It's the end of my second week in San Jose and I've been living in a hotel room and out of a suitcase for the last 12 days.

Can I just tell you...it sucks.

The closest I've gotten to a healthy meal was some instant oatmeal I had one day last week and a couple of pieces of free fruit that gets delivered periodically to the office (it's a nice little perk, don't get me wrong).

There are big changes coming to the southernfried household.

A couple of weeks ago, AOL decided that my services were no longer required. Rather, they would not be needed after I stick around for 30 days and do what I'm supposed to do for them.

Kind of awkward - I know!

No matter - I suppose, if you want to look on the bright side of things, I got an extra 30 days that a lot of people didn't get. Too bad the WARN Act didn't kick in (that's a whole other rant).

Welcome 2010!

I'd like to say I accomplished a lot last year, but I didn't. Well...not in my mind anyway. I'm sure my mother would disagree and show me the many items she would have gleefully hung on the fridge over the course of the year that would put your kids accomplishments to shame, but that's really not what I'm looking for.

I am looking for this year to be better.

It's that time of year again...

Time for me to get busy in the kitchen! Every year I like to make food gifts for people. All summer long I make canned goods that I usually give away at the holidays. (You can read about those here.) But I also like to make some stuff for people specifically that I know they enjoy.

So I've had "Empire State of Mind" from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys on repeat for about two hours now. It's making me long for the city in the fall. The cool crisp air, the bustle, the winter coats and warm colors of the foliage. It's all calling me.

I know, I know, I KNOW...I shouldn't complain. I mean, for Christ's sake, it's going to be 75 degrees here and there isn't a cloud in the sky (at least not until next week when Ida comes through). I really shouldn't complain. But I MISS it sooo much some days.