It's been a good week :-)

The sun is shining, it's above 20 F and I'm in a great mood. There is something about all the very subtle signs that spring will actually come again that are helping me shake the winter blahs.

And, there are several things that have reminded me to be thankful: My job is as safe as any job can be right now, Tim's lab results came back normal and the dogs are getting along better.

I've been a bit overwhelmed by all the bad news about the economy. This area of Michigan is quite hard hit and we know several close friends who are suffering from reduced or lost jobs. It just seems that everywhere we turn, someone is hurting or is having financial difficulties. At K, our stock price is way down and there are lots of business direction changes at work. Plus, with Tim student teaching, we rely very heavily on my paycheck. I've been worried about the security of my job -- I got a great review this year, but if they had to make lists for cuts, would they keep me? At the end of this week we had an R&D/Engineering yearly meeting where the CEO spoke to us. He didn't exactly say our functions were free from any threat of layoffs, but he came close to it. That's helped me feel a whole lot better.

We have been applying for term life insurance, and Tim's lab results came back with some high levels for liver function enzymes. Worrisome, of course, both for his health and for getting the insurance. The end result is that he went to his doctor to discuss and re-test, and the results were normal. Yeah! The insurance company approved his policy and we're waiting to see what the premium is going to be. Hopefully, if it is high, we can send them the results of the test with the doctor and get some reduction.

We've been working with a dog trainer to help us understand why Henry and Bea suddenly stopped getting along. Trust me when I say that it was bloody and very tense when it all erupted. It was touch and go for a bit about whether we could keep both, but things are looking up. We had a great lesson yesterday and while we have much more work to do, they are making great progress. It's not nearly as neat or easy as the Dog Whisper makes it seem!

I'll be traveling next week, and it is to warm and sunny places -- TX and CA. If I have to be away from home, those are great places to be. Maybe it'll be warmer here too by the time I get back. We've been dreaming about fun things to do this spring and summer . . . kayaking, camping, biking and mountain bike races (that's Tim's idea of fun) and other stuff. Only about 6 weeks more until we should be able to be outside consistently. I think I can make it!