Back to School...

2nd Grade School Supply List:
1 box washable Crayola markers (8 count, thick, classic)
2 boxes Crayola crayons (16 count) 48 #2 pencils, SHARPENED
1 package wide ruled notebook paper (150 sheets)
3 single subject spiral notebooks (wide ruled- red, blue, green)
8 folders with pockets and brads (2 blue, 1 green, 2 yellow, 1 purple, 2 red)
1 bottle Elmer's glue (8 oz)
1 box tissue (175 count)
1 school box (plastic)
3 large Elmer glue sticks
GIRLS: 1 box gallon Ziploc plastic bags
1 pk 3X3 sticky notes
BOYS: 1 box sandwich size Ziploc plastic bag
1 pk 3X5 note cards
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Sniff! He's growing up. Too damned fast. SECOND grade??? He was playing in the sprinklers as a toddler, jumping off the deck with his daddy only yesterday. How did this happen and please stop.

But the start of school does mean we are closer to the time of year I've started fantasizing about during the 100+ degree day delirium. Fall.

Without further ado, here is what I am looking forward to over the next couple of months (in no particular order):

• Football.


• Grilling (when the temp is still 95 at 9PM, it is just too darn hot to grill).


• Fall baseball.


• Boy Pop's 8th Birthday!


• The last few days at the pool and the lake.


• A "high" temperature that doesn't get out of the 90s, possibly 80s.


• Cooler weather.


• Fall food.


• A break from the oppressive heat that drains every ounce of energy from me and turns me into a slug.


• Working out again.


• Planning Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

So that's just a little bit of what I'm looking forward to in the next month or so. On average, the last 100+ degree day in my part of the world is around September 6th. I think I can make it until then without melting.

Of course, please feel free to remind me how miserable this heat has been when it is January and I'm complaining of the cold.

*Gratuitous shot of my long and lean boy. Did I mention he's almost eight! 8! OMG!

Fall Fun

Yesterday, Dr Pop and Boy Pop climbed up into the attic and pulled down the boxes of Halloween decorations. Finally! We've been so wrapped up in the great redecorating/decorating/repurposing rooms fiasco that we let almost half of October pass us by without putting out a single smiling pumpkin!

There is something about October that puts me in a good mood. I can't quite put my finger on exactly what it is, though. It's most likely a compilation of many factors. I therefore present to you my "Why I Love Fall" list.

In no particular order...

• I have finally accepted that summer is officially over.
• The weather is starting to cool off.
• We have survived the first month of school.
• My annual melancholy over Boy Pop's birthday is abating.
• (Read the archives if you want more detail about above)
• It's nice enough outside to grill.
• I love orange.
• Halloween is right around the corner.
• Since beach vacations are seemingly a long way off, I can bake treats without feeling too guilty.
• Ditto for meals of a more fattening nature.
• The crock pot gets used more.
• The season of decorating has begun.
• Fall baseball.
• Football season.
• Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
• Ditto Christmas.
• Pumpkin patch visits.
• Sweaters.
• Corduroy.
• Etc.

There is just something so very right about Fall. It's always been one of my favorite times of year (Ditto Winter, Spring, and Summer). I love seasons and seasonal changes. And in honor of same, I've changed my template.

Happy Fall, y'all!

That Time of Year

Well, make it two years in a row...

When the government decided to mix up Daylight Savings Time ("falling" back a bit later and "springing" forward a bit earlier), they totally screwed with my internal clock. Last year, it seemed to take forever for the clock to fall back an hour! In fact, starting about two weeks before the official time change, my body decided that it didn't care what the clock said, it was taking the extra hour.

So you can imagine what happened, right? Yep. I overslept. For about two weeks solid, I overslept by 30 minutes to an hour. In fact, the actual time change seemed a bit anti-climactic as I'd already switched my internal clock.

Fast forward one year. The past two months have been full of changes, but the main one was the start of elementary school. I had to rework my internal clock yet again to set it to get up earlier so that I could get myself ready for work before getting the Boy up and ready for school, then get us both out the door, him delivered to the school, and myself to work, all at a relatively reasonable time.

It hasn't been without challenges and minor slip-ups. I've gotten up 5 - 10 minutes late on the rare occasion, pushing snooze one too many times (hey, I love sleeping!).

Unfortunately, the "fall back" syndrome hit me hard this week. I had been a little more exhausted than usual last week, but it didn't dawn on me that I was going through the same body clock issues that I did last year until Monday morning.

It was a dark, dreary morning. It was dark when I woke up. I remember my alarm going off and hitting the snooze button (as I do every morning). I remember thinking that I had one more snooze left before I absolutely HAD to get out of bed. And when that "snooze" alarm went off, I got out of bed and got going. I took my shower, got myself ready, and got ready to get Boy Pop out of bed.

And that's when I glanced at the clock. I was ONE HOUR, EXACTLY off. One entire hour. Instead of it being 6:45, it was 7:45. Guess what starts at 7:45, on the dot? Yep. School.

It was no big deal. Boy Pop had an excused tardy and no one noticed I was a little late to work. But it hit me. The time change should have happened already and it doesn't happen until this Sunday!

Ah, well... Sic transit gloria mundi.*

*Thus passes the glory of the world. My high school Latin teacher would be so proud!

After a "Taste"

After a taste of what we had in store for us for Fall 2009, we are having another "cold" front move in just in time for a gorgeous weekend!

You might think I'm a little nuts for getting excited about 70-degree temperatures and a steady forecast, but when you live in Central Texas, like I do, and lived through the hottest summer ever on record, like I did, and experienced "extreme" drought that closed public boat ramps on lakes because the levels were so low...

Well, you'd get all happy and do a dance, too!

Time to Get Crackin'

There are three months left in 2009. That's it. Is it just me or has 2009 sped on by without so much as stopping to say hello?

With the arrival of what is my favorite time of year, also comes the weight on my shoulders of all the junk and clutter we have all over the place. Maybe it's a sign of the times in which we live, but we have a ton of stuff. All over the place.

My son has too many toys spread over too many places. I have 40 white t-shirts. Or is it 41? Clothes that have not been worn in 6 years sit in closets, being rotated by season. Pictures sit in bins and baskets, waiting to be lovingly placed in photo albums. Pictures sit on memory cards, waiting to be downloaded, uploaded, and saved to CD.

There are Halloween decorations to take down from the attic, costumes to buy, fall recipes to try.

And perhaps the best part? It actually FEELS like Fall! We are having mild weather, welcome rainfall, cool fronts, crisp mornings. It is awesome! I love seasons. And Fall to me has always been about home.

Being at home.
Cooking for my family.
Lighting a fire.
Comfy blankets on the couch.
Cold sheets.
Warm toes.
Football.
Firing up the grill.
Decorating the house.
Shopping.
Wearing corduroy.
Boots.
Laughter.
Playing outside.
Clearing the clutter.

So welcome to Texas, Fall! I hope you decide to stay a while. At least long enough for me to clean out my house!

Writer's Block

Ah, I have not much to say this week...

Dr Pop went out of town for work. And in my usual "I hate when he goes out of town so I go overboard on household projects" fashion, last night I...

• Sort of cleaned out my closet, removing spring clothes, moving in some fall and winter clothes, weeding through clothes I haven't worn in years...
• Played with my son
• Dealt with a major meltdown temper tantrum
• Put son to bed
• Did laundry
• Put away some of the laundry
• Gave myself a pedicure
• Gave myself a manicure
• Did a Philosophy micro-delivery peel

Every few months or so (like when winter finally turns into spring and summer finally turns into fall), I do a closet organization. I go through the clothes I have, move out the stuff that won't be worn for several months, and bring in the clothes that are relevant for today. I also go through all the clothes I haven't worn in forever, and try to force myself into reality. The reality is that I have not worn that pale orange cashmere sweater in the past 5 years and I doubt that I will have it on this year, either. The key word is "try" though.

I have this nagging little voice inside my head thinking that there is definitely an off chance that this item will A) come back in style or B) I will wear it this year for sure! I'm not the only one who suffers from this malady by the way. Dr Pop has PLENTY on his side of the closet that fit that description, too! And we both have tons of clothes that just hang in the closets in the office, guest room, and upstairs hall.

I really need someone like Peter Walsh to come into my house and force us to get rid of the crap we don't use or wear!

About my nails. I have red fingers and toes. I've been staying away from the red nail polish lately as I wanted to mix it up a bit. But I'm in a red mood. And since I was feeling spunky, I decided to polish my fingernails, too. Back in my early twenties, I got regular manicures and pedicures. I always had beautifully polished nails. I tapered off the nail polish after a while and would only get a manicure every few months or so, and I rarely painted my fingernails myself.

After Boy Pop was born, I stopped with the nail polish completely. There just seemed to be too much else to do and since I cannot stand chipped nail polish, I just went without it altogether. Well last night, I changed my mind and decided to put that pretty red nail polish on my fingernails, too.

It's already smudged.

Getting Crafty

I wrote earlier about how I wanted to do more fun crafts with my son. These pumpkin spiders from Parents magazine looked to me like just the thing.

So I got all excited, went out and bought mini-pumpkins, black acrylic paint, paint brushes, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and glue, and told the Boy that we were going to make spiders!

I forgot one key thing about this project, though... Four year olds are messy and impatient. What follows is what happened over the next week...

Ready to go with all the supplies...

Painting the first coat...


In trouble for touching everything in sight while having paint all over his hands...

Letting the first coat dry... (It took three to four coats in all)

Attaching the eyes...

FINISHED PRODUCT!

I ended up finishing the spiders on my own as the boy got bored with them (he was mainly interested in the leftover googly eyes and the painting anyway). What I learned from this is very important, though...

1. I can actually do these little projects.
2. So can the boy.
3. We have fun with them.
4. We found other ideas that look like fun, too.

Better late than never...