Are you still working from home, @Ryadian? Our youngest son is too, and really likes it. He is an accountant/manager of finance, and the company he works for isn't asking their employees to come back into the office until at least January/21, and even then, it will be two days one week, three days the next, and the rest of the time they will be working from home.

Our other son and his wife are starting back to their offices, while still working from home some too. My husband is at his workplace again, mainly because as an electrical engineer, the massive project he is working on is now at the stage where parts need testing before they are shipped to the site in New Mexico.

Well, we are now past mid-August. This is shown in a number of ways: much cooler nights; the days are shortening; harvesting our veggie garden. My favourite season is nearly upon us!  

Stay well, everyone!  

Posted by: @jo

Are you still working from home, @Ryadian? Our youngest son is too, and really likes it. He is an accountant/manager of finance, and the company he works for isn't asking their employees to come back into the office until at least January/21, and even then, it will be two days one week, three days the next, and the rest of the time they will be working from home. 

I am still working from home, and it sounds like we're also not really talking about going back to work before 2021 (that's not official, but it's a pretty good guess). I'm really hoping this stays permanent. It sounds like they're seriously considering it! I'm glad your son is enjoying working from home, and I hope the rest of your family is happy with their current work arrangements. 🙂

Is it seriously that late in August now?? *Looks at date* Huh, I guess it is. How did that happen?? But I suppose I should've known that - my family invited me over for some fresh sweet corn the other night. Yummmmy. 😀 There are plenty of fresh veggies coming out of my parents' garden, too!

My cousin just got married a couple of weeks ago, so it was nice to have an excuse to go on a road trip and to see some of the extended family. 🙂 For a variety of reasons, we didn't get to spend as much time together as I would've liked, but at least we got to go to the wedding! Plus, just being able to break up the routine a bit was wonderful.

*enters and sneezes from all the dust*

The old Town Square is pretty quiet!

Just a few random notes to add...

This autumn was a good one for fall colors, the experts said, and I agree. There were some spectacular colors visible both in my neighborhood and during my trips farther afield.

But now, even with some trees still showing green and plenty of leaves on the ground, winter is making an appearance. Up to 6 inches (150mm) has fallen north of here, near Lake Superior, with similar amounts expected here tomorrow.

I was out and about in the snow today, and saw a man wearing shorts while mowing his lawn...while it was snowing. Only in Minnesota. ;))

@stargazer, is it normal (or at least not uncommon) for Minnesotans to wear shorts while there's snow on the ground? Speaking of, did the snowstorm moving through part of the country reach you all?

I haven't been in here for ages but I'm doing pretty well, all things considered. I'm currently being kept very busy by my responsibilities for a professional organization I'm a part of (in addition to work and other things); I am currently wearing, oh, I guess four hats for them at different levels (which was an accident - I didn't mean to have so many positions at once). There have been a number of challenges connected, and I have already decided I will not be continuing in one of the positions when my commitment runs out in the summer. It was the last position taken on knowingly and also (currently) the most challenging and time-consuming (and somewhat frustrating), so it was an easy decision in that regard.

I'm not stargazer, but as another Minnesotan... my experience is that most people switch to long pants as it gets cold, but seeing people in shorts isn't that uncommon. Granted, many of the people I've seen in shorts in winter were showing off. But I, personally, have worn capris and the like in winter just because I was too lazy to take them out of my closet. 😉

Goodness, you have kept busy! I'm amazed at how much you're able to keep up with! It's good to hear that you'll at least be able to stop spinning one of those plates In the near(-ish) future, though. 🙂

It's hard to convince myself that it's Christmastime again. I have my tree up (which is a step up from last year!), and have been playing Christmas music, but... it doesn't help that that snow stargazer mentioned has since melted. 🙁 I still haven't quite finished my shopping - and the gifts remaining are for my niece and nephew, so I should get on that, since I can never figure out what I should get them. (We probably won't see them until New Year's, though, so I've got a bit of time.)

@Ryadian, you can answer the question completely as competently. Thank you! HA, I hear you on not changing out clothes seasonally. I usually wear a lot of dresses when I'm in the office and when winter comes around, I mostly just add leggings or tights instead of swapping the dresses out. It's been a bit different this year since I'm working remotely, though - I'm actually wearing my winter outfits. X

Oh, yes - it's really hard to believe Christmas is this week! Any more success on the Christmas shopping? I also have sluffed off on Christmas shopping since I don't know when I'll see half the family to give them gifts.

