Sooooo...

... back home, back at work, DH travelling... yep, things are back to normal.

Work's hectic -- lots of lay offs, including my boss. Am really hoping it doesn't reach down to my level. Unlikely, but you never know. The company is struggling and the best way to quickly save money is to let people go. However, I am the only one in my department and the only person in the whole company who does exactly what I do -- so I think they'd be struggling a bit if they got rid of me abruptly. I'm still keeping my fingers and toes crossed :D

Kids are fine. They say they missed me... hmmmm. Maybe. Looking forward to the upcoming holidays. Although everything is going to be low key this year -- losing 15% of my income for 3 months is really hurting.

DH and I got to spend one whole day together -- Sunday -- and then he was off again. Of course, I was sick and miserable and it was that time of the month, so nothing of any real excitement happened. Although DH was happy that my "magic hands" were home -- and I used them :D. I'm hoping he's not too worn out this weekend -- he gets home Saturday night and I really need quality US time. In fact, I've been making sure all the candles are good, burning out the dust that accumulated in the electric fireplace, and cleaning out the whirlpool tub in the hopes that tomorrow night or Sunday I can entice him into some lovin'.

Oh, and where did I go with my sibs? We went to Aspen, Colorado. I really like Aspen. We went 4 years ago, right after Dad died, stayed at the St. Regis and just really enjoyed the area. We went a little bit later this year, so Independence Pass was closed. But there really wasn't that much snow on the ground, and the beautiful weather while we were there reduced it even further. We went to Glenwood Springs -- hiked up a hill to see where Doc Holliday is buried and took a tour of the Glenwood Caverns. Even went back a second day to go on some of the rides up at the caverns. Really had a fun time. Here's a picture of the view from my room.

Some things were difficult about the trip -- I really didn't feel like I could be myself. I do not share the same religious or political beliefs as my siblings. And religion and politics were frequent topics of discussion. I just listened, not wanting to open a can of worms. And then trying to get a little posting, etc. done -- angling the computer so it would be less obvious what I was doing. Oh, and hiding my tattoo under a t-shirt when we went to the spa and sat in the hot tub and pool. It would have ended up as 3 against 1 and I just wasn't up to it. Did share with my sister what happened between DH and me back in February. I had never told any of my family about it -- nothing any of them could of done and it just would have increased stress levels when dealing with them.

We're supposed to get together annually. Three years ago we went to the Eagle/Vail area and just didn't like it as much. I'm hoping next time we get together there are ocean and beaches involved. After all those years of living on the West Coast, actually near the coast, I'm more than ready for a beach vacation. We'll see. We try to find places where no one of us has to travel a lot more than any other -- and we all live in different states.

Other stuff -- since Blogrolling isn't working, I've switched to the Blogger blog listing. I know there's a lot there, but with the help of iGoogle and the Google Reader, I really am able to keep up with them all. I'm following Greenwoman's advice, starring the ones I want to reread and/or comment on. I'm hit and miss with Twittering, but I am following more Twitters and enjoying it.

Tomorrow I need to clean up in the bedroom, shower, shave and just have everything all nice for DH when he gets home. He called me "honey" twice on the phone today -- he doesn't do pet names often, so I'm hoping it means he misses me.

Hope to post some more tomorrow... We'll see :)