3 l's: leaves, lattes, & loans

Well, the morning's off to a good start. I didn't get to bed as early as I'd planned last night, but shortly thereafter - and that seems to have recharged my batteries a bit from the active sightseeing weekend with Julia! We had a blast, by the way. I totally recommend doing the Bike the Sites... it's so much better than walking the monuments. I finally even got to see the FDR Memorial. Beautiful! There were TWO weddings doing photographs at the FDR & Jefferson Memorials. Ironically, they both had bridesmaids with the exact color of maroonish red dresses. No cat fights though

The leaves are starting to change colors, which is so exciting. I felt robbed by my first season-ful year last year. With so little rain last year, I only got to see multiple shades of crunchy. Here's to hoping this year's a step up from that. Seems like there would be nowhere to go but up!

So, gulp, I'm calling today to check insurance rates so I can see about possibly test driving a car this upcoming weekend. This is a big step... potentially moving from the car-free to the crazed city driving masses is a whole change in lifestyle! Haha. Not that I won't still walk to work and all that, but I've actually gotten to a place where it's reasonable to park a car and also where I see that I have a need to justify the expense. I've never done this whole process though, so I'm hoping it's pretty smooth. I'm thinking of getting a Honda Fit. I finally actually saw one on the road yesterday. So cute. To be continued...

I still haven't really commented adequately on my trip to Austin. It's just been too busy. Things are full-speed ahead at work (I came in early -- am giving myself a momentary breather here...). They finally did hire a Compensation Manager, who starts early October, so I'm soon not to be a solo show anymore. She's arriving just in time for merit process madness! Well, I'm off to set out the calendar, budget, etc. Exciting stuff! Hope you're all having a good week so far...