We’re in the midst of a rapid temperature decrease. From what I saw, we had a high of 46 degrees and a low right now of 30 degrees. The rain of the past couple of days is freezing out there now. It’s going to be a slippery night and morning I’m afraid.

Gas price is at $1.72 downtown. Not bad. I was in Milwaukee this weekend and it was about $1.57. In Madison it was about $1.65. Interesting…

Only 11 more days until Christmas. I’m afraid that I’m ahead in preparations for some things and then behind on others. My shopping is pretty much done and wrapping is ahead. My family calendar work is still pending and I’m struggling to get it done.

My travels yesterday took me to Madison and then Milwaukee. We went to the Pabst Mansion for a tour of a beautiful old building decorated for Christmas. Then we went to the domes which was very interesting. There are three of them: one is a tropical dome (humid, warm, and interesting stuff), one is a dessert dome (dry arid and a bit cool), and one is called the show dome (rotating exhibits – this was now loaded with lighted Christmas trees and poinsettias). The show dome also serves as a staging area for regular group shows put on my school children, church groups, and others. It’s an interesting place. We had brunch at a place called the Water Street Restaurant. That was nice. Later in the day, we ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory restaurant. That was nice too. Since I was gone from about 6AM until about 10 that night – it was a very, very long day and a very, very nice visit and time spent.

Work is busy as usual. So much to do and so little time – I’m struggling now with trying to balance getting the Christmas and family things done and getting the work things done. I’ve got about 150 hours of leave to use by the end of the year. I’ll probably use some of it around Christmas time so I can spend time with family. The majority I’ll have to either donate (to another employee in our organization) or just lose (there’s a limit to carry over vacation at the end of the year). We’ll see…

Well, I’d better get going.

Best wishes and take care!