Signs of Fall

I’m proud to say I wrote this post yesterday as I was playing hooky. I was supposed to be at a workshop, and I decided that I wasn’t going because I needed a mental health day. I needed it badly. And when I need a mental health day badly…it behooves me (and everyone else!) to be selfish and take it. On Monday, I begin working full time for the first time since before I became a mom…so almost 21 years. YIKES!! In 6 months, I will be the mom of a 21 year old. How in the world did THAT happen??

Anyhoo…while I have at times worked 40 plus hours a week over the years, I always knew it was a temporary thing during a busy time, and I always looked forward to the time when my hours would soon get back to normal and I’d once again have my 2 days off during the week. And typically, after a period of working way too many hours, my boss would force me to take some time off.

Those days are coming to a screeching, grinding halt as of 2 days from now when I will begin working full time, on salary, on a permanent basis. While I know it will be nice to have a guaranteed income, and I did get a raise, I’m so very apprehensive about working every single day. I always feel as if my life, my kid’s lives, my family’s life, and my home suffers during the times I am extra-busy at work, and I worry about how I am going to juggle everything now. In the past when I have worked that many hours, I didn’t cook the kinds of dinners I like to cook, my house wasn’t in the order that I like for it to be in, my laundry wasn’t caught up (aw, hell, I might as well admit it, my laundry isn’t caught up when I am working very few hours), and I came home from work each day mentally and physically exhausted and wishing I could go to bed at 7 PM. But again, I always knew that in a few days or weeks, I’d be back to my normal routine.

Now, THAT ^^ is going to BE my normal routine, and I’m frightened by that. Actually, I’m going to say my second colorful word in this post…I’m scared shitless by that.

Sooo….that is why I decided on a whim yesterday morning to play hooky. It was my last Friday of freedom! I baked some pumpkins and cleaned the house and made some caramels…I even curled up on the couch under a quilt and watched a movie.

So what does all of the above whining about how I have to start working more have to do with signs of fall? It doesn’t. So sorry. I will now get right to the point.

I have very mixed feelings about fall; I guess you could call it a love/hate relationship. On the love side of the coin…I love the crispness in the air that blows away the oppressive humidity of summer. I love having the windows open. I love the sky that is so blue without the haze of humidity dulling it. I love sitting out on my porch in the morning with a steaming cup of coffee while wearing flannel pajama pants. I love that I can enjoy my porch without being a Thanksgiving feast for mosquitos. I love when I go outside at night and smell everyone’s fireplaces. I love how when I am a block away from my office, I come up over a hill and see the river ahead of me with brightly colored trees of red and orange and yellow lining it’s banks. I love unpacking my sweaters. I love buying candy corn. I love buying beautiful little sugar pumpkins and the delicious scent they send wafting through my house as they roast in the oven. And I especially love the muffins and cakes and cookies I bake with those little roasted pumpkins. I love making soup on a regular basis…both old favorites and a few new recipes, too.

I love decorating my house for fall, almost as much as I love decorating my house for Christmas. This display started out on my kitchen table, but was quickly moved to the dining room as I realized what a hassle it was to move it all when we needed to eat.

My favorite thing about this? I only spent about $5 to create it. I had everything already in my house except the pumpkins.



Here is the same display at night with the candles burning:








I also love this:




A couple of months ago, I got a catalog in the mail and fell in love with a gorgeous arrangement of sunflowers and berries. I didn’t however, fall in love with the price.--it was $59. Again, not in MY budget. So I tore the page out and went to Michaels. I already had the vase with the rocks in it, and for $6, I bought a bundle of silk sunflowers, a small bunch of swirly branches and berries, and a small bouquet of little fall colored flowers. (Gotta love the 40% off sales at Michaels!) It’s not an exact replica of the one I drooled over in the catalog, but it is a pretty darn close tightwad version of it. I have always loved sunflowers anyway, and they remind me of my dear friend who has sunflower décor in her kitchen, so every time I see this vase of sunflowers when I walk in my front door, it makes me smile and think of her.

I bought these little sparkly gourds and the cornucopia basket on an end-of-season clearance last year at Hobby Lobby.




