It's Winter Already!

Wow. Fall has flown by. I mean not by the official calendar start of winter but it sure feels like it.


Mister has had a good term in school with a fine report card to show for his efforts. Lamb enjoys her day care (calling it "school" like her big brother). They just went to their mom's work Christmas party for kids where Santa handed out presents and the kids got to play. I picked them up so their mom could go directly on duty. And I seem to finally be starting to shake the crud of viruses that have kept me sick all but about a week in the middle of November! Oh, and the Christmas decorations are up. Thanksgiving is the first date I consider putting decorations up and last weekend was the day. Mister and Lamb enjoyed putting the bulbs up after I put the tree together and strung the lights. Plus window lights and a wreath and a few other miscellaneous things. All that is left are a couple stockings for the fire place and a plate of cookies and a glass of milk on Christmas Eve! And on Friday, a bad storm where my job is allowed me to stay home, sleep in, and recover a bit more rather than hit ice-covered roads going up there.

But what happened to Fall?

It seems like only yesterday that Mister and I went to the Vanderbilt game at the Big House for the season opener. Sure, it was easy, but it was the first game offering new hope in a new season. Just being there was a treat. Then we went to the Wisconsin game for a fun game against a good team. Then we went to a friends house for a reunion of old fraternity friends and other college friends. I took Mister and Lamb while others brought their young ones (and not so young ones, too). Some of them I still see since they live around Ann Arbor but some I haven't seen in years. College days were some time ago! And finally, we saw the Ball State game complete with an F-18 flyover from a Marine Corps squadron and a real scare from the Ball State team. Our only loss was to the hated Ohio State squad and we may yet get a re-match on neutral ground to win the prize that Ohio State believes is their destiny this season. Denying them that would be almost as sweet as winning the national championship.

Plus we've seen movies this Fall: Cars, Over the Hedge, and Flushed Away. All were rather good I must say.

My home movie Parker Posey Fest continued and I even picked up UFO the series from back in 1970. I remembered it from my young days and I couldn't believe how truly atrocious the series was! And it wasn't just dated. My God, the tactical sense of this crack team was matched only by the equally awful alien military genius. And really, I remember 1980 as much better than the future 1980 of UFO. Though I'll admit the mini-skirts would have been nice. And good grief, was there really a time in American workplaces where flirting with the female staff was common and seemingly welcome? Let me tell you, UFO came off my Amazon.com wish list after viewing that DVD.

With a flex schedule from summer continuing until early November, I also had the pleasure of taking Mister to school and picking him up at least once a week. I like that since I get to see the teachers and remind them that dad is around. Plus one day to myself for the most part and one less long commute per week were welcome relief from the regular grind. And we've had various school events including the Math Night that we just went to where computers and games were set up for math related fun. Mister loved that.

And with more time off and Lamb's grandmother away visiting family for six weeks, I took care of Lamb a little more, too. I picked her up from day care and otherwise had her over a lot. She is a cutie and she has gotten rather used to coming to my home. It is quite possible that she has more toys here than at her actual home!

Celebrations were good this fall, with two birthdays to celebrate (mine and Lamb's), Halloween and Trick or Treating. Lamb was adorable in her princess costume and once again Mister could not choose a costume so a couple days before Halloween after scouring stores for a decent costume, I once again took scissors and tape, added cardboard, scrap poster board, and aluminum foil, and converted a cheap plastic fire helmet into a helmet complete with nose guard and ear protection, built a chest and back plates, constructed a shield complete with heraldry, and added Misters pirate cutlass from last year. Mister loved it and he got several compliments on our route. I just like homemade costumes better than those bought from a store. Plus I had a great Thanksgiving hosted by my sister and her boyfriend. All in all, a very nice season for celebrations!

I also started running again and was well on my way to my goal of running two miles at my old Army pace when my knee gave out. Then when that went away and I stopped limping, my Ex's schedule changed which kept me from starting up again. Plus, I spent November on sick call. With the weather outside frightful, my Ex's schedule returning to one where I can actually run at night before midnight, and the lingering virus fading, I think in less than a week I can consider just how Im going to pick up running again. I hate winter. I'm not thrilled with running though I like it that I ran every time I finished running. So if I can just get in the habit and keep myself to three times a week rather than the five or six a week I was doing before my knee gave out, I could be good to go once again.

Finally, Im wrapping up my experiment with online dating. It was ok. I met a few women but nothing really clicked. Still, lots of foreign women from distant lands were eager to move here to meet me, so I've got that going for me!

Anyway, the Fall is over and it went by so fast I can't believe it. And now we are in the Christmas season! I have some presents bought already and I'm building Mister a table for his new train that I'm disguising as part of a home improvement project. That's one expensive table Mister is getting, let me tell you. I'll write about that later.

I don't like winter, but Christmas and New Year's are at least good holidays to ease into the horrible driving days of January and February. I hope those two months go by quickly! But slow or fast, life is good. It is hard to forget that for long with all the reminders of family, children, friends, a home I enjoy, a job I like, and good health despite a sub-par November.

As a last minute post-script, my car's electrical system is misfiring. Wouldn't start tonight with various dash warning indicators flashing on. I almost couldn't take Mister and Lamb to their mom's. But half an hour later the car started. [Since Lamb had helpfully offered that I probably hadnt said the magic word and half an hour later the car started, I can only assume she thinks %&@#!! is a magic word. Just kidding. No swearing took place (aloud).] And started again to get me back home an hour later. So Monday morning, assuming I don't have to have my car towed first, I'm off to get my car fixed; and my work week and a pile of work are put off another day. Argghh. It hurt enough to lose Friday! But at least the problem became apparent right at home. Boy what a pain it would have been had this problem arisen in Lansing or on the freeway in between. So even with bad luck on my car I have good luck on the timing. Probably just spark plugs or something. I do have over 109,000 miles on the car so the plugs should be replaced anyway. On my last car, they lasted to over 130,000 miles until I lost all power on the freeway but had enough luck to coast off the freeway, through a usually busy light without touching the brakes, around the corner and then just enough momentum was left to turn into a restaurant parking lot! And this time I'll have new plugs before the winter.

Life is good, indeed.