I’ve been so preoccupied lately with my physical state, I’ve neglected to mention some good news among friends of ours.

Here in Southern California, Christina and Emilio got engaged. YAY! Sarah-Novelist is teaching a grueling courseload and thinking about looking into other work opportunities in the non-profit sector, so if you know of anything appropriate for a skilled writer and communicator in this area, let her know! Russ is in his final year of his M.Arch.

Jeremy-Poet is teaching full-time at a few local colleges and working on building a new house in San Pedro. Jeremy Sr. is working full-time for Apple, teaching Apple Store classes and doing various other projects suited to his renaissance-man-like skill-set.

Eitan and Jacquelyn just purchased a beautiful condo in Silver Lake, as Eitan puts it, “on the corner of Latino and Hipster.” They have the most adorable two kittens, which we met today!

Sarah-Architect’s projects are really rolling now. Her own little practice is running smoothly, and she is getting involved in a big, exciting project in Kentucky as well.

In Canada, the date is getting close for the wedding of Megan & Jeff. In other wedded-bliss news, long-time L.A. friend of Stevel, Raji, just got married to a woman who knows a lot about golf (Thippewan); they promptly moved to London, making it hard to hang out with them NEARLY as much as we would like! Stevel’s friend from his school days, Tony, is engaged to get married in February in Oregon; while this date is NOT CONVENIENT FOR US (baby is due Feb. 11!), we are both very excited about the event and Tony’s happiness with his squeeze.

In the Baltimore-D.C. area, Cindy and her man are enjoying their new lifestyle as motorcyclists. The White family just added a huge addition to their house, and it looks awesome! The Renner fam—Marisol, Jeffrey, and Braden—just bought a new house in Lutherville; they report that it has a nice big yard for a romping kiddo and two romping dogs. Emily is doing well (we have plans to catch up soon!), and Kelly is living with Blake now and doing her best to be patient while career opportunities swirl around her (this woman is IN DEMAND). I’m INTENSELY looking forward to visits in the next few months from her, as well as from Cindy AND from my cousin, Matthew, who lives in Georgia.

In Virginia, Asha is due very, very soon!

Back in the hometown and surrounding areas, the most rockin’ boxer on the planet—Leela, the pup of Bridget and Dave—recently turned one. Tracey has been very busy with family goings-on, between her brother’s wedding—all four Findlings are IN the wedding, how CUTE!—and other stuff going on, but she’s not too busy to help advise me as I put together my baby registry. She’s such a pal.

I know I mentioned the new Kresic home, but I don’t think I mentioned that a little while back, my sister got a promotion at work. She likes her new role quite a lot, and I’m super proud of her.

Other friends are doing well, status quo. I can’t think of any other news to report right this second, although life seems to be moving very fast these days.

When I was a pre-teen, I used to watch the show “Thirtysomething.” I loved that show, actually, and now that I AM thirtysomething, I’m just amazed as how accurately it portrayed the ups and downs and exciting life events of the thirties. There’s a certain element of the identity formation process that goes on that’s not always easy but is dramatic in deeply emotional ways. My friends are more important to me than ever, more important than they were in my teens or twenties even. This whole “OK, I’m definitely INTO adulthood” thing is sometimes disillusioning, sometimes incredibly satisfying and comfortable in a way that the early and mid-twenties were not. It’s important to share it with others who understand.