Autumn in Anchorage

The weather forecast for Anchorage said we would have nearly 10 days of beautiful, clear weather. That was the case for about 4 days. The past two days have been a bit cloudy and today and downright icky with lots of fog, but it's still not terrible. The trees are turning pretty colors that remind me of Autumn in Virginia and the temperature is cool in the morning and a touch of warmth in the afternoon. When the sun is out it is golden and shows the prettiest shades of every color. Lovely. I am a bit fan of Southeast Alaska, but from what I understand this time of year is the rainiest of all, so at the moment I'm very happy to be enjoying some mild Anchorage weather.

I'm in week two of my new job and things are going pretty well. Leigh and I are nicely settled into our apartment, Juneau the Cat is learning how to thoroughly terrorize us and many objects within said apartment (including launching her clumsy self onto the screen-less window sill while three floors above the nearest landing surface- jaysus!), and the city is slowly starting to open up to all three of us.

I've been biking to work since Monday (so that's three days, but who's counting?) and it's going pretty well. There seems to be a little club of people who use the trails around the same time every morning, so I'm seeing some familiar faces during my commute. The 7 mile journey each way is just long enough to make me question my ability, and sometimes my sanity, to do it at 7:30 each morning, but I figure if I can keep it up for a month or more it'll become regular habit.

After only three days I'm finding it not only satisfying but also the best way to fit exercise into my day without having to pump myself up for it before or after work. Instead it's how I get to and from work and how I save money that would normally go toward gas. After my first week of work I noticed that my car was draining fuel at an amazingly high rate considering that all of my driving was just a series of short trips around town. So rather than fill my tank every 4-6 days hopefully a tank of gas will last closer to two weeks from now on, in addition to my being healthier and in better shape.

Leigh is doing well also. During my first week of work she applied for jobs like it was, well, her job (which I guess it is to some extent) and it seems to be paying off. She starts a long temping gig on Monday and has an interview for a "big girl job" on Thursday (TOMORROW!). I'm so proud of her for being a trooper during all of our moves and for working so hard to find a job she likes. Unemployment can be heartbreaking and job searching exhausting, so I'm glad all the dedication is finally starting to be fruitful for her, and for us!