Heard from the other end of the couch last night:

“Y’know Mom, this school and eleventh grade are almost worth getting up for in the morning.”

My son? Liking something that I said he would? My work as a mother is complete.

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It’s October. We’re getting ready for Autumn in the midwest. I get to bring my sweaters back out. I get to hang Frank on the front door. I think I’ll get the pumpkins and corn stalks when we go shopping tonight.

Growing up here, Summer has always been my favorite season. It’s too short. It’s too hot. It’s humid and sticky and the mosquitoes are fuckin’ unbelievable. But, Michigan in the Summer is a novelty that you wait for when the sun goes into hiding in January and doesn’t come back until May.

Autumn was back to school and away from freedom. It was dresses instead of shorts. (The seventies y’all. Bell bottom polyester hip huggers or dresses. It’s what you wore to school. I don’t think I owned jeans.)

Now, though, I love the Fall. The colors and the different blue of the sky. It’s the smell of leaves burning and hay and pumpkin lattes. I watch the geese from my office here in the middle of the wetlands. Huge flocks flying further south. We’ll drive to East Lansing tomorrow to watch the Spartans play (and beat!) Northwestern. The leaves will have changed more the closer we get to campus. Maybe we’ll stop and grab a pumpkin or two from one of the farms on the way.

I could get all philosophical on y’all and say it’s because I’m also getting older - and the Fall is symbolic of the passing of time and my maturing view on life and love.

Snort) That would be, um, so not me.

We all know the fact of the matter is that it’s football season, and brats, beer and football ONLY happen in the Fall. And it’s the only time of the year that you can get fresh apple cider and right out of the fryer donuts. (Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.)

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Jen tagged me for another Meme. This one is Four by Four. So, here goes:

4 Jobs I’ve had

1. Parks & Recreation Leader (a glorified babysitter),
2. College Instructor (Computer Science 101),
3. Human Resources Specialist (Soooo bad at this - I wanted to hire everyone),
4. I.T. Executive (And resident Hotfessional)

4 Movies I could watch over and over

1. The Wizard of Oz (I want my own Flying Monkeys)
2. Anything with Stephen Seagal (I so love him)
3. The Sound of Music (and I’ll always cry)
4. Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Yes, the Gene Wilder version although Johnny Depp is cute!)

4 TV Shows I watch

1. Entourage (HBO, WTF? The season is too short)
2. Dream Team (On Fox Sports Network - it’s a British show)
3. Football (pretty much every freakin’ night this week, in fact)
4. Countdown with Keith Olbermann

4 Places I’ve lived

1. Royal Oak, Michigan
2. Ann Arbor, Michigan
3. St. Albans, WV
4. Huntington, WV (Yes, only Michigan and WV. Booooooring)

4 Favorite Foods

1. Gnocchi (Italian potato dumplings)
2. Salmon (Grilled, then chilled)
3. Banana Pudding (My mom’s)
4. Lamb with Hummus with pine nuts (although I rarely, rarely eat this because I gave up on red meat)

4 Favorite Colors

1. Forest green
2. Garnet red
3. Royal blue
4. Orange (yes, seriously. I don’t know why)

4 Places I’d love to be right now

1. Amsterdam
2. San Francisco
3. Any Spa
4. In bed napping

4 Names I love but could/would not use for my children

1. Jane (because if I had a girl, I’d have to give her my middle name and it wouldn’t work with Jane.)
2. Emma (because it’s too close to Mr. Hot’s ex-wife’s name.)
3. Philip (wouldn’t work with my last name)
4. Omar (again, would not go with the last name)

And now I’m tagging: Lacey Bean, Alex’s Mom, Shelly and Alyndabear. Play if you’d like.

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—- Here’s the latest visitor to my window. Appropriate for October, eh? —-