with a little help from my friends

Happy pi day! Don't forget to celebrate the ultimate "pi second" today 3/14/15 at 9:26:53. I slept through the morning pi second, but I get a second chance this evening (ignoring military time). We celebrated by buying ingredients for apple pie, but we were too busy enjoying a pretty spring day to actually bake one.

So, I went back to work on Thursday. Technically, my leave was approved through Friday, but my savvy mother-in-law recommended going back on a Thursday to ease myself in with a short week. Very smart. I spent a large portion of my time sorting my 953 unread emails. A normal week away from my computer usually yields about 400, so 900 in six weeks is a blessing. People must have given up after the first few unanswered notes!

Going back to the office means I get to spend more time interacting with humans than with a parakeet, which is a nice change from the last few weeks. I do love hanging out with Charlie, but our conversations struggle due to his limited vocabulary (mostly just a very cheery "Hi!" that sounds suspiciously like Dan). Little outings with friends over the last month have been the perfect treatment for cabin fever and a good excuse to wear something besides sweatpants. I've been keeping busy with:

• An afternoon of lunch and yarn shop browsing with my friend Kathy. I used the gift card she gave me to buy some gorgeous yarn for a sweater. The yarn color is called Shire, so I can't help but talk like Gollum when I look at it. Shire! Hobbits!
• A Lenten Friday fish fry with our friends Ben and Jen, followed by drinks nearby. This was our first foray into the world of the Catholic fish fry, and I was pleasantly surprised. Then again, I love me some Filet-O-Fish, so my standards aren't particularly high.
• A classy Saturday at a Wine Festival with my friend Amanda. We took it easy and did not try all 700 available. Afterwards, Dan and Nate (Amanda's husband/DD) met us for dinner at a trendy gourmet hot dog restaurant. Yum!
• A snow tubing trip with my friends Laura and Andy, Dan, my parents, and my brother Kevin. Since it was very warm and the last day of the season, the tubing workers had fun messing with some of the tracks... sending a rookie employee into a splash pond and pushing dummies off a ramp half way down one track. Extra entertaining!

Spring flower arrangements from my cousins Courtney and John and our friends Kierston and Alan are brightening our house. You can spot them in the photos of our dining room and kitchen in my previous post!