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| Iowa Indian Summer |
Has finally arrived! I've been in this state for 6 years now, and I can say in my limited time here that this has been one of the hottest summers in memory! ( with a study group of whopping 6 years!) Perhaps natives will know of past years being more sultry, but I'm a newbie.
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| A Pearl Crescent butterfly. |
That being said, the weather has finally arrived where it is cool to cold in the mornings; warming up in the afternoons, and then cooling down slowly as the sun sets. In other words... The weather has become pleasant. And what else is there to really talk about in Iowa... Other than the weather?
So, I'm finally finished with my 45 hour week of scoring for Pearson. I now have the opportunity to post a few things that have happened these last couple of weeks that I have not had time to chat about.
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| No more noise for Subie! |
First: Subie got a new Catalytic Converter! Only a cool $800.00 After we were finished with the Marathon in Chicago. Good Timing Subster! Cheryl was still in a good mood after running the race, that the topic of when we should fix him never came up. She simply told me we would get him fixed the next day! Usually, She is pressuring me to keep the cost low and "How serious is it really?" Which is code for: " Do we really ave to fix this?" Only after my anxiety becomes more annoying than the car noise does she relent.
With that huge hole in our bank account, I have been working my eyeballs off to score as much and as long as I mentally can over these last two weeks. Pearson has authorized 45 hours a week to allow them to finish up the project on time. I have been scoring over 12 hours each day until I can secure that 44.9 hours ( Pearson does not like it when you go over their overtime allotment.) I only had to work 4 hours today to get that number. AND I have been geting the double bonuses for scoring the minimum amount of papers in a given day. (156! Which is a LOT! ) I've been scoring around 170. So, I'll leave it to your imagination just how frazzled my brain is after that.
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| Moth playing Hid-and-seek |
Oh, Don't get me wrong. I actually enjoy the freedom I get from scoring at home. I am able to take breaks and snap pictures of the cat in the front yard.
Along with a number of other pretty sites as they flutter by.
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| Skippers abound! |
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| Another shot of the Crescent |
The colder weather has chased off the hummingbirds, and most of the butterflies and bees that used to visit the front yard flowers. However, the Skippers and Moths have been becoming more common each day. Daytime flying moths are actually kind of rare compared to the butterflies.... until now.
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| Day-flying moth |
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| Skippers everywhere |
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| Mums in Full Bloom |
Our $3 Mums are in full swing now. We have already had a couple of heavy frosts in the morning, and yet these flowers are unfazed. I have been trying to keep them watered and I eventually plan on planting them somewhere along the building. Perhaps the Landlords will have an idea on their placement. We shall see.
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| Hiro on the porch |
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| Our Lazy Guard Cat |
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| Fall flowers with visitors! |
Other than that, Cheryl has another race coming up this weekend. We plan on combining it with an IKEA visit. Since this one is on the fly, we shall see how things turn out as they happen in real time.
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| Another Chicago race for Cheryl |
One thing I DID pick up was a lovely cold. Thanks for reminding me why I do not like crowds. I imagine all those people in a small cramped room would tend to circulate any bug that might be going around. Mostly it is a seriously stuffed up nose and a bit of a cough. I'm hoping it will sort itself out before long and not digress into full blown Pneumonia. Struggling to breathe through my nose is bad enough.
