I know. I owe you an update.

Well. Where do I even begin?

How about I start with what I should have posted a week ago: Happy New Year to everyone! Whatever holidays you may celebrate, I hope they were filled with all good things.

Ours certainly was. We went to Ohio for a few days, not as long as usual, but packed with family and lots of fun. I honestly can't believe the holidays are behind us already; they just flew by. We still haven't taken our decorations down, but plan on getting everything put away by the weekend. I don't really want to, but I guess it's time.

No, I haven't found new employment yet. But it's OK. I've reconciled myself to the fact that this will take a bit of time - just hopefully not the better part of the year. I'm blanketing the earth with resumes, and have spent a lot of time working on mine to improve it. Turned out that part of our severance is quite a few hours of support from a career transition company with a significant resource library. In addition to a lot of templates and other guides, my - ahem - coach reviewed my resume and offered some good advice on how to improve it. Plus there's a lot online at other sites, too.

So I'm looking. I've actually had a call completely out of the blue about a job that turned out to be more software than telecommunications focused, but it was kind of neat that someone actually saw the resume. I'm targeting companies I'd like to work for, in addition to responding to pretty much every close fit that comes through the boards. Plus networking, of course, although my network isn't what it used to be given that I've been in internal positions for a few years. But I'm digging out contacts, and they're very receptive to sharing my information. So hopefully over time some good possibilities will begin to emerge.

One other good thing: turns out the company pays our medical for 37 weeks. That really helps.

The Girl came home early in December and has already returned to school, but The Boy will be here until the 18th. We all got up at the crack of dawn to take The Girl to the airport on Sunday, and I of course cried like a baby. I'm really questioning the wisdom of having encouraged her to go out there. Yes, I know she needs to live her dream, but honestly, it's hard. Not that I'd ever tell her to come home, mind you. I want her and The Boy to spread their wings. I'm just a little aggravated that The Girl's dream took her so far away.

Speaking of The Boy: he's been hanging around the house a lot, which I'm loving since I'm here. I told him to start running for the hills after The Girl went back since I knew I would be pretty clingy, but he's been a really good sport about it. His new hobby is cooking - he got two Asian cookbooks and the Alton Brown book for Christmas, and it's amazing how much time he spends reading them. He cooked a really interesting Bobby Flay chipotle barbecued flank steak before Christmas that was amazing. What a foodie!

As for adoption: well, I honestly have been so preoccupied with the business at hand that I haven't read a blog or an article or paid a bit of attention to anything in the adoption world since the shoe dropped. I need to get back into the fray, I know, but it probably will take time. Korean Focus is having its annual Lunar New Year celebration on February 6th (all you DC folks, don't miss it!), so that's pulling me back into things a bit. But I just don't have the energy to fight battles right now. Probably makes no sense since I have more time, but it doesn't seem like the best use of my time right now.

I'm trying to keep a normal schedule - still getting up early, hit the job boards, investigate companies and network all morning, take a break for lunch, and then back at it until late afternoon. I need to start exercising again, too; the holidays have taken their toll, oh were there goodies around! It's been so dang cold that I haven't wanted to go outside, but I'll be starting that tomorrow.

Let's see ...

The Girl bought Inglourious Basterds with a gift card; I hadn't seen it so we watched it before she went back. The verdict's out for me. Beginning and end were good, but the middle kind of went on and on. She also made me watch The Hangover - ai yi yi, could a movie be any stupider? I laughed myself silly, though.

No new books this holiday. What are you guys reading? I'm working on Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier - light, just what I need. Mindless is good in the evenings, so I've been knitting too. I finished an afghan in the most luscious purple color for myself that I'd been working on for about the entire year, and then went on a scarf binge and knitted five different scarfs. One was with ribbon yarn that really came out nicely; it was the same color as the one in the picture. The Girl took one made with faux fur year for a gift exchange, which made me happy. I'm now working on a beautiful afghan for next holiday with this gorgeous yarn called Homespun. I will need to make two of these, one for each brother and family.

So that's the scoop. Now, could you guys catch me up on what's hot in the adoption world?