Welcome to new reader Jessica! For those who don't know Jessica, she and Chad are some of Jen and Brian's best friends. They all met playing Army out in good old Colorado Spring. Jess and Chad have since moved back to Alaska (yes-that says Alaska) with their two kids Alyson and Baby Ryan. I fell in love with the Jessica/Chad family in my two visits to Colorado. I demanded Alyson be my flower girl in Jeniffer's wedding, and Baby Ryan was the best date I had that night (Kriselyn and Taylor went together to JJ's wedding). Hope all is going well in Alaska Jess!

So, I worked again yesterday. I did a 30 minute presentation at my meeting. I did a pretty good job, especially considering I got to the meeting 15 minutes early to write up my notes on what I was going to say. I don't believe I took a ton away from Graduate School, but the one skill I gained was winging it. I didn't have to do a ton of public speaking at Wheaton, but in grad school it was a semi-weekly occurrence. I haven't been afraid of public speaking in years, because I have to do it so much at work (I'm much more afraid to ask a single person for money than a group of people to do almost anything), but I still like to prepare. After the first year of school, I realized that my undergrad degree, in Bullshitting (read: psychology) actually would help me in the real world. Planning is overrated. My masters should really be in speaking on the fly, because it is now one of my greatest skills. Now I just have to figure out how to word that on a resume...

After work yesterday Taylor and I went shopping for a new suit. Now many of you have been shopping with Taylor through the years and know it isn't fun. Some of you have even been clothes shopping with him and know that it can be hell on earth. When I told Kriselyn what I was doing this weekend she audibly gasped and offered to send me some painkillers. To his credit, Taylor was very very good. We got him a great grey striped suit. Men's suits are far different than those for the ladies, so I doubt I was much help except I kept the weird salesman busy. We all serve a purpose in life and today that was mine.

I think Grace has OCD. She gives herself a bath about every 23 minutes. Now Grace does have long hair and she wants to keep it shiny, but her cleaning is really out of control. This morning around 6:30, she was laying on my back while I was sleeping, and decided she absoulty had to have a bath. So, while sitting between my shoulder blades, she commenced with the licking. I thought I was having the strangest dream until I woke up and realized it wasn't a dream, it was just my cat being a Wack-job. Lizzie was wrapped around my head, refusing to yield my pillow, and Grace was worried about her shiny coat. Thus went my morning of sleeping late-ruined again by my feline friends.

I think we are going gourd shopping today! Nothing says fall in new england like a shiny new gourd! This post is orange in honor of October.

Happy Birthday to my brother. Boy are you old.