It's almost fall, and I'm growing out my beard again. I've grown it out the past couple of years at the end of the summer, but usually only for a month or two. The last time I grew it out for any appreciable amount of time was about 10 years ago, when I was in college.

I'll post a comparison photo from then and now at some point... but I was thinking about this the other day. My beard grows in as my hair color on my cheeks (brown-ish), then blond in the "goatee" area (mustache/chin), then really dark under my jawline. When I was in school, someone asked if I dyed it to look that way. They were serious.

Re-reading this, I feel I might've been terribly boring. From the guys, do you have (or have you had) facial hair? For the ladies, what do you think of facial hair on guys?

It was beautiful last week in New England... a little cold in the morning (mid-40s to low 50s), then mid-70s during the day. I love that weather. I wore long sleeves to work all week, and it was comfortable. Compared to the previous few weeks, that was a nice change. Not that
it'd been heat wave by any means, but uncomfortable sleeping weather.

Bring in Friday. Eww. It was mid-80s and really humid. I hadn't checked the weather, so I wore long sleeves again, and was sweating by the time I got to my car. Saturday was even worse (double Eww), 90s and even more humid, and I thought I was going to melt. The really fun part was that our dryer vent was blocked, so it blew directly into one of our bathrooms. It was actually raining in the bathroom, since we had taken such cold showers before that... Luckily our landlord is great and was able to fix it that afternoon. HUGE difference.

How's the weather where you are?

What does vacation mean to you?

If you're outside the US, then you might call it holiday or something else. At the end of work today (which can't come fast enough), I'm on vacation for a week. I need it, physically and mentally.

That's nothing compared to the people I work with from Sweden. They take a four- to five-week block during the summer. Most of the country is shut down, which makes technical support even more fun.

Where's your favorite vacation spot, and how close is it to where you live?

I'm only going to be about an hour and 15 from where I live, but that's more than two hours from work (yes, I have a long commute). It's near Loon Mountain, in Lincoln, NH (Northeastern US). It's beautiful up there, and I can't wait to go swimming every day... and there's a great place for breakfast, but for some reason I can't remember the name of it. Anyone else going to be in the area?

I thought I would start posting 2-3 times a week, and made it for... one. Whole. Week. It's been busy at work, and at home, but I always have time to write a little something, don't I?

Wedding anniversary #1 was on Saturday, and it went well. It's been a quick 12 months, but I think there are many good reasons for that... family and work and family and a lot of busy weekends. I'll try to work on the timing, and get out there to visit sometime soon.