Tag: Fall

Goals, Humor

Summer Bucket List Check In

“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.” 
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I’ve mentioned that the weather has taken a turn for the autumnal of late, this past Sunday it reached a new high (or low, depending on your point of view). Ergo, we’re off to Greece, which as you may recall was the first item on my Summer Bucket List. Which means, given the weather, that it’s probably time for a check in on my frivolous summer goals!

Do you see this nonsense?

Buy new glasses. (See comment below!)

Get another piece of furniture for the house. And plants that I won’t easily kill. (I’ve got my eye on some shelves but that will have to be an end of month or October purchase, as we’ve spent that money on Greece. And I regret nothing)

Read a new heap of novels, both trashy and classy.

Finally get that call with my bank scheduled to kick off the proper investment and savings plan we’ve been talking about for months. (Call made but expat status means that we have to go through a few more hoops before I can start this properly. Annoying, but progress made!)

Do another month long blog project. (Nope, fail.)

Lose some weight. I’m typically wary of goals like this, but I’ve decided to just acknowledge that I’m going to work hard on some health and fitness goals explicitly. (I’ve started a new health challenge and X is my accountability partner. I’m only a bit of weight down, but I’m back to much better eating habits and regular exercise!)

Catch up with some long lost pals. (Another “fail,” but what I actually managed to do was make a few new friends instead. Gonna call this one a win.)

Knock out my audiobook goal.

Leave the office at a sensible hour most days.

Go to more movies. (I only made it to Wonder Woman, but I’m actually with falling down on this goal as we spent that fun money elsewhere, such as eating out at Hawker House.)

Throw some kind of party or get together.

Did you have a summer bucket list of any kind? What goals or triumphs have you ticked off over the warm months?

Humor

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like…?

“A lot of people like snow.  I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.”
– Carl Reiner

You guys, it snowed!  Yesterday!  October 6th!  Alright, so it melted the second it hit the ground and lasted less than 10 minutes, but still – snow!

Western weather is the most ludicrously schizophrenic thing you’ve ever seen.  It barely turned into Fall, I watched a leaf fall a mere four days ago while walking to my car, and all of a sudden the mountains look like a pastry chef dusted them with confectioners sugar.

I turned on the heat for the first time when I got home from work, only for an hour to warm things up a bit.  Last night it was far too cold to sleep with the window open like I’ve been doing for a couple of weeks now – certainly without a nice warm husband to cuddle up against.  I’ve got the beginnings of a cold tickling the back of my throat.  My stomach is campaigning vigorously for steaming hot stews and soups.  The signs are all here, but how did we skip Fall and go straight into Winter?

Western weather being what it is, though, I expect Fall to come back at any moment, clutching its chest and panting, “So sorry, everyone, just popped round to the store for a minute, what did I miss?”

Also, and far more enraging, guess what I saw at the grocery store yesterday?  Christmas decorations!  Honestly, people, it’s early October, we haven’t even had Halloween yet!  Let’s all calm down, shall we?

Humor

Seasonal Affective Disorder

“Anyway, I liked autumn.  Autumn – the season of new boots.”
– Marian Keyes, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married

Nope. Still not happy.

I am of the of the few, the grumpy, the Perpetually Meteorological Unsatisfied.

In the depths of a Western winter, when I have to dig my car out every day for weeks at a time, I long for spring.  When spring shows up, I tsk at its lack of purpose in waffling back and forth between blizzards and broiling.  As for summer, well, Small Dogs were not meant to be heated (I’m stupidly susceptible to heat stroke and exhaustion).  By all accounts I should be equally aggravated with fall for its schizophrenic weather, but I’m oddly indulgent.  I love fall.  I love the holidays, the new clothes, the cool weather after the sunburned, blistering baking I get June through August.

But I don’t love when Fall teases me with glimpses of cooler weather (relatively, seeing as how we were pushing triple digits here recently) before vanishing until at least October.

It sends me mixed messages.  The temperature dips (for a week) and my brain starts firing.  Sweaters!  Pumpkin in every baked good ever!  Boots!  Halloween!  Hot chocolate every day!  End of summer clothing sales, buy all the things!  College football!  Actually working out regularly because I’m not overheating and getting sick!  Nutmeg!

Then a couple days later I’m literally knocked backwards by the thump of heat that surges inward when I open the door in the morning to go to work.  My brain, which was already planning pies and outfits and pre-winter projects swivels around on itself yelling, “Abort, abort!”

Humor

All the World’s a Stage

“I think theatre should always be somewhat suspect.”
– Vaclav Havel

I love Fall for another reason (besides the fantastic clothes, excellent food, much needed holidays, and crisp weather), the theatre, darlings!

Last week I went with Margot to see Angel perform in Alice In Wonderland, the Rock Musical.  Last night J. and I went to The Magic Flute.  On Saturday my friend Drake (who has been studying in France for the past year and just lately returned) and I are going to see the musical The Scarlet Pimpernel, a mutual personal favorite.  Next week a traveling Chinese drum performance company is performing and I’ve got tickets to that as well.

Anyone else taking advantage of the Social Season?

Holidays, Humor

Fall, When Young Girl’s Fancy Turns…

“Delicious Autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the Earth seeking the successive Autumns.”
– George Elliot

Fall is here!

I love that the skies are perfectly blue and clear for all but the fluffiest of white clouds, but the temperature is noticeably crisp.  I adore sweater weather, and I love breaking out the sweaters that have been in hibernation.  Looking into the tree tops and off into the mountains, I’m thrilled that I can see just a handful of leaves, just a couple clusters of trees starting to turn that fierce shade of vivid rust that I love.  I enjoy waking up to a cool flat (as opposed to August when I wake up and both J. and I have kicked all the sheets off the bed and are still miserable), snuggled down in my pillow with the blankets drawn up to my nose.  I love wrapping my mother’s presents of thick Scottish wool scarves around my neck.  I love plotting my Halloween costume, debating the wisdom of buying new boots, and planning whose family we will spend various holidays with.  I LOVE Fall!

Alternatively…with the advent of bronzing leaves comes that most American of holidays: HallowGivingMas.  Picture this: walking through the mall I passed a home decor store.  And right at the front of this store was a large Christmas tree, decorated in jack-o’-lantern and turkey ornaments.  Major, major fail. 

No, American Consumerism, I will not be guilted into extending my holiday shopping season by a single day, much less three months!  Instead, I will be looking at changing leaves, celebrating my godfather’s birthday, wearing my university pullovers, and researching soup recipes, thank you very much.

Fashion, Humor, Life, Working Out

Those Are The Mightiest Calves I Ever Have Seen! …I Mean…

“Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.”
-Faith Whittlesey

chris-dickerson-calves
Ew.

Thank goodness we’ve moved into colder weather, where my work wardrobe can do me some good!  However, it has been brought to my attention that looking nice at work can have some unforeseen consequences.  Apart from the expanding waistline (that comes from less exercise)…wearing some sort of heel everyday has apparently given my calves such a workout that they are getting bigger.  To the point that my nice boots are snug! 

A girl can’t win…