hello? is anyone still here?

i haven't posted in a long time...not because there hasn't been anything to write, but because i have less time than i used to.

the new job (how long are you at a job before you quit calling it the new job?) is going well. i have days of feeling completely overwhelmed. days where i feel like i must have been living under a rock for the last decade because there is so much i have to learn. days when i feel like if i have to attend one more meeting my head very well may explode. but, most of the time, i like it. my rose colored glasses are slipping down a little in that i don't think this is the picture perfect company i thought it was, but that happens w/ everyone doesn't it? the people in my department are mostly cool. the quiet ones are coming out of their shell a bit. i think they were probably shell shocked from the last person who had my job, from what i can gather. i think she was a bit of a bitch and they dreaded working with her. it's always good to come in behind someone others didn't love to death.

the summer is flying by, although i cannot wait for this heat and humidity to be gone. it makes me cranky.

last weekend we escaped the heat w/ my brother and his family. we took a day trip a couple of hours away along the blue ridge parkway. it was perfect. we found a picnic table by the stream and we enjoyed playing in the water. it was about 20 degrees cooler there. a breeze. shade. perfect. later in the afternoon it started thundering so we packed up and headed down the parkway. we stopped at a historic house along the parkway and sat on the huge wrap around porch overlooking the valley and a lake while it drizzled rain. it was sublime. it was the most relaxing, best day we've had in a long time.

i will try to be better about posting. i miss reading and being read. i hope you are all doing well. oxox