Although I was only out of the office for a week, somehow I had three weeks of work to make up when I got back. Overall I would say things are back to normal, which is to say, three feet below water.

I’m glad to have been doing some noodling with my computer lately; I got a new USB hub and, finally, a 12-in-1 card reader so that I can read the dinky memory card from Jennifer’s camera without the adapter which makes the card slightly less dinky. Also, I played around with some recording via my high-quality microphone, so that I can put “books on tape” for Anna. I don’t know how she’ll take to it, but I consider it a worthwhile experiment.

I’ve been cooking like a fiend this week. I say this not because I’ve been doing so much of it, but because there has been a lot of fire and cursing. The steaks turned out well, though. This weekend, I’m thinking of making chicken & dumplings, which is the most simple dish imaginable, but if you don’t like it, then you seriously have no soul.

I was glad to get at least a little exercise this week in the form of 3.5 hrs of volleyball. The time away from the court is definitely manifested in my play.

There were two baby-related coincidences this week. While Jen was in labor, there was another woman who was also at about the same stage of labor in the next room, and the nurses and OB were splitting their time between the two. At the newborn pediatrician checkup, we met the father of the other baby in the waiting room. Coincidence number two is that before my Tuesday volleyball game, I overheard one of the other players talking about how he just had a kid, and it turns out that a) she was born the day before ours, b) she was born at the same hospital, and c) she was also named Tara. Ironically, the other player and I both liked the fact that Tara was not a particularly common name. Doh!

Finally, my bike (which I rode to work the day Tara was born) is still at work because the weather has really sucked lately. I realize it’s only February, but seriously, if things don’t clear up soon I’m going to have to withhold some of my state taxes.