Time Management and Raw Pie

Our Japanese maple has lost most of its leaves, as you can see above. It still makes for a very autumnal scene, although we do not have weather to match. I walked to school yesterday in short sleeves with no jacket and was perfectly comfortable.

I don't know what has happened to my time management skills. I never used to feel harried or pressed for time, but lately I'm having trouble getting everything done. If I laid out a timetable of my day it would look something like this:

5:30-7 a.m.: Coffee, unpack dishwasher, write blog post
7-8: Get ready for work, household stuff (make bed, etc)
8-8:30: Walk to work
8:30-12: Work
12-1: Lunch, answer blog comments
1-4:30: Work
4:30-5: Walk home
5-7: Catch up with Dave, read blogs
7-9: TV
9-9:30: Bed

Now, obviously some down time will occur periodically during the day. That's when I'll grab time to read the news -- and reading is how I absorb the bulk of my information about current events. But "work" is much busier than it used to be, given that the other assistant is only half-time now. And when do I read books? This is why it takes me forever to read a novel nowadays. I pretty much only read on weekends.

I could cut out TV, but that's what Dave and I share in the evenings -- watching our shows. In other words, it's not just TV. It's bonding time for us.

I guess I shouldn't lament all this too much, since in six months I'll become unemployed and although I'll be poorer, my time will open up considerably.

At the risk of overkill, here are some more shots of our Thanksgiving cacti:

I would not say I'm the cactus whisperer, by any means, but they're doing better this year than they have in a while.

A couple of days ago we had sixth-grade classes come into the library for lessons on how to find non-fiction books. The Dewey Decimal System is a mystery to most kids -- and many adults, as well -- so they need some help navigating that. The lessons are a good idea, but these kids are a whirlwind. This is how they left one shelf:

As my former co-worker Tabatha used to say, "You gotta laugh to keep from cryin'!"

In comments on a recent post, some of you questioned the wisdom of eating week-old pasta sauce. Well, here's another food-safety dilemma for you. Dave ordered a pre-made apple pie from Waitrose and had it delivered with the rest of our groceries. He left the pie on the kitchen counter for three or four days -- he figured it would be fine since it was already baked.

But when I went to cut it last night, it seemed very soggy, and I realized that although the top looked browned, the dough was basically raw. I looked more closely at the box, and the pie was supposed to be refrigerated and then baked for another 30 minutes before serving! Oops.

Needless to say, we threw it out. I wonder how many people make that mistake.