I don’t know why I liked those sparkly gourds so much as I usually like having fall décor that looks more natural, and let's be honest...sparkly gourds do not grow in nature. But I like them anyway, and my piano was the perfect spot to display them.

And I have to show THIS off:



I have always wanted an entire set of those dishes to use in the fall. But again, not in my budget. Darn money! I found that plate over the summer at the Goodwill store near my house for get this...$3! (Yeah, I sometimes shop at Goodwill...I'm a tightwad, and it makes me happy to find a good bargain).


Like I said, I love fall. I really do. I love everything about it. Well, almost everything…really, the only thing I hate about it is that those fabulous crisp days that blow away the summer steaminess are themselves blown away by winter dreariness and chill. I wish fall was followed by spring instead, because then I could enjoy it even more than I do. If spring followed fall, life would be blissfully perfect. Well, maybe not perfect, but I would be a happy girl if I never had to live through winter again…if I could go right from crunchy leaves and bonfires and pumpkin muffins to tulips and daffodils and robins and just skip the freezing temperatures and ice and snow. Blech. If there is anywhere in the world like that…I’m moving there!

That all said, I have really been enjoying fall. Last week, I bought these beautiful mums and a few pumpkins for the kids to carve. I bought them to use on the stage at the walk, and now they are a bright spot of color on my front porch, and I smile each time I pull in the driveway and feast my eyes upon them. Try to bask in the loveliness of the flowers and pumpkins and pretend that you don’t see the dirt and dead leaves on the porch. It’s okay if you notice the cobwebs…I’m harvesting my own Halloween decorations. Why spend money on those fake sticky spiderwebs when I can just grow my own?





I had to buy this one:




Those were the colors of my high school, and seeing it brought back some fond memories.

I bought this delicious smelling candle at Kohl’s a few days ago. It’s not obvious from the picture, but the jar is orange and sort of sparkly, it came with a cute wooden lid and a little metal acorn tied with raffia. I am going to have to find a way to use the jar for something when the candle is burned away.




A few weeks ago, I knitted myself a scarf in some fallish colors. I think this is my new favorite scarf pattern…I knitted it only a few days.




I have been enjoying the flavors of fall as well. Last week, I made some roasted buttercup squash for dinner. No one would eat it but me (crazy family I tell ya!) and while at first it pissed me off (wow, 3 bad words…I think that may be a first!) when I thought about it, I was glad…more for me to eat! In the last week, I’ve made a pot of chili, apple streusel coffee cake for breakfast on Sunday, an apple pie (of course!), and chicken noodle soup. I’ve also eaten way too many honey crisp apples.



Those things are like crack…I can’t get enough of them. Kind of like how I feel about fresh tomatoes in the summer—I gorge myself on them because I know they are only around for a short time. Unfortunately, they are also about as expensive as crack.

And in honor of soup season, I bought these cute little bowls because I was tired of eating soup out of the kids plastic cereal bowls.



I really am drooling over red and yellow Fiestaware dishes right now, but since Fiestaware isn’t in my budget…buck fifty Mainstay bowls from Walmart will have to do.

I was in Gordmans the other day, and HAD to buy this bag of coffee.



First of all, I love pumpkin spice coffee. It’s my second crack. I’ve already bought some, but I thought the bag was too cute. And bonus…it was WAY cheaper than the pumpkin spice coffee I buy at the grocery store.

I also have a new addiction that may or may not be limited to fall…homemade caramels. I’ve spent so much money on white sugar, brown sugar, butter, baking chocolate…all in search of THE perfect caramel. I think I have it perfected, but I may need to do many more taste tests, just to be 100% sure.

One more sign of fall and the impending winter…today was Justin’s last ever cross country meet. It’s kind of sad in a way…by this time next year, he will likely be away at college, and while I have known that, it just kind of hit me this morning. Here is a picture of him ready to cross the finish line at his last meet. Sniff sniff...



I will leave this lonnnnnggggg post with this photo:



I found that at Gordmans and of course, I had to buy it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it...maybe put it on the desk and use it for bills. Maybe paying bills won't be so depressing if I have that motivational quote to look at every time I place another one in the box.