Autumn has arrived!

Aaron and I went to the Berkshires yesterday to go hiking and apple picking, which was a first for me in the New England area. The trees are bright colors of orange, yellow and red, and are just awesome!

So, we started off with our hike. It was supposed to be an hour - hour and a half long. The guy gave us a little piece of paper with random directions like, 'Turn left after the 3rd stone wall' and 'Knock on the tree with the orange stripe and ask the squirrel who lives there which direction to go next'. Ok, maybe not the second one, but the other directions were a bit vague. Fortunately, he left his cell phone number at the bottom of the paper, just in case. Anywho, we were off! It started off great...until we get to one part of the directions and become a bit confused. But rather than give in to the idea that we couldn't figure it out, we just guessed the next step. Well, we were wrong, so we turned around after about 10 minutes. No biggie. At this point, we had already been walking for an hour, so I suggested we turn around and go back because I was going to need food soon. So, we turn around and walk in the direction we came from. After letting Aaron lead, an hour later I realize that I don't recognize ANY of the surroundings. I tried looking for a squirrel or chipmunk to stop so I could ask for directions, but didn't find any. Apparently, even they knew to not be on the path we were on.

So, after descending this very steep hill, I finally just stopped walking. Aaron said that he would go down a bit further to see where it leads. So, he runs down for about 5 minutes as I stop to admire nature, and kill a few bugs, and then he yells back up to me,'We're on the right path! Come on down!' Ok, I believe him. So, I walk down the hill and ask him why he thinks this is the right way. He says, 'I remember passing these cotton plants'. Well, I also remembered passing cotton plants, but not there! Way back on the other, 'correct', path! So, I told him we needed to backtrack...now...before we get really lost. Back up the extremely steep hill...I was dying!...and we finally got back onto the right path 45 minutes later. After our 3 hour hike, we were exhausted and hungry.

After a quick bite to eat and some apple picking, we were on our way home! We both crashed as soon as we arrived back, but woke up a bit to watch the Sox game before giving in to the exhaustion. Ahh...you gotta love Fall!

First week of 'real' work...

This whole selling business should be interesting.....

I went to go to see the movie 'Miracle at St. Anna' last night. Excellent movie, but very tough. Kind of like a 'Saving Private Ryan' movie. There are still a lot of scenes that are playing in my head over and over. I'm not sure how many of you have heard of it, but it takes place in WW II and focuses on the black regiments deployed in Italy. If you eventually go see it, just be aware that half of the movie is subtitled because they kept it 'real' by having the German soldiers speak German and the Italian civilians speak Italian. I love that, though, because it makes it feel more authentic....

It was a nice break from thinking about work, even though it was tough to watch. My first week was ok, but I can tell that this is going to be a difficult transition from the types of jobs I've had before. All I wish for, at this point in time, is that no one throws a book at me or grabs me and throws me outside! Both of which have happened to others in the company...can you believe that?! They tell me that my first year will be the most difficult...so if I can make it through the next 11 months, then I'll be good to go :)

The leaves have starting changing here, and it's awesome! I'll take some pics as soon as it stops raining (ugh).

Later gators!