Happy Easter!

Surprise flowers that appeared in our yard, March 2008

Finally...spring is here (sort of). We've still had a few chilly days and a couple of snowflakes, but the sun is starting to peek out through the clouds a little more and the days don't feel so short. As I'm writing this, I'm wearing my favorite red flip-flops, listening to the new Jack Johnson album, and the sun is shining through our huge windows...a good day, if you ask me! I am missing Easter in Buffalo with my family, though (and all of Grandma Barb's yummy food), so PJ and I are going to make our own little Easter dinner tonight-- rosemary chicken, potatoes, squash, rice, and broccoli casserole. I'm hungry just thinking about it. Mmm...

I'm happy to report that I finally have a real job! No more temping, no more horrible benefits, no more unpaid sick days and vacation days! I'm going to be doing the same work with the County Council that I've been doing since I began as a temp in October, except they finally created a permanent position for me! I have to admit, after 2.5 years of floating around and trying to figure out what to do with my life, it felt really, really flattering to have so many people recognize how hard I've been working. It's only an office admin position, but I'm making so many great connections with this job (lots of executive directors of non-profits!), the schedule works out perfectly with my grad school schedule, and I'm working with a great bunch of people. I feel like I'm on the right path for my career...thank goodness!

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here. In addition to the new job, I finally went to a PYP event. It was a little scary for me to be around so many new people and not know anyone, but I ended up at a table with a couple of really nice women (a graphic designer, a teacher, and another admin assistant) who I had a lot of fun chatting with. I'm looking forward to going to another event soon.

Last weekend, we had a bunch of friends over for a game night (if you have not played Catch Phrase yet, you don't know what you're missing) on Friday and then on Saturday, the boys made an early breakfast (green eggs, green pancakes, and beer...delicious) and we took the bus downtown to Market Square to celebrate St. Patty's Day with every 20-something in Pittsburgh--

St. Patrick's Day Celebration, Market Square, March 15, 2008

And after the past couple of days, which have also been super busy, it's nice to finally have a lazy Sunday for naps and walks and food and movies...all of which I am about to do.

Happy Easter!

Excitement to the Max

Katie & Megan, Carnaval, February 2006

Sao Paulo, Brazil

I am so, SO excited for the next couple of days. Tomorrow afternoon, PJ and I are driving up to Rochester to go see Bruce Springsteen (or rather, "The Boss"--whichever you prefer) with PJ's brother, Rob, and Rob's girlfriend Nikki. Originally, their uncle and his girlfriend were supposed to go, too, but something came up at the last minute, so instead, my long-lost friend Megan is going with us! I really couldn't be more excited. Megan and I lived together during our last year and a half of college and then moved to Rochester and lived together for another year and a half. Our busy lives have gotten in the way, though, and we haven't seen each other since just after I moved away last July. It seems crazy to me that it's already been longer than half a year-- I got so used to seeing her everyday and now we only talk once in a while. I still remember meeting her in college. We were "set up" by our mutual friend Rob, who knew that we were both looking for roommates and thought that our personalities would mesh well (ohhh, if only he had really known what he was getting himself into!) We clicked almost immediately, with our shared senses of humor and shared dislike of the whole sorority scene at our college. Now that we're living four and a half hours apart, we've managed to keep in touch through random messages, but haven't seen each other in what feels like forever and haven't really caught up on each other's lives in a while. Did I mention I'm excited for tomorrow?
I'm also excited because I'm going back to Corning on Friday, and at some point during the weekend, I'll get to see my friends Shawn and Dwayne to celebrate their 25th birthdays (happy birthday to both!) Oh, what a fun, old friend-filled few days it's going to be!
In other news, last Saturday night I went to Soldiers and Sailors memorial to hear one of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, give a reading and a discussion. While I'm obviously not uber-Christian (as noted by my lack of church-going activities during the past couple of years), something in her writing really connects with me. The books that I have read (Traveling Mercies, Plan B, and Bird by Bird) discuss with issues that she has dealt with throughout her life-- alcoholism and drug abuse, being a single mother, trying to find a place in this world to fit in-- but she writes about all of it with such a funny sense of humor. Meeting her after reading her books for the past few years was awesome-- what a kind, intelligent woman. Plus I got her autograph on Traveling Mercies, which was pretty neat.
That's it for now...and don't forget, March 8 is International Women's Day. Go hug your mom, your sister, your grandma, your aunt, your best friend...you get the point :o)