Fall is in the air and on the trees!

[FALL FESTIVAL]
This past weekend was fun fun fun! On Saturday, I went to a Fall Festival with friends from church. I go to re-live my childhood by sliding down several large-scale slides - I even talked the attendant into letting me slide on my stomach, which was against the "SIT ON YOUR BOTTOMS" rule! Wow - I'm living the wild life now!

We petted many goats and watched Farmer Jack milk a cow. We also watched Farmer Jack spray the kids sitting in front of him with milk straight from the cow's utters. Now, if you ask me, that's just plain sick and wrong, but I guess none of the kids' parents thought anything of it because noone removed their kid from the "wetting" area.

The hayride was a BLAST - we got into a huge hay fight with the family on-board (I think we became family that afternoon). Most interesting about the hayride was the fact that more hay stuck to our clothes, hair, and in our pants after it was over than seemed to be left on the back of the truck - I even still have remnants of hay in my house too!

Watching the dozen or so piglets was definitely the highlight of the afternoon outing. The piglets - now mind you, they were NOT small, rather are slightly larger than a bulldog, and were loud as ever - they sure know how to squeal! We must have stood at the pig pen for over 30 minutes watching these "little ones" ram into each other - playing - running (often sideways!) - and nursing. The momma pig was not happy about this until Farmer Jack brought over the milk he had milked out of the cow. While momma pig managed to lift herself up to gulp down the milk, all her available faucets were turned on and in full use by all the piglets. Boy was it a sight to see. And then, of course, the gross part was when she was done, she turned away and urinated in the same bowl where the milk had been. Now this in itself isn't gross, but the piglets all started drinking out of the bowl! Boy oh boy I'm just thinking of my dear friend Tammy right now and know that she is probably laughing her tail off at me. As you can see, I was NOT raised on a farm.

[HANGING OUT AT HOME]
After the Fall Festival, Amy, Brian and I headed back to my house. We played Scattergories, and I taught them both how to play Nertz - go Nertz!!! We had some pizza and had good conversation. They both left some additional hay for me :)

[HOME IMPROVEMENT??]
Sunday I went to church and finally managed to install cellular shades in my bedroom. I'm happy with my installation job and how they look. I'm thinking about also putting them in the guest bedroom and in the basement - we'll see.

[WORK WORK WORK]
I've already worked 25 hours this week. I'm going to get burnt out. My job is way stressful, and there doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Lord help me to be efficient at work - to prioritize properly, and to manage my workload the best I can. Please also give me the strength to have the right attitude at work - especially during the toughest times - reacting to co-workers' perceptions of me and my role, and to my managers' expectations of me.

[A "FREE" $150??]
I got my "United voucher" in the mail today......it's a $150 coupon good on a future United Airlines flight that I haven't already booked. Darn - I'm flying United for Thanksgiving! I have until October 2007 to use it, however, so I'll be able to cash it in. They should have sent me two of those vouchers at a minimum!!!

[NEW SMALL GROUP]
I'm taking a 6-week course at my church on developing Spiritual disciplines. I like the small group so far - it's about training, basically. How can I expect to be good at something unless I train? So true! I'm very excited to see how I grow in my walk over the next 5 sessions!

[MY HEALTH]
I rode 5.5 miles tonight on my bike. I need to be doing this everyday. I have been neglecting my health ever since I got into the car accident in July, and I'm beginning to really be disappointed in myself about that. The good news is that "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me!"

[NASTY CRITTERS!!!]
There was a centipede in my kitchen tonight when I got home from my 12-hour day. I was NOT happy. The sucker ran behind the refrigerator, and I was afraid I was going to have to pull it out in order to kill the darn thing. These stupid centipedes! I have killed 2-3 in my basement, but never imagined that they knew how to climb stairs - erg!!!! I know they just like the warmer weather inside the house, but hello! - they are uninvited guests!, and even though I think I'm a fairly hospitable person, they are NOT welcome here! Anyway, so luckily, the sucker came out from behind the fridge and I was able to kill it. Now I just hope its siblings aren't hanging around close-by!