Now that summer is over....

Now that we're into September, I'm shifting gears mentally into the fall. There's a lot we're looking forward to for this fall.

I'm launching a website.

I'm expanding my freelancing work to include specialized marketing services, so I'm building my website. I was hoping to have it up by the beginning of the month, but I ran into some complications, so now it'll be up at the end of the month instead. Either way, I'll have the website up and running soon, along with content to generate inbound leads.

I'm looking forward to it, and I think it'll be good for my career to get some private clients. I've kind of reached a plateau with the clients I currently have. So I'm ready to take the next step with my work and build a client base creating content marketing for a niche market. It's a demographic I'm passionate about, and I'm looking forward to immersing myself in that community in order to build clients and help businesses build their own customer bases.

We're taking a family vacation.

I graduated from college ten years ago, so this year's Homecoming at my alma mater will be a reunion Homecoming. I thought it would be a good opportunity to take Bo up to Illinois to meet the rest of my family, some of my friends, and to see the town I consider to be my hometown.

The original plan was that it would be a trip just for Bo and me, but now that the munchkins are homeschooled, they're coming with us, and we're turning it into a big field trip for school. Bo and I are making booklets for the kids to take with them that will include worksheets (math problems, geography, etc.) and activities (mazes, puzzles, journal prompts) to do each day. By the end of the trip they workbook will be complete. When we get back we'll print some pictures from the trip and the booklet will be part scrapbook and part workbook for school.

We're continuing to homeschool.

The kids have been out of public school since April, and we started officially homeschooling on June 1st (though we started unofficially before then). Now that it's autumn and public school is in full swing, we're continuing to push forward with homeschooling. Bo handles math and science, Monty handles social studies, and I handle Language Arts (reading, writing, spelling, grammar, etc.).

It's a dynamic that works well for us, and I love being able to teach what Puck needs to know by allowing him to write short stories. The kids are thriving academically, and we have the flexibility to do things like taking a family vacation in October since we can make workbooks to take with and continue their education even when they're in the car.

Autumn is going to be busy, but happy.

Renew Your Spirit Sunday with Autumn

According to my calendar, it's fall now. We've passed the magical day of the autumnal equinox, and the days are continuing to shorten as we work our way toward winter.

According to our electric bill, it's still summer. The weather continues to hover around the upper 80s and into the 90s, and it's rather humid.

Autumn is when I miss the Midwest. It gets chilly earlier in the year there than it does here, and I'm always eager to make the switch from the sweltering heat to the coolness of fall.

And the trees aren't as pretty here. There are trees with leaves that change, but because it stays so much warmer here than in the Midwest, not all of the leaves fall. And there are lots of palm trees, too. It's just not the same.

Autumn is my favorite season. There is just something I love about stepping outside to feel that little bit of a chill in the air and needing a jacket in the evenings and seeing the brightly colored leaves all over. There's nothing quite like snuggling into your favorite sweater or hoodie and wrapping your hands around a hot cup of coffee on a cool morning.

I'm not a big fan of pumpkin spice everything, but I can look past it for everything else.

There's still a little bit of time until I'll feel like autumn is really here. Until then, I'll keep looking longingly at my autumn clothes, waiting somewhat patiently until I can start dressing a little cozier.

Does it feel like autumn where you are?

Autumn

"Herbst" by Martin Heiß - selbst fotografiert von Martin Heiß
(Originalgröße 3072 x 2048, fürs Web skaliert).
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

I'm tired of summer weather.

I'm tired of the car being swelteringly hot every time I get in it, and I'm tired of sweating nearly every time I leave the house. I'm tired of weather being in the upper 90s every day.

Slowly (oh so slowly) the temperature has been falling lately. Where it was once 97 or 98, it's now 87 or 88. We're finally shifting to autumn in central Florida.

Of course, autumn doesn't mean the same thing here as it did in central Illinois, which I'm still trying to adjust to. But I'll still be glad for it to finally feel like a Florida autumn.

I have some clothing items I'll be happy to start wearing (jeans), and a few items I'll be happy to purchase for the cooler weather (new boots). And, more than anything, I'll be glad to open the windows and patio door during the day to let the fresh air into the apartment. I don't like feeling cooped up, which is how I've felt lately. It's been much too hot to turn off the air conditioning and open the windows.

I'm ready for that little bit of chill in the air, even if it's not the same as an Illinois autumn.

On This, the First Day of Autumn

I love autumn.

Summer greens are bright and beautiful, but the yellows, oranges, and reds of autumn create a prettier palette.  The colors blend, but because of the different shades all over, the colors attract my eye more than summer hues.  Nature begs to be walked in, photographed, admired, more in fall than any other season.

I love getting out my jeans and sweaters for the first time in the fall.  Before winter starts to set in and things turn gray, I love taking a journal outside to a park with lots of trees and scribbling, smelling the crisp, fresh air, being in nature.  It's refreshing to be out when it's cooler in the evenings--cool enough perhaps for a jacket--and writing.  Autumn allows me to write outside more (spring is too wet, winter too cold, and summer too hot), which has always been inspirational to me.

Living in Orlando makes me feel a bit cheated.  Here, it gets a bit cooler, but everything stays lush and green, so it doesn't really feel like fall here.  Even the temperature change isn't as drastic.  And, being hurricane season, fall is quite a bit wetter here, so it's not as inviting to sit outside when it's pouring nearly every afternoon.

I love autumn.  I just wish it was here.