Blogger Withdrawl:

symptoms include headache due to an excess of word buildup in the brain. Also the shakes.

I'm back, you guys! It's been way too long. My parents came on April 6th for an extended stay, so blogging has been on the back burner ever since. They should be winging their way back to the chilly Midwest as I type this. They were both here last weekend, then my dad spent the week up in Flagstaff at a work conference. My mom hung out here with me this week - while I was at work, she spent her days reading books and exploring Phoenix and it's plethora of antique shops. In the evenings we made dinner, watched movies, and did terribly exciting things like...my taxes.

It was great having her here last week - I don't get to see my parents much, so I make the most of the time I do get to spend with them. It was also nice because I'd come home each evening and find some sort of new "mom" thing done to my apartment. On Monday I discovered I now have a plate shelf in my cupboard, so my bowls sit above the stacked plates instead of on them. Tuesday I found that she had framed the award I won at the AMI conference last summer. Wednesday she bought me a small French Press coffee maker that she had found for 75% off at a department store in the West Valley. She's fun.

On Friday, we headed up to Flagstaff for the closing dinner of my dad's conference. It was up at the Grand Canyon at sunset - who could say no to that? It was a beautiful ride up there and a great time of day to see the canyon. My family lived in Flagstaff for three years when I was 6-9 and every time someone came to visit us, we'd take them up to the Grand Canyon. By the time we moved to Nebraska when I was 8almost9, I was pretty sure I'd be perfectly happy never to see it again. Almost 16 years later, though, it's an amazing sight to see.

The three of us drove back down to Phoenix yesterday evening and capped off their 9 days in Arizona with some Mexican food and margaritas. They headed to the airport a couple hours ago, I went to buy groceries, and now my apartment is really quiet...

On another note, I finished my second cover for the Quarterly last Friday and I'm pretty darn happy with it. If everything goes smoothly, it should go to press in about a week. I'll be sure to show you when it comes out.