...First, post-Oscar impressions:

I liked almost everyone's dresses that were featured. Except Marcia Gay Harden's - and that hair. She must be in character for something else that she's in.

LotR:RotK - WHOOOHOOOOOOO! I'm so incredibly thrilled about those wins, that I could hardly contain myself. I was cheering louder than I do for the Giants when they make the Pennant Race.

It's been a long and successful road for the hobbit and his friends. And congratulations to all the people in New Zealand.

...and Harvie Krumpet. I saw it at Sundance, and was incredibly impressed with how well done it was. I was so hoping that it would win. And so it did. And DH smiled and saw the director go up for his award and said "Hey! I saw him there!" So I guess I can claim that I saw an Academy Award winning director at Sundance, instead of my usual 'I didn't see anyone this year'.

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Today is my 5 year anniversary at the company I work at. I'm jazzed about it and am leaving early today to make a lemonade cake to celebrate. DH does not know this yet, but if he reads my blog he will. I only decided about an hour ago and cleared it with the boss (who is working at home today) that it would be ok - which it is.

I can't believe that I've worked here for 5 years. So much has changed - we've moved once, and are about to move again. We've changed our processes several times to achieve more efficiency, more automation. I think back to how nervous I was 5 years ago today - dressed in black jeans and a black blazer - and by 10am I had finished everything that was expected of me and decided to roam the floor.

And an hour later I was exhausted after being pulled into the fray of picking and packing orders into envelopes that were considerably different than the ones we have today.

My daughters were younger - A was 3, B was 1 1/2. All they remember in their lives is me working here. A might recall the old place very vaguely, but she never mentions that she does. DH was working at someplace he spent time at 2 companies ago...

It's been a long and winding road for me to get where I am. I didn't think that I'd still be working here, as I usually leave companies after 2 1/2 years. And when I passed that mark and I was still happy and the company was still non-political I knew that I had found a good place to land. And 2 1/2 years after *that*, I'm still reasonably happy and the company is still reasonably non-political.

I wear jeans and sweatshirts to the office religiously. Unless I know that investors are coming, or vendors, that I'm going to cross paths with. But that's a rare occurance. I'd like to say I'm working for someone different than I was when I started out, but I can't. I started out by reporting to no one until a VP of Ops came on board a month later. And I reported to him. I spent 3 1/2 years reporting to someone else for a while, and am back reporting to the VP of Ops. Only now I think they call him the COO.

And I still don't have a title - I didn't have one when I walked into the company either. But I definitely have a much greater scope of responsibility and knowledge than I did when I started out.

I don't want to jinx this by saying that I'm here for another 5 years, so I won't. I'll take it one day at a time until I blink and the time passes again.

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I love Get Togethers... there was one this weekend and I was in heaven. My favorite LNS moved to a new location that's a little more tricky to find parking at, but it was wonderful once we got inside. I spent a good amount of time stitching and talking and sharing... and avoiding eating the chocolate that was in a bowl right in front of me.

I never thought that giving up chocolate should be so hard - but when you give up other candies along with it, then it's almost impossible. But I'll make it - after all, there's only another 48 days to go. It's good for me too to do this....

...and if I keep saying that, I might be able to convince myself.