A change is coming...

This morning I woke up sneezing and blowing my nose. Ah, fall allergies are so wonderful. I put my face on and went off to work thinking I looked okay. So far four people have stopped and asked me "Are you alright?" I checked myself in the ladies room mirror. Yeah...apparently the sleep gnomes came in my room last night and beat the hell outta me.

So, work...

Since it's Thursday, which is one day from Friday, which is one day from the weekend, I'm not going to bitch...much. Suffice it to say, I made it through, things got done, so it goes.

So, life...

Distance from someone you love is the one of the hardest things to bear on a daily basis. Oh I know, this will all get better and has gotten better but, all things considered, I'd rather be in Sweden. I get impatient. I get lonely. I get restless. But, I am loved. So I holding onto that gets me through.

So, money...

Anyone have any just laying around they'd like to get rid of? Let me know! I have a hard time being rational when I listen to the news and the $700 million bail out proposal which suddenly has become all of our problem. Managing my own pittance makes me angry at those who are supposedly the experts who mismanaged this so badly.
So, the bail out would mean that my children's children's children will now have to figure this out sometime in their lives. Also, I got my Social Security statement yesterday. You know the one they send telling you if you retire at such and such an age you'll get this or that amount each month? Yeah...I have to work til I die.

An Air Of Change

There's something about this time of year that always has a profound effect on me. It is the shortening of the days, less sunshine, and the cooler temperatures that always make me turn to an introspective place inside. I start to think about life and what I want out of it. I also take more time to dream.

It could be argued that there is nothing like a bright summer day with all it's watery blues and vivid green but the colors of autumn burn deep inside me. I took time today to take a walk. I left the bustle of the office to walk along the shore of Lake Michigan. A brisk wind pushed me along. The lake was dark and churning madly covered by the umbrella of cloud filled skies. The whole scene presented itself in a blurred grey and wisps of white. As I came to the end of the harbor wall there was a tree. One lone maple standing hard against the wind. It's leaves, tossing in the wind as it held it's ground, burst against the bleak sky like the wings of a Phoenix. It was a glorious sight.

I made a point to look up as I walked back. Each tree - the maple, the oak, the willow - were all showing off their autumn finery. Waving unashamedly in the face of the on-coming storm, they seemed to say, "Look at us, Look! This is what we were made for! Not the conformist green of summer but for this - the vibrant golden-red-orange glow of our individuality!"

Everyone complains about the changing weather here. But it's a fact of life when you live in Wisconsin - it changes - and we have to change too.