How long does a blog have to hibernate before losing its value?  I had thought I had already passed the Rubicon of blog death with this blog, but this morning I changed my mind.  I think it was the rain – I’ve spent every spare minute I had this past month in the sunshine, and I definitely got more than my share of beach time this summer, but clearly that’s changing.  Things are starting to speed back up around here after the almost-European August slowdown, and the sky’s getting grayer – a sure sign of winter.

So what have I been up to since I last posted?  A lot.  Here’s a quick recap, blog-countdown-style.