Life is really, really great.

Darrell and I picked up a couple of matching Canon 450Ds (Rebel XSi) on ebay and have been gung-ho taking quality photographs in nature, and it's only been a week.

We're actually Doing Stuff Together. Learning Stuff. Getting Out of the House and Everything. Joy!

I seem to have enough work ahead of me to ensure a bit of job security for now, so I can relax and take on the piles of work ahead. It seems more managable now, perhaps because I've cleared out a lot of the overhang.

I have social energy again. I see people, and frequently have beloved houseguests.  (We *love* having houseguests.)  I also have time alone here and there. I seem to be shedding the social anxieties that held me back for several years.

I'm happy most of the time.  When was the last time I could say that?

I'm in a rock band. I may have mentioned this. Today I bought a tambourine and a hand chime. We get along, and Darrell's slowly becoming our unofficial sound man, and he's brilliant at it.  Our first gig is Saturday with a bunch of other bands in some rural area.

My love! We take photos and we make music! One or the other, every day! We also work together! Our marriage rocks!

And it's spring. So far, a colorful and warm spring.  I see potential photos everywhere. My gladiolus is stretching scattered spears toward the sky. No blooms yet for them, but they're coming.

Had a health screening. Flying colors. I don't feel my age, but I'm aware of it.  I'm thinking of ways to drink up and savor the life I have.

I feel light, warm, grateful.

I dreamed last night that each of the jars in my spice cabinet had become a portal to another universe, each cosmically influenced by the spice contained within.

The mulling spice universe was particularly chaotic.

It feels like a new world.

In the almost-two-years I've been gardening, my luck with plants and flowers has been mixed.

I've tried dahlias for two years. They hate me. Most of them completely die, and if they do grow back, they don't flower. I think I'll give up on those.

The very first tree I ever bought (a dwarf key lime) is thriving in its second year. The first year produced few fruits, but there are many out there now, ready for harvest. I may be teaching myself to make a key lime pie like a good little Floridian.

I planted at least one shallot and it has never grown.

Spearmint in a container that I mostly neglect grows like a weed. Good thing I have no plans to transplant it. Tarragon in the same container also grows well. Too bad I almost never use either herb in cooking.

I buy a basil plant at Trader Joe's, plant it either in the soil or keep it in its container in full sun, and it only produces tiny, almost useless leaves after that.

Hydrangeas do well. I'm reminded that I need to cut mine back since the flowers are spent.

My Japanese maples are okay, but I know they need to be repotted to bigger containers. Should do that soon while they're dormant.

My two camellias are stubbornly late bloomers, and sparse at that.

The little potted persimmon tree that I've had for a year did less well this year than last, and has not changed at all in size. The ONE fruit it produced this year was eaten by a bird the day before I was going to harvest it. Probably needs a bigger container and some protection.

The roses that came with the house and are mostly cared for my my landlord's landscapers do pretty well without a lot of fuss. They were just cut way back a few weeks ago, mostly.

Today I planted a dozen and a half gladiolus corms since djdigit exclaimed how much he liked them last summer on a neighbor's yard. Did a lot of research and followed the instructions closely, including the timing, so I'm hoping for success.

So far, the most foolproof plants seem to be my various succulents. They never seem to need for much.

I've been wanting to graduate into a real vegetable garden and some more fruit trees, but I'm discouraged by how fussy the flowers I attempt seem to be. Why do I see flowers blooming riotously all over my same street, but mine struggle? I amend the soil, I fertilize, I water, I weed. I suspect I don't mulch enough-- that might help.

This year, perhaps, I'll just be less ambitious and try to get a few things right in the garden.

Another rollercoaster of a year. Big ups, devastating downs.

Love and work, both gained and lost in multiple, both augmented and stabilized as the year drew to its end. I'm starting to find my place.

I learned a lot last year. I am still very tired from it all, but time having passed, I'm refocused and invigorated. I do always bounce back, although a little more slowly as I advance in years.

My hands are finally on a healing path. Physical therapy and PRP therapy (I need to write about that in detail) are working together and I'm taking this all quite seriously.

My new job is wonderful and I pray it to sustain. I'm giving it my all and it's making me more well-rounded as a tech writer. Through it, I'm making new friends, too. It's comfortable and challenging, both. (And my intense approach to it is probably keeping me a bit tired. Perhaps I can relax a little at the end of this month when my first big deliverable is live.)

Perhaps I'll take fewer risks in 2011, and start looking at my own restlessness with more compassion. Perhaps I can detach further from those things and notions that do little more than hold me back or knock me down.

I have no big plans or goals for this year otherwise. I have no idea how it will turn out. I think my hope is that I can breathe, rest, heal, find fulfillment, and grow.

And, y'know, write a little more.