Yes folks, I have returned... The world can go back to spinning the way it did before I left, the sky can turn cloudy, the temperatures can go cold again, the air - cool and stenchy, and happy people everywhere can return to their gloomy outlook on days ahead.

Heh.

What a negative way to start out a post.

Nah, deep down I'm actually in a fairly good mood. I'm just not showing it very well. I have mixed feelings right now but don't really feel this is place to share that. I desperately want to write about certain things that have transpired over the past few days and why these feelings are bubbling up.

The only thing I can do is live my life - enjoy "The Office" tonight on TV (yippee!!), eat dinner the way I always did before, drink my water, blog occasionally, and listen to the Embassy CD I finally got in the mail last week.

Boy, you know, if only more people knew about these guys. What a great CD. It's been playing non-stop in the car, on my Chocolate, and in my head since I opened the thing. Since I was in direct contact with the band, they even sent me a song that's coming up on a future album. If there was a legal way to post it to the blog here, I'd do it. It's that good. Also, apparently, they are undergoing somewhat of a a transformation; attempting to rename the band and getting a new web-site together and so forth. The main reason it took so long for them to process my order and get the CD mailed out. Busy times for them, I suppose. I can understand that. I hope they are still playing gigs in August when I get home, because I really want to check them out live. I really do.

The workshop went really great. Lots of great presentations, lots of notes I want to go back through, and lots to information I have yet to really mull over. The "Frontogenesis during the warm season" presentation was very interesting and the Northwood, ND tornado re-analysis case was one I enjoyed very much. I saw some familiar faces, got to reacquaint myself with them, met some new people and made some friends. They didn't announce where next year's workshop will be held, but I'm pulling for Rapid City to step up. That would make for a longer trip next April, but that would be awesome to take a few additional days off and stay out there and enjoy the area. Do some hiking in the Black Hills or Badlands, maybe? Bismarck was very new to me. I hadn't ever been out there. We familiarized ourselves with the area around the Ramkota, though and Turcotte, Lawson and I had a pretty good time. We were able to upgrade the room to a poolside one, so we enjoyed some time in the pool and especially in the hot-tub both nights.

I WILL own one of those one day. Just wait, you'll see.

Hey, you know what, I'm finishing up here during the commercial break. I'm gonna sit down, enjoy my Lean Cuisine and "The Office."

And look, the Cubbies are winning! Ahhh, the Earth IS spinning, once again.