Good morning, friends! Or good afternoon or good evening, depending on when you are reading this post. Oh, the magic of the internet.

Anyway, today marks my return to work for the fall semester. Although classes don’t start (for me) until Thursday, I have various meetings and duties to take care of starting today. I took the advantage of having this morning to myself, however, and got a 2.5 mile tempo run in at the gym, had a lingering breakfast (oatmeal with banana and blackberries, two huge mugs of coffee), and am now sitting around watching a couple of episodes of Friends before I go into campus. I know. How do I do it all?! Working life is hard. I kid; I kid.

Anyway, I have certainly enjoyed having the last week off in between summer and fall teaching. I have managed to get in plenty of rest, a little reading, a little socializing, and so on. One night, W. and I headed out to find his favorite (and most elusive) cocktail, the Sazerac. Have you had one before? I believe it’s a New Orleans specialty, and involves rye whiskey, bitters, lemon peel, and an absinthe rinse. High maintenance but delicious.

I’ve also had several great meals lately, some out at restaurants and others cooked just for me. That always makes a little staycation feel more special, too. On the whole, I feel rested and ready to hit the books!

One of the highlights, I cannot lie, has been getting my new washer and dryer installed. I dorked out over this to an extreme degree, but like I menioned before, I have been longing to have my own laundry machines for years. I don’t have to collect and save quarters anymore, or endure the put-out glares of the grocery store cashiers when I beg to buy a roll of quarters from their cash tills. I don’t have to go gingerly brushing a strange person’s pubic hair off the top of the washer before adding my clothes. It’s the little things, you know?

Another highlight was a trip to the local farmers’ market. Can you believe that in four years I had never been before? I KNOW. In my defense, it only operates in the summer, only for a few hours once a week, and a lot of the time I’ve been getting produce from my CSA. So anyway, I finally managed to make it to the market on Thursday and it was fabulous! It turns out it’s quite the place to see and be seen – I ran into my friends S. and H. there and saw quite a few other familiar faces from around campus.

My big purchases were some peaches (amazing), tomatoes (bring on the sandwiches!), and some local goat cheese. Yes, that’s right, goat cheese. I have been interested in finding some quality local dairy from a trustworthy farm for a while now, and the goat cheese at the farmers market is sort of famous around the area, so I decided to try some.

Here is one of my concoctions:

Peaches, goat cheese, and a balsamic vinegar reduction. Simple and delicious.

It’s easy to see that the summer is ending, though: this morning I slept in until the late hour of 8:00 and walked to the gym and it wasn’t even 80 degrees out yet. It felt amazing! Soon enough the weather will start to cool down for real and it will be sweater, blazer, boots, and scarf season — and then it will really feel like fall semester! Fashion-wise, I can’t wait. On the other hand, I certainly wouldn’t complain if I had a few more restful summer weeks like this one before I had to go back to work. I don’t, though, so I’d better get moving. The office and my syllabi await me!