I am still alive

... I think.

So I've been off the radar for a while. Not that I have a huge readership out there worrying about me, but I have not felt the need to blog since - whoa - last July. Dang . Sadly, not much has happened in my world since then, hence the lack of blog postings. If I use my wee brain to think back to last July, I can list all of the new things and issues in my life forthwith:

September: Half-sister-in-law and husband visited from Germany. I went to Vancouver and Kelowna, came back to visit with them some more in October

October: Not much else happened in October.

November: I was unexpectedly given a large-profile project at work, added onto my regular responsibilities, and was working like a mad drooling fiend for the entire month. November 30 we left for...

December: ... our trip to Europe. We flew to Paris, stayed a couple of days with a friend there, and then rented a car (surprise! A 2007 Volkswagon Cabriolet, with glass slide-down roof, and 6 gears) to drive through Germany to Austria. We saw Neuschwanstein Castle, drove the Autobahn real fast, and delighted in the Austrian Alps in a snow-less December. We went to Graz and to Vienna. I heart Austria, and it was super to stay with the in-laws, especially over the Saint-Nicholas holiday (and Krampusnacht! wheee!).

We came home and had a Christmas party. Then more crazy work events, all in one week (Dec. 11 back from europe. Dec. 12 back to work. Dec. 13 event. Dec. 14 event. Dec. 16 party). Phew December was busy.

January: Blech. We had a new year's party at my brother's place, where I partied like I was 19. Phew I drank a lot of whisky and tried to sleep under his christmas tree. Thanks to an ice storm, none of us could drive home (he lives at the top of a hill) and so we walked to my parents' house at 5 a.m. to crash. I fell on the icy hill, and my hip has been killing me ever since. So much for feeling 19.

The snow was late, so we didn't get in any skiing until late in the month, but we've been skiing regularly since.

Also, on my doctor's recommendation, I began a diet (or regimen, as I like to call it) on Jan. 2. I am not overweight - well, I was on the border of being overweight BMI-wise - but she suspected I have a condition which could improve with a bit of weight-loss. So I have lost 15 lbs since Jan. 2, and am enjoying it quite a bit. I had all of my pants taken in, and that felt pretty darn good. I figure I'll try for another 10 lbs just to get me into bikini form, for shits and giggles, and then try to stay there (ha!). The only down-side - my wedding rings are loose now.

February: Skiing a lot. I went to Saskatchewan and then to Dawson Creek BC, which was a fabulous trip.
One of my cats (the eldest, Peter) is sick and we don't know with what, but she's 18 and has lost a lot of weight. So I spent all of my paycheques in jan. and feb. on the vet for tests that were ultimately inconclusive (sigh).

That about brings us up to speed. I have loads of photos but it all feels like too much effort to post them, or even to look at them. I am literally exhausted. I am sick today, February has gotten me down, and I'm tired of work. All I want to do is sleep for a month, or just stay home and make stuff and listen to music. Though my CD player is unreliable these days, it's on its way out, which is an endless source of anger and frustration.

Also, and I guess this is the really big nasty adventure, I seem to be infertile. We are now with the fertility clinic, so we'll see what comes out of it, or who comes out of it, but for now it's a major source of frustration and unhappiness, at least for me. We're at a year and a half of trying now, which I realize isn't a lot for some people, but I was graced with extreme beauty and not patience when I was born (ha ha ha). Hubby is enjoying the trying part, but I feel like a big flop. Everyone around me is reproducing, and I'm finding it hard to drum up the requisite enthusiasm for them - I'm kind of going through the motions, in general. Anyway, that's a topic covered on lots of other blogs, so I'll leave it to them.

Needless to say, the garden had better be fertile this year to make up for it. I have a lot of work to do come spring. I recently looked at my last spring's to-do list, and realized that I did only about 2 things on it.