"October, and the trees are stripped bare...."

Well, after another long hiatus, here are my life's latest events. Enjoy it while you can, because I'm sure the next one is - as always - months away.

Since the last time I posted, I've moved back down to Brooklyn. The six of us (me, Natalie, her cousin Nicole, Pete, Anthony and his girlfriend Jenn) are living in two apartments in a brownstone on the southern end of Park Slope. There are a bunch of things I like about our new place, but a lot that I hate also, and the actual moving process was completely horrific. I really want to bitch-slap our new landlord. It's nice to officially live with the girl I love, though; we're sharing a lease and everything now....intense. Our year-and-a-half anniversary is coming up in just under two weeks, but she still gives me butterflies. It's nice. I'm head over heels. Alright, alright, enough of the mushy crap....

Work: I'm doing catering from time to time, but more often I'm working at a Swiss restaurant in midtown. It's pretty cool, a very nice little place with great atmosphere, good food and an excellent wine selection. It's much more laid-back than the executive dining room at Lehman Brothers (where I do the catering), and I like the people. The only thing that really sucks is the timing....Natalie is taking some time off of school and working at MoMA full time, and between her working days and me working nights at the restaurant we aren't seeing each other as much as we want to, even though we share a room. That's really my only problem with working there, but it's a big one, and I really don't think I'll stick around too much longer. It sucks not being able to spend time with her when we live together.

Wes and Jeff (two of my best friends from back in the Yak) came out to visit right after we moved. Wes has been here a couple of times, but it was Jeff's first visit to New York, so it was great to hang with them and show him around the city. It made me miss Yakima a bit, and my friends from Yakima more than a bit. My initial plans to go back for the weddings this summer fell through due to insane airline fares, so I haven't been since last winter. I'll be there for Thanksgiving, though, which I'm starting to look forward to. I'm hoping to see the Seahawks game the following Monday before I head back to NYC. Football season is making me quite happy (except for our ugly loss to Chicago last Sunday). Autumn is in the air; it's getting colder and what few trees we have are starting to lose their leaves. ("AH!" you exclaim, slapping your forehead with your palm. "That explains the title for this post!" You figured it out! Yay for you!) Oh, that reminds me, I celebrated summer's unofficial end (as well as my 24th birthday) by heading to Moodus, CT, where Natalie's aunt hosted the 27th annual Labor Day celebration. Her family and their friends hold a weekend-long party every year which consists of BBQ, bonfires, music, softball and lots of alcohol. Most of them are Russian, so there was plenty of vodka a-flowing. It was fun.

Anything else going on recently....oh, yeah, concerts! Natalie and I went to three concerts last month. First we saw Roger Waters perform The Dark Side of the Moon at Madison Square Garden, then saw a Pink Floyd tribute band called The Machine do an acoustic performance at B. B. King's, and for my birthday present she got me tickets to see Eric Clapton. Turns out he's a pretty solid guitarist....

Alrighty, that should suffice for now. Until next time....