I feel like when I went to sleep last night, it was a chilly December evening, the darkness creeping in by the afternoon, and here we are in April, with the sunlight stretching longer into the evenings as each day passes. The time flies so fast it's frightening. I wanted to check in and give a micro-update on my whereabouts.

In January I headed to the UK for the first time since I moved home in late 2009. I wasn't super-excited leading up to that trip. I didn't know if I'd get back to London and insist on staying, throwing away the good life and the good people in it that I have cultivated in Vancouver. Instead, I just felt happy to be there - and happy to come home when the time came. I walked over every familiar inch of my city, caught up with friends, saw a show (the fabulous

The Light Princess

at the National Theatre), and had a guided tour of Parliament thanks to my old friend Stephen Doughty, now Stephen Doughty, MP. I met my UK colleagues, and visited our London and Southampton offices. It was a wonderful visit and in some ways put to rest my life there. Home is truly Vancouver now, and there is some peace in knowing that.

Carnaby Street on a Saturday night.

Big Ben as seen from Cromwell Hill. I had a chance to sit on debate in the House of Lords as well as the House of Commons.

A week after I got home from England, it was off to Maui to meet up with my parents. After a few detours in Los Angeles and Honolulu, and a very bumpy ride thanks to the Pineapple Express, I spent a week in one of my favourite places.

In the I'ao Valley on a rainy Monday.

Keawakapu Beach.

I returned home from Maui refreshed and relaxed, but walked into a bit of a shitstorm in my personal life, and within days it felt like my vacation had never happened. So, in March it was off to Los Angeles with my travel buddy Cathy, to get out of my own space again and get some perspective.

In Runyon Canyon.

Waiting to watch a taping of my favourite, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I was delighted to get a chance during a commercial break to chat with Craig. He was sassy and snarky and Scottish, just as I'd always imagined he would be.

While we spent a lot of time walking and exploring, and spent four days in and out of the Disney park (notice the bandaids on my toes from blisters!), I did find a good chunk of time to spend right here - staring at the water and doing absolutely nothing at all. It was glorious.

Thanks to Yelp I was able to find some of the "cooler" parts of Anaheim, where we were staying, including this great "Park n' Read" in the middle of the Centre Street Promenade in downtown Anaheim.

Cathy and I sipped coffee from the excellent Ink and Bean cafe and read Tom Sawyer aloud.

My focus during the past months has been settling into my job as Corporate Counsel at Peer 1 Hosting. For the first time in a long time I can say I really love my job. I love the people I work with, and I love what we're doing. This past week I have spent working closely with my colleagues from the legal team on planning for the year ahead. On Monday we went to the Top of Vancouver, the revolving restaurant, on top of Harbour Centre. I got to see my home and neighbourhood from a whole new perspective:

Gastown. My village.

On Wednesday night we all went up Grouse Mountain to the Observatory for dinner, and to once again take in some breathtaking views of the city:

Sunset on Grouse Mountain. April 2, 2014.

So, that's how four months passes without you even knowing it. A combination of hard work, travel, and a little heartbreak. I'm now easing my way back into some theatre after an extended hiatus, and am currently in rehearsals for

Looking

, a Norm Foster play which goes up at the Shaw Theatre on May 8th, and a community production of the

Sound of Music

that opens at the end of May. It's been a slightly uncomfortable feeling, being away from performing for so long, but as usual I managed to keep myself busy - which means I'm finding now that I've thrown theatre back into the mix that I'm so busy I can't breathe. This whole "balance" thing is so difficult when you have so much you want to accomplish.

It's been a busy year for me so far

in all respects, but it

's been particularly packed with theatre,

having appeared in three shows since February. It's always a bit of a let-down when a show is over, but in particular, my last two shows, Assassins, with

Pipedream Theatre Project

, and then Spamalot, the

2013 Lawyer Show

in which I played the Lady of the Lake (and which closed its sold out run last night), were fantastic experiences with great casts, and the end of each production has caused some major post-performance blues. It's tough s

aying good bye to people you'

ve become used to seeing every day - yes, you'll see each other again, but

it's never the same, and the i

-jokes become a little stale as time goes by

, and you each join other casts and bond with new people.

So how does one get over that? There are a few tried and true methods:

1) Lots and lots of gin at the cast party on Closing Night. That way, the next day you are too hung over to feel anything but, well, hung over. Beware, though - you walk a fine line between a "comfortable" hangover - meaning one where the effects can be somewhat easily remedied by McDonald's and re-runs of Buffy - and wretched misery the next day. This was my chosen method for Assassins and worked out quite well, except for the miserable 9 a.m. walk back to our party location to pick up my Modo car the next morning.

2) Abject wallowing. Sleep in, refuse to get out of your PJs or brush your hair, re-live the "glory days" on Facebook, eat Goldfish crackers incessantly and talk to your cat. This is what I've done today, as I only had one (!) scotch on the rocks at our Spamalot hijinx last night.

I think my mom suspected that the post-show blues would be kicking in and acted accordingly. She and my dad were here this weekend to see the show, and she quietly left a bottle of her perfume, which she has worn my whole life and which I refer to as "Momma smell," on my vanity, next to my own signature scent:

Sometimes a girl just wants a hug from her mom, and when that isn't possible, well, at least she can SMELL her mom.

The bright side of this whole shows-ending thing is that my roommate and common-law kitty is extremely pleased to have me at home:

I know I'm just being my melodramatic self, and I'll be fine (meaning highly functional though melodramatic) tomorrow. But I'm having a good old fashioned sulk tonight while watching UK police procedurals in my jammies. There may even be gin involved.

Blink and You'll Miss It.

Post-Show Blues.