i can has job?

Well, it's mostly official. I have a job! It's at SPSS here in Rochester. They make statistical analysis software, but I'll be working on internal projects. They're planning to set up a lot of collaboration sites with Microsoft SharePoint. (Interestingly, my husband Dave is a tech sales guy for IBM's competitive product, WebSphere Portal Server.)

Anyway, I really wanted this job. It's like geek with social skills, so I get to use both degrees. (Yay me!) I was somewhat surprised they'd take me considering I don't have any experience with Microsoft technologies. I start Monday, November 26th. So, anyway. That's it.

catchup (and ice cream)

In December 2006, I quit my job at IBM to go back to school full time and finish my Computer Science degree. I graduated in May 2007. After spending the summer and most of Fall half-heartedly looking for a job, I think I may have finally found what I was looking for. Early days yet, but I'll keep you "posted" (ba-dum bum). My husband, Dave, still works for IBM (he's in technical sales).

Dave and I have a lovely house on the Zumbro River, about 10 miles north of Rochester, MN. We've lived here since September 1998. We moved to the area from Fargo, ND, in July 1996.

We brought with us two cats, Scottie and Trouble. Scottie died in December 2000. We got another cat, Mem, in February 2001. In the summer of 2002, a scraggly, half-starved, young orange cat started hanging around the yard. We took him in and named him Toby. Everybody tells me our cats aren't normal--I already knew that. Trouble is convinced he's human, Mem is pretty much a big dumb dog, and Toby is a complete menace.

Anyway, here's a good picture of them. (The only reason they're that close together is because they think they're getting catnip).

Trouble (15), Toby (6), and Mem (7)

manifesto

Lately, I've been spending my mornings (read "early afternoons") perusing my friends' blogs to see what's going on with them. One of these bloggish friends pointed out that maybe these people would be interested in what's going on with me. I realized that I was, in fact, interested in finding out what's going on with me--because I'm never really sure myself. I figured if I could read a blog about me, I would then know what I'm doing. (If this doesn't make any sense to you in the context of me, then you apparently don't know me very well, do you?)

So, that's what this blog is about.