Someone asked me today if I was ready to list myself under the "Sleeping Geniuses" section, and I have to say, well played. Yes, it's been almost three weeks. Admittedly, I'm a bit under-motivated lately. For starters, a lot of my favorite topics are no more. It's not football season and His Holiness has retired. Le Anne Screiber's wonderful reign of inter-office terror at the Evil Empire is over.

But perhaps it's just that life is good and I have had very little to complain about lately. Hell, I was delayed by my friends at Continental for four hours at one of the country's most boring airports recently and didn't get upset about it. I broke two of my favorite wine glasses and didn't blow a gasket. And I decided to freelance for the beleaguered local paper again this year, even taking a pay cut to do so, without making any sort of stink. What is happening to me???

But I did miss a few important things during my unscheduled hiatus. Most notably, I forgot to read This is Why You're Fat for two weeks, thus missing gems like the Hamburger Cake, the Hot Beef Sundae and the Sausage Fatty. A bad job by me, and I promise I won't let that happen again.

What else...I got a new bike for my birthday, which I took for its inaugural ride today now that the weather is finally no longer complete and utter crap. The ride, predictably, kicked my ass, as is often the case with early season jaunts. But as I returned home, I experienced a moment of zen as one of my favorite songs, "The Reason" by Finger Eleven, hit the iPod. As I floated down the hill along the homestretch toward Casa Magnolia as the sun set, I was weaving back and forth across the street. I'm sure I looked like a dope but I really do not care.

I also took two trips, first to Columbus to catch up with the girls, which was great fun. It's amazing how quickly 20 years can fall by the wayside when you get the gang together...















Then the Captain and I headed west for a quick vacation, to visit some friends and enjoy the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. I'll post an entire wrap-up of that adventure in the next few days, but allow me to tempt you, my long-suffering loyal readers, with the wackiness that was an amazing tulip festival one day followed by a very snowy trip up Mount Rainier less than 24 hours later...






























I'll be back soon. I promise.