What a difference a year makes.  The weather this year has been so much nicer than what we were dealing with last year at this time.  It's caused the flowers to bloom early and the cherry blossoms to come out in February!  Yesterday it was sunny and a bit cool, clear blue skies and the fragrance of the cherry blossoms hung in the air.  I was getting texts and messages from friends in Seattle that there were snow flurries and hail!  However in Olympia we had sun and blooms.  Countdown clock is showing three days left -- although that could be iffy.  There are still lots of things to do here on the budget and revenue packages and much political and pre-election posturing going on -- we were working until the wee hours of this morning.  I however remain cautiously optimistic, and cursing myself for not bringing a bike down this year remembering how snowy and bad it was last year at this time.