Fall

The thermometer says it's 50.7 degrees outside. Autumn has officially arrived. I love that it's cool enough now to require some 'covers' on the bed - the weight of the light comforter I use (until it really gets cold and then the down comforter with it's purple duvet cover is the bomb!) feels really good. Nothing better than feeling a little chilly and pulling up the covers, getting that 'snuggly, hunker-down' feeling. Nothing better.... Of course, there's nothing worse than getting that wonderful snuggle feeling and realizing your alarm will go off in less than an hour.

It's 4:15AM and I am up and heading up to shower shortly. At this early hour, I needed a latte before getting wet. In the good old days of my early morning risings, Chloe would stay burrowed in her kennel and let me fire up my laptop, check emails (home and work), update our bank accounts, pay a few bills, etc. all in the relative quiet of the morning calm. These days, she is already whining to be up - and while I dearly love her, there's just something about a dog that's like a rocket first thing in the morning that I can't quite deal with yet this morning.

I decided to get up because yesterday, I woke up at the exact same time and didn't get up - and spent the next hour and a half trying to go back to sleep. Which of course, I did - right before the re-set alarm went off and I absolutely HAD to get up. So this morning, I just decided to skip that part. I'm up - listening to the sounds of the trains, and the quiet. And a whiny dog who I will go rescue from her puppy prison shortly.

The market rebounded a bit yesterday, which is good. And I think today will be another 'good' day, based on what I see on our funds that trade 'after hours'. So there's hope. Not that we'll recover everything in a week. But a sign of an incline instead of a decline would be a welcome change.

I spent Sunday and last night continuing the culling of my desk and there has been significant progress. I can see the surface of the desk now - blue Formica-like counter top which matches the blue 'trim' on the top of the upper cabinets. I picked this design and these cupboards myself - maple, which I covet - and I love this space. I love it even more when it's not piled high with 'stuff'. I went through so much mail - all 'junk' mail that I put aside after I've read the 'real' mail - it was incredible. I've got a 'tray' ready now where I will toss the mail each evening and then once a week, I'll wade through it. Recycling most of it; shredding what needs to be shred. We average about 5-7 requests for our money from charities EVERY DAY - so that stack builds up pretty quickly. This year, they aren't getting much. Things are just too tight - but I am still giving to our church, Shepherd's Gate (a women/children shelter), Salvation Army, Toys for Tots and the Food Bank. Those are my 'top picks' this year and I'm being as generous with them as we can be.

I am heading into work shortly because I'm working on culling off that desk as well - it is a disaster. I was a dweeb on Sunday, using the system down time as an excuse to not go in. There's so much stuff I could have dealt with that didn't require using the finance system. Or emails. Oh well. I got a lot done yesterday and will continue today - and am at work late this evening anyway since it's a Board night. It is likely I will also work a little bit of time on Thursday morning, depending on how much packing and house stuff there is to 'settle' in preparation for our trip. I am hosting the monthly meeting of all the county CBO's tomorrow - and the Treasurer of our county and his Deputy Treasurer are attending - a big deal. Yikes. So I'll be up early again tomorrow and at work rearranging the Board Room to more of a meeting setting instead of a public forum setting. And picking up food, coffee, etc. Busy morning. And then J. and I are running an errand related to the wedding trip and while I should just stay at work, I want to go with him on this errand - so that's the plan, so far. That I will leave work after the meeting and take most of the afternoon to run this errand with him. We'll see. Traffic wise, it would be better for him to go in the AM. We will hit a lot of traffic on the return trip if we wait too long. He may go solo and I'll give him a list of my 'additional items to procure' while he's at this place that we rarely ever go to.

I called the high school and was honest. I told the attendance clerk that we had a family wedding to attend out of state and that I wasn't going to call in and lie about it. She was very nice and said 'I've recorded the absences as personal for both of them'. We will let their teachers know and hopefully, they can get some of their assignments. H. is missing a big lab in chemistry - and it's the lab he was most looking forward to. Oh well. He'll live. He's also looking forward to two days off school, a long weekend and a wedding. He loves weddings.

Chloe just quieted down, which of course makes me feel guilty. She's going to the puppy spa on Thursday - which she loves. They have over an acre of land and she gets the run of the house - they love her and keep her inside with them most of the day. She will come back smelling like a 'country dog' and spend the first couple days we're home sleeping.

Signing off for now. Let's hope the market upswing continues, shall we?