Is anyone (well, besides @jo and @stargazer, I know ) going to try to see the planetary conjunction tomorrow evening? My sister and I found a spot to see it last night, and we're going to go back and try to see it tomorrow too. I'm a little nervous that half the city will also decide it's the spot to go tomorrow, but hopefully not.

@Valia, Rya's reply was quite accurate. To elaborate a little more, there are those around here who wear shorts or go without coats after the snow flies, but what struck me that day was that the guy was out during the snowstorm, mowing his lawn while wearing shorts.

I do hope to see the conjunction tomorrow, but clouds have settled in for the better part of the last week and the planets are much closer now than when I saw them last. Here's hoping the clouds will break in time for a view. In the meantime, there are a lot of great pictures of the pair online.

Posted by: @valiantarcher

Oh, yes - it's really hard to believe Christmas is this week! Any more success on the Christmas shopping?

Not yet, though I also got distracted this weekend and didn't actually go shopping. At least I have a week's extension, so to speak. I'll probably just go to a bookstore since they've got a good selection of things that my niece and nephew would probably like. I was considering going to some local businesses for the rest of my Christmas shopping, but... I'll be honest, I don't know a lot of local stores that aren't retail chains.

At least things are slowing down a bit at work. We just got an e-mail that confirmed that we're closing early on Christmas Eve. This happens almost every year, but we've been unusually busy and I was worried we might not get the time off. I'm glad I was wrong. 🙂 Now to see if I'll actually use this extra time to do that Christmas baking I keep telling myself I'm going to do.... 😛

@stargazer, thank you for elaborating! Ooh, yeah, the middle of the snowstorm seems a bit extreme.
If I saw correctly, you did get to see the conjunction briefly. Very glad for that!

@Ryadian, gotcha on the distractions and reprieve. A bookstore is a good choice for presents.
Hurrah for things slowing down and for closing early on Christmas Eve! Ooh, what are you planning on baking? Hope it works out! And are you taking any time off between Christmas and New Year's?

Posted by: @valiantarcher

Ooh, what are you planning on baking? Hope it works out! And are you taking any time off between Christmas and New Year's?

Well, I had grand dreams of making all kinds of Christmas desserts to try, but the only thing really on my agenda was snickerdoodles. Just because it's been a long, long time since I've made them, and they're... sort of Christmas-y (cinnamon, right? 😉 ). But, on the plus side, that did get done!

I can't believe we're already a week into the new year! I've been struggling to get back to "normal" this week. Having three weeks in a row where I got Friday off (and at least part of each Thursday) means that a 5 day week feels much longer than usual. 😛 I'm also trying to get into more productive habits - you know, like I do every January - which is hard when my brain is still in "festive" mode. Ah, well. It'll learn eventually.

How was everyone's Christmas? We ended up not really doing much on Christmas Day proper, other than my brother and I finally watching season 2 of The Mandalorian. Our Christmas celebration ended up being on New Year's Day, and it was a nice, if kind of quiet, affair. I got a few presents, but I think my favorite was a D&D themed cookbook I got from my sister. Some of these recipes are probably waaay too fancy to be worth it, but I kind of want to give them all a try. (Even though it seems like a good third of the recipes use mushrooms. Thematic, yes, but I don't care for mushrooms. )

@Ryadian, hurrah for the snickerdoodles! Even if you didn't get more baking done, that still counts as a success - you had a net increase in the number of cookies for a while. Your Christmas/New Year's sounds nice! And that cookbook sounds like a lot of fun! Any good dessert recipes in it?

 How did your first full week back go, Rya? This was my first full week in...a while (had taken some shorter days before Christmas due to my vacation schedule), and it was rough, but not as bad as it could've been. It is definitely a challenge to get back into the routine! Next week will be a pretty wacky schedule, but hopefully it'll settle back down after that.

Part of that wacky schedule next week is a meeting for professional society organization committee. It'll probably be my lowest responsibility meeting, even though I chair a subcommittee and will have to run that portion of the meeting. I've done it enough times to have an idea of how it goes, even virtually, and I actually got my agenda together and out to everyone today. *pats self on back* There's a second meeting the following week, in which I will serve as secretary and I have no idea what documents I need to put together for it yet.

Goodness, the last time I posted here was in ... August! But I have been keeping up with reading the posts.

How did the snickerdoodles turn out, @ryadian? And, re the cookbook, btw, you can pass any unused/uneaten mushrooms my way.  

Posted by: @stargazer

I was out and about in the snow today, and saw a man wearing shorts while mowing his lawn...while it was snowing.

Sounds like what an Ontarian might do too.  

