Back to the Grind

Turns out I had 308 e-mails - so you weren't far off with 289, Sarah. Your prize is you get to spend Saturday with me ;).

It didn't take too long to get back into the swing of things at work - I didn't really have a choice; 308 e-mails weren't going to file themselves... There's loads of work to catch up with, plus it's the end of the month so there's the payroll to do, including 4 new starters this month, and we've got 10 people flying in for a meeting next week so I had to organise hotels and airport transfers. Turns out the temp only lasted a day before calling in 'sick'. Reception wasn't manned on Tuesday, the busiest day of my holiday period and the main reason we wanted someone to cover (typical), then a girl came on Wednesday and spent most of the day reading the paper so she was told not to come back. Then the second week I was off, last week, they had a girl in all week who was very good, so I guess my return could have been a lot worse...

This summer was a weird one in the UK - it rained a lot during July and August, then September was quite dry and warmer than average, so the summer got stretched out a bit longer than usual. It was still fairly decent weather at the beginning of October, before we went on holiday - dry and not cold yet - but it most definitely turned to autumn while we were away. It's been quite cold this week and all the leaves are disappearing from the trees. The tree in our front garden has turned a beautiful colour, though - I left work dead on time today so I could get home before the sun went down and take a picture of it. I didn't want to wait until the weekend because with my luck all the leaves will have dropped by then.

I also got this one of the road in the science park leading up to our office - I really should have taken it earlier on this week as a lot of the leaves have dropped already. I don't really like autumn and winter months too much, I prefer the summer by far, but I do like it when the leaves all turn a lovely colour :).

I booked my flights to Florida today - 3 nights in Melbourne with Keri and the kids while Rob, Keith and others have a meeting, then 4 nights in Hollywood, north of Miami, doing more hanging out with Keri and other techie widows during The Spring Experience. Can't wait! South Florida in December is great - Christmas preparations everywhere, yet it's still warm enough to be wearing shorts...