Life continues to be a rocket ride and a balancing act between grad school, my day job, and all the other things that keep coming in this thing we call "life." Doing well in school with a 3.65, got transferred at work to a new department and away from my former borderline personality disordered boss, and I just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I wish I could say that I'm managing it like a program pro, but the fact is, my class schedule means I can only make it to 2 meetings max per month...and it shows. Part of "class schedule" includes this being the second 18-hour semester in a row with nary a break in between, so my stress level is extremely and unrelentingly high. I find myself thinking old thoughts and acting old behaviors way more than I would care to admit, and it takes considerable effort to access program tools that tend to have faded into the background. Top that off with my mother being in hospice, and well, you get the picture. This Saturday I will finally be able to get to my first meeting in six weeks and i...can't...wait.

I was delighted to pop in and see that the "cabin" isn't boarded up. To carry Dave's metaphor another step, it's like we may not meet up regularly to gather around the fireplace and chat like we once did, but each of us can stop by and read the notes that everybody has left on the kitchen table, and add one of our own to the stack. As time permits, I want to respond to everyone's (comparatively) recent posts personally, but for now I want to say thank you to Dave for leaving the key under the mat.

Blessings on you all, dear friends.