It's that time of year. Fall is here. Men are raking leaves on campus this week and I already know to expect the piles of leaves in what will become an endless cycle this month of falling, raking and gathering.

I've got my first cold of the year. The annoying kind of cold that keeps you up at night when you want to be sleeping, that prevents you from really focusing during the day but isn't so bad that it prevents you from working. Nope, I'd love to curl up on my couch with a book and a cup of tea but I am at work teaching, grading and suffering from the occasional bout of sneezes. Fall is here.

The thing I always manage too forget is that while I love fall, I don't love being cold.  I like wearing my fall coat, I love decking myself out in scarves and woolly sweaters, I dig hot cups of coffee on rainy Saturday afternoons but I hate cold toes, chilly rooms and sitting at my desk shivering.

This week was really the first week we could have used heat at school. Monday my students sat in their coats and we discussed our current novel. Tuesday some students didn't take off their gloves until they absolutely had to and complained bitterly about the cold. Wednesday the heat slowly came on and today my classroom was so hot that I had students begging to open the windows.  <em>Awesome</em>.

My apartment? Well that's a different story. I have no idea when the heat will be on. The tile floor is cold to the touch and this morning I put on as many layers as possible only to strip them all off at school. Fall is here.

And I love it.