It's been 20 days since I've last posted, and again, my sincere apologies in not doing a better job of keeping up! I'll try to do better.

This month began with a sigh of relief as I completed my freelance project for Carroll Electric. Each year this electrical contractor participates in the Association of Builders and Contractors Projects of Distinction Awards. Since they don't like to write, and the submission requires extensive writing, they hire me. And they won again this year! I'm two for two now, which was why they were just fine when I raised the price of my work a touch. Yeah for me!

Classes and school have continued on in a desperately strenuous grind. Soon after Chris's birthday the stomach flu hit the house swiftly and mercilessly, and I found myself falling out of my patterns of working out. I'm slowly getting back into it, but the stress of classes has left me longing for sleep and time with my family.

Speaking of the loved ones, they continue to blossom. Jarod turned 8 on September 28, and Maria will be 6 this Saturday. Natalie has been wonderful also, and I keep getting funny notes about all of the goofy things she says in class from her teacher. This weekend, with the birthday on the horizon, we'll be carving pumpkins and hanging out at home, enjoying the beautiful autumn weather. And of course cake is part of the equation!

I'm two weeks away from completing this round of classes, and in that time I have 7 papers to write, so I'll definitely be working on that. I also have the end of quarter grades approaching, so as soon as I can, I'll be tackling that as well. I'm a mere two weeks from being mostly finished with my grad work, and my final class will begin--this time only one class per week for seven weeks. By the time the holidays roll around, I should be almost finished.

In the meantime, my happy thoughts are with you as Wisconsin's brilliance grows increasingly golden this fall. Be well, friends.