Hello!

I'm back! The quarter is over, my brain is utterly fried, my teeth are ground down to tiny nubbins and I got five hours of sleep last night and spent all day today squabbling with Dutch over ridiculous things.
Because I am barely able to form sentences, I will use bullet points to catch you up on the excitement of the last few weeks:

• This year we are making our first attempt at Easter (the pagan variety, emphasizing gluttony and spring - Jesus is off the radar) as parents, and I discovered some key things about egg dying (things that presumably would have been obvious to anyone with more than a driblet of brain cells remaining in her skull). One, COVER THE TABLE WITH SOMETHING WATERPROOF. Two, don't refrigerate the eggs first, because they get all dewy, and the crayon trick won't work. Three, use white eggs, you idiot.
• I'm going to have a sister-in-law! Actually, I'm not sure that's the right term. Sister-in-law-in-law? At any rate, Cook's brother (Antarctic Uncle) is engaged (to Green Thumb Girl), and we're pretty excited.
• My office orchid (inherited from my former boss) which has been mangy and neglected since arriving in the office 14 months ago, is in full bloom! Four beautiful purple blooms, and I am so proud. I feel like I personally generated those flowers.
• Granddad came to visit for 36 hours. Dutch was so thrilled that she was speechless when he arrived, and then pretty much didn't stop talking until he left.
  
• Rockstar Uncle came to town! I went to the show, and took the opportunity to add to Cook's excellent collection of Rockstar Band t-shirts. (This is also why I got five hours of sleep last night. I told Rockstar that I was going to leave before the end of the show, and he said "But you don't have to work tomorrow, do you? You can sleep in...", indicating a blissful ignorance of the average wake-up time for 3-year-olds.)
  
• Cook and I both had job interviews. Unsuccessful job interviews, but still exciting and nerve-wracking.
  
• We're going on vacation! Mount Saint Helens, Seattle, and the Olympic Peninsula in five days. I'm so looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to the one day when Dutch is in daycare and I am on vacation.
  
• I got all my textbooks for next quarter, and I think I should probably start reading them now.
  

I think that about covers it, approximately. I will write more when I find myself with a better grasp of English.