Back on track

It has been a few weeks since I took the time, since I had the luxury of available time, to sit down and post on this blog. August was such a busy, crazy month and since I did not get to do my usual end of month regroup/first of the month planning on the 31st, I am treating today as September 1. Guess you didn't realize that yesterday was the 36th of August, did you?

So what happened in August? Let's see...we went to Ontario for a long weekend to visit friends, Aidan and I rode the train to Albany for an overnight visit with friends, we went camping in Old Forge for a weekend, Mom came for a week-long visit and Aidan started school. Oh, and James ceased to be employed. Yes, unfortunately, you read that correctly: James is now officially between jobs. It was all very sudden, surprising and murky; the reason that was sort of given for his dismissal is that as General Manager of the Syracuse office, he was ultimately responsible for revenue and revenue was down. He was given a severance package so we have no financial worries for quite a while, but we still shake our heads and wonder "WTF?".

The upside (and believe me, there is an upside) is that James is sleeping better, is relaxing more and is no longer aggravated by an odd little twitch in a muscle on his chest. He is also taking on a few house projects BUT LET ME BE CLEAR: he is not working off a "honey do" list - these are projects of his own choosing. You can ask him if you don't believe me.

And we motor on. I am trying to get back into some kind of routine, including setting monthly goals. I am being conservative in September, only setting two goals: walking three times a week, and sorting through my clothes and accessories: putting away the summer items, getting out the winter items and getting rid of what I no longer wear.

It is good to have August complete, all 36 days of it, and be in September, which I hope will be a lot less tumultuous. Bring on normal!

For the birds

We drove out to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge today simply because it was a beautiful day and we have never been there. Operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge encompasses part of the Montezuma Swamp at the north end of Cayuga Lake and is situated in the middle of one of the most active flight lanes in what is called the Atlantic Flyway.

The refuge has a very nice visitor center, several walking paths, observations areas and two observation towers. Aidan raced to the top of the first observation tower we encountered:

We forgot to bring our binoculars - duh - so the telescopes were handy as we scanned the refuge for birds:

The refuge also has a 3.5 mile one way auto drive and from our car, we spotted quite a few birds:

The NY State Thruway passes through the northern portion of the refuge, so we saw cars whizzing by in the background as we bird watched:

In addition to birds, we saw many bright and beautiful flowers in the marsh:

It was a relaxing way to spend a late summer afternoon. I want to return during the fall migration, when (according to the web site) "geese number 50,000 and ducks over 100,000!"

I will be sure to wear a hat.