Well...

I do think about the blog even though it's been a year since wrote anything. First, I still have my job, I am still living with my partner, we still don't get along as well as I would like. 

Work: Right before the government shutdown that stared Oct. 1, 2025, we heard that the competitions for 4 proposals we had submitted were canceled. Not only did we lose 4 contracts, we also lost up to 4 new awards. Poof--gone. It was maddening! Why did the agency put out RFPs and then cancel them? That was nuts. Certainly other firms had also written proposal. Federal worker read and reviewed our proposals. They had probably made selections! And then it was all gone. Or so we thought. 

In January 2026, one of those projects was awarded to us! And I am the boss (Principal Investigator/Project Manager)! Since then, I've been running. I have a couple of other things I've had to work on, but this big one takes a lot of my time. It's great. It's something I really care about. I get to run around the country on site visits (exhausting), and my counterpart on the government side is a good friend from my old office. I feel lucky. I also feel old and wonder how much longer I want to keep going at this pace. I can do it but I'd like to work less and read more and bike more. Just be stuck at my desk less. Maybe after this project is over? 

Grateful for: interesting work.