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I should probably get around to writing about the last three weeks, or I guess at least mention a few highlights.

Christmas was great this year. I've tried to impress people with talk about big Christmas get-togethers, but it seems I hang out with too many people who either also have big families, have really crazy families, or in the case of one person I know have both. As a result, I never seem to get much response when I say things like, "There were 38 people at Christmas dinner this year."

I was not looking forward to New Years, however. First of all, I decided because of airline prices, the need to stay focused on job searching, visiting people locally, etc. not to go to the MI New Years Retreat in Chicago I've attended for the previous five years. I'd gotten used to it as the way to celebrate the New Year. Secondly, this is scheduled to be the last year the space shuttle flies, not counting a probable slip of one or two missions into next year, and I haven't yet seen a launch in person. Third, the passing of the new year marks a one year anniversary I am not fond of dwelling on, but for which I have had plenty of time to do so.

I made it up to the mountain last week to go skiing for the first time of the season. The weather turned out to be fortunate, as a dry December left the snowpack low and the slopes mostly hardpacked and icy, but a gentle snowfall started as Sarah, Dan, and I left their cabin. The snow was decent when we reached the slopes and continually improved to great by the end of the evening. Now it's raining and the snow's melting again. Hopefully it will be back before too long, as I bought a 5 time night pass I need to use up.