The Dec 21st conjunction: it was far too cloudy here but I enjoyed some photos online. And I was so longing to view tonight's conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn-Mercury, but clouds moved in after two clear nights. While the sunset was really, really lovely, those clouds completely blocked any view of the three planets together. And the upcoming few days don't look any more promising.

@valiantarcher and Ryadian, yes, it is a challenge to get back into routine again. All the best with your upcoming meetings, Valia! And getting used to a 5-day week again, Ryadian.  

Our Christmas was quiet ... mainly because our boys and daughter-in-law live in pandemic hot spots, they could not come home (first time ever!), so we are all eagerly anticipating when we can celebrate together ... albeit maybe not until spring, who knows?! My elderly father was with us on Christmas Day, as was our daughter; my sister was here for awhile too.

My husband and kids are working from home, which will continue for awhile yet. So glad for technology, particularly during these isolating times! We have a video chat once/week with all the kids, and with my dad too. Yes, at nearly 94, he has learned how to video chat.

Our latest snowfall (over a week ago) is still on the ground, and looks very pretty. I love the blue winter's light the snow casts at dusk/twilight. It would be nice to have a fresh fall soon, but the next few days look quiet, weather-wise.

@Jo, thank you! Half of the meetings are over and they've gone okay so far. Still not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing for the second big meeting in a few days (and then I have a local-level meeting later in the week).   Hopefully someone will let me know what I'm missing soon!
I'm sorry to hear that you missed the conjunction and  of your small Christmas, but am thankful you were able to have at least some of the family there. Hopefully you will be able to schedule your full Christmas in the spring without problems!

This week will be pretty busy too with the rest of the meetings and a busy work schedule. In between those two and other normal things, I'm also trying to finish a 1200+ page book before it goes back to the library at the end of the week - I'm only a third of the way through, so I'm very nervous I might have to return it unfinished and then get back on the hold list again.

Good! re the meetings, Valia / @valiantarcher. I know sometimes my hubby wishes there were not so many meetings so that he could just keep on working.  

Did you get that tome of a book finished before it was due?

Our snow, that began in November, has come and gone, but now it has been here for awhile after a lovely storm a few weeks ago, and then another fairly major storm a few days ago. Everything is so crisp, fresh, pristine. And cold! I love the sound of my feet crunching on the snow when on my walks. Nothing quite like that. Well, a close match is walking through fallen Autumn leaves.  

We are still in major lockdown here, and our COVID numbers are going down by the week, if not day. But that is because people are staying home and going out only for essentials. If things opened up again, the numbers would be jumping right back up. One advantage of wearing masks in the winter weather is that they are quite cozy.  

Posted by: @valiantarcher

And that cookbook sounds like a lot of fun! Any good dessert recipes in it?

So far, it's mostly been main dishes and appetizers. But I suppose an adventuring party is mostly interested in meals. 😉 (I do remember there was at least one, but I don't remember much about it off hand. Apparently I need to get back to reading through it.... 😛 )

I think I've finally settled back into my usual work schedule. It helps that things have slowed down considerably since the new year started, so it's much easier to adjust. I'm a few weeks late at this point, but I hope your schedule has settled down again now that you've had your wacky week. (And hopefully someone filled you in before that last meeting!)

Posted by: @jo

How did the snickerdoodles turn out, @ryadian?

Pretty well, if I do say so myself. 🙂 They didn't turn out quite as soft and chewy as I remembered them, but I'm not sure how much of that was my baking skills and how much was me misremembering. Either way, they were quite delicious!

Aww, I'm sorry you missed the conjunction! 🙁 I'm glad you got to have some of your family, at least, for Christmas. Here's hoping you can celebrate with your sons and daughter-in-law soon! I remember you mentioning, I think in the Christmas thread, that you're leaving your decorations up until you have a chance to celebrate with them. That sounds like a wonderful idea. I know that, with things as they are, it almost felt like Christmas never actually happened last year. Part of me wants to have a "second Christmas" after things are safe again.

Valia, I assume the 1,200+ book is Rhythm of War? I can't even imagine trying to read that large a book in 3 weeks. I'm having trouble getting through the audiobook in a reasonable amount of time! (It helps that I own the audiobook, though, so I can afford to take my time.)

Here's hoping things calm down in your area soon, jo. It's good to hear that you're making progress, at least! We haven't gone back into official lockdown since before Christmas, but I haven't seen anyone outside of my immediate family since October, so I feel like we're still in lockdown. I've had the same thought about the masks being cozy when I'm driving and it's cold out.

Goodness gracious, I can't believe January's almost over. My niece's birthday is in 3 weeks, and I haven't even thought about her present yet! I... should probably get on that.