Tiptoe, softly.

Wow. It’s been a wild 20-or-so days since I last posted.

Outside of a truly embarrassing loss to the Sabres, the Pens have been playing pretty solid hockey. James Neal has been signed to a long-term deal at a reasonable cap hit, especially in years 4-6 (operating under the assumption of small increases in cap limits going forward). I have my concerns that Neal is starting to slow down. I made mention of this in my Pens Preview,but there is the possibility of the Gary Roberts Effect at work. What that means – Neal trains with Roberts during the off-season and Roberts’ regimen is so strict and grueling that players tend to fall off as the season drags on. Funny to criticize a 30-goal scorer, but he may also just be in a little bit of a lull/slump. When all is said and done, I think Neal will slightly over-perform my projections on offense, but will under-perform my projections on defense (he’s not going to end up +15 given he’s a neutral +/- right now). Neal has been an absolute beast on the PP, though, far outpacing my projection. I’ll be interested to see where he ends up when game 82 rolls around.

In other news…

As something of a follow-up to the last post – my continual search for a partner in this world continues. Things ultimately didn’t work out with the last girl, and that sucked, but it happens. There were no hard feelings or ill will. Honest and true, I wish her well in life and hope she finds what she’s looking for.

The world, however, continues to turn. And I continued my search. As luck would have it, I met someone else. Someone who may yet be a better fit for my lifestyle and outlook. I don’t wish to put too many eggs in one basket/count the chickens before the hatching/insert other cliché or idiom here, but I really dig this girl. It’s really, really, really hard to find someone who is almost as insane about hockey as I am down here in North Carolina. I found me a hockey fan. Granted, she supports the Hurricanes, but that’s OK.

I am genuinely excited and slightly fearful of seeing where things go. When meeting new people, especially those I am trying to impress and/or not make run screaming, I find it hard to strike the balance between being invasive and non-existent. I often fall into the trap, when I invest myself in something, of being overbearing. I don’t normally do things half-assed. If I am going to put the time and effort into something, I give it my all. Sadly, when dealing with people, I can be a little intense. It truly is a charming quirk of mine, but also is a little intimidating and hard to deal with at first, but is certainly something that can be cherished down the line.

Striking that balance, however, is difficult. As such, I must tiptoe, softly.

If, over the course of this weekend, I need a break from work I plan on writing about Kathleen Edwards’ new record, “Voyageur.” It’s a shame it released so early in 2012 because it such a magnificent album that it will be overlooked for a “best of 2012” list or award. Look for the review to come soon, but it truly is a wonderful record. If you liked her previous works or are a fan of artists like Neko Case, Sarah Harmer, etc., you owe it to yourself to purchase this album.

Work has been…trying. I love my job and, generally, I like all the people I work with, but I have some concerns about the future and the direction the school is heading. I see some major problems going forward. The semester has been going smoothly, but I am so effing happy for Spring Break. Next week is the last week before break and it’s going to be Hellish. It is going to be non-stop, but that’s OK. If nothing else, the week will go by quickly.

I am excited to come back to Pittsburgh, too, over break. I’ll only be in town for a week (really, a little less than a week), but it will be nice to just get away from NC for a little while.

And this Summer? Pft. Not even going to think about it. Total nightmare scenario between conferences and this and that. Not sure if I’ll even be able to make it back up. I’ll worry about that later. God willing (likely won’t happen), I can make it up to Pittsburgh later in June and get tickets to the NHL draft.

It’s been a wild ride, though. I am ultimately glad I took the gamble to come down here, but I have been missing Pittsburgh lately. It could be because of the weird weather of a southern Winter or it could be that I still don’t really know many people down here, but I’m really looking forward to being in an area where snow is likely. The last two days have been beastly. I’m talking north of 80 degrees. I’m just not used to that, certainly not in FEBRUARY. Oi.

But that’s life. And I tiptoe, softly.