in which the attentive reader will notice the return of the exclamation point!

I'm feeling better! In my little world, this is cause for rejoicing. And by "feeling better", I mean:

1.) More healthy: I didn't cough myself awake this morning, and I can breathe through my nose again! Also, my temperature is exactly normal. To the tenth of a degree. Go homeostasis.

2.) Less stressed: my colleagues covered admirably for me in my absence, leaving me with a not-too-scary pile of work upon my return. We just figured out our budget for next year, which, even with very modest assumptions about group sizes and exchange rates, indicates that we will be self-supporting for the first time ever! Go us! (This doesn't, unfortunately, directly reflect any brilliant management efforts on my part - basically we just respond to requests for programming, but man, are we a well-oiled machine! I did have a lot to with most of our "cash-cow" programs for next year, which makes me somewhat proud.)

3.) I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I have a date! Not the really fun heart-fluttering sort of wow-is-he-the-one date, but one of those other kinds... a calendar date... August! OK, that is more of a month than a date, but you get my drift. That's when I can plan to move back to the States; the end of August. I'm happy with that.

4.) Stammtisch is starting up again, and we might even be four whole people (in a good week). This means regular social contact, once again! Weee!

Over and out.