I got this idea from tikva. She posts a monthly “state of the Raycho” post, and I was impressed enough by her writing to want to try my hand at it myself. I may do it monthly as well, I haven’t decided that quite yet.

Home: I’ve been in Vienna (Virginia, not Austria) for a little over six years now. I’m not yet 24, so that means more than a quarter of my life has been lived in the Old Dominion. Since well before the election, though, I’ve been entertaining fantasies of moving to Toronto. Ideally I’d prefer Montréal, but I would have to learn a new sign language to find work there - preliminary research turned up the fact that there are very few English/ASL jobs in Montréal. I’ve never been to Toronto, but it seems suitably cosmopolitan. Meanwhile, back at home, Big Kitty is still trying to integrate into the household. We’re a bit worried about Toadstool, because she’s become less affectionate because Big Kitty is always demanding our attention (she’s a big baby).

Work: I was glad to return to work after two weeks off. I missed my clients, and I missed my co-worker. She’s looking more pregnant than ever, with six weeks to go, and she let me feel her daughter yesterday! This was a little weird, because she and I have never touched each other much; she gave me a hug when I came back from vacation but that’s as intimate as we’ve gotten. Anyway, it seems no major crises popped up while I was away. My first few assignments were a little unsettling…I found it hard to get back into the swing of things, and I kept trying to sign MAKE when the word was “change,” and at one point I signed PEOPLE instead of “please!” I’m doing better after a week back on the job, though.

Relationships: Spending two weeks alone with my partner was a wonderful experience. Many couples spend more waking time per day with their co-workers than with each other, but she and I really got a chance to reconnect on vacation. My friendships have been falling by the wayside quite a bit; I haven’t been in touch with my local friends in quite a while. I maintain online friendships only slightly better than I maintain in-person ones.

Projects: I’ve got a million things I’m working on at the moment. My current obsession (while I’m on a high-speed connection) is collecting wallpaper. I’m mostly using deviantART for this, but I’ve gotten a few good ones off Webshots too. I have been trying to make some edits at ODP, because that project is important to me, but I often find myself doing other things instead. My code cleanup project has fallen completely off my map. E2 is kind of fuzzy for me…I do a few things over there but I’m not nearly as prolific as I once was. I had stopped playing Neopets much at all for a couple of weeks, except for rounds, but now I’m trying to get back into it - because it’s fun, dammit. My only completed project of late was uploading all of the pictures from vacation and getting my entire travel journal posted.

Health: The cruise was a killer to my diet. All that fine food helped me gain several pounds, and it’s going to take a long time to get it back off. I am discouraged, but taking it slow; my addiction to grapes has resumed - I can consume a full bag in a matter of hours, I routinely buy five pounds at the grocery store and they’re gone in a few days. I’m not completely hive-free, but they’ve been hovering around 25-40% of the worst they’ve ever been. Last Saturday night was especially bad for no apparent reason; I continue to take my huge allergy med mix daily.