brr!

Today I got up and walked the dog before 8:00. =) Usually I wait (or forget) until its warmer and I'm ready for the day. Today, I wanted to be productive and getting the dog out and emptying her tanks is a good way to start a day. Then I don't worry about having to clean a mess later.

I only wore a sweatshirt to walk her, not thinking it'd be that cool, but I could see my breath! For the first time all winter I could see my breath. This could be because I don't leave the house until close to 9:00 most mornings... but even then it was in the 40s at the coldest. I got back to check the temp on our patio and it's 38 degrees out. This is exciting for me - but please don't take this tid-bit as bragging because I heard it'd be -1 in Iowa this week. I don't wish it was -1, but to be in the 30s is great. A little frozen precipitation would be appreciated.

Another thing I noticed, nearly all the trees on my "walk the dog" route don't have leaves anymore. They are all bare, or mostly bare. Why, oh why, is the tree outside my window still green??? I swear it's not an evergreen tree. It has actual leaves, not needles. It is a very full, big tree, so when the leaves do go (probably sometime in January) it will be great fun to run around in the mess. =)

For the past couple weeks Japanese workers have been blowing, raking, vacuuming, and bagging leaves on base. Yes, I did say vacuuming - they have road vacuums they push along the sides of roads and parking lots to clean up leaves. It was an odd sight during my first encounter, although I must say it makes sense. One day when there were loads of leaves on the ground I wanted to crunch through them but couldn't because of something (no idea what). By the time I remembered I wanted to crunch the leaves were all gone. Those workers are quite efficient!

This is all the blogging I have time for on my first productive day in a long time. I'm breaking my streak of laziness and squabbling all my time away on the internet. 2 and a half hours till I go to work and I have got stuff to do! Among those reading my bible with a lovely breakfast. Mmmm. That's next on my list.