October 21: Work, Snow, and Magic 8-Ball

I worked my butt off today.  When I sat down this morning to make my To-Do list, I had nine major tasks to complete.  As of this writing, I have finished six of them.  By the time I go to bed tonight, I fully expect to have the entire list moved from the "To-Do" column to the "Dun-Done" column, as in, "I dun done all those things."

I haven't been this productive in a while.  Most days, I've been only finishing three or four projects, if I'm lucky.  My recent lack of motivation bothers me.  Usually, I'm pretty goal-oriented.  I want to get things done.  That's why I have To-Do lists.  I suppose I can chalk my absent ambition to my current money problems.  Finances have taken up residence in a good portion of my daily thoughts.  I can also blame the changing seasons.  In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, weather does govern life.  As the days get shorter and colder, residents of the U. P. change.  They eat more, sleep more, gain weight for the upcoming winter months.  It's like getting ready for hibernation without actually hibernating.

Tonight, it's supposed to snow.  Anywhere from one to six inches, depending on the TV station you watch.  I am not ready for it, physically or mentally.  I want at least five or six more weeks of autumn.  Then the snow can come.  Walking across campus to my office this afternoon, I saw white precipitation.  Fine white specks, like dandelion dust.  It made me want to cook and eat a 25-pound turkey.

My question this snowy 8-Ball Monday is this:

Are we going to have an easy winter in the U. P. this year?

And Holden Caulfield says:

...I had blood all over my mouth and chin and even on my pajamas and bathrobe.  It partly scared me and it partly fascinated me.  All that blood and all sort of made me look tough...

Dammit.  I don't want a tough winter.  I don't want to look tough and feel tough.


Saint Marty prefers his winter pajamas warm and dry, not tough and bloody.

Checking another thing off my list