Seasons - and life - changes

May the light of the Lord shine from your eyes
like a candle in the window, welcoming the weary traveler.
(part of an old Irish blessing - see the whole message here)

Well, it is well and truly winter.

This weekend, we had gale winds, but temperatures still in the 60's. I woke up yesterday, and all the Fahrenheits had evidently run south - it was 29 degrees. By the time I headed to work at 11, it was 24 degrees...and this morning, the sun is out and it's a crisp fourteen degrees. I now know where (and how much) each of my aging windows are leaking cold air. (In at least one case, I would be doing better to just put up burlap instead. Thank you God, for 3M shrink-wrap window coverings...)

You'd better believe I'm wearing my long underwear for the walk to the train station.

My friend Loye Mattie sent me a particularly beautiful Irish blessing, part of which you see above. Having seen (and owned) dead, lifeless eyes, I love the idea of candlelight shining in "the windows of the soul." Blessings, indeed...

Our late-night payroll processing went well - we were actually done by 10:30, and I was out of the office by 11. My boss seemed pleased - I think I'm catching on to the rhythm of the processing here. The paperwork is submitted to open my job position up for me to apply - the target hire date is November 21, which leaves them a week to slip before I end up in insurance jeopardy (my school insurance would have to be renewed - for more than $700 - before December 1).

And I've set myself a deadline of December 2nd to have my apartment cleaned up, so I can have my sponsees over for dinner and a Christmas-tree decorating party. That is gonna take some work, to be honest, especially with being gone for Thanksgiving weekend. Just means I'm going to have to do some serious work on Friday night and Sunday this week...

The train is calling - but more will be coming...I promise.