Coasting downhill

What's that sound you hear? It's TheQueen - sighing in relief that the busiest autumn of my life is over. I've plowed through the jam packed weeks till I've reached a sweet shifting point and can take my focus off my job and put it onto the rest of my life. And as I lift my head and look around me I see we are here in that golden gem of a month - November. Beautiful sparse vivid still colorful November - when half the leaves have fallen from the trees, leaving the forests speckled with the last of the glowing yellow hickory and poplar leaves, all fluttery against the deep green of holly and the black tree bark. Blue skies, with their cloud edged fringes, cap us and the leaf littered forest floor wafts its rich woodsy scent into our nostrils with each step we take down the home path, across the swamp bridge or through the secret path.

The Friends of the Library's event yesterday went well. The cooks and caterers brought the most delicious food and all afternoon long I was feeling sorry for the people who weren't there and a little bit smug about the rest of us, who were. "Yum" was the by-word at every table. What culinary talent we have in this little county. Alas - I was so excited and, truth to tell, a little distracted too, that I forgot to take ANY pictures. Oh - I reminded myself, as I drove to town, to be sure and use the camera. I just forgot. Next year I will see that someone is assigned that pleasure.

So - Today I will load up my automated calendar - the thing that's attached to my microsoft work e-mail ... what is that program called? Options express? hmmm. sounds like a mail order company - anyway - today I map out all the Rest-0-MyLife for 2010  -  which I intend to be Nothing But Fun Stuff. Holiday things and some vacation time, A visit from LD and then another and then a-Nother!!! Shopping and visiting friends and setting up a hoard of revelers to join us at the Lewis Ginter Light show. Cooking and decorating and fabulous music. Yeah. I am ready for 2 months of revelry. The county has given its employees generous holiday leave and I am using my carefully hoarded vacation time to fill in the gaps so that I will get solid chunks of time off.

I am ready to play.

But, being the good little Virgo I am ... you know - the sort who, when she heard that the Task-Master planet Saturn was moving out of her sign, pretty much for the rest of her life or the next 29 years, felt sad and thought "Oh No! How will I ever get anything done now?!" ---  The sort who had the thought this morning "Hmm. Time to plan some ThingsToDo for January!" - well. All I can say is ... this little Virgo really is glad to see Monday roll around again.