a monday with sunshine

which is very nice. so friday after-work activities went well. there's nothing quite as fun as being free on a bike and being faster from location to location than friends in cars. all in all a relaxing night of food and drink; capped off by a post-midnight ride along the lake on my way home in the nice 30-degree temps. now that i know to bring my lined winter gloves and hat instead of the summer
riding gloves and cap it works much better. there is something freeing and individualistic about riding trails at night through the city.i've done the same thing while camping as well: long solitary hikes early in the morning or late at night when you are isolated, yet still able to observe things from a distance.

other than that soccer was fun; odd to watch rather than play, but only another week or two before i'm back out there. i went to my team's game - it helps to be more a part of the team that way. as i've noted; its easy to move in and out of groups, but hard to become extremely familiar with friends, so this type of thing helps. saturday night was wine and chocolate tasting which moved venues from my place to adam and maggie's. it was a great time with various fruits dipped in chocolate; tasty blue cheese (as well as sheep, gouda, and others); my re-created lamb with chocolate-cayenne sauce; and maggie's espresso brownies (addictive).

sunday
was a day of relaxing outside on the porch while reading and taking in the warmth of a sun on a brisk, somewhat chilly day. the spring is coming and it will be wonderful; but now the middle of the day is ideal with understood threats of cold, freezing nights and frequent reminders of late winter with cloud-hidden moments of wind aided late-winter cold. but while the sun is out - excellent! andborris got to roam as well outside. he spent a good 30 or minutes or so stalking a squirrel. and i'm sure he curses me for the bell on his collar; but as i explained - its for training. if he can become stealthy enough with the bell he can sneak up on anything without one.



and valerie and i celebrated chinese new year yesterday night with a visit to a restaurant that i've been meaning to try for quite a while. it did not disappoint: an authentic menu and clientele along with excellent food: chicken corn and crab soup and salted fish with eggplant pot. there's something guilty about liking fish sauce and the fermented bean aspect of the cuisine.

but now its back to work. quite a productive day so far. these next three weeks prior to my vacation will be quite busy as both my cemetery jobs have upcoming deadlines. good thing i function well underpressure.

i've got our company's service awards tonight (a cocktail hour and presentation honoring the milestone's of employees service). kind of a nice reflective gesture that illustrates the humanity and personal stories of my company. of course my goal is to move on before i hit my 2-year milestone (1st of April); so its a bit of a different view. I was supposed to attend an Engineers Without Borders meeting as well; but it has been pushed back to next week to fit a speakers schedule. Its a new groupi'm trying to become involved with - should be rewarding.

viva monday,

jeff