Hi, Not Dead Yet - Morning, folks. One of my best friends and I like to phone each other every now and then to say, "Hi, Not Dead Yet." It's the quickest way to acknowledge, "Gee, I've been out of communication from you for quite some time, haven't I?"

So, I started my job back at the beginning of July, and now in December I've finally figured out quite a bit about how to keep up on things in my life. Most of my astute readers know that I don't mind commuting. My darling Festiva (the little blue car) has likely a half-million miles on her. I still have that car, btw, but haven't been able to drive her since she didn't pass smog. I need to have her fixed, so she can pass smog, have current registration tags, and be my "backup car" when my regular car might need to be in the shop. I was remarkably fortunate to inherit a car, and am thankful daily for my 2010 Hyundai Accent (the little white car). Friends are still confused in parking lots, looking for the blue car and seeing me enter a white car, but that's settling down now.

The Job - Oh. Right. I was talking about commuting. Now, the new job, it happens to be just over 60 miles from my home. This is not the furthest commute by miles that I've ever had -- the job on the Marine Corps base was a 72 mile one-way trip. But this commute is through the WORST of the LA / Southern CA traffic possible. I almost never take the same route twice in a row -- I'm driving south on the 5, 210, 710, 605, 22, 55, 57, 91 -- mix and match, those freeways get me from north of LA to mid/south Orange County. And then reverse it in the evenings. It's not the miles that bother me so much as I started to lose 3-5 hours per day during which I used to be able to do things.

One upside to the commute: I'm more caught up than usual on my podcast habits. I've actually started downloading new archives of new podcasts, to entertain me as I budget 2 hours per drive every morning and night.

The job was billed as a "Business Analyst / Project Manager." The prospect of adding the phrase "Project Manager" to my resume was the original reason I even considered applying, knowing the commute would be brutal. So far, I've been doing technical writing, quality assurance software testing, and some analysis work. Coming up in the new year, I'll become the Project Coordinator for a new client, new team.... So I'm not a Project Manager exactly yet. But the workplace really appreciates me, and that makes all the difference in the world. I still shiver in the building, but I have fuzzy capelets, layered clothing, and fuzzy slippers just in case I need the "big guns" to combat workplace cold temps.

Social Media Dilemmas - I will admit that one reason I'd neglected writing in my journal for so long includes the dilemmas of "how many venues can we all communicate with anyway?" I'm active on Twitter and Facebook, Google Plus has added a new layer of social media, I have a crafts blog at cayswanncrafts.blogspot.com, a Tumblr feed, my journal feed is replicated at LiveJournal, and yet in how many places do you really want to see or read the same stories from me? But, having finally learned how to keep caught up on my podcasts, my RSS readers, my twitter feed, and my Facebook newsfeeds, I also admit I've missed telling longer stories about my adventures. So, I hope you don't mind if I revive my journal writing again.

And if you happen to use any of those services I just mentioned, and you're not already following me there and want to, just drop a note in the comments so I can help connect with you just 140 characters at a time, too. *wink*

Photos, photos, where are the photos? - The *biggest* problem with budgeting 4 hours in my car per day instead of in front of a computer: My photography editing has been sorely lacking this year. And there is also the balance between pictures taken on my *actual* camera and those easily shared quick pics sent from my phone to Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. I miss editing and organizing my albums of images, and want to figure out how to budget time for that in the new year. Not to mention, several friends occasionally rib me for not uploading images from my camera that they've been waiting for (dance friends at Tribal Fest, the drummers and one of their gigs in March, my friends at Halloween). So, there's that too.

Families and Friends - Last night was Solstice, and my current roomies like to mark the occasion with friends, food, candlelighting, and reflection. It dawned on me that I've been living with them for a year now, and this past year has included an expanded set of new families and friends unlike any previous year. Many of my SCA friends and family often tell me how much they miss me, and I will admit that I miss them too, and I know I haven't been around at SCA events as much this year. But my ATS-Dance family has really become so rich and rewarding, and I'm very thankful for the time I've spent in their company this year. Everyone at the candlelighting last night was from my new dance-family, and it was lovely to feel such affection for yet more friends in my life.

My relatives-family are still around, too, and I'll get to see them this weekend for the Christmas holiday. My nieces continue to become even more accomplished and amazing, my nephew is growing leaps and bounds, my mom and my sister are doing well and overcoming various things in their lives. It has not been a picture-perfect year, but we still have each other, and in some ways--more than ever. I will also get to spend some time with my Sweetie's family this weekend, and things are healthy on the relationship front, too.

Now, back to the work details of my day. There will be more adventure narratives, tales of crafty things, photos of friends and family, and grand events as time continues to unfold. But I just wanted to take a moment to say hello and tell you all how thankful I am to have you in my life.

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Jen and Chip, True and RJ, Jan and Mom