Here in West Michigan, the colors are just about at their peak. Somehow, even with the gloomy weather we've had the past 3 days, the glowing colors of the trees cheer up the days. Having moved the work site not only makes getting to work much easier (avoiding the bottlenecks) but the new expressway goes through a lot of undeveloped land with gorgeous woods. Sometimes I can't identify trees while they are leafing out, but I usually can when I see their colors in the fall. All those fall leaves I had to collect and label years ago have stuck with me!
Of course, now that I want to stay home and nest, the temporary job has been extended at least another 6 weeks. But, it gives me Christmas money, stash money and book money... for those times when I am not working.
It's perfect soup and stew weather, which are my assigned dishes in the family cooking scheme(also most appetizers, vegetables and desserts). So I am coming into my time of the year for cooking - I don't care for hot weather and I certainly do not want to make anything that isn't cold. I haven't cooked in any real fashion since April, since we spent May in Mexico, then came back to hot weather. I'm sort of looking forward to it.
And of course, it's grand stitching weather. I have started to do an assessment of the stash and WIPs. I am close to the point of starting serious organization efforts in the house, after having it up side down for far too long. The big issue of course is that I didn't expect to keep working more than a month last February, and thought I would get back to completing all the sorting and throwing away that I had started. I realize that the nature of contract work is that there is no way to predict how long an assignment will be, and so when starting one, it is better to complete whatever home projects are in flight as soon as possible. If it ends on time or early, then I can start another home project. That is why I am doing the assessment - I'm breaking those big in-flight projects from the beginning of the year (I don't regret the projects, as I was really making wonderful progress for the first time with my New Year's resolutions) and breaking them up into mini projects that can be done in a couple of hours or so. With working full time, and at least an hour on the road every day, and DH wanting to go places on weekends, 2 hour projects are the most realistic. Who knows, perhaps they'll all be done in time for the 2006 resolutions!
