home again

while i expect no one to feel even an ounce of sorrow for my situation, i must lament that an 85 degree difference in temperature is pure torture. upon my arrival home this was fairly traumatizing.
things didnt seem so bad when landing on the ground in mexico. the curtain of humidity and heat was a welcome change after a long, dark alaskan winter.








a good time was had by all of us in mexico this year.
this was the "neighbor trip". i met kellie, my friend and neighbor from the poudre canyon, and my very long time friend krys who brought along her friend and neighbor, karen. it also happened that one of my colleagues from graduate school, carrie, was down south vacationing with her hunky new beau.

there was a tremendous amount of smiling, sunning and drinking. the snorkeling was pretty good too!

akumal is growing, as is the entire yucatan penninsula. there are many new little casitas popping up all over down there. its still a very easy place to travel and the trip went off without a hitch. our gracious host roberto was his usual accommodating self and also got to show off his new grandson while we were there. he is a proud grandfather!

i took a detour through colorado on my way back and got to see so many of our friends. although it was brief, it was awesome. i miss all you guys so much!!

i have been back to work now since last wednesday. we are still seeing many cases of influenza A, although it appears to be tapering off some. we even had three staff members ill despite being immunized. i think i am safe due to residual tequila right now.

alaska has mucho daylight right now (almost 10 hours) and its been blue sky and sunshine, with temps in the single digits. we could use some fresh snow, but i am not complaining.
i am happy to be home to my family and despite what the thermometer reads, i received a very warm welcome.