Things feel a *bit* better at work these days... though still stressful and still not fulfilling. I've finally relaxed a bit and am trying to fill the undefinable 'quota' of work for each day. We'll see how that goes... meanwhile, I plan to sign up to take the practical prerequisite for massage therapy at the West Coast College of Massage Therapy. At least that way I'll see if I have a)aptitude and b)continuing interest in persuing this as a career.

In other news... M. and I are looking for art/diamonds as an engagement present... we're pretty darn sure we want to spend the rest of our lives together - and we're working on figuring out what gift to buy for the occasion. We're learning more about each other every day... and so far we are so compatible... I think that I annoy him, sometimes - in fact I know I do.. but it's partly the way he takes things that I say to him. We'll work it out. I still think we're perfect for each other and so does he.

I've been having an internal dilemma over the diamonds/art thing. I've battled between the ideas... the 'traditional' part of me vs the real me. ;-) The real me has doubts about diamonds. Diamonds are only valuable because they are marketed in a controlled manner. To me this means there is ahuge risk, one day, of diamonds no longer being worth so much money. After all, there are enough diamonds in the world for every man, woman and child on the planet to own a number of them... it's just that some 'governing body' in Antwerp, or wherever, has a monopoly on sorting and grading and releasing them. It's a ridiculous situation if you ask me. A diamond may be "one of a kind" but nearly everyone who gets engaged gets a diamond. Commissioning a piece of artwork seems to me to be the best solution.

I think I'll ask an artist friend of mine if she'll do a comission... now the only thing M. and I have to decide on is the subject matter.

The Weekend was spent at my house, cooking, baking, and me on pager. Fun. Trying to bake my very first Genoise sponge cake from scratch while answering pager phone calls and calling people back is quite an adventure, I can tell you. The cake turned out to be quite tasty, though a bit more dense than I would like. I'll have to practice a bit more over the next while... I'm sure my roommates won't mind TOO much... as long as they don't get too fat on my efforts.

My roommates have started to call me "Martha". :-/