful and supportive. my favorite professors from graduate school have been checking in via email to see how things are going. i went to lunch with my mentor, and it’s always a pleasure. the 90-minute lunch is the perfect amount of time to eat and discuss the lightness of being. ah, yes, life is good.

so tonight i’m thinking of the week ahead. it’ll be a busy week i think and that’s good. i spent a few hours in the office today working on things for tomorrow. the building is so quiet on the weekend. no classes going on and few students around. a chance to concentrate on the task at hand.

i’ve been getting the computer in shape this past week. i installed windows xp pro and that was a good upgrade. it feels more mac-like and easier to use. i’m enjoying it. the colors are certainly brighter.

it’s tax time again. i picked up the tax software i usually use and not much had changed from last year’s version. doing taxes with a computer program is simply great. i dreaded doing taxes on paper, but they’re so easy to do online. very nice. my taxes next year will be somewhat different now that i have a mortgage.

just short, random thoughts. that’s the tone of tonight. a chance to relax and ease out before a hectic week begins. i’m listening to a mix cd someone sent me for solstice. i guess this means she’s a pagan or some sort of designation like that. she doesn’t celebrate christmas on dec 25, rather it’s winter solstice on dec 21. call it what you will, it’s all in the spirit of giving. she sent a mix cd last year and i must say that this year’s was more celebratory and upbeat. i’m enjoying it rather much. i’m still trying to convince a.b. to send me a mix tape, but no luck so far. i suppose she’s busy rushing out the grad school applications. she decided the pacific northwest wasn’t the place anymore so now she’s aiming for washington d.c. plenty of options open to her at this point regardless.

well, i’ll keep this short and leave the questions to others. feel free to contact me.

good night and take care.