Nikki and Simone-- so far away

This in from Nikki:

Nikki: still gainfully employed at the University of Maryland and Glut Food Co-op. A friend commented on people web-searching themselves. Because of my scientific work, lo, there I am! Who knew! Yet the bees keep calling me (particularly if I lift the hive cover on these chilly mornings). Involvement with BUMBA, our local beekeeping group, seems to ramp up more every year. I teach the behavioral session for our beekeeping course, established our group with Maryland Day at the University of Maryland, gave a native bee lecture for BUMBA and again at Behnke's Nursery in Beltsville, MD, and anticipate more events this spring. Since Beau Ami, my old man-dog died last fall, I have not been rollerblading much. Hope to turn that around this spring. Simone and Ave Talbott treated me to a day (all 3 of us) at SpaWorld in Virginia- which was awesome and exhausting. Nothing like cooking yourself at 188 F for 15 min. at a time. Seems every weekend is whiffed away by work and obligations. Simone and I are planning a couple of weekend treks this summer, wrapped around holidays in order to save her limited vacation time. Because of the latter situation, we don't know when we may be able to visit family in Louisville. I hope, hope that it will be before next X-mas.

Simone: It's been a rewarding 1st year working at John Hopkin's Hospital. She manages a group of social workers in the pediatric intensive care & emergency room and has specific duties in ped.neurology. I think she'll be brushing up on her Spanish as they are offering classes on medical terminology in Spanish. She's put in her 1st rows of veggies in her garden plots. The 'neck squash' were such a success last year I'm sure she'll try them again. As co-manager of that space, she has some new ideas for the coming season- but Not about having bees. Wish she didn't live an hour away. She'd make an excellent rollerblading buddy. A local Baltimore reservoir lake has new path paving which she says makes it an excellent skate site. She is very involved with her church, St Ignatius. Their small gallery is where she had her 1st show of photos last fall. The local zydeco dance group, Somebody Scream Productions, is back in action with a new venue near Catonsville, MD. Their 1st dance was on my birthday! We both assist in making these events happen by volunteering. Speaking of dancing, I don't think Simone has continued with belly dancing. Too much going on at night, particularly since she has some evenings when she sees therapy patients.

Enough? There's more, but I must sign off. Nikki