Can it really be Friday? It appears that I've made it through another week, largely unscathed. I'm quite surprised, give this week's insane tango of huge executive meetings I needed to pull together, simultaneously, and at 7 AM. I would bitch except that while I was complaining to consulting my boss he told me to finish up X, Y and Z this morning and then take the rest of the day off and go play.
He did this Friday before last, as well. I finally got a 1:1 with him where he actually showed up (*very* busy guy) and I was about to expound on how I felt that he didn't Value my Appointments with him, and that I was not a Priority (i.e. you don't love me, you don't send flowers anymore). He interrupted the beginning of my speech to say, "Listen, I know you've been working your butt off, so why don't you just take the rest of the day off?" I looked at him, dumfounded. Looked out the window at the precious autumn bluesky sunshine. Looked back at him. "Sorry to interrupt you -- what were you going to say?"
It's funny to be set free suddenly and without warning. When I plan a day off, I usually am dreaming about what I'm going to do for days, researching, plotting. I feel like those Russian circus bears that were finally released from their cages after 12 years. They sat there, blinking in the bright light, confused. "But it's safe and warm in here! And they feed me!" I go out into the mid-day city and have to relearn how to be a bear. During my previous release, I strolled through Capitol Hill, positively giddy, feeling like I was getting away with something. Although my first instinct was to get a jump on my To Do list (bank, post office, kitty litter), I instead enjoyed a luxurious patio lunch. Then I spent an hour in a bookstore, retiring outside with a pumpkin latte for nearly two hours writing until my butt fell asleep from the wooden chairs.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do this afternoon. It appears our Inclement Weather has largely passed, leaving little damage in its wake besides enormous traffic jams as people fled the city to secure their suburban windows against the inevitable falling sky. My electricity shuddered briefly, coughed, hiccupped, and then the storm passed. Still, it will surely be raining so today will not be an outdoor cafe/Volunteer Park kind of afternoon.
Sunday was so startlingly beautiful -- I went to Volunteer Park and sat in a pile of leaves, breathing in the fall. I'm getting used to this being my idea of October. Not the cool, crisp Cambridge autumn -- which I've been told Cambridge is not experiencing this year, either. Harvard Square in mid-October is about as close to heaven as I'll get. Lately, though, loafing to work in the misty morn with my gingerbread coffee, The Mugs playing on my chunky headphones, descending the wet stone steps overlooking the lake, Seattle fall is putting up a good fight.
I am pleased as punch with a few seasonal treat discoveries I've made that definitely go on my "forget sliced bread" list. You must try them:
- Gingerbread Coffee-mate -- screw Starbucks and their $6 soy latte. This stuff makes even ghetto gas station coffee taste lip-smacking good. I've been told it's probably not healthy that I'm excited to go to sleep so I can wake up and have gingerbread coffee again.
- Pumpkin Soup - in a pumpkin! Best. Idea. Ever. Puts Martha Stewart to shame. Also a big fan of carrot-ginger soup this time of year. Plop everything in a crock pot in the morning and come home to a fab dinner and a home that smells like mama's kitchen.
- Bigelow Autumn Spice Tea -- apparently this does have caffeine, which I discovered upon reading the box, wide-eyed, at 3:00 AM
- Pomegranate Chip Ice Cream -- it's soy, and addictive.
I'm getting hungry just sitting here. Think I'll hit PCC as soon as they open my cage.
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