Five Things on a Friday: Mid-Hiatus Update

The last couple of weeks have been a real roller coaster ride.  Amazing highs, crappy lows...  That's life.  It's a contact sport, and sometimes I feel like I ought to wear a helmet.

When I left off last week, it was on a decided down-note.  A few of my regular readers dropped some pretty nice thoughts in the comments, and I wanted you guys to know that I appreciated it.  A really terrific weekend followed last week's tough couple of days, and this past week has been rejuvenating as well for a variety of reasons.  Life will always have its ups and downs, and that's okay.  Things have been great this week in particular, so more than anything, this update is about letting you guys know what's going on--and saying thank you for your well wishes.