Remembering September and Looking to October

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October is here and it is one of my most favorite months; I adore fall weather.  September was disappointing as far as autumn goes -- we had temperatures in the upper 80s most of the time.

Now the air truly has a bite of apple crispness and find myself perfectly content to stay home with a large mug of warm milk and and an even bigger book.

Now, for retrospect followed by exciting plans....

Remembering September:

• I began life as a soccer mom (gasp!); and Hope is really loving the sport.  It is so nice to see her working hard and making friends.


• Baking:  a made some fall favorites (pumpkin bars and espresso brownies) and baked a new recipe, Cranberry Honey Drop Cookies.


• The adoption was finalized!  Sam is Hope's daddy for ever and always!


• I began a new embroidery project


• I had a wonderful date day with Sam to Athens.


• Several wonderful trips to the library and a phenomenal library book sale


• Celebrated Sam's 29th birthday


• Began taking Prepared Child Birth Classes


• Readying the nursery!


• Finally I have internet at home


• Craft night with friends featuring yarn, Thai food, coffee and gossip


• Read three books (only three!), Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Alison Weir, Anatomy of Deception by Lawrence Goldstone, and The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Looking to October:

• Blogtoberfest! The goal is to post every day in October.  I didn't accomplish this last year, but I sure did post a heck of a lot more.  My goal is to post every day, even if it is a tiny writeup, rant, or link.


• Finishing Sharon Kay Penman's The Sunne in Splendour.  This is a fabulous book, but nearly 1,000 pages long.  This is my "I must finish this book before Atticus gets here" challenge.


• Speaking of Atticus he *might* be here by the end of the month.  Needless to say I'll be nesting, baby prepping, and finishing childbirth class.  I'm looking forward to this being my last month of pregnancy and having my little man soon!


• Thrifting!  Tomorrow is the huge community thrift sale, because of Hope's soccer game I won't make it there until noon so I hope some deals are left.


• Working on my new embroidery project and finishing the blanket for Atticus.


• Organizing my photo albums.  I feel compelled to tackle the box of pictures and put them in order.


• Breaking out the sewing machine


• Making holiday plans and beginning my baking and gift plans early


• READATHON!  Next Saturday!  Yay!


• Staycation!  Hope has fall break week after next and we have plans to see a movie, have lunch with her Dad at work, take walks and watch plentiful amounts of Dark Shadows.


• Possibly a foray into Once a Month Cooking.... possibly


• Organizing my bookshelves.  I'm saving this for my nesting spurt.


• Baking big loaves of crusty bread and making jar after jar of pumpkin butter and apple butter.


• Audiobook stockpile!  I'm stocking up on audio books for when I function as a milk tank in late October / early November.  Pass on any recommendations!

There we have it, lots of stuff to look forward to!  In my immediate future I see a shower and hitting the pillow.  I'm tired and I know I'll be up 5o0 times in the night since Atticus has decided my bladder is the perfect squeeze toy.

Remembering August and Looking to September

Yesterday Hope stayed home from school because of a sore throat, sinus headache and some sniffles.  By two in the afternoon she was feeling much better and I began feeling crappy.  My throat hurts and I've been blowing my nose in Starbucks for the past hour (I'm sure the other customers are more than thrilled).

While I was feeling ill yesterday, I flipped through my journal and found something interesting.  On January 31st I listed accomplishments and memories from the month and then made another list of things I was looking forward to in September.  Seasonal allergies aside, there are many exciting things happening in September and August was a good month for me so I thought I'd revive the list.

Remembering August:

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• completed a 48-hour readathon


• baking - I made peanut butter bars, espresso brownies, strawberry peach cookies, and banana bread


• my friends Catherine and Shannon threw me a WONDERFUL baby shower


• lots of dinners and hanging out with friends


• another ultrasound and Atticus kicking and flipping like mad


• days at the pool with Sam and Hope


• Arcade Fire concert


• began crocheting a baby blanket


• Hope started the 5th grade and has really matured over the summer


• lovely stay-cation at the beginning of the month


• read 5 books (The House at Riverton, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Manservant and Maidservant, The Stolen Crown, and Time Among the Dead)


• made several trips to the library


• paid off a medical bill


• finished an embroidery project
  
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• saw the Dali exhibit at the High Museum of Art

Looking to September:

• another baby shower


• Hope's soccer season begins


• Carl's R.I.P reading challenge (more on that later)


• finishing the baby blanket


• Autumn baking (pumpkin and apple everything)


• leaves changing and cooler breezes


• breaking out my Docs


• getting internet at the house (hopefully next week)


• baking bread with friends


• completing the nursery


• adoption finalized


• library book sale


• new embroidery projects


• pumpkin spice lattes


• black fingernail polish


• childbirth class


• crafting thank you cards


• paying off my credit cards


• Sam's 29th birthday

I'm ready, September!

Versatile Blogger Award

The Versatile Blogger Award:

1.  Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award

2.   Share 7 things about yourself

3.  Pass the award onto 15 bloggers you've recently discovered

4.  Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award

Thanks, Bahnree, for nominating me!  I honestly don't think I could list 15 blogs to nominate, not having the internet at homes mean that my blog time is extremely limited and I haven't discovered any new blogs in quite a while.  Instead, leave me a comment on this post if you have a blog you love or you want to share your blog with me.  I'll add you to my reader and -- if you tickle my fancy -- I'll nominate you for the award!

Okay, 7 things about myself.  I'm going to change it up a bit and tell you 7 things (okay, 8 things) that have happened in the past week since I last posted.  I've been VERY busy and I feel that I've neglected Ye Olde Blog.

1. Thursday Night: After posting about Arcade Fire I started having contractions.  FOR REAL contractions, not Braxton Hicks.  They only got to about 3 and a half minutes apart and they quit after an hour or two.  I felt quite shitty, though.  I showered and crawled in bed so Sam could rub my back and listen to me whine.


2. Friday Afternoon: I went to see my midwife.  He said that I was dehydrated (probably from being at an outdoor show, in Georgia, in August, and dancing like a fool).


3. More Friday Afternoon: According to the midwife, Atticus is kicking like crazy and growing well.  I was surprised to learn that I've only gained .9 pounds (not even an entire pound!) in the last 4 weeks.  This is amazing to me because I've been eating EVERYTHING.


4. Friday Night: We took Hope over to grandma's and stayed for dinner.  Mom made a delicious meat loaf.


5. Saturday: Breakfast at IHOP, reading, and chatting at the coffee shop.  Saturday night we met up with some of my excellent college friends for Thai food and then everyone came back to my house to hang out.


6. Saturday Night: I went to the liquor store with said friends.  I purchased a Yoohoo.


7. Sunday: 3 hours of swimming with Hope and Sam.  I couldn't quit watching Sam and Hope play in the pool together.  The two of them had silly, happy smiles plastered on their faces the entire time.  I love my family!  Then we had BBQ pork chops at my parents' house.


8. Monday Night: The University I work at had a "back-to-school-soiree" and we went to the High to see the Salvador Dali exhibit, heard a faculty / student musical performance, and ate a delicious buffet dinner.

Needless to say I'm exhausted.  The new students are moving in and campus is humming with activity.  Next week classes start, so the library is sure to be quite busy.

Alright, that's it for this Versatile Blogger!  Let me know what blogs you adore!