Those lovely cortisone shots didn't help, and I don't recommend allowing needles to put into the joints in your spine w/only a local anesthetic. I was trying to be brave, and avoid having to spend hours in the recovery room, but having a resident & doctor talk out the whole procedure was pretty freaky ("Now when you push the needle in, you'll feel it hit the bone, and it will be very spongy....just twist it, and then twist a little more.") Eep! That's my spine! At least they didn't do any damage. But my back is still killing me, when I sneeze or move the wrong way it feels like flesh & nerves being ripped from the bone might feel. I start physical therapy on Wednesday, and hopefully acupuncture soon after if I can muster up the cash.

Good news! I was accepted to the UO, and I will start in June (3 days after I finish physics here, that's gonna be a fun couple of weeks...). I'm going to room w/the lovely Ms. Davina, we are beginning our apartment search now. Hopefully the coolest 2BR2BA/wheelchair accessible apartment will become available for us. I am very, very excited! Ross will be staying in Seattle, because he has the perfect job right now, and after years of working in crappy jobs, he deserves to do something he enjoys for awhile. I don't think that there are many engineering firms in Eugene offering positions to mechanical engineers with a focus in oceanography (physical oceanography, that is). Hopefully he'll join me in a year or so, or whenever he gets bored. I think that for the first year I'll be so busy it will be better for him to not be here, otherwise I'll feel guilty for making him move & then not spending any time with him.

The sad news is that since we aren't sure where I'll be living, and since we weren't supposed to have pets in this apt. anyway, Glenn has moved to Montana. She was originally my sister's cat, when Emily got married & had her baby she left her w/my parents. While they were building their new home, they lived in a travel trailer (with periodic breaks housesitting for friends), and a 20lb active cat can't live in a travel trailer w/two adults. So she joined us, and I got anti-social and spent a lot of time home with her, and now I am feeling like she died or something....it's terrible, I keep hearing noises that make me think it's her, or seeing shadows that look like her, and I start sobbing. At least I managed to return her improved! She lost 5 pounds, learned to use a scratching post, and improved her social skills.

Speaking of Montana, while returning Glenn, we stayed for a week and enjoyed a bit of the springtime splendor it has to offer. We visited the Rocky Mountains (they're huge!), witnessed a variety of wildlife, and somehow portions of my hair are now "violet red".... :) Most national & state parks are closed right now, usually because of snow, but there isn't much this year. Instead grizzlies are coming down into the valleys early, and mountain sheep are making their pilgrimages elsewhere. Yes, Glenn will be kept safely indoors!

I've been reading a lot, but I'm beginning to end my hibernation phase, I think. I'll let you know.