I’ve noticed a pattern around here: I go away unexpectedly or get bogged down with work commitments and at precisely the same time my scheduled posts run dry and/or links come in from some fabulous places. This past weekend was a prime example of this new (quite ugly) phenomenon, so I have to apologize for my unexpected hiatus as I’ve just spent the past few days snowboarding on the icy slopes of New England with friends…wahooo!

On the bright side, I’ve noticed a spike in traffic from the following posts and mentions, so I have to give a huge “Thank You” to:

• Hank at Money Q&A; for including me as an Editor’s Pick in the Carnival of Personal Finance #348, The Grammy Awards Edition
• 101 Centavos for including me in the Zombie Apocalypse edition of the Yakezie Carnvial
• J $$ for including me in his most recent Friday Round-up
• And BlogHer for listing me as a featured blogger last week (despite the horrendously overlooked typo in the title of my post about not sacrificing passion when it comes to paying bills…eek